Pakistan Bans the Internet.

Hey everyone. I haven't been blogging for a long long while. Mostly because I started working in August and since then have had this unrealistic image of my not having time to blog. A whole lot has happened since then. Much stuff relating to the band, work, my ACCA (I'm done!) and quite a few other topics. However, right now what I feel is most important is Pakistan's currently ongoing Internet censorship. This is an email I'm sending out to everybody I know. I thought I'd post it here too.

FYI. I can't access Facebook and stuff so any comments over there will not get to me anytime soon. Comment here please. Here we go:

"Hello, fellow countryfolk.

This is a manually generated response to the plethora of msgs I recieved initially urging & then celebrating the ban on Facebook. A ban that now includes Wikipedia, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and for a short while had Google too. Apart from 450 other websites.

Some stats regarding Facebook are in need, I feel.

1) Facebooks ANNUAL revenue stream is around $1.1billion. This makes it logically IMPOSSIBLE for them to have suffered a €2billion loss in 2 days, that'd become €40billion in a week. €40billion is more than Pakistan's national debt. Therefore all the messages and/or news reports claiming so are one thing: FALSE.

2) Facebook has 400 million users. Pakistan has little more than 2 million. We hence represent less than 0.59% of Facebook and are therefore NEGLIGIBLE. Our boycotting/banning/quitting Facebook will have little to no effect on their lives/careers/business.

3) Till last weekend the controversial page over which this whole mess was created had around 4,000 fans. The night before the ban, our overhyped, insecure, overreactionary measures took that number upto 40,000. Also, this ban removes access to the many pages and groups SUPPORTING Islam and its related subjects like Islam, Salat, many pages devoted to celebrating the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBuH), the Ka'aba and many others. Also, The Guardian and Dawn News report that the page in question now has more than 100,000 fans. Can we, with a clear conscience, say that is not our fault in any way?

4) Finally, we are the only muslim nation in the world to have gone the extra mile and banned all these websites. Even the generally strict countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have only gone so far as blocking the webpages in question.



Now for some background information:


The page "Lets Draw Muhammad Day" came in response to a South Park episode where such a concept was introduced in response to what non-Muslim people view as irrational and overzealous reactions of Muslim people when such a concept is introduced and also as a reaction to the Danish cartoonist who's house was the victim of an arson attack recently.

It is completely justified to consider their actions a result of ignorance but do you really think violence and such banning of information and protesting is appropriate? When the Danish cartoons were published, there were protests throughout Pakistan that left 5 people dead. Why did Pakistanis die? Why were the protests so ugly? Is that what the Prophet(PBuH) himself would have done? Are we honoring his name, work and example by doing things he himself not have approved of? Have we even stopped to consider as much? Or did we just take everything that's been happening to and around Muslims and jump to the conclusion that this is part of a broader conspiracy against us, like we are so quick to do?

Also, why did the LHC/PTA/whoever ban all the other sites? Is there a source of knowledge as comprehensive as Wikipedia, online? Sure it's not always right and is open to malicious/incorrect editing but still. When was the last time you read a REAL encyclopedia when you really needed to get information? Update: As of last night I find that Wikipedia is accessible again but the page about "Lets draw Muhammad Day" is not.

And Youtube. How many videos are now inaccessible as a result of this ban? Youtube is 5 years old and is estimated to run 2billion videos A DAY. How many of those do you really think are anti-Islam? Really. How many of those will you come across on an average day, UNLESS you go out of your way to look for them? A negligible amount, surely. I've been on Youtube for a couple years now and have seen thousands of videos thus far. Literally thousands. Not one of them was anti-Islamic. Educational? Sure. Entertainment? Most definitely. Anti-Islamic? Not one. Sure I saw plenty of thumbnails but I didn't feel forced to go there and watch and hence be affected. Youtube and Facebook and such places aren't really forums where such discussions are taken seriously, anyway. Is is really so hard to ignore people we ourselves are so quick to deem "ignorant"? Should we ignore them at all? Should we not try to engage them in sincere debate? Did you do that? Chances are, no. Even if you did, you started and ended with anger and hate, leaving your point worthless.


Please do not take this email or any similar sentiments to mean people can't live without Facebook/Youtube etc. It's quite easy and more than possible. Arguably even better than living with them. Still, harbor no delusions. Leaving all of them WILL NOT make your life less filled with time-wasting. That's like saying there was no time-wasting before them. Youtube is just 5 years old. Facebook even less. Were you super efficient 5 years ago? Is your life a downward spiral since then? The truth is; no.

The real issue is not that all of this is unavailable. The real issue is the lack of choice in the matter. YOU didn't choose to boycott them. We were all given no other alternative. While we are so against their "freedom of speech" that allows them to say such things, our being blocked from it all is proof that our freedoms are limited. What happens if tomorrow you disagree with the government? Will you allow yourself to be silenced? Chances are, you won't have a choice. UPDATE2: Dawn reports that a total of around 800 websites have been blocked by the PTA on instructions from the government. Did you know of 800 websites that could have hurt your faith?

Wikipedia, Youtube, Flickr, Twitter have very little to do with the said page and its supporters. Blocking them does not achieve global Muslim harmony and respect. Blocking them means the government thinks it knows better than you what you should or should not see/hear/read. The possibility of the government covering up information they do not want the average Pakistani to read is not a new one nor one that is inconceivable as proven by this Wikipedia article and Dawn's reporting of what the chief of Google thought about this current scenario. This widespread banning is most probably a facade. An excuse to cover up all that they public may think is negative about the government while hiding behind the righteous curtain of defending the sanctitiy of Islam. That is a world I refuse to be a supporter of.



Thus, in conclusion; we learn that the ban HELPED those who made the page by swelling their ranks and proving their view of our being close minded and incapable of debate. We learn that the ban is probably not about the issue of Islam and the Prophets(PBuH) honor anyway. We learn that while freedom of speech and expression are guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan our government, the PTA and the LHC have somehow seen fit to take this pathetic step. Also we cut off our links to entertainment, communication and information leaving there no losers on the playing field but us. Just like when PAKISTANIs in PAKISTAN died over the Danish cartoon publication.

Good job oh ye 'faithful'. Pakistan's been screwed. Again."





