Recently, on Facebook, I have seen a lot of interactions that follow these sorts of lines between a person and their Blues fan mate:
Friend 1: "Congratulations on the Blues win at Wembley"
Friend 2: "Thanks. I think we played a good game and we deserved the win"
As someone who doesn't have any real interest in following team sports, I cannot quite see how fans enter into the intrinsic arrogance of this interaction.
Sure, I know that team sports such as football carry certain promoted ideals of solidarity and unity etc and that fan support means a lot, but surely the language of this interaction carries with it the fan implicitly taking credit for the accomplishment of 11 or so total strangers.
The nearest applicable thing I can think of to relate it to me involves Jackie Chan. Now, pretty much anyone who knows me more than in passing will know that I'm a big Chan fan. Have been for years. Probably always will be. I know more about his past than is probably healthy to know about an utter stranger. I check his website every so often and see what he's been up to and what he's currently doing. I debate his movies and the techniques therein with other ardent fans. I know he's had highs and lows in his career and while he's had some great cinematic moments, he's made some absolute turkeys of films! Particularly recently. And I've been waiting for him to pull something good out of the bag again. Arguably, the metaphor is so far sound.
Now if, just supposing, if he had just made an awesome film that was making big waves in China, taking some awards there, and was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, I would never expect anyone to come up to me and say "Congratulations on the Oscar nomination". It seems preposterous to me. What have I done to be congratulated on? If they did, I wouldn't deign to reply with "Thanks. We put a lot of work into that film and we deserved the nomination".
Why?
Because aside from being a fan the film was created for, I had NOTHING to do with the crafting of that film. Certainly not enough to be congratulated on and to use the language "Thanks" and "we" as if I had personal involvement.
Genuine question: How is it not arrogant and utterly absurd to say "we played well" instead of "they played well"?
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Space Exploration
So what does everyone think of it? Months ago I had a Facebook status questioning its worth. Unfortunately FB statii are not searchable and I can't be bothered trawling through yonks worth of statii to find it.
So... A program on the other night where James May got ridiculously excited about Space Exploration reminded me of it.
What IS its value?
All of this is framed by the fact I think exploration for exploration's sake is worthwhile. Surely, or you and I would be ignorant about a lot of the planet we live on.
But on the other side, there is still some of this planet to be explored, particularly its deep oceans. New species of life are being found in all sorts of envronments to this day. Surely tat is more relevant than anything in space?
On the other side again, we didn't know that we would find little of use in space until we went there. Rocks and dust.
We now know what the composition of the moon and Jupiter is. Great! Is it useful to us? I can't see how other than to make us sure we probably don't want to live there.
I'm not the best informed but it seems most of what has been useful from space exploration has been peripheral such as the invention of pens that write in zero gravity. Much better than the Russian's solutions of pencils. Though who knows - if they had developed Zero G pens, they may be a world superpower right now.
Also, discoveries in the area of particle physics that is useful up to a point, then very theoretical and not so useful... but potentially useful. Maybe. Or just interesting. Is knowledge for knowledge's sake valid? Or only if it's applicable practically?
The exploration of space has cost billions! Those billions could be spent right here on helping Earth's citizens much more directly. The obvious ones are things like finding cures for cancer, more efficient fuels or more efficient ways of using existing ones, ending poverty etc... but any number of causes could be helped by turning this wodge of funding directly on helping people. I'm not naive enough to think it WOULD be, but it COULD be. Then again, til we look, we don't know that the cure for cancer, a remarkably effiecient and eco-friendly fuel and end to poverty won't be found on Neptune or beyond... but what are the chances? Maybe the answer to all these three lies in the particle physics, providing the proof of the God Particle doesn't implode Earth in th process.
The push to explore has led to developments in propulsion and heat-proofing and other things all useful on Earth. But the difference from the days of the great explorers exploring Earth seems to be that we are now developing these technologies solely to go and explore against all odds, rather than the technology developing naturally from a necessity to travel for survival and then getting curious. We are now spending vast amounts on overcoming ridiculous odds. We are sending people to places where they would naturally asphyxiate, burn, freeze, and explode simultaneously and instantly. Do we need to? Or are there more worthwhile endeavours?
I want to know what y'all think?
So... A program on the other night where James May got ridiculously excited about Space Exploration reminded me of it.
What IS its value?
All of this is framed by the fact I think exploration for exploration's sake is worthwhile. Surely, or you and I would be ignorant about a lot of the planet we live on.
But on the other side, there is still some of this planet to be explored, particularly its deep oceans. New species of life are being found in all sorts of envronments to this day. Surely tat is more relevant than anything in space?
On the other side again, we didn't know that we would find little of use in space until we went there. Rocks and dust.
We now know what the composition of the moon and Jupiter is. Great! Is it useful to us? I can't see how other than to make us sure we probably don't want to live there.
I'm not the best informed but it seems most of what has been useful from space exploration has been peripheral such as the invention of pens that write in zero gravity. Much better than the Russian's solutions of pencils. Though who knows - if they had developed Zero G pens, they may be a world superpower right now.
Also, discoveries in the area of particle physics that is useful up to a point, then very theoretical and not so useful... but potentially useful. Maybe. Or just interesting. Is knowledge for knowledge's sake valid? Or only if it's applicable practically?
