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The Late Shift's Ninth Gate

 
  

Page: 12(3)4567

 
 
Rev. Orr
01:04 / 20.03.03
Folks. Baghdad has come under air attack. Bush claims that the 'disarmament of Iraq' has begun. Watch the war live on tv. I think I'm going to be sick.
 
 
Mazarine
01:07 / 20.03.03
Yeah. I'm listening to the news at this point. "You hit what you think is a legitimate target in downtown Belgrade and it turns out to be the Chinese embassy, these things can go wrong," someone just said, all too calmly, like that's okay. "Perhaps to give Saddam Hussein a little case of the willies."

They're playing it again. "This is what you would've seen and heard."
 
 
Bill Posters
01:34 / 20.03.03
I may have known this was gonna happen, but that does not make it any less shocking and upsetting. And the fact that my taxes are paying for what is currently being done does not make me feel any better. Fuck.
 
 
Baz Auckland
01:59 / 20.03.03
Whose camera is that? Is it Bagdhad?
 
 
Mazarine
02:02 / 20.03.03
CNN's camera, yes, Bagdhad, if I was who you're asking.
 
 
Baz Auckland
02:07 / 20.03.03
Whoever.. thanks.

Echelon monitoring or not, if there's one causalty of this war, I hope it's Ari Fleisher.
 
 
Baz Auckland
02:12 / 20.03.03
Anyone still up? What are you watching? Um. Yeah. There's going to be shouting at the American embassy tomorrow/today. Anyone else up to anything?
 
 
Mazarine
02:32 / 20.03.03
I'm going to bed. Good luck to all.
 
 
Sax
02:38 / 20.03.03
There's a war thread in the Convo if anyone wants to carry on...
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
13:20 / 20.03.03
Well, I'm going to bed.

I still hear the crickets.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
21:09 / 20.03.03
Excuse me but I have to enthuse about my day to someone and the Late Shift is the place to be so...
I went to my second protest of the day at 5pm and it rocked. I ended up holding a No War For Oil banner with some mad old woman in a black and white tweed suit and standing next to my philosophy lecturer who was singing The Red Flag at the top of his lungs with the wonderful Welsh CND women. We blocked off the road by the castle and I chatted to the fake blood splattered communists lying on the floor for a while. Then the students decided to take over and contrary to the Coalition's plans to stand outside the empty Welsh Office we staged a sit down in St. Mary's Street (land of Cardiff nightlife). The police didn't realise what we were doing until we started moving and I had ten officers in flourescent coats run past at high speed in a desperate attempt to get there before us. Very amusing. Some guy turned up with a guitar and a group of punks with cans of Stella were dancing a jig to Give Peace a Chance. Very surreal- the whole thing turned in to a street party with everyone dancing and singing and the police looked very bemused!
 
 
telyn
21:19 / 20.03.03
oooo - the same sudden carnival atmosphere happened in Birmingham too. We met in front of the council houses, there were a few speechs and then we walked round Bham city centre. The bit that made it special was that there was a group of drummers (samba I think it might have been) also with a saxophonist and a couple of people who I knew playing with poi (the girl had glow sticks attatched to the ends of hers so they looked fab). I was with another couple of music students and we were singing and a few women near us joined in too. One of my friends had her bike with her and so was wheeling this around, being incredibly noisy at the same time. It was great - large enough not to feel depressing but small enough to be really involved. The march carried on around the circuit and this time we danced alongside the band and that really was fun. I never thought I would dance down New Street.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
21:26 / 20.03.03
Raaaaarrrrrr, I love poi but I'm bloody awful at it. Everytime I try to raise the chains I hit myself in the face.
 
 
Cat Chant
21:33 / 20.03.03
I spent the day being Schroedingers Filthy Cat - ignored all the protests in favour of hectic denial drinking hot chocolate and reading the new Jacqueline Wilson in Borders (then I bought an Annie Dalton anthology because < brag > she is friends with My. Girl. Friend - oh, and because she is a genius) - and then it turned out that Schroedinger was finally on my side.

In other words, I had an HIV test at 9am and discovered that it was negative at 4pm, and did no protesting whatsoever in the meantime due to being busy putting my fingers in my ears and singing La la la. My friend T, however, spent the day blockading a motorway, and is therefore totally deserving of RESPECT.
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
21:48 / 20.03.03
I never thought *anyone* would dance down New Street

Jeesh, Deva. Calming congratulations and things.

And stop yer bragging, you. If you somehow get to meet JW I will never forgive you.

I did some protesting and yelling this evening - lots of carnivally stuff here also, firesticks esp. in evidence, roads blocked and loads of people

Then ran back here to finish cooking dinner. Which was *the best food ever ever*.

