This is the Last Time I Talk About Snow

I'm going to keep this post short as i have said pretty much everything i wanted to in previous posts. There's still some snow but overall it seems to be clearing up now, to the disappointment of some and relief of others. However, it appears that a large number of employers are refusing to pay their staff for the days they were unable to attend last week. This is disgraceful, not only is it unfair (it might be illegal although i can only speculate), but in my opinion hugely irresponsible. Considering we are going through a serious recession here, any companies punishing their employees for a genuine inability to attend work are showing a complete disregard for the safety and well-being of their workforce, instead forcing their employees to risk their lives (and indeed the lives of others) by traveling in genuinely hazardous conditions just so that they can earn enough money to continue paying their bills. The government run Transport For London is guilty of this aswell as many other companies, both large and small. Again this is both greedy and irresponsible.

The BBC seems to have lightened up a bit on their reporting of this snow crisis a little though, perhaps due to the situation down in Australia. Aside from the few fatalities in Britain (and by no means do i wish to devalue them), the extremely hot weather down under has been far more serious than our freak snowstorm. Kinda puts it all into perspective, the value of the hundreds of lives lost in bush-fires is greater than the cost of the weather to our economy.

Nevertheless, i have dedicated a fair bit of time to this subject over the last week. As i have said previously, weather controls our lives in ways that governments, banks and religions can only dream of, this has been an example of that. It has not been my intention to criticize those so trapped within the work system as to be effectively forced into trying to continue with their daily business, regardless of the dangers. Instead i hope to have put forward an alternative viewpoint to that which has been propagated by the mainstream media, specifically the BBC. Hopefully, these last few posts, like the rest of this blog, has provided some food for thought if nothing else.

And for those that genuinely hate the snow, at least now you can look forward to plenty of rain!

More Snow... And Buses

Its still snowing! What a fun week this has turned out to be. I guess i was wrong about it all being cleared by yesterday, its great to wake up and see my hometown of Swindon covered in a thick white sheet, certainly makes a nice change from the usual grey theme!

Of course, while we should be enjoying ourselves and making the most of this rare treat, the BBC have continued to report this as "some of the worst weather in almost 20 years", personally i would call it some of the best snow since i was a kid. The BBC have definitely taken the throne as the champions of British propaganda this time, citing huge figures regarding the cost to our economy as the main tragedy in what they surely want to call the "snow crisis". You would think from the way they have been reporting that Britain had been hit by a tsunami or something.

But who's really losing out here? Those workers that are getting to spend the day with their loved ones surely aren't suffering, they should be entitled to pay for this time off if they physically can't get to work. The big corporations have got loads of money, enough to cover them for this week. I should think most of the rich fat shareholders are too busy having fun to worry about this (if they are worrying, they shouldn't). City traders selling up their stock in public transport companies know full well they can by them back next week cheaper and make a nice profit. Perhaps some of the small businesses and tradesmen might be having a hard time right now but that doesn't exactly account for the billions that the official statistics are giving us.

I reckon the BBC and everyone else like them are just out to make us feel bad for enjoying ourselves. Clearly they want to maintain the idea that our work defines us and that our jobs and our economy are so important that we should once again risk our lives and the lives of everyone else by trying to get to work by whatever means necessary. Then, of course, they can report about how the snow is causing all these road accidents.

I think i said more or less everything i needed to in my previous post here, nevertheless snow is fun for kids, why can't us grown-ups enjoy it too. Everything will be back to normal again next week, so make the most of it.

On a completely unrelated note, i read today that a Christian alliance are retaliating against the probably blasphemous Atheist Bus campaign with their own range of adverts claiming that "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life". While we atheists, backed up by scientific knowledge, have had to compromise somewhat by using the word "probably", its seems completely wrong to me, and many others, that the Christians can be allowed to use the word "definitely" in such a way. Considering the foundation for much of the Christian complaints were that the “no God” claim could not be substantiated, surely then their own claims are even more unsubstantiated. I would suggest, in a fair compromise, their slogan should read "There might be a God...".

Maybe we should complain to the Advertising Standards Authority, i probably will.

Snow!

