ow. my head hurts. Earl Grey Tea, no milk, 3 sugars… the only way to fly!

you know, quite how i mamaged to write such wisdom in that state suprises me!

Alcohol is bad, m’kay?

If V good night means room spinningly drunkard then yes it was fantastic last night!

Todays, random events so far:

1) A txt message from Australia, from a person who I’d lost touch with.
2) 3 Spam emails for Free Cheescake! (What??? Is it laced with Viagra? or maybe had porn printed on it? Since when was Cheese frickin cake the subject of Spam?????)

ow, any suggestions for clearing my head?

PS I’m so glad I can laugh at myself. It’s not big and it’s not clever to get that drunk… although having 8 free vodka vouchers left, could be quite handy!

Sometimes, the randomness of my life amazes even me.

It’s 347am on a non descript drearey wednesdaay and I’m hammered.

Today has been, a very od day.

some of todayssRandom events:

• An overl;y sickly milkshake with an old friend at lunch
• A chance encounter with another old frined (and international DJ/Promoter) who’s been trying to get in touch aboutt a “projet” he wants me to work on.
• A phone call from an agent confimring they wan t me to produce an RnB single aimed at the chart (I hate Rnb and commercial tunes! – which sis why they want me, go figure?)
• An unlimited free vodka bar tonight with some very important collleagues in the radio industry – messy.

Theres a few more but theyr either not for posting here or beyond my memroy right now

My friends, lifes is what you make it. When it throws you a currve ball you have to step up and hit it back or you’re out. Chooose tyo hit that ball.

tommo id going to hurt.

peace. back tot he tune making

My holiday was awesome, a much needed break to recover, recharge and relax. So why is it I’ve found it soo hard to get anything done today?

Well, I read 2 books on holiday, both cotroversial in their own way… but 1 of them I can’t stop thinking about…

“I.O.U. – The debt threat and why we must defuse it” by Noreena Hertz
Reading this book taught me a lot about the world we live in today. Considering how complex the subject is, I was impressed by both how well written (not too technical and soundly referenced with around 50 pages of notes) and moving this book is.

It’s filled with sad statistics like Tanzania spends $3.2 pp (per person) on health and $9 pp on debt servicing, compared with $5000 pp in the US on healthcare.

I wanted to understand more about the “Make Poverty History” campaign, the history of what caused the debt situation as it stands today and how it affects everyone.

The scary part of the book is how this affects the whole world. I really wanted to understand this part as I think its (sadly) the most likely way to make everyone take notice and maybe help something happen.

Please take 5 mins to read this.

Luke’s rough guide to why YOU should do something to help the “Make Poverty History” campaign

1) Not taking action will cost you and I more money than taking action.

Debts can be written down for less than their apparent value, remember also that the “debts” are hugely inflated by interest accumulated through time.

Still not convinced, ok, if a country defaults on its debt (remember that argentina crash?) it’ll cost you money… your bank lends these countries money… as these countries get more desperate (through ever increasing interests and re-servicing loans) the choice to make themselves bankrupt becomes a real option with real consequences for you.

2) Taking action could save your life.

As these countries get poorer, their basic healthcare gets worse, diseases spread, mutate and re-appear. There are proven correlations between the increase in poverty overseas and the increase in rare diseases in the whole world. (The US had over 4000 cases of West Nile Fever in 93) thanks to easy international travel, migration and trade… these nasty bugs are headed your way!

3) Taking action will make the world a safer place.

Poverty breeds desperation. Desperation can force people to make legally and ethically unthinkable choices.

In Colombia for example, Pablo Escobar provides hospitals, affordable housing and electricity… still suprised he’s seen by some poor people as a good guy?

Within some countries, a desperate soul can guarantee their families future by joining terrorist and extremeist groups. If you had absolutely nothing and someone offered your family a lifeline if you joined them, what would you do?

Poverty affects education. Religious extremists exploit this to offer their own schools (and other services of course), further building tensions across ethnic and religious divides.

Still not convinced we should help? Maybe you find yourself asking…

1) Why should we clear debts from countries where dictators or the elite in their society squandered to enrich their own lives?

“I.O.U.” by Noreena Hertz offers what I believe is a fair system, whereby debt payments should be diverted into funds, accountable and open to all so that instead of the benefits going directly to governments they can be be fed as aid. Its not easy but imagine the good will generated within a poor country that can see a lifeline, or how powerful a motivator to remove a bad regime this fund could be.

Is it really fair to punish the poor of a country for previous governments spending, when we knowingly lent them the money??

2) We already donate billions in aid, why should we shoulder more when it never seems enough?

Without exception, these counties pay more in debt servicing than they recieve in aid.

If you’re donating £1 and they have to pay the equivalant of £2 per person in debt to the world bank/IMF and private banks, who’s really getting your money? If those debt repayments are used like above, the difference could be truly world changing.

- please visit the Make Poverty History Website it takes 2 minutes to sign up and send an email on your behalf, the politicians need convincing that this is the right thing to do.

Thanks for reading.

I’m back, and this time its personal! – Well, not really but I am back from spain.

Holidays are fantastic, I had an amazing time with an awesome group of people. Photos have been added to the gallery, in sections under “spain05″.

Muchos Gracias Domino. I am in your debt sir.

Thought #1

Fascinating how holidays are such a microcosm of real life in how people behave.

Allow me to explain, like life in general on holiday everyone has slightly different ideas of what they want, some assert those needs, others are happy to go with the flow… I think one of the reasons some people fall out on holiday is the magnification of peoples attributes when forced into a small group.

And as with real life (whatever that is) when different values, ideas or desires occur, you either reach an adult compromise or split and do your own thing… of course there is a 3rd sulking and fighting method but this didn’t happen with us.

I often hear of people describing holidays with partners as “make or break” – surely this re-inforces my idea that its a magnified microcosm type thing?

Anyways, expect a lot more this week… I’ve had a week of doing very little and my brain is only just starting to warm up!

Right then… I’m off to Spain early monday morning and have a lot to cram into this weekend, so… Adios Amigos!

I’d like to apologise now for the amount of stuff I’m likely to blog when I get back… time to reflect and chill is bound to make my mind fly along at an even greater rate of knots than it does now… plus maybe some more pics for the gallery…