Hot Space

Some selected items have been transferred from my previous soapbox.

Some updates have already been done, others are on their way. Examples below: 'Dragon Attack' - pictures of Chinese New Year celebrations and 'Dancer'

The links to my first photo albums are here. They will be updated in weeks to come (or eventually, whichever comes first):

This is my soapbox!

NB: This page contains my comments on many

different subjects. Using Queen titles for one or more items,

When I run out of other Queen titles, I shall continue under

'Don't Stop Me Now'!

Tear it up, Shake it up…Square it up, Wake it up…Stir it up, Stake it out

- Brian May (Tear It Up)

Updates, 4 May 2008: White Man (below), Bicycle Race, Man On The Prowl

White Man

Pocahontas...and the Stolen Generation of Australian Aborigines

Last year saw the 400th anniversary of the early colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, USA. Much myth surrounds Pocahontas, a Native American chief's daughter, at the time. Here are some facts from the National Geographic Magazine:

Pocahontas ... did help save the colony—by marrying John Rolfe...

Evidence suggests Pocahontas was a bright, curious, mischievous girl, one who, like all girls in Tsenacomoco, went without clothing until puberty. Her real name was Matoaka; Pocahontas was a teasing nickname that meant something like "little hellion." When Pocahontas visited Jamestown..., she got the boys to turn cartwheels with her, "falling on their hands turning their heels upwards, whom she would follow, and wheel so her self naked as she was all the fort over."

The English appear to have liked the girl—but not enough to prevent them from abducting her in 1613. They demanded that Powhatan return the English guns he had acquired, but the leader refused to negotiate with people he must have regarded as criminals. Perhaps Pocahontas was angered by her father's refusal to ransom her. Perhaps she liked being treated royally by the English, who viewed her as a princess. Perhaps Pocahontas, by then a teenager, simply fell in love with one of her captors—decorous, pious, politically adept John Rolfe, who for his part seems to have truly fallen for her. In any case, she agreed to stay in Jamestown as Rolfe's bride.

Both Powhatan and Jamestown's leaders seem to have viewed Pocahontas's marriage as a de facto nonaggression treaty.

**************

Later, Pocahontas, who had converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca, went to England with her husband and met the then king James I. In 1617, on intending to return to the new world, she became ill on board ship and was transported back to Gravesend, where she died in her early twenties. Gravesend is not far from me, and I took the following pictures there:

A mural outside Gravesend station shows scenes from Pocahontas's life.

Statue of Pocahontas in the gardens of St. George's Church where she is buried.

The church itself.

Other indigenous peoples, the Aborigines of Australia, received an apology from the Australian Government earlier this year for subjecting the 'Stolen Generations' to separation from their families, the subject of the film Rabbit Proof Fence. This piece of artwork by aboriginal artist Sally Morgan commemorates the Stolen Generations. It is called 'Taken Away':

Fight from the Inside

- 'Discussing Knives' DVD

Great, constructive news from my workplace:

Sweet Lady

- Hayley Westenra

30 Oct 06 - Last Friday, I went to a wonderful concert in Canterbury Cathedral - with the beautiful voice of Hayley Westenra, singing mainly classical and folk tunes, the latter from Britain and her native New Zealand - including Maori...

She's in her late teens, nineteen I believe - what a talent - I'm sure she has many years ahead! I managed to speak with her afterwards, just outside the Cathedral after failing to get a decent picture of her - I told her I was useless with pictures, I don't know why I bother - which is true - she gave the camera to someone she knew and got him to take a picture of the two of us together - so here it is! Then I talked a bit about her 'myspace' site, because I had linked up it there...

So friendly and natural, with good humour as well! Many thanks again, Hayley, for a great evening!

Bicycle Race

- Tour of Britain

On September 2 2006, the South East leg of the 'Tour of Britain' bicycle race, passed through the road at the bottom of mine! Well, eventually - the front party of cars went through, then we waited ages and ages! Cars were being instructed not to move anywhere but there was no sign of any bikes! Understandably, there were some very annoyed motorists. Apparently, the police had directed them along the wrong route! What a mess! Still, I managed to get a picture showing a colourful scene!

- Tour de France

The original inspiration for the song 'Bicycle Race', the Tour de France came to Kent on 8 July 2007 and passed along the same route as the Tour of Britain, but they got it right this time! Not every day an international sporting event comes so near to one's home!. Here are my pictures:

Man on the Prowl

- Billy Childish

Below is a collection of my writings about the Chatham artist, writer and musician Billy Childish, dated after each piece:

I originally met Billy Childish at a Tai Chi class – that must have been about three years ago now. The Tai Chi teacher called him William and said he was quite eccentric. It was at that time that I also bumped into Billy riding his bicycle in Chatham. We had a chat. I had no idea he was an international cult figure! By watching a BBC documentary I discovered that his name appeared on a Kylie Minogue album cover - she took the name of one of his poems for her album - as well as being tattooed on the lower arm of a member of the group White Stripes. It was also on this documentary that Billy talked about being abused as a child.

