Jump to content
aberdeen-music

Quick Questions


Frosty Jack

Recommended Posts

Get a shwarma and try the chips with the peanut sauce when you're there and definitely try some surinamese food because... when will you get the chance to eat that again? Immigrant food is great in Holland. Except chinese. I really don't know what chinese folk move to Holland but it's definitely not the good cooks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Soda Jerk said:

Anyone that has been to Amsterdam, can you recommend cool things to do that aren't hookers or drugs?

Also, how's the best way to get around town. Tram? Bus? Is there day passes you can get that will get you unlimited travel? We'll be in a hotel just south of the city, supposedly a 15 minute tram or a 20 minute bus. What's best?

I know you said no drugs...but I'd be straight to a head shop to get some salvia and some dragon stones and speak to fucking God about math and shit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 3/22/2017 at 3:30 AM, ca_gere said:

I know I should know this but, what caused the cease fire? And how has it been maintained for 20 years?

Thought I'd chip in here: 

The first ceasefire in 1994 was because the British Army had considerable assets tied up in Northern Ireland, and the nationalists in Northern Ireland were uniting around a political solution as the IRA had shown no capability of achieving their goals by force. People were tired in the IRA, and Gerry Adams (who advocated a political solution) was able to convince the IRA that a peace deal was in sight. Unionists were also getting tired of the constant violence, especially the UUP who were starting to show that they could agree to power-sharing in Northern Ireland. The IRA were also getting a lot of bad publicity, especially after the Warrington attacks that killed two kids. 

The first ceasefire fell apart because Sinn Fein were getting nowhere, and the ones in the IRA that advocated military solutions were able to point to the failure of the peace process between 1994-1996. The British leadership wanted the IRA to decommission their arms before taking part in peace talks, while Sinn Fein told them to get lost, so they were in deadlock. 

So - the IRA were back to violence in 1996-1997, but the reality was that the security forces had used the ceasefire to their advantage. They were able to do a lot of in-depth analysis into previous incidents, which is how they were able to catch the infamous sniper in South Armagh - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Armagh_Sniper_(1990–97) - while they had also used the ceasefire to collect intelligence. It's too long to write here, but the security forces were closing in on the IRA as a whole, so it was better for them to go for a second ceasefire. The new Labour government was also very keen on a deal, so everyone was able to work together towards something realistic. 

So - why has it held? It's essentially because people were tired of all the fighting. Sinn Fein has no real interest in violence (especially as they've enjoyed a lot of electoral success since 1997) now, and public opinion went massively against violence since the Omagh bomb went off. A lot of the Provisionals were also more interested in making money, while loyalists have also been mostly happy to support the DUP rather than restart war. It's also because the hated RUC was replaced by the PSNI, and the police are behaving themselves these days rather than being seen as an occupying force.

I'd say, most of all, the reason for peace holding is simply because people had had enough of violence. But I think it will explode again in our lifetimes. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I too late to answer the Amsterdam question? I was there a few months ago. 

Get a three day travel pass in central station. Covers trams and buses and the trams are awesome. 

Go to Anne Frank's house and the Van Gogh museum. 

Prebook tickets online and pay the extra euro for queue jump tickets. Turn up to anything on the day and you'll queue hours to get in. 

Have breakfast in the concert hall on Museumplein. Lovely breakfast in a really fancy cafe with piano concertos in the background. 

Watch out for bikes. 

Madam Tussauds is quite shit but Ripleys Believe It Or Not is good. 

I haven't touched a joint in over 10 years, ate some brownies one night before bed and then freaked out and had a horrible time. Don't do that. 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Lemonade said:

I haven't touched a joint in over 10 years, ate some brownies one night before bed and then freaked out and had a horrible time. Don't do that. 

That was probably the problem. It takes longer to kick in. You could be waiting an hour for a brownie to kick in. A lot of people tend to eat more in that time and end up far higher than they wanted to be. Also it reacts differently when cooked/eaten. A lot of people say it gets you higher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jaaakkkeee said:

That was probably the problem. It takes longer to kick in. You could be waiting an hour for a brownie to kick in. A lot of people tend to eat more in that time and end up far higher than they wanted to be. Also it reacts differently when cooked/eaten. A lot of people say it gets you higher.

