it’s all been happening today…well something happened!

The ‘God Squad’ , the ‘church army’ and the ‘evangelicals’ were in the town square ‘bothering’  passers by with their happy clappy tunes and verisimilitude, then an incident in the Library…a ‘gun’ was spotted and the local constabulary were called, all was well in the end, and it gave the girls an opportnity for a good drool over the boys in blue, what is it about women and uniforms, do Traffic Wardens get the same reaction…it’s all go.

Its a fine line between assured and presumptuousness, a line that I’m guilty of crossing sometimes. I am  confident, assured man, and yet when there is someone I’m attracted to I never read the signs right, are they interested or not…who knows? perhaps i’m better off in the dark…or at least in my own little world!

 Men Without Women by Ernest Hemingway

Women with Men  by Ernes themingway

Deflation, look-a-likes and sulking

Today the government of Zimbabwe knocked 10 zero’s off their currency, that’s 0000000000! so 10 billion Z$ are now 1Z$. Inflation has been running at 2.2 million %, last week the governement introduced a 10 billion dollar note, that was unfortunately not even enough to buy a loaf of bread…I wish I had a 10 billion dollar note!!

The Books

Roots of a Revolution by Ndabanigi Sithole ( I Love this name…)

The Struggle for Zimababwe by David Martin & Phyllis Johnson

The Great Betrayal by Ian Smith

It has been brought to my attention that I am a look-a-like(y) that I bear a striking resemblance to this man

It is, for those of you who care, Emile Zola…I wish I could write like him…

I hate sulkers, people who disagree then keep the ‘grudge’ rumbling on, going into a sulk and making life intolerable for other’s, I doubt they’ll read this but GROW UP(ski)

After 13 yrs…

Karadzic is at last in detention in the Hague. He’s an odd man, an ‘intellectual’, a poet and a psychiatrist, perhaps as a psychiatrist he knew more than most the psychological pressure placed on the people of Sarajevo whilst he and Mladic oversaw the siege. Now his trial will begin, I suspect it will be a drawn out process as was the trial of Milosovic, with Karadzic taking every opportunity to dispute the validity of the court. There has been talk of just bringing one specimen charge, and, if convicted,then go for more. I hope that, for the sake of the victims and their families at least justice is done. We shall see…

The Books

Genocide in Bosnia by Norman Cigar

The Graves  by Eric Stover and Gilles Peress

Madness Visible  by Janine di Giovanni

sandy bits, night trips and a little hangover

Yesterday after work I was feeling a little restless, what to do? I made it to the railway station after popping home with a little shopping, I caught the return bus back into town, I didn’t take anything but a book with me…no bag, no camera, apart from the one on my phone…I wanted to see the sea and i was determined to do it…the train for Cardiff came in and I hopped aboard, then, deciding to go to Swansea I hopped off at Shrewsbury and caught the Manchester to Carmarthen train and settled back for the trip…eventually I arrived and headed down to the beach..ahhh what a wonderful sight…after a while sitting on the beach I felt hungry and decided to head into town for some food, after a wonderful curry and rather too many beers I headed back to the beach…I was looking for a ‘quiet’ spot in which to lay my head and have a little sleep…I’ve slept on Swansea beach a few times, not for a while though, in fact, the last time was when I lived there…I chose a spot where I hoped no-one would disturb me…I could see the twinkling of the lights over in the Mumbles and could hear the traffic heading along the Oystermouth Rd. I could also hear the odd shouts in the distance of the drunken revellers making their way home a song here a shout there, the only other sound accompanying my slumber was the sound of the wind and the sea in the distance.

I woke up a few times with the momentary thrill of not knowing where I was, I soon drifted off back into a relaxed sleep, next thing I knew it was morning, well ridiculously early in the morning and I was cold…I’d made it though, no wet feet, I’d chosen a good place…the ‘traveller’ in me would claim that was by skill and awareness, the reality, well it was probably more luck than anything else. A quote comes to mind

Of the gladest moments in human life, methinks is the departure upon a distant journey to unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the Slavery of Home, man feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood….afresh dawns the morn of life…

Richard F Burton in a journal entry from Dec 1856

Ok, so my journey wasn’t to ‘unknown lands’ this time, but the sense of adventure was still there. So often we settle into a routine and miss out on little side adventures, long may I continue to feel the need for a little something different…and the book chosen to accompany me on this little trip Yemen:Travels in Dictionary Land by Tim Mackintosh-Smith  at least it has a sand theme!!!

