as usual it is the civillians who suffer…

war has broken out in Georgia, the Russians have gone into South Ossettia to ‘rescue’ ethnic Russians. The Russians have launched airstrikes on targets in the west of Georgia some miles from the acutual supposed heart of the conflict. Is this the Russians flexing their muscles, it seems to me that it is no coincidence that a major oil pipeline runs through Georgia, a pipeline that carries oil to the west. Is the spectre of ‘ethnic cleansing’ raising its ugly head again? Putin has now asserted that ‘Genocide is taking palce against the Ossetian people…’ So, in the confusion of war the rhetoric is being hyped up and both sides are using the ‘Genocide’ card! The Russians demolished Grozny in Chechenya to ‘cleanse’ their suposed opponents, I do hope that Tblisi isn’t next. Russia have said that 34,000 South Ossetian refugees have so far been registered in North Ossetia, as always it is the civilian population that suffers.

Books

Among the Cities by Jan Morris

The Joke’s Over  by Ralph Steadman

I hope that this conflict in the Caucausus doesn’t escalate into another Groznyesque situation.

Communication,coffee and cameras

I had a day off today, but the day was busy, I was looking through some old images to see if I had any that were suitable for a presentation I’m giving next week. I came across an old box of prints that I hadn’t looked at since 1998. I’d forgotten some of the events the photos were of…instantly I saw the images those times came flooding back. It’s wonderful the power that photography has; the power of the still image to communicate and leave a lasting impression, the ability of photography to cross cultural and linguistic barriers (although I was once asked ‘Do you have Photos of your friends in this country? In my country it is dangerous to have these photos’!)

I look at images every day, I am a visual person, I love images. I’ve had a camera of once sort or another for a very long time, I carry one with me every day…

I met a mate for coffee and she is the type of person who knows everyone…it is rare for us to have any time together because there is always someone else passing that we know and they come and join us…amongst the people we met today some of the questions/topics that came up today were ’Why is the word GAY banned from the computers in the Library’, ‘I need to find a boarding school that is cheap’, ‘My car is knackered’, ‘My computer is broken’, ‘I want to play football for a good team, not a bad one’ and many, many more…

I had a message to ask me to go into work on Monday morning and caretake! I’ve been offered a WHOLE, yes WHOLE Jelly Baby as an extra incentive to do it…how can I refuse with such an incentive…

I’m staring a Participatory photo project where I give disposable cameras to a group of people I work with to document their day to day lives, hopefully this will help dispel some myths and at the same time encourage a degree of self development. Now comes the harp part, getting the cameras…the letter writing begins, I’m hoping that I can get some cameras donated…so if you want to donate a disposable camera for the project you can contact me for more information.

wrigglies, iced buns and floating around different social groups!

I worked this morning and I was not alone, we had a ‘Wriggly Worm Roadshow’, someone came in and brought some interesting little creatures, including a snake, a rat and cockroaches and various other little things…most of the kids were great, there was the odd screamer and it went well, there were no escapees…well not that anyone admitted to at least.

We were busy, it’s great to see so many people enjoying themselves in a Library. There were the usual moaners saying things like ‘in my day Libraries were quiet places…’ no more I say.

On the way home I bought a couple of iced buns, and saw my mate ‘Olive’ and offered her one…I’m not sure what she’d been up to in the past with an iced bun but she burst out laughing!! She won’t tell me any stories from her life for fear they’ll end up here…of course they will, but all names will be changed to protect the not so innocent. So, come on Olive tell all.

I have just heard on some tv programme that it is really important to ‘float around different social groups’  i dunno what that’s supposed to mean, it’s just more psycho babble, I guess it just means we should just mix and be happy in any situation!

sorry world…

I’ve been on my travels and my carbon footprint is a bit like my real shoe size (UK size 13; European size 48 and a half!)…this weekend I travelled from my town to BHX, BHX to AMS, AMS to CDF,CDF to SWS all in all a total of 1590km or approx 938 miles, and today I feel every single one of them.

I had beer in AMS,CDF and SWS and saw the sights and also met friends in all. I also got rained on in all, the rain was sometimes light, sometimes horizontal, always wet. Ah the great European summer its the same everywhere!

I had my ear licked in CDF by a charming young lady with golden hair. In fact, she wouldn’t leave me alone, and let me tell you I’m not used to the attention. Her name is Lucy and she is gorgeous…

I’ll be going back there soon….thanks to Gaby for the photo.

I’m back now and writing a proposal to get some Gallery space for my photo project with Refugees. We are giving disposable cameras to a group of Refugees to document their lives, we are hoping that by having an exhibition of images made by Refugees about their lives we might be able to dispel a few myths.

From  piece of sculpture in Cardiff, the weathered hand clutching in this instance a symbolic piece of wire could be a symbol of resitance or of defiance/hope.

l to r  Gaby,Karen,Paul and Stef

Someone to care, someone to mind

working with Refugees makes me constantly realise that there are many, many, people worse off than me…I’ve never cared about material things, never been one for the status of luxury items. I sometimes wonder about my lack of ambition, what would have happened if I had pushed for that thing, that intangible thing, see, I don’t even know what it is. I think, all I’ve been searching for all these years is Someone to care and someone to mind. Watching the people around me arm in arm, laughing, joking seemingly without a care in the world I am jealous, jealous of what though, jealous of the companionship of a good woman! Many of my friends think I have a great life, I have only me to please, I can, if I wish hop on a plane,train or bus and go anywhere, when I get there  it’s still only me to keep me company, yes I can talk to anyone and frequently do, but its not the same. They keep telling me that there’s more to it than this…

So, the big clean up after the night before starts, the street cleaners have been out and the portable loos have been collected, the city starts to recover from its weekend hangover, as for me I have no hangover, just a strange fuzzyness, and a longing for someone to care and someone to mind…

Weekend toilets in Amsterdam are placed at strategic places throughout the city…it’s fun watching the girls trying to hop up!!!

 

Travelling is tiring…or maybe i’m just getting old

Or perhaps it’s because I worked today…anyway the trip itself was uneventful and I made it to Amsters without incident only to be greeted by rain and the aftermath of the GAY Parade. 

I’d forgotten, or rather forgotten to look what was on in town before this trip, if I’d known methinks I’d have thought twice about this weekend’s trip it’s going to be really busy here this weekend. All the bars are heaving and the streets too…still into the breach dear chums…the first task before hitting my pit for the night is to sort out a little request for a mate of mine who has just come out of hospital and can’t go out or drink at the moment, she’s suffering down in the valley’s so this is for you Sian…

They were lovely!!!!! So, now that the task is complete I can sleep safely…

Virtual Tag huh?

I was tagged ‘virtually’ yesterday by a friend
the idea is to tag blogs you visit and to say 6 random things about yourself. Unfortunately I haven’t anyone else to tag but here are 6 random things about me:

1. I photographed Donny Osmond exclusively at an event
2. I once burnt a pile of photographs by a canal in Amsterdam and was questioned by the Politie
3. I once went to Belize (Central America) for 1 night
4. I am an Emile Zola look-a-like apparently!
5. I played football once…I was in goal and we lost 13-0 so never played again.
6. I hate intolerance

well there are today’s random things.

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