Let’s have Iraq keep what’s Iraqi. They bought the Fury many moons ago, so it’s theirs. I also doubt that the relatives and loved ones of the killed or wounded British soldiers would like to recieve a letter saying something like

“Dear Ms. Smith,
we’re very sorry your son died in our war with Iraq. Yet, we’re happy to inform you his death was not in vain. The deplorable death of your loved one has secured the posession of an old and rusted piece of flying machinery for our British heritage. Back in the old days, we scrapped all our own aircraft of this type but thanks to your son’s death we can put another one on display.
…”

Personally, i think this is a bit out of proportion.

Alas, i do think the Fury won’t stay in Iraq for too long. What i fear even worse is that this airframe will be given a fake FAA paintjob to make it represent something it never was, is nor will be. That Fury is Iraqi, and should be appreciated like that. Even if you steal it.

Just my humble and insignificant opinion.

Born under the landing pattern of RAF Brüggen and RAF Wildenrath in the Netherlands in the town of Roermond, but spent most of my youth fifteen kilometres to the West to some craphole, more under the landing pattern of Kleine Brogel which was OK until the 104s got replaced by F-16s.

After that i lived for a while in Amsterdam (Schiphol nearby, the only military aircraft flying over back then were Singaporese Fokker 50s on test- and delivery flights) and Tilburg, within cycling distance of Gilze-Rijen (Dutch Apache base) and Weelde (Belgian gliders, Piper Cubs and storage). Then went back to the Brüggen landing pattern (Wildenrath had closed by then), and now the stovepipes of the NATO E-3A’s at Geilenkirchen pass over my flat.

New Order is nice, but IMHO nowhere near as good as Joy Division. Interesting about Joy Division is, that Ian Curtis never reached the same level of moronic adoration which seems to have happened with Jim Morrison (yuk) or Kurt Koppijn.

The Cure – yes, but the older the better.
Smashing Pumpkins – If i’m in the mood for pompous bombast i think it’s great. But only then.
Cocteau Twins – OK, but not enough to warrant a tape of them somewhere in my car.

Why hasn’t anybody mentioned Killing Joke yet? Still alive and recording too.

I absolutely hate the Doors. A former housemate of mine totally adored them and had this strange fetish for Jim Morisson (“He was definately the greatest poet ever!”) which turned my attitude of not liking them into utter disgust. I tend to sing Modern Talking or something whenever a Doors song is playing.

“At the BBC” and “B-sides” are more or less the same as the ‘Rough Diamonds’ bootleg. There is some great stuff on those, including the UK Surf version of Wave of Mutilation. Some might know that as the end tune of Pump Up the Volume, a not-so-succesfull highschool drama with Christian Slater.

cease to resist, giving my goodbye
drive my car into the ocean
you’ll think i’m dead, but i sail away
on a wave of mutilation
a wave
wave

Oh, and a stupid question: i don’t think i ever heard the Jesus and the Mary Chain version of Head On. Much difference with the Pixies version?

Dammit, i got Where Is My Mind as well.

I thought i’d be more empty-headed, more in the realms of Cecilia Ann or so. Ah, i guess it depends on my mood. Tomorrow i’ll try to get Wave of Mutilation (in the laid-back UK Surf variant of course).

Biggest dissapointment was when i missed the final Pixies concert in the Netherlands – it was only announced one day in advance, and considering it was 200 kms away for this 16-year old… Very much alas. They were great at Pinkpop though, and i got a bootleg of that Eden Hall concert, so at least…

The Breeders still are active, they released an album a year ago. And even though i think Frank Black has gotten better over the years (less kitchy, especially after joining up with The Catholics), a joinup would be great!

Benjamin, do you have the perfectly silly Dutch version of Where Is My Mind by Koos Kreuk?

A typically Dutch movie? I guess ‘Schatjes’ nicely portrays our family life, ‘De Fanfare’ our corniness, ‘Turks Fruit’ our nice way of covering subtlety in rudenes… But i think ‘Spetters’ best portrays the Netherlands as a country, but you do have to take the social outcry that film created when it was released too.

However, i don’t think one film can ever be enough to portray or even symbolise a country. Each and every film is bound by the setting in which it takes place, be that a social environment, timeframe or simple the storyline. A film can wonderfully illustrate a part of a nation’s history or identity and can sometimes even give a taste, but i doubt it can completely represent a country.

Just for example: which film illustrates Britain better: The Full Monty, or Pride and Prejudice? I think both do an outstanding job in their own niche.

This board has it’s ups and downs – sometimes things seem awfully out of interest for you, but then suddenly things get going again. And since it’s summer now, it would seem a lot of people turn things down a bit (except maybe for the Indian and Pakistani flamebuddies).

Of course, posting a new thread might help. Sometimes even the whiniest first postings can evolve into highly interesting threads. Just ask Phantom II 😀

As for a quiz: it’s actually one thing Ja Worsley was good at. There are a number of on-line aviation trivia quizzes, some of them are way too easy while others are very tough. I don’t think i would be the right guy to start a quiz though, but now i think of it…

Haven’t seen any footprints on the water recently, so i guess not.