My name is Ali Hasan Abbasi. I am a citizen of Pakistan, a believer of free speech and a possessor of common sense. I stand against this ban, and all other forms of censorship. I believe people are more than capable of knowing what is right and wrong and what they should or should not do. I consider this ban an insult to my intelligence, my status as a Muslim and my status a citizen of Pakistan.

You should too.

Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust;

And whereas it is the will of the people of Pakistan to establish an order :-

Wherein the State shall exercise its powers and authority through the chosen representatives of the people;

Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed;

Wherein the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah;

Wherein adequate provision shall be made for the minorities freely to profess and practise their religions and develop their cultures;

Wherein the territories now included in or in accession with Pakistan and such other territories as may hereafter be included in or accede to Pakistan shall form a Federation wherein the units will be autonomous with such boundaries and limitations on their powers and authority as may be prescribed;

Therein shall be guaranteed fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to law and public morality;

Wherein adequate provision shall be made to safeguard the legitimate interests of minorities and backward and depressed classes;

Wherein the independence of the judiciary shall be fully secured;

Wherein the integrity of the territories of the Federation, its independence and all its rights, including its sovereign rights on land, sea and air, shall be safeguarded;

So that the people of Pakistan may prosper and attain their rightful and honoured place amongst the nations of the World and make their full contribution towards international peace and progress and happiness of humanity :

Now, therefore, we, the people of Pakistan,

Cognisant of our responsibility before Almighty Allah and men;

Cognisant of the sacrifices made by the people in the cause of Pakistan;

Faithful to the declaration made by the Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah], that Pakistan would be a democratic State based on Islamic principles of social justice;

Dedicated to the preservation of democracy achieved by the unremitting struggle of the people against oppression and tyranny;

Inspired by the resolve to protect our national and political unity and solidarity by creating an egalitarian society through a new order;

Do hereby, through our representatives in the National Assembly, adopt, enact and give to ourselves, this Constitution.

-Preamble to the Constitution of Pakistan.

a day in the life of... Pakistan..

It is close to 9 am on Thursday the 18th of June that I start writing this. Power has just been restored to my locality after an outage of some 8.5 hours. Many areas in Karachi remain blacked out. Well, not so much since the night has passed and the sun is up but you know what I mean.

Usually I don't get up this early, I sleep at around 6 or 7 am and wake up sometime in the afternoon and on occasion, in the evening. Practicing to be a rockstar, you see. Since however, there was no power all night, there wasn't much for me to do while staying up hence I pseudo-slept the night away. I woke up at around 8am and started looking for things to do when I spied the newspaper lying at my door. Feeling this would be a good way to while away some time while I waited for the KESC, WAPDA and GOD..I mean, God, to concentrate their efforts in a way that power is returned, I thought I'd look throught it.

Depression ensued.

The following is a list of notable reports and excerpts as taken from the Dawn website.

Storm robs Karachi of electricity for hours:

All but entire Karachi plunged into darkness for several hours on Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm hit Pepco’s Jamshoro-Dadu and Jamshoro-Hub lines.

All generating units of the KESC, IPPs and KANUPP collapsed, disabling the city’s link with the national grid.

...According to KESC sources, the tripping in transmission lines at about 6.30pm robbed the system of about 600MW fed by Pepco’s network, crippling the entire generation, transmission and distribution network.

All units of Bin Qasim thermal power station, Korangi thermal power plants, Korangi gas turbines, independent power producers and the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant stuttered to a halt.

..The Bin Qasim plant generates over 1,000MW at a de-rated capacity while Wapda supplies about 700MW to KESC daily. The shortfall in KESC system was 1500MW late on Wednesday night.

The sudden power failure brought work at the Karachi Airport and major hospitals to a halt. Vehicular traffic faced gridlocks and congestions on major arteries of the city as traffic signals stopped working.

With maximum temperature at 35.9 degree centigrade and humidity at 62 per cent on Wednesday, people in various areas suffered at least two spells of loadshedding till evening.

Government announces phase-wise increase in power tarriff

ISLAMABAD: The government announced on Wednesday that till the end of the next fiscal year, electricity tariff would be increased in phases by at least 17 per cent as part of a condition in the IMF bailout package.

During a post-budget briefing to Senate’s standing committee on finance, Finance Secretary Salman Sadiq said: ‘We will take up the issue of allowing subsidy on electricity for lifeline consumers with officials of the International Monetary Fund in a meeting in Dubai on June 28.’

Governor State Bank Saleem Raza hinted that mark-up rates might be reduced in the wake of a reduction in inflation. The decision is likely to be announced in July along with the monetary policy.

However, he warned that low interest rates, ‘huge allocations for development projects and increase in wages’ might spur demand, leading to an increase in inflation. The annual inflation is expected to come down to 12.5 per cent by the end June 2009.

Govt, opposition spar on budget in NA

ISLAMABAD: The Opposition in the National Assembly on Wednesday blasted the government for making budget ‘overly dependent on foreign aid’, and lawmakers from treasury benches defended the government’s economic policies.

Abdul Qadir Patel from Karachi said: ‘If none of the critics can say that the next year’s budget is worse than the one for outgoing fiscal year, it means there is an improvement in government’s performance’.

He prompted desk thumping by his party colleagues when he denied allegations of corruption and said that he had never encountered anyone who was trying to ‘sell any ministry’.

Khurram Dastagir Khan of PML-N said: ‘If previous government was a failure in achieving self-reliance in economy, this government is worse.’

He said: ‘In a country where 123.4 million people live below poverty line on less than $2 a day, provision of Rs1,000 under the Benazir Income Support Programme to 50 million people will not work wonders.’

Mr Khan said heavy increases in prices of gas, electricity and petroleum products had hiked prices of all essential items and food inflation had reached 34.4 per cent.

He alleged that Wapda had used only Rs31 billion out of Rs62 billion earmarked for it in the current year’s PSDP, negating the government’s claims that it wanted to resolve power shortage. He also criticised the government of sparing the agriculture sector from direct taxation.

Police, power distribution depts most corrupt

KARACHI: The money Pakistanis spend on bribes has increased from Rs45 billion in 2002 to Rs195 billion in 2009, according to a survey carried out by the Transparency International Pakistan.

