Accepting Spying? You Should Not!

Spying has been big news this year thanks to the likes of Edward Snowden, whose leaks have highlighted the extent of Government spying in the US and UK. The massive extent of data collection by agencies on both sides of the Atlantic is mind blowing. In my opinion surveillance on this scale has so far been unjustified, terrorism the usual answer for the US and UK to do anything secret does not really fully explain this vast trawling of data and even the tapping of Angela Merkel and others. I understand that in today's world as in the past countries will spy and need to spy for various reasons. But as the last years has shown oversight of spying is little or nothing and anyone can be a target whether they are a suspect for something or not.

I was scrolling through Facebook the other day and came across a post from a friend of mine, which made me shudder a little and really shows our ambivalence in the UK to spying and spying on us the people.

More than anything it is the last part of the post that worries me the most, "your welcome to listen in on my phone calls or read my emails anytime if you feel it necessary". For me there is ZERO reason for my government or any other to listen or read my private correspondence unless I am already suspected of something. General populous surveillance is not COOL. I suspect the person who wrote this post had in mind terrorism and the fact that the attacks we have had in the UK have been home grown. To some extent I understand his point, however to accept an open ended view to spying on people contradicts the supposed values of our nation. In fact I find the whole post a little contradictory in the sense that he believes in the integrity and uncontrollability of the secret services to conduct spying on as many people as possible to find the few corrupted bad ones, when the last year has shown the secret services have really over stepped the boundaries of what is acceptable. But what is acceptable in the age of the internet? Has this even been debated? What are the levels of oversight? Its all a fuzzy blur to the general public.  

Sunset Brinsley

Sunset from my window tonight! Very dramatic and beautiful glad I took a look out of the window. 

Street Light and Chapel

Old chapel down the road from my house. 

Bit of Fun Photography at Work

While we had a quiet period yesterday I took this pic of my colleague busy at work! 

Ison Comet of the Century

One of the things I have been looking forward to most about 2014 is the coming of the comet Ison, the so called Comet of the Century. I have a faint memory of Hale Bopp back in 1996/7 sitting in the Sky for what seemed like months but was probably not that long. I just remember being in complete awe as this visitor from the outer Heliosphere as it cruised past our planet oasis. I want to feel like that again so fingers crossed Ison can deliver!

Ison on the 15th of November taken by Damian Peach

Ison has the potential to be the Comet of the Century however it could also not happen at all. At this moment it it is heading towards the Sun and will swing round it and then come back past the Earth. This is when the real show is supposed to begin for us! If it can safely pass the Sun without burning up completely we will see an amazing sight in our night Sky, shining as bright as our moon. The problem with Ison is that it might be passing the Sun just a little to close. Fingers crossed that its made of hardy stuff and makes it through safely.

Devonshire Arms, Beeley, Derbyshire

Ok so I was sat in a pub after a long walk in and around Chatsworth House and two vintage cars pulled up out side of the pub. It just completed the scene for me! In my mind I was way back in time and it reminded me of the book Remains of the Day. I have edited it abit though to more of what my imagination was seeing than what it was actually like. 

St Michaels Mount, Mounts Bay, Cornwall

St Michaels Mount in Cornwall last year, taken on my phone with Microsoft's Photosynth App. Turned out okay I thought, especially from a free app!

My Top Ten Favourite and Important Songs

Like the vast majority of the planet I enjoy music, in fact I do not think I have ever come across anyone one who does not! So as often bloggers do when your short of anything to write about I have come up with a top 10 list of songs that I love and are important to me. Most of these songs have been around at certain points in my life and thus have a meaning attached. So here goes........

1. Get Myself Arrested by Gomez

This above all songs probably determined what sort of music i would enjoy in the future, this came from the Mercury Music Award winning album Bring It On, the first album I ever bought.





2. Carrion by British Sea Power

Sometime in 2002/03 I bought the now defunct music magazine X-ray which included a CD with this song on it. I went straight out and bought the album The Decline of British Sea Power. This is the greatest band ever in my opinion and have been continuous love of mine. My love of this band lead me to make friends with my now girlfriend as she was the only other person I had met who knew and loved them too.




3. No Culture Icons by The Thermal

One of the most underrated American bands of recent years, again this was another X-ray find.




4. Untiltled by Interpol

What an opening to this track, it gives me shivers every time. Reminds me of my Uni days. The ending is amazing too, its a sunset or sun rise song.




5. Pissing in the Wind by Badly Drawn Boy

Everyone has a song for when your having a bad day, this is mine! Some days you really feel like you are pissing in the wind!




