This concern's Hemlock's post this week and more specifically, this audio recording.
Yes, they really are like that. Every day you get at least one thrown at you on TV.
In Hong Kong it's not so much "Big Brother is watching you" as "Big Brother is waggling his finger in a disapproving manner - don't forget to pick up trash/clean your teeth/throw out dirty water/support the WTO" (yes, all of those are from public service announcements on TV).
Sometimes it's odd for me to live in a country which doesn't advertise itself on its terrestrial TV channels.
Ah well, 5 months and I can get back to the inane nannying and intellectually insulting "we care" statements that span the entire media spectrum.
Later
John
Oct 6th Advance Preview release in Colchester. Aww Yeah.
I think I'll actually be enough of a geek to wear my suede brown jacket (no coat sadly but it'll do).
Later
John
This post in particular
Part one: The headline.
The headline must take whatever truth there is to glean from the article and distort it by heavy contraction to suit the editor's desired effect:
"US-Shia clash erupts in Baghdad"
Naturally, anyone who reads that headline (as I did) assumes that this is an outbreak of fighting between the Shia majority population of Iraq and US forces.
Part two: The article.
Upon admitting that in fact this was a clash between Moqtada Al Sadr's militia (who handily happen to be Shia) and the US and not some large-scale sect-wide civilian uprising, make sure you get quotes from the armed forces and of course, the terrorists. In order to ensure that there is no bias, put equal emphasis on both because they are each equally reputable sources after all.
Now, just jump overboard and give the subtitle to the terrorists: 'We were attacked'.
Finally sprinkle the article with some awesome interjections, which don't actually have even a tangential connection with the previous paragraph but which suit the tone you're trying to give the piece:
The confrontation was settled when Mr Sadr agreed to enter the political process, and the militia handed over its heavy weaponry in a cash-for-weapons programme.
But the BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad says the new fighting comes at a time of tension in southern Iraq between British troops and Mr Sadr's followers.
Awesome. I think I'm getting the hang of this. '3 Insurgents killed during arrests made in east Baghdad' becomes 'Shia majority clashes with zionist occupying forces'.
Later
John
Something to make me glad I'm on a new server where people aren't high enough level to take on raid content (this is World of Warcraft Related).
Old news for most, but if you don't understand what the hell MMORPGs are about, this should still bring a smile
I blame my lack of posting squarely upon World of Warcraft's new Roleplay PvP servers.
Yes, that's right, I'm actually sad enough to play an MMORPG whilst acting out my character.
Still, the server has so far been great, as have the Game Masters who have been dutifully reprimanding everyone who violates the server ruleset (ie: Creating characters which refuse to Roleplay and basically ruin the game for others when there are hundreds of servers which allow for normal play).
Although I haven't really had much to comment on re: current affairs (Schroeder's going down, Koizumi won, Bush actually took responsibility for something - all good stuff) I've been getting the itch to write creatively again, a few of my old articles from Kebeol.net are still on my HD and I'd be interested in seeing the old site back up online again. Guess that's a bit of a pipe dream but it'd be something interesting to do :)
For now, I'll get back to gaming and infrequent posting.
Later
John
There are calls for the abolition of Holocaust Day because it's regarded as offensive to Muslims.
No, you didn't read that wrong:
"ADVISERS appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are proposing to scrap the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day because it is regarded as offensive to Muslims."
The reason it's regarded as offensive is that it doesn't take into account atrocities committed against Muslims. I'm sorry but what the fuck? First of all, yes there have been acts of horrific genocide committed against people of every faith including Muslims (Serbia etc) but:
a) The sheer enormity of the Holocaust, the forced extermination of six million people, men women and children, is such that it is right for us to hold it up in public view.
b) The Holocaust is one of the greatest single turning points in European history. It was the acknowledgment of the depths of evil that dictatorships would stoop to.
The sheer scale of horror was such that the first troops to liberate concentration camps summarily executed the guards in shock and disgust. Such atrocities could not be conceived and even American troops, famed for their treatment of POWs (releasing Prisoners when they felt they couldn't ensure their safety under German air raids for instance), set up firing squads for the camp's roster.
Advisors are worried that "extremists" will be inflamed by this? WELL GOOD! How fucking disgusting are we if we cater to their anti-Semitic sub-humanity by taking an action which, given the circumstances and speeches which led to the establishment of this day, can only be construed as an attempt to limit the scale and importance of the Holocaust.
At least someone's remaining sane:
Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside and a Holocaust Memorial trustee, said: “These Muslim groups should stop trying to evade the enormity of the Holocaust.”
The only reason people even contemplate this action is because hating and discriminating against the Jews is the only part of the Islamist agenda modern society can hope to comply with. The very fact that they are so bare faced in admitting this as a concession to extremists, even in the hope of furthering the nobel cause of better integrating young muslims, is perhaps the most horrendous part of all.
Later
John
The BBC has put up a collection of stock archive footage for use under their new Creative Archive License (coincidentally misspelled in their <title> tag). Amongst the footage is this reel from Hong Kong.
Towards the end, the cameraman ascends through town on an escalator - that particular escalator rises through mid-levels and is the conveyance which Hemlock refers to often, you can see Stauntons, a drinks bar on the right of one shot which gives away its location.
If you haven't been to Hong Kong and happen to qualify to see the footage under the CAL take a gander.
Later
John
I was going to write a post on the response to Katrina but that image makes it utterly superfluous.
Later
John
Forget Myself from the album "Forget Myself - EP" by Elbow
I've listened to it long enough now to recommend it. Forget Myself picks up a great London lyrical vibe whilst keeping a genuine big sound going without sounding brazen or over the top - only one other band does that well: Athlete. The other tracks are the requisite 7 minutes of studio instrumental noodling which pass for filler on EPs nowadays and a track which so far hasn't jumped out at me. In fact you could arguably just buy Forget Myself as a single and still be very happy with it.
If you haven't bought Elbow's album "Cast of Thousands" yet, then you're depriving yourself of some seriously fantastic music. These guys have been passed like a hot potato from label to label and finally ended up on V2 for the release of "Cast of Thousands" - an album which included the same sublime lyricism of their early work (which I confess I only picked up after "Cast of Thousands") whilst slashing some of their dependency on ridiculously long exploratory indy tracks. I was going to list the best tracks on the album but stopped when I realized there were 7 and at that point it's not much cheaper than buying the album.
Anyhow, check them out when you get the opportunity.
Later
John
Ann Althouse posts details of this little event:
JANE FONDA introduces antiwar British MP GEORGE GALLOWAY. Sunday September 18 at 7pm Wisconsin Union Theatre
I will admit to initially being astonished that George Galloway would be hosted in the US but having him introduced by Jane Fonda seems to make it more believable.
Ah, two mighty veterans of supporting the enemy.
There's a difference between opposing war and being the cheering squad for the other side. Fonda's disgusting actions in North Vietnamese prison camps and George Galloway's 'call to arms' for terrorists on Al Jazeera make them the ultimate examples of this contrast.
I can't imagine a more repugnant evening without Saddam himself doing a little jazz number to round it all off.
Later
John
