Treblekicker |
Saturday
Should America attack Iraq? Normally I'd have a forthright and definite opinion on this sort of thing but I must admit I don't have a clue. There's too many pros and cons and the argument keeps going back and forth in my head. Witness below... Pro: Iraq is developing nuclear weapons and Saddam Hussein is one of the few people on planet Earth crazy enough to use them. If we don't attack now he'll be unmanageable in a few years. But... Why do we assume he would use them? If he did develop them it's difficult to see much of a reason for him to use them. Any nuclear weapons policy is said to have failed if you actually use them. He knows that if he did, the response from America (and probably Russia too) would be tenfold. He isn't able to build ICBM's (Inter-continental ballistic missiles - long range weapons) capable of hitting America or Europe so who would he attack? A nation with no friends is likely to feel a little paranoid. Anti: An attack by the US on Iraq could stir up the region and play right into the hands of Osama Bin Laden. It's easy to see terrorism being given a powerful justification and extra popularity from a war - Al-Quaida could pose as standing up for their Muslim brothers in Iraq. But... There seems to be a lot of evidence that extreme Islam is on the wane in the Middle East. Even Iran says they don't trust Saddam. Will the grass roots rebel - has this fear been exagerrated? What's more there are a lot of corrupt regimes in the area. It could be that Islam goes the other way. This though is something that the US needs to address by improving their relations with the Palestinians. Pro: Not only is Saddam developing weapons of mass distruction, he is also helping train terrorists. We remove him, another terrorist resource goes. Anti... Possible, although there seems to be evidence of terrorist training camps everywhere, even in the UK. Does this justify war in itself? Anti: It will be an act of naked agression But... it might prevent a messier situation in a few years. He is unlikely to have nukes (yet), so if we don't act now, then.... Anyway, this brings me straight back to my first point. Thursday
Wednesday
I've mentioned the Onion AV Club in this blog before, in particular, the columnist Dan Savage and his column Savage Love. Below is the feature at its best...
Allow me a brief introductory sentence, in which I shall convey to you the wonderment that is the result of my gleaming genes, my incredible chemical composition. "Mr. Z" is a fastidious dresser. Alas, "Mr. Z" cannot find love. All "Mr. Z" wants is a warm body to dance with beneath the moonlight. Help Mr. Z! You can read the rest of the column here Tuesday
Back to life, back to reality. Mostly today I have been...
Scrapping the walls Making music Making Anna a tape. Not much of note today, although I notice typical 'Neil' band, Godspeed You Black Emperor! have a new album out in November, produced by Steve Albini. It has the interesting title of Yanqui UXO, and on Constellation records website, there's the following schematic, like the ones in the last two albums. I was going to link to it but it's too big so you can see it by clicking here. Waiting for Anna to get back so I can cook dinner. Time for another in the occaisional recipe blog. This has been cooked for so many years that I can't remember the title or what book it came from... Spicy sausage with fresh tomato sauce and pasta. Sausage (the type is up to you although not English ones, and a mix of salami and milder is good) 
fresh tomatoes rosemary oregano onion olive oil chilli powder pasta Boil a pan of water, and in another pan fry the onion till soft and add the chopped sausage. About a handful or so a person. Add the herbs. While frying the sausage take the tomatoes and make a thin line along them with a knife and put for a minute in the water. When removed the skin should be starting to come off and should peel off easily. Remove the core and pips and put the rest in the pan with the sausage. Mash it up a bit although it should disentegrate as it cooks. Medium to low heat for the pan. When you've added all the tomatoes put the pasta on. When the pasta is ready, serve. Monday
Our home from home. They didn't mind us smoking there either
Back from Amsterdam of course. The last posting was done in an internet coffee shop, although what I posted was all I was capable of posting at the time. The two and half days we spent there all seem to blur into one. We were basically stereotypical drugs tourists. I don't think the Dutch are too bothered about violence from tourists, it's just that having large numbers of stoned people wandering round your streets can be fucking annoying. I wonder how many tourists get hit by the bikes or trams every year. We certainly came close a few times. I also annoyed the hell out of some woman in a bar because I was too stoned to work out how to get the balls out of the pool table. On the first night, we were in the Bulldog within half an hour, smoking the first of many joints. You can get them pre-rolled although I prefer to roll my own. All of us had neglected to bring a map that night so we ended up wandering around, going to various coffee shops and bars. Eventually we ended up in McDonalds where I had one of the best Big Macs I've ever eaten. You get this really nice 'frittesauss' to go with the fries too. I think though half the reason why the burger tasted so good was probably because I had total stoned munchies. One of the greatest things about Amsterdam is the fact because it's legal you can wander around without paranoia. Smoking on the streets is frowned upon but that's it. So we just drifted from shop to bar really. The small beers they do are good to because they last about the time it takes for you to share a joint. Also if you ask for a big one you get one of the 60's British ones which are so tacky and make you look a total tourist. Out of all the weed we smoked, the best were probably Hawaiian Haze, Orange Bud and I had some nice Thai grass too. I brought some Cup-winning White Widow on the first night but everyone deemed it too strong. Ben had a whitey off it which was very unusual for him - he normally has the constitution of an ox. I missed a spliff of Northern Lights on the last day which was a shame as that's been one of my pre-Amsterdam faves but by then I was tired of smoking. Stu, of course never was and seemed to smoke from the minute we entered the Bulldog till we left Global Chillage. All in we smoked about 10-15 types of weed. This has to be one really good consequence of legalisation - the choice available. It was mainly drugs although I did manage to drag everyone along to the Stedelijk museum on the first day. Found a new artist I quite like, called David Robilliard. All in all, it's nice place to visit Amsterdam although I don't think I could live there - probably give up the weed if I did! 
Dutch Artist Karel Appel, part of the COBRA movement of Dutch post war artists Finally, didn't eat much Dutch food but I did find a rather excellent Dutch fast food chain called Febo. You could get food from little vending machine hatches and it was all good Dutch food - Frikadels, crokets etc. 
mmm FEBO |
