Let there be light...

Finally at long last I have re-posted! I have to owe this massive delay to the hectic lead up to universities and exams. Now is the time when everything seems to be in full drive, and I must have confess, I have had barely no time at all. When eating begins to seem like a loss of time to me, I definitely know that something is very wrong. All around people seem only to be talking of their next homework assignment, university applications and interviews, and there seems to be a general air of stress about the place. And now the days are getting shorter and ice starting to form all over the pavements, a feeling of 'health-and-safety' seems to really be in full swing. And I don't even like health and safety (goggles to play conkers.... ha) .
Walking on my way to merry old compulsory school chapel, I was attempting to prove my eclectic capabilities and do the old ice-skate-on-the-icy-pavement move in some crazy moment of impulsive behaviour. I very nearly wiped out in front of half the school, but luckily regained balance at the last minute, and casually strolled off hoping that know one noticed. Eventually we all filed into the chapel, and were seated in the most random fashion in between parents,other houses, and just plain strangers. I have to say, when the chapel was plunged into darkness, I really did feel a sense of mystery and religious comfort what with the light coming up through the stained glass windows and the choir chanting from ambiguous places. But when the lights came glaring back on at "and God said let there be light", I couldn't help but think "well gee God I thought you could do better than tungsten from Ikea". Then of course candles were lit during the service (I swear I thought someone's hair was going to be set alight at any moment), and people gave addresses about the annunciation (I've always thought Mary was such a weirdo... I mean, if some random angel came along to tell me that I was to give birth to the son of God my first response would be to say "hahahahahha..... wait, you gotta be kiddin' me man!"), and then of course the entire congregation bellowed out the hymns at full volume. I think one of the lines about Christ in the last hymn was "deeply wailing", which is probably the most accurate description possible of what it was.
However sitting in the chapel listening to the choir sing beautiful hymns with the ethereal atmosphere of candles and flowers really made me think... what if there are more important things in life than universities and exams, applications and interviews? What if these things really don't matter at all. We should all just enjoy advent and the anticipation for christmas, playing about in the snow, singing songs and forgetting about the routine and toil of school. I suppose you could say I had an epiphany of sorts; I am going to forget about all the stress and expectations, the necessary assignments and revision. I'm going to be the ultimate rebel... screw physics prep and english essays. I am just going to sit back and relax, watch the sun shine through frost covered trees, walk through the powdered snow with friends, and admire the beauty and surreality of the winter aura. After all, it seems so foolish to waste its wonder and charm on trivial endeavours and exertions. One could do worse than be a wanderer of the snow.

Right, ehem, uh, I think I should go finish my homework now.

Listen to 'Trouble is a Friend' by Lenka and 'All the Money or the Simple Life Honey' by the Dandy Warhols.

Remember, Remember

Once again, Bonfire Night has passed, and we have all gone out to enjoy the fireworks and bonfires and gunpowder. I absolutely love fireworks and bonfires; I’m a bit of a pyromaniac like that. Its not that I like running about the place setting everything I see alight or am planning blowing up the Houses of Parliament anytime soon, but there is something quite surreal and wonderful about fire. It’s unlike any of the other elements; water and earth and air are all tangible in some sense, or are at least made up of some sorts of atoms we are aware of. But fire isn’t anything you can capture or hold, its just pure, abstract energy. And for this reason, I find it totally mesmerizing (oh I am such the physicist.) However, having said this, I cannot say all my experience with fireworks has been wonderful. Speaking of ‘remember, remember’, I remember when I was a lot younger back in the good ol’ days of when all the kids in the town would meet around a massive bonfire, and then retreat to one particularly welcoming parent’s house (heaven forbid) for some jolly old fireworks. However I distinctly remember that in one year, I was particularly interested in the all-you-can-eat- buffet, which as you can imagine, I took to mean literally. So rather than being interested in the sparklers, the apple bobbing, and the eloquent conversation of fellow 7 year olds, I busied myself with stuffing my face with as much burger, sausage, avocado and cake as I could possibly fit in. In fact, I ate so much, I think I turned into a massive black-hole sucking in every possible edible thing which had been roasted on charcoal, until the world was stripped of all things smoky and covered in ketchup. Anyway, I was so busy eating all this food, I was completely oblivious to the fact that the giant ‘Golden Fountain of Midos’ had been set alight, and that everyone had retreated to the back of the garden. And suddenly, midway between bites of hot-dog, this huge explosion set off right next to me, and the next thing I knew, I was prancing about the place, yelling for someone to turn it off, trying to avoid the sparks of fire which were coming straight towards my face. My first instinct was to throw the hot-dog into the inferno, which just set on fire and bounced back at me. So not only was I avoiding the firework itself, I know had an evil fire-sausage on my trail. I was jumping about so much, that all the other kids thought I was part of the act, like some Greek sprite doing a hot-dog ritual, and so just stood there going “oooooohhh” and “aaaaahhh”. Even these days, I still have a fear of demonic hot-dogs.

Please, just please watch anything by Charlie Chaplin. Especially the ‘Great Dictator’. Frickin’ amazing. Listen to ‘Mad World’ by Gary Jules, and ‘Run On’by Moby.