Serendipity

If you haven't already seen this film, let me enlighten you.

Serendipity is a beautiful romantic comedy about a rare kind of love.

Adventure love

Would you chase through America chasing a girl you had a chance encounter with?

Our hero, John Cusack does.

He meets Sara, Kate Beckinsale, in a fight over some gloves.

Crazy girl

This is where the madness really gets started.

Sara, instead of giving this man his number, as any sane woman does when she sees a man she likes.

Instead the details are divided between a book and a dollar bill.

The rest is an enchanting and rib tickling story, which will hopefully inspire you to love again, no matter how much of a pig you just realised your ex boyfriend/girlfriend was.

10/10 Go rent, trust me.

Diversity is sexy

So an online journalist poses the question.

Do you find Asian men sexy?

Three American blond white women answer, no.

A conversation is triggered citing media portrayal of Asian men as nerdy or foreign being to blame.

A touch of the sinister

However, I think this problem runs deeper.

Posing a question based on whether a certain race is sexy is a little racist.

It presumes an answer that discards men based on their race.

Thus in asking the question you are perpetuating a reality where it is considered normal to discard a man on something as shallow as skin colour.

Media beige

Agreed it probably does not help that the media landscape favours white men for their heroes, but if the journalists holding it to account do not challenge their subject on their prejudices then little progress is made.

Although in asking the question they have at least illustrated just how far we still need to go.

One race is not more or less sexy, you are just closing down your options to a lot of truly beautiful people.

Come on, if when he was young Bruce Lee propositioned you are you really telling me you would turn down this fit and driven young man.

I am not saying white men are any less sexy than their Asian counterparts, but I am saying they are really no more.

Bread for your guts

Happy Tummy previously Happy Bread is re-launching with it’s spangly new name. 

Truly I hope this reaches a bigger audience as despite the price this dense bread is really lovely.

The owner claims it is a miracle cure for IBS. 

Indeed, there is a lot of case study evidence to suggest that she may be right. 

However, at present her success stories stem from sample sizes of the thousands, though the evidence base is growing. Tim Spectre of Kings College has championed this particular bread.

A loaf retails at £10, a lot more than your average, but for the price you get an average week’s shelf life according to the founder and her customers have allegedly assured her the flavour improves after the third day. 

The bread is also hand made and packed full of thirteen ingredients, including three types of fibre and a selection of grains.

Evidenced based eating

Karen Collins the founder of the brand has suffered with IBS as a baby and came up with the bread as an answer to her own problem. 

Having worked effectively in her personal journey she is confident she can make a huge difference to the population at large.

Karen appears to have done significant research into her product. 

She says: “I was hugely passionate about what I was doing… All I want to do in life is cure IBS.” 

She claims it has helped a significant number of her customers. These words of wisdom are coming from a horticulturist's daughter.

Breadlicious

The actual bread tastes delicious. 

It is dense, so if you are expecting a light bread, steer clear. 

In fact the founder says she veers between calling it bread and a loaf, because it is so unique. 

As well as being dense it has a really rich, almost savoury dark-chocolate taste.

Teff

The grain Karen particularly credits with her IBS turn around is Teff.

Teff is Ethiopian love grass, so as well as helping your gut you are also helping to re-dress the balance of inequality by giving Ethiopia a responsible trading partner.

There is scientific proof that our gut requires a great amount of grains and plants. 

The reason she champions Teff is because cup for cup it has more fibre than vegetables and so is an easier way of topping up your fibre levels and she maintains this will clean out your gut even if you don’t cut out other foods.

They are committed to reducing waste, it is the level of waste she claims is the reason they pulled out of Planet Organic.

Recipes

Karen only sells the loaf, but she publishes a selection of exciting and delicious recipes to top off the bread. 

They couple perfectly in being much lighter and more delicate than the bread. Creamy Butterbean hummus with a cinnamon kick and crisp cooled cooked apple with oats.

If you can afford to work this bread into your diet it tastes great and there is growing evidence it will help your overall health loads.

Be effective YouTube style

I found a lovely piece on effective habits by Stephen Covey here.

Unlike some pieces on the web it is very instructive and focuses clearly on habits you can focus on to become more effective.

I thought it might be a nice follow-up to feel the fat and eat it anyway.

Evidenced based space medicine

Dr John Cherry has developed a brand new medical training curriculum for astronauts going into space.

It is the skills the astronauts are provided with that are new. 

An example of these skills would be ultrasound technology. 

They will be receiving the hands on skills in emergency medicine that they might not have received previously and this time based on the evidence John Cherry’s team gathered in their research.

Breaking new ground

“Before I started this work there was no evidence base behind the training that was provided and so sort of a best guess approach as to what would be good for them to know when it came to being in space. 

What we’ve done is looked at what conditions they might experience or what they might face when they’re in space.” Said Dr John Cherry.

