deadken posted:
hey impper theres dudes at wddp considering migrating to the rhizzone but deciding against it because you post here lol. thats some srsly scathing literary criticism
hahahahhahahaha. considering the audience wouldn't that be the highest praise imaginable? btw i've taken to smoking while i write and its AWESOME
Impper posted:deadken posted:
hey impper theres dudes at wddp considering migrating to the rhizzone but deciding against it because you post here lol. thats some srsly scathing literary criticismhahahahhahahaha. considering the audience wouldn't that be the highest praise imaginable? btw i've taken to smoking while i write and its AWESOME
hell ya br0. i literally can't write unless i can stop every few minutes to think things over while rolling a cigarette and then smoke it out the corner of my mouth while feverishly clacking away at the keyboard
you people and your latent jewishness just won't stop
e: should qualify that by stating that i am totally aware that the oppression of women is a vastly more serious issue but i want to post here too and its unrealistic to expect anybody to never make mistakes. i don't know if that last is a remotely fair way to put it, though. argh. this is so hard ._.
Groulxsmith posted:
parliaments lol
you people and your latent jewishness just won't stop
this has been the latent point i've been making ever since i read slezkine's book so long ago. you're not sayin anyhin new brodie
littlegreenpills posted:
y'all must have some really grody keyboards there by now, ick
yeah theres a lot of ash in it, whatever
It is Saturday night, the streets of Bethlehem are filled with cars buzzing back and forth, beautiful women stare out of the windows while their boyfriends and husbands cautiously and aggressively watch bystanders attempting to strip their lovers with their eyes. Everyone is rushing towards their intended destination. Any onlooker would have problems rationalizing the idea that the West Bank is poverty stricken when they see polished and new BMWs , Mercedes’, and Hummers rolling across the streets of the so called “War Zone”. The idea becomes even more unfathomable when one walks into one of the many bars and cafés that are packed with people, filled with waiters juggling alcohol back and forth, and pumping with the newest music.
As soon as you walk into one of these bars you lose all sense of being in the West Bank. Disco lights travel amidst the crowds of dancing people, the bar is full of customers downing whisky and vodka shots and somewhere in between all of this you find a DJ mixing his own version of the latest western hits. What is even more unimaginable is the women dressed in miniskirts and revealing tops, their delicate chests are lined with jewelry, their bags are either from GUCCI or D&G and their faces are carefully lined with layers of makeup. At this point one begins to remember the images of veiled women throwing rocks on BBC and CNN, an oxymoron at its best. A quick look at the men gives a similar impression, these aren’t bearded terrorists wearing turbans and throwing rocks while yelling “death to the West”, they are nothing even close to that. Some are wearing suit’s with ties, some keep their shirts open to display a chest full of hair and gold chains in an attempt to project a tough guy image as they suck on a Cohiba cigar; others are wearing skinny jeans and sporting spiky hair. No, this definitely isn’t the West Bank you see on TV.
The night goes on, some people drink too much and can’t hold their liquor, a scuffle begins suddenly and ends even more abruptly, security is always on the lookout for troublemakers in fear that their cash cow of a business will suffer a loss. Midnight approaches and the drinks are still being served. However, slowly but surely, the bar begins to empty up. But do not be fooled, people aren’t leaving to go home, the night is still young, and there is more to come.
The revving engines of new cars pollute the streets as everyone is quickly heading towards one of their destinations before the buzz of alcohol fades away. Miraculously, the local police are well aware of all the drinking and driving taking place, but they turn a blind eye. Some people remember to buy cigarettes from one of the many stores that stay open till 6 am on Saturday night. Other’s head to a liquor store and down some more alcohol there since it is considered more “economical”. And finally, people begin to drive to one of the four local discos.
