Luongspace

In trying to lessen the obvious hypocrisy, I'm going to introduce 3 vegetarian days into my week....wish me luck! :-)

Anyhoo, another thing I forgot to add was that unfortunately, there's a lot of food being wasted in England. Perhaps because we have generally forgotten what poverty is, we often see leftover food bee lining it for the bin.

I'm tight, but being Chinese as well*, we were taught not to throw away food. From a young age, my peers and I were beaten with feather dusters and flip flops until the sunset, but we were also told that waste is scandalous as:
1) the rice (yes, we ALWAYS eat rice) on our plate is the result of somebody's back-breaking labour in the paddy fields
2) Somebody somewhere is starving, possibly to death.
These two notions alone (accompanied by the intimidation factor of the feather duster) were enough to instil a sense of duty to the food on our plates, or in our bowls rather.
The counter argument is that there's no point in stuffing yourself to obesity. But then there are always options:
1) Improve portion control. Like most things, prevention is better than cure!
2) Store it away for another day
3) Eat it! And then do some exercise later.

*Similarly, as we are massive carnivores, our redemption is that we don't waste the food we cook. But also, we respect the animal by using as much of it as possible. For example, chicken feet is not everybody's idea of a good meal, but cooked in the right way it can be very tasty - if you can get over the unsightly appearance.

Even worse, supermarkets throw away huge amounts of food at the end of every day. It's fair that food past the sell by date should not be sold to the unassuming consumer, but there must surely be
In fact, a lot of food is still in good condition - my friend says a bruised banana in a bag can lead to the whole bag being thrown away. Disgraceful considering the air miles as well. So, it's perhaps something to do with our own snobbery that stores enforce their own regulations.

I think that instead of spending time thinking up and filling out expenses claims, this is an area where the government should act. Surely, they should enforce policies that encourage more responsible management of food by these giant money-making corporations?
Along with disposing of food at the slightest whim, a lot of produce is being wasted by not being reduced early enough. These little bright flags are a joy to a forager like me, but it can also help reduce the amount of food being thrown away. My inside source says that they can just be too lazy or unwilling to employ the staff (not profitable) to be more vigilant.
If food really cannot be sold, then surely supermarket staff should have the option to buy or take produce that has been written off. Currently, Tesco's on Newmarket Road forbids staff to take food that has been earmarked for the bins. I can understand corporations want to be careful not to cause situations where staff might 'reserve' food, but there has to be a better system in place. A giant industrial-sized feather duster maybe?

Ideally, we should all be vegetarians (I tried before and lasted a long hard week. I can't because I love food and crave the taste of meat).
Back to my original point, I make this rather blasphemous statement as:

1) It's quite cruel to end another life just so we can eat. It's not even a necessity to sustain ourselves - we can be well fed and healthy through a vegetarian diet. It's just a little more difficult to get right and requires a bit of training.
Imagine if, in a parallel universe, humans were reared as food to the dominant species (giant pigs?). Now that would be wrong?
2) The production of meat is a massive drain on the earth's resources. There is a huge amount of energy that goes into raising animals and this is generally taken from the earth's (finite) natural resources.
3) Livestock fart a lot and the methane produced is a very potent greenhouse gas that damages the ozone layer.

I know it can be argued as nature's way' -  but wasn't nature determined a long time ago where predators won the race? Now we're a supposedly a civilised race, can't we shape the next chapter?

Poor Mickey Chan. Last week, he experienced a horrific injury while playing for the second team. I'm not sure what the actual diagnosis was, but from what I saw, his foot must have become dislocated from the ankle and spun 170 degrees to face almost backwards. It was a traumatic sight and we could only comfort him before the ambulance arrived.

We are hugely appreciative of the ambulance service, but I was a bemused by the process of the helpdesk. Firstly I had to tell them my name, my phone number, what had happened and the name and age of the victim to the first call worker. I then had to carefully explain the location. This took at least a couple of minutes or more. She then put me on hold as I was passed to an 'advisor' who I repeated the same information to again. I expect (and hope) they'd sent the ambulance immediately, but it seemed unnecessary for me to explain everything to her before being transferred. Surely, a quick summary would have been enough - she could then pass me to the advisor for the more thorough explanation. Of course I don't know the system well, but it seemed a long winded process especially if the emergency was even more dire or urgent than ours.

