wow, best part of two days with NOOOO internet! That was hard work. Have a couple of entries I did on my palm over the weekend:

11/4/03 16:15 so the Merkins “won” the war on Tuesday huh? Idiots… There was great footage here in the UK of a bbc team arriving at the end of the four-hour firefight at the mosque. The marines had imposed a sort of “no drive zone” in front of the mosque because they were having trouble differentiating civilians and soldiers and were worried about potential suicide carbombs and other unconventional attack.

Of course they did this in English.

So they waved and shouted at the guy in the VW beetle, who waved back and drove on… The next car was less fortunate and the driver was shot. When the BBC showed up they had a translator with them, who went over to the car with a white flag and pulled out a 6-year old girl still alive with a head wound. It was not reported how long she’d been there. The BBC reporter said that wherever they went, their translator became the liaison. WHAT KIND OF “BENEVOLENT” FORCE GOES IN WITHOUT SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE?

Honestly. The americans have probably done enough to manage domestic public opinion, but if they really want a stable middle east (and that is a big “if”) they ought to be at least giving a thought to the arabs as people, rather than as statistics. This insensitivity was also shown by the American UN envoy [IIRC... he was speaking in Paris I think] who, when trying to reassure the world about American intentions in Iraq used the Bible in a metaphor… HELLO?! The whole world is watching you and you are claiming to be sympathetic to muslems then you go and use a religious idiom? Bong.

12/4/03 9:21 bleurgh! what a night!

Yesterday I got a free day off work so decided to go through with the whole BJC thing. So took a train down to london and stopped off at the B3ta party in Soho en route. this was the first time I’d ever met anyone who I’d met online first, and it was doubly strange with my being an infrequent poster (and having given up B3ta for lent) so not even *really* knowing anyone online either… What a lovely bunch of people! Barnesy and Lukas were there so I had some support as it were, but I think I’d probably have been fine even if I’d just showed up off the street! Pep was extremely helpful when I showed up early with a pack on my back including the largest tent I’ve ever seen on a rucsack, then went for a pre-party drink in the pub over the road.

I reached the “everybody loves everybody” stage of being drunk and then was bought another scotch before I had a chance to get any soft drinks down me, so I’m not sure what time I found myself trying to stagger down the length of a narrow rickety shuttle train to brighton carrying my refugee pack, but it was somewhere around 3am when I was putting up my tent, then it was off to meet up with everyone and watch some of the renegade show. there seemed to be a good atmosphere in there but maybe it was the booze cos not everyoneseemed to agree. Highlight for me was some kid singing “Stand By Your Man” to a random drum-n-bass/ska backing track. Low points came moments later with a camp mime who seemed to be pouring 700 bottles of honey while suffering some kind of spastic muscle disorder and chronic bone & joint disease. I think it was 700, I lost interest after 2. He got half a dozen bonus points for his silver coulottes with black inserts, but quickly used them up with the pacing of his act. Final nail in the coffin was Ross with his poetry. Now I liked ross’s poetry. Some of it was a little near the knuckle but it was fresh and new and had interesting rhythms and some clever constructions.. Two years ago. Ross: WRITE SOME NEW MATERIAL if you’re going to play to the same crowd year in year out. He was also flogging a CD which I might’ve bought had he not been utterly rude to me at the last bristol.