Absolutely Unecessary.

Saatchi & Saatchi created a set of advertisements for People In Need, to bring a less then subtle message across to their degenerative and more-often then not materialistic audience. Then again, who am I to judge? I'm the one working insane shifts to earn more money!!

It is absolutely necessary that people get a grip on such ideas.. to be able to embrace, poverty, not like poverty as in starvation, but simplicity in life, poverty in pride, is actually a very beautiful thing.. A very Catholic concept.

Show them around, link the pictures. They scream a message we must hear!

Images from www.outnext.com

Sometimes, at work, when people make a fuss about food being vegan because they "oh-so-do-not-want-to-kill", it makes me doubt their sincerity, and imagine them to be hypocrites.. especially when they decide to order a cup of normal coffee, instead of the Fairtrade coffee that we offer too. And they forget about the poor coffee pickers who probably live on rotten coffee beans. Never liked vegans. They're too malnourished to think properly.

For those who are not well acquainted with Fairtrade, it is basically an organisation that produces a large line of products like tea, coffee, clothings, and food products, and ensure that the producers, usually marginally poverished farmers, get a fair share of the profit.

So.. whats the difference? I'm not so sure myself.. I learnt about fairtrade from the Student Union shops in Manchester that are stocked to the brim with copious amounts of Fairtrade items that either taste bad, look bad, or are just simply out of point.

I wouldn't go out of my way to support Fairtrade products because as a consumer, I would be more concerned about brand name, and the quality of the products. Especially as an impoverished consumer, I don't think it is up to me to be picky about what stuff I can buy with the money I have. Maybe thats something to think about.

Other more beneficial and proactive schemes that can help the world in general, is the Doorstep recycling scheme.. Coming from Singapore, we NEVER do recycling at home.. we just throw everything down the chute, and the rubbish collectors will bring it to some secret center and process everything. Encountering recycling here was quite an interesting thing.. and the advertisements on Teevee added to stoke my recycling fervour.

Unfortunately, Doorstep recycling is not available where I live in Manchester, but it is available here in Plymouth, and that makes the difference in encouraging people to recycle and thus save energy.

Caving.

Ever since I first posted an entry on caving, many people have asked me what it is like to go into a cave, whether or not it is safe, how do you actually do it, and what do you see in a cave!

Collonades in Lancaster Hole (Yorkshire).

First off, people Cave for 2 reasons, for Scientific Exploration and Sport. More often then not, you will find cavers adept in both fields... which means that they can squirm through tight passages, and explain to you what Troglodite/bite/xile/philes means, and at the same time, take an accurate survey of the cave/passageway.

Most caves are limestone. Of course, there are the odd exceptions, such as the sandstone caves of Shropshire, Metamorphic sea caves of Devon, and many others to list. But the most prolific of caves, are of course, the limestones. This is becase (all you Geography A and O level students perk your ears) during karst formation, limestones invariably are at the same time vulnerable to the erosion of water, and of relative hardness due to the cemented nature of most limestone deposits.

Origins of a large majority of caves in the world are hydro-erosion effects, while there are the rare few that have been caused by faults, vertical displacements, amongst other Geological processes.

So, what is there to see in a cave?

Limestone caves are usually very decorated. The proverbial cave has always been pictured with huge stalactites and stalagmites, or otherwise known to laymen as calcite columns.

Webs and Stalactites.

The formation of these speleotherms (defn: cave formations) is attributed to the slow dripping of calcite rich ground water that have percolated through the calcite rich limestone. The slow collection of these water droplets in a single spot, over a very long (read tens of thousand years) lead to the formation of the speleotherms we see today.

Various Speleotherms encountered in Notts II (Yorkshire).

Varying factors account for the large variety of speleotherms we see in caves today. For example, cave temperature, water levels, and the presence of moving water all deeply affect the formation of these beautiful structures. As they are irreplacable, and of scientific interest, it is illegal to procure, or to harvet speleotherms in caves of most countries.

The next thing that interests me in caves are fossils. As a sedimentary rock formed in the life rich oceans of the ancient world, Limestones are a modern archive of ancient creatures that used to teem the sea.

Very commonly, we can find the imprint of the Paleozoic Rugosa corals that mark a strata in the rock walls of the cave.

Rugossa Corals found in Sidetrack (Derbyshire).

Other more proliferous fossils would include the Jurassic Bivalve Melleagrinella (of which I have an excellant sample of, from a quarry in Derbyshire), and the Jurassic Terabutalid Orinthella.

Terabutalids founds in Ireby fell caverns and Alum Pot (Yorkshire).

Without trying to make it sound like a scientific discourse of Speleology, of which I am in no position to give.. Caving is also a sport that is well appreciated by many in Britain (and I hear, in Europe).

This is of course, as many would attribute it, fuelled by Britain's long standing love affair with exploration, discovery, science, and yes, fossils. They were after all, the people who invented the subject, Geology, and gave it the definition that the Science has today.

Caving, is also a sport. More often then not, people also have asked me about the shiny metal bits that are attached to me. Of which, I cannot provide a detailed enough explanation to bore my audience. Instead, I direct this site to those who are interesed.