And be acupunctured for the first time, still feeling great, combination of great food and the wearing off but still tangible utter muscular relaxation which was the result of acup.

It's great, and the first of many.
And didn't hurt at all.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
21:48 / 20.03.03
Well in response to that well done T. Yay Annie Dalton and I'm immensely relieved to hear that you're not going to die of an AIDs related illness in the future!
 
 
Cat Chant
21:52 / 20.03.03
Unlikely that I will get to meet JW, BiP (have you read her new book, Lola Rose? Would be interesting to talk about) - though I did get a Diana Wynne Jones kaleidoscope and proof copy of the new book (which I have already read) in the post today.

Oh, if only I could stop bragging, particularly since T has done way better than me today so I have not a leg to stand on.

Anna, I've been meaning to ask you since you mentioned her in the Reboot Box thread, at which point I had only read Night Maze - why Annie Dalton? (Night Maze is, of course, reason enough.)
 
 
Tryphena Absent
21:53 / 20.03.03
Oh and BiP you must tell me if the acu actually does help you sleep.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
21:57 / 20.03.03
Annie Dalton because she does write sheer fantasy. She'll never be up to DWJ's standard (obviously, who is?) but I've always appreciated the dark twist that she incorporates... that slightly screwed up atmosphere that you get from Fire and Hemlock is present in her work. I remember being very young when I first read Night Maze and being absolutely terrified. She always has a little myth or reference to something that's culturally ever present in her work as well- a nursery rhyme etc.
 
 
Cat Chant
22:01 / 20.03.03
Ooh. Talk to me about Fire and Hemlock - it's interesting because it's the hettest of her books (it's a cross-age relationship as well, of course, which is interesting to me because I write cross-age slash) and it came top in a "what is your favourite DWJ book" on dianawynnejones.com, which was totally weird to me (a book without Chrestomanci in? Or even one of her fabulous selfish narcissistic boys? [ie, Howl - *sigh* {I love him}])

I wish I had read Night Maze when I was little but I was 27.
 
 
telyn
22:06 / 20.03.03
Sometimes hectic denial is entirely necessary! I think that is an excellent excuse not to protest, and a damn good reason to celebrate now.

I didn't do the walkout at noon because I desperately wanted to go to the last lecture of one of my courses today. In the end I decided that was the right thing to do, as I got to learn something useful and heard the most gorgeous piece of music in the process. If I'd been outside I would have been completely useless and tongue tied and not helped at all.

So accupuncture really didn't hurt? I'm asking from that "paranoid about needles" view point, combined with the fact that I know they are unavoidable really and I should just be good about it.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
22:09 / 20.03.03
I adore Fire and Hemlock but I too have a thing for Chrestomanci... probably the clothes actually. The thing about F & H is the terrible destructive romance of it all and that horrifying control issue and that just seems to renounce het r/ships but then Pol comes along and saves the day and she's always been the sidekick and that's even more romantic. It used to confuse me so much, it took me years to understand the book (I was 11 when I first read it), that's probably why it came top of the list because it's so confusing.
 
 
Cat Chant
22:14 / 20.03.03
ooh, yes, I like the sidekick-saving-the-day as romantic, that makes sense... (oddly, one of the things I like about F&H is that as well as being probably the hettest, it's also the f/f-iest DWJ book - Polly's relationships with other women being consistently highlighted: and it's one of the best book-addiction books I've read - oh, speaking of which, has anyone read Anne Fine's Bad Dreams? Just read it recently and it's genius, plus I suspect it of being a deliberate, if oblique, and devastating put-down to the Harry Potter books in its insistence on the irresponsibility of adults who romanticize magic regardless of its [emotional] effect on children in their care...)

Do you get the end of F&H, btw? I never did. (And Harmony, thanks for the congratulations: I am very, very, very pleased. And T gave me a beaded purse in the shape of a monkey, which is now called the "I-Don't-Have-AIDS-monkey".)
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
22:16 / 20.03.03
no, not really.

But i'm okay with needles. Not like I *love* them, but can get through it.

But, actually the sensation is totally different from injection stuff. I was pretty tense when she came to do it, but it was fine. Couldn't see the ones on the feet, and couldn't really tell when they were in. Odd sensations which I thought were pinprick pain actually spread around the points, energy moving. Really interesting.
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
22:21 / 20.03.03
Deva, not yet, but having read the review on Amazon, am going to have to, sounds really interesting. An afternoon in Borders for me, I think.
 