As I noticed that he was playing with his group the Buff Medways* in Chatham in November, I went along to see it – more to come.

Of course, I looked for a Queen connection. I found them mentioned in an interview he’d given. He doesn’t seem to like them and appears to think that their fans aren’t radical. Nevertheless, I would like to talk to him about ‘stuckism’, and whether it’s connected with living in Chatham.

I also read that Billy said that through creativity we come closest to God. I also find the way he ‘shuns the limelight’ quite appealing.

Apart from viewing the exhibition of his paintings in Rochester, (where some of the work of teenagers in a local behavioural unit with whom he had been working was also displayed), I met Billy Childish again on 15 October at the ‘Big Draw’ event. He remembered me from the Tai Chi class, and I told him I had a ticket for his concert on 12 November. Since then, I also went along with Georgia to a talk on ‘Stuckism’, an art movement which he was once involved in. More about all of this another time!

* During the 19th century a breed a chicken was developed peculiar to the Medway area. The breed, now extinct, was a table bird for the London hotel market. The BUFF MEDWAY project, based at Fort Amherst, Chatham, is attempting to recreate that ancient fowl through a selective breeding project.

Source: theebillychildish.com

27 Nov 05

On November 12 I went to see Billy Childish in concert, supported by Pete Molinari. Billy has been a hugely prolific songwriter over the years. His music is very much in the punk style, and, like his dyslexic poetry, speaks very much about his personal experiences, with many local references. His direct, straightforward lyrics are underpinned by the brutish musical production. This reclusive painter and writer has been creative just of the sake of creativity, shunning anything that has threatened to tread on the toes of his individuality.

He was connected to the ‘stuckist’ movement in painting in its early days. I recently attended a talk about this, given by Bill Lewis, himself also one of the original members of the movement. I learned about the ‘Stuckist’ ideal of staying at home and painting – putting one’s own feelings and emotions into it, a spiritual vision from the human mind. I’ll write more about this when I’ve watched the DVD on the subject that should be on its way to me!

27 Dec 05

At the November concert, Billy was, of course, accompanied by his group ‘The Buff Medways’. The drummer’s name is Wolf Howard, who, along with Billy, has been involved in the ‘stuckist’ art movement – both appear on the DVD which I’ve now watched. The term ‘stuckist’ derives from the words of Billy’s former girlfriend, Brit artist Tracey Emin, who told him ‘you’re stuck, stuck, stuck’. Stuckists basically believe in self-expression in art, even if technique is not conventional, and react against conceptual art. The debate about the Turner Prize is not something I’ve ever entered into or even read much about. However, it did make me think about it the other day when I was strolling round the Turner Gallery at the Tate and I saw a pedal cycle propped up against the wall. I was in the mental process of thinking that someone had left it there when I realised the incongruity of such an act and that it was, in fact, one of the exhibits. It was subsequently explained to me that some bloke had ridden across the Gobi desert on it, and the story/journey imbued in it as a result, e.g. his sweat on the saddle, made it a work of art. I can’t help but think that taking this idea further, ie that human excreta can constitute art, might even result in the exhibition of a used port-a-loo...? I therefore have sympathy with the stuckists, as I prefer the idea that art is a reflection of life rather than the objects of life being displayed as art.

Art can, after all, portray reality in a totally coincidental way. For example, who would have known at the time that the song my parents sang as children during the war: ‘Hitler has only got one ball…’, merely a mockery of the nation’s enemy, turned out, after the release of relevant medical records by the Soviet authorities, to be true: the Russian doctors who were first at the bunker and examined Hitler’s body established that he had, indeed, only one testicle! However, doubt has since been cast on this because Hitler's body was probably too badly burnt to establish this for certain, although there is mention that his earlier medical records bear this out.

Another example from my personal history: I look now at the ‘News of the World’ album cover, designed by Frank Kelly Freas, who could, of course, not have known back in 1977 that - in the mind of one teenager at the time - Queen, the group and its music, was also tumbling into an ‘abyss’ as depicted by him.

