its beautiful weather, you’re chilling with friends, throwing around frisbys, kicking a football about and having a picnic in Hyde Park on a sunday and all of a sudden you see armed cops forming a ‘ring of steel’ for Bush’s visit in London (thats the official term I was told by one cop). Kind of ruins the whole ambiance doesnt it?
And now to take that that bad taste away. Heres a snap from this years Chelsea Flower Show, which I was kind of forced into going but to, but ended up enjoying apart from one stall holder who was trying to flog stolen jaali’s from Mughal Palaces:
According to the Financial Times, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently reported that Saudi Arabia accounted for 28 per cent of all global amphetamine seizures in 2006. Thats a pretty heavy statement considering some of the Arabian Gulf countries are normally quite secretive and dont usually disclose this kind of info to the outside world as its considered to be a source of acute embarassment.
The level of seizures is higher than those for the UK, which is the biggest market for amphetamines in Europe. If you take the level of seizures as an indication of consumption (which is arguably not a very eliable indicator), the market for amphetamines in Saudi seems to be soaring.
Like ecstacy, traditionally amphetamines are considered a club drug, similar to cocaine in that it gives the user a sense of euphoria. Therefore its all the more strange the drug would be so heavily consumed in a nation like Saudi that wouldnt have nightclubs for the average saudi. I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia therfore I cant comment on the social life of Saudis but I’m assuming that its probably used by people to suppress appetite and for weight control or as a mood enhancer more than anything else.
The latest huge shipment of the drug was intercepted in Oman.
UNODC’s Director said he was “perplexed” as to what the reasons for such levels of consumption were anyway. Any ideas why?
I rarely ever drive into central London, and when summer arrives buses and tubes become less appealling given the lack of social distance you’re given, which becomes all the more important when people stink of sweat (I’m sure most work places have showers now…and havent these people heard of breathable clothing?).
So I’ve finally bought a bike to get around town (for proof see the pic above!). I cant recommend it enough, anywhere within Zone 1 will probably take 15 minutes max and Transport for London have a Cycling Journey Planner to find you the best route for where you want to go.
Theres also this audio guide for different historic guides in town which is really meant for walkers but cyclists can use it too I suppose. Its a great way for exploring the city if you’re visiting London alone.
If anyone decides to use these guides, ping me an email at - Navcity (at) hotmail (dot) com and let me know how you get on.
Amitav Ghosh’s latest novel, “Sea of Poppies” looks set to take the literary world by storm and is likely to be a cracking read. Its not just a fiction based novel but it has some heavy duty historical research, so its one of those books that Masters and Phd students are told to read.
I submerged myself
in the Sea of Colours
I drew on the ground
and on the walls
and on each and every wave…
that the jealous seas guarded from view
For just that season
I besmeared all what lay in my hands
Despairing for new forms
….New myths were conceived
and faded away in my hands
I was inspired
By the sweetest of turbulences
Like the thirst
in the kohl-lined eyes of a young bride…
hidden behind a veil
but like all good wine
something of its…
…fragrance
and its taste
is lost to the air
when it is uncovered
like the subtle cadences of
music lost to the air….
One of most influential poets of the Roman age was Catullus. He influenced other cultures greatly even to this day, and was of course influenced in his style by other cultures.
Heres part of one of his poems that stands out and shows his exemplary talents:
I feel sorry for gullible consumers…. A few years ago. masses of female fashionistas saw models, actresses, you name it, wearing so-called pashminas but what they didnt tell you was that none of them were actually pashminas. This exotic shawl called the “pashmina” became fashionable in England and everyone who was anyone had one but in effect people were paying £40-odd to £80-odd for something that probably cost 40 pence to make. (between 100-200 times the manufacture cost).
The word pashmina comes from the farsi/persian word for wool, and is a high grade wool from a certain Himalayan goat (The changthangai goats). The ones being imported into Europe are neither hand embroidered nor contains any real cashmere goats wool. The highest quality of the wool comes from the soft underbelly of the said goat and is used to make what is called the shahtus shawl which can cost thousands of pounds.
So-called experts and fashionistas have been spewing received wisdom as fact or partial-fact by stating that a pashmina is only a pashmina if it can be slid through a wedding ring. In actual fact man-made fabrics can slide through a wedding ring so hardly a reliable test is it?
I’ve posted an image of some real cashmere ‘pashminas’ which are hand embroidered to help people distinguish real from the fake ones that are all too abundant. These shawls are kept in families for generations and for centuries have only ever been worn by the very elite of the Indian sub-continent and only on the most special of occasions. Emperors and Kings have always included the finest of cashmere shawls as gifts to the deserving together with such impressive surprises as elephants in gold fetters to such delightful trifles as almonds and pistachios fashioned from gold, turbans and robes of honour in cloth of gold, elegant daggers with precious handles in jade and gems.
Why dont musicians produce music like this anymore?
Jamiroqui and others have ‘borrowed’ the riff from this song, but wheres the originality gone? Does it take second place behind image?
This song is taken from the “Songs in the Key of Life” album, which was highly influential and made people sit up and think because of the amount of social commentary in the song (except this one).
I’ve been writing stuff for my MSc thesis and one sentence I wrote was:
“Population growth in London inevitably places economic as well as capacital strain on the public transport system”
According to a few dictionaries and Microsoft there is no such word, but its staying in the thesis. Languages evolve with the help of people so heres my contribution.
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