The survey report entitled ‘National Corruption Perception Survey 2009’ —indicates that police and power supply departments maintain their position as the two most corrupt sectors in the country.

The judiciary’s ranking has improved in the period under review. It ranked seventh in 2009, third in 2006 and fourth in 2002.

Customs and taxation departments have also improved their rankings since 2006. Work on the survey, involving responses from 5,200 people, began in February and ended in April of this year.

According to the report, people believed that health and land departments were also quite corrupt. Sixty-six per cent of the respondents said the existing local government system was more corrupt than the system it replaced.

About 60 per cent of the respondents said government functionaries and armed forces personnel should not be involved in commercial activities.

According to its findings, Defence Purchase Division, Military Engineering Services and Defence Housing Authorities were largest violators of rules under the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance of 2002, which in itself was not performing its statutory obligations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the privatisation ministry and the State Bank refuse to be governed under PPRA Ordinance.

Petroleum products, CNG to become costlier

ISLAMABAD: Amid the rising trend on international markets, the local petroleum rates would be revised upward by over 10 per cent after the ‘carbon surcharge’ goes effective from July 1 after the budget 2009-10 is approved by the National Assembly. Compressed natural gas (CNG) would also become dearer.

Informed sources in the finance ministry told Dawn on Wednesday that the petroleum ministry had already calculated the new petrol price at around Rs62 per litre, high speed diesel at Rs60 per litre, HOBC at Rs78 per litre.

The prices of kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) will also go up, sources in the petroleum ministry said, adding the CNG would be selling at Rs55 per kg.

Cell firms to withdraw SMS offers

LAHORE, June 17: After imposition of 20-paisa tax per SMS, the cellular companies are likely to withdraw their discount packages from July 1.

“It will not be possible for us to continue with the bundle package offers in the wake of fresh tax,” a representative of a cellular company told Dawn on Wednesday.

He said though the government in the federal budget 2009-10 had reduced the general sales tax and SIM activation charges from 21 per cent to 19 per cent and Rs500 to Rs250, respectively, 20-paisa increase on per SMS would not only burden subscribers but also affect the business of such companies that had introduced packages at cheaper rates.”

“At the end of the day it will be clear that the government has not provided us with any relief,” an official of another company said.

It is learnt that the cellular companies are joining hands against tax on SMS and will register their protest with the government shortly.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has welcomed the concessions given to the telecom industry.

“We do not see any major impact of SMS tax on the industry. However, we will conduct a study in this regard after a certain period,” PTA chairman Dr Muhammad Yasin told this reporter.

“It will be premature to say that 20-paisa per SMS tax has negative impact on the industry,” he said.

Though the cellular companies are perturbed over the new tax but they can only register their concern with the respective quarters through PTA.

The cellular industry had generated a revenue of Rs278 billion in 2007-08.

The previous taxation rate on the cellular services (15 per cent) was already one of the highest in the region.

Owing to stiff competition among the cellular operators in the country, lower tariff had been introduced to attract maximum number of subscribers. Telecom sector, according to PTA, has attracted more than US$5.6 billion foreign direct investment during the last four years.

During 2007-08, the telecom sector attracted a sum of US$1.4 billion foreign direct investment which is about 30 per cent of the total FDI in the country. During 2007-08, the telecom industry ranked second after financial sector as major FDI recipient in Pakistan.

Swat residents are ‘short of everything’, warns ICRC

GENEVA: Civilians in the Swat valley are ‘short of everything,’ the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday.

The ICRC, which claims to be the only international humanitarian agency currently operating in Swat and nearby Dir, said it was starting to distribute food for some 40,000 people in and around Swat’s main city, Mingora.

It cautioned that its ability to deliver food would depend on the security situation, AFP reports.

‘They are short of everything and will need help until the situation stabilises,’ he added in an information note.

Fighting has been continuing in Swat and Lower Dir districts, where Pakistani security forces launched an anti-Taliban offensive in late April.

About two million people have fled their homes and escaped to safer parts of Pakistan since the offensive began in the Northwest Frontier Province.

---------

Pakistan zindabad.

The PPP attacks the Shanaakht Festival, destroys the exhibit at the Arts Council

This is taken from Omar Bilal Akhtar(OBA of ADP)'s blog:

The PPP attacks the Shanaakht Festival, destroys the exhibit at the Arts Council

We have just been informed that a few hours ago, around 7:3o pm Pakistan time, a large mob of PPP activists stormed the Arts Council which was hosting the Shanaakht Festival. The mob was protesting the display of a photograph in the art exhibit section that showed a photo-shopped image of an infant Benazir Bhutto sitting in the lap of General Zia-Ul-Haq.

The mob destroyed the entire exhibit and physically threatened the workers of The Citizens Archive and all the volunteers/workers for the Shanaakht Festival.

We were slated to perform on the final day of the festival along with Fuzon, Noori, Taal Karisma and The Kolachi Quartet. As of right now,all the events for all the days of the Shanaakht Festival, has been cancelled.

Now that I've given you the news, I can't begin to tell you depth of the anger me and my band members are feeling. The Shanaakht Festival is extremely close to our hearts as well as the people organizing it. We performed at the original one and we were looking forward to sharing the stage with our idols Noori and Fuzon. We are sitting in my living room, and I have been on the verge of tears on numerous occasions. Some of my closest friends were in The Arts Council when they were attacked by the mob. According to them, the more they pleaded with the mob to stop the more they destroyed.

There is no difference between the militants in the North and the Pakistan People's Party today. None. We have two groups of people who have spread a doctrine of hate, intolerance and violence. The people who were putting this show together have been working at it for the last 2 years. It was by the people of Pakistan for the people of Pakistan. The theme of the show was 'identity' and we were looking to establish, ro take back the Pakistani identity. I guess all we have to show for it now is an identity of violence and victimization.

If the show goes on Aunty Disco Project will perform. We stand right behind The Citizens Archive and Sharmeen Obaid.

I feel personally attacked. We cannot believe that the concern of our parents which we keep dismissing has been vindicated. They have attacked our show, and our people, our friends.

For those of you who are going to come and say that it was stupid to put that picture up in the first place, you may be justified in your thinking, but there is NO justification for the kind of violence that happened as a result.