The DVD plays extracts from two of Billy's songs relevant to the subject matter: 'Is it Art or is it Arse? (You Decide)' and 'Anachronism in the UK' (the title clearly being a play on the old Sex Pistols song 'Anarchy in the UK). The original ‘stuckists’ have their roots in a group called The Medway Poets of the late seventies. By that token, the word ‘stuckism’ might equally be applied to writers. So maybe I’m one of those – like the painters, I’m ‘stuck’ at home, expressing myself, the only difference being that I’m doing it through words. Hmm – there’s a thought…

15 Jan 06

Billy Childish and the Musicians of the British Empire, The Brook Theatre, Chatham, May 07:

Princes of the Universe

- The Secrets of Titan

27 Dec 05 - Pictures of the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan are now reaching us from the Huygens probe within the Cassini project launched in 1990. The pictures reveal the possibility of the signs of life in a frozen atmosphere which is believed to be similar to that of earth at the time when life started:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4175099.stm

Great King Rat

- Mugabe has broken Zimbabwe

05 Nov 05 If ever there was an example of a modern-day tyrannical dictator, Robert Mugabe must be one that immediately comes to mind. In a country which a few years ago was doing well, people are now starving. One can only hope for a better day for its people:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1709488.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4395472.stm

The March of the Black Queen

- Rosa Parks

05 Nov 05 A lady who can’t have known what her unpremeditated act of defiance in refusing to give up her seat to a white person would lead to, Rosa Parks recently passed away at the age of 92. Maybe appropriate that this happened during Black History month, but a shame that she did not live to see the 50^th anniversary of that day – December 1 1955 – when she sat down to be counted, allowing a certain Martin Luther King to come to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. An educated woman, who was forced to work as a seamstress because of her colour, she succeeded in provoking change, but suffered racism from red necks as a result. Her act of defiance changed her life as well as that of many others.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4373794.stm

If You Can’t Beat Them

- German Election

Well, Germany has its first female Chancellor – Angela Merkel – after her CDU formed a ‘large’ coalition with the rival SPD. This was settled after various proposals for different coloured coalitions, as the election results were very much held in the balance:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4325600.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4328824.stm

There was no escaping Queen, though – they also played a part in the election! See the link below:

www.brianmay.com/queen/queennews/queennewssep05b.html#66

Is This the World we Created?

- Endangered Species

27 Dec 05 - I saw an exhibition by Customs and Excise when I was at the Chatham Maritime festival this summer – it’s not only drugs that get smuggled, but, of course, goods made from parts of endangered species.

I even saw a coffee table cover made out of zebra skin!

Talking about endangered species, there is one – the Tasmanian Tiger, - actually a type of wolf - for which it’s too late, as the animal is believed to have been extinct since 1936. I was investigating the ‘thylacinus cynocephalus’ because Roger dedicated the ‘Happiness?’ album to it. I found that in 1999, someone had the idea of attempting to re-introduce the species using cloning techniques from an old specimen. The idea appears to have been shelved at the time, but has recently been revived!

Global Warming (see item below) has also been considered responsible for the current threat to the survival of the polar bear. See the article below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4008761.stm

- The Genocide in Rwanda

01 Oct 05 - More than ten years ago, the most horrendous genocide was witnessed in Rwanda. Now the then Commander of the UN troops Romeo Dellaire has been on television talking about his book, and how world powers were aware of the situation and yet did not take action. There is nothing that can be done now about history, but at least General Dellair has set about telling the truth. It also reminds me of an often-forgotten fact – that soldiers are human and get nightmares too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3224176.stm

- Global Warming

14 Jul 05 - It appears that there has not been the hoped-for progress on Global Warming, one of the biggest threats confronting our planet. Emissions are causing the earth to heat around the earth to be trapped – in the future, sea levels are likely to rise and land covered; as well as destroying settlements, crops and vegetation will suffer and change. But the USA, hooked on big cars and cheap petrol, is still the major obstruction to an agreement on global action. Even the less industrialised countries which are not guilty of burning off fuels will suffer because of their action. See below for more information:

What is global warming?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/global_warming1.shtml

What can be done?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/global_warming2.shtml

It could make a difference if we act now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1202726.stm

The ‘result’ at G8:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4665993.stm

We are already seeing the effects of global warming, possibly one of them being an increase in hurricanes.

We have to act now to save the planet – so the fact that this matter did not receive its due attention at G8 is a huge disappointment from the politicians.

-         Cruelty to Dogs

21 May 05 - I had an e-mail this week from Aimee about some

 inhumane treatment of ‘man’s best friend’ - here's some of the

text of the e-mail:

In some countries dogs aren't kept as pets, they are targets for cruelty and slaughtering.

Most evenings, gun-toting Dog Control Officers stalk Cairo’s crowded streets, randomly targeting stray dogs for death. Problem is, they aren’t always good shots. Many animals, wounded and yelping in pain, are thrown into trucks and left to bleed slowly to death. Others stagger off into the darkness to endure their agonising fate.

