*At this moment, what is your favorite…* *1. …song?* At this very moment it’s Pretend I’m Sleeping by The Sick Lipstick, from their unbelievable debut album Sting Sting Sting. Ask me this same question a few hours from now, however, and you’ll most likely get a different answer. *2. …food?* None right now, since I’ve had a cold all week and have therefore lost the ability to even _taste_ food, let alone enjoy it. *3. …tv show?* The Mark Steel Lectures are bloomin’ marvellous. They’re like the best lectures you’ve ever been to, but better. *4. …scent?* My girlfriend. (I know what you’re thinking — “How cheesy is this guy?” — but guess what? I don’t care what you think.) *5. …quote?* I’m quite partial to this juicy one right now, which has been attributed to William Shakespeare: ==

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.

And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.

How do I know?

For this is what I have done.

And I am Caesar.

== Beautiful, isn’t it? Just a shame that it’s not an actual quote from the Bard. [http://fridayfive.org/]

Fri 23 Jan 2004 at 12:05   ·