AndyBlog

Windy #2

It really was windy.

Is it me?

...or is it a bit windy?

Aceh, and stuff

I got my first scammer email today, from a low-life in Indonesia, trying to get me to wire money over to him in Jakarta to “help his family who live in Aceh”.

I will confess to feeling disgusted by this, and slightly sick. To abuse the kindness shown by so many and seek fraudulent gain is utterly vile. The same goes for those who are using the confusion to fuel the child slavery market. Words cannot adequately express my disgust.

Already, we must face the prospect that many governments will not actually come up with all the cash which they have promised. We must also face up to the stark reality that all this terrible suffering will fade away from the TV screens in the near future. The relief will go on just fine, till the money runs out, and then these regions will be on their own once more.

It's the natural way of things, and perhaps we need not feel too guilty, because the current intensity of reaction cannot be sustained - however sincere. Let's just hope that enough is put in place to enable those affect societies to rebuild themselves, and to, once more, attract the tourists who make up most of their income.

In recognising the evil that lurks in the world, I think we should remember that the good really does outweigh it. Towns will be rebuilt, broken lives will somehow recover themselves and re-shaped families will draw strength from each other.

Erm... could there be a Tsunami in the Atlantic?  Does anyone know?

Madonna

My goodness - Madonna and Guy Ritchie have renewed their wedding vows - after just four years. Celebs usually renew their partners after this sort of time, so I guess this is a sort of changing partners for the same one. Satisfies the showbiz need for constant activity. They're clearly going to need an eternity ring next year and, after that, they're more or less forced to divorce, have a wild fling with an inappropriate partner or two, before reconciling and swearing eternal love once more.

Shortly after that, they'll split for good.

Then they'll re-marry on the moon in the first commercial wedding/space trip. Expect books about their experiences to follow, and maybe a mini-series/fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Hello magazine must be very excited, I know I am.

Tsunami

The waves have caused untold coastal devastation.

As I write this, it looks like 23,000 people are thought to have died as a result of the earthquake in Asia. The undersea quake caused tidal waves which have swept away thousands upon thousands of people. One moment happy coastal residents or tourists, the next, gone. It's a tragedy of massive proportions, and we must expect the numbers of casualties to rise as time proceeds.

I'm just really sad that so many people have lost loved ones, and that many complete families have been obliterated by this disaster. It's a happening on a scale that I can barely conceive of. I wake up each morning and expect the people I know to be around me, or on the end of a phone. I take the constancy of my existence very much for granted. Were any one of my close friends to die suddenly, I would be devastated.

But what if..... what if all of them were to be snatched away from me, and I was the only survivor? It really is totally outside my scope of imagination. I do not have enough empathy to grieve alongside these unfortunate people, or enough insight to comfort them. I am touched by their predicament, yet utterly unable to help.

We must rely, I think, on the strength of human resilience to win through. Life really does go on. People will rebuild the houses, reconstruct the towns and villages and set about the business of living again. In short, they will survive this. Before long, it will be as if this had never happened, but for the stinging pain in the hearts of those who have been bereaved.

Let's not forget them too quickly.

The Band Night Out

Sometimes, just sometimes, we get a lucky chance to see what would have happened if the thing that was to have happened didn't happen. As it goes, the thing that was to have happened would have happened, except that the place in which it was to have happened turned out to be closed, because the person who was to have booked the place in which the thing was to have happened didn't check in good time. So, even though ti was far too late to book a new place in which the full thing could have happened, it was possible for something smaller to happen.

I am talking, as if you didn't know, about our band's annual band get together/social/Christmas meal. It would be utterly cruel and unfair of me to make any accusations of bad organisation, but I'll not let that bother me too much. After all, what kind of organiser leaves booking the event  till the same day as the event - especially when it is this near Christmas? Well, quite.

It's important, having so roundly criticised the organiser, not to picture her here, fairly near this portion of text. I would not sink that low, so please don't go jumping to conclusions. Let me talk, instead, about our wonderful trip to the Imperial Chinese restaurant in Low Fell, near Gateshead.

The food was great, and the service friendly for the four of us. It was a nice time. No, a really nice time. We laughed and joked and drank almost nothing all night. It was quite refreshing for me being with people who didn't get drunk. I'm fairly jaded from being with groups where I am the only sober one, so this was a lovely change. I'm sure the jokes were better for it, rather than just /seeming/ better as the evening went on.

As the evening progressed, Jason thrilled us with some of his legendary close-up magic. He is really very skilled at this now, and can make anything up to the size of a small cat, or Chinese waiter vanish utterly. He did this several times, to the awe and amusement of all. Then he did it again, and it was still great. Finally, two last times, which were fine.

