When the Lights Go Off in Blackpool

Does anyone remember the Orange cinema advert about the 2003 New York blackout? In an ever so cheesey way,it shows the increased sense of agglomeration and community that rises alongside human tragedies. I kinda like that - because it talks about people and real emotions. The fierce storms that battered many parts of Great Britain yesterday made me reflect on a number of things. I had spent the best part of the morning at the office catching up with a number of people (friends and family alike) -- meanwhile bags and pieces of furniture were being lifted off the ground and blown up to our 8th floor window, creating quite a scene and a certain sense of giddiness and child-like wonder. Then the sky became darker and darker, bricks were falling on cars, people were being shifted about and roof tiles deadly hitting unsuspecting passengers. And then the caos, the panic, the mad rush home. 3pm: no trains running;3.15pm: no trams running;3.20pm:major motorways closed, busses derouted and many areas of town closed down. In all this, I couldn't help but admire the composedness of temperament of the Brits. I mean anyone who has been"stuck"(litteraly) on Deansgate for 2 and 1/2 hours(when normally it shouldn't have taken much longer than 15 minutes on the bus to get home), has got the god-given right to be enraged; but not the Brits. They sat there and patiently waited.Elliott Smith's Satellite is playing in my ears and in what appeared like slow motion, a young lad is helping an old lady crossing the road, two orthodox Jews are talking to each other standing outside a bar at the frindges of the gay village, a Sick girl, a Muslim woman and an a grey-haired man are making conversation and laughing graciously. I didn't walk home because I was too afraid of stuff falling off the roofs (not to mention the vertiginously high heals I was wearing), but I also found a great sense of calm and good feelings in witnessing the "peace alongside the storm". And I got time to reflect.

***To be continued***

Hands Up If you Read My Blog!

I know for a fact that there are a number of you out there who read my blog -- information deduced from a.the number of visitors; b.the number of friends or friends of friends of friends who "quote me back"..kinda spooky! So if you are one of my BLOG READERS--Put your hands up and say "HI" in an "enlightened thought". (Please)--and not "enlighted" as I had origianally written!Doh!
At this point,I would also like to express my thanks to my "regulars"(man:I feel like a local pub owner!)--the wonderful Cayetana Altovoltaje, the regal Baron Hasbrown and Bolton Fan,my little stalker friend. Without you I would have thrown the blog-writing- towel in a long time ago..or maybe not! (Because,afterall, this is all about EGO PUMPING!)Thanks for stopping by and keep on blogging!

A Little Respect! (Just a Little Bit,Just a Little Bit)

In as much as I dislike using public transport, feeling my ex-housemate would probably concur with me on, having to take the bus into town every day is revealing itself as an experience full of reflection,wonder and unexpected surprises. Generally filled with a fair mixture of 'stiff upper lip'newspaper-reading 'shirt 'n' tie'-wearing types,elderly passengers,idealistic students,unemployed wonderers and teenage parents with screaming babies,bus journeys could entertain you no end! What always strikes me is when I see, in the midst of neglect,lack of decency and respect, glimpses of civilization in unsuspected individuals who still seem to stand for what is good and beautiful in this world of ours.
This morning there had been a 'milk spilling' accident on one of the bus seats (before I walked in--just for those of you who were already prepared to point their finger at my legendary clumsiness);amongst the total indifference of passengers,driver and the guilty party as well,a little old lady got up,laid her newspaper over the spilling and made sure the driver was informed about the happening(not to mention that she warned every single on-coming-passenger!). Maybe there is something to be said about being old,repetitive and pedantic,but this lady showed,in my opinion,an admirable sense of civic responsability and respect. A couple of weeks ago I was watching the revelation of 2006 South African cinematography Totsi. Must say that I am a sucker for this kind of movies,but I really quite enjoyed it. Totsi tells the story of the homonymous protagonist,a young lad 'born and breed' in a disadvantaged suburb of Johannesburg, parentless,brought up on the street with the absolute conviction that stealing,murder and abuse are perfectly acceptable means to make ends meet. I won't tell you anymore,'cause if you haven't watched the movie,I don't want to be responsable for spoiling the surprise,but,again, this depiction of reality makes me reflect upon a behaviour that,if not as extreme as Totsi's, is radicated in all of us. Like the by-standers of "the milk spilling",like seeing an elderly struggling with their shopping bags and just passing them by,like meeting someone in the lift and not even bothering to offer them a smile,like those who watch the world catastrophically go by and remain silent thinking of the next Corry's episode..we are all at risk of developing the deadly postmodern syndrome of "it ain't mine,so why bother".But what if we were to seek a cure for this bullshitty indifference and claimed responsability for what is ours which,in those postmodern terms,is actually a great deal wider than "me and mine". It is the people I live with,the folks who live next door,my work collegues,the bloke selling "Big Issue" on the street, the milk spilling woman,the guy on the next blog,the increadibly annoying screaming baby on the bus and the list could go on and on and on..but I leave it up to your discretion and individual situations.
*On the subject,check out this intriguing post. Also as I was writing this post up I was reminded of Lilly Allen's video LDN. Enjoy,

Happy Birthday,Tinkerbell!