 

The journey back was a little uncomfortable, sand was everywhere, and very itchy and scratchy…the shower and a lovely nap on my return were bliss.

 

Sunny Saturdays and odd people

This morning I was in work, I haven’t been in on a Saturday for a while…The same people except a little angrier, its either the fact that its a weekend or its the sun…odd people with odd requests, or just plain angry…at the end of the day its a book, its not the end of the world…anyway…A while ago a couple were found in the toilet having sex, the other day I saw the same couple in flagrante delicto in a doorway,the doorway as it happens of the local newspaper, perhaps they want a feature written about them! she was, as the saying in a good old Welsh film (Twin Town) says, giving him a ‘hand shandy’! What makes people do these things? the thrill of being caught, the buzz, or just the booze or drugs…who knows but they do it all the time.

I haven’t been out with a camera it seems for ages, I’ve been busy setting up a ‘Conversation Club’ which is to be held on a Saturday morning, there goes the weekend again!!! I have these great ideas and then end up giving my time for free…so I’d better make the most of what’s left of my free time…

 

The Books:

Longing by Gunnar Kopperud

The Perfumed Garden trans Richard F Burton

The Kama Autra of Vatsyayana trans Richard F Burton & F.F. Arbuthnot   ( I must be one of the only people with a copy of this classic without pictures!!)

In Trouble Again by Redmond O’Hanlon

Community Fun Day and freebies

I was at a Community Fun Day today in one of our local Country Parks. We set up and were immediately set upon and cleared out of all the stuff we had…’it’s all free’ we said and the hoardes arrive and take it all…you don’t get much for nothing these days, so make the most of it when you do!! It doesn’t matter what it is it seems, just so long as its free…here are a few images from the day…

                    

       

                      

 

  

re-reading old diaries and getting old

Having just read some of my old diaries i’ve come to the following conclusions:

1978              Long hair

2008              Longing for hair

1978              Acid Rock

2008              Acid Reflux

1978              Going to a new, hip joint

2008              Needing a new hip joint

1978              Rolling stones

2008              Kidney stones

and what happened to the old saying that with age comes wisdom? I’m still as daft as a brush and long may it continue…

 

 

 

Semi invisible man

Today, I bought a book i’ve been waiting for, for ages, it’s a biography of the travel writer Norman Lewis. He was a writer of immense talent and great modesty. His books take the reader on a journey into the lessser seen and more out of the way parts of the world. He wrote fiction and non-fiction, he was simply a lovely old man and when he died in 2003 we lost a good man. I remember writing to him once and he, to my surprise replied and took time to encourage me in my meager efforts at writing.

I was chatting to one of my Refugee friends earlier and he mentioned that he wanted to go to the arabic arts festival, but he couldn’t afford it, he gets £5.00 a day, out of that he has to buy food, clothes and other necessities. This is why I want to explore the possibilities of stating a group to promote awareness of Refuge/Asylum Seeker issues through cultural and or art/photography. It WILL happen just not overnight…

another book offering for you…

 

Coffee ‘Time’

I was in my ‘local’ for lunch today and I ordered a coffee, they brought me a cafetiere and the usual sugar and milk etc, and an egg timer…on delivery the guy said ‘depress the pluger when the timer runs through’…I’ve never had an egg timer with my coffee before and obeyed the instructions to the last grain of salt! I don’t know what would have happened if I’d plunged before the salt ran through, but next time, the rebel in me thinks I should give it a try…

 

 

Salt (egg) coffee timer , made with my mobile so quality isn’t that good!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I seem to be going through an Arabist phase at the moment after years of ‘Africanism’. After a visit here  yesterday where I saw a great set of images from Yemen in the Central Library Reading room, along with some other good stuff in a couple of galleries I’m into Yemen and other Arab influenced art and culture.

3 Minutes

If you had 3 minutes to leave your home, what would you take with you? Interesting idea for an activity. The World Museum in Liverpool held a workshop on International Women’s Day this year and asked people to write the things they would take…this got me thinking what would I take? Here is my list:

1:  Laptop

2:  Camera

3:  Solar Charger

4:  Passport

5:  Diary(ies)

6:  Memory cards

7:  Pens

8:  Matches

9:  Money

10:Knife 

here are some of the results from the museum