6. Smalltown Boy by Electrelane

A recent discovery this cover of Bronski Beats Smalltown Boy (which is brilliant anyway) has become a favourite. Its an epic cover version. 

7. All the Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople

This is the influence of my dad, I used to think that the 70's was a barren time for music with Bowie being the exception. I love this song because it reminds me of my dad and that his taste in music was not all bad.




8. Don't Look Back into the Sun by The Libertines

Back to my Uni days, a must dance to song.

But when they played that song at the Death Disco 

 It started fast but it ends so slow         

And all the time it just reminded me of you

9. Swallowed by Bush

I was a teen living in Scotland when this came out, Bush are of course a Scottish band, one of a very small number that where any good. Its a song that accompany's my memories of my life and friends there.



10. A Day in the Life by the Beatles

What is a top ten list of songs without the Beatles!? Not much of a list I suppose. Well this one makes it for one reason and one reason only..... it mentions my home town in the last verse,

I read the news today oh, boy Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire And though the holes were rather small They had to count them all Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall I'd love to turn you on

We are not famous for much in Blackburn but it was always nice to know that we made it into a Beatles song.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang Book Review

When I decided to review books on this page, this is one of the books I really wanted to talk about, Wild Swans by Jung Chang. I recently read that this is the highest selling non-fiction paper back ever and was published back in 1991. I found this book in the local charity shop not knowing anything about it and was intrigued by the preface. Since buying it I have seen it several times in various charity shops just in my local village and they all look unread which is a real shame. I had just finished The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and was looking for more Asian literature so Wild Swans was a good find.

Wild Swans is a History of China over a hundred year period as seen and experienced by three women, the Author Jung Chang, her mother Bao Qin and her grandmother Yu-fang. The story starts with Yu-fang as a child living in the last days of the Emperor, she is from a poor family and her feet are bound. This is an era in China were regions were controlled by war lords and the story relates how Yu-Fangs father wanted to send her to be a Concubine. Of course many things happen (which i dont want to give away here) and the story then moves on to Bao Qin. At a young age Bao starts working for the Communist Party in the midst of the revolution, fighting the Kuomintang and the Japanese.Over time Bao Qin moves up the ranks in the party and marries Wang Yu with whom she has Jung Chang and other children. Soon after this book moves onto a biography of Jung's life and specifically the period of the cultural revolution. Three generations of Chinese history is an epic period of time is covered in one book, as such it is a good thick read.

What makes this book stand out as an account of history is the personal nature of events as seen by Jung and her relations.For lack of a better term it is a view of events from the grass roots level, seeing things from a families perspective and the consequences of actions taken by the leaders of China of which has been so readily covered in many books. However the actual consequences of the leaders actions especially in China over the last century are rarely recorded from the average persons experience. As you might guess from the picture Chairman Mao almost an ever present shadow amongst the pages, no more so than in the chapters covering the Cultural Revolution. These were amongst the most riveting, awful, scary, amazing chapters I have ever read. It was Orwell's 1984 but real. I was not really prepared for the personal and real actions of individuals who lived and conducted the Cultural Revolution. It can be so easy when reading history to forget the human cost, the misery and suffering and just read numbers and names .

Even if you do not like reading about history, this would still be a book I would highly recommend. The history is so well entwined into the story of the three women that you have the same sort of connection with Jung or Bao Qin that you would with any fictional character. The history aspect comes second to a well written and vivid story.

This book is over 20 years old and is a testament to how far China has come but also how far it still has to go. Jung is still banned in China for writing this book, even after the fall of Mao and the demise of the cultural revolution, his cult lives on. Since Wild Swans was published there have been many other books that have followed its format, Red Azalea by Anchee (another exceptional account of the cultural revolution) and Havana Dreams by Wendy Gimble (Cuba) to name two that I have bought since. Both of these are good but do not match the scale and brilliance of Wild Swans.

Best 50 pence I have ever spent! I cannot recommend this book anymore! A Must Read!


Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Possibly one of the best books I have ever read, a full 100 years of Chinese history as seen from 3 womens perspective. From the last days of the emperor all the way through to the end of the cultural revolution! Brilliant!

View all my reviews

British Museum Photo

• One of the best photographs I have ever taken, such an amazing roof on the British Museum, it really blew me away.

Street Lights

I have had a little strange obsession with street lights especially when they are surrounded by trees, I have no idea why. Anyway I sometimes take pictures, they are not great as the Iphone is not made for nights and street lights. They looked far better on the phone. I will just have to get my good camera out at some point.

Borders, Culture and Nationalism.

