ArthurRE: Martin Bashir too arrogant
Okay, i’ll readily admit: i also climb trees. Not because i feel like being Peter Pan, but because it helps me pursuing my hobby. But anyway…
The documentary seems to have been
twisted to create a particular impression of Michael Jackson
being a bad person in my opinion.
He wasn’t portrayed as a bad person, the result was that he was portrayed as a strange, bizarre person with a world view which has nothing to do with what most people think about do’s and don’ts.
Yes Michael Jackson has issues and yes he needs to be more
careful of how he portrays himself in the media. However,
Michael Jackson is generally a good person who as a adult
maybe is too innocent, but I generally feel he has a
fondness for children though not in a sexual manner. Yes he
may be an eccentric, but the truth is he is a kid at heart.
His freak like appearance is the result of his issues and
the way it seems he feels threatened around adults, so he
has been lead to an alienated life away from society
allowing the media to constantly ridicule and criticise him.
The media ridicules him? If he himself clumsily holds out his kid over the balcony, if he himself (camera- and media-aware as he is after 35 years in showbusiness) climbs in trees pretending to be Peter Pan, if he himself takes Britney Spears ‘Artist of the Milennium’-award seriously, if he himself admits ‘undergoing cosmetic surgery twice in my life’? Perhaps the media should protect someone as obviously deranged against himself, but i think the ridiculing is for the largest part Michael’s own fault.
I support Michael Jackson and I feel very sorry for him
because he seems nice and innocent man, also he is intelligent and has made some brilliant music.
I do feel sorry for Michael Jackson as a victim of child abuse, as a man who’s grasp of reality seems to be non-existant, as someone with really big issues concerning himself and the role he plays. Yet i am absolutely disgusted about him as a father or as a wannabe-rolemodel for children. I don’t mind Michael Jackson living mentally in another world, i mind he is passing on his totally pathetic and unrealistic fairytale worldview on his own children, and the children who become ‘friends’ (mind you, he picks the easy targets. Children with cancer, broken families, the lot). Michael Jackson protects his children from the media by dressing them almost in burqa’s, for crying out loud. Jackson is lucky the filmer didn’t portray him as the self-acclaimed prophet and messiah of a cult with only children as followers. Because that was the feeling i got from him.
As for him being a musical genius… i think that credit goes to Quincy Jones. All the stuff MJ made after Thriller is absolute junk.
ArthurRE: Martin Bashir too arrogant
Okay, i’ll readily admit: i also climb trees. Not because i feel like being Peter Pan, but because it helps me pursuing my hobby. But anyway…
The documentary seems to have been
twisted to create a particular impression of Michael Jackson
being a bad person in my opinion.
He wasn’t portrayed as a bad person, the result was that he was portrayed as a strange, bizarre person with a world view which has nothing to do with what most people think about do’s and don’ts.
Yes Michael Jackson has issues and yes he needs to be more
careful of how he portrays himself in the media. However,
Michael Jackson is generally a good person who as a adult
maybe is too innocent, but I generally feel he has a
fondness for children though not in a sexual manner. Yes he
may be an eccentric, but the truth is he is a kid at heart.
His freak like appearance is the result of his issues and
the way it seems he feels threatened around adults, so he
has been lead to an alienated life away from society
allowing the media to constantly ridicule and criticise him.
The media ridicules him? If he himself clumsily holds out his kid over the balcony, if he himself (camera- and media-aware as he is after 35 years in showbusiness) climbs in trees pretending to be Peter Pan, if he himself takes Britney Spears ‘Artist of the Milennium’-award seriously, if he himself admits ‘undergoing cosmetic surgery twice in my life’? Perhaps the media should protect someone as obviously deranged against himself, but i think the ridiculing is for the largest part Michael’s own fault.
I support Michael Jackson and I feel very sorry for him
because he seems nice and innocent man, also he is intelligent and has made some brilliant music.
I do feel sorry for Michael Jackson as a victim of child abuse, as a man who’s grasp of reality seems to be non-existant, as someone with really big issues concerning himself and the role he plays. Yet i am absolutely disgusted about him as a father or as a wannabe-rolemodel for children. I don’t mind Michael Jackson living mentally in another world, i mind he is passing on his totally pathetic and unrealistic fairytale worldview on his own children, and the children who become ‘friends’ (mind you, he picks the easy targets. Children with cancer, broken families, the lot). Michael Jackson protects his children from the media by dressing them almost in burqa’s, for crying out loud. Jackson is lucky the filmer didn’t portray him as the self-acclaimed prophet and messiah of a cult with only children as followers. Because that was the feeling i got from him.
As for him being a musical genius… i think that credit goes to Quincy Jones. All the stuff MJ made after Thriller is absolute junk.
ArthurRE: Russian Army Off-Road 4x4s
Are there any armed variants?