Well, apparently Britain descended into chaos yesterday, brought about by that great influence on us that is the weather. Or so the BBC would have us believe (here is one of many stories from their website).

I don't want to sound like i am downplaying this, but when serious weather hits us like this there is nothing we can do but accept it, Britain is perfectly well equipped to deal with rain, we get enough of it, but snow, forget it. In fact it seems that the real problem here is not the weather itself but the fact that people couldn't get to work, and i suspect for many they chose not to go to work instead enjoying the only thing that makes cold winters worth enduring.

The BBC repeatedly asked the question "could anything have been done?", while showing footage of some Londoner complaining that the roads weren't gritted and likening the situation to being in a third world country (about 30 seconds in to this video). With much public transport unable to operate, the only way for anyone to get to their oh-so-important jobs was to drive themselves through hazardous conditions. No wonder then that there was a large number of road accidents and injuries.

The way i see it, much of this chaos could have been avoided if everyone just took the day off. All the workers for big corporations who actually contribute very little to society should not put their lives and the lives of others at risk just so they go into the office and attend their apparently important business.

Ok, i'm not saying everyone should stay at home, doctors and medical professionals are needed more than ever in cases like this, similarly people still need to eat. But in times like this, people need to shift their priorities and think about each other, think about their community, their friends and family. Apparently the snow cost our economy £1.2 billion. I don't know how they work this out but in the current economic climate thats not the worst day we've had.

I'm not claiming to be an expert on the things that the BBC addressed, i have a very basic understanding of economics at best. I just can't help thinking that if our priorities changed a little, yesterday could be seen as an exceptional day with exceptional weather, rather than some sort of small scale natural disaster as it seemed to have been reported. Life goes on, tomorrow the snow will be gone and everything will return to normal, yesterday could have been fun for everyone. I think the kids had the right idea.

Thoughts on Thailand

Its been well over a week since i got back to this cold hell-hole that is England. What can i say? To think this is the first time i've been to Thailand, it sure won't be the last.

People told me my life would never be the same again, in some respects they are right. Its not the first time i've been travelling, i did 3 months around Australia and New Zealand, albeit some time ago. Nevertheless its a good reminder of how great the whole backpacking experience is. Of course this time i was not alone, its truly a great thing to share such an experience with someone close to me.

Thailand is an amazing and beautiful country, culturally speaking the difference to the western world is immense in so many ways. To see a nation that has such a relaxed attitude toward the things that over here would be considered a health and safety risk is at first strange but soon became refreshing. At many of the beach bars there was loads of fire-based entertainment, the sort of thing that you simply would not be allowed in this country. I guess their philosophy is if you are stupid enough to try jumping a fire-skipping rope drunk then its your own fault if you get burned.

The shabbily-built wooden huts that provided most of our accommodation are again something you would never see in England, although that is mostly due to the weather here. Similarly, the vast bulk of public transport around the country consists taxis of one form or another (taxi-cars, taxi-boats, even taxi-buses!), again a lot of these seem like they have been knocked up at home and would no way ever pass an MOT. It seems that everywhere there is a kind of shanty-town attitude towards many of the things we consider to be important health and safety issues.

Its this attitude that characterises Thailand and its culture. For a country that has not really known democracy for long and is really quite poor in comparison to ourselves, they experience a type of freedom we simply can't in our "Nanny State" society. Of course, its all relative, nowhere is perfect and Thailand is not without its faults but thats not what i wish to discuss right now.

The most striking thing about Thailand for many is of course the natural beauty of the country, particularly its many islands. My own "Final Destination" voyage (see previous post) led us straight to Phuket, a place we spent very little time, it reminded me very much of any number of holiday resorts, i might as well have been in Majorca! Next point of call was Ko Phi-Phi (the place i now realise i would likely have spent my Christmas on that ill-fated tsunami year), this is possibly one of the most beautiful places i have ever been, with gorgeous beaches and some amazing scenery. I even managed to (eventually) overcome my fear of drowning (i'm not much of a swimmer) and went snorkelling, another opportunity to see much of the islands beauty.

