July 25, 2010

FINALLY

Almost every extremist Muslim I have ever talked to has said this.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7908262/Hizb-ut-Tahrir-is-not-a-gateway-to-terrorism-claims-Whitehall-report.html

also finally out are some realistic logs of the war in Afghanistan

and here is a Channel 4 blog from someone embedded with the Americans on the frontline
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IGNORANT SHIT ONLY TEN PENCE


I usually buy these for a laugh but this one really offends me. How can "Squat holes" be described as "Muslim only loos"? You see these in Thailand, Malaysia, everyone of every religion in India use them. How fucking ridiculous is it to build sewage systems to process paper? When did humans start cutting trees down to wipe their fucking arses with anyway?

How do they get away with this?

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July 18, 2010

ITS HOME!

cross posted from my Chops blog


I have been waking up at five each morning in a panic for the last few days wondering what this would be like. Everyone has been taking the piss out of my trailer hiring ideas so I bit the bullet and grabbed my leathers. We got to Gravesend about lunchtime and once we settled up the guy (Phil) delivered us back onto the A2 on his Harley. My pal Alexa followed in the car.

All my fears of bumps more or less came to nothing. With the springs under the seat I wouldn't notice it was a hard tail- yet. Don't want to speak too soon but yes, for something so low its ridable. It seems to be true that taking all the weight off the back end and the sixteen inch wheels actually make it chuckable, but I'm not going to the one to chuck it!

The style of handlebars and the sideways movement in the seat springs makes it feel a queasy bit snakey when I let go the throttle but it powers through corners great. The small front wheel gives it a bit of a helpful tip, which I hate in sports-bikes but is quite useful when sitting at wheel level.

I turned up at Blue Chalet MOTs opposite Brands Hatch and it sailed straight thru. Really nice people there with some really beautiful old Harleys. A guy there, and a few people since have guessed that the engine as a lot bigger than it is. I think its cos of the small wheels, and the overall scale of the bike making the engine look bigger. Its certainly a lot smaller than it looks in the photographs.

Tax is coming Monday. I got up to about sixty five on the way back to London which is plenty and plenty noisy. It felt fine around town though I'd like a better mirror and will look into some small indicators. I didn't grin when I rode it but once I got safely home, I haven't stopped grinning since. Its leaking a bit of oil and I need to sort the clutch a bit but I am a happy bunny.

Before I picked the bike up I grabbed a lock at a really nice shop in the Kings Road called Gorgeous Bikes. You would think being on the kings Road it would be expensive and snooty but it was neither, the guy who runs it is a real enthusiast about everything he sells. I picked up a cover there as well but its way too big. Hopefully I can change it. I have covered the bike temporarily with ripped ton bags to protect it from the South London haters, should be OK. I'll find out eh.


UPDATE: My first ride outs in London reminded me how much I hate riding in London. Everyone overtaking me on the inside, moody van drivers plus I think I tripped a couple of cameras in those sneaky 20 zones. Riding at dusk I found that the speedo doesn't light up and I ran out of petrol after only 40 miles, luckily I had reached my destination in Highgate where this picture was taken. Riding back this morning I think the bike was overheating. Hard to tell as I have never sat so close to a bike engine before. The riding position is actually really good for London though. I hope I still have my licence by the weekend.

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July 13, 2010

WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?

Woke up feeling crap. Really forboding feling most of the morning. I think maybe I should just be awake at night. I felt better when I left the house on a wander through London checking out helmets and locks in motorcycle shops. I just remembered I put a two hundred quid deposit on a Norton in Delhi ten years ago. Shit. Anyway no matter where was I? Right. On my way to Southall to film with Abu Waleed.

We met at Southall station and went to the same restaurant where he greeted the owner.

"Its OK to film out the back?"

"Yes, but no plotting!"

We parked up on a long table next to a huge golden wedding sofa and ordered some food.

I spoke briefly about what I wanted to ask Mr Waleed, which mainly involved films like Four Lions and the Infidel, neither of which he had seen. Thankfully he had a lot he wanted to talk about so we went with that. Waleed shoots from the hip with lots to say. He is easy to talk to but I think he's going to be difficult to edit. No matter. We had done about half an hour when food arrived along with a few more from his study circle.

Over dinner one of the guys was telling me the thousand reasons why I should become a Muslim. I have sort of developed the same answers over time but having been a christian myself I do understand how important it is to take the opportunity to talk when you believe really strongly that hell awaits the unbeliever. None of them could believe that I could listen to Abu Hamza for such a long time without wanting to become a Muslim. I remember he was telling me about things Mohammed said in the Koran which had later been proved by science. He was also pleased that he had a purpose in life and questioned mine. I have a sort of stock answer for that now too.