On a brighter note, I've been playing fairly well for C4. My fitness isn't where I want it to be, but is heading in the right direction. Despite not being in top form, I've scored eleven goals in the last three matches (should have been thirteen, but two were harshly ruled offside). In the league, we beat St Johns 2nds 8-0 in which I scored a  hatrick and the score line was actually quite flattering towards the opposition. Our team is arguably as strong as it's ever been and we're creating all sorts of chances. I know we can hurt teams if we keep solid at the back, and we do seem a lot stronger in all departments. Shu, Duo, Jake, Jonno and Frankie have all added strength and depth to the squad.

Earlier this month, there was considerable controversy over the invitation and appearance of the BNP honcho, Nick Griffin on the BBC's mainstream political show 'Question Time'.
I watched most of it on the i-player and quickly deduced that he was simply a wolf in sheeps clothing. An obvious racist with some laughable claims (he shared a stage with a KKK leader, although this KKK group was in his words non-violent. But of course he failed to but needn't mention, still massively racist) he didn't do himself or his party any favours. But the controversy is that the BBC presented them a platform for publicity and despite a generally pathetic performance, perhaps there is no such thing as bad publicity. It raises awareness and the more naive viewers could just buy into some of their tripe.

The party claims to protect the values of the 'indigenous people' of this land. Panellist Jack Straw challenged him to admit that he meant indigenous white. Somewhat surprisingly and rather amusingly, Griffin claimed that colour isn't an issue (which is strange as his party's main concern is precisely that) and followed up his audacious claim by saying that Straw wouldn't dare tell the Aborigines and the 'Red Indians' that they are not indigenous. Quite right, you wouldn't tell these marginalised people that they had no rights, if just because the English had quite the darkened hand in shaping the history of these people. Double standards, anybody?

Furthermore, being indigenous to a land basically means you were there first. Does that entitle you to more rights to anybody else arriving later? Surely we should live in a free country (world?) where we are all equal. Frequently those that claim rights to a land are beneficiaries of a war-mongering legacy - how much honour is there in that?

I'm not sure what he means by core British values anyway. When were these set and more to the point, what are they?  A society shifts and changes with the times - trends and cultures come and go, but if there is a set of core values, then these should surely be equality, honesty, freedom and a measured sense of morality. I'm not sure where racism and hate fits into that.

Rather disappointingly, it seems the BNP have gained members over the last decade or so. We can only hope that the majority of their support have felt let down by the consistent scandals and failings of mainstream parties and that they are not actual racists. In fact, you can almost understand why people who have been brainwashed with xenophobic propaganda would feel the way they do, although it is of course misguided. When things don't go well, it's so much easier to blame and scapegoat somebody or something else.

Having said all of this, we should ALL set an example of being decent human beings - that way there is even less reason for xenophobia. Extremism finds scapegoats to vilify and while this is wrong, what I'm saying is that we should give them no grounds whatsoever to latch onto. For example, it's fair to say that gypsies have a fairly bad reputation. The police are reluctant to deal with them and the councils just want to pass them off onto to the next county. Whether their reputation is warranted or not is arguable, but it is clear that the anti-social members of their community do quite a lot to enforce these stereotypes and little to subvert them. My own experience has seen them play off the fear they generate and many are just pure troublemakers.
Again and indeed, it is wrong to tarnish a whole community with the brushwork of the extrovert members and again, it's up to the individuals and the community as a whole to enforce the correct perception and ensure there are no reasons to scapegoat them.

And so what worries me is that we say Britain is multicultural, which I guess can be considered true. However, the multi cultures are too often segregated and insular - preferring to group together in clans. This doesn't have to be an issue, but in reality this division can promote misunderstanding and exacerbate conflict between these various communities (and the wider public).

