sitting in an after hours bar, swathed in red velvet floor to ceiling, I might have gotten confused and thought myself in a brothel were it not for the guy who stepped up to the piano to play ‘flight of the bumblebees’

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typical? maybe not. but had I not been exactly where I was exactly when I was I would have missed it all - I’m definitely taking it to mean I’m doing something right ; )

saturday, not only do I get an eyeful of machine heaven as the dakar series budapest-romania warms up at the end of my street, I’m treated to twenty minutes of overhead stunt flying - barrell rolls right on the deck, vertical stalls swept seamlessly into laws-of-physics-defying acrobatics… in a turboprop!

sunday morning, start of the dakar series budapest-romania central europe rally. didn’t see any ‘71 vw beetles, but felt a six year old at christmas all the same ; ) (really want to know why the toyotas had exhaust vents pointed directly into the navigator’s window…). must have picked the right spot, cause the bikes and quads all chose the corner I perched on to pull celebration wheelies

sunday afternoon. heading home, waiting for a bus on damjanich, 16 men and women on horseback randomly pass by

out the bus window towards the north end of city park I spot tents and crowds and hop off to see what’s up. thinking it must be critical mass (bicycle event) related, as that starts somewhere at 4, but the sudden sound of machine guns shoves that idea right out my head. an unmistakeable roar fills the air and I look up to spot 4 guys standing on the outside rails of a police helicopter. it circles directly above me once then veers left to drop them right into the middle of the crowd.

some days, life is just perfect.

I can understand that people feel the need to express their views. I cannot understand how they can’t see the irony of dousing a flame of international cooperation and hope to further the cause of freedom. Of using violence to restore a culture committed to the core to the peaceful path.

What mystifies me even more is this. It’s not working. It’s having exactly the opposite effect. Nationalism in China has hit record highs, fueling the previously lagging power of the CCP. Yet still people attack.

I wish I understood why Tibet has become such a token cause. It’s no more to do with freedom than anywhere else in China. Mind, I have no idea what the Dalai Lama would do if he were miraculously returned, to power or otherwise. All I know for sure is that until 60 years ago the only education, at all, in the entire country, was bestowed upon monks. Women were, and still are, forced into arranged marriages. Maybe that’s what Tibetans want, but it doesn’t sound particularly fun to me. But I suppose ‘Dump Education, Marry Young’ doesn’t look as good on a posterboards.

When I travelled the Amdo regions I had the chance to talk with people, ask them what they wanted for their own futures, what the solution could be. Overall the answer was that they simply didn’t know. It was from them I learned of the problems under religious rule. I certainly didn’t get that part from mainstream media. Why would I, it’s not what people want to hear. Sure, they want freedom. But so does anyone in China who’s managed to unbrainwash themselves enough to realize they don’t have any now. Why on earth do people think Tibetans deserve it any more than anyone else?

For the past few years the CCP had been digging their own graves. They do this well. What started as open elections in a few problematic villages will spread. The only thing really keeping them in power was people’s beliefs in them, their hope for change within the system. 1.1 billion people taking issue with the smaller problems of their government, like corruption and rigged elections, is potentially a good thing for change. But instead of taking cues from the people tirelessly, dangerously working to change things from within we once more rush into the fire with idealistic cries and muck everything up. In response to our global protests, nationalism is rampant. Ordinary people are in defense mode as they watch their countrymen and woman attacked by foreigners while carrying a symbol of hope. Meanwhile the government, free to allow the news focus to remain on Tibet related pr stunts, quietly arrests more and more mainland activists to keep them quiet during the games.

I’ve been struggling with a similar problem in regards to Kosovo. People keep talking about freedom without noticing the concurrent headlines about the trial of Ramush Haradinaj, former prime minister of the region, for war crimes and genocide. He was recently aquitted of war crimes charges, not for innocence perhaps so much as what the NYT reports as probable witness intimidation. Everything I read leads me to believe that for the years the Albanian rebels operated in the area they hounded Serbians without reservation. And we’ve just handed them their own country.

Why? Probably because an oil pipeline runs smack through the middle.

I’m sure that’s not the complete picture either. I need to learn more. And I’m likely currently biased by the Serbian first hand accounts I heard on my visit. Or the simple fact that the whole thing is being run by Albanians, only they didn’t secede from Albania. But when I’m asked what I think, my answer isn’t to blindly raise my fist in the air for freedom, even though I’m personally rather fond of the concept, but to ask if the questioner has any information I don’t yet. And whether he does or not, to break out the google when I find myself with a spare moment or two.

I read eswn for translations, to hear what actual Chinese people are saying. What effect our actions have on the world stage. I don’t think people truly realize the extended effects even small actions have. How can they when the western media, lacking access to real information, publishes only partial stories. Yet we in the west have a luxury China doesn’t have, we can read all these lovely bits without bypassing the net nanny.

It’s so easy to get drawn into supporting an ideal for the ideal’s sake. Yes, the world needs more freedom. Yes, the world needs to better define and protect human rights. But, like most things in life, a little thought on the matter first never hurts.

while I have travelled around this country and into its neighbors, after six months I haven’t quite made it to the wednesday/saturday market 200 feet down the street.

thanks to a couchsurfer on a szentendre tour, I have remedied this situation. should I ever be in need of cheap clothing or pickled vegetables, I now know exactly where to go  ; )

I leave tonight for Budapest, so that I can be up early to pick up a rental car, to pick up Caley at a bus station in the middle of nowhere, to head… to Serbia. I’ll be surfing, thus with locals, and they don’t think there should be a problem. Even given the current frustration of Serbs over the recognition of Kosovo (Croatia, Bulgaria, and now even Hungary have just joined the chorus of voices in their favor). We won’t be in Belgrade, or Kosovo for that matter, but Novi Sad should be interesting on a number of levels. Since we’ll be properly mobile (get me, I’m driving around the Balkans!!) I’ve a feeling we’ll pop into Bosnia as well. Wish me luck  : )

Spiderman is in love with the fairies. But the fairies hate spiderman. He climbs the mount everest because that’s where the fairies live. the witches turn him into a pig. spiderman didn’t know that he was a pig. the fairies were having a picnic on a marsh. they were listening to music. spiderman went there. the fairies were scared. the fairies changed him into a homework board. the students went there and wrote on the board : stupid. the end.