Saturday, October 27, 2007

People watching

I love summer evenings, when, after enjoying a meal we can stroll along the boardwalk, walking away the calories and savouring the sights and sounds of the neighbourhood. In some parts, life has spilled on to the pavements, music coming from cafes and restaurants, people sit outside drinking coffee, whiling away the hours, watching passers by. There are different types of passers by to be observed. Some who work the streets all night. (That is, garbage collectors and the like). Cars zoom by with the stereo volume turned up high, bearing number plates like, 'free spirit', 'fast cars rock' 'one night stand'.
Because Australians tend to live by the Coast or rivers, there is always the sound of the surf or a river view. Even the sound of the mobile phone is becoming the norm. People aren't usually phoning share holders and such, its generally friendly chit chat. For example, hello, I'm out to dinner just checking the kids are ok, or did we turn the gas off before we left? Ah! the wonders of modern technology, how did we survive without it?Someday I will write a book based only on these public mobile phone calls.
Sometimes there are family arguments which are hard to ignore as they waft across on the breeze from the river. I like too imagine that one day I will hear a conversation that is really worth eavesdropping for. For example, where are you now? were you seen? what did you do with the evidence? This is when I watch and try to remember faces, just in case I have to give testify in Court someday. Who know when my moment will arrive and I get to identify the chief suspect?
Usually, I just get to go home and sleep off the meal I have partake and the extra exercise Just being a part of the cosmopolitan crowd on a warm summer evening has been enough for me.

Wish to make it happen

The new order of the day appears to be cosmic wishing. Apparently the way it works is thus.
One decides on what it is you want out of life and then ask the Universe to provide it for you.

It seems fairly straighforward, with not much effort or even the overuse of brain cells. Once you have determined what it is you wish for, you visualise it and it happens. At the moment it works for your own secret dreams, for example, a promotion or a nice new car.

Hopefully, when it is fine tuned, we can work on World Peace or eradicating poverty. Still, lets face it, most of the Miss World's hoped for world peace and weren't able to achieve it, so it may take a while longer.
It appears that celebritiies have been attracted by this cosmic ordering, so it has to be okay, right? I wonder what I'm doing wrong for it not to be working. I had thought to write it down but Im not sure who to address it to. "Dear Cosmic Ordering, or Miss Universe,' just doesnt seem to work.
I shall keep trying and just as soon as my wishes are granted I will be sure to let you all know.

Sleep my lovely, sleep

It appears that sleep walking has become so prevalent in the UK that staff in hotels are being trained in how to deal with the problem.
It follows an increase in the number of guests found wandering around in the night with no clothes on. A study by Travelodge found there had been more than 400 cases in the past year, almost all involving men.
Sleep experts blame stress, alcohol abuse and lack of sleep for the disorder.
The research, conducted in 310 Travelodge hotels, found sleepwalkers wandered all over the building.
A number had walked into the reception area asking for a newspaper or saying they wanted to check out.
Travelodge said it was sending notes to its staff on how to deal with the problem.
The advice includes keeping a supply of towels in reception to help preserve a guest's dignity.

Given the fact that the hotel door generally slams shut when you leave it, there is no way back inside without the key which I expect a sleep walker wouldn't have taken with him. So the best solution is probably to go to Reception and get help.

I wonder, do sleep walkers really walk with their hands outstretched in front of them? If not, how do you know they are sleep walkers?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Grim Predictions of Doom

It appears that when there is a new invention there are also prophets of doom who want to demonise anything new, as if they have an innate fear that it will be the ruin of civilized society. For example when Movies first began there was extremely strict censorship. If a man kissed a woman and they were near a bed, he had to keep one foot on the floor at all times so there was 'no funny business'.

The advent of Television was of a great concern, 'it will surely give people square eyes', they said. I see no squared eyed people yet.

Along came rock and roll. Elvis Presley was believed to have the power to corrupt a whole generation of young people as he gyrated on the stage. Even the Beatles were said to be harming the ears of the young, because they 'screamed loudly'. So did the fans I might add.

Even the advent of the motor car was of some concern. Apparently they were considered to be so dangerous that a man would run in front of the car waving a flag warning passers by.
As for the railway trains. There was a fear that the human body wouldn't be able to cope with moving at more that 30 miles per hour. Another railway warning stated that if the train travelled too fast the air would leave the carriages and people would suffocate.

Then there is the mini dress that Jean Shrimpton was dressed in when she appeared at the Races in Sydney. Apparently some fathers clapped their hands over their son's eyes so they would not become instantly corrupted. There is something there about responsibility for our own actions which I shall not go in to at the moment.

Computers once took up two or three rooms now they sit on the palms of our hands. Remember the Y2K bug in 2000, when it was thought the world as we know it might end?
Then came the Mobile Phone. I heard one man say that he often talked to himself and now felt quite 'normal' when he passed a mobile phone user as they looked to be doing the same thing.

Is society going down the drain through the use of the clothes dryer? No longer do we see neighbours hanging out their clothes on the Hills Hoist and stopping by for a chat.
The Ipod is now part of every day life, its easy to use and just slips in your pocket. The fear now is that Ipod users are becoming like Zombies, so intent on what they are listening to on their Ipods they are unaware of what is happening around them. Mabye all those old horror zombie movies are becoming true.

I love being in the 21st century and want to enjoy it for as long as I possibly can.

Glenniah