It's just sad that people wallow in hate, and particularly more so when the reasons are so shallow and pathetic. Imagine if we put our energies towards something constructive that would benefit people
There's a quote, which I will now probably (accidentally) misquote - the meaning of life is to plant trees in whose shade you may never sit.
I don't think it's literal - we shouldn't necessarily become a nation of farmers - I assume it's to do good deeds without the purpose of self gain.
Imagine if we all did that instead of indulging in petty feuds and superficial hate. The world would be a much better place.

Am I sounding like John Lennon? Mock me, but my point still stands :p

Ooooh, the '09 CUAFL season starts this weekend and our first game should be against St John's 2nds. Despite looking comfortable and taking an early lead, they beat us last time in quite torrid conditions. So we're eager to repay the debt, and more.

With Skinny teaching English in China and so many new faces, it's almost like a new team. (Long) gone are the likes of Julian, Yauser, Mikey and Mantis to be replaced with the very capable Duo, Jonno, Jake and Shu. Have been very impressed with the latter - he has the ball winning ability of Yau, the salmon leap of Mikey, the exuberant energy of Julian and can pick a pass too. We have a new centre back who seems to be a good calming addition and also Bear is back and looking to regain fitness in the second team and we have Swish and others finding form. It's a bit early to say, but this squad could be the strongest so far...time will tell, but we really should be looking at promotion this season.

We've had two matches in the run up - the first against the 2nd team (half of which were fringe first team players) and then against Hughes Hall. We won both quite convincingly (8-4 & 8-2) and I scored three and four goals respectively. It's a good start, but the league is often much more treacherous and we'll be tested far more vigorously. Can't wait though!

Am aiming to start doing some boxing/kicking training (lost count of how many times I've tried!). There's a single free class on the 20th Oct, so will try to do a bit before that and then take it from there. I think it'll help with my overall fitness as well and can execute fancy kicks on the football pitch.

Last night I cooked a delightful Mapo tofu dish (incidentally, 'mapo' translates to old lady with pocked face). Found a recipe online and adapted it to my taste (or rather what was also available in my larder) and the results were remarkably sweat inducing but very tasty. Unsurprisingly, Kat benefited and even had some to take away for lunch. 

Where did that year go? It's been over a year since I last blogged and that was to complain about religion*. Nothing new there then.

Anyway, what's happened since July 2008? Absolutely loads and nothing much at all.
Hmmm, K4 has been informally disbanded. All that remains is, in Eddy's words: 'K'. Great times while they lasted though. We survived relegation by beating the top team in the division in the last match of the season. People have come and go whilst my fists have stayed rooted. I now co-own a flat with my sister, but prefer to live at home much to the chagrin of a certain feline. Speaking of who, I've been going out with Kat since late 2008.

There's so much more, but the brain hurts when I try to think too far back. In fact, it's complaining now and I'm supposed to be going to watch a short film at the film festival at 4pm. I'm still in my underwear (sorry about that image) trying to gather my thoughts.

So this has to be quick...last weekend Kat and I went to her friends' wedding in 'Somerford Keynes' (pronounced Kay-ns in that part of the world), which is in the picturesque Cotswold area. It was a massively elaborate and extravagant wedding and in all we had a great time. The food was simply amazing (the church service was very pretty too) with a champagne and Pimms reception right next to the church in a residence called 'The Manor'. There were the most delightful canapés - quail eggs wrapped in gold and silver leaf, perfectly formed smoked salmon parcels on a small isle of toast, semi-raw beef carpaccio and more wondrous morsels that I'm too rushed to list. This was all set in a well manicured garden with the September sun in full glory. There was also a magician and a cartoonist working their trades.