Today they attacked ART. They attacked culture and humanity. But worst of all, they attacked and threatened innocent people who were trying to do something good for this country.

I have no more words, except my love and support to the people of The Citizens Archive.

the state of the nation

Yeah. It's rant time.

The following is what I remember from today's newspaper:

Flogging in Swat:

A 17 year old girl gets publicly flogged in Swat, an area that used to be a tourist resort and is now taken over by Taliban and similar fundie fags. A situation the government has all but officially given up on. The Taliban deny they flogged the girl, admit they did flog somebody else.

Domestic quarrel leads to violence:

Some dudes in Karachi mutilate their aunt/stepmother/motherinlaw and leave her hospitalized and in very bad shape. I forget the argument but I think money was involved.

Bomb blast in Islamabad:

An alleged suicide attack takes place outside a popular Islamabad supermarket. I don't think anyone died.

Encroachment rampant in Nazimabad:

Nazimabad is an area in Karachi. Some peolpe have taken over a public park and in the space of a year (2004-2005) managed to construct a number of buildings on it. I counted around 30 in the "satellite" photo shown. The local government is aware of this yet no measures are being taken.

...and then there's this:

ZAB still deserves apology:

Some French journalist dude tells some people at some conference that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto deserves an apology for the shit deal he got at his time.



I mean, who gives a flying fuck about the apology?! Is there NOTHING more important in the country at this time?? Why is this country to brain dead? SO much shit is going on ALL the fucking time why doesnt anybody give a shit?? The government and the opposition spend months and months and millions of rupees on the so-called fight for the judiciary(which was actually just a result of Punjab not really being in the government per-se and them realising they had to pull some shit to get back into power, and NOT a nationwide uprising) and removal of governers rule and this and that WHEN THE HELL IS TERRORISM AND CRIME AND CORRUPTION AND ALL THIS OTHER CRAP IN THIS DISASTER OF A NATION GOING TO BECOME AN ISSUE WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION?!?!


We live in dark times, made darker still by the silent majority that refuses to move a muscle. We deserve all the insults we get for regardless of how many are untrue, there are more that are true and as yet unspoken.

jiya jale, jaan jale
naynon tale dhuaan jhale
raat bhar dhuaan jhale

just so all you shit-for-brains ignorant fools know;

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "BAD" MUSIC! GET YOUR FUCKING HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES. YOUR PREFERENCES ARE NOT UNIVERSAL STANDARDS UPON WHICH YOU MAY JUDGE SOCIETY. I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOU NARROWMINDED SHITS!












Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
Where is the love ¿

The day after Friday the 13th of February 2009.

I feel like a bull, if they could see colours. I can't get the red out of my eyes. So..much...red.


I went to Park Towers, which is a mall in karachi. THERE WAS FRICKIN RED EVERYWHERE!!! And what the hell! Why do people wear red on Vday? WHY?? Are you a heart or something?? Even dudes! I saw three, no four guys with RED button down shirts! Why oh why.

Plus Valentine's day is so ugh. All super super sweet and sugary and lovey dovey and merchandised. It was all there was on the radio, on tv, on the street, on those God forsaken forward messages, EVERYWHERE. I listen to the radio a lot and I heard Truly, Madly, Deeply four times today! And that's just me! It must have been played some 73 times!*

While I am all for spreading love and good cheer, I think we should be a bit more coherent and think about people who need to be loved. I'm not talking about your family, friends and significant others. I mean other random people. Like the poor, like orphans, like whoever isn't shown in the media on the 14th of February because nobody wants to show stuff that takes the masses' minds of sheep-mentality consumerism.

It's days like this that the majority of people are revealed to be hollow and incapable of cognitive thought. We choose to forget so that we may indulge in stuff that might somehow be memorable. Whatever the criteria for that is.


Flam!updates:

We will probably probably be entering this battle of bands deal that is going to take place on the 27th. What we were initially trying for was this gig with another new-ish band where we'd keep it small and keep it real but the event management company, also a rookie deal, decided to go all out, scrapped the original plan and went for this big-ass deathmatch scenario. I hope we win. Or at least go further than round one lol. I've been in one other battle of bands and in that we didn't progress, surprisingly tight though we were. Anyway, hope for the best, expect the worst.


Oh, ACCA exam result comes on on Monday the 16th. Sigh. I don't think this week will be pretty. Again, hope for the best and expect the worst.

Never in the wrong time or wrong place
Desecration is the smile on my face
The love I made is the shape of my space
My face my face

*dont ask me how I came up with that number. I do not know.


PS: if you read this bloj sortve regularly how about you 'follow' it? it could save your life you know..........

cut and slash!

Waszaa!! The exams they are the overs! The great one is free! For a bit. Much has happened since my last post, oh minions of mine. Let us et on with it in earnest. I present to you, The Rant!


Car Troubles

If you've been following my posts, which you have (Imran :P); you'd remember that post the ADP and Z&H concert, my car broke down. Had quite a few issues with it. Well, turns out that wasn't the end of it. I had a faulty water body. I mean the car. Lol. Anyway, that's what they call the mechanism that pumps water around the engine to cool it and such, don't know if thats the correct name or not. Anyway, that thing developed a leak. A la Suzuki's ghatyaness. Stuff like that apparently shouldn't havent for many many year, let alone 2. Which is how old my car is. Less actually.

So that leaked which meant water was being lost much faster than is normal hence less to go around to cool the engine hence the car heating up. That led to the gasket, thing around the piston area, to deform due to abnormal temperatures caused by lack of cooling. That led to oil mixing into the water. Which led to the water getting hot quicker and staying hot longer since well, oil does that. So it was an issue that compounded upon itself. To get that fixed it cost me 3600. Cost extra since The AC managed to screw up during this period too, something to do with belts and what not.

After all that, the car begins to make this weird creaking sound whenever I turn left. After much confusion it was revealed that the carbon bushes, again I don't know what the real name is, were done for dude to..ahem..heavy handedness through potholes. Of which we have many. 300 more for parts and I dont know how much more for labour. The AC ran out of gas too. 1200 ki woh refill hogi. But this's the best part.

