Spring In The Air

It's been a while since I've figuratively put pen to paper and first of all, thank you for your emails (however brief, John-no) enquiring as to my general health and failing that, my mental well-being. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that both are as robust as ever.

It's been a busy week on many fronts, interesting things happening all over the place in my life, mostly good, some atrocious and one or two were even fantastic....

Let me start with where I left off last week. My lovely Chelsea were about to beat Barcelona at home and that went horribly wrong - that could have been enough of a blow to stop any fan writing, but not the True Blues....we're made of sterner stuff! As nothing was really happening on the political front that inspired or required comment, I decided to wait for the weekend Six Nations rugby to cheer me up.
That too went decidedly pear-shaped as Scotland whipped our asses. I say that because even though the score was only 18-12, any loss to Scotland in anything (except maybe curling and caber-tossing) should be considered an absolute thrashing. For a Celt's point of view, you may want to visit the "poem" that MacDara, who's got a good pair of lungs on him, posted courtesy of the G-Man - it is really very funny.

I was going to go and watch the Ireland-Wales game on Sunday but was having serious doubts about who to support (ya listening, Mac?) so I decided to stay home and lick my wounds. I was further pacified by my lovely Chelsea winning on the same day. I almost felt like my old self last night as England put on a decent performance to overcome Uruguay 2-0. A special mention should go to Ireland for whipping our bête noire and old nemesis, Sweden, but they were mainly powered by a Chelsea boy in the form of Damian Duff, so perhaps it is to be expected.


Most of downtown Beirut is today (and for the immediate future) looking like a SWAT team training camp. Snipers all over the rooftops and military types on every corner. I would have taken a photo of them but was afraid of being mistaken for target practice.
The reason for all this security is that the increasingly rare animal that is the Cabinet is rumoured to have been spotted in the downtown area and we're taking no chances about scaring it away, especially since the understandably skittish El Presidente has made an appearance.
So now we're supposed to have faith in a Cabinet that can't even agree on a meeting place let alone anything under discussion?

First, it was supposed to be Baabda and the anti-Syrian camp refused to go there - and rightly so. Then El Prez was going to come to Beirut but his 'security' said they couldn't secure downtown properly, so it was off again. Now it's on again. Whatever.
Elias Murr, the Prez's son-in-law, gave him a mouthful about not protecting him and even quoted his father-in-law as telling him that he should leave the country lest he become "a slave or a corpse." Niiice.
Murr apparently then finished up with "resign, and go back to being a grandfather to my children." Good role model for them.

Once again the momentum given by popular support comes to a crashing halt at the doors of wherever the Cabinet meets. I find it ridiculous that a country as wealthy as ours could be in terms of brainpower and adaptability should be again run into the ground by a governing body better suited to some banana republic - especially when El P turns up with a ton of folders, apparently detailing the past of each Cabinet member, just in case there's any mudslinging to be done.
In fact, in fucking infuriates me.


And just to add insult to injury, here comes the National Unity Dialogue. I have a problem with each of those words on their own - put together they sound like a punchline, but I can't figure out the joke just yet. It doesn't matter what you call her, folks, she's still just a really ugly girl.
Hezbollah wants their keeping their weapons at the top of the list before discussing anything. Others won't budge until removing Lahoud is top of the list. Yet others won't say a word about anything until the truth behind Hariri's assassination is placed firmly at the top of any list. And there are still others who believe the economy should pull rank. There are even blah, blah, blah, yawn, blahh...
It's all going to end in tears.

The only thing that really interests me is how I'm going to park to be able to pick up my books at Virgin downtown.


Enjoy yours.