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Bookazine Book Review: The Anti-Terror Checklist
by Lang Reid
The cover was what initially attracted me to this very
slim paperback on the shelves. Bright red with the title in large block
capital letters. It simply hit you in the face with impact. Written by a
Bill Stanton, a former New York City police officer and private
investigator, the back cover suggests that you prepare for the
unthinkable. It suggests that you will be ready for anything, which
includes explosives, biological weapons, chemical weapons, and nuclear
weapons. It also indicates that you should protect yourself with
personalized checklists including medical, communications, financial,
contingency plans, emergency kit and securing your home.
 Published
in the latter quarter of last year, it begins with the statement
indicating that post September 11th life has
irrevocably changed for us all. This, according to former NYPD, PI and now
author, Stanton, has produced fear in the populace, and “Living in fear
is no way to live.” So far (page 3) he has nobody disagreeing.
The main part of the book begins with a chapter on
explosives and did, somewhat repetitiously tell the reader that explosives
are different from other terrorist weapons, in that explosives happen and
that is the end of it, unless of course, the terrorist programmes a second
round of explosives 30 minutes after the first.
Various types of chemical weapons are discussed in the
next chapter which finishes with the reassuring words, “In spite of
their use in military applications, chemical weapons would be difficult
for a terrorist to employ successfully.” Thank goodness for that - we
can lie easy in our beds tonight.
Next up are the biological weapons and nuclear weapons.
Again, the ultimate weapon of destruction, the nuclear weapon is too
expensive to make for most terrorist agencies, and again I can sleep
without the need of lead BVD’s.
After listing all the ways we can go directly to
Valhalla (do not pass go, do not collect $200), author Stanton then gives
the Checklists promised on the back cover. The advice is self evident.
Take money as credit cards might not work. How sage! He also suggests
taking a copy of his book. As a fire starter perhaps?
The review copy was obtained from the Royal Garden
Plaza Bookazine outlet (next to Black Canyon and Boots, 1st floor) and
retails at 275 baht. At only 90 pages and very small ones at that, it
would be difficult to justify the price of 3 baht a page. Personally I did
not get much out of it, other than how to make a reasonable explosive with
fertilizer and fuel and got a lot of pages suggesting I write down the
names and addresses of the members of my “Team” who will all take to
the hills together, complete with one gallon of water per day per head. In
the event of a major disaster, it would seem prudent to have a water
tanker filled and ready in the backyard. I very much doubt this book’s
ability to make anyone “ready for anything”. It came across as a quick
way to ride the swell of mass hysteria following the WTC terrorist
attacks.
Movie Review By Poppy: Kate & Leopold
Kate (Meg Ryan) and her brother Charlie (Breckin
Meyer), who is an actor, live in New York in the 21st
Century. Stuart (Liev Schreiber), Kate’s ex-boy friend, has an apartment
on the floor above. He finds a gap in time by jumping off the Brooklyn
Bridge, this enables him to go back to the eighteen hundreds. When he is
there Leopold (Hugh Jackman), a man living in the 1870’s, notices that
Stuart is taking photo’s with a modern camera and so follows him and
ends up in the 21st Century. Leopold is hopelessly
out of his depth in his new surroundings. Charlie thinks that Leopold is
an actor, who is always in character so helps find his way about.
 Kate
is disillusioned after having Stuart as a boyfriend, and she is not
interested in anything but her career. That is until the inevitable
happens and she falls in love with Leopold. But they are miles apart
(excuse the pun) in experience.
Kate thinks that Leopold would be the perfect
spokesperson for a new brand of low-calorie margarine that her company is
producing an advert for. The trouble is there are other matters of
‘time’ on Leopold’s mind. If he doesn’t get back to the past, the
future may not happen as it should.
I usually like these dopey fantasy movies and I love
Meg Ryan but this movie is incredibly boring!