I nearly forgot!Doh!Today my wee sister turns 17--cannot get my head around it that tiny wet chick-like-cotton-bundle is turning 17..unbelievable!HAPPY BIRTHDAY,TINKLEBELL!
She doesn't know yet,but my mom got her the best present in the whole world:she has completed her first of six cycles of chemo and is going home today to surprise her! (How cool is that!)Re:My mom,thank you for your thoughts and support -- we could not do it without you!

Praying People

Dear fellow bloggers, if you are reading this, please pray for my mom who is going to be starting her six cycles of chemotherapy today - that she may be strong both mentally and physically and that God may heal her of the lymphoma and give wisdom and compassion to the medical staff.
Also,Lindsey, one of my friend's best friend's wife from Northern Ireland, has got a brain tumor and is undergoing a second operation today before she starts radiotherapy. She is only twentythree and,like my mom,has been amazingly strong and has displayed a great faith throughout her struggles. Please pray for her too. In God we put our trust. With all my gratitude, Ivonne

"Mr Discontinued"

*Disclaimer:this post is going to be full of cliques-but what the heck! When my house caught fire on Chirstmas eve my bt broadband modem melted. Now, I had had that modem for nearly two years and it may not have been a gem, but it was efficient, reliable and good enough. Because it was melted beyond repair (to this day the stench of liquified rubber haunts my bedroom), my beloved BT announced me that I would have had to buy a new one for the bargain price of £25! So the lovely lady over the phone said in that annoingly sterile and repetitive tone of telephone operators: "we will be posting you the BT Broadband Voyager 210"(picture on the left)... that's when I abrubtly stopped her to say that what I wanted was a BT Broadband Voyager 105. At that point the operator laughed and said that that model had been discontinued a whole year ago..too old,not pretty enough, not fast enough. And there was me thinking that it was brilliant when I used to be able to browse for Japanese prints one minute and then switch to my friend's blog in south America in a second when, apparently, I was stuck in the Flinstone era because it shouldn't have taken me more than a quarter of a second - dah! Or is like my friend who has been pestering us for the past year going on about how much he wants a 30G i-pod. I have been advocating for my 1G nano my sister gave me which is cool and suits me just fine. Not enough space for music? Just change it every day (how much time do you really have to listen to music from your i-pod when you are out anyway!?). But he is tenaciously persists in wanting this huge storage i-pod. So last night we browsed the web looking for the best deal when, there behold, the new fancy super supreme 80G i-pod appeared! Wow! All of a sudden his demands for hi-tech sounded shabby. Guess what I am trying to say is that technology and society are moving superfast in this world we are living in and in as much as it is all good and fancy, the question remains: "do we really need it?". Now going back to my original title,"Mr Discontinued" is how Steve Martin in the rom-com "Father of the Bride"(1991) describes himself by comparing his self-perceived rejection as first man in his soon to-be-married daughter's life to a one of his discontinued shoe productions. Thereby the comparison between material consummerism and emotional consummerism (if that's a word). This is something I often discuss about with my peers and I imagine it is a problem as old as the world but in our global society the issue must have biggened: how to be sure you have met "the one"?!. Blokes and ladies alike seem to be awefully concerned they may marry someone and then meet someone "better"(be it more intelligent,funny,attractive,sophisticated..whatever takes your fancy really). My take on this is that it is not a possibility we may meet someone better,rather it is a virtual certainty we are all likely to become,sooner or later, Mr or Mrs Discontinued. The point is that, as exciting as the new may be, they haven't had to wake up next to you even on "bad hair days"and the truth is that no-one is ever going to love you as loyally,faithfully and honestly as the person who has chosen to love you through the thick and the thin,sickness and health,better or worse. In other words,I would have been perfectly happy with my old modem - I don't want to spend the rest of my life chasing after the "latest model",the fastest car, the best paid job,the most handsome man. Give me my modem back!