The exploration of space has cost billions! Those billions could be spent right here on helping Earth's citizens much more directly. The obvious ones are things like finding cures for cancer, more efficient fuels or more efficient ways of using existing ones, ending poverty etc... but any number of causes could be helped by turning this wodge of funding directly on helping people. I'm not naive enough to think it WOULD be, but it COULD be. Then again, til we look, we don't know that the cure for cancer, a remarkably effiecient and eco-friendly fuel and end to poverty won't be found on Neptune or beyond... but what are the chances? Maybe the answer to all these three lies in the particle physics, providing the proof of the God Particle doesn't implode Earth in th process.
The push to explore has led to developments in propulsion and heat-proofing and other things all useful on Earth. But the difference from the days of the great explorers exploring Earth seems to be that we are now developing these technologies solely to go and explore against all odds, rather than the technology developing naturally from a necessity to travel for survival and then getting curious. We are now spending vast amounts on overcoming ridiculous odds. We are sending people to places where they would naturally asphyxiate, burn, freeze, and explode simultaneously and instantly. Do we need to? Or are there more worthwhile endeavours?
I want to know what y'all think?
Thursday, 19 November 2009
The Police TASERing of a 10 year old child in Arkansas
Some of you may remember a little while ago, I had a status that asked questions of stories I’d seen in the news.
I’m going to respond in notes as it seems more appropriate.
1.) Is it ever right to TASER a child?
As I understand it, the 10 year old kid in Arkansas has emotional problems and was throwing a tantrum when her mum tried to get her to have a bath. So her mum called the cops. Now maybe I don't realise the full extent of the kid's tantrum, but firstly, it seems the mum should not have called the police. The police are there to enforce the law - not to deal with children throwing strops at bath time. This seems to me to be an abuse of police time. Parenting is the duty of the parent, not the state. Especially if this kid has emotional problems, after 10 years of raising this child, the mother should be better equipped than the uninitiated police to raise, discipline, and control this child.
Secondly, she is a child - emotionally and physically immature. Emotionally, yes she may understand the difference between right and wrong but may not be developed enough to understand full consequences. Depending on what her "emotional problems" are, she may well be even less equipped to realise consequences of her actions or even the difference between right and wrong. I feel she is too young to be subdued by means of an electric shock. It is said she kicked the police officer in the groin. Children kick when they're frustrated. I've seen toddlers kick their parents. It is part of parenting to teach children that this is wrong and an unacceptable way to behave. I believe this should be achieved as non-forcefully as possible. Not being a parent myself, I’m sure this is easier to say than to achieve. I'm not denying a 10 year old has the capacity to do some damage, but as a child I'm sure a fully grown man and woman could suppress this child without electrocuting her. To me, that level of force with a physically and emotionally immature individual who is not fully in possession of a moral code and an understanding of the harm they can do in these circumstances is wrong. From the articles I've read, noone was in serious physical jeopardy.
It seems to me that meeting an emotionally disturbed child’s anger with violence is going to instill the wrong messages and cause further problems down the line.
Tim - You said: "Yes ethical questions reduce to questions of suffering, and if tasering a child has the net result of reducing suffering then it is ok."
And similarly Ike - You said: "kids and tasers. kids are getting stupider and more stupid these days, their parents dont give a fuck, they smoke at the age of 6, rape at the age of 11, if you saw your sister getting raped by a small boy and you had a taser and a video camera, which would you use first? gut instinct, your sister..."
Yes - I see that. I may not have the same reservations about a cop tasering the Jamie Bulger murderers had he happened on them laying the boy on train tracks and it was a snap decision to save Bulger's life. Or a 10 year old committing an act of rape (though even then, if close enough to use the hand-held TASER, a police officer is surely close enough to pull the child away?) But in the instance I refer to, the episode did not seem to warrant it.
These are my thoughts to date based on what I know. I am willing to reconsider in the face of persuasive arguments.
Joe, you said "id say its never right to but at the same time iv seen some kids that its the only way to get through to them, so some times i see it as a valid way of gettin the point accross."
What kids would you say it is the only way to get through to them?
Interestingly, the cop in Arkansas was discharged, not for using his TASER on a child, but for not operating the attached camera as he did so, as per standard procedure. If this reason is just a technicality to sack the guy for TASERing a child, then I think TASERing a child should be the reason he was fired. This issue needs to be examined and a precedent set.
The suffering question is an interesting one though. I had a discussion with Izzy not so long ago along the lines of; if there was an imminent global epidemic that would kill half the world's population in a slow and painful way, would it be right to torture the cure out of the one person who had it but was withholding it during all other means of interrogation? And if it came to it, could you do it personally?
I’m going to respond in notes as it seems more appropriate.
1.) Is it ever right to TASER a child?
As I understand it, the 10 year old kid in Arkansas has emotional problems and was throwing a tantrum when her mum tried to get her to have a bath. So her mum called the cops. Now maybe I don't realise the full extent of the kid's tantrum, but firstly, it seems the mum should not have called the police. The police are there to enforce the law - not to deal with children throwing strops at bath time. This seems to me to be an abuse of police time. Parenting is the duty of the parent, not the state. Especially if this kid has emotional problems, after 10 years of raising this child, the mother should be better equipped than the uninitiated police to raise, discipline, and control this child.
