Because I’d left my Polar HRM in Lancaster, and my adidas analog’s batteries died, I decided to splurge on a new watch. (Yes, I could have just gotten new batteries for my analog watch, but I needed a digital watch with a stopwatch for running laps). So I went to Argos, and bought a Casio F91W, mainly for two reasons: a) it was the cheapest one in the Argos catalogue, and b) it is a nostalgic watch of sorts – my first ever digital watch was a basic Casio not unlike this one. Plus I didn’t want to think too much about design etc etc and spend days agonising whether a black Swatch with a white face was better than a white Swatch with a black face, or whether it should really be Swatch, or Timex, or some sports brand.
So yes, I parted with eight squids and bought me a new basic Casio. And then I went home, showed off my new purchase to Norzu, and learnt this about the particular model of Casio watch I bought:
This model of watch is notable because United States intelligence officials have identified it as the watch that terrorists use when constructing time bombs. Ahmed Ressam, the millennial bomber, bought two Casio F91Ws.
According to the allegations used to justify the continued detention of one of the captives, these watches were given to some attendees at Al-Qaeda’s Al Farouq training camp. At least four of the Guantanamo detainees found with such a watch are also listed as having been to Al Farouq.
Source: al-Shaikh Wikipedia
Great. Now even watches are terrorist linked. I bloody well hope there will be no issues of me wearing this watch on planes or anything. I really, really want to come back to Britain unscathed.
Oh, and if you read the page on Wikipedia, you will see the analysis various intelligence bodies have done on the watch, and why it seems to be the chosen watch of Al-Qaeda. May I humbly offer my two cents worth? Could it be that even these madmen have a sense of retro fashion.. or even simpler still, because the watch is well cheap and a dime a dozen in Argos?
*****
When I went to Live Earth earlier this month, people were being urged to do their bit for the environment, interspersed with kickass shows by Metallica, Foo Fighters, and some Scottish bloke called Paolo, to name but three. I decided that I would do my bit by not buying CDs, but going digital – that’s right, downloading. Ah, I hear you muse, but don’t you already? Maybe or maybe not.. but I’m going legal now: as I pay for the CDs I bought, I pay for the music I download.
But therein lies a problem: I can’t seem to pass around the songs I’ve downloaded! Where as with the CDs I’ve bought, once ripped I am able to share songs with my friends, by way of sharing good music (and saving the world, one Era listener at a time). Sure, this straddles the darker shade of gray area when it comes to what’s legal or not; but it is also the cornerstone of what every music lover worth their weight in salt does: the mix tape! It totally defies the romanticism of the mix tape if one was to send a playlist over with the note: please buy these!
Or am I just dense? (Don’t answer that – it’s rhetorical). Is there a way to share paid-for music with fellow enthuiasts? Or screw the environment, let’s just buy CDs?