When I went to get the creaking issue checked, the mechanic dude decides he needs a test drive to further his diagnosis and what not. So we take a spin around the mohalla. On the way back, we stop at this T junction. We have to go left. This school bus has to come from that left and go right. We wait so that it can pass. Stupid son of a bitch makes a short turn and scrapes the side of my car! I mean WHAT THE HELL MAN!!? So we get out, yelling so that he stops (so that in my mind I could take his face and smash it into his bus). He comes around and lo and behold when i get there theres this 2 foot long scratch and a dent with about a 3 inch diameter. We talk to his contractor who readily agrees to pay up. Surprising to say the least. Anyway, I go back to the workshop, the bus leaves and things move on. The contractor says he'll show up on sunday at around 330 while on his way back home from somewhere.

He doesn't.

At 330 his phone's off.
At 4 his phone is at his house. His 3-4 year old daughter tells me dad's not home. I talk to the mum, she reiterates.
I call from another number. The daughter says "abbu woh kehrahe hain ammi se baat karaein". A-fkng-ha.


So anyway he didn't show up. Leaving me at a loss. Not really I'll badger him come tomorrow and if he doesnt show up i'll go to his house. Which might be a tad weird since one of my friends called him up and told his wife he'd show up with dudes in case the hubby keeps skirting. Lol. I hope this doesn't end with me dead.

I hate Pakistani drivers.


Oh yay it's Eid

Eid mubarak everyone. Hope it was fun. And fulfilling.

I hate Eid-ul-Azha. Absolutely despise it. Don't get me wrong it's not the point of it all. It's the way stuff happens over here.

The entire excitement about getting "jaanwars". The trips to the market. The arguments over price.

And then theres the purpose. The sacrifice. Call me a cynic but I don't see no sacrifice. I don't think people actually even care about the whole "giving back to society and those lesser in stature" angle. I don't think people consider the whole Ibrahim and his son relation. Oh no. All I hear is planning about daawats and barbecues and what not. I mean what the hell? Are we not a "poor" nation?? How on earth do people then manage to cough up the money to blow 10grand on a measly goat?? Around 40 on cows! I mean. If everyone is SO concerned about the poor, why don't they just split the money into the appropriate factors and give it away accordingly? I'm sure Allah wouldn't mind. But oh no. Theres the family name to think of. One's standing in society to consider. What will the children brag about with their screechy friends as they run around chasing the poor beasts, urging them to run and enjoy their last days before they become somebodys karhai/qorma/kabab/tikka/whatever.

And OMG the grossness. Is it just the ones I've seen or are all butchers exceptionally unclean? Blekh. Seriously.

And why do the poor animals have to be witness to the gore? I heard somewhere that's inhumae by Islamic standards and should be avoided. Yet I don't see that happening. Also, if everyone's doing it for the religion, then surely such rigour should be reflected in other Islamic avenues too? All the people neck deep in cow intestines should be the absolute personication of piety.

Believe me it is not so.
And don't talk to me about exceptions.


Mumbai

The attacks in Mumbai. Last week's news. A thousand Indian security personnel being given the run around by what, 35 terrorists? As a friend said, respect man. Lets focus on stuff after that.

The English cricket team. They scarpered as soon as the shit went down. But now they're back. Everyone's refused to come to Pakistan. But they go back to India just days after an attack where around 200 people died in RANDOM killings. They've been offered protection by the best trained Indian security teams see. The same teams who got their collective ass whooped by 35 twenty-somethings.

And speaking of us, we initially deny any involvement and knowledge; but in less than a week two "suspects" are arrested. Who we refuse to hand over. Why the hell did we grab them then? WE are going to interrogate them then "share" our findings? Who the hell cares for that? I feel it's all a publicity stunt to show that we're going our bit. Obviously I am no authority but ah what the who.


Flam! and music in general

Recently, after going through some weird personal shit, I decided to look up the blues. In particular I began listening to this one song, Ain't No Sunshine as done by Buddy Guy and Tracy Chapman. Originally I think by Marvin Gaye, that song is really really nice. Had the feeling I needed if not necessarily the context. This lead to a youtube quest regarding Buddy Guy and the blooz in general and boy oh boy did I get results.



This song has particularly grown on me. And since I really like Chicago too, it's all the better for it.





This jam is just crazy. Eric clapton a lot younger than in the previous video and these two just burn up the notes.



Also, I rediscovered the Norwegian Recycling outfit. I think it's just one guy who does it all. What he does is take a number of songs and mash them up. Creating this totally new song that is really really cool, more so if the songs are familiar.



This is a mashup of:

1. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls
2. Ben E. King - Stand By Me
3. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
4. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life
5. Beverly Hills 90210 - Opening Theme
6. Puff Daddy feat. Faith Evans &112 - I'll Be Missing You


The video further accentuates the overall scenario.


Finally I come to Flam!. Yeah the exclimanation mark is part of the name. Saad(guitars) and I are at a stalemate in our argument about what to do regarding the band in the immediate future.
I say we should get stuff recorded so that we may circulate it to potential supporters via the net. Saad does not agree. He is of the opinion that proper recording should not be considered till we have the money to get it done where live drums may be incorporated instead of loops. That costs a substantial bit more. While I'm all for the live drums idea my main issue is that to get that kind of money a lot of time well be needed, time that will be wasted otherwise since procrastination is something we're so good at it could very well be another genre. Not that we're good at the genres we relate to heh. He says we should make unplugged versions of our songs, record them khudse and use those as marketing tools. In the meantime we should concentrate on gigs. Since they are few and far between in the coming, we should organize our own concert. A valid idea but unplugged songs take away the relation factor and people who listen to them won't recognise them if and when they like them enough to show up at one of our shows. Though the gig factor must be pursued. I wonder how we're going to get sponsors. Does anyone know anyone who could help?

This is when I wish a lot of people read my bloj.

There’s a woman crying out tonight
Her world has changed
She asks God why
Her only son has died
And now her daughter cries
She can’t sleep at night

Downtown another day for all the suits and ties
Another war to fight
There’s no regard for life
How do they sleep at night
How can we make things right
Just wanna make this right

We believe
In this love

So this world is too much for you to take
Just lay it down and follow me
I’ll be everything you need
In everyway

We believe
In this love

the long friday, a starman graphic novel.

Post. Hmm. I wonder if blog entries may be qualified as posts. Further research needed. Anyway, it seems I have found time to post another entry. Once again I am wondering why I bother. It's not like anyone is going to read it. "not yet" is all I have as consolation.