" I don't know my purpose but my purpose has led me here, I you had told me I would have spent so much time filming Hamza and Atilla even six months before I started I wouldn't have believed it. Post 9/11 news and the invasion of Iraq led me to want to talk to Muslims and communicate with grass root Republicans for myself."

although I don't do either very much these days any more.

Anyway, nice bunch of guys.

"Are you worried about authority at all?" I asked.

"We are totally open about everything we do."

They apparently have a study circle of fourteen or fifteen guys. Hopefully I can film with them in situ some time.

"Were any of you lot with Hamza or Bakri back in the day?" I asked the guy I was talking to the most. (sorry forgot the name)

"No I am seventeen." he answered.

"Wow. Just goes to show what a beard can do for you eh. You wouldn't think I am I am ten years older than him would you?" I said pointing at Mr Waleed.

"I thought you were in your twenties." he answered.

"Just shows you what riotous living does for you. I should be trying to convert you lot eh."

So we have maybe half an hour of film coming. I know I have promised this before, I'll have to look at it first but I think this time it is pretty good. I got a good feeling when we were talking anyway.

On the way home I realised I had forgotten everything which was disturbing me. I got a bit stoned with the gang and listened to Kurdish music on Last FM which was really cosmic.

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July 08, 2010

NOT REALLY A SURPRISE

...The European Court of Human Rights blocked Thursday the extradition from Britain to the United States of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri and three other men facing terror charges...

I suppose his lawyers will eventually seek his release like Mr Katatda's did.

Abu Hamza is still here, yet we extradite hundreds unfairly (Telegraph)

There is loads more about this online, I can't be arsed to read through it all.

Also- Christ knows why this took three trials with those videos but there you are.

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July 01, 2010

YOU ARE BARKING MATE

Cross posted from my Chopper drooling blog




Beauty maybe somewhere in the eye of the beholder but there are so many fuck ugly attempts at "chopper" on ebay at the moment I am tempted to post a "rogues gallery" blog. Instead here is a Z650 hardtail I am not going to bid on. Really nice lines but its a bit.. how should I put it?

Err.. .. RED!

Still I have a feeling that if I saw this up close in real life it could tempt me as there is a lot to like here. Footrests and handlebars in a normal rideable position for UK roads, forks at a sensible angle and nice low horizontal frame rails (is there a word for them in chopperspeak? fuck knows)... Good job it is in Kent and not quite just round the corner.


***UPDATE***

Well it turns out it is actually me who is barking after all cos I bought it. Bizzare. It wasn't really a decision so much as a realization. I was just staring at it for a coupla days and it dawned on me that I was going to try and buy it. Turned out the auction was half way through the Engerland game which was a relief. My neighbour in whose house I was watching it (an ex motorcycle instructor with a CBR1000 decomposing in the carpark) said

"Watching England is like having six inch nails hammered into your head in slow motion."

We lost and I won! Scoring in the first ten minutes of the second half I was running round with my shirt over my head, doing Roger Miller dances, the lot. Fuck Engerland. No, I will qualify that- commiserations to the guys who made it to the pitch and their support staff, fuck everyone else.

No indicators, no back suspension, no front mudguard- What the hell have I done?

I haven't picked it up yet and it needs Tax and MOT. I am shitting myself. I don't think I am going to ride it very much. I just wanted to own one. I have wanted to own one since I was a spotty eleven year old Motörhead fan. I have been sporadically blogging about them for a year, clicking through ebay in an OCD haze. I suppose I must have thought it was a bit dirty wanking over other peoples motorbikes, so now I can wank over one of my own.

The guy who is selling it has had it for ten years. He loves it, but as in the case of a lot of Jap choppers on ebay I am sure- he has traded up for a Harley. Is that what will happen to me in ten years? I fucking hate Harleys!

One good thing about buying something like this on ebay is that when I see it I can say Wow! as the price has already been agreed by auction. Not every chop has the gift of looking shit hot from every angle- check this out.





Have I missed any out? I am looking forward to Saturday. This song is for me!

REMOTE CATCH UP

I may return to the subject, but as yet no new news from me, just a coupla links-

One of Hamza's son has gone down for violent disorder commited at the Israeli Embassy protest

also Rangzieb Ahmed is being granted leave to appeal and is being represented by the same barrister as Mohammed Hamid.

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