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musicandchips
Thoughts from 30-Something London
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003 :::
Survival of the Fittest
I survived! Hurrah! Like Daniel I entered the lions' den, tamed the savage beasts and emerged triumphant and unscathed. Like David I squared-up to the giant Goliath, and with one simple stone brought about his utter demise. Like Theseus I found my way through the maze and slew the evil minotaur.
OK, ok, so maybe DJing isn't quite so heroic, but to successfully balance the needs of the most pop-tastic of cheese-loving party-goers and the uber-trendies of SW London's bar set without any bloodshed was an achievement of some note. Like Lady Macbeth and her 'damned spot' I'm still having to wash my ears out with soap and water at least five times a day (I still can't believe I actually played the Grease MegaMix !!), but that's about the extent of my punishment. Actually I was quite lucky; I kept the regulars happy for an hour or so, and they could clearly see the pain etched into every molecule of my body when I reverted to the non-music, so they were actually quite sympathetic. And the cheese-mongers were so pissed they left with only the memory of the last half hour or so, during which they had been more than satisfied with Bananarama b-sides, A1 album tracks and 60's wedding faves. No sweat, job done, beer earned.
Tonight I'm off to the wilds of South East London to meet a friend. For those of you not familiar with this fair city, SE London is virtually un-served by public transport (at least there are very few tube stations), and therefore, like Australia, has evolved it's own unique fauna. They look pretty much the same as other Londoners, but are far more dangerous. Normally this wouldn't faze me too much, as I have every faith and confidence in our Greater London Police Constabulary to protect my person in inclement areas. Today however, and for the next three days, my survival must take second priority to one Bush Junior. Half, yes half of the total operational strength of the Met Police has been re-deployed from serving and protecting the interests of the tax-payers who pay their wages to averting the hundreds of terrorist strikes Al Queda are planning to launch mercilessly upon the person of the President (non) Elect. Apparently the Pentagon wanted London Underground to halt services running under wherever Dubya may be in case someone blew up a train under him. How stupid are these monkeys? The underground system is buried hundreds of feet underground! A sizeable Nuke detonated at that depth would hardly disturb the dust at ground level! Oh, and our mobile phones might have to be blocked, in case we use them as remote-control devices for launching missile strikes or something. For f*cks sake! And there I was thinking that the actions in Afghanistan and Iraq made the world a safer place! And for all that a 61 year old grandmother was still able to scale the gates of Buckingham Palace and hold a protest vigil up there for a number of hours yesterday. Even disgruntled fathers in Spiderman costumes can hold large areas of central London to ransom for a whole week. What possible good will a 10 million pound security operation possibly be if someone REALLY wants to hit the president? "Ramp up the fear factor guys, those pesky Brits aren't falling for it!"
Today my stereo has featured the ambient genius of The Orb. The world's a safer place in the hands of whalesong-sampling hippies!
::: posted by Andy at 11/18/2003 07:26:00 PM
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