I have been away, my imaginary followers, for I am busy. Busy with studies! Yes I, rockstar-to-be extraodinaire, also study. Tis the bane of this youth of mine. Speaking of which, I've noticed I feel rather old compared to the young and happy folk I happen to see all too much nowadays. Ah..I feel a rant building up.

ADP, Z&H and Ego.

Friday the...umm...ah 28th. Aunty Disco Project and Zeb and Haniya are scheduled to perform at The Forum( a mall in Karachi for my international followers). I hear about it on the radio. CityFM89 to be precise. Guess what? It's free!! HOLY SHIT FREE!!! Petrol cost 27 bucks a litre when I arrived in this country. It's been upto 84 recently. A medium sized loaf of sliced bread was for 12. Now I think it's 30. Imagine what a step forward, or well maybe backward, a free concert is!

ADP is one of my favourite favourite current Pakistani bands. I'll post a video or two of theirs in this post chalo. Anyway, these guys are insane. Plus they're regular dudes. No bullshit. all about the music. They have regular jobs too! Which makes them all the more appealing to me since they represent the possibility factor of my rockstar aspirations. Though I would readily give up a regular job for a life as a hugeass rockstar but at the very least I'd like to be a moderately huge rockstar if I have to have a dayjob too. Anyway! So um...yeah! They put on a kickass show too! Lots and lots of energy, jumping around and what not, OBA is really good as frontman and Yasir adding that special flavour with his darbuka chops and holyshit OK is like our David Grohl(very very high praise if you are an ignoramus)!!

Zeb and Haniya are also pretty respected in my bands-I-am-a-fan-of list but since I have yet to give their album a proper listen, I was mainly concerned with ADP.

All in all I was pretty psyched about going, and despite the fact that I had exams looming over me head, due in less than 5 days after the concert; I planned to go. I mean come on! Plus since it was on a Friday, there was no risk of The Forums "family day" bullshit which, like is common in our hypocritical nation, mean you cant get in unless you have a "female" with you. "femail" in some places. Or a toddler. Do not think you and your 3 "mail" cousins may enter. Oh no no no, you are not the kind of family that counts. Apparently it has something to do with rowdyism, lecherism, ogling hotties(yeah that's sexist whatever, screw you!) and generally being douches(don't see you resenting that now, do I?).

So I grab Ali Murtaza and the Bilalman and reach The Forum bang on time at 530. Oh hey everything's set up, cool! Lets go lets go..."Sorry sir, families only hai aaj"...."(wtf) friday ko bhi..?"..."jee sir *greasy smile*".

At this point, an appropriate catchphrase to sum up my insanely foul mood would be "HULK F*CKNG SMASH!!!". All I bloody wanted was to show up at a show, with a couple of friends and have a good time and leave. Thats Fcking it! But no! Since our illiterate and unexposed nation is permeated with bloody asshole MAILAS who's idea of a good time comprises of taking pictures without consent and passing comments and general douchebaggery and since like our fckng police our security culture is to try and make the problem just go away without having to actually do anything about it, our people erect these hypocritical, discriminatory FAMILIES ONLY signs that suggest that if you don't have the appropriate amount of Y chromosomes in your immediate vicinity or preferably in you, youre a maila too! This is actually a ploy to hide the fact that any security apparatus erected is a sham and just window dressing. What's the bloody point of SECURITY if you can't fckng SECURE even the will to carry out your own objectives!?

We stayed around for a bit, tried to call in any people who could either bring "family" or be our "family" but to no avail. Some unknown younger brother-elder brother kept Bilal from contacting his elder brother Mikaal and asking him to help us out. He did however mention the situation to his mum when he called to see if he could wrangle his actual family(the kind thats real!) to come and in doing so get us in. That didn't work exactly as planned but it did. When we reached Bilal's house after giving up hope, we found that Mikaal had left and would get us in. By then I was thoroughly depressed, but my spirits slowly began to rise as we returned to the forum and lo and behold! Where there were 3 dudes, now there were 4! But we got in because we had a "family" member with us. Hurray for hypocrisy. Asswipes.

It was 630 when we got in and thankfully, ADP started just as we got in. Yay! Being vertically challenged, I had difficulty seeing over the heads of everyone in front of me. Since my compadres weren't as excited about the deal as I was, I made my way alone to the front...um..row. If you could call it that.



That's Imran Lodhi on bass btw. He's left, it's Ali alam now he's not in this video.

Once again, ADP were INSANE! OBA and Ali Alam were jumping so hard I thought the stage would collapse! OKs skinbeating was so furious the kit was vibrating to no end and Yasir was well...show stealing intermittently like he does. It seemed like this was the show. This was the headline. No one was waiting for Zeb and Haniya it seemed. I wasn't at least.
An eventful moment came in the form of OBA suddenly throwing down his guitar at some interruption and storming to the side to have what he surely wanted to be a heated conversation but it turned out to be a sheepish one as he, sheepishly, came to the mic and announced they would be taking an Azaan break.
They came back in a bit, continued their set and ended loud. Ali Alam took over guitar and vocal duties in between, that was tightness too. Then everyone left so that OBA could do Nazar solo. That didn't really work well due to the hustle and bustle of the environment. An issue that affected the response Z&H generated as well, but I'll get to that in a bit. They also debuted a new song which wasn't totally new but ah well, not everybody's as fan as me! Which isn't much either but over there I was hardcore baby!!

Z&H were up next. We finally discovered that out of the two the guitar player is Haniya and the only vocals madame is Zeb. Haniya had done something to her ankle and was thus sitting down. Their band was the dudes from Co-ven minus Omran. Heck if Omran'd shown up all my dreams would've come true. For just that night and that concert I mean.
So yeah, Sameer is a good bassist and I happen to adore his guitar, Sikandar Mufti is ace drumwise and lol, Humza Jafri is a Talibani. No he isn't but he has the requisite beard. It's more than a foot long! And omg! His guitar his a movable pickup! Instead of multiple pickups and selectors for them, the pickup itself moves! Amazing!



