thebadrash.com/ is on holiday
There won't be any posts for the next few weeks as it's the summer.
Highlights coming up:
- Completing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (which is probably preventing my posting to this site more than anything else, if I'm honest with myself). Expected to happen: 2 weeks to 1 month.
- Matt and Joe visiting us to go down to the Benicassim International Festival (FIB) which takes place over the weekend of my birthday in a town about 3 hours south of here.
We've already bought a super cool tent for it, and a headlamp similar to what miners used to wear. - My new bike. Which I haven't yet got, but will soon.
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Unpoliced Conversation
Being so comfortable in my Catalan summer, I haven't see much to blog about recently.
Probably lucky, if I'm to be a good Anglican (incidentally, I am not really a protestant). The Archbishop of Canterbury said the other day that the sheer mass of discussion and opinion on the internet is:
“close to that of unpoliced conversationâ€
Unpoliced conversation. If I were starting a blog now, that'd be the title.
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Summer solstice
Today is the longest day of the year and, as is traditional, our cacti have flowered spectacularly.







tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Boyz N the Hood
I have my copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PC!
In my lunch break, I played the first couple of mini missions (both involving a BMX bike).
I was killed on the second one.
And now I can't wait to get home and start playing again.
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Summer brings it
The failure on my part to do any blogging recently is a result of:
- having a new job
- temperatures reaching 35 degrees
- knocking down a shed
- the lack of things interesting enough to discuss, often brought on by Summer
For the record, I'm getting GTA:San Andreas next week. I am not interested in Live8. I think it's only right that they ban smoking in public places. I'm worried about the red meat. I think Neil Michael Hagerty is some sort of musical wonder. I was burnt by the sun yesterday. We're going to Benicassim this year. If I get the days off from my new boss. I like Saskia and Makosi in Big Brother, but only for their minds. I loathe media types talking about David and Victoria Beckham - the snide snobbery of some people is really too much to take.
The summer listening:
Royal Trux - Cats and Dogs (always at the top of the list anyhow)
The Howling Hex - All Night Fox
The Rolling Stones
Jefferson Airplane, the Worst Of
Jimi Hendrix live at Woodstock
Love Forever Changes
Supergrass, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, David Bowie.
(ie all the usual stuff... I like the fact you can get away with guitar solos when it's really hot.)
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Things fall apart, it's scientific
I'm wearin'Fur pyjamasI ride aHot Potata'It's tickling my fancySpeak up, I can't hear you
Here on this mountaintopWoahohoI got some wild, wild lifeI got some new to tell yaWoahohoAbout some wild, wild lifeHere comes the doctor in chargeWoahohoShe's got some wild, wild lifeAin't that the way you like it?Ho, ha!Living wild, wild life.
I wrestle, with your conscienceYou wrestle, with your partnerSittin' on a window sill, but heSpends time behind closed doors
Check out Mr. BusinessmanOh, ho hoHe bought some wild, wild lifeOn the way to the stock exchangeOh, ho hoHe got some wild, wild lifeBreak it up when he opens the doorWhoahohoHe's doin' wild, wild lifeI know that's the way you like itWo hoLiving wild, wild life
Peace of mind?Piece of cake!Thought control!You get on board anytime you like
Like sittin' on pins and needlesThings fall apart, it's scientific
Sleeping on the interstateWoah ho ahGetting wild, wild lifeCheckin' in, a checkin' out!Uh, huh!I got a wild, wild lifeSpending all of my money and timeOh, ho hoDone too much wild, wildWe wanna go, where we go, where we goOh, ho ho!I doing wild, wildI know it, that's how we startUh, huhGot some wild, wild lifeTake a picture, here in the daylightOh, ho!And it's a wild, wild lifeYou've grown so tall, you've grown so fastOh, ho hoWild, wildI know that's the way you like itOh, ho!Living wild wild wild wild, life.
Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads - True Storiestombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Religious discrimination
As I said previously, religion and race are not the same thing, and so ought not to be treated like they are. One is born with race but one chooses religion. If the law is introduced to stop me criticising people for their beliefs then it'll be the conservatives next. Imagine that, right wing lunatics with a legal right not to have their ideas criticised because they claim religious significance. On the other hand, if the law isn't going to stop criticism, what's the point of it? It is, as Polly Toynbee points out, already illegal to harass anyone for any reason.
Is this a case of giving certain powerful lobbyists something they have been calling for for years (Muslims claim they deserve 'exactly' the same protection as Jews despite the fact that Jews are normally part of the Jewish race - and are hence protected by anti-racist legislation)? Is it an attempt by certain members of the Muslim community to attribute race-religion status to themselves, thereby eroding the special status that Jews have? Or is it (which I find far more likely) another case of government passing more laws, all the time, without proper consideration? This law is either dangerous or useless, depending which way it's enforced. It should be dropped by Labour. Fat chance.
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
Bye bye HP, HP bye bye
Today's my last day at HP, as tomorrow I start a new job with a new firm, this time based in Cerdanyola. I've had a great time, made at least three friends, and had the opportunity to settle into a working life here in BCN. Also I've learnt a lot about the way colossal corporations work - and I've been in equal part shocked and impressed by the complexity of organisation here.
The new job is with a smaller but more exciting company and will call for more creativity than Order Management or Demand Planning have.
On a different slant, we visited
[edited otra vez, 14 June 2005, something seems to have gone wrong with this post (I ended up with half of someone elses post about Iraq after the last edit). Anyhow, topic closed.]
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
McLibel – McHorror – victims of terrorism
After we got home last night we watched the McLibel documentary on BBC2. For the last year or so, I've sort of relaxed my anti-McDonald's stance because of a combination of laziness and greed on my part. Well, it sounds trite but after watching this documentary last night I don't see how I could bring myself to eat another McDonald's burger.
At the same time I feel a gradual radicalisation in my opinions, reversing the changes that have occurred since I left Swansea. The only way I can explain this pleasant change is that I have achieved stability and happiness, become used to them, and have turned back to the ideas I hold to be true. I now have a far clearer understanding of the world (though my view is by no means perfect), but I find that the central tenets of my political attitude have hardly changed since my university days.
For me, the most important duties must be to promote socialism and equality, fight against fascism and discrimination, and to campaign for fairer trade and market conditions which would allow us to repair the damage we have caused to poorer countries, especially in Africa.
Fascism, racism and other discriminatory attitudes on the right wing are growing more widespread all the time. It's true that some people bandy the term 'fascist' around far too much, but this doesn't mean that fascists don't pose a continual threat to our society. In Spain especially, numerous far right wing groups have recently emerged and are using labels such as 'victims of terrorism' as a cover for their explicitly neo-fascist agenda. Racism is endemic, despite the fact that it's now more illegal than ever. But racism is easy to confront because it is wholly irrational. No racism ever stands up to reason - it is therefore easy and rewarding to combat racism wherever it occurs. The same applies to all forms of arbitrary discrimination.
I see the McLibel film as an inspiration - not just to take control and stop eating hamburgers - but to reaffirm the values I hold to be true and right. Helen Steel and Dave Morris stood up for what they believed in and eventually won through, despite being denied a jury or legal aid. I feel invigorated by rediscovering their great story.
tombcn.com - my blog posts about travel, books, food and music
