Harrynomics

Having recently been through the more rigorous security measures currently employed by airports I have to wonder if all the implications were fully considered prior to jumping onto the panic “we must do something now” wagon. 

Like many travellers, my travelling companions are not of an age to be capable of negotiating the various hoops and ropes required by airport security without help.  This means that apart from removing my own jacket, keys, mobile phone, hand bag, laser hair removal kit, kitchen sink etc, I’m also trying to extract my children from theirs.  Once this hurdle is passed, then we have to go through the security gate.  If the gate beeps on the children, that’s fine – the staff are usually kind and friendly with the children and constantly reassure them as they investigate the cause of the beep.  The system fails however when it’s me (or any other parent) that raises the alarm when I walk through the machine.  Yesterday as I was patted and turned etc, my young children (both preschool) were standing alone.  I was trying to keep hold of them but was kept being told to hold up my arms or turn this way or that where the children were sometimes out of my field of vision. 

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I really don’t have a problem with airport security as such.  However the staff aren’t there to mind children, they are there to find devices that threaten the safety status of their building. Whilst the click through rates are really slow, you can understand the queing part of things as it does take time to check everyone. Unfortunately there we have a difference of opinion because I know that I’m not creating a problem for their security – the beep is usually the result of a watch strap or something similar – but my children’s safety at the airport is a huge issue for me.   Not to mention the fact that as I’m concentrating on keeping my eye on children whilst the staff perform their obligatory routines, no-one is watching our belongings which have emerged from the bowels of the x-ray machine and lie unattended awaiting us to pick them up.  You’re told not to leave your personal effects unattended at the airport, and yet the airports own security measures make this inevitable – and although there are many airport personnel standing around, none of them is aware that the stuff left on the counter belongs to someone being checked out for activating the alarm, and so anyone could conceivable tamper with it. 

With child abduction rates constantly rising, the airports really need to consider how they deal with people who activate the alarms and who are travelling with children.  As things stand they are making a stressful situation worse for parents whose main priority is simply to get their children through the necessary procedures and out of the airport as quickly as possible.

Well Sugar Puff have hit a new low. In there quest to be cool they have start to rip off the Might Boosh. The b*$(£*t. How dare they, It usually don’t let these things get to me but this was just sooo blantant and unalogetic. They are just trying to jump on a band wagon, It’s is insulting though, howthey think they can get away with it.

I have just realised I’m not the only person to think this. I have typed it into the the search engines and it seem like it has made it to being a major story. Just look at the search results with titles such as:

• It’s ‘The Mighty Boosh’ vs The Honey Monster
• Mighty Boosh fans in Puffs protest
• Honey monster steals Mighty Boosh crimp
• Sugar Puffs ad accused of ripping off The Mighty Boosh
• Honey Monster faces wrath of Mighty Boosh
• THE Mighty Boosh boys are squaring up for a battle with the HONEY MONSTER in a bitter legal showdown.

Good for them, I wish the Might Boosh the best of luck. Burn the Honey Monster!

Well it back to work tomorrow, I’ve finsihed everything Colin wanted, not sure he’ll be to happy with it all though, look at the page I’ve finished male cosmetic surgery and search UK property. Not exactly a work of art! Ow well it all a learning curve.

Writer's block - It is the time that all writers dread. When suddenly you are looking at the computer screen or at the piece of paper and nothing comes out. You could be there sitting for an hour, just staring blankly at the screen or doodling in the corner of the page. What you have already written is there and you know in your head where you want the story to go. But there is nothing coming out. A few words, an unfinished sentence. But overall, nothing is actually being added.

And I become absolutely miserable when it happens. For me, writer's block puts me in one foul mood. I do not care about the world or what is going on, all I can think of is my own personal frustration.

A lot of you may say, why be upset, it is only writing. Well, let me tell you it is crippling not to be able to write. Similar to an athlete who has been injured. You can tell that athlete to rest, but that person wants to get back on his/her feet as quickly as possible. Likewise for me, I want to get writing as quickly as possible. It's like being on a treasure hunt knowing that you've buried something in the garden, but are completely unable to find it. It is not as if I am out of ideas, just of a way of expressing them in a clear way for everyone else to enjoy.

If I knew a method in which to cure writer's block, I would bottle it and sell it for a fiver, and that would be a way to riches. Unfortunately, I don't. I have to ride it out. Most of the time, it only lasts a couple of weeks, but at times it has lasted for a couple of months. These events are uncontrollable. And unfair - I hate it when the block comes on, but I got to lump it and continue doing other things.

The joys of radio, how today, even after all this time, there is still something magical about switching on the wireless and receiving something completely unexpected when station surfing.  It is something that has remained since childhood, listening to all the new music and the wittiness that were spouted out.  And with the internet, the possibilities have become endless.  Want to listen to Capital FM, in Nairobi?  Why not, just type it into your web browser.  If anything can revel in the delights of the internet, surely it is radio.