Secondly, she is a child - emotionally and physically immature. Emotionally, yes she may understand the difference between right and wrong but may not be developed enough to understand full consequences. Depending on what her "emotional problems" are, she may well be even less equipped to realise consequences of her actions or even the difference between right and wrong. I feel she is too young to be subdued by means of an electric shock. It is said she kicked the police officer in the groin. Children kick when they're frustrated. I've seen toddlers kick their parents. It is part of parenting to teach children that this is wrong and an unacceptable way to behave. I believe this should be achieved as non-forcefully as possible. Not being a parent myself, I’m sure this is easier to say than to achieve. I'm not denying a 10 year old has the capacity to do some damage, but as a child I'm sure a fully grown man and woman could suppress this child without electrocuting her. To me, that level of force with a physically and emotionally immature individual who is not fully in possession of a moral code and an understanding of the harm they can do in these circumstances is wrong. From the articles I've read, noone was in serious physical jeopardy.
It seems to me that meeting an emotionally disturbed child’s anger with violence is going to instill the wrong messages and cause further problems down the line.
Tim - You said: "Yes ethical questions reduce to questions of suffering, and if tasering a child has the net result of reducing suffering then it is ok."
And similarly Ike - You said: "kids and tasers. kids are getting stupider and more stupid these days, their parents dont give a fuck, they smoke at the age of 6, rape at the age of 11, if you saw your sister getting raped by a small boy and you had a taser and a video camera, which would you use first? gut instinct, your sister..."
Yes - I see that. I may not have the same reservations about a cop tasering the Jamie Bulger murderers had he happened on them laying the boy on train tracks and it was a snap decision to save Bulger's life. Or a 10 year old committing an act of rape (though even then, if close enough to use the hand-held TASER, a police officer is surely close enough to pull the child away?) But in the instance I refer to, the episode did not seem to warrant it.
These are my thoughts to date based on what I know. I am willing to reconsider in the face of persuasive arguments.
Joe, you said "id say its never right to but at the same time iv seen some kids that its the only way to get through to them, so some times i see it as a valid way of gettin the point accross."
What kids would you say it is the only way to get through to them?
Interestingly, the cop in Arkansas was discharged, not for using his TASER on a child, but for not operating the attached camera as he did so, as per standard procedure. If this reason is just a technicality to sack the guy for TASERing a child, then I think TASERing a child should be the reason he was fired. This issue needs to be examined and a precedent set.
The suffering question is an interesting one though. I had a discussion with Izzy not so long ago along the lines of; if there was an imminent global epidemic that would kill half the world's population in a slow and painful way, would it be right to torture the cure out of the one person who had it but was withholding it during all other means of interrogation? And if it came to it, could you do it personally?
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Gig List
I'm working nights and all's gone a bit calmer so obviously I'm Facebooking. Just for my own amusement, and your boredom, I thought I'd write a list of all the bands and musical artists I can remember seeing live. So in no particular order other than that in which my poor brain remembers them...
1. Aerosmith (with a bit of Run DMC)
2. Metallica
3. Rage Against the Machine
4.Bon Jovi
5. Nickelback
6. Trivium
7. Chris Cornell
8. The Trevor Burton Band
9. HIM
10. Machine Head
11. Deep Purple
12. Styx
13. Thin Lizzy
14. Jackson Browne (who co-wrote Take it Easy with the Eagles)
15. Jools Holland
16. UB40
17. Anastacia
18. Less Than Jake
19. System of a Down
20. Dillinger Escape Plan
21. American Head Charge
22. Rammstein
23. Apocalyptica
24. Reel Big Fish
25. Green Day
26. Jimmy Eat World
27. Taking Back Sunday
28. God Forbid
29. Breed 77
30. Lacuna Coil
31. Billy Talent
32. Korn
33. Puddle of Mudd
34. Yazz and the Plastic People
35. TurboNegro
36. hed (PE)
37. Papa Roach
38. Limp Bizkit
39. Slipknot
40. Foo Fighters
41. Oasis
42. Pulp
43. The Hives
44. The Strokes
45. The White Stripes
46. Jane's Addiction
47. Soulfly
48. Damageplan
49. Ash
50. Feeder
51. Slayer
52. Yann Tiersen
53. The Glitterati
54. Muse
55. REM
56. The Noisettes
57. Deftones
58. Blink 182
59. King Adora
60. Spunge
61. Mad Caddies
62. The Offspring
63. The Prodigy
64. Incubus
65. 65 Days of Static (They really did just happen to be No. 65!)
66. Hundred Reasons
67. NoFX
68. Sum 41
69. Vex Red
70. Weezer
71. The Dandy Warhols
72. Joe Satriani (though I couldn't see him cuz I couldn't get in the tent - I heard him)
73. Thrice
74. Finger 11
75. Evanescence
76. Apartment 26
77. Trente Moller
78. Mood Deluxe
79. Shpongle
80. Daphne & Celeste (that fateful Leeds Festival where they lasted 15 mins before being bottled off stage!)
81. The inimitible Marsyas!
82. The pandarific Fear Of String
83. Deluka
84. Ellie and Roxie
85. Gojira
86. Steve Ajao
87. Edmund
88. Seether
89. Los De Abajo
90. Kila Kella
... and I think I met the Killers but didn't see their gig.
