Friday 31 December 2010

Hunting the wild goose


My long awaited goose hunting trip to a distant icy wilderness started with me missing the right exit on the motorway and nearly missing the outbound  flight. Daydreaming and mental preparation caused my temporary lapse of concentration. Got to the airport 5 minutes before the gate closed.

Nervousness and anticipation made me feel uneasy and vulnerable. After all, the trip was to a distant, frozen land, devoid of the usual sense of security one feels when in familiar surroundings.

Weapons for the job were ready...tactics rehearsed over and over in my head...I felt well prepared for the job in hand, but still...the feeling of fear of the unexpected prevailed. There are no guarantees when it comes to hunting. Everybody knows that...except me.

On arrival at my destination, temperatures of minus 16 centigrade smacked me out of my daydreaming state. No welcoming party awaited, and, although I knew that was the plan, the feeling of an imminent bad omen entered my head. Would I be lucky enough to catch?

The 'wild goose chase' was on and lasted several days. I came across signs of my target several times but just couldn't get close enough. At least not close enough to guarantee success. Set-back followed set-back and it started to take its toll on me.  I persevered nonetheless, mentally bruised and battered, until the last day of the trip, when it became obvious I would blank.

It is disappointing when so much planning and preparation fails to produce the desired goods, be it hunting or life in general. Maybe its a sign I should go back to old habits and concentrate on fishing instead?

Maybe, just maybe, from now on I should let the wild geese fly over my head and into the unknown, undisturbed and without shooting...or should I..?

...maybe I won't give up the hunt just yet. After all  'precious = worth fighting for'.

 New Year's resolution?  To be resolute
:)


Wednesday 22 December 2010

cold and beautiful...

Her snow, cold and beautiful...
her Sweden, cold and beautiful...


her landscape, cold and beautiful...
her winter, cold and beautiful...


her Christmas, cold and beautiful...
her heart, cold and beautiful...


her eyes, cold and beautiful...
her smile, warm and beautiful...
my bed, cold and beautiful...
my tears, warm and beautiful

:(

Sunday 19 December 2010

All world religions should be banned - for the sake of humanity

War, marginalization, discrimination and divisiveness are all terms associated with world religions. And all for myth and superstition! As Bertrand Russell once said, and I quote;


"Religion is based ... mainly upon fear ... fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand . . . . My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race."

wonderful incentive? How does he know?


Bigot making a stand...for whom?


How sad when the innocent are used as weapons.
 Just look at those misguided messages

 
backward looking fundamentalists


what a dreadful idea! Can you imagine?

The ugly face of world religion, ever-present and persistent due to man's inability to let go of childhood obsessions with "imaginary friends".

Here is another famous dig at religion by the great Sigmund Freud;

"The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life."

...and another by Mark Twain;

"Strange...a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; mouths Golden Rules and forgiveness multiplied seventy times seven and invented Hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honourably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!"

...and last but not least, one by the great man himself, Albert Einstein;

"I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls"


...march on secular soldiers, humanity needs you now more than ever. I feel much better now
:)

Saturday 18 December 2010

Office Party cancelled due to adverse weather conditions

Tonight I was supposed to go to the works Christmas party, but am posting a blog instead.. I was given a last-minute ticket by the boss a few days ago and have been looking forward to the "do" ever since.



It was going to be held at a venue in Windsor and the theme was to be “James Bond”. The programme advertised a 5 course dinner, cocktails and a show by Bond look-alikes and the famous Bond Girls.

It would have been a good night out and an ideal situation to get to know the people I work with, as I have only been with the company 5 weeks; but the weather gods have put a stop to that.

Free meal, drinks and live show would have gone down a treat, but earlier today the skies decided to open and lay a foot-deep carpet of snow all over the south-east.

As we all know, the UK is never prepared for extreme weather conditions and the country usually grinds to a halt at the sight of snow, rain, sunshine, autumn leaves and so on. But tonight of all nights? Why?