Directed by James Mangold
Cast:
Meg Ryan ... Kate McKay
Hugh Jackman ... Leopold Alexis Elijah Walker Gareth
Liev Schreiber ... Stuart Besser
Breckin Meyer ... Charlie McKay
Natasha Lyonne ... Darci
Bradley Whitford ... J.J.
Paxton Whitehead ... Uncle Millard
Spalding Gray ... Dr. Geisler
Josh Stamberg ... Colleague Bob
Matthew Sussman ... Ad Executive Phil
Charlotte Ayanna ... Patrice
Philip Bosco ... Otis
Andrew Jack ... Roebling
Stan Tracy ... Photographer
Kristen Schaal ... Miss Tree
 Mott’s
CD review:
The End ... But a new beginning Jumpin’ Jack Flash ... The Rolling Stones (Part I)
by Mott the Dog
By the beginning of 1968, “The Rolling Stones”, to
all intents and purposes, were finished. Their pathetic attempt to follow
The Beatles with “Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” and Jimi
Hendrix’s “Electric Lady Land”, their satanic majesty’s request
had failed miserably and been enormously panned by critics all over the
world.
Their last single, “We Love You” (including its
prison door clanging opening), had been the first Rolling Stones single in
four years not to go directly into the top five worldwide. Then add to
that the bass player, who had lost interest (Bill Wyman was actually
amazed this little pop band had lasted so long). The drummer would have
been happy to go back to playing Jazz. Original leader Brian Jones had
gotten himself into a terrible state living the Rock ‘n’ Roll life
style to the full, and had already reduced the Stones effectively to a
quartet as his contributions to the Stones over the past 12 months had
been negligible at best. Sadly, within 12 months he would drown in
mysterious circumstances in his own swimming pool. The management was in
tatters, all of them trying to rip the Stones off for as much as they
could, trying to line their own pockets before the ship went down. The
outlook as they say was pretty bleak.
However, as we all know through all this, nobody had
reckoned on the Glimmer Twins. Yes, those two warring Rock ‘n’ Roll
brothers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. (Mick Jagger, the first man that
had managed to get the words “sexy” and “Englishman” in the same
sentence for over a decade.)
 Could
they pull the wood from the fire? Of course they could. Forgetting all the
jiggey pokey of that silly giggly Maha Raja, they had been off learning
the cosmic universe. From there they got back into London’s studios and
started doing what they do best: Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Released in June 1968, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, like
a bolt out of the blue, gave the Stones the kick-start they needed to
resurrect their career.
With a shattering “get up on your feet and dance”
opening riff, you immediately knew the Rolling Stones were back at their
dirty outrageous best. Keith Richards was playing guitar like nobody knew
he could before. Crunching riffs that grabbed you by the throat told you
who the boss was, and never let you doubt it as it came time to breathe
again.
When it came down to a solo for the song, Keith plucked
it right from the depths of the devils own guitar playing (whether Keith
had to sell his soul for this one shall never be known). As bass player
Bill Wyman was not around, Keith is the man responsible for those amazing
bass lines that run through the song (it’s always worth turning your
bass up on the CD player for this one).
Supplied with this soundtrack, the other Glimmer Twin
flipped and came out with a bunch of lyrics to suit the occasion. This is
the final verse and I think you’ll agree, Mick knew he was back:
“I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled
I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread
I was crowned with a spike right thru my head
But it’s all right now, in fact, it’s a gas!
But it’s all right now, I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s a gas! Gas! Gas!
Jumpin’ Jack Flash, it’s a gas”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” put the Stones back where
they belong, at No. 1. So, without even touring, the Stones had reclaimed
their crown as the number one Rock ‘n’ Roll band in the world ... and
we still had a Beggars Banquet to come.
The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger - Lips
Keith Richards - Guitar & Bass
Charlie Watts - Smart Suits and Drums
Bill Wyman - Watching and Waiting
Brian Jones - There in body but not spirit
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