Close to 150 cars can be seen parked outside any of the clubs, the people that come here are clad in the most expensive of clothing and looking their best; after all, in today’s world images are everything. Tipsily people stagger inside towards the reception where they purchase their 50 NIS (16 $) tickets and then proceed down to the bar. Heavy security is present at all entrances and carefully scan every person going inside; even sending some people they don’t approve of back out where they came from if they don’t pass face control.
Inside, the atmosphere is even more loose than at the previous bars, the skirts are shorter, couples are kissing and the drinking gets harder and harder. One of the top DJ’s carefully switches between Arabic and Western music depending on the mood of the people. The cocktails here sell for an average of 45 NIS (13 USD), the premium kinds come with their nice decoration of fruits and you can even purchase a watermelon filled with vodka for 100 NIS (32$). Everyone is greeting each other and finding a place to sit, the smoke of cigarettes and shisha’s fill every part of the nightclub and the waiters always have a smile on their face.
“Yes I drink, and I am a Muslim, but pork is where I draw the line” says a chuckling client, “could you bring me a sandwich without any bacon?” he says to the waiter. “I never understood you Fawze” bellows another man sporting a cross as big as the Pope’s. “You either do it all or you don’t do it at all”. Both men burst in laughter and bump their glasses of alcohol together before drinking them down in one take. An even more absurd situation follows when an Arab man walks towards a blond haired client, slaps him in a friendly way on the back and then clearly says in a loud voice “Moshe (A Jewish name), my friend, are you having fun?”. “Definitely!”, replies Moshe “Jerusalem is too overpriced these days anyway, do you know how much I would pay for a Green Label there?”
And so with every moment that passes you begin to break down another stereotype surrounding this part of the world. The biggest one comes when you see one of the many gay couples dancing and embracing in the most intimate of ways. You try to remind yourself that you are in the Palestinian Territories, that this doesn’t happen here, but your eyes don’t deceive you, it does; and it is happening right in front of you.
It is 5 AM and the lights flicker on, everyone knows it is time to leave, the crowd yells out to the DJ. “More, more, more!”. But no more comes, people pay their final bills and huddle out of the nightclub. Some look happy, some couples are embracing as they walk out, other people look like they could use a decade of sleep, and there is always that drunk asking for just one more shot at the bar. Outside, the cars are zipping away, some back to the Jerusalem checkpoint, some as far back as Ramallah (Northern West Bank) and others back to their hotels.
Yes, it is never as simple as it seems. And this kind of atmosphere isn’t restricted to the Bethlehem Area. If anything Ramallah has an even more intense party scene. This leaves one with numerous questions. Are people really all that different? Is the world actually converging to a somewhat similar universal culture? And if people can get along in a nightclub, why can’t they do it in everyday life? Optimistic thinking, it is never that simple.
deadken posted:
I didn't call you an idiot, I bristled at your jerky response to my casual post. you're continuing to be a jerk about it and I would appreciate it if you stopped. doing things "very politely" doesn't involve starting sentences with the word "um". I don't see you reacting to everybody else's offhand posts as some huge fucking challenge to your culinary penis.
deadken posted:
hey impper theres dudes at wddp considering migrating to the rhizzone but deciding against it because you post here lol. thats some srsly scathing literary criticism
same...
Impper posted:
maggotmaster keeps posting stuff from my book and/or about me on tumblr so in spirit he is here. i think. also lol @ WiddiP the entire problem always was the hysterical, draconian, ultra-personalized and involved moderation style. you can even see it in the weird post where they say that moderating a forum has "materially affected our personal and professional lives," which is frankly even more insane than the diaperpost crew or whatever
whoa dude stop melting down and freaking out about it geez ur obviously crying like a lil' bitch after the deluge of maggotmaster's masterful literary parodies
mistersix posted:
hi bookthread. just picked up the complete stories ("stories" ie not including novels) of kafka at half price books. i quite like that place, they usually got some good stuff in addition to the fifty million copies of dan brown novels
i love my local independent used bookstores, but half price books pwns too i just got some hegel thing there for like $2