We were all sent home early, at noon instead of the usual 5:30, to avoid the blizzard and to get ready for tonight. Text messages followed an hour later informing us all the party was cancelled.

It took me 4 hours to drive home, a journey that usually takes half an hour and just for good measure, the car decided not to climb the hill near home and skid to a halt by the roadside instead. I had to walk 15 minutes, knee-deep in snow, cold and angry as hell at being stranded and party-less.

So, to all those lucky folks enjoying their Christmas party tonight, all I can say is;

 “I hope you all get stranded and suffer mild hypothermia on your way home; and tomorrow may all your digits drop off with frostbite, into the very same bucket you're spewing up your belly-full of stale booze”

Merry Christmas, love and peace to all mankind

…I feel better now
.

Sweden?...Why?

Not that terrorist acts ever make much sense, but some cases are totally incomprehensible. I refer in this case to the suicide bomber from Sweden and Luton who decided to spread his pitiful mortal remains on Stockholm’s pavements.

Taimour Abdulwahab al Abdaly's
 only claim to fame?

Had this act of madness occurred in Palestine, Iraq or Afghanistan, it would have made a lot more sense to me; but Sweden? The land of the fair and free?

I don’t believe it has anything to do with Lars Vilks cartoon mocking Muhammad or even Sweden’s involvement in Afghanistan. The real reasons go much deeper than that.

Swedish artist Lars Vilks says he believes the
 suspects arrested in Ireland and the U.S. in an
 alleged plot to kill him were not professionals


Too right they were not professionals; they are deranged, brainwashed, unstable and unable to think for themselves.

Islam is being hijacked by deluded psychopaths who mistakenly believe they are waging war in the name of Allah. The whole idea of “suicide bombers” beggars belief. Only the mentally unstable are capable of committing suicide.

Sweden is probably the last place on earth I would expect to be targeted; for a number of reasons.

Sweden is, according to UN statistics, one of the nations with the most satisfied population in the world.

The Swedish people are free, forward-thinking, tolerant, and well looked after by the state, after decades of good social policies that have enhanced the quality of life for all its citizens.

Sweden is also successful and affluent, democratic and fair, unlike the nations these pitiful terrorists think they represent. And here, I suspect, lays the main reason for these acts of violence.

I think it is all to do with envy. Yes, ENVY.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, envy seems to be the driving force in this unholy war, or more precisely, culture clash. Envy at the fact that Sweden has (along with other western nations) broken away from the shackles of religion and created fair democratic and decent conditions for their people. So much so that vast numbers of Muslims, year on year try, to immigrate to these very same nations. It is after all, one-way traffic.

But societies these terrorists think they represent are often the complete opposite; barbaric, oppressive, unjust and backward-looking, whose peoples are governed by medieval laws. They are societies that openly discriminate against gender, sexual and religious freedoms and pay no attention to human rights.

It’s now up to the decent Muslim people around the world to rise up and fight the cancer within their midst.

Here is a demonstration by the Muslim decent
majority soon after the attack. A lot more
 needs to be done to convince the world.

Will this silent majority really rise to the challenge? I have my doubts. But if they don’t, they will inevitably pay the price of burying their heads in the sand.

:(

Tuesday 14 December 2010

All I want for Christmas is...Part II

Flight is booked for the 23rd!

Courtesy of the very generous management at my new job. Thanks guys for the extra time off.

Off to Sweden I go for 5 days, some where not too far from Lapland.

so very cozy and quaint...

It’s at times like these that I wish I still believed in Santa Claus. ( I don’t actually remember ever believing ) I could’ve paid him a visit! As it stands, seeing real-life reindeer and real snow will do for me.

traditional Swedish Christmas fayre - SmörgÃ¥sbord


But what I want to see most of all is not reindeer and snow but M. I am just dying to see her after 5 whole weeks apart. Five weeks that seem more like 5 years. We may also get a chance to see Stefan, Linn and Kim for good measure. That would be very nice indeed.