Jason's greatest gift was the gift of transportation, of which he freely gave to each of us. It was more appreciated than he will ever know. He left my house, full of optimisism and excitement about his forthcoming trip to Wales the next morning to pick up a drum kit for his daughter's Christmas present. It's a complex story, which I feel sure he will tell us all about in his BLOG. I look forward to it, with almost the same level of excitement as I might look forward to an enjoyable mid-morning snack.

As for this Blog entry.....well....  I think it has already out-stayed its welcome.

First Snow of Winter

I awoke this morning, in the usual way, After I had ushered the sheep from my bed chamber and removed most of the clamps, I chanced to glance out of the window - to be greeted with the snow-speckled scene you may observe (left).

It really was not much snow at all, but it was significant to me, because snow is a magical thing - and this was the first example of it at our house this winter. I mean, of course, the first snow outside our house this winter. Not this year, because last winter's snow was this year as well. My reference is definitely regarding the current winter, and the exterior of this location in which I am presently resided. I do hope I have now made this splendidly clear.

I suppose the real point I want to make is....

...erm...

It's actually just the snow thing. First snow, and all that.

Move along now, nothing to see here. (unless you haven't clicked on the first snow picture)

(Picture taken by Fiona, the Lady Curtis)

Newspipe Update

I feel like doing a slow hand clap for the people who, today, succeeded in ousting the Home Secretary from his post. “Well done” I want to shout, my voice laden with irony, as they shuffle about, already feeling the hollowness of their victory.

They found just enough mud to sling over just the right period of time to make his position untenable. There actually was not much mud there at all, as far as I can see. What we have witnessed is a very well-thought out attack on David Blunkett. First revealing a bit of the allegation, then letting the subject almost start to die away before revealing a bit more. It seems that it is this longevity which is the key to getting rid of leaders.It isn't the strength of the allegations which counts, it is the span of time you can make the person hit the headlines for the wrong reasons which does.

So they succeeded, or was it she - the ex-mistress of ex-Home Secretary who succeeded? I wonder how they, whoever they were, feel now? Is it the satisfaction of a job well done? Do they feel that they have attacked that person sufficiently? Does it feel good?

To maliciously release news stories in order to depose someone in office is not a nice thing to do. I have a feeling that actions like this, if driven by a feeling of need for revenge, will leave that person, or those people, with a feeling of anti-climax. It could never be enough to satisfy that hunger to hurt someone. If feel sorry for them, really. It must be awful to hate that much.

It saddens me intensely to think that a man has been forced out of high office for what are, at worst, small misdemeanours. I struggle to believe that this happening could, in any way, be in the public interest. I'm not a Labour supporter, but I do believe in fairness and democracy.

I don't see much evidence of either tonight.

Happy?

I was watching a program this morning on the BBC called “Homes Under The Hammer”. In this erstwhile vehicle, a smug couple show people, usually property developers, buying houses at auction, gutting them and then selling them again or renting them out. On the bit I saw, a man bought a house in Folkstone, and then employed his “right-hand man” to carry out the restoration - which he duly did.

As far as I can tell, the man with the money no longer does any work, apart from buying the houses at auction and handling the financial side. The cameras were allowed into his fine country bungalow, built to his design. He has a beautiful home, built to the highest standards, and within easy reach of the town of Folkstone. The grounds have two swimming pools, one covered, one outdoor. There are also a tennis court, crazy golf course, children's play area and extensive decked area for barbecues etc. His children go to private schools and his wife and mother live a life of leisure thanks to his self-made riches.

He, quite obviously, loves his house. He sees it as the expression of his success, and a comfort that he has earned for himself. He has even set up a garden bench and table, angled so that he can sit there with a glass of wine and a fine cigar, and survey his wonderful residence. As he recounted this story, he simply beamed with pleasure and happiness.

But, is he really happy?  Has all this wealth and success and earthly possessions really made him truly happy?

Yes. Yes it has.

Do I care?

I mused for a while today about what the most insulting and hurtful thing was that one person could say to another. I briefly toyed with the F word and other such swear words. Sure, they are shocking - certainly at first - but it would take a very thin-skinned person to be truly hurt by a word alone. After a while, I settled on this:

The most insulting thing that one person can convey to another is that they really and truly do not care either for them, or about them.

I say convey, because people that truly do not care certainly will not take the trouble to say so. In fact, come to think of it, 99.9% of people who have heated arguments in which they tell people they do not care are actually conveying the exact opposite. Whether it be positive or negative, that kind of attention telegraphs care.

So where's the positive message, or is this just a depressing journey into my late-night thoughts?

Aw... you know the message - or can make one up. Anyhow, I don't care what you think. Really, I don't.