Next to see:
Dream Theater on November 10th
Marilyn Manson on December 9th
Those are all the ones I remember seeing right now. No doubt I'll remember more anon. If you know I've seen someone else, please let me know!G
1. Aerosmith (with a bit of Run DMC)
2. Metallica
3. Rage Against the Machine
4.Bon Jovi
5. Nickelback
6. Trivium
7. Chris Cornell
8. The Trevor Burton Band
9. HIM
10. Machine Head
11. Deep Purple
12. Styx
13. Thin Lizzy
14. Jackson Browne (who co-wrote Take it Easy with the Eagles)
15. Jools Holland
16. UB40
17. Anastacia
18. Less Than Jake
19. System of a Down
20. Dillinger Escape Plan
21. American Head Charge
22. Rammstein
23. Apocalyptica
24. Reel Big Fish
25. Green Day
26. Jimmy Eat World
27. Taking Back Sunday
28. God Forbid
29. Breed 77
30. Lacuna Coil
31. Billy Talent
32. Korn
33. Puddle of Mudd
34. Yazz and the Plastic People
35. TurboNegro
36. hed (PE)
37. Papa Roach
38. Limp Bizkit
39. Slipknot
40. Foo Fighters
41. Oasis
42. Pulp
43. The Hives
44. The Strokes
45. The White Stripes
46. Jane's Addiction
47. Soulfly
48. Damageplan
49. Ash
50. Feeder
51. Slayer
52. Yann Tiersen
53. The Glitterati
54. Muse
55. REM
56. The Noisettes
57. Deftones
58. Blink 182
59. King Adora
60. Spunge
61. Mad Caddies
62. The Offspring
63. The Prodigy
64. Incubus
65. 65 Days of Static (They really did just happen to be No. 65!)
66. Hundred Reasons
67. NoFX
68. Sum 41
69. Vex Red
70. Weezer
71. The Dandy Warhols
72. Joe Satriani (though I couldn't see him cuz I couldn't get in the tent - I heard him)
73. Thrice
74. Finger 11
75. Evanescence
76. Apartment 26
77. Trente Moller
78. Mood Deluxe
79. Shpongle
80. Daphne & Celeste (that fateful Leeds Festival where they lasted 15 mins before being bottled off stage!)
81. The inimitible Marsyas!
82. The pandarific Fear Of String
83. Deluka
84. Ellie and Roxie
85. Gojira
86. Steve Ajao
87. Edmund
88. Seether
89. Los De Abajo
90. Kila Kella
... and I think I met the Killers but didn't see their gig.
Next to see:
Dream Theater on November 10th
Marilyn Manson on December 9th
Those are all the ones I remember seeing right now. No doubt I'll remember more anon. If you know I've seen someone else, please let me know!G
Sunday, 5 March 2006
"You can drive in India without brakes, but never without a horn!" - Mukesh the cabbie
Time for another email from India, this one dated 5th March 2006.
Previous emails are here and here.
Previous emails are here and here.
The pictures were taken but weren't actually sent at the time but I have culled them from my Facebook page.
"Hey everyone!
I'm gonna keep this one mercifully short! Not much time left and I just saw how long my last one was and it scared me! We are now in a place called Jaisalmer near to Pakistan. We met a dude called Stuart a coupla days ago and went camel trekking into the desert with him for a coupla days - camping out beneath the stars surrounded by the surprising amount of wildlife in the desert was great if a little uncomfortable! I like camels - they look like they're made of all the bits God had left over! Maybe from his Big Bucket O' Knees. Started reading Metamorphosis by Kafka whilst sat on a dune, and then all these black beetles appeared on the edges of my vision. Wasn't my mind playing tricks. As big as my thumb, they seem to dig in for the night and look very cute - kinda like a dog when it kicks dirt over where it's just pooed! Well I think that's kinda cute anyway. Then we had an 8hr bus ride to here, in a bunk that was a coupla inches too short, with a driver going hell for leather with no suspension! Fun! (where does the phrase "Hell for Leather" come from? If anyone knows, do tell) But out hotel here has an outdoor pool!
Jaisalmer is great - there's a wonderful old fort at the top of the hill with great views of the town that is made entirely of sandstone (i think its sandstone!) and the fort has loads of winding little streets, hemmed in by ornately carved buildings, some are houses, some temples, and loads of colourful stalls selling textiles, paintings, books, food! Wonderful - so pretty!
EEEKKKK!!! Literally, in the last 30 seconds, a group of 6 or so Indian transvestites, all be-togged in brightly coloured sarees piled into this tiny little internet cafe, and molested my head!!! They were all feeling my hair, pulling it (a little too hard!) to see if it was real, and as they all poured back outside, one of em kissed my hair! That has to be one of the more odd experiences I've had in India! Welcome to my Indian life!
My favourite road sign this week - A sign pointing the way to a school teaching: "PMT - AAAIIIEEE". I'd just LOVE to know...
Have fun all!
(This email has been short-ER)
Sandra: It's the same price for you to text me as normal. And you DO sound like a hippy!