Christmas market in Stockholm

It will be my first Christmas knee-deep in snow. Lots of snow I am told and temperatures down to -20. Brrrrrrr. Apparently Swedish mould wine keeps the cold at bay. I reckon beer and Absolut Vodka also do the trick. I’ll try them all anyway. No doubt I will...

:)

A Christmas message. If only...

…the world had been created by some Devine being, it would have been a perfect world. If only humanity could have been created in the image of such Devine being, there wouldn’t have been wars or suffering, hunger and disease ravaging humanity.


If only…

just an illusion

There would have been no parasites, whose main purpose in life is to drain the life out of their hapless hosts.

Or deadly bacteria and viruses that destroy life indiscriminately and cause so much pain and suffering in the process.

Or predators that rip apart living creatures with unbounded savagery and lack of empathy, in order to temporarily feed their hunger.

Or humans, who use, abuse and kill others and chose to live like scavengers on the carcasses of humanity, often whilst under the misguided guise of “holy war” and tribal differences.

There would have been no need for religions that separate, marginalize and often destroy others who do not share their illusions. Organised religion is like a hospital for the sick. We all know that the healthy don’t need hospitals.

What a wonderful world it would be if there were no sicknesses or the need for hospitals!
If only…

But in reality, life is simply a process started by Nature and with the sole purpose of improving and adapting all life-forms to facilitate the survival of the driving force of all life on earth. DNA

The quicker we all begin to accept that simple truth, the quicker we will learn to rise above Nature and help it along a more humane and righteous path.

It could be done, but will it ever? I doubt it. Not while half of humanity chooses the path of following imaginary friends (gods) and live by rules created by dubious humans with ulterior motives.

Still, I can only dream and hope.

:)

Saturday 11 December 2010

now that i've lost everything to you...

...you say you wanna start something new
and it's breaking my heart you're leaving
baby i'm grieving...
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there

[Chorus:]

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl...

my version of the great, prophetic song

This Cat Stevens classic is a favourite of mine and I played it at every gig.


 Cat Stevens. 'For your lyrics my heart bleeds'

If you fancy listening to it, click this link.
:(

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Nature's finest

As a life-long admirer of cats, I have decided to dedi-cat-e an entire post to these adorable and delightul creatures. I am in awe of nature's evolutionary skills in creating beautiful life-forms and here are some of the finest examples.

"don't point that thing at me! It could go off!"


"and why don't I have ears like everyone else?"


" whassup?"


" I sleep all night... and I sleep all day"


"me too"
last but not least, the finest of them all... tada!

T Bone Pereira with accessories

I hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I have.
:)




Monday 6 December 2010

this time last year...

...I was in Madeira doing my regular gigs at Moynihan's Irish Bar and enjoying almost all-year-round summer. I do miss it and can't wait to return for a well deserved break. I especially miss the beach strolls with Madeleine in Porto Santo and the swimming in Ponta Gorda.

Martin singing "Ziggy"

We had some great nights when the music didn't stop and I burned some serious calories. Just as well I replaced lost calories with pints and pints of Guinness. And when DD and Ivo turned up it was even better.

I had to put up with over-friendly hecklers...

and howling  from "rent-a-crowd" fans

Stefan and my boy Mattie were regulars. Is that
 not the most beautiful little boy ever?

I went through some tough times also, including a marriage break-up, but over all it was a great experience that I wouldn't miss for the world. I lived alone for a while, the first time in my adult life! A first for me and an invaluable lesson.

But the most cherished memory of all from Moynihan's, is the meeting and falling in love with a beautiful Swedish girl.
.
Min älskling, Madeleine


Kommer hem snart, Madeleine, jag saknar dig så mycket. Du är allt jag vill ha i julklapp och allt mer.
xx

Sunday 5 December 2010

from hero to zero...

...or to be precise, from good to bad in the emotional scale.

I refer specifically to when someones expectations of a friend. relative or loved one, takes a knock. It could be the result of  a hurtful comment, lack of consideration, neglect, or even just the feeling one is being deceived or lied to.



