Bring your own Shisha

I have had enough of the homogenous nature of London and the rest of the country now.

Every little suburb has a McDonalds, an off-licence, an ‘urban’ version of one of the supermarket chains and of course the ubiquitous £1 shop (or 50p shop in the more ‘well to do’ locations).

I remember as a kid going to the Greengrocers and then the supermarket for any packaged goods, going to the sweetshop for sweets, and then the chemists for the latest prescription from the Doctor, who had a surgery in his house!

Gone are those days and we now have a sanitised standard appearance to our local high streets.
However I don’t think it stops there anymore. It’s beginning to pervade our lives as well.
I see us all starting to have the same things going on. The same fears. The same hopes. The same acceptance of life as unchangeable. The same lack of enthusiasm for change.

Fears? Fear of being overrun with ‘immigrants’. The fear that our jobs may go soon as there is no real telling if things will last for our lifetime. The fear of grabbing the attention of ‘that bunch of teenagers on the corner’. The fear of Terrorism. The fear that Tony Blair will stay in power. The Fear that Michael Howard will get into Downing Street.

Hopes? Hope that the next bill is a small one. The hope that one day debt will not be an issue. The hope that you will be able to sleep at night. The hope that the kids will grow into nrmal human beings. The hope that the next day will be a better one.

Acceptance? Traffic Jams. Poor Customer Service. The inevitable delays on trains/tube/buses. Congestion charging. Traffic wardens. Expensive CDs, Theatre tickets, water, phone bills.

And onto Change. What can we change? I can’t preach like Tony Robbins. But all I can say is that amongst all these hopes and fears there is an ounce of the kindness and love that we all as humans share and crave. I think its all about finding that middle path and accepting some things and confronting others. Fearing some things and fighting others. Hoping for some things and despairing for others. Changing some things and leaving the rest of it alone.

Received this in my email this morning….

I just want to make it clear that I don’t know where and for how much these Muslims can be bought. (Thanks G ;-))

Bribery for the election: “Vote for us for a cheap house”

Jumping on the UKIP bandwagon. It seems that the Tories are following New Labour in that when someone comes up with an idea that sounds like it will be popular, lets steal it…

More understandable fear in Indonesia
Maybe the WMDM should find a spin on this. I’m sure they will given time. I can see the papers…’Underground ‘nukelar testing’ by Iran causing earthquakes’

It was my 30th Birthday yesterday. I just wanted to say Thanks to all the cool messages i got via Email, Phone & Text. But more importantly I want to thank J, T and Shan for a wicked Birthday Dinner. Love you guys!

(Image courtesy of The Sal-Man)

I hope the sacrifices made in the last year by all of us help us realize how immaterial this world really is. Have a good Eid-ul-Adha (or Thursday/Friday/Weekend depending on how you look at life).

On repeat on my Media Player….Cat Stevens - Tuesday’s Dead. It has a lot of meaning if you get past the rolling rhythm. Here’s the lyrics:

Tuesday’s Dead - Cat Stevens (1971. From the “Teaser and the Firecat” album)

If I make a mark in time
I can’t say the mark is mine
I’m only the underline of the word
Yes, I’m like him, just like you
I can’t tell you what to do
Like everybody else I’m searching through
what I’ve heard
Whoa - where do you go when you don’t
want no one to know
Who told tomorrow - Tuesday’s dead
Oh preacher won’t you paint my dream
won’t you show me where you’ve been,
show me what I haven’t seen
to ease my mind
‘Cause I will learn to understand
If I have a helping hand
I wouldn’t make another demand, all my life
Whoa - where do you go when you don’t
want no one to know
Who told tomorrow - Tuesday’s dead
What’s my sex, what’s my name,
all in all it’s all the same
everybody plays a different game - that is all
Now man my live, man may die
searching for the question why,
but if he tries to rule the sky, he must fall
Whoa - where do you go when you don’t
want no one to know
who told tomorrow - Tuesday’s dead
Now every second on the nose
The humdrum of the city grows
reaching out beyond the throes
of our time
We must try to shake it down
Do our best to break the ground
try to turn the world around - one more time
Yes - we must try to shake it down
do our best to break the ground
try to turn the world around
one more time
Whoa - where do you go when you don’t
want no one to know
Who told tomorrow - Tuesday’s dead

For thousands 2005 is starting badly. I pray that help gets to the Tsunami victims quickly. And I hope the rest of us will be able to open our hearts completely to help them.

Lets hope 2005 brings happiness and good health to all.