Alasdair Watson

1) Bush Moves Toward Martial Law. The US has previously had admirably strict laws regarding the use of the military on it’s own soil. Is this a move toward a dictatorship? I’d be astonished if it were (although the fact that the question is one that even occurs is a little disturbing). Is it alarming anyway? Yes. You all know the quote I’m thinking of about liberty and safety…

2) Via sigma7, strong rumours that Studio 60 is to be cancelled. Not a shock, given that it’s a ratings disaster, but the rumours that it’s to be replaced by reality TV or a game show have a particularly (sickeningly) inevitable ring.

Questions from sushidog:

1. When you cut your hair off, how did it affect your self-image? Have you ever regretted it?
I don’t regret it, but I do still find it a bit strange, the fact that suddenly, I blend into the crowd. I spot another alternative type walking down the street, and get no flicker of recognition from them, and that’s a little saddening.

2. What makes you angry? What’s the angriest you’ve ever been, and why?
Lots and lots of things, in an abstract sense. The state of the planet, creationism, the fact that George Bush has not yet been hunted down by an angry mob, all this pisses me off. But in a more genuinely about to lose it way, the single biggest thing is when others treat my friends and loved ones badly.

Angriest I’ve ever been? Well, in as much as it’s an indicator: the only fight I’ve ever started was at a gig, over the singer of the headline band that night yelling abuse at my then-girlfriend while she was on stage as part of one of the support acts. Not big and not clever, but it’s the only time I’ve been so pissed off that I started a screaming row that ended in violence.

I can think of one occaision that I’ve been angrier off the top of my head, but I really don’t want to talk about it on LJ (not ghastly trauma or an attempt to seem interesting, I should add, just a lack of desire to go over something long since dead and buried where other people who might know what it is can see). Ask me at some social gathering or other, if you’re curious.

3. What do you look for in a potential partner? Do you have a type, whether physical, personality-wise, or whatever?
Hmmm. I don’t think I have a physical type, other than perhaps a preference for pale skin. Other than that I don’t think any of the people I’ve dated have had much at all, if anything in common with the others, physically or personality-wise. So, erm, novelty? Only meant in a way that doesn’t make me sound bloody awful, if such a way exists.

4. Do you have a unified philosophy on life? If so, what is it?
Firewater summed it up very nicely: “We walk but once among the living, so no regrets and no forgiving”. I have no idea if there’s anything after this, but I don’t think it matters. I feel I ought to add though when I say “no forgiving”, it tend to reserve it for really *big* things – once people are on my bad side, they’re pretty much going to stay there, but it does take quite a lot to get there. Everyone gets a second chance, but a third is often pushing it, perhaps…

I once wrote quite a long post trying to sum up my beliefs, which is here, and remains pretty true, especially the part about belief being and analogue state.

5. If you had to choose between never working again on anything productive (not even your own writing, food criticism, or whatever), or working every day for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
The latter, in an heartbeat. My big problem is laziness, so if there was something compelling me to do things, that’d be absolutely great. (This is assuming that my own creative hobbies count as productive work, or at least, that I would not have to sacrifice time on them as part of working every day. And that I’d still have time to see my friends. And possibly an extra couple of hours in the day…)