Winning the who's who wager

Both photographs from a Google search. Neither of them belongs to me obviously.

The reason these two gentlemen are here for today's post is that apparently my "breaking point" when suddenly jumping into others' conversations is when people obviously get footballers wrong. I just had the sheer pleasure (sarcasm) of having to listen to a bunch of lads go on (and on) about how the gentleman at the bottom (one Mr. Sami Khedira, German. Plays for Real Madrid) is actually the gentleman at the top (one Mr. Karim Benzema, French. also plays for Real Madrid).

After having to listen to five minutes of absolutely wrong drivel, I jumped in and pointed out their error. This led to disbelief and denial (with a bit of "oh, you poor woman, what do you know about football thrown in). I was feeling combative so I bet them a six pack if I were right. As of course I was (am).

The guys were questioning the loyalties of people whose family were "foreign" and that pissed me off so I don't feel too bad for being obnoxious and jumping into other people's conversations. Not that I plan to make this a habit.

Policing

While waiting for the metro at around 11.30pm yesterday, I realized that there were a fair number of police wandering along the platform (this was Gallery Place Metro, for those of yous who have been here). Then this happened:

A couple walked past. He was carrying a soft drink. He saw a cleaning staff and asked if he could throw the soft drink cup in the rubbish bin. While he was doing this, his partner laughed and said, "you know they arrested someone in 2005 for eating a chocolate while she was pregnant". They laughed and stood next to where I was sat.

It can't have been a minute or two longer when a policeman came over. He looked around at people, came up to the couple and asked something. Then, louder, "take your hands out of your pockets" (to the man). The man did--he took out his hands and lifted them a bit--not all the way like in the films). Then, the policeman went, "Do you have ID? Show me your ID. Do it. Now." The man pulled out his wallet and showed his ID. "Take it out. Now," the policeman said. The man did. The policeman then said something I didn't hear and both the man and the woman followed the policeman away from the train platform.

I have no idea what the man had done. I mean, he might have knocked over a little old lady on his way to the train station. He might have decided to nick some stuff off a bank. He might have thrown away his drink in the wrong container. Who knows. But it was interesting that:

a) the policeman pretty much treated him like a suspect. There was no, "could you please show your hands" or "can I please see your ID?". It was all, "DO this! Now!!" And if you have a large man with a gun telling you to do things, you usually do them. Intimidation at its best.

b)do we have to show ID when asked? I thought we didn't have to. I mean, I thought we were within our rights to say no, I'd rather not show you my ID.*


* Unless "we" lived in Arizona or unless it was during certain situations like driving erratically or entering clubs or driving erratically while entering clubs or trying to get on blasted Greyhound.

Getting to Know Whom?

I really need to get started on my class prep for the summer. I admit I was hoping--just a little bit--that the class would not come off. If there weren't enough students signed up, I'd have gotten half my pay and been able to get on with writing and suchlike. No such luck--my class filled up in a day (and has a waiting list). Of course, this means I have to actually have a class ready. I'm hoping to get some of the work done by Monday so am now slogging away at the university, trying to get this done.

So far, I have the outline of a syllabus. Readings are (mostly) done. But, the problem with teaching a class on something that you research, a class that's on "your" specialty I find, is the tendency to include a lot of stuff. I can think of at least a dozen articles/sources just on the Malaya "Emergency"--articles on how it was a "successful" counterinsurgency operation, articles on its naming, articles on how different ethnic groups in Malaya were treated at the time, and so on. But, I can't include all these articles for my class. After all, the Malayan "Emergency" is just one of many examples we'll be going through. So far, the whole "cutting down of things to read" has been far more difficult than I expected.

Which is probably why, after finishing a round of grading yesterday, I ended up writing about Thailand.* Specifically, about how Europeans saw Thailand (and vice versa). Using the (old) The King and I as an example, I wrote a 6,500 word essay on the politics of representation and questions of power. All in the space of an evening/night (Sleep was sacrificed. I think I've slept about 20 hours in total this past week).

And then this morning, in true academic style, I find out a lot of people have already done the same. Or something similar. However, since my essay compares The King and I with The Windup Girl and the John Burdett novels, maybe that's my "value added"? Once I've polished it up a bit, I'll probably link to it here so yous can have a read and critique. If you like.

*Inspired, in part, by a series of recent encounters in which people expect me to a)know about Buddhism and b)tell them about it.