One of the most defining features of humanity over its history has been the division of its self into communities along the lines of geography, social behaviour, language and a sense of connection between one another. Our entire history has been defined by this, its has been this unit of people did this, that unit of people believe this and did things to that other unit of people etc etc. This over time has formed nations, religions, politics and so on into what we all know today. We relate ourselves and the area we live in, to others and our actions and reactions are a consequence of those relations. From childhood we absorb this and grow up to believe in the divides of humanity, which seem immutable and all important. We all become engaged in the idea of nationalism to some extent whether that be through supporting your nations sports teams, concurring to some historical perspective on your or someone else's nations actions or the most extreme of views that your geographical location and those that inhabit it are for whatever reason superior.

 My own experience of this has been rather mild, like most I have followed sports and supported national teams and have become absorbed into the fervour of nations battling it out. This is the most benign consequence of nationalism and probably exists in most of us, even the most liberal and unnationalistic of people. They may not even enjoy sport but take pride that Joe Bloggs of his nation invented this or said that. We all do this. It is it seems an inherent part of being human, we form communities and take pride in the efforts of our fellow members. Countries are the epitome of human efforts of community, they reflect the shared values, language, religion (sometimes),history of a large group of people and as such this guides a communities interactions with other communities. Sometime ago it occured to me that borders are not a physical thing, they are an imaginary line in the earth or on a map that only exists within the human mind. A border is just a place where some people feel the sense of community end and thus they are somewhere else. What's more these imaginary lines are not immutable, static or forever. They expand and contract with human movement and interaction some of which is natural and some of which is pure human construction of how things should be, the modern nations of the middle east are a perfect example of this. Created by the allies after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW1.

 But as we all know by now we live in an ever shrinking world, where globalisation is taking it effect and as some would argue homogenising cultural values, language, money, politics and on and on and on. Albert Einstien once said "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind", and I would tend to agree. When I really look at it and really think about nationalism or patriotism I come to the conclusion that the future of humanity does not need it and I hope grow out of it. Globalisation is starting to do that of course it has broken down some of the barriers of nationhood sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. However we are only on the cusp of what globalisation will do. Many see globalisation as a problem and I am sure that it is causing problems, the growing economic divide between the rich and the poor being one of them. However we are very much still in the early stages of a world changing process that I believe will do more good than bad for humanity. More than anything it will lessen the impact of nationalism as the all defining force of community interaction and build shared values that span the globe rather than one corner of the planet.

On The Road By Jack Kerouac Book Review

One of the things that I wanted to do with this new page was talk about the books I am reading or  have read recently. I am quite an avid reader at times but I am particular about the books I read. You will never see me reading 50 Shades of Gray and any book of the ilk, I guess I might be a bit of a book snob. Maybe!

So for my first review I have picked On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I borrowed this book of my girlfriend a few months ago as she had started and failed to finish reading it. I am currently reading this book and as yet not finished it myself and this in itself tells you the first thing you need to know about it..... It is a hard read. Its not that I am not enjoying it, its just one of those books that is hard to read, to take in and I guess to understand.

The novel is set in post WWII America and based on the Karouac and his friends travels around the country as well as the 'beat generation'. "It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry and drug use". That is a very brief account to the back drop of the story, that period somewhere between the better known Depression years and the Rock N Roll 60's. The impression On The Road gives me so far is of an America in transition (but doesn't it always seem in transition?), where the cultures of the post war are slowly ebbing away into the new liberal culture we are all aware of in the 60's. Inevitably it reminds you of Mice and Men (on drugs), mainly because of the travelling aspect of the novel. The main character is Sal Paradise from New Jersey who embarks on a journey across the States with his friend Dean Moriarty. There are a myriad of characters and places while on the road and time in the book seems endless. It is hard to gauge what amount of time has passed at all in parts, its all rather erratic. The character Sal is based on Jack Karouac himself as are some of the others, but also his friends and people he met whilst he travelled around the states in the 50's.

My own stereotypical view of America in the 50's is of the 'atomic family in the suburbs', Tupperware loving, driving Mustangs, hanging around Diners and Drive In's, etc, in essence Happy Days! This book is not that 1950's America. It is a cool, dark, free, liberal and artistic view of that era in America. This is what makes this book exciting and interesting, you get to envisage in your mind the alternative culture of the 50's. And alternative it was, in comparison to the atomic family ideals of the time. And who doesnt enjoy a good travel story? They are always the best kind of novel in my opinion, to be taken to another time and place that is different to yours. On the Road as the title suggests does this, it takes you from New York to LA and everywhere inbetween (almost) to people and places that have long since changed. As for the deeper meaning of this book, I have not quite found that, Im sure a quick google search would tell me but I would like to figure out that myself. To do this though I must finish it. It will be packed in my suite case for my holiday next month.        