It has happened to me a few times through the years and although it's nothing new, it's still as unpleasant as the first time it happened.

The closer one is to the person concerned the more painful the knock. When it happens with a person from one's "inner circle" it can have a devastating effect similar to mourning. I guess it is a kind of mourning when one feels the loss of someone or something emotionally special.

It leaves one with a dull ache inside. An empty void that can not be filled with food, drink or any other indulgence. And a feeling that something has broken or chipped away bit by bit and may never be fully repaired.

What is this feeling called? It must have a name. Such a strong emotion must have a proper description.It can't be mere "disillusion".

How wonderfully gifted must be the countless poets and writers who can describe the strongest human emotions with a simple pen, paper and a memorised alphabet.

People like Kahlil Gibran whose masterpiece "The Prophet" is still my favourite book ever.

Kahlil, how I envy your ability to spin a
 magic web with beautifully woven words


:(

Thursday 25 November 2010

How to destroy the celebration with a trumpet

This is bloody hilarious, so funny I have to share it with you. This guy on his balcony with a trumpet decides to join in with the passing parade. Check out the faces of the musicians as they look up in wonderment at the horrendous out of tune accompaniment...




...what a gem !

Tuesday 23 November 2010

top girl is back in town

Wonderful news!   The old girl is back!

Yes, T-Bone is back in the UK! Apparently none the worse for wear despite the enforced 6 month separation from her loved ones.

looking relaxed and in control the day  
before her imprisonment

As I reported back in May, I had to leave T-Bone in Madeira, Portugal, in quarantine.  Not an easy thing to do I can assure you but I had no choice.

I guess I could have tried smuggling her back here but the risk of detection would have been high, especially when trying to conceal such a vocal cat. T-Bone is a chatterbox (female) and so it wouldn't have worked.

Reminds me of the  British couple who tried to smuggle live animals into the UK after a holiday in Florida. They wanted to bring back a rattle-snake and a skunk.

Husband:   I'll tie the rattler around my waist like a belt, and you can hide the skunk in your pants!
Wife:   What about the smell?
Husband:   If it dies it dies!

Today's post is short and sweet, just like T-Bone.
:)

Sunday 21 November 2010

Festive Season or Silly Season?

It’s that time of the year again! Silly Statement Season!

As Christmas approaches, it is traditional  for large quantities of bulls**t to pour out of every media outlet, as if intent on sweeping away our common sense along with the last of the autumn leaves.

 

BBC News announced yesterday morning that Susan Boyle is as popular as The Beatles were in their heyday! What?

SuBo has not exactly written
 any songs yet, never mind
 any good ones!

SuBo has reached number 1 in the UK and US charts simultaneously with her latest album and is now in the same category as Coldplay, Keane and so on! Yeah right.

I’m not about to launch a scathing attack on SuBo on the grounds of her being just an OK singer or even on her lack of good looks, but I do get annoyed when a mere decent singer like her accepts being compared with the world’s greatest artists with the smug look of Ned Flanders attending mass.


Someone needs to remind SuBo that humility is a noble quality, especially when referring to a woman who has two things all teenage boys would want –  facial hair and huge muscles.

Sillier still (and deviously dangerous) is the The Daily Mail article on Tuesday, proclaiming that by 2055 the white population in the UK will be a minority.

the right-wing "wrinkly brigade's" favourite rag

Coming from the official mouthpiece of ultra-conservative pensioners, it doesn’t really surprise me, but lets do the maths anyway, shall we?

The last official census (2001) revealed the following;

Population: 58 million, made up of the following;

92.1% White
4.0% South Asian
2.0% Black
1.2% Mixed
0.4% Chinese
0.4% Other

(less than 8% black/brown)

The UK allows approximately 200,000 non EU immigrants entry per year (mostly black/brown)  but the present government wants to cut that amount and will do so.

