This week.. well, should call it this month.. Over here in Holland, we got ourselves a very, very disturbing shituation: Theo van Gogh, a controversial movie director, was assassinated last week in Amsterdam. You probably heard it on the news, it got coverage on the BBC, CNN and other media outlets. Why was he killed? Obvious yet difficult answer: a 26 year old Dutchman of Maroccan origin couldn’t agree with Van Gogh’s views on Islam and decided to take matters in his own hands. There are a lot of discussions on a lot of topics going on: the real reason behind the murder, the bombing and burning of mosks and islamic schools, the bewildering fire attacks on christian buildings (in retaliation?), the anger, revulsion and fear of most citizens (regardless of religious views), the politicians fumbling the ball on every aspect of the event and, last but not least, the mismatch between the supposedly politically correct tolerant self-image of Dutch society and the reality of a society that has to deal with having about one million people of a religion they don’t know but fear.
Do not get me wrong, I don’t especially like or dislike Islam, I sure as hell do not dislike anybody because of their beliefs. I’m a bit more of the disliking of people in general and that’s based on my moods. People I specifically dislike are those that use the commotion to gain personal or political profit and those who are playing judge, jury and executioner by taking matters in their own hands.
What can be done? Don’t know, I’ve been keeping myself a bit emotionally distanced from the whole thing. because getting overcome by all this is something that happens way too easy. Personally, I think that the confrontation is inevitable: part of the hate and revenge cycle must probably run its course, but a different confrontation should happen also, where people of all beliefs and background should talk about what happened and try to start understanding each other a bit better. Now, I know I sound like Rodney “Why can’t we just all get along?” King, but this has to be stated by all parties concerned: we do not get along with eachother on all topics of life all the time, but at least we should be able to agree to disagree and find a way to work with that given truth.
What else? Well… So, Bush won and this election has shown us that what people want in a leader is defined by location: people on the west side of the Atlantic (the voters) want a man who can make Tough Decisions and takes a Moral stand against Evil. People on the other side of the pond (and the rest of the world probably) want a man that understands that his responsibilities extend beyond his own yard, so either you keep the smoke from your BBQ in check or you invite your neighbours over for a nice meal and share the wealth and responsibility.
What else? Well.. The Dutch Shituation took another turn for the worse when a routine arrest of possible terrorists went wrong and resulted in a 10 hour siege in the middle of The Hague. In the end the suspects were arrested but three policemen were injured during the initial arrest. What really, really made things interesting is that two of the suspects were brothers, children of an American-Dutch couple. The young guys were converted to Islam a coupla years ago. Now, how scary is it, when you can’t identify a muslim terrorist by his traditional beard, darker skin and other simple stereotypes, because now the terrorist can be a white anglo-saxon middle-income, suburban kid? Wow.. Now we’ll even have to adjust our prejudices, that’s just too much!
What else? Well.. Band Aid 2004 is happening and the lineup of the current incarnation holds the cream of the crop of pop stars. I really couldn’t give a flying frig about the stars or the fact that I really, really hate hearing another cover of the “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” track. But, I’m very glad that there is renewed attention to the people in need in this world and that will help me endure even Dido or Coldplay. Even more important: the Live Aid DVD box is on sale now and I’m guessing all or most of the money generated will also go to the Band Aid Trust, so buy the frigging thing. I remember that day like it was yesterday.. not really, coz twenty years on a lot of other things kinda happened, but I do know I was in front of the TV during the whole thing with my tape deck and VCR in recording pause, waiting for my favorite bands and artists to perform. Two things will always remain in my brain: Sting’s performance with Branford Marsalis (I’m guessing, “Roxanne“) and the video they showed with music from The Cars, “Drive“. Every fucking time I heard that song after seeing the video, I still get chills down my spine: the whole world saw what Live Aid was fighting for - the people in need, the pain and agony and heart and strength. So just buy the frigging thing, willya?
What else? Well.. I got bored again, so I googled this up for ya: Mescaline Experiences
This week’s album reviews:
Joss Stone - “Mind, Body And Soul“
The Streets - “A Grand Don’t Come For Free“
Check my album reviews here
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