Shooting, drowning, hanging and electrocution are just some of the ways countries, particularly those ravaged by war, famine or political upheaval, use to control stray dog populations.

Unfortunately, these barbaric methods are totally ineffective. In Cairo alone, it’s thought that over 90% of the 1.5 million dogs are strays.

 – and  here is the Australian link she provided, but the rest of

us should select an appropriate regional site here.

Son and Daughter

- The Unteachables

27 Dec 05 I followed the Channel 4 series in the autumn about children with behavioural problems who couldn’t settle in the classroom had usually been truanting from school. They were on a study camp with a teacher who enabled them to learn in an unconventional way. The regime, however, gave little leeway for tolerance and some of them had to be sent home anyway, but those who completed the camp found it a big boost for their self-esteem. Most interesting was the last episode, where the teenagers who completed the camp were put in charge of primary school classes. An educational psychologist gave her views as well as the teaching staff. The conclusion is that there are many children whose needs are being neglected in mainstream schools. However, it’s hard to see how, most of the time, the schools can accommodate them with the resources available at the moment. But the series does prove that, given the right conditions, such children can be taught. Here’s the relevant link:

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/U/unteachables/unteach1.html

The sort of misbehaviour displayed by the children shown in this series amounted to noisiness, disruption and non-attendance. But there are signs of more disturbed behaviour patterns on the part of some children, who are bullying others, not only verbally and psychologically, but have also been physically violent with sharp objects such as scissors and pencil sharpeners. There are recommendations that teachers search pupils with a view to confiscating dangerous items. More work for teachers, who should actually be spending their time teaching…

Source: Metro, Nov 15

- Child Prisoners in the Philippines

18 Aug 05 - I caught the end of an ITN news item the other day about child prisoners in the Philippines. I searched on the web and found this, dated 28 July, on the Child Rights Information Network Website – www.crin.org. Words fail me – there is still so much poverty in the world that in 2005 children are suffering in a way that we could only describe as typical of the Dickensian era. Something must be done!

There are an estimated 20,000 children in prison in the Philippines through out a single year. They are usually falsely accused because they are homeless, vulnerable and cannot defend themselves. Some steal food form the market, are using forbidden solvents to ease the pains of hunger and loneliness. They are the victims of a unjust and cruel system of imprisonment that we are trying to change.

These children in prison are frequently mixed with adult prisoners and sexually abused in the over packed cells. Here eighty to a hundred prisoners squat for 24 hours taking turns at lying down so congested are the small cells. The heat and stench is overpowering, the food is only a few cents a day and disease, malnutrition and tuberculosis are the daily hazard suffered by the children.

Most are innocent of any crime and the youngest we found was 6-year-old children and as young as eight to 14 are common.

With the help of the supreme court, the rules of the family Court have been modified to allow the children to be released to a Children Home if there is one that can cope with them.

That's what is happening now. Preda (the Preda Foundation, an organisation supporting abused children in the Philippines) has established one just to take the children out of jail and give them a new change to be free from abuse, hunger and disease and give the education and a new start in life.

This week Preda foundation in the Philippines and Jubilee Action in Guildford, Surrey England, launch a campaign to end the imprisonment of children in the horrific conditions not even fit for animals. The campaign supported by Lord David Alton and other leading British politicians is to persuade the United Nations to appoint a special representative and envoy for imprisoned children and to reduce the number of kids in jail by two-thirds by 2010. It will also attempt to persuade the Philippine President to certify the pending juvenile justice bill as urgent and to persuade the Philippine congress to pass it quickly.

Independent television broadcasts the condition of children in Philippine jails and what is being done to help them.

Changing the world by freeing the children and making this a decent world for them means we need more than ever our spiritual vision and conviction about the dignity of the human person, and protecting the children in poverty and jails. This is the freedom and dignity needed in the world, a dignity worth saving everywhere.

- Beslan One Year On

01 Oct 05 - The scars still remain, and will do so for many years. So many died, mainly children, that the incident and its results have become part of everyday life. Some children have travelled abroad and therapy has also helped; there are some positive results. Others are still suffering badly with severe anger, fear or even envy (see second item below). There are also unanswered questions about the handling of the siege. The Beslan Mothers' Committee has been doing a great job with their questioning, according to an article in this month's 'Marie Claire'.

See the following relevant links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4204246.stm

- Today in Beslan

We Must Find a Way

(a poem I wrote after spending this afternoon at North Fulham carnival, against the background of the news: killings in a school in Beslan, Russia, after a terrorist siege).