Even if current entry levels remain as they are (but they won’t) it would mean an influx of 10 million people over the next fifty years, when the population is estimated to reach 80 million.

“Ethnic minorities will make up a fifth of Britain's population by 2051, compared with 8% in 2001 - The University of Leeds, published November 2010.

OK, let's examine the previous statement by the University of Leeds study. "Ethnic Minorities" are not all black/brown. Fact.

The Guardian newspaper, a quality liberal rag unlike the Mail, also published the same 20% prediction this week. Again, this 20% is not all black/brown.

Conclusion: Since when is 20% (and not all black/brown) a non-white majority?

Where does The Daily Mail get its figures from? Certainly not from respected sources such as the University of Leeds or the Office for National Statistics.

And even if right, why is a non-white majority such a controversial idea?

We should all be working towards building a tolerant, inclusive and decent society - not needlessly worrying about estimated racial mix 50 years down the line.

 I for one have more important things to worry about - the Mail readers obviously don't.

‘nuff said, rant over.
:)

Friday 19 November 2010

Celebrity bash - Part III

Yes, it's that time of the month again when I get the urge to have a dig at hapless celebrities. Mind you, judging by the way they conduct themselves they deserve all the criticism you and I can throw at them.

I'll start by having a go at Sarah Palin. She is to self-publicity what shit is to flies. There is no stopping the blabbermouth from Alaska and, yes, incredible but true, could well become the next "leader of the free world".
As to why the president of the USA should be referred to as the "leader of the free world" I'll never know. If anyone knows the answer please leave a comment.

looks harmless but don't be fooled by the
 Colgate smile. Has the face of a saint
 - a Saint Bernard

And then there is Wayne Rooney. Manchester United and England star player misfiring on the pitch and in the marital game.  Married to long-suffering Coleen, a million times better looking than him (that's not difficult, I know) but decides to cheat with hideously ugly prostitutes that most men wouldn't look at twice, never mind pay for. No accounting for taste.

behind every successful man is a woman
 - behind her is his wife

And lastly there is Nick Clegg. The present Deputy Prime Minister who has turned his back on all the pledges he made before the election and completely betrayed all those who voted Lib-Dem. We can thank Nick for last week's student protests. He pledged to scrap tuition fees but now supports the idea of an increase, Great turn-around just to get a top job in the coalition government. Nick is the perfect epitome of the old joke; "How do you know when a politician is lying? His lips are moving"


if life were fair Nick Clegg would be asking
 'Do you want fries with that?'

Rant over, I feel much better now ;)



Thursday 18 November 2010

all I want for Christmas is you

18/11/2010   Day off work. Went to Stanstead Airport this morning with Madeleine.She has gone to Sweden for Christmas :(

It's strange not to have her by my side. We have been inseparable for two and a half years and... I don't like it. It'll be fine I know, and I'm happy for Madeleine. She hasn't spent Christmas with her family for 3 years so it's well deserved...

inseparable- see what I mean?
 That's us in Porto Santo


aw... :( 

uhmm? the royal look?!

...on the way back from the airport I went to pick Mattie up from school. We went to the River Thames at Isleworth and then on to "Greedies" for  tea and cup cakes. It cheered me up no end.

here he is, "chip off the old block"
 wouldn't you say?

Mattie gave me the great news that T Bone is coming home Monday. Poor T Bone has had to endure 6 months of quarantine in Madeira, at SPAD (RSPCA's equivalent).

that's us saying our goodbyes, six months ago...

Anyway, onto a lighter subject.

Did you know that cats are an absolute masterpiece work of art? Nature's most purrfect creation. Well... if you exclude us, that is. At least if you exclude ME!

Cats have developed a way of drinking so sophistiCATed that some scientists are spending many hours and tax-payers money trying to work out the mechanics and techniques used.uhmmm!?