Initially Humza's back was turned to the audience for a couple of songs. Eventually he turned forward. Their show wasn't really wild and crazy, stark contrast to the ADP show but then, it wasn't supposed to be. This wasn't ADP this was Z&H, cool female bluesy folky singers from up north. They did what they do and they did it well. Although I felt their laidback vibe and softer music didn't really work well in attracting people in such a busy environment. A mall is a place where I can now safely assume you need to be loud to be noticed. Lots of requests were being shouted out and they played all their big songs; Aitebaar, Chup, Rona Chhor Diya etc. They even played a stripped down version of Paimana Bitte, on rampant request even though it wasn't part of their setlist.

They were giving out free tshirts too of that very show. But only to the frontmost of the front rows. That too only the girls. Who didn't even want them! Ugh! Discrimination strikes again!

It ended at that. I caught up with Yasir post-show and asked him what we(Flam!) needed to do to be able to play with ADP. He gave me the basic version, stuff that I already knew. get a sponsor, arrange a show etc. Couldn't really work up the courage to ask him if they had any shows coming up where they'd be willing to let us open. And then we left. But the night was not over. Oh no.


The Perilous Journey Home!
En route to Bilal's we stopped at Jeddah Haleem Center near the former Schon Circle in the Mottas area for shawarmas. After that, we'd just u-turned and were on our way towards Teen Talwar when on the turn above the underpass my car which was already out of gas, ran out of petrol as well. A situation I'd been dreading for a few days now since I'd been conducting mileage experiments on gas and had regularly been using up my petrol reserve without remembering to fill it up again. Darkie and Bilal got out and pushed but progress was slow. Very slow. Fortunately a petrol station was closeby but at the pace we were moving I had to get out too and push which somehow drastically improved progress.

As we reached the pump a passerby pointed out that my rear passenger side tire was punctured too. I had not noticed that, till then. I got fuel then turned to the corner where there was a tire shop. Got the tire fixed there. Then sped off to Bilals to drop him. and sped on towards my house. I had gotten barely half a kilometre away when I noticed my engine was heating up to unGodly levels The needle was ABOVE the H symbol! Itsa gonna blow!! I stopped quickly to the side and called Bilal and told him to bring me water to put in. Our inexperience in the matter and stories we'd heard about similar situations led me and Darkie to be overaly cautious when opening the radiator cap to put in water. The one bottle I did have with me I expended splashing all over the place, causing much steam to rise. The place was dark. Really dark. Mobile snatcher dark. Thankfully none came and eventually we got it open and by then Bilal showed up too. Filling up the water, I dropped him back to his house and left with Darkie once again. Thankfully I got home without the car acting up again. Though it did in the subsequent days and the effects of that incident have cost me 3300 bucks so far. Add the tire, shawarma and the fuel charges to that and we come to the grand figure of 3700.

Free concert? Alas, it did not prove to be.

Been down so long, getting up didn't cross my mind,
I knew there was a better way of life that I was just trying to find.
You don't know what you'll do until you're put under pressure,
Across 110th Street is a hell of a tester.

Traffic and driving in Karachi; the Ali approach.

Hello again rabid followers. I see you have yet to receive your shots. Bartender..

Ha Ha, yes that was indeed a pune.

Today's rant shall be about traffic in Karachi. How it sucks to high heaven. How shit brained motorcycle dudes do whatever the fk they want to and if antyhing happens to them it's always the gari walas fault. I mean what the hell!? A few days ago, traffic was really slow opposite my complex thingy. Cars stopped or moving real slow and what not. The whole nine yards. Out of nowhere, this motorcycle comes streaking in and around cars at around 45kmph. In out left right you name it he did it. Up ahead, on the left side of the road obviously...well not obviously, a bus had stopped(a rare occurence in karachi) to pick up some people. Motorcylce dude miscalculated his last swerve, his bike caught the end of the bus and stopped. He though, went flying on.

Ah, satisfaction.

Oh look some upstanding city folk coming to tell him off and that he got what he deserved..what...why're you helping him?? Is he alright?? Screw him! What if that was a person he'd plowed into?!? Oh please. Sigh.

Moving on. With hate.


I drive fast. Not crazy fast. More like 80-is-my-zone fast. I indicate, stick to the appropriate lanes, over-take from the correct side(the right the right!) and generally am not a douche with wheels. Nothing up there that says other people aren't, is there? Hmm nope. Cuz they are. Faggots.

One of the finer representatives of shit drivers are those who are FoB. Fresh off the Bus. I.e. theyve just moved to the city. Most of them can not read, let alone write. But somehow, they are considered fit for driving. Surely they must start off small, yes?

No.

Besides the few who putter around in those small pickups known only by the manufacturer's name, most of the others get the big stuff. Buses, tractors, trucks and lorries. Take that and apply the law of the jungle and you have some scrap metal fun. I've had quite a few brushes with these 4-6 wheeler death dealers of my own. The most recent I will illustrate.

This happens at the Karsaz Rd and Dalmia traffic intersection, for those familiar. I am going from clifton to Gulistan-e-Johar and hence from Karsaz onto Dalmia.

This is me waiting at the signal. Starting line. Pole position. Everyone around me, get ready to eat my dust.

As you can see, my signal is red. That is all that is keeping me motion-less. If you forget about all the jumping-around-to-the-radio that goes on inside the car.

Okay one signal down, one to go! I know when these guys are done, it's me! Haha! Oh hey wait...that means when they're on Yellow..I am too...I can blast-off early...

Haha! I was right! We are yellow simulataneously! Eat burnt rubber suckahzxxzzszz!!

Oh...what is that I see out of the corner of my eye....

HOLY SHIT A TRACTOR PULLING THIS TRAILER THINGY!! HE LEFT AT YELLOW TOO!! MUST BRAKE BEFORE I CRASH INTO HIM!!!

*our protagonist has not yet seen that there is not one, but two tractors. this corner-of-the-eye business is very overrated. let us zoom in a bit so that we may see what unfolds more clearly*

WHAT THE HELL THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!??! IF I KEEP GOING I'LL CRASH INTO THE FIRST ONE IF I BRAKE THE SECOND ONE WILL CRASH INTO ME!! WWBD!?