It's carnival time

What a wonderful day

It's set me to thinking

We must find a way

Will humanity linger

In an evil age

In hatred of others

Not turning the page?

I look about me now

And see it's so fine

People enjoying themselves

In the summer sunshine

People diverse in culture

Of many a colour and creed

Sharing life with each other

We've a good future indeed

I can do so little

But a lot when I pray

For the sake of our children

We must find a way.

5 September 2004: So while we think about the triumph of the human spirit (see 'We are the Champions', we also turn our attention to Russia (letter to Brian dated yesterday). All we can do is pray - so many children. Georgia and I will be setting out for church in an hour or so - up to the Russian church in London - with many Russians there, we'll have the chance to stand with them and their fellow countrymen. We have continued to live the reality of one church, despite social, cultural and linguistic differences. Blinkered nationalism and killing in the name of religion - in the words of Archbishop Trevor Huddlestone* - 'must die before I do!'

Listen - what people do to other souls
They take their lives - destroy their goals
Their basic pride and dignity
Is stripped and torn and shown no pity - Roger Taylor (Heaven for Everyone)

*A British Anglican monkwho lived in S. Africa and fought against Apartheid (and also gave Hugh Masakela his first trumpet). The words were spoken, with utter conviction, about apartheid at his 75th birthday event in 1988, which I was privileged to attend. There was no sign at the time that apartheid would die - but it did, and he lived to see that!

Headlong

- Into Live 8 and the BBC’s ‘Africa Lives’

People have gotta put their fists in the air

Bono

Now is the time for the tables to be turned…

Michael Stipe

Music is the first language…

Youssou N’Dour

I stepped on the stage

At Live 8

The people gave

The poor got paid

Snoop Dogg

14 July 05 - Well, Sir Bob did it again! A great event to spread the message, even if it wasn’t as emotive as Live Aid. Debt cancellation is a big step to making poverty history. The African artists looked as though they were putting on a great show at the Eden Project in Cornwall, and their participation has been one of the things which has ensured a more positive media image of Africa, which I’ve been hoping for for some time.

Another great advance in promoting a more balanced view of Africa has been achieved through the BBC’s ‘Africa Lives’ series. The other day, I saw a documentary by newsman George Alagiah, who returned to the land of his childhood, Ghana and also visited South Africa. The significance of choosing these two countries is that Ghana was the first in Sub-Saharan Africa to gain its independence (1957) and South Africa the last (1994). The programme was refreshingly upbeat, not failing to admit that there were problems, but suggesting positive solutions to them, eg ‘trade’, not ‘aid’ – to teach a person to fish rather than give them fish.

Alagiah, who has had to cover many negative events in Africa in his career as a reporter, returned to his old school, and many of the scenes of Accra were familiar to me, having been there twice – my daughter is half-Ghanaian, so it is half of her culture too. He started off by saying that he wanted to talk about Africa’s beauty, vastness and potential – he remembers the promise of independence and knows that there was violence in the years that followed, but happy times as well. He actually started the programme driving to the school in a Mercedes (the way he travelled there as a child) to the musical background of ‘All Right Now’!

In South Africa, his report concentrated on the harmony between black, white and coloured, and focused on a vineyard where the white owner was using his capital to educate black people to work in the business – how profit and principle were going hand in hand to help, teach, provide hope and spiritual development. A great example, indeed, of what can be achieved!

You Don't Fool Me

- More on Cloned High Streets: Seeing Double..Triple..

27 Jun 05 – There has recently been more in the press on this subject – the absence of choice, and the blandness of British high streets. Particularly low on the list for diversity, it is stated, is Exeter, with only one remaining independent retailer. Only one in three high streets retain their individual character – no wonder one gets the feeling when in Rochester that one is on holiday! Lewes in East Sussex is another high street which retains its original character – I also know it quite well for its market renowned for cheeses as well as its small clothing retailers.

In the Daily Mail on June 7, Max Hastings extended the description of the erosion of regional identity to housing and accents. Small businesses cannot compete with giants – they cannot remain, although somehow the French and the Germans, among other Europeans, appear to be able to retain small local retail outlets.

Another thing which Max Hastings refers to is another trend – with cheap parking at large suburban outlets, the high street may have an uncertain future anyway. I was in Asda in Gravesend the other day – it appears that you could spend almost the entire day there and have nearly all your needs met – eatery, post office, as well as a massive superstore…

Max Hastings mentions the demise of the small electrical retailer, leading to part of the difficulty in getting items repaired. Personally, I am sad about the passing of the fishmonger. There is little fresh fish on offer in the supermarkets, otherwise, in general, the best you can find a weekend mobile kiosk parked on a set site.

