Yesterday I witnessed my first uberviolent football standoff in Edinburgh. Two groups of about 20 men were not just fighting but truly trying to kill each other with all manner of materials: their belts, pieces of wood, garbage cans, fists and feet. They were smashing the windows and doors of a pub to get at those inside (who were desperately trying to hold the doors shut). One group of five men threw another man to the ground and kicked him repeatedly in the head (while holding onto a pole for extra leverage) until finally a brave woman drove up and chased them off. The injured man couldn't stand, and fell into the road. The animal pack mentality was utterly terrifying and depressing to witness.

Naturally by the time the police arrived everyone was gone. No ambulances came and the very injured man was left/allowed to walk home. Not only was he probably brain-injured but he was also an aggressor and should perhaps have been questioned... the police were quite useless... honestly one of the most horrific things I've seen, with also no clear "bad guy"... and all for football? Or?

photo blurred for obvious reasons...

In brighter news, I visited a lovely friend in Dublin last week. It was delightful to spend time with Sir Valliard, philosopher extraordinaire. Sadly, Dublin is perhaps the most expensive city in Europe: a crap bottle of wine costs 7 euro and a glass of wine or a pint is about the same in a pub. Speaking of crap haha, Krapp's Last Tape cost 30 euros on the cheap day, so there was no Beckett for me or any other person not middle class... The new SoGo Festival was also too twee for us, and seemed to have spent more money on advertising and forming partnerships with posh restaurants than on quality events. Nonetheless we amused ourselves immensely, as we had the comfort of the wonderful Irish faces (and the stellar collection of books and music) at The Secret Book and Record Store... plus the pure joy of excellent conversation.