*our story continues at roughly 50kmph which, considering the proximity of the involved bodies, is pretty damn fast*

I'll only have one shot at this. I must brake hard, but not too hard, swerve to the left madly so that im clear of the first tractor and out before the 2nd one slams into me..HOLY STUPID MOVES, THE SECOND DUDE LET GO OFF THE WHEEL, WHY THE HELL ARE BOTH HIS HANDS UP IN THE AIR!?!

Bloody hell that was close.

Nobody gonna take my car
Im gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car
Its gonna break the speed of sound
Oooh its a killing machine
Its got everything
Like a driving power big
Fat tyres and everything

I wish, alas.

gossiping manbitches, parenthesis explanations and acronyms.

Our story begins in a little known area of the sprawling metropolis of Karachi, an area known as Buthyland(Bath Island). There is an educational institute here, one quite famous in the circles it is known in. Its name is CAMS(no im not telling you what that stands for). In it we find the protagonists of our story, Amir Bilal and Ali Hasan(names should have been changed but we had budget cuts) and in September 2007, the aforementioned duo came created a plan. A plan to partay. A plan to go to LUMUN(Lahore University Model United Nations).

Since ACCA is a shitty educational option if you plan to party due to its similarities with private O and A levels study schemes i.e. no regular attendance mandatory(hence no unavoidable interaction with other people hence many barriers in socializing and hence creating opportunities to partay! woohoo! yeah bab...); CAMS did not really arrange many extra curricular activities. The few that were organized were mainly due to student initiatives. This was known to our heroes(:P) but what they did not expect was that when they reached the "student counsellor"(pfft!), she would have in her drawer a 2 month old invitation from the organizers of LUMUN! Which they never did anything about! What treachery was this?! Wilfull subversion of extracurricular opportunities?? A dastardly move! Undeterred, Bilal and Ali presented their case and proposed that if they could get the students and handle all the communication and pay for everything(the above mentioned ACCA plague gave CAMS all the excuses they needed to be cheap bastards); they should be allowed to go. CAMS, having very little liability, agreed.

fast forward selectah!

Ali and Bilal gather dudes and dudettes to go.
Ali and Bilal communicate with LUMUN people. Country is Jordan.
Ali and Bilal arrange outifts representative of Jordan(more or less)
Ali and Bilal leave and arrive a day early and Lahore, discover logistical shit at the hotel and sort it out asap.

(thats us with the original Fidel Castro at the Global Village. The one in Cuba was a double. Bilal's been thru India as you can see)
Ali and Bilal do the drill; committees resolutions etc.
Ali and Bilal manage nearly everything since the head delegate was a worthless ass.
Ali and Bilal stay in LUMS quite late, working on ...work..and radiocabbinb back to the hotel.
Ali and Bilal stay in lahore 2 days after the MUN is over.
Ali and Bilal return to Karachi, determined to return for LUMUN 08.

warp speed to september 08!

Ali and Bilal keep up rapport with CAMS' "student coordinator" and plan LUMUN 08.
Ali and Bilal attend LUMUN training session at the most desolately located beaconhouse in the damn world!
Ali and Bilal plan with "student coordinator" how to attract team members, which type of students to attract etc etc.
Ali and Bilal find out they're not on the team.

HOLY WHAT THE?!?!?

I know right!? It turns out some manbitches on the team were green in the ass about our staying in LUMS late while they went to the hotel on the arranged shuttles. I mean wtf ass, if you wanted to stay you could've?!? They thought we were partying our asses off. The 2 extra days we spent in Lahore further proved their hypothesis in their minds. They also went and told the shit-for-brains "coordinator". Who created a mental image of us being drunk, crazy, wet tshir...crazy dudes who just wanted to go to party. And she screwd us out of the team. With a shit excuse so riddled with truth-piercing bullet holes that we saw right through it from the start. I mean what the hell! We do ALL the work and just cuz we dont gossip and suck up at will means this is what we get?!?

Welcome to Pakistan and politics for nobody, Ali and Bilal.
Hadd hogayi.

Screw this shit im going to LUMS next year for my MBA and so help me I will BE LUMUN!!

McDonalds. metal (un)detectors and bond...james bond..

Aao Jiggy hojaen.

Famous last words.

So anyway! I go with me buddy Bilal the Doggy, no idea why he's called that...by just one person, to study and shit cuz we have exams in the beginning of December. Different exams but I go anyway. I can leave the house, drive (which I happen to like) and hang out with somebody who isn't an idiot. Though I suppose other people would call us idiots if they heard the stuff we say and laugh at.

But i digest.

On weekdays, we go to the McDonalds at Seaview to study. Every weekend our relationship with them takes a downward swing. The fact that single dudes aren't allowed has nothing to do with this. We go there cuz we dont mind the chaos, they have tables at the appropriate height and cheap yet effective cappucinos. Which we are now addicted on since we've been doing this for around 3 weeks. We don't accomplish much in the 2 hours that we're there but if were the kind to think about stuff like that we would've been done with our respective ACCAs.

At McDonalds, there is a pair of statues of the man, Ronald McDonald on a pair of benches. Yes one on each. It appears that this seems to form a 'mortal enemy' image in the minds of all children of all nationalities, i.e. Pakistani and Korean. Children will climb on the benches and inflict their best attempts at a smackdown on the figures. They will slap his face, kick him in the ribs and punch his neck. I have seen this many a time.

Also, they have metal detectors. Which do nothing of the sort. Usually the guard standing besides them(guarding the detector I suppose) asks us to deposit our keys and cellphones in this tray besides the contraption while we walk through so that the arsenal we carry upon ourselves is revealed. But they never beep. Even WITH the cellphones and keys they dont beep. WHY HASNT McDONALDS NOT BEEN BLOWN UP YET?! PROOF THAT PAKISTANIS ARE NOT TERRORISTS!!

They also have metal detectors at our single cineplex. I happend to walk through them today when I went to book seats for Quantum of Solace. With everything in my pockets. The thing went nuts. It's beeping made nearly eeryone turn around and look and I could hear their thoughts as they said "OMG, Mullah Omar!......I bet he's here for Dostana..."

Curiously, the FOUR rent-a-cops besides this device didn't appear to give a shit. Or maybe i was walking so fast they thought if they did try to stop me I really would blow up.

I don't need no consolation,
I dont want no reservation.
I only got one destination and that's your dirty love,
Your dirty love.