The beach at Tonsai was not in itself a great beach but the cliffs surrounding it were spectaculkar enough to make it the next point of call. Staying in a wooden hut partway up the mountain was also an experience. We didn't have enough time to do much though because our next destination was Ko Phangan ready for Christmas and New Year and its many parties.

Ko Phangan is in many ways the most westernised of all the places we visited, with many Brits and Europeans living there for long periods. The fact that there seemed to be a party every other day (all vaguely related to the moon) is probably reason enough for many hippies and ravers to want to spend long periods of time there. Whether these parties are as good as the festivals and free-parties we enjoy in England and Europe is a matter of debate, nevertheless they are cheap, fun and warm. Thailands hard-line zero-tolerance attitude towards drugs seems somewhat at odds with this party island but, again, thats not something i want to discuss here now.

My own personal ambition of spending Christmas in the sun was unfortunately hampered by the sudden, uncharacteristic downpour of rain Christmas day which continued on/off through to New Year, alongside plenty of cloud cover the rest of the time. Guess i'll have to go back there again next year.

Following Ko Phangan, we left to visit Ko Tao, a smaller island a little north within the gulf of Thailand. This island is another beautiful place, laidback with plenty of nature and scenery. Following that we had to return to Bangkok and reluctantly prepare ourselves for the journey home. Our flight got delayed/cancelled and we had to stay at a posh hotel for an extra night, paid for by the airline. :)

Coming home was not the nicest experience, not that there was anything wrong with the flights, just the knowledge that our holiday was over and we had a particularly cold England to look forward to. Still, as for life-changing experiences, it certainly had an impact on both of us. Now, our main objective is to find a way to go back there next year.

Personally i feel quite refreshed and inspired, my creative juices are flowing and i'm hoping to get some more tunes finished soon, this holiday has inspired me in new ways. I have plenty more thoughts on Thailand, society and everything else i like to rant about but they can wait another day. Hopefully this little memoir hasn't been too long or boring, i guess its been more for my benefit than anyone elses. I might even throw a few photos up on MySpace at some point.

Anyway, if you are still reading this and have yet to visit Thailand i strongly suggest you make some plans, its not an expensive holiday (apart from the flights) and its worth every penny. Next New Year (2009/10) is actually a proper Full Moon, something surely worth celebrating in style.

I hate this weather

What a shit state this country is in. Fuel is more expensive than ever, food prices are rising, the cost of living is getting higher all the time, all the while the value of the things we own is diminishing rapidly. On top of that we have a government led by a man who has hardly endeared himself to the public. The only thing we have to look forward to is our basic human right to a bit of sunshine in the summer.

Fat chance of that then. As if we dont have to put up with long enough winters in this country the general state of the last summer and this one so far has led me to feel like we are stuck in some sort of perpetual state of misery. Grey is the colour of our lives it seems.

The problem is that we endure the wet and cold for months on end, always looking forward to that little bit of release we get when it all gets a little bit nicer and we chill out in the park, go to a few festies and free parties and actually enjoy our lives for a couple of months before it all gets horrible again.

What happens when that release never comes? We are all imprisoned in some sort of nightmare world of grey. The tensions start to show everywhere around us. Sure, its a very British thing to endure the weather, thats one thing that defines our nation but it doesnt mean we have to like it. They say the eskimos have hundreds of different words for snow. How many different words do we have for rain? Drizzle, spitting, pissing/chucking/bucketing it down, raining cats and dogs, theres a whole lot more that we probably all make up as we go along.

We all like to moan about the weather in this country, thats because its shit and its controls our lives more than any government or corporation ever could. Surely all this rain can not be good for our spirits, i know its not good for me. Once again, i feel like the rest of the world are laughing at us and our pathetic little wet empire. And we sent our criminals over to Australia! Fucking genius!!! How happy are they over there? Its bloody winter in Oz and its probably still nicer there.

Well, i guess i shouldn't forget that its all our fault. Carbon emissions, climate change, we brought this upon ourselves. Is it too late? Who knows or cares anymore? All this misery breeds apathy. I suppose we can hope for a white christmas, but i have a sneaky suspicion that it will be wet and grey.

The future's dull, the future's grey. Accept it!!