So my opinion so far is.... If you enjoy travel stories and Americana you will like this book, as I said earlier it is a hard read with an erratic style (possibly jazz inspired?!?). I have given it 3 stars so far as yet I have to finish it and consider it overall ( i should probably finish a book first in future before trying to review it). I am enjoying it and finding the landscape of the story so far interesting but I can't see where this story is going as yet, which is probably a good thing. If you have read On The Road please let me know what you thought of it.

UPDATE**

I finally finished reading this whilst on holiday. I sat back in the sun and read and I could not put it down. The later half of this book really picks up as you get to know the two main characters in the book. Sal the narrator of the story is interesting but it was Dean Moriarty, Sals best friend who illuminates the story and adventures the two undertake. Dean is the centre of all things in this story and as it progresses he changes too, becoming a little like Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men. That is, in how he is viewed by his peers. These two characters are in search of something as they travel from coast to coast and there are often vague references to god or jesus. This is not god in a Christian sense or even a religious one but rather more spiritual in nature. This i guess is were the meaning or reason can be found in this book.

Anthony's bookshelf: grasshopper-rating

On the Road

by Jack Kerouac

tagged: currently-reading and grasshopper-rating

Windsor Visit

Just got back from a weekend away in Windsor and what a great weekend it was. I was there for a company gala awards dinner, so it was completely free! As part of the weekend we got to choose a day out, me and my partner chose Windsor and the castle. Being a northern lad trips down south have been rare and have been mostly to London or Cornwall. To be honest up until this weekend I had no idea were in the country Windsor was,I rather vaguely new it was near London.

As expected being a place of Royal residence it was packed with tourists, alot of tourists! So we quickly made our way to the castle and got in before it got to busy. Windsor Castle dominates the skyline and is very imposing structure. It is not a true castle but more a recreation of one, it has all the right bits but it was built to look good that than a defence structure. As you can see from the picture below right in the middle is a little garden where i imagine the Queen goes for a stroll with the corgis.

Don't get in the way of these guys! The do not stop!

Amanda is a Cat Fan and looking to steal the Cat from Windsor Castle

The TOWER, that everyone recognises

After the Castle we took a stroll through Windsor to the Thames, where we realised theat Eton was just across the river! We had no idea it was there and as we usually we do we went of exploring were there seemed to be no tourists at all.

The Thames, Windsor is to the left, Eton to the right.

Dow the road we went and as we hoped we found some Charity shops, Antique Shops and an amazing secondhand book shop where we spent a vast amount of time and some money. I only bought one book, The Penguin History of Latin America though I could have spent a fortune.

After a short walk we got to the famous Eton College, we some only one student in the coat tailed jacket, it is the smartest school uniform you will ever see.

On the way back to Windsor we spotted this sign.....

Deliveries and Casualties in that order!! I don't know if the sanatorium was still a working one, if it is i imagine it is one of few places that still calls itself a sanatorium.

Windsor is worth visiting, the Castle has alot of Art work and some spectacular rooms. The one thing that i noticed while walking around the castle is that i recognised alot of the paintings. Mostly the ones of monarchs that get used on TV and articles. The Richard III one that has been everywhere over the last year was there and of course it was the original. So that was nice! It great to see the original of anything! 

Alternative First Dance Songs

I have for many years worked in hotels and as such have looked after many weddings, one of the big moments as many of you will know from experience is the first dance. As an unmarried yet long term attached I have at times thought about what I would like as my first dance song (but do not tell the Mrs). Most songs that I have heard played for the first dance have really never been anything that I would consider myself, they for my taste a little cheesy pop. Obviously everyone has their own tastes and I certainly have my own and I am pretty sure the Mrs has her won Ideas too.

In all my time looking after weddings and hearing many many first dance songs this is the one I liked the most. Everlong by the Foo Fighters.

Foo Fighters as a first dance song what an amazing choice, infact that wedding had great music all night much like what I would have (if i was to get married anytime soon). Now for my own songs that I think would be great alternative first dance songs and by alternative I mean by acts that are not you normal pop bands.

One that I would consider is this one by Cat Power called Sea of love. For one its not to long and myself not being the greatest dancer, I would appreciate its shortness.

There are many songs that make me think of my girlfriend not all of them are very romantic or suitable for a first dance, just they where the songs that where around at the time we started going out or where songs that we both loved. This one is a song I knew but one that she gave to me on a CD to listen to so has always made me think of her. You Were Right by Badley Drawn Boy.