As it turns out, a town local to me, Sittingbourne, has been named among the worst ‘clone towns’ in the country, along with Maidstone, which is also nearby. I was in Sittingbourne on Saturday and would say that the outlets are mostly chainstores, although there are some small independent retailers and pubs. According to the East Kent Gazzette (June 8), the independently owned stores number as high as forty, but I have my doubts about that. I leave the last word with Andrew Simms, Policy Director for the New Economics Foundation: ‘Clone stores have a triple whammy on communities. They bleed the local economy of money, destroy the social glue provided by real local shops that holds communities together and they steal the identity of our towns and cities. Then we are left with soulless clone towns’.

- It's Not Just About the High Street

05 Feb 05

This recent article from the 'New Statesman' proves that 'cloning' is not restricted to the High Street. The author is Andrew Simms, policy director of the New Economics Foundation, which is mentioned in the item 'Cloned' High Streets' below. 'We Will Rock You' the musical carries a serious message - is the 'future' depicted in it already happening now?

http://www.newstatesman.com/Economy/200501240020

- 'Cloned' High Streets

August 2004 - No, because I know I'm in Guildford - but it could be Gloucester? I've just heard that UK towns are being talked about in terms of being 'clone towns', all containing the same shops, chains rather than small shops. It seems to have been like this for ages. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says that towns are losing their character as small businesses disappear at the rate of fifty a week. Homogenisation of the high street means that your town looks like every other! People are going for convenience rather than choice. It appears that there are very few individual-looking high streets left, which genuinely provide a sense of community. Down where I live we still have one - Rochester - and I'm so glad about that!

Picture: Rochester High Street

In The Lap Of The Gods

- The Rape of Pagan

11 Jun 05 - In this town, from the 11^th to 13^th centuries, a number of pagodas, temples and monasteries were built. The buildings and their treasures have suffered damaged over the centuries from earthquakes, floods, invasions and thieves. Many have, however, survived, forming a unique and inspiring collection of antiquities which has attracted many tourists (even though I have not been there myself!)

Now, however, the area is under threat from another source – Burma’s military government. In a move that is reminiscent of the removal of Romanian villages by dictator Ceaucescu in the 1980s, it appears that, in an attempt to attract tourists by building new hotels and facilities, the junta is intent on destroying the very reason why the tourists come in the first place. This should be a matter of international concern, because these buildings are a part of our human heritage.

Relevant link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4606759.stm

For more on Burma, see the item on Aung San Suu Kyi:

Rain Must Fall

- Mad Man Moon

11 Jun 05 - Over the last few weeks, when listening to my Genesis CDs, I’ve been paying particular attention to the lyrics of Tony Banks. I got hold of ‘Trick of the Tail’, (an album I possessed years ago) again because the third and fourth lines of the following song suddenly returned to me out of the blue. (There was, in fact a freak fall of snow in Buxton, Derbyshire in June 1975 which stopped a cricket match!) For the metaphorical descriptions of contrasting climates, I think the melody of this song, with its various speeds, is perfect. But I also think that the lyrics can stand on their own as a very worthy poem! See what you think:

'Mad Man Moon' by Tony Banks

Was it summer when the river ran dry,
Or was it just another dam.
When the evil of a snowflake in June
Could still be a source of relief.
O how I love you, I once cried long ago,
But I was the one who decided to go.
To search beyond the final crest,
Though I’d heard it said just birds could dwell so high.

So I pretended to have wings for my arms
And took off in the air.
I flew to places which the clouds never see,
Too close to the deserts of sand,
Where a thousand mirages, the shepherds of lies
Forced me to land and take a disguise.
I would welcome a horse’s kick to send me back
If I could find a horse not made of sand.

If this desert’s all there’ll ever be
Then tell me what becomes of me.
A fall of rain?
That must have been another of your dreams,
A dream of mad man moon.

Hey man,
I’m the sand man.
And boy have I news for you;
They’re gonna throw you in gaol
And you know they can’t fail
’cos sand is thicker than blood.
But a prison in sand
Is a haven in hell,
For a gaol can give you a goal
[and a] goal can find you a role
On a muddy pitch in Newcastle,
Where it rains so much
You can’t wait for a touch
Of sun and sand, sun and sand...

Within the valley of shadowless death
They pray for thunderclouds and rain,
But to the multitude who stand in the rain
Heaven is where the sun shines.
The grass will be greener till the stems turn to brown
And thoughts will fly higher till the earth brings them down.
Forever caught in desert lands one has to learn
To disbelieve the sea.

If this desert’s all there’ll ever be
Then tell me what becomes of me.
A fall of rain?
That must have been another of your dreams,
A dream of mad man moon.