Only lightly armed ones, with a PK MG or something similar. Unlike the Americans who do like to experiment with unarmoured combat vehicles (the Humvee is hardly armoured – perhaps against a 7.62mm Makarov round- but comes with a whole plethora of weapon options) the Russians always preferred armoured cars for such tasks. The BRDM-2 is the choice for Soviet-style mobile ATGM or light SAMs, which is armoured. The BRDM is BTW a really cool thingy in itself: it’s 4×4 with centralised variable tyre pressure, and if the ground gets too soggy it can lower four extra wheels. If it gets still worse than that, it has a hydrojet for amphibian use. I would love to try one!
One the pic (from FAS) is one with a TOW launcher, for a nice cross-cultural mixture. It could be Egyptian or something like that.
ArthurRE: Russian Army Off-Road 4x4s
Are there any armed variants?
Only lightly armed ones, with a PK MG or something similar. Unlike the Americans who do like to experiment with unarmoured combat vehicles (the Humvee is hardly armoured – perhaps against a 7.62mm Makarov round- but comes with a whole plethora of weapon options) the Russians always preferred armoured cars for such tasks. The BRDM-2 is the choice for Soviet-style mobile ATGM or light SAMs, which is armoured. The BRDM is BTW a really cool thingy in itself: it’s 4×4 with centralised variable tyre pressure, and if the ground gets too soggy it can lower four extra wheels. If it gets still worse than that, it has a hydrojet for amphibian use. I would love to try one!
One the pic (from FAS) is one with a TOW launcher, for a nice cross-cultural mixture. It could be Egyptian or something like that.
ArthurRE: What did Everybody make of the Michael Jackson Docu…..
It was the funniest thing i’ve seen for a long, long time. I knew the guy was a sad, sad, sad example of the human species but i didn’t know it was this bad. How far can anyone be from reality before they stop functioning as a person?
If the guy hadn’t been that rich&famous, he would definately have been institutionalised. He’s a nutcase.
ArthurRE: What did Everybody make of the Michael Jackson Docu…..
It was the funniest thing i’ve seen for a long, long time. I knew the guy was a sad, sad, sad example of the human species but i didn’t know it was this bad. How far can anyone be from reality before they stop functioning as a person?
If the guy hadn’t been that rich&famous, he would definately have been institutionalised. He’s a nutcase.
ArthurRE: F-4D
PII,
I think that Happy Hooligan’s bird pic is taken at Ramstein AB in Germany, in the mid-1980s. At that time, the resident 86TFW was withdrawing it’s F-4E’s with F-16’s. In order to maintain a QRA ability at Ramstein, a bunch of ANG F-4D’s (including Happy Hooligans and those yellow Michigan birds) took over the alert role at RS. Considering the background and loadout of that Spook, i think that picture was taken there.
Nice pics though, i have to agree that bluntnose Phantoms are way cooler than F-4E’s. Unfortunately the only time i saw operational F-4D’s was when the ANG unit from Springfield, Illinois (‘SI’ tailcode, how ’bout that one?) deployed to RAFG Wildenrath in what i think was the last deployment of F-4D’s abroad ever. Apart from that, i don’t think any other F-4D’s were ever in bicycling range for me…
ArthurRE: Russian Army Off-Road 4x4s
Oh my gawwwd…
That thing is almost as hideous and pompous as that Lamborghini thing. Doesn’t one of the Gulf states use that gas-guzzling off-road formula 1 mobile-home-sized toothbrush-carrier?
ArthurRE: Russian Army Off-Road 4x4s
Oh my gawwwd…
That thing is almost as hideous and pompous as that Lamborghini thing. Doesn’t one of the Gulf states use that gas-guzzling off-road formula 1 mobile-home-sized toothbrush-carrier?
ArthurRE: Eastern Europe
That looks like my kind of place to travel. Nothing like
having the old soviet nostalgic feeling. What about places
like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania?
I’m not really fond of them, and Estonia is actually one of my least favourite countries. While these countries do their very best to deny their Soviet past, the local police forces are just as corrupt if not worse than the nastiest Russian Militsioner to name but one thing.
Estonians are a rather closed and IMHO even unfriendly, humourless people. All too keen trying to be Scandinavian (which they are not, first of all because Scandinavians are friendly and helpful), absolutely discriminating their large Russian minority (also true for a lesser extent for Latvia and Lithouania), but Tallinn is not much more than a cheap bar for alcoholic Finns.
Latvians are a bit more friendly, a bit more open, and Riga is IMHO the nicest city in each of the three countries. Nevertheless, it’s a country where you have to be very cautious for polite criminals and criminal policemen. And while Riga is nice and fun to hang out, and you can get lucky in some other cities, there are still too many dreary, unfriendly and absolutely boring places like Daugavpils there (don’t ask… i had to spend a night there twice on two separate occasions :'( )
Lithouania is IMHO the most ‘open’ country of the three, and the one least in denial of it’s past – even though you will come across the occasional group-bashings of Russian and Belorussian traders which visit the country.