Becky: You sound very busy! Hope you're enjoying yourself?
Jec: Don't say that! I'd kill for a vodka and coke right now!The food is great - the best food was the stuff the camel-men cooked for us while we were out in the desert!
Jen B: Thank you for your email - it made me laugh! Please send more - I loved it. The company was called Impact - is yours called Deep Impact? I'm sure you'll find something contemporary! Knock em dead! Oh - sounds like nothings changed for BSA!
Stephanie: Thankyou for a wonderful email! Truly a joy to read - send more! I just chatted to Wei - she sounds bubbly! I wanna chat to a psychopath! Chilling!
Matt: That IS an electric bill run up something really crazy! Made me laugh a little too much for a small internet cafe!
Ree: Didn't get the attached pic - what was it?
Jen R: I read the Time Travellers Wife - really liked it! Quite beautiful!
Claire: Will burn you KMFDM when I get back! Heard someone say Adios today and I remembered it!
Olly: Hello???"
I remember all of this surprisingly well!
Ah yes! Those transvestites! I remember being surprised that they were tolerated in India. Someone fairly soon afterward told me that that is their shtick, They travel around in groups making something of a public spectacle of themselves until someone pays them to leave. They are very much frowned upon and low down in social standing.
And I also seem to remember almost not making it to Jodhpur, but more of that next time.
Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CurtisAllenIllustrator
And my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/capndred
"Hey everyone!
I'm gonna keep this one mercifully short! Not much time left and I just saw how long my last one was and it scared me! We are now in a place called Jaisalmer near to Pakistan. We met a dude called Stuart a coupla days ago and went camel trekking into the desert with him for a coupla days - camping out beneath the stars surrounded by the surprising amount of wildlife in the desert was great if a little uncomfortable! I like camels - they look like they're made of all the bits God had left over! Maybe from his Big Bucket O' Knees. Started reading Metamorphosis by Kafka whilst sat on a dune, and then all these black beetles appeared on the edges of my vision. Wasn't my mind playing tricks. As big as my thumb, they seem to dig in for the night and look very cute - kinda like a dog when it kicks dirt over where it's just pooed! Well I think that's kinda cute anyway. Then we had an 8hr bus ride to here, in a bunk that was a coupla inches too short, with a driver going hell for leather with no suspension! Fun! (where does the phrase "Hell for Leather" come from? If anyone knows, do tell) But out hotel here has an outdoor pool!
 |
| A beetle busily burrowing. |
Anyway - we need to pick up our pace a bit so we're hotfooting it to Jodhpur tomorro. Think I'm gonna watch a puppet show tonight, and maybe having an Ayurverdic massage tomorrow! Dunno what it is but I want one!
EEEKKKK!!! Literally, in the last 30 seconds, a group of 6 or so Indian transvestites, all be-togged in brightly coloured sarees piled into this tiny little internet cafe, and molested my head!!! They were all feeling my hair, pulling it (a little too hard!) to see if it was real, and as they all poured back outside, one of em kissed my hair! That has to be one of the more odd experiences I've had in India! Welcome to my Indian life!
My favourite road sign this week - A sign pointing the way to a school teaching: "PMT - AAAIIIEEE". I'd just LOVE to know...
Have fun all!
(This email has been short-ER)
Sandra: It's the same price for you to text me as normal. And you DO sound like a hippy!
Becky: You sound very busy! Hope you're enjoying yourself?
Jec: Don't say that! I'd kill for a vodka and coke right now!The food is great - the best food was the stuff the camel-men cooked for us while we were out in the desert!
Jen B: Thank you for your email - it made me laugh! Please send more - I loved it. The company was called Impact - is yours called Deep Impact? I'm sure you'll find something contemporary! Knock em dead! Oh - sounds like nothings changed for BSA!
Stephanie: Thankyou for a wonderful email! Truly a joy to read - send more! I just chatted to Wei - she sounds bubbly! I wanna chat to a psychopath! Chilling!
Matt: That IS an electric bill run up something really crazy! Made me laugh a little too much for a small internet cafe!
Ree: Didn't get the attached pic - what was it?
Jen R: I read the Time Travellers Wife - really liked it! Quite beautiful!
Claire: Will burn you KMFDM when I get back! Heard someone say Adios today and I remembered it!
Olly: Hello???"
I remember all of this surprisingly well!
Ah yes! Those transvestites! I remember being surprised that they were tolerated in India. Someone fairly soon afterward told me that that is their shtick, They travel around in groups making something of a public spectacle of themselves until someone pays them to leave. They are very much frowned upon and low down in social standing.
And I also seem to remember almost not making it to Jodhpur, but more of that next time.
Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CurtisAllenIllustrator
And my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/capndred
Friday, 24 February 2006
Barrett Plywood... Plywood that creates wonders!
Here's the next of my emails back home from my time in India:
"Hey again!
Subject line is presumably North India's premier plywood company. And
my favourite sign yet! It's to be found all over the countyside
alongside the road!
Last email was a bit sporadic. Lack of sleep and too much excitement
do that to me. We've now been through Agra, and that was not quite as
busy as Delhi, but it was smellier and dirtier.
