Christmas in the Sun, Second Time Lucky...

Four years ago, i was planning a holiday/vacation to Thailand. I'd been in a pretty bad way for much of the year, really low. I knew that the only way for me to get myself out of it was to get the hell out of my life and just go backpacking for however long it took. It was all planned in the summer, the only thing i hadn't got round to doing was booking my ticket. The plan was to go for Christmas, i'd always wanted to go somewhere hot for chrimbo and i quite liked the idea of being away from all the bollocks that exists in every day life that seems to manifest itself the same time each year.

Anyway, shit happens. That summer i had something of a string of bad luck which, aswell as costing me money, also led me into a kind of self-pity state, blowing the rest of my cash trying to make myself feel better. Needless to say, i didn't get my ticket. Later on in the year, once i'd got my head out of my arse, some friends suggested to me to go to Australia instead after the new year, which is what i did.

On Boxing day, a tsunami hit Phuket with a number of casualties. My original plans had been to spend christmas in Phuket, for the simple reason that i liked the idea of being somewhere called "Fuck It" which as far as i was aware was the correct pronunciation!

I can't help but wonder whether, had i not had the misfortunes in the summer, if i did end up going with my original plans what would have become of me. Would i have been one of those casualties? Would i have survived it and perhaps found some purpose over there helping people rebuild the town? Who knows??? At the time i felt like it was some kind of fate, of course i realise now that it was nothing more spectacular than a coincidence. Nevertheless, i know that if everything went as planned theres a strong possibility that i wouldn't be here today to write this.

This year (tomorrow in fact) i'm off to Thailand to spend christmas there. I won't be alone, i'm going with my girlfriend and we are meeting some friends over there. But, I can't help but have this strange feeling, like i've cheated death there and now i'm going back (like Final Destination or something!). I intend to visit Phuket, if only to see the place that may have been my downfall. Of course, i'm not really worried, at least no more than anyone should be travelling to another country. Its an interesting story for me to tell, but nothing more than a coincidence.

This time tomorrow i will be on a plane on my way to a hot country to spend christmas in the sun on a beach in Ko Phangan. Honestly, i can't wait.

I wish everyone reading this a merry christmas, i'll be back in the new year.

Preaching to the Converted

We are all drawn to the things that interest us, we are all drawn to people that share the same interests and views as ourselves. As a musician, I spend a fare bit of my time online reading music forums and industry news. But there's more to me than just music..

As an atheist, I am generally interested in the subject of religion, yet there's only so much I can put up with the scaremongering that pours out from the vast majority of religious propaganda. Warnings of eternal damnation and hell-fire quickly bore me, I've heard it all before... A lot!! Yet, I seemingly never tire of hearing the same atheist arguments against science over superstition.

I don't doubt that people of any given faith find themselves in a similar situation, preferring instead to listen to a preacher of their beliefs constantly re-affirm their faith, rather than hear that “same old atheist argument” about us being related to monkeys.

On a similar note, its not uncommon for a group of weed smokers to sit around debating amongst themselves about how pot should be legal and that everyone would get on better if they were all stoned all the time. These “debates”are of course completely one-sided since invariably everybody there at the time agrees.

Herein lies the problem, much as I love listening to atheists defending our reasoning, I am already of the same opinion so in a sense these arguments are of no real consequence for me, although I still enjoy reading/watching/hearing them. If you read my blog and already share my opinions then I wonder whether it will be as thought-provoking as I hope it is. Of course, if you read this because you like my music then perhaps that's a different story.

For those of us who like to be vocal about our thoughts and share our views with the world, we need to think about our audience. Its all good and well voicing our opinions to the people that agree with us, but essentially we're just preaching to the converted. To challenge the preconceptions of those that blindly follow popular opinion, to encourage individual thought within people who may never have questioned the world around them, these are the goals I hope for here.

Music can unite people in ways that nothing else can, and once there is a mutual interest or common ground this can lead the way to healthy debates among different people with contrasting views. It doesn't have to be music, all sorts of arts, sports or hobbies can be a vehicle for discussion about anything else.

There's nothing wrong with sticking to the things you like and staying within your own (online or real world) community. But its always good to be open to different ideas, to form independent opinions based on both sides of the argument. If nothing else, you may learn something new and knowledge is always good.