While dogs and many other animals slurp their way by splattering and wasting most of their water, cats don't even get their chins wet. They slap and withdraw their tongues onto the surface of the liquid  so fast, creating lift;  they then close their mouth at the precise moment and just "bite" off the top of  liquid. Apparently it's so complicated that I can't even explain it! Remember this bit of trivia when you are next slurping your pint or vodka-red bull on a Friday night.

evolution at work

Just thought you'd like to know that...




Sunday 14 November 2010

A protest too far...

My first week at work went without a glitch. I did feel a bit lost in the new environment, new procedures to learn and colleagues to get to know, but that's to be expected.

I couldn't help noticing the controversy over the protest by Islamic fundamentalists on November 11 in London and feel obliged to comment. There was also another protest in London  during the week, by students upset at the proposed increases in student fees by the newly elected Conservative/Liberal coalition. Same old ...same old story.

Burning the poppy

First I will start with the Muslim protest, now  known as " burning the poppy protest". For the benefit of those who may not be aware of the significance of November 11, here's a brief description:

November 11 is Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day and Armistice Day) in most of the English speaking world.
It is a day to pay homage to the British soldiers killed in action and has been celebrated since the end of World War I.  In the UK, various charities across the land start selling the iconic lapel 'poppy' (see Madeleine's very own poppy below) some weeks before the day and all proceeds are then donated to the war veteran societies.

Madeleine showing support for the cause

how it should be done...with dignity

Most people and commerce observe a 2 minute silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Even the traffic grinds to a halt. Last Thursday, while the two minute silence was taking place, a group of Islamic protesters in Ealing, West London, decided to burn a poppy and hurl abuse at the fallen British soldiers. This protest took place in public view and rightly disgusted many observers.

the faces of ignorance, intolerance, envy and hatred

of course they are...surrounded by 40 virgins!
Does that apply to women also?

I believe in freedom of speech but it has to be a freedom with conditions attached. The freedom of the speaker must not conflict with ,offend or incite the listener to violence. It's common sense and common dignity.
The Islamic protesters obviously don' t know about these basic human qualities and decided to vent their ill-informed anger at passers by with no regard whatsoever for the consequences. Those same protesters, needless to say, are the same type of people I wrote about in my old post "Biting the hand that feeds them". Yes, British born Muslims who instead of promoting harmony promote hatred towards the very nation (UK) that took their parents in and gave them a better life. Fine way to say...er... Thanks!

Can you imagine a similar protest by Christians in , say, Kabul or anywhere in the Muslim world? Of course not. The protesters would be removed and killed immediately by the baying crowds of Muslims thirsty for the blood of the infidel. Ah, the glory of religion... (irony)

But in London, we seem to not only tolerate the lack of respect shown by the protesters but the police also failed to take action and arrest the ungrateful scumbags. Why were they not arrested? They were inciting violence and that is a crime. Were the police so scared to be seen as anti-Muslim that to turn a blind-eye was the preferred action to take? How ridiculous is that!

Arrest, trial and inprisonment are justifiable ways to deal with these so called British-Muslims who are, once again, giving the rest of Islam a bad name. 

Student protest

Sadly, this is a case of the "same old story". Tories back in power, violent protests hit the streets. Nothing new.

It happened before when Maggie ruled. The out of work miners protested and rioted, the inner-city youth rioted, some city traders and stock brokers jumped out of their office windows with the boom-and-bust economic mess and the working classes endured years of unfair and savage public spending cuts.


The electorate have a short memory and voted the blues (with a dash of yellow) back in and now dare to complain?! 

When Labour took office 13 years ago the riots were quelled and the boom-and-bust economy laid to rest. A spell of peace and common sense swept the nation.Thirteen years ago (after 4 terms of Tories) there were 65,000 people on hospital waiting lists for operations, with the waiting period from 2 months to 2 years. By the beginning of 2010 there were no cases  of waiting more than a month.

Oh well. short memory causes all kinds of problems so my advice to the protesters is this.

Stop f*+*ing complaining to me - you and your relatives most likely voted the present lot in! Put up and shut up.
Rant over, phew... :)