Journey to Agra was so interesting. We passed lots of little
countryside settlments that were full of bustle. Some were just a
group of straw huts. It was so frustrating getting these tantalising
glimpses into these lives and then journeying on. I woulda loved to
stop and talk to the people there. However, the coupla stops we did
make, the people locally didn't seem to speak any Eglish so
ultimately, it may have been even more frustrating! I saw many animals
on the rads too - monkeys, water buffalo, boar, camels, and once,
sadly, a bear being led away somewhere.
i think I forgot to mention the smells in Delhi - it was one of the
first things to hit me! The place was very smelly - but in a good way
- the smells were everywhere and everchanging - cooking, incense, hay,
different cooking - mostly really nice smells but constantly chaning,
never settling. Agra smelt more often than not of stagnant river,
urine, and dead things. IT was a filthy city though we had two lovely
tuk-tuk drivers, Nijam and Hotilal, who didn't rip us off, didn't keep
trying to take us places we didn't want to go, and were very talkative
and friendly. Basically they were our guides of the city for a coupla
days. We saw the Taj Mahal at sunset and sunrise, and various other
things. Got offered our first jewelry scam by our hotelier who also
runs his own jewelry export company. We has one here in jaipur too.
Both were exactly the same almost to the word. Goes like this: he asks
us in for coffee, chats to us about England, India, what we do etc. It
seems to be obligatory for the guy to talk about how many tourists he
has slept with. Then, when the coffee arrives, he asks if we have a
tourist visa. He then goes on to explain that the government sets a
limit on how much they can export at a decent amount of tax. Over that
limit, the tax is 250%. What he wants us to do is sign a piece of
paper saying we bought some goods off him so they are legally ours but
no money will actually change hands. We post the goods back to
England. When we get back to England, we hand them to his contact in
England and he's evaded the tax. He will pay us 10,000 pounds because
its a percentage of what he saves on tax All he wants from us is a
photocopy of our passport and visa, and whatever payment we used (visa
card, travellers cheques etc). Now we don't know exactly what the
sting is, but there is plenty of potential there, don't you agree?
In Jaipur, the city is smaller, more upmarket, cleaner, nicer. But
still, our rickshaw drivers (Evil Salim and Viki) took us to a guy who
tried this exact same scam on us. I kept the guy sweet by seeming
interested tho cuz I wanted to buy some clothes of him. Knocked him
down from 35quid to 5 and he threw in a sarong! Our current rickshaw
driver (Good Salim) seems scared of these guys. He knows them but he's
forever asking us not to mention stuff he's told us, or where he's
taking us, or any recommendations he's made. It's all very political.
Never more evident than when we went to a restaurant with him and Evil
Salim and Viki turned up. No love lost there. Viki's trying to get me
to ditch Si, have a good time with him ("drinks, hashish, girls"), go
to Shekhawati with him etc. Presumably, to butter me up for this jewel
scam.
Anyway - unbeknownst to them, we're going to Shekhawati this arvo with
Good Salim. It's his home. It's a desert area with lots of small
villages, away from all the tourism it seems. There camel safaris and
it's all very peaceful by the sounds of it. Can't wait! Just hope this
tummy bug's gone by then!
Olly: Come to Asia!
Sandra: Glad to hear about your exams but you sound like you're
turning into a hippy!
Lucy: Just for you, I'm looking out for ANYTHING here with arnie on it!
Mahony: 2 things -
1) cuz I saved everyone's email address at bsa to my home computer, I
ain't got most of em here. Can you send me some if you have em please?
2) I think I'm secretly in love with you - you popped up in my dream
again last night! Maybe it's India - Didn't you turn into a little old
Indian woman once?"
Again, I remember this rather vividly!
We nicknamed the taxi drivers Good Salim and Evil Salim. We did eventually end up falling out with good Salim though. I'm sure that gets mentioned in a future (past) missive.
Here are our rickshaw drivers round Agra, Nijam and Hotilal:
I remember they didn't charge us a fee at the end of providing their services. They asked us to pay them "as you will". If we thought the service was worth 1,000,000 rupees, then that was what we should pay them. If we thought the service worthless, we should pay them nothing. What a horrible thing to be asked! But smart. I'm guessing these guys knew we were fresh off the boat and fairly decent chaps to boot. They knew we wouldn't just stiff them and pay them nothing and also knew we had no idea what was even close to an appropriate amount. They probably knew we'd err on the side of caution and pay way too much than way too little and also knew that we hadn't gotten used to the fact that what was just a couple of quid and easily disposable to us would go a lot further in India.
We learnt a lot from them and they were very reliable and delivered on evrything they siad they would, even helping suggest meals from restaurant menus.
I can't remember what we did actually pay them. I know that we never did work out if it was appropriate or not. I know that Nijam and Hotilal didn't seem unhappy with it when we handed it over though.
See my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CapnDred
And follow me at www.facebook.com/curtisallenillustrator
"Hey again!
Subject line is presumably North India's premier plywood company. And
my favourite sign yet! It's to be found all over the countyside
alongside the road!
Last email was a bit sporadic. Lack of sleep and too much excitement
do that to me. We've now been through Agra, and that was not quite as
busy as Delhi, but it was smellier and dirtier.
