Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

Well, lots and lots to talk about this time y’all! Went to Leeds for Mr. Reed’s birthday on Saturday and after a lengthly evening drinking session most of Sunday as well. We arrived about 4 in Headingly and got dressed in the hotel room. It was fancy dress. Not something I respond well to tbh. Not a fan of dressing up, but as it was his birthday I made an effort and went as Wolverine, utilising the claws that Reed had made a few years previously. I have no idea why this was but there was loads of parties of fancy dress people out on the particular pub crawl. Me and Rock Tom got talking to this one guy Rich who dressed as Russel Brand who had the same love for Dave Chappelle that we do and all night we kept doing the “Charlie Murphy!!” thing. That was well funny.

The route was basically a long line of pubs leading into the center of Headingly. I got very drunk very quickly and remember little except we ended up in a really shitty club and left shortly after.

We actually got away with 5 people staying in a double hotel room. That was something I didn’t expect. I slept in a sleeping bag in the bathroom. Not something I would like to do again in a hurry but was comfortable enough to endure. When Reed and Jo got up I managed to grab a couple more hours on the bed which sorted me out. At 12 we left the hotel and headed into Leeds. Now, it was a testament to how long it has been since I was last in Leeds that I remembered nothing of the layout of the town centre. I reckoned it to be about 6 years since I last went. I did however find one shop that was there last time, RouteOne the skate shop. This was quite the coincidence because a few days before My mum had received the RouteOne catalogue and I found a couple of things I wanted. So I went in the shop and bought a white (OMG, Dan bought summat that’s not black!? WTF!?) Adio T-shirt. We went for some lunch at this little bar near Reedy’s old uni housemate’s flat where we had pizzas. They were really nice home made pizzas with mazing choices of toppings. I had one with gots cheese and caramelised onions and olives! Right up my alley! The bar was ace too. The room where we ate was like a lounge and there was a lot of really worn in
leather sofas and chairs, again, right up my alley!

One thing I did notice about leeds was it seemed to be a skateboarders dream! Marble banks, ledges, steps and rails all over the place. It seemed that my skateboarders eye is still going strong even though it’s been a while since I skated. Also while we were there I had a look around to see if I could by an xZylo anywhere. The weather is getting good now and those flying gyroscopes are loads of fun!

We headed home about 5 and just chilled out. Mojo-jo-jo, Rich and Edd came round and we watched this program on BBC 2 where Louis Theroux went and stayed with members of the Westboro Baptist Church. If you’re not familiar with them, then perhaps this image will jog your memory.

That’s right, they’re the mindless fucking hate-mongers who picket outside the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I knew that what these people were doing was bad but I had no idea how fucked up they all actually were until I watched the program last night. Basically the vast majority of this Church’s members are from one family, Led by Pastor Phelps who believes so much that America is doomed that they thank god for dead soldiers and IEDs (road side bombs) and feel that it’s right to not only rejoice in the soldiers’ deaths but to bring absolute misery to their families by doing it right outside their funerals. The program sickened me, quite frankly and these people were so flagrantly misinterpreting the the bible and taking actions that were the total opposite of what religion should be all about. To my mind, although I’m not a Christian, it should be about celebrating life and showing tolerance and forgiveness to your fellow man and not spending all your waking hours preaching hate and bigotry, what kind of life is that!?

I’ve watched many of Louis Theroux’s documentaries and I find his approach to be one of the best around. He didn’t once talk at these people or point out their shortcomings as human beings he simply asked them straightforward questions and let their hugely misguided and bigoted beliefs show them for what they were. This was no more apparent than when he addressed the head of the church, Pastor Phelps, himself. It became clear that Theroux was asking questions that were too difficult for the man to answer so he responded aggressively. I have never seen Theroux get so angry that he let it show in his questions but he did on a couple of occasions during this documentary. Most prominently, when one of the church members held a sign with Princess Diana’s face on it along with the words Fag princess or something of the like on it and said “When she died it split hell wide open, She was an adulterer and a fag-enabler!” Theroux reacted the same way I would have, like, they were clearly missing the point that Diana was pretty much a saint who did more to help the third world and, in particular victims of land mines, than any of us could ever hope to do. All they saw was that she was a sinner, thats it. It was absolute lunacy.

One of the most tragic parts of it was how the church involves even very young children, who by their own admission, don’t understand the message they are spreading. In one part they were picketing by the side of the road and someone threw a drink out the window of a passing car (Personally I’d be tempted to throw bricks) and it struck one of the unfortunate kids who didn’t know what they were there for. Another weird thing is that almost none of the members were interested in getting married. It got to the point where it seemed like they just didn’t realise that you have to have sex to continue on the human race…Flat out Loonies!

It’s gonna feel like I’m working continental shifts for a while because it’s a 4 day week this week and a 4 day weekend followed by another 4 day week. Not that I’m gomplaining like, time off work is the shiznit!!! Thursday I think I’ll be having a blast down the M42 to Brummieland and out to planet in the evening. It’s only a tenner to get in and that includes all you can drink so it’ll be a cheap, fun evening!

Anyway, thats probably enough from me for now. Catch you all later guys!!