Excuses for absence. Better than most!
Hello Natalie,
I hope all is well.
I just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you for helping me maintain my reading habits while here in Iraq. Six months down and sixish months to go.
All the best,
George
currently not blogging at EU Rota
I
know you're not blogging, mate. Look at your referrer stats. That's me, that is.
In the comments to EU Rota's most recent post announcing that for the present he would continue to refrain from disturbing the repose of the enlightened classes, I found
... Europhile blogs.
Meet the EU Patriot. Read his comments on President Bush. I think they could be best described as "quintessential".
We Europeans abolished the death penalty long time ago, because we listened to sociologists, psychologists and experts on the field of death penalty. We Europeans believe in science, not in ancient books like the bible. During his legislative period, Gov. Bush signed not less then 152 death sentences. This means for me that he killed 152 human beings. This is a sad statistic which shows his barbarity. It’s the same thing with his wars: He is the reason for these wars, not anyone else. He is guilty. For me and many Europeans, he is comparable to evil guys like Stalin or Hitler. His cheating during the election (according to US film-maker Michael Moore) makes him a kind of dictator.
And via EU Patriot's comments, meet Kirsty of Down (and out) in Amsterdam. Here's her review of The Wind that Shakes the Barley:
The lads are lined up against the wall, the women are screaming. The Black and Tans demand to know the name and occupation of each of the men. Most comply readily. All except one - Micheail; who refuses to say his name in English. The others give him pleading looks, yet he still refuses. He is taken into the chicken coop and beaten to death with a rifle butt.
Simply because he said his name in Gaelic. It is a fictitious event. Micheail was not based on any historical figure, he was of no great importance - nor did he feature in the film for more than five minutes. Yet this is what makes the scene so poignant.
She obviously
read the review in
Time Out magazine: (
"It’s not an historical event. Nor is Micheail a politician, a particular hero, or even a character with whom we’ve spent more than five minutes. Instead he’s a fictional, anonymous rural labourer invented by Loach and his regular screenwriter Paul Laverty...") In true
Time Out style, Kirsty continues:
He was simply one of the many, many anonymous farm labourers who suffered wreckless brutality at the hands of the English.
Er, didn't you say he was an actor, acting out a fictitious event?
posted by Natalie at 10:54 AM