Journey to Agra was so interesting. We passed lots of little
countryside settlments that were full of bustle. Some were just a
group of straw huts. It was so frustrating getting these tantalising
glimpses into these lives and then journeying on. I woulda loved to
stop and talk to the people there. However, the coupla stops we did
make, the people locally didn't seem to speak any Eglish so
ultimately, it may have been even more frustrating! I saw many animals
on the rads too - monkeys, water buffalo, boar, camels, and once,
sadly, a bear being led away somewhere.
i think I forgot to mention the smells in Delhi - it was one of the
first things to hit me! The place was very smelly - but in a good way
- the smells were everywhere and everchanging - cooking, incense, hay,
different cooking - mostly really nice smells but constantly chaning,
never settling. Agra smelt more often than not of stagnant river,
urine, and dead things. IT was a filthy city though we had two lovely
tuk-tuk drivers, Nijam and Hotilal, who didn't rip us off, didn't keep
trying to take us places we didn't want to go, and were very talkative
and friendly. Basically they were our guides of the city for a coupla
days. We saw the Taj Mahal at sunset and sunrise, and various other
things. Got offered our first jewelry scam by our hotelier who also
runs his own jewelry export company. We has one here in jaipur too.
Both were exactly the same almost to the word. Goes like this: he asks
us in for coffee, chats to us about England, India, what we do etc. It
seems to be obligatory for the guy to talk about how many tourists he
has slept with. Then, when the coffee arrives, he asks if we have a
tourist visa. He then goes on to explain that the government sets a
limit on how much they can export at a decent amount of tax. Over that
limit, the tax is 250%. What he wants us to do is sign a piece of
paper saying we bought some goods off him so they are legally ours but
no money will actually change hands. We post the goods back to
England. When we get back to England, we hand them to his contact in
England and he's evaded the tax. He will pay us 10,000 pounds because
its a percentage of what he saves on tax All he wants from us is a
photocopy of our passport and visa, and whatever payment we used (visa
card, travellers cheques etc). Now we don't know exactly what the
sting is, but there is plenty of potential there, don't you agree?
In Jaipur, the city is smaller, more upmarket, cleaner, nicer. But
still, our rickshaw drivers (Evil Salim and Viki) took us to a guy who
tried this exact same scam on us. I kept the guy sweet by seeming
interested tho cuz I wanted to buy some clothes of him. Knocked him
down from 35quid to 5 and he threw in a sarong! Our current rickshaw
driver (Good Salim) seems scared of these guys. He knows them but he's
forever asking us not to mention stuff he's told us, or where he's
taking us, or any recommendations he's made. It's all very political.
Never more evident than when we went to a restaurant with him and Evil
Salim and Viki turned up. No love lost there. Viki's trying to get me
to ditch Si, have a good time with him ("drinks, hashish, girls"), go
to Shekhawati with him etc. Presumably, to butter me up for this jewel
scam.
Anyway - unbeknownst to them, we're going to Shekhawati this arvo with
Good Salim. It's his home. It's a desert area with lots of small
villages, away from all the tourism it seems. There camel safaris and
it's all very peaceful by the sounds of it. Can't wait! Just hope this
tummy bug's gone by then!
Olly: Come to Asia!
Sandra: Glad to hear about your exams but you sound like you're
turning into a hippy!
Lucy: Just for you, I'm looking out for ANYTHING here with arnie on it!
Mahony: 2 things -
1) cuz I saved everyone's email address at bsa to my home computer, I
ain't got most of em here. Can you send me some if you have em please?
2) I think I'm secretly in love with you - you popped up in my dream
again last night! Maybe it's India - Didn't you turn into a little old
Indian woman once?"
Again, I remember this rather vividly!
We nicknamed the taxi drivers Good Salim and Evil Salim. We did eventually end up falling out with good Salim though. I'm sure that gets mentioned in a future (past) missive.
Here are our rickshaw drivers round Agra, Nijam and Hotilal:
 |
| I feel bad. We were meant to send them a copy of this photograph. We promised we would but we never did :( |
We learnt a lot from them and they were very reliable and delivered on evrything they siad they would, even helping suggest meals from restaurant menus.
I can't remember what we did actually pay them. I know that we never did work out if it was appropriate or not. I know that Nijam and Hotilal didn't seem unhappy with it when we handed it over though.
See my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CapnDred
And follow me at www.facebook.com/curtisallenillustrator
Sunday, 19 February 2006
India!
After a few recent conversations, I have been thinking a lot about when Si and I went backpacking round India and East Asia.
I wanted to dig out the emails I sent back home from then to see what I thought of it all back then compared to my recollections of it now, 8 and a half years later. We set off from Birmingham on the afternoon of 15th February, 2006.
So here is the first from 19th February 2006 - copied and pasted verbatim, typos and all, and timestamped to the correct date. I was 22.
"Hello everyone!
Well, here's the first of my potentially boring emails. Read on or
just aknowledge I've sent it and know I'm back around 17th May. If you
don't read the email, fine. If you don't know I'm home, then I shall
hunt you down!
Anyway - Flights were pretty uneventful. Royal Jordaninan put us up in
a hotel overnight free of charge so all was nice and good. Reminded me
a little too much of a Travelodge and Heaven knows I've seen enough of
those for a while! Watched some damn awful US film called Playaz Court
about some badass B-Boys basketballers who are 'trying' some white guy
on the court for shooting one of their niggaz... see how the title
works? Anyway...