Caving, is a very safe sport that requires alot of physical agility and mental determination. I wouldn't say that it isn't for the weak hearted, but it does give your self confidence a great big boost knowing that you've managed to overcome a small dark wet hole. There are of course, moments where by I'm hanging precariously off a ledge that drops 30 to 40 metres, clipped unto a single rope no thicker then my index finger. That sounds awfully frightful, but rest assured that when you are at that ledge, and the only thing between you and a 40 metre drop is a rope, you will trust the rope and your equipment with your life, and you wouldn't have a drop of fear (if you were me).

Through caving, I've met many strange and interesting people.. some of whom who are very good friends, and have came up numerous of times in this blog...namely; People from Manchester University.. Slovenian drunkards, random folks who cave in Yorkshire, and more recently, the Plymouth Caving Group.

Slovenians at Full Pot. The crewe outside Skirwirth.

Also, I've been brought to the vast countrysides of Great Britain, and been given the very opportunity of appreciating nature, both above and below surface.

Outside Masongill on the way to Ireby. Limestone Pavements near Bar Pot.

Last but not least, caving has given me the ability to look at things in a very different light. What you see on the surface, is never what it is beneath.

Rope = Safe.

Pictures copyright.

I dream a destiny.

Really tired from work today... on my feet all day long, makes me think that I really really really hate my job other then the money it brings in. And the money ain't even that great. sigh. Gone are the days of easy 6 hour days and fat fat pay checks from the Government. By golly, I'm not even in my own country.

I decided to blog not to whinge, but to talk about www.malawidream.com . It was set up by this remarkable lady called Sonia Waters from Fullham.

She is quite remarkable because this entire project was born from a holiday in a luxury resort stay in Malawi, and a friendly chat with someone you probably will never even consider, the hotel maid. After talking to the maid about life in rural Malawi, she decided to visit the village that the maid, Gladys, lived in. There she discovered a severely under-equipped school that attempts to educate 56 children, with 1 teacher, 2 text books, and not even an atlas for Geography lessons. Thats when Ms Waters starts her work.

It is quite remarkable that a tourist, a bubble tourist for that matter, actually took so much interest in a local, especially one of whom we usually take their services for granted. If it were anyone of us, we might even just see through Gladys, and gladly live through our stay in the luxury resort without a thought for the caprice of surroundings that face most of these resorts in third world country.

The difference is that Sonia Waters saw that boundary, crossed it and made a difference. Thats what makes her story so much more appealing.

I guess it can be attributed to destiny too. Maybe Sonia was meant to be there?

If you look at it that way, rich, caring charitable British lady, meets poor worker with village school in desperate waters. Need I say more?

If it had happened any other way, if Gladys was rota to clean another room, if Sonia went to Madagascar instead, this wonderful thing might not have happened.

Whatever it is, it remains that what Sonia Waters did has impacted the lives of the villagers, and she must be rewarded for that, maybe with a MBE, or just the simple praise and thanksgiving we can offer, for the gift of her.

I don't think charity is about giving what you can, or what you have, but charity, is love, as it originates from its latin counterpart, Caritas. Fides, Spes, Caritas, the 3 pillars of the Apostolicam Catholicam Church. Catholic or not, it may well be the pillar and foundation of the human ethos.

If we aren't truly inspired to love those who need our help, our charity and contributions will only fall to misappropriation and will never meet its potential for positive change.

We all have our own little secrets.

You know how sometimes when you are writing in your journal, the one that doesn't get published, the one that someday, your enemies might use against you, the one that some time when you're old and frail, your children will use to prove that you are a demented wretched fool just to get their grubby paws on your flattering fortunes.

And theres that sound, as if someone is on the steps approaching your room, and your great big secret will be spilled.

Those moments, that you can relish, the only real tangible excitement in your life, that you have something precious enough to hide; your thoughts.

Came across this on a friend's blog, and found it fascinating. I don't really know what to say reading some of those words, and without a doubt, I can feel their pain through their creativity. Its amazing what the human mind can create with their experiences.

I too have my fair share of deep dark secrets that no one, not even I should know, for now, till time comes to a standstill, lets keep it that way. status quo.

A trip to the supersupermarket.

For some strange reason, it just came to my mind that in the past 4 days in Manchester, I went to a supermarket 4 times.

The past 4 days were really great. A big break from the monotony of Plymouth, and real caves.

Mandy has a new camera.. A nikon D40 if i'm not wrong, and I got to play with it a little.. and here are the pictures i took!

MnM.. whom i terrorised for 4 days in Manchester.

Madam Adam.

Steve.. Lord of Bernies.

Beloved Bullpot Farm.

These were the few shots I took with Mandy's camera.. cool init? Makes me want to get my own digi SLR! garrr.

I live in a big wet puddle called England.

Took me 11 hours to get from Manchester to Plymouth instead of the usual 5, as I had to go through London to avoid the squishy squashy puddles.

Help!

I'm stuck in Manchester! Garrrr...

The floods are well... not really here.. but somewhere between Birmingham and Gloucester.. which is en route to Plymouth. Bloody shit.

Mandy says its a sign I ought to stay in Manchester instead. : (

Just got my house keys. Yay. House is in an absolute tip, and I had to go back to the realtors and tell them the problems. They say they'll get the stuff done up in the next few days.. but i doubt I will be around to see the end result. Gar.

Hopefully the floods subside miraculously and I can go back to Plymouth!!