However, it is in the niche stations that are especially satisfying.  First, the liberalisation of radio licences by the government in the 90’s gave many areas, especially within London a chance to shine through.  The internet has given many of these stations a more solid base with which to press forward in their search for an audience.  In many cases. the internet proves vital in staying afloat.

More choice has meant the big boys have had to struggle with the onslaught.  Some have prospered, some have fallen, but for the listener it is a win/win situation.  If you don’t like what you hear, it is far easier to switch to something else.  Finding a good radio station after a period of searching is as satisfying as being the first to complete one of the treasure hunts you used to do as a child. The radio stations now have to work hard for our attention and why not, the choice has given us a depth that can rarely be matched in any other medium.
 
Long may the revolution in radio continue.  Let the airwaves ring clear with the throngs of a multitude of radio stations.  Let the listeners liberate the sounds that they hear.  A multitude of styles and languages awaits the adventurous listener with an easy finger and a taste for something new.  The dial awaits and the mouse will do your bidding so go ahead and have some fun with the radio.

The pomegranate.  A delicious fruit that now has hit the shelves as a fashionable drink with health benefits galore.  Now in the supermarkets, the pomegranate has become the elixir of youth, an expensive and exotic delicacy waiting to be desired.  Something as rare as the Lychee and with the miracles that can be associated with Papaya.

I love my pomegranates, but just how this fruit has achieved this status is beyond me.  The Pomegranate has had a long and history, even having a Tudor ship named after its deliciousness.  But over the ages, other fruits more exotic has surpassed it.  The Banana, the Orange and even the Avocado have seemingly become normal fare, although their origins are much further away than that of the humble pomegranate.  In fact, the pomegranate, despite its existence in British cuisine for far longer than these other fruits, is considered amongst the more unusual fruits to now grace our shelves.  The pomegranate is considered rare, and hence is now expensive.

Oh, how easily we are conned.  In fact, any regular visitor to a market stall or an ethnic food shop is quite acquainted with the pomegranate.  Usually selling at 20-25p each, it is a cheap fruit that can be nibbled with your apples and pears.  Personally, I love the pomegranate, but there is a lot of bemusement to be had when I see it being espoused for its miracle benefits.  Like all fruit, it is good for you, and like all fruit it is very tasty.

And remember, the pomegranate is grown in the Mediterranean, just like the Orange.  Other fruits such as Bananas come from much further afield and so should be the more expensive fruit.  As I crack open my pomegranate and nibble away at the juicy interior, a sticky grin comes to my lips as I think of how others view the difficulty of eating this wonderful fruit.

Oh the wonderful chilli!  This spicy little fruit, something that is naughty to look at, but at the same time, simply irresistible!  Cultivated deep in heart of the Yucatan, this naughty plant product was spread around the world upon the discovery on the New World and so today throughout the globe, this humble little gem, packed full of goodness and spice, tickles the tastebuds and brings tears to the eyes of many a men.

I like chilli.  Nay, I love it.  I will happily consume it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Whenever I cook, I cannot resist sprinkling a little bit into the dish to give it a kick.  Chilli can go with absolutely anything you desire.  Chips?  Then add some chilli sauce.  Rice and curry, then make sure it is spicy.  A little chilli into your stir fry and all night you will be high.  Whether as a condiment, ingredient or just on its own, I can think of nothing better to pass my lips that the wonderful chilli pepper.

But what is this?  People do not like chilli?  How could they!  Monsters and demons, this cannot be allowed.  You mean to tell me that food can be eaten, without spice?  How?  Why?  Are their people with such tame tastebuds and boring lives that they have never tried or tasted the delightful sensations produced when biting on a little chilli?

Chilli for me represents so much more than just good food.  It is a way of life, a means for me to express myself in what I put on my plate.  A love of chilli is a love of all that is exciting and wonderful about the world.  A little bit dangerous to begin with, but once bitten into, there is no turning back.  The chilli is the only cultivated food that can bring such joy to the lips.  Like no other, are the murmurs of approval heard from your fellow diners when they sink their teeth into your delightfully prepared spiciness.  Oh, the wonderful chilli!

Most of us watch television. Why do we watch it? There are so many reasons, entertainment, rest and relaxation, escapism, to be able to gossip at work the next day about the latest happenings on Eastenders or big brother – so for social acceptance. Occasionally people even watch it for the original reason it was created, for educational reasons! Is Television now become an outdated technology?

A friend forwarded this post to me with the Chinese back street boys on it. I loved it.

• Last night because there was nothing on television, I watch a couple of south park episodes on the internet instead before going to bed. Read the rest of this entry »