I've since heard this. And yeah that's pretty much exactly what happened. I was chilling watching Sister Act 2, nibbling on brownies, they weren't doing anything, "must be shite" I thought, and ate more. Then it all hit me at once and I got ultra mega paranoid, kind of hallucinatey. It was shite. Tbh the reason I stopped in the first place was because it was having this effect on me, getting super crazy paranoidz, disappear into myself, no fun at all. Then there's the fact that I hadn't touched it in 10 years so my tolerance was 0 and I went straight to Amsterdam level weed. Bad move. 

Edited by Lemonade
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Lemonade said:

Am I too late to answer the Amsterdam question? I was there a few months ago. 

Get a three day travel pass in central station. Covers trams and buses and the trams are awesome. 

Go to Anne Frank's house and the Van Gogh museum. 

Prebook tickets online and pay the extra euro for queue jump tickets. Turn up to anything on the day and you'll queue hours to get in. 

Have breakfast in the concert hall on Museumplein. Lovely breakfast in a really fancy cafe with piano concertos in the background. 

Watch out for bikes. 

Madam Tussauds is quite shit but Ripleys Believe It Or Not is good. 

I haven't touched a joint in over 10 years, ate some brownies one night before bed and then freaked out and had a horrible time. Don't do that. 

You're not too late. We're not there til August. Thanks for the info!

Can you get travel passes at Amsterdam Airport? We get in at like 7am, but we can't check in til 3pm, so we were just going to get off the plane, head in to the city and start getting stuck in to all those hookers and drugs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Soda Jerk said:

You're not too late. We're not there til August. Thanks for the info!

Can you get travel passes at Amsterdam Airport? We get in at like 7am, but we can't check in til 3pm, so we were just going to get off the plane, head in to the city and start getting stuck in to all those hookers and drugs.

I *think* you can only get them at Central Station, but you can get a train from the airport straight into Central Station and then you're right in the city centre as well. They're cheap too, I think we only paid about 14 euro for the 3 days unlimited travel. Get to know the trams because Amsterdam is the most confusing place to walk around. Nothing is in straight lines and all the streets look the same. 

Seriously BTW I can't stress how much you need to prebook. I went to the Van Gogh museum at 10am on a Sunday (with a roaster of a hangover) and there was about 200 people queuing outside. Everything is so so busy. 

Check Paradiso for gig listings too. They always seem to have something cool on. When I was there they had the Julie Ruin in one room and Frightened Rabbit in the other. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/18/2017 at 3:23 PM, Lemonade said:

I've since heard this. And yeah that's pretty much exactly what happened. I was chilling watching Sister Act 2, nibbling on brownies, they weren't doing anything, "must be shite" I thought, and ate more. Then it all hit me at once and I got ultra mega paranoid, kind of hallucinatey. It was shite. Tbh the reason I stopped in the first place was because it was having this effect on me, getting super crazy paranoidz, disappear into myself, no fun at all. Then there's the fact that I hadn't touched it in 10 years so my tolerance was 0 and I went straight to Amsterdam level weed. Bad move. 

Was watching a Joe Rogan podcast. He (and Joey Diaz) are all about edibles. He described the same experience but actually enjoys it. He said it's good to once in a while let yourself be vulnerable and get really introspective. You're all paranoid then when you come out the other side you realise it really was all in your head and all your anxieties and worries seem more abstract. Wouldn't like to have that feeling myself though, but I can see why someone would enjoy it. Plus, them being in california I guess the paranoia isn't exactly "shit i hope i don't get caught" kind of paranoia that I assume would plague most people over this side of the pond.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

This isn't really a quick question, more an "Am  I Being Unreasonable", like the famed Mumsnet thread. I think I'm being perfectly sane and everyone else is being unreasonable. Would like to hear your opinions. 