Next on my list is Sometimes by My Bloody Valentine, melodic, slow and cool. And if you have ever watched Lost In Translation you will know this song well set to the relationship of Bill Murray and Scarlet Johanson's Characters.

The last alternative first dance song I can think off is this lovingly crafted song by the Great Lake Swimmers called Your Rocky Spine.

I imagine many of you who have got married have some interesting choices for your first dance song but these would be the ones I would put forward to my Wife to be!

"Boffin's Say"...... Move On

This is a little annoyance I have, one that is a complete turn off when I am reading about science or technology in the press or online. Many of the articles insist on using words like Boffin when talking about scientists and the work they are doing. I guess this is a wider issue for me too as I can not read a tabloid paper at all any more as their use of language is infuriatingly juvenile but also super repetitive. Words such as, evil, monster, hanky panky, Gotcha, using bed as an adjective, snub, wacko, Etc. You know what I mean if you have ever read one. So for this very reason I never buy a tabloid and rarely read an article online from one.

This has to be one of the most well know headlines and a perfect example of what I mean.

In regards to science and technology, I often read these sections on sites and use the Google news a lot to get a varied range of articles. In doing this I come across the use of "boffin" more often than not, from websites like the Register, which is nominally a tech page with some general science aswell. A quick Google search of the word boffin brings up plenty of boffin science articles.

What this boils down to for me is the juvenile way Science is reported, Boffin is a British slang word after all and has no place in the reporting of serious Science in my opinion. It belittles it and just shows the extreme laziness of the 'science' section of that particular media source. It also seems that Scientist's have no names they are either boffin's or scientist's and their name is irrelevant in the reporting of the work they have done. I want to know their names, don't you?

Abit of further reading on Tabloid Language if your interested is this article from the Independent.

Taking a bad situation and making it worse.

Let me clarify my own position before I start on this. I am all for freedom of information and I am sure that there are certain things and issues that must be kept secret by governments but transparency of our institutions is essential to our democratic system. In the cases of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden I would consider myself to be on their side. I am no expert on these guys or the information they leaked, only what I have read and heard here and there, but none of it seems overly dangerous material to me personally.

The information that I have seen has shown the American Government and my own British Government to be involved in certain things that many of us would consider wrong and up until recently had no idea that they were involved in. PRISM is especially concerning and again shows how the Americans and others have swung to extremes in data collection on millions of law abiding citizens and justifying it with terrorism protection. A project like this may very well have stopped further terror attacks, but as bad as some terror attacks can be is it worth destroying our own values and systems? Not only doing this but doing it all in complete secrecy against the very people you are trying to protect. It just seems ridiculous to me.

What got me on this train of thought was the detention of Glenn Greenwald the Guardian Journalists partner being detained at Heathrow by British Officials. Greenwald is working on the information leaked by Snowden and has written articles on them. Yet somehow my own Government perversely used Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act to detain Greenwald's Brazilian partner David Miranda. I look forward to the reasoning behind all of this, as we all know Brazil is a hot bed of global terrorism and the partner of a prominent American Journalist would be well involved in it all! It seems to me my Government was trying to intimidate Greenwald and those involved with Snowden rather than protect us from terrorism on this occasion. Putting this incident to one side for a moment the reaction of the Americans and British Governments to the leakers has been extraordinary to watch as the information of the things they have done has come to light. What information that was leaked would be of use to the terrorists of the world? Their reaction makes them look more guilty and drunk on their own power. It makes you wonder what else they are hiding. Back to Greenwald and his partner, he was held for 9 hours the maximum under Schedule 7 where he was interviewed without a lawyer or assistance. I read somewhere that they made him give up his social network account passwords as well. Last I read on this David Cameron was refusing to say whether Ministers had sanctioned the detention, it might be me being cynical but his refusal screams guilty as charged. 

So this hole episode has done nothing to help the situation for my government and the Americans. It has highlighted the exact reason why Snowden and Manning before him leaked what they did! It's a bad situation for a government to be in but detaining the spouse of a journalist investigating the material on terrorism legislation has made it far worse for themselves! 

Someone somewhere should be out of a job soon I think!

New page of the Grasshopper Blog

Welcome to my new page on the Grasshopper Blog, this is one of a planned few pages on different subjects though this is more general and varied as the others I hope will be about specific things. You may have already read my Garden Blog, Moor Cottage Garden and found this whilst on that page. Though I love doing my Garden Blog I sometimes want to write about other things and didn't want to put that on that page so here is a totally new free page so I can do that. Anyway I will post soon and hope you enjoy.