Then there was a four course meal in a huge marquee by the pond/lake in the garden. This monstrosity glowed neon inside and stomached a cocktail bar, dance floor and about 150 guests. On each plate was a poem sealed with wax on a pseudo burned scroll. And on these plates came a light starter of crab meat dressed with a fanciful entourage of salad and sauce. Yum. This was followed by a chunk (and I mean this in the most flattering way) of Beef Wellington, washed down with wine of both colours. The evidence is still on my shirt to this day. A selection of desserts followed - three treats in one serving. Tea, coffee and fruit followed, but I'd been gluttonous enough for one Chinaman.
As this was actually a wedding and not a buffet, there were speeches afterwards and I must say that each was impeccably delivered in varying degrees of warmth, dry, sweet and sharp.

  
 

In fact, having just posted these photos...I've got to go watch the short film that I storyboarded for (Honour Me, by Alex Tweddle)...BRB...

Back. From the short films (Screen East) at the Picturehouse. A mixed bag of goodies, but I ran off to play football afterwards and didn't manage to catch Tweddle. Very naughty. So where was I? Oh yes, the wedding. After speeches and cake slicing, they went outside by the small lake to light lanterns and prompt them to float away, carried idly by the winds of fate. During the evening, I fed a dog two sugar cubes and some chocolates. He turned down the grapes, but did eat some chips. To cap off the night, there was the obligatory disco in the mould of all true wedding/school events - cheesy anthems of all shapes and sizes. An added touch was that chips and burgers were being circulated by the waiters and waitresses. True class :)

Amidst all the indulgence I managed to get angry. I'm greedy enough to enjoy the luxury, but I couldn't help getting a little disturbed by the significant disparity between the stinking rich and the desperately poor. This was the most lush wedding I've been to, and everybody seemed nice - so I don't begrudge them personally. However, there is far greater riches amassed by others and it just seems so unfair that there is such a stratospheric gulf between us (humans).

People should be rewarded for hard work, innovation, courage or even good will - but I do have an issue that the chasm between rich and poor is so sickeningly wide. Why should some own numerous luxury homes and private leisure ships equipped with helipads and copters when others die from a lack of the basic necessities elsewhere in the world? Surely, a fleet of posh cars is better exchanged for building a livelihood for the less fortunate (and a conscience)?
Like I said, people should be rewarded on merit, but there should be some perspective as there is a disgusting excess that exists which is inexcusable. My rage is especially reserved for those that are born into lofty perches without merit - barons, duchesses and princes as well as sheiks, moguls and Paris Hiltons. The rather significant problem is that the people in power are intent on keeping this wrong status quo. This has existed since recorded history and perhaps is a legacy of the human gene. It would take a lot of nurturing to change a trait that might make up our nature. Being selfish is (was?) necessary for survival and so to straighten out this mentality could take generations of learning, or a big great industrial sized and fist shaped moral iron. It's just tragic that people die every second directly or indirectly from poverty, while others don't know the meaning of it and really couldn't care less.
If we were to design a society and a species to live in it, I'd expect there are many things we'd change about the one we live in right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total mentalist and I do appreciate the good that exists, but my blood did bubble a little and the hulk hands were clenching if only temporarily at the thought of what could be.

And so, despite veins churning on overtime for a quarter of an hour,  it was a fun and special evening that we finished off with a 3 mile bicycle ride back to our bed and breakfast. The country roads are as dark as my soul and the little bike lights did little to show the way. We did get back without any major incident and sunk clumsily into our neatly laid twin beds.

Morning greeted us with a cooked breakfast which was ravenously received and happily dismantled. Upon advice from the friendly proprietor, we drove to local Bibury to visit the trout farm, where you could catch your own fish. The trout farm was...well, a trout farm. So not particularly exciting, but at least the weather was in fine form and so we leisurely toured the area. We then settled down for some trout fillet and salad that was 'shared'. Kat calls it sharing, I see it as survival of the fittest. Have you ever seen lions eat? Anyway, after eating we got our bikes from the van and decided to go on a bike ride around the village. Now I truly know why Cambridge is considered flat. Though picturesque, the terrain is all very hilly and is challenging whilst nursing a mild hangover!

*heard a quote about religion, though not sure where from...something like: Without religion, good people will do good things and bad people will do bad things. But for good people to do bad things, well that takes religion.

Touché?