We are Pretty Shabby Now

There has been a fair bit of tongue-in-cheek nation bashing going on in the bloggosphere of late.
And it's all well meant.

I think as a global community, we don't put as much store by our national identitiies as we once did. We're less eager to die for King and Country, or the Star Spangled banner, than once we were.

Of course. We all know eachother a lot better.

At one time that sea crossing from Dover to Calais could well be fatal.
And that was the only connection we Brits had with our nearest neighbours.

But stereotypes only become stereotypes because there is something there to latch on to, something we know is true.

And, yes, we Brits do live in the past. A past where we still own the world.
And that's something I'd like to explain.

My mother is not British- she only got her British passport recently.

She said to me recently; The saddest thing about the way Britain is today, is looking at what the British once were.

True.

Americans come here expecting land of thatched cottages, stately homes and polite conversation.
They find a land of tower blocks, motorways and chavs.

And deep down, it must scare them.
It is barely a hundred years since this country was the ONLY superpower, towering above the rest of the world in a way that America doesn't even today.
And yet look how we have fallen.

The legacy of any empire is a mixed bag.
But only two Empires in history have shaped the world that followed to such a huge extent.

At the turn of the twentieth century, it was Admiralty policy that the British Navy exceed the second and third largest Navies in the world. And that was considered realistic.
Eight of the Ten richest men in the world, were British.
Three quarters of the world's iron goods were made here.
Two thirds of the world's firearms were made here.

London was the world's largest city.

Life Expectancy was the highest in the world.

Most of the greatest scientific discoveries over the previous hundred years had been made by Brits.

And the way Victorians felt about their country was arrogant, but true.

The statue of Boudicca on the Embankment carries the inscription 'Regions Caesar never knew thy posterity shall sway.'

Cecil Rhodes- a controversial figure, but certainly a man of vision, even if now we see some of that vision as warped stated 'To be born an Englishman is to win first prize in the lottery of life.'
And that was true, then, in terms of simply being born in England in those days gave you opportunities others did not have.

In the early nineteenth century, a schoolboy was asked by his teacher in exasperation; 'Do you not want to learn how countries are made?'
He replied. 'No. I'd rather make one of my own.'

In 1842, he carved a stretch of the North Borneo coast out for himself and became Rajah of Sarawak. His descendants reigned till the second world war, as the 'Great White Rajahs'

Of course, we can look back on all of this with unease. As we do. Often rightly.

But so much once came from these islands.
At one time this actually was a country which actually created enterprise, independence of thought and the courage to go out into the great wide world and do great things.

John Locke. William Shakespeare. John Stuart Mill. Adam Smith. James Cook. Ernest Shackleton. David Livingston...
Could go on for ever, couldn't I?

It isn't now.
And that's sad.

Moving on from those values and maturing as a society shouldn't have made us throw the baby out with the bath water.
But we have.
And now we are just a pretty shabby little country.

Finding A Way Forward

This life is not a dress rehearsal.
It's the only shot we've got.

I don't know what other people want out of their lives, I'm not even sure what I want out of mine, but I suppose the following three objectives are a start;

1. Gain as much enjoyment as possible.
2. Cause minimum pain to others.
3. Leave the world in some way, a better place for your having been here.

How far I have gone to acheiving these objectives is open to debate. Not very far, I suspect.
I haven't really got much to show for my time on this planet.

What I do know, is that life is too important to waste. It's too short to keep drifting aimlessly, to avoid making decisions, to miss opportunities, to be dishonest with people, to let things pass you by.

All faults I am guilty of.

Quite why so many of us end up as spectators in our own lives, I don't know. Maybe it is the shallowness of our society. Sometimes I do feel completely alienated from the culture we live in.

I think everybody needs purpose in their life, and this is something modern life fails to give.

I know I want to acheive SOMETHING.

But if you asked me what that was, I'd have to admit, I have no idea.

Shouldn't Have Worried

OK, I really did underestimate how good my friends are.

I got a call, ten minutes from the end of the second half (before Brazil scored.)

My best friend was on his way,

I turned and said the following 'Just be warned, Honeybunch,'
She replied 'I will.'
I said. 'I knew you would. You have your head screwed on, really.'

And my mate hadn't really come to seduce her.

He had come to discuss how he hates his job. He wanted a good chat about the meaning of life.

So, I'm not a millionaire.
But I think I am a good judge concerning the people I choose to be part of my life.

I've been Allowed One Minute to Give You This.

I'm being told 'XXX, get off that fXXXing computer.
I told them, let me just share 'Push' and I'll be back with you.

This really is a track I LOVE to dance to.

Now, I'm leaving that with you, because I neglected my friends WAY too much last weekend.

But I still love you all.

xx

One of Life's Mysteries

Quite why I am going to be wasting my evening going to watch the England game at my local pub, is anyone's guess.

Tradition, partly. I never miss an England game, even one as pointless as a friendly.

But part of the idea, surely, is a sneaking suspicion that England might win.

At the moment, were it a friendly against Malta, I'd have my doubts.

So I'm off to watch England play the kind of football traditionally associated with West Bromwich Albion, against a football superpower.

Why we still linger with these Steve McLaren woes, escapes me. By doing a total U-turn on Beckham having a role to play in the team, he has lost all credibility. He's also got to pull something out of the bag fast if we are to qualify for the Euros.
I don't see him doing that.

It is sad really, when you look back to the England Team of 2002.

I don't care what anyone says.
For twenty minutes, I was reading a screen that read; ENG 1 BRA 0
Dreams of Beckham raising the Jules Rimet trophy filled my head.

What went wrong?

How Can They Not be The Greatest Group Ever?

This album is on the stereo as we speak. Not their best, but even one of their average albums is a work of art.

Strange Skulls and Other Stories

One thing that I like about the internet, is that one has a choice what to believe.
You take in the facts and decide which are valid.

In the real world, we only get the majority views piped through our TVs.

But on the internet we can find whole sites devoted to Creationist theories, UFO theories, God was an alien theories, etc.

Of course, for every silly theory, there are ten other sites debunking it.

If something on the internet IS patently stupid, you realise that due to the amount of evidence also on the internet, pointing this out.

But there are a few oddities. When I come across something quite bizarre, with no sites elsewhere ridiculing what is being said, I take note.
I still withold judgement, but I do start thinking.

It is worth taking a look at some of the strange skulls catalogued in Peru by Robert Connolly and which seem to defy belief.

Rational Explanation?
Fraud?

Maybe, but I have seen no sites refuting what is claimed for these skulls.

Take a look

Go into Strange Artefacts, then Mystery Skulls.

Most of these sorts of sites can be a little credulous, but there are some things which still seem to have no sensible explanation.