One of my friends started a new job fairly recently. Like 2 months ago. She had to do some sort of internal training course last week, run by just one of the supervisors who works there. I don't really know the ins and outs of it, but as part of an incentive / bit of fun, they had some sort of silly competition and the winners got a National Lottery scratchcard. My friend won and got the scratchcard, then at the end, she went back to her desk and scratched the card. She won the top prize. £40k. Obviously she's fairly delighted with life at the moment, but now the woman who organised the training / bought the scratchcard isn't talking to her, and her colleagues are pressuring her to "make it right" and give the woman some of the money. 5 grand has been mooted, and she's such a nice person she's actually thinking about giving this woman 5 grand. Plus, she's still the newbie and wants to fit in. 

I say she is entitled to fuck all and she's jealous and sulking and she shouldn't give her a cent for being such a cunt. 

Am I being unreasonable or are they?

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tough one, that.

In terms of actual legal entitlement, is the buyer of the card the winner, even if they've gifted the card? I'm sure there was a legal dispute over a gifted lottery ticket in the news a few years ago, and I think the buyer ended up getting the cash, but I might be misremembering it.

I assume she's not going to get dragged through court for it anyway. and if she's going to get mardy about it because the ticket was an actual winner, she shouldn't have got it as a prize, because it was always a possibility it would be a winner. At this stage, I'd give her a grand maybe. £5k seems a bit much. But being new and fitting in is the difficult part. You don't want everyone in the office to hate you. Unless you just take the £40k and do a runner.

 

It's too late now, but if it was me, and I'd won the top prize, I wouldn't have told anybody at work. I've always thought that if I won millions on the lottery, there are 3 people I'd tell, tops. And I'd not want them to tell anyone else. I definitely wouldn't be one of those clowns who goes national with it. What is the point of that?

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They're entitled to fuck all. Rule number one of prize-giving: know what you've given away. You signed off on getting fuck all the minute you put up a scratch card as a prize. The peer pressure to 'make it right' is utter bullshit. I feel sorry for your pal because you know she'll cave into other people's greed and jealousy.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely entitled to fuck all.  I thought it was weird one of my chums had to actually say at bingo (I know, real rock n roll bitch here...) that she doesn't share winnings.  Well, duh, you bought your own book so it's your money. 

Sadly advice that includes a time machine is useless, so she needs to decide what she is comfortable with - be confident and stand up for herself (there's a possibility once people know she gives into peer pressure that they'll pull other stunts after this, it sets a precedent) and politely say she won't be sharing or do what Soda says and gives a little, but not as much as 5K, as a thank you. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Lemonade said:

This isn't really a quick question, more an "Am  I Being Unreasonable", like the famed Mumsnet thread. I think I'm being perfectly sane and everyone else is being unreasonable. Would like to hear your opinions. 

One of my friends started a new job fairly recently. Like 2 months ago. She had to do some sort of internal training course last week, run by just one of the supervisors who works there. I don't really know the ins and outs of it, but as part of an incentive / bit of fun, they had some sort of silly competition and the winners got a National Lottery scratchcard. My friend won and got the scratchcard, then at the end, she went back to her desk and scratched the card. She won the top prize. £40k. Obviously she's fairly delighted with life at the moment, but now the woman who organised the training / bought the scratchcard isn't talking to her, and her colleagues are pressuring her to "make it right" and give the woman some of the money. 5 grand has been mooted, and she's such a nice person she's actually thinking about giving this woman 5 grand. Plus, she's still the newbie and wants to fit in. 

I say she is entitled to fuck all and she's jealous and sulking and she shouldn't give her a cent for being such a cunt. 

Am I being unreasonable or are they?

 

They're being unreasonable. I'm sitting with a friend so read this out to him and he suggested your pal just do something nice for the whole office. Use some of the money to throw a party, put some money behind a bar or take them out to dinner. This way she doesn't need to feel guilty about it once it's done and if the supervisor is still being a prick to her after it, they can't really justify it.

  • Upvote 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...