 
Cat Chant
22:25 / 20.03.03
Off to bed now, night night - BiP, let's start a thread when you've read Lola Rose - it encapsulates a lot of the interesting things (and/or problems) with JW for me: odd narrative movement, clash between themes & tone, etc.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
22:26 / 20.03.03
Congratulations, Deva. And the monkey.

Is Annie Dalton the one who writes about the teen angel at the angel training school? *Such* a good idea, but I found the handling alienating.

I like F&H a lot, but it's so unremittingly and generally miserable - which I know is sort of the point, but her parents just made me lose the will to live. And it's got that Iain Banks thing where the entire plot ties up in the last twenty pages or so after an allusive ramble, which I find a bit unsatisfying, and was done better in the admittedly far less complex Howl's Moving Castle...I'd have to go for "Charmed Life", I think, because Chrestomanci is so damn lovely.

On other news - just finished Adele Geras' Troy - it's been ages since I had enough brainspace to finish a "proper" book...

I feel a bit bad because I didn't go anywhere to protest today, being instead convulsed by an inability to leave my chair and a general crushing sense of futility.

I am plagued by visions of George W. fixing Chirac with a steely glare and saying in the voice of Daffy Duck, "Of course, you realise....this means war?"

Did anyone else see the video broadcast by Blair Green/Blair Yellow?
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
22:31 / 20.03.03
No, that's where my crushing futility, 'la-la-la' hands over ears gene kicked in. What did he have to say for himself.

And how shiny were his teeth?

Swear he picks up radio transmissions for GWB on them.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
22:31 / 20.03.03
God no I've never got it! I've read the book so many times and I still can't work it out but I do think that I grasp it a bit better now. I think I almost understand... just not quite.

I'll stick the Anne Fine on my list of things to read when I have money, time and commitment. Still haven't got through Shampoo Planet- does anyone else find that when they read Coupland they take a gap in the middle and come back to it later?
 
 
Tryphena Absent
22:42 / 20.03.03
I think that last post was severely affected by blackpeopleloveus.com.

I'm going home, sleep well my lovelies.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
22:48 / 20.03.03
N'Night, Anna.

Blair said...well, hard to tell, actually. In essence, that in order to continue to live as we do, and fly into a glorious future without war, disease or death, we had to remove Saddam from power. Gassed his own people, UN resolution, yadda yadda yadda. The thrust was that now that our brave boys are committed we should get behind them.

And there is an argument that he's right. In the sense that no government is going to think "Hey, people are still protesting - maybe we should tell the troops in the field to stand down." People don't work like that. The possible best-case scenarios have changed enormously.

I'm exhausted, but am doing the obsessive newslistening bit. Gah. This always happens with wars.

So, who's got their bottled water, torches and Potassium Iodide?
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
22:59 / 20.03.03
blast, knew there was something I'd forgotten today, honestly.

Hmm. Think it's entirely possible to be sympathetic to the situation that the army personnel(actually especially the reservist types, who thought they were done with the whole caboodle), and their dependents find themselves in, *without* condoning the process that put them in, and maintains them in, dangerous positions.

I think its worth continuing to make things difficult in the hope that Tony, sufficiently disillusioined by being fed scraps by GWB(and being made to look like the extremist at points), might be a little less eager to Prove His Worth To Big Daddy next time. Slim hope, but worth pursuing.


Am off to bed, but, though it's probably really patronsing and obvious advice, do try to switch off, hon. Wearing yourself into a frazzle won't affect things. The crap will still be there in the morning.

It's really easy to get hooked into the obsessive thing, did it myself yesterday, the world shrank to the PC, TVscreen and radio. Rooted to the chair.

Just try breaking it. Go for a walk, do some exercise. read a comforting book. have a beer and a fag outside on the doorstep. Or a juice. Just get

anything.

anyway, nnight dear. hope you get some catch-up sleep.
 
 
Lurid Archive
23:11 / 20.03.03
Oh god. Feeling incoherent and depressed. I've read Blair's speech and seen a clip but there are no surprises. Why should there be? (Doesn't he look really worn though?)

In a sense I think he is right. We should hope for the best (as few casualties as possible, a short conflict, democracy in Iraq). Is that getting behind "the boys"? Dunno. But there is still a point to making it clear that this war did not have popular support, at least in the medium term.

oh bollocks. I was really making progress with the insomnia, too.
 
 
Mazarine
02:10 / 21.03.03
Are they seriously calling it "Operation Iraqi Freedom"? Please someone tell me that's a joke.
 
 
Sax
02:27 / 21.03.03
About as much of a joke as the first British/American casualties being down to what looks like... a clapped out helicopter. Sigh. I love 21st Century War.
 
  

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