Life Without A Violin-Playing Goat

A little come back to one of my previous blogs. I got my hands again on a print of one of the most famous paintings by one of my favourite artists,"La Mariée" by Monsieur Marc Chagall. Most of you will most certainly remember it from the movie Notting Hill (1999) where Julia Roberts, referring to Chagall's painting, states "Yes - Happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat." I love the painting and,man,I love this quote! In the surreal senselessness of this statement, there is the power not only of an evocative picture, but a phenomenal representation of life itself. "La Mariée", litteraly "the bride, the wife"depicts a man and a woman on their wedding day, a violin-playing goat, a dancing fish, a fiddler player and a number of guests on a deep blue background of little houses and open sky...what I see in it is love and life and happiness beyond conformation, canons and limitations. It is not marriage that is making this couple soar, but it is mutual love, imagination and the ability to dream beyond society constraints. I may be completely wrong in my critic and quite likely the artist never meant any of the above mentioned, but I am inclined to think that this may be possible. Marc Chagall was an outstanding artist whose talent has never been disputed. Nonetheless as a Russian-Jew in antisemitic second World War Paris, he was endangered and was forced to flee to the US. However, it is said that he would always find refuge in his art filled with vibrant colours and fantastical imagery - the hiding place of imagination. Even when the world around him was disastrously unfair and cruel, his art enabled him to find refuge in a world of beauty and sublime sentiments. By stating this, I am not advocating for escapism. I am a firm believer in the fact that one must face life whatever it may come on their path, without hiding,escaping,pretending.
There is a book in the Bible called Ecclesiastes. It is a collection of wisdom and thoughts by king Salomon. At times depressing, at times totally random - it depicts a fair picture, in my opinion, of humanity. What Salomon says is that bad things in as much as positive stuff happen to evil people and pius folks alike. The consolation and true revolution comes from the strenghtening and hope that is provided to those who believe in order to face afflicition and hardship.
Similarly, art, love, beauty can be a real solace for an aching soul. All this is part of what makes me feel so deeply for respectively my Faith and art.
So what happens when an expression of God-like traits in humankind beautifies the perfect consolation and meaningfulness of divine Hope? -A goat plays a violin on your wedding day!

Scrubbing Toilets With Love

"Sisters' Sledge"major hit ,is resounding in my little head on this murky,grey winter day.

The past few weeks have been a gloomy succession of unfortunate events,but I ain't here to moan - on the contrary, I would like to acclaim what is unique and totally awesome about Christianity. High concepts such as "love" have too often been misused,abused and,quite frankly, overused so frequently and injustly that it has become senseless and irrelevant. Nevertheless,it will never cease to amaze me when I see Christ's love practically demonstrated in the lives of those who claim to be his followers.

As most of you are aware of,my mom is sick at the moment and I live abroad which means that I cannot be with her all the time. However my absence has been wonderfully replaced by an overwhelming amount of friends from church who have been more than mere friends,but more like family, human hands and feet of metaphyisical divinity-they have been visiting,calling,cooking,doing injections,ironing and even scrubbing our toilets! In our time of trouble, they were lifting us up and even people on the other side of the globe (some of whom had never even seen or met us) were expressing their support and praying for us.

Another heart lifting experience happened this morning. I was on the bus on my way to work with my mind full of thoughts and my heart full of worries, being concerned about mom going into hospital and feeling enraged about the fact that I had only come back from my Christmas break to discover that the house had nearly burnt down on Christmas Eve...grrrrrrrrrrr!Thank God for my fire alarm and my nosey neighbours who called the fire brigade straight away!
Anyway, this guy behind me is reading a book and the guy behind him sees he is reading a Bible and sits by him and asks him if he is a Christian. The two lads start having a lovely conversation full of genuine affection and mutual interests obviously making each other's day and most likely unaware of having made my day too.

Or it is like when I first moved to sunny Salford and, nearly instantly, I had not only acquaintances and neighbours, but I found in the church people who were as close as family.

Moral of the story: my world travel,my struggles,my joys have time and again offered me the opportunity to test that Christianity unites strangers into a huge loving family. Yes, indeed, my dear Sisters' Sledge: "WE'RE FAMILY, I'VE GOT ALL MY SISTERS WITH ME!"

This tale is about love but it is also about Hope. I have been increasingly frustrated over Christmas about the fact that no matter how hard you work, the world does not seem to change. However God-given Hope tells different and brethes confidence in me: yes the world is, pardon my French, sh** at the best of times, but as Mother Theresa once said: "there are no big acts; it is small acts of kindness done with a great love that can change the world".