h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

An Englishman in Brussels - Let's get this straight.

Posted Jun 20, 2000

Everybody who reads the papers, watches the news or does not live on the moon has heard about the violence during the currently held European Championship Football. There has been much talk about whether the English should be banned from watching continental footballmatches. the general concensus is that the good will suffer with the bad(very true), and that such measures should therefore not be taken.

As much as I am an Anglophile(ask around, please ask around) I disagree and would like to get the following off my chest.


1. The English(or maybe even British) so-called 'footballfans' have succeeded in alienating everything and everybody in the last 15 years. They have made people afraid of all English fans and 'fans' because the latter tend to demolish the bar after they had a drink. Mind you, they have not made people afraid of 'The English' in general, only when related to football.

2. If I had invested half of my life in a nice business or a great family I would be tempted to throw the bloody hooligans out as soon as I would spot them. You cannot blame the Belgian policeforce for this. They do not behave like that with all footballfans as they have shown so far, and they are pressured by the local population into protecting their assets.

3. The police cannot recognize the friendly football-lovers from the Isles from the idiots who ruin the game, how could they ? So if 900 people are arrested and 'only' (the word in itself is ridiculous here) about 380 are sent back, the reason may be that the Belgians actually check at the policestation before they ship someone out. It does not have to mean that they are trying to 'score' (sic).

3. I do believe that if the Dutch or the Belgians start a riot, the police are there pretty pronto to end it so why should foreign people be treated special. Remember the Coolsingel last year ? That's what I mean.

4. Most of these 'fans' CANNOT drink properly. The pubs in England still mostly close around 23:00 pm, so the general tendency is to get drunk before that time. On the continent the bars close no earlier than 01:30 am, and that means they keep on drinking after they have had quite enough. Most of those so-called 'footballfans' (my apologies to the real fans) just drink on and on and on, roam the streets with beers in their hands(illegal everywhere), start a fight about nothing(illegal everywhere), etcetera.



So why should they not suffer the consequences ? It would be too bad if they took down English football with them, it would be a shame if no Enlish person could attend a match abroad in the future. But if the choice is whether to ban the English from continental footballmatches or have our houses burned down, I definitely know where I stand.


For the record : Every time I typed fans in this response it meant real ones. Every time I typed 'fans' it referred to the rabble that causes these problems. We used to call them punks but nowadays, according to various sources, the 'army' consists of all sorts ; unemployed people, bankmanagers, lawyers(would you believe it?), etcetera.

Idiots, as I said.



Yours truly,

TM.

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Latest reply: Jun 20, 2000

Posted Jun 14, 2000

Hotel California


Op een donkere woestijnweg, de koele wind in mijn haar
De warme lucht van Colitas, die opsteeg hier en daar
Verder op in de verte zag ik een schemerig licht
Mijn hoofd werd zwaar en ik kon niet meer
Ik had steeds minder zicht

Daar stond zij bij de deur en ik hoorde de missiebel
Ik dacht dit kan de Hemel zijn maar voor hetzelfde geld is het de Hel,
Maar toen stak ze een kaars aan, en zo zag ik het licht
Er klonken stemmen in de donkere gang, stemmen zonder gezicht,

Welkom in het Hotel California
O zo'n mooie plek
O zo'n mooie stek
Ruimte zat in het Hotel California
Iedere tijd van 't jaar, staan we voor je klaar

Ze draagt dure juwelen, ze heeft nooit genoeg poen
Ze kent een heleboel jongens die ze haar 'vriendjes' noemt
En ze dansen op de binnenplaats, koel zomerzweet
De een om zich te herinneren wat de ander 't liefst vergeet

Dus ik riep om de ober, ik zei : 'breng mij mijn wijn'
Hij zei : 'Het lijkt wel alsof we terug in '69 zijn'
En steeds weer klonken die stemmen van heel ver weg
Je wordt wakker in het holst van de nacht, maar wat wordt er gezegd ?

Welkom in het Hotel California
O zo'n mooie plek
O zo'n mooie stek
Neem het ervan in het Hotel California
Om het even wie, zorg voor een alibi

Spiegels aan het plafond, Champagne met ijs,
En zij zei : Wij zijn allemaal reizigers hier op onze lange reis
En in de mooiste kamer plannen ze het feest
Ze steken het keer op keer maar ze doden nooit het beest

Het laatste dat ik mij herinner, ik rende naar de deur
Ik wilde terug naar de plek waar ik was geweest tevoor
Relax zei de portier, en luister naar wat ik zeg
Je kunt je rekening betalen maar je komt hier nooit meer weg…

© TowelMaster 2000

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Latest reply: Jun 14, 2000

Perhaps today...

Posted Jun 14, 2000

Perhaps today IS a good day to die !
I say let's reinstall the pc...


I'm starting to feel like a Klingon-warrior...

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Latest reply: Jun 14, 2000

Ermm....

Posted Jun 14, 2000

Hmmm...well I think it's about time for a new entry but unfortunately I can't think of a subject right now...

Discuss this Journal entry [1]

Latest reply: Jun 14, 2000

To my fellow researchers

Posted May 29, 2000

Hi to all,

Just want to say to all those people who should be on my page as a link, that I have not been able to update my page for about 6 months now. I sent the people at the towers an email and I am sure they're working on it right now.

In the meantime however, this will have to do(sorry Kheldar, ClownMCP, Arutha, Don Vito, Don Alfredo, Pseudemys, etcetera).

TM.

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Latest reply: May 29, 2000