Frank Butcher Dies

Mike Reid who played Frank Butcher died. Hats off to a fine actor and most remembered for me in Runaround.

Pot, Kettle, Black?

Dunno. Kettle?

Super Heroes

For a while, in the back of my mind I've been thinking of Super Hero names for my friends some of who have been mentioned in my blog. Everyone deserves a super hero name.

• The Fox
• Romeo Tony
• Sambuca Girl aka The Babe aka Maggie
• Mr Magners
• Darsh Vader
• Angelic
• The Boy (his own contribution)
• The Leaf
• The Mother
• The Dom-inator
• Fire Fly aka Scoobz
• Smoke and Mirrors
• Exxon
• Hub Cap
• Freezer Frost
• Logic
• The Bull
• Guiness

I'll think of some more later.

Weather

I rather foolishly thought about being in Britain and being subjected to torrential rain and widespread flooding wasn't so bad as being hit by hurricanes or unbelievable droughts that have hit parts of the African continent. My neighbour and I spoke briefly yesterday morning about the virtues of living in a first floor flat and how this years flooding of our road was a little more hairy than before. Oh how we laughed.

Then I saw the pictures and film footage of flooding in parts of the country. People have lost their lives. People starving, and people believe it or not are thirsty. All that water and not a drop to drink.

One thing I will say to those Chavvy kids with their Pitbulls letting them crap on pavements and peoples lawns. That'll teach you to think twice about doing that again. Think about every time you've seen a dog, cat, fox, squirrel or person, piss or shit on the pavement or shop enterance or lawn and then think about the fact that the stuff never goes away. Then think about having to wade in knee height water.......hopefully without any cuts or grazes.

The entire public transport system grinds to a halt, people stranded for days in areas they would rather not be without warmth, food or water. Property destroyed. We seem so protected from natural disasters that affect other parts of the world. Its only when it comes/floats to our doorstep that we finally understand what other people have felt.

Is the recent flooding a consequence of mankind? You betcha!

Being Content

Contentment is something that is easy to come by or very elusive. Some people find contentment in the very simplest of things. Some people find it bettter to create something complex perhaps because they want it to be that way.

Drink or drugs or both at the same time can make a person feel content. Running for twenty miles may do it for someone else. What ever the resolve, it works. I've been wondering what truly makes someone happy. Is it the company they keep? The copious amounts of stimulants? What is it? And why sometimes does it feel like a temporary fix? I think everyone has a desire to attain this nirvana. Not the temporary bit but the permanent bit.

I don't think that life ever delivers exactly what we want or desire on a permanent basis. Usually through our own imperfections I think that sometimes we desire for those cosy, nice things to be just temporary. Is that more of a reflection of a desire to live our lives more in a society so regimental and strict that occasionally its okay to fuck things up once in a while just so that it challenges our characters?

When wars don't happen, we want war. When its the other way around there is nothing more desirable than peace. Is it human nature to have these little wars? Or big ones? Sounds like sometimes its a desire to feel noticed. Or loved in a twisted way.

Even the most comfortable position that we can be in sometimes falters a little. Maybe to fuck up is to improve. With every iteration of cocking something is only for a desire to be better than we are.

2Darts not on drugs but just thinking very deeply about things. Oh and a crap week.

Weddings and Terror

I pissed myself laughing at the following news snippet.

President Musharraf, presidental plane was shot at by an anti-aircraft gun as it took off from a Pakistani airport.

A journalist interviews a local resident in Pakistan asking him about the gun shots. The man replies,

"I heard the gun shots and at first I thought is was a wedding......then I realised it was a terrorist attack!"

Clearly anti-aircraft guns are all the rage at pakistani weddings!

Losing My Religion

Actually I don't have one to lose. I had a moment of inspiration the other day but it took me a while to get round writing this one down.

Can a person have more than one religion to follow? Here are some interesting cominbations:

• Mormon and Paganism
• Jainism and Taoism
• Rastafari and Hinduism
• Islam and Judaism
• Baha'i and Sikhism
• Christianity and Santeria

Your wondering why I've paired them up. To add a little controversy. There's clearly one that screams controversy. Or does it?

Many of the faiths believe in a higher being. So there's a common theme. Theoretically, both religions should happily co-exist. So in their purest form and to follow what those religions dictate to the letter and without interpretation would mean we would all live in peace and harmony. Not so fast.

Its the manipulation of religion that makes a point of segregation. Our wonderful land is a testiment to all followers of all religions who don't do the "my religion is better than your religion" trick. We all live happily ever after. Its those who choose to play that game that ruin the party.

Personally, I think that if I join every single faith, then I should be okay with everyone. Where do I sign?

Climate

Great Britain and in particular London has had the most freakish of weathers this week. One merry afternoon whilst enjoying a tipple of the finest in my local drinking establishment, I noticed the clouds darken and the day turn to night in just a few minutes. The last time that happened, a tornado struck London. This time, it was, rain. Lots and lots and lots of rain. Then multiple lightining strikes within seconds of each other. Hail stones. Is this the beginning of more to come? For all the creative licence the director and producers had of the film "The Day after Tomorrow", through exaggeration they clearly knew how to make a point. Most adults living will have noticed how the weather patterns have changed dramatically over the last twenty five years. I have. First it was the snow, then the sunshine, the lack of rain one moment and then the sheer quantity of the stuff. Droughts in a country that has seen more rain than ever before? For once, I think mother nature is on top of us and I suspect that the political will and economics of this country will be too slow to adapt to the new minor natural disasters we will face. Millions of pounds have already been lost in just a few days of heavy rain. And I still am grateful that at least we aren't as hard up as some other countries which have huge problems with prolonged flooding and drought. I find that although we are experiencing mini versions of them, we can at least appreciate what it is those poor souls have been through.

Stay of Execution for the Sports and Social Smoking ban

HOT OFF THE PRESS. The Sports and Social is now an outdoor pub....All the lines are being re-worked out in the court yard. Extensions of the bar at the designated smoking outlets. Shouldn't these reserved smoking areas have kiosks selling cigarettes too?

As the A-Force quite rightly said in his article about our friendly barmaid now denied her favorite past time of cleaning the ashtray's every five seconds. What is there to do? I see constructive dismissal here. Bring out the lawyers! Unions Reps! Injury Lawyers4U! Come to thee!

Paris Hilton

Is the whole jail thing yet another publicity stunt for a gullible American audience? I say America, and it only happens in America, a current affairs programme decides to lead in the day's news with the story of Paris Hiltons release.



The most irritating thing about it all is the fact that as the poor lady protests (I'm 100 percent behind her), her wimpy anchor man not only takes the piss but sounds so condescending I'm totally suprised that she didn't slap in the face. Oh and to top it off, he has to cheek to mention that her Dad thought she was a mouse and this was her way of proving the opposite! Go get some balls man and back up your team mate!

The thing that makes it all the more ridiculous is they were adament on showing the Paris Hilton clip when the following news was of a more important nature...Watch the YouTube clip and see for yourself.

The only other really good thing about mentioning Paris Hilton is that I might get a slightly above average readership, probably mostly from spotty teenage geeks or fathers in mid-life crisis though.