Author: Christopher-Dorset

Continue reading “A Poem For My 26th Birthday.”

Long, long ago various Germanic tribes began migrating from their northern European homes pushing ever further and deeper into the lands once settled by Celts replacing them with no lack of brutality. This went on for some time before the same peoples, seeing the splendour, affluence, and modernity of Rome decided they wanted a bit of it for themselves and moved en masse into the empire. At first the new settlers didn’t cause too many problems. Many were welcomed as warriors by an empire that was simply not able to inspire its own people, especially in the empire’s cultural hearth, to take up arms. Eventually, however, they overwhelmed the weakening and increasingly rudderless empire causing its eventual demise in the West. A more brutal fate would await those Romans who had assumed that they could hold out in the East when a more ferocious people emerged from the steppes of Central Asia. Continue reading “Germania”

Observing the EU’s travails from a comfortable distance I’ve started to think about the pointlessness of regional blocs in the contemporary world. Naturally there are some things which could be done on a regional basis that might be in the general interest of everyone. Easing international trade and standardising documentation in a continent with a number of small countries such as Europe is helpful. Trying to force them all to conform to common policies will not work, however. We’ve already had this proven several times over the past two centuries.

The reality is that technology has moved us beyond contiguous borders. It’s no more difficult for me to order a CD from London, a book from Melbourne, and a few pounds of coffee from Sao Paulo than it is for me to order the same from a neighbouring county. In some instances it is easier as I am able to communicate with them in the same language, something which doesn’t seem to be possible in the Bay Area where one  must be conversant in Cantonese, Tagalog, Castilian, and PC Newspeak to simply function.

Perhaps some, especially on the European Continent ( I do not consider the UK to be part of Europe), are so married to the post-Second World War order of continental blocs that they simply cannot recognised just how much the world has changed. It’s not uncommon for people to have family on three continents, it’s not uncommon for people to form enduring personal and business ties with people on the other side of the world. This seems to be especially common for people blessed with the ability to speak English.
I, for one, have an easier time getting on with people in Taiwan, Australia, or Brazil than dealing with people from Germany, much less France.

Good night all!

What do you call a thousand floppy-eared creatures hopping backwards? A receding hare line.

Since we’re back on the topic of rock, either music or the boat, I thought I’d share this with you.

This is a song that my amiga brasileira sent me.  It’s a lot of fun, though I’m sure that OZ would get the full effect of it.

I am really not happy at the moment. My kitchen is sopping wet, not because of anything that I did, but because the water heater that my neighbour Osama and I share burst. It happens to be directly above my flat. For the past 24 hours, despite all efforts, it has continued to leak. The concept of calling the contractor seems like a simple one, right? Well, you’d be mistaken. The landlady is on holiday in Taiwan at the moment and her son, Osama, cannot communicate with the contractor as he doesn’t speak Cantonese. Despite his having lived in the USA for 30 years, the contractor never bothered learning English which puts us at a distinct disadvantage when she is not around. Osama has promised to call the assurance company and have them send someone, but the amount of water damage to my kitchen is fairly bad. About a fourth of the paint had boiled and I’ve spent much of the night moving things around to mitigate any potential damages to property.

Now if you excuse me, I need to begin heating water for my sponge bath.