Other Tony Banks lyrics on this site can be found on the

Vicki Moore page and Schoolday Memories page

‘39

- VJ Day

18 Aug 05 History records that the real end of the Second World War was on 15 August 1945 when the then Japanese Emperor surrendered. There was a ‘forgotten army’ of allies still fighting in the Far East, yet it is clear that many people bear scars they will never forget. Among them are the Korean ‘Comfort Women’, who were forced to have sex with dozens of Japanese soldiers every day, and still hope for recognition by holding a vigil every Wednesday outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. There are the Chinese civilian victims of the Nanjing Massacre* and the Japanese civilian victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Finally, there are the Japanese soldiers themselves who were also victims of a regime which de-humanised them. As one veteran stated, ‘Nobody dies crying “Long Live the Emperor!” People die crying for their mother’.

*See ‘You and I’ – China and Japan

Source: CNN News

- VE Day Celebrations

14 May 05 - Well, the year should really be ’45, but it’s as well to remember that, 60 years ago, people were celebrating the end of six years of hostilities in Europe. Last Sunday I visited the Historic Dockyard in Chatham for the ‘VE Day’ celebrations. Here are some pictures:

Singing 'White Cliffs of Dover' in dress of the era

City of Rochester Pipe Band

Vintage Car Display

I also went on board the submarine ‘Ocelot’ – being cramped at Wembley was luxury compared to what life must have been like inside one of those vessels!

You and I

- China and Japan

30 Apr 05 - I felt it was a good idea to write a few words about the current crisis between China and Japan. Basically this arises from the Japanese government’s recent choice of history text book for schools, which belittles considerably the seriousness of the Nanjing Massacre of 1937. I have placed various links here which illustrate the background and the current problems very well. Although I cannot condone attacks on Japanese people which are clearly racist, the Chinese people have every right to protest if history is not being written accurately. The Nanjing Massacre stands out as one of the most appalling atrocities of the last century; many innocent Chinese were most brutally treated and killed when the Japanese marched into the city. The Japanese behaved particularly badly, and even if this event does not have an equal before or since, it should be described correctly. If this is done, a sense of perspective can be maintained on balance with regard to Japan’s post-war development and peaceful status. Any attempt make a report in milder terms will only cause anger to flair and lead to questions regarding Japan’s sincerity in its position as part of modern civilised culture, apart from being akin to Holocaust denial. Even though other rivalries between China and Japan may creep into the current tensions, there is no denying these basic facts. There could be a great opportunity here to heal resentments; after all, the two countries have shown themselves capable of great cooperation. Let us hope that this matter can be resolved successfully to provide the means to move on. History cannot be changed but it must be faced up to so that it can truly be said ‘that was then, this is now’.

Background to the Massacre:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/223038.stm

The current tensions:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4449005.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4439923.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4459243.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4452097.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4471495.stm

- Reconciliation – or not – in Dresden

18 Feb 05 - I was consoled by the pictures of the sixtieth anniversary of the bombing of Dresden near the end of the second world war. A German lady, who had been a teenager on the ground, met with a British pilot. Although the military need for the raids remains contentious, there was no resentment from her, as she pointed out that Germany was the aggressor. Church representatives of Coventry, a city in the UK which suffered greatly from being bombed by Germany during the war, presented a cross of nails in the newly-renovated Frauenkirche. This church – which had been left in ruins by the East German regime, which re-built the rest of the city, as a warning against Nazism and war, looked splendid since the unified German government undertook to re-build it. Some opportunist Neo-Nazis, however, were protesting against the idea that the Germans were anything other than victims, equating the bombing to the Holocaust. Europe struggles still to get rid of the menace of people with such views. See commentary to ‘Nazis 1994’.

The reconstructed church in 2004.

Pictures: www.frauenkirche.de

The Miracle

- God's Creation

16 Apr 05 - I was in a local country park the other day and took these pictures of God's creation.

Keep Yourself Alive

- In Praise of Pret a Manger

27 Nov 05 - When Georgia and I went to Bluewater the other day, we ate at Pret a Manger. We both had delicious sandwiches; the ingredients are natural without preservatives and additives, the sandwiches made on site from fresh ingredients delivered every day. So we could enjoy tasty, healthy food, and anything not sold that day is given to charity:

http://www.pret.com/about/good_natural.htm

- Smoking Causes Blindness

01 Oct 05 - It has been conclusively proven now – smoking causes blindness. The other day on breakfast TV, two cases were covered – one of a lady who had wanted to return to her nursing career and another of a man who had a managerial job in Hong Kong which he enjoyed very much but had to give up due to his failing eyesight. So when I talk about ‘Keep Yourself Alive’, I am not suggesting that blindness can kill you, but pointing out that it will affect so many aspects of your life including your ability to earn an income. The Royal National Institute for the Blind would like the warning ‘Smoking Causes Blindness’ added to cigarette packets, as they feel that this would have the greatest impact by way of warning. Smoking can cause deterioration of the cells in the retina which is often irreversible.