India blows me away! We left the airport to get a taxi, and the
operator banged a coupla parked taxis to see who woke up first and got
the privelege (spelt?) of driving us (it was the guy who belched
loudest). We got a ride with a couple who'd been round India before
(the 15km ride to our hotel cost 400 rupees, about 3.50 in pounds) and
recommended a few places to go to us, most of whcih we were hoping to
see anyway. Right - The roads are manic - everyone; bikes, cars,
motorbikes, rickshaws, buses, autorickshaws (cute little yellow and
green morris minor-style things), people all jostle frenetically for
space. Most motorbikes have a few riders. There are cows wandering
freely everywhere. A lot of Hindus around means they get treated well.
This was all only at 6 in the morning! It's a lot worse in the day! We
have a balcony on our floor overlooking Main Bazaar (A big backpacker
area - lots of cheap hotels and a street lined with shops, stalls and
running markets) and last night, with our body clocks still outta
whack, after giving up on sleep at 3am me and Si spend mosta the night
on it, playing card games and watching the cows sleeping outside our
hotel. The buildings are as I imagined but moreso. They look dropped
in place, some landing on top of others and knocking bits down or out
of the way as they land, others squishing in-between. And like this
has been going on for a coupla hundred years by looking at the styles
of them. It looks like a hen night of drunken spiders then decided to
go crazy and add a wiring system to the city! Every time I press a
light switch I tremble a little.
1st day, we headed out towards Connaught Place just to get our
bearings. It's fairly central. Within minutes, what was to be the
running theme of this trip began. People cannot get enough of my hair!
Seriously! I thought it was bad in England?! I kid you not when I say
people literally FOLLOW me around in groups like I'm some kind of
Messianic figure. And when I turn around, they're just stood grinning
or squinting at me. Everytime I walk down the street, people ar
constantly stopping me saying "is this your original hair?".
Apparently I look like some kinda prophet or something to called Sai
Baba. People are dropping outta normal society to look at me. I may
cut my hair so that we can go out without spending every half hour in
the hour telling people it's my hair.
Anyway - these guys were on some kinda tour hustle. Then a kid came up
"I just want to practise my English. I don't want money". Showed us
the way to Connaught, and some of the sights. Gave us some advice on
avoiding hustles and scams, usually involving a trip to a shop he
handily knew. "Buy Indian clothes so you don't look like tourist. Buy
ones from this shop I am showing you." Kid's on commission from these
places. Liked him though. More chirpy than most of the others since.
Spent a lot of last night drinking Chai tea with this cockney guy
called Mick. He's spent the last 2 and a half years outta the Uk round
Sri Lanka, Oz, India, and now he's off home. He's doing a photographic
book on low-class working life in India. He's been travelling on and
off for the last 10 years or so. Been doing lots of different jobs and
picking up skills, volunteering etc, now putting them all to use in
his book. Very envious of him.
Couldn't sleep last night for more than an hour so we ended up on our
balcony all night chatting, playing cards etc.
Went on a tour of Delhi today. Very nice man called Mukesh driving.
Most helpful - A brilliant man to have show us around. VEry open to
all sortsa questions about his marriage, sex, British occupation, his
hand in his kids lives, etc. Very interesting. Have avoided the
rip-off his company were trying to set us on - an overpriced tour of
Rajastan in 2 weeks. Instead he's gonna pick us up tomoro and take us
to Agra or Jaipur and leave us there. Delhi started well but once
you've seen one fort, one mosque, and one tomb, and you've started
with some of the biggest in the world, you've seen, well some of the
biggest. The others are smaller and as far as touristy things go, I
think we've seen enough. If we stay in Delhi much longer we should
probably get jobs.
Oh - interestingly, i noticed soon after we got here, bloke are much
more tactile here. They of\ten walk down the road laying their arms
across each others shoulders. I think its nice that they can do that.
And today we saw loadsa guys holding hands. Mukesh tells us we right
in guessing they're not gay - it's just a done thing here.
Anyway - times nearly up so I'm gonna love y'all and leave ya, and git t'going!
If I've missed anyone, sorry. Not much time and a big lista people.
I'll try to getcha next time!
Miss you all and big love!
PS...Sandra:How did your exam go? Hope you were sober when you took it?
Liz: Have a great time in Canada! I'm glad we got to catch up. This
place is amazing - you'd love it!"
It's weird re-reading this. Until now, this whole experience had felt fairly distant. Reading it now, this could be last month! I remember bits of it so vividly. I remember the face of the boy and of the guy doing his photography. I had completely forgotten the taxi-driver and his frankness but as soon as I read that, I remembered Si and I being surprised at just how frank he had been about things like sex. I'd forgotten how we couldn't sleep but now I remember just how awful our first hotel room had been and how we were worried they would all be like this. I remember watching the cows bedding down for the night in the half-ruined building across the street from out balcony.
My opinions of Delhi haven't changed. It's a riotous delightful mess of a place and could so easily be overwhelming, but it is so vivid it's sights and sounds are etched up here [taps his temple sagely] forever. (Degenerative neural conditions notwithstanding)
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