All three definately have quite a bit of that Soviet-nostalgia within their borders, but they all deny that and will definately try to keep you away from it, or at least from noticing it. And their population all seem to miss that joyfully-cynical-fatalistic spirit you can find amongs so many other former Soviet peoples (of course amongst the Slavic peoples, but it’s also quite common with Caucasian and Turkic peoples as far as i have experienced).
ArthurRE: Eastern Europe
That looks like my kind of place to travel. Nothing like
having the old soviet nostalgic feeling. What about places
like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania?
I’m not really fond of them, and Estonia is actually one of my least favourite countries. While these countries do their very best to deny their Soviet past, the local police forces are just as corrupt if not worse than the nastiest Russian Militsioner to name but one thing.
Estonians are a rather closed and IMHO even unfriendly, humourless people. All too keen trying to be Scandinavian (which they are not, first of all because Scandinavians are friendly and helpful), absolutely discriminating their large Russian minority (also true for a lesser extent for Latvia and Lithouania), but Tallinn is not much more than a cheap bar for alcoholic Finns.
Latvians are a bit more friendly, a bit more open, and Riga is IMHO the nicest city in each of the three countries. Nevertheless, it’s a country where you have to be very cautious for polite criminals and criminal policemen. And while Riga is nice and fun to hang out, and you can get lucky in some other cities, there are still too many dreary, unfriendly and absolutely boring places like Daugavpils there (don’t ask… i had to spend a night there twice on two separate occasions :'( )
Lithouania is IMHO the most ‘open’ country of the three, and the one least in denial of it’s past – even though you will come across the occasional group-bashings of Russian and Belorussian traders which visit the country.
All three definately have quite a bit of that Soviet-nostalgia within their borders, but they all deny that and will definately try to keep you away from it, or at least from noticing it. And their population all seem to miss that joyfully-cynical-fatalistic spirit you can find amongs so many other former Soviet peoples (of course amongst the Slavic peoples, but it’s also quite common with Caucasian and Turkic peoples as far as i have experienced).
ArthurRE: T:A:T:U… How do you feel about them?
Well, here in the Netherlands we had ATTSS first, and now NGGU. With the sickening media brain behind the two ladies, i doubt it will be different on your side of the small pond.
After all, you’re quoting the Sun!
ArthurRE: T:A:T:U… How do you feel about them?
Well, here in the Netherlands we had ATTSS first, and now NGGU. With the sickening media brain behind the two ladies, i doubt it will be different on your side of the small pond.
After all, you’re quoting the Sun!
ArthurRE: Eastern Europe
Czech Republic? Well, i hardly call that Eastern Europe. While it isn’t yet as economically thriving as the traditional Western European nations, it is definately not a ‘backward’ country – something which is for many people the equivalent of Eastern Europe.
Whereas still plenty of people still live in WarPac-concrete, the standard of living for the Czech Republic is more or less comparable to Greece, Spain or Portugal. There is no hunger, unemployment is at a bareable level, all sorts of goods are plentiful available and affordable for the vast majority of the population, people are friendly and open (can’t help but love the Czechs!), highways are being built at an enormous rate, advertisings pollute the sights in cities and on the countryside… if you plan on going there, i sincerely doubt you’ll be able to match it with the image of Eastern Europe you probably have in your mind (well, i can be wrong of course). The first time i was in (then) Czechoslovakia was in 1990, and i have a hard time fitting my memories from that first trip to my current experiences when i go there (which is more or less once a year).
If you do want the foggy, gloomy, darkness-stricken, bored-to-death atmosphere usually associated with Eastern Europe: try a Romanian provincial town, or the entire country of Belarus. Now those are travel experiences…
ArthurRE: Eastern Europe
Czech Republic? Well, i hardly call that Eastern Europe. While it isn’t yet as economically thriving as the traditional Western European nations, it is definately not a ‘backward’ country – something which is for many people the equivalent of Eastern Europe.
Whereas still plenty of people still live in WarPac-concrete, the standard of living for the Czech Republic is more or less comparable to Greece, Spain or Portugal. There is no hunger, unemployment is at a bareable level, all sorts of goods are plentiful available and affordable for the vast majority of the population, people are friendly and open (can’t help but love the Czechs!), highways are being built at an enormous rate, advertisings pollute the sights in cities and on the countryside… if you plan on going there, i sincerely doubt you’ll be able to match it with the image of Eastern Europe you probably have in your mind (well, i can be wrong of course). The first time i was in (then) Czechoslovakia was in 1990, and i have a hard time fitting my memories from that first trip to my current experiences when i go there (which is more or less once a year).
If you do want the foggy, gloomy, darkness-stricken, bored-to-death atmosphere usually associated with Eastern Europe: try a Romanian provincial town, or the entire country of Belarus. Now those are travel experiences…
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