Click the link below for ‘Kick the habit tips’ from the British Heart Foundation website:

http://www.bhf.org.uk/yheart/smoke.asp

- Alcohol-Related Deaths on the Rise

18 Aug 05 Boozed Britain! We appear to be becoming slaves to a binge drinking culture. Not to mention the violence that can occur as a result:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4152772.stm

Oliver’s Offerings Episode 4 – The Dinner Ladies Become Heroes

26 Mar 05 - So Jamie has the toughest task of all – to complete his roll-out over the whole London Borough of Greenwich, bringing 20,000 children into his project. Having succeeded in transforming the head dinner ladies into cooks of healthy fare as opposed to something that amounted to little more than mere junk-food placers, he was now set to take over 25 schools within a month, starting with five in the first week.

In addition to various teething troubles, such as lack of equipment, and, in one school, a chopping machine not arriving, the dinner ladies were having to work longer hours. Jamie moves in to support in the schools where it’s most needed, and he was sympathetic over the fact that, in the midst of problems about their being paid overtime, the dinner ladies had been ‘pushed out of their normal remit and were not supported’. Despite being on the end of his ‘phone to take any calls, Jamie is really too thinly spread and he re-enlists army chefs to assist in some school canteens.

But the extra efforts finally pay off for the children. Deprived of the choice, and therefore of the possibility of eating junk food, improvements are soon noticed in behaviour, concentration and performance in the classroom. The roll-out continued across the borough.

There were only three things left for Jamie to do – iron out the pricing problems which turned out to be connected to incorrect costing of portions, show the children what really goes into chicken nuggets (yes, it did put them off!), and to talk to the then Secretary of State for Education, Charles Clarke, who didn’t take much convincing of Jamie’s cause.

From the canteen, though, the food message has to be filtered into the whole curriculum – ‘the whole ****** country’s got a thing about food’ as Jamie said at one point. Jamie wants to change the nation’s thinking – by educating the young to experience and know about food.

Oliver’s Offerings Episode 3 – Jamie Rallies his Troops on Dinner Ladies’ Camp

11 Mar 05 - Very early on in this week’s broadcast, we see the value of Jamie’s undertaking for the future health of the nation’s children. One meal a day, dietician from the NHS states, would be enough to stop children having to visit him. It would therefore be beneficial financially with regard to health spending too.

Jamie’s positive. He feels he can pull off his project to convince a whole borough to convert to his dinners. But in order to do so, he has to resort to the drastic measure of withdrawing the junk food alternative in the canteen at Kidbrooke school. For the first time in thirteen years, the children will have only healthy food on offer. It proves to be an uphill struggle as the teenagers protest vehemently. ‘We don’t like that disgusting food!’ they chant.

Previously, they were voting through their choices – still opting for the unhealthy meals – but now they vote with their feet and numbers using the canteen drop dramatically. Some refuse to try it, leaving their food without clearing their trays.

Jamie won’t give up. He talks of creating ‘a cooler, clever, healthier nation’. Nora, the head cook at Kidbrooke, is, by now, his firm ally. To convince the government, however, Jamie has to prove that he can get a whole of the borough of Greenwich to stomach his alternative diet. This will involve re-training 60 dinner ladies to become cooks, and persuading 20,000 children to eat the food. He gets the go-ahead from Council officials to try, and manages to persuade almost all the headteachers in the area to follow the example of the Kidbrooke project by allowing them to sample his school dinners.

In the meantime, at Kidbrooke, pupils find a way of obtaining junk food from local outlets or gravitate to the sandwich counter in order to avoid Jamie’s dinners. He addresses the latter problem by creating healthier sandwiches. The former proves to be more difficult to solve as even parents are involved in the rebellion by supplying junk meals to their children through the school railings. Jamie resorts to the drastic measure of taking free samples of his meals into the playground. The most resistant are finally won over by being involved in an activity he originally tried at the Durham primary school –getting the children to cook the food themselves. His persistence starts to pay off, and more return to the canteen.

Enlisting the borough’s dinner ladies to his cause, however, may prove to be an even more daunting task. Over half term week, by means of intensive training, he sets about converting a set of women who have only ever re-heated convenience foods to become cooks. He has the help of Nora and members of the Army Catering Corps, but it becomes clear that the dinner ladies themselves are no lovers of vegetables!

The series concludes next week.