They have used those four variables to create a curriculum that is specifically designed to teach the most important skills an astronauts need in a space medical emergency. 

This is so they will be “as best prepared as possible in the eventuality of an emergency in space”.

A new curriculum

This work is now being adopted by the European Space Agency, and every European Space Agency astronaut will now take this training before going to space.

The research and curriculum is to be unveiled at a conference starting on the 21^st of November.

Feel the fat and eat it anyway

I've got to the end of the day and I have been eating chips and crisps all day.

And guess what, I feel fine.

I'm not wafer thin and sculpted to bodily perfection.

However, I'm happy.

No allusions

I may never be a model or a red carpet actress who gets paid to be drooled all over, but I'm ok.

The world didn't end, my phone didn't explode and all my clothes didn't pop off.

I ate loads of fat and carbohydrates and I'm still here.

Feel the fat and eat it anyway.

You can always have a protein based vegan salad and a juice drink tomorrow.

Disabled does not mean dangerous

Recently I was walking in my local area and I saw a Down's Syndrome kid on a leash.

Now I understand some parents feel the need to use leashes on very, very small children.

But this child was on their way to becoming a teenager.

I realise being the parent of a disabled child may be hugely challenging, but a leash..?

Sign of the times

When I was young I remember playing with a Down's kid at an after school club and there was no sign of a leash at any point.

This is concerning.

Have we forgotten our or more to the point their humanity.

Would you like to walk the streets on a leash?

Courts rule bedroom tax unfair

It may be some relief to campaigners to learn that the courts have ruled the bedroom tax unfair.

The mind boggles at how something so wrong as to be challenged by one of our most conservative institutions ever got tabled for statute.

In our current conservative, Trump reality we may increasingly see the courts come to our aid.

They have held off Brexit and challenged the crack down on the disabled.

Never has my desire to have trained as a lawyer been stronger.

Government fails the disabled

Today the UN Report into U.K. Government maltreatment of disabled people was published.

The Government contravene three of the UN articles defending human rights, from a document forged post 1945.

These articles cover living in the community, work and employment and adequate standards of living.

In finding that disabled people are not being adequately protected by the Government the present action suggested merely having further assessments with no concrete action on how to tackle these woeful inequalities in living standards.

The findings of the report can be read in full here.

Hillary's been Trumped

Trump is now set to be head of the White House, duck and cover.

Just when you think that news from the states can't get any more weird, this happens.

The idea of having a female President is apparently so weird that the majority of Americans would like a male nut job instead.

I'd love to be balanced about this, but the last time someone suggested building a wall between political landscapes we were at the height of the Cold War.

America, honestly you've left me speechless.

Harry's got the humpf

I feel bad for Prince Harry, not content with fixitating on an election that isn't our own the British press have to fixate on his love life as well.

In battling for his private life the Prince has had to throw in his cards and admit his relationship with an American actress.

Shock horror, she's not white

Though I noticed I had to be told this American actress is mixed race, as if this was the most unusual thing in the world.

Even after his mother's death Britain hasn't moved forward enough to see a mixed race relationship as anything other than, a relationship.

I can feel the press madness coming as I type, so I will leave it there.

The rest no doubt will be filled in by a Royal mad press corp.

Harry, all I can say is I'm sorry, I hope they grow up soon.

Targets not enough for a diverse world

The Clear Company, has voiced support for the Parker Review’s recommendation that all FTSE 100 company should have at least one board member from an ethnic minority by 2021.

However, the company also maintains that if we are really to create a diverse business environment we need more than targets.

For example, the firm is aware of the unconscious biases that come into play in the hiring process.

Yet they still fully support this move towards greater diversity in the business landscape, by making lack of diversity more visible.

Kate Headley director of The Clear Company said: “The recommendations outlined in the Parker Review are a positive reflection of the growing understanding of the importance of having a diverse and inclusive board. However, targets alone are not enough to improve diversity, companies need to foster tangible cultural change."

Inspiration from athletes

The olympics proved to be a stunning affair of personal achievement and peaceful competition.

Though from here watching it I found myself really conflicted.

I was lucky enough to see Brazil on the ground and indeed it is an awe inspiring country if only in size alone.

It struck me when the athletes left for glory that they were performing in front of some that couldn't even afford the air fair, which I suppose is similar to me at the moment.

However, the inequity in Brazil, though improving, still remains great despite monumental effort.

Unlike during the World Cup little has been said on this point, possibly because the BBC is no longer as well resourced as it once was or maybe they don't think it's important.

Yet hearing that some of the US team had made seemingly false accusations there shamed my heart despite not being an American myself.

As yet I have not heard a public apology, which in this case might be warranted unless this story has been overblown.

They represent America at times like this and in such a moment should show the best of their country and not the worst, especially as the Brazilians are collectively hosting them despite whatever difficulties they may be facing.

They are not flown there to conquor but to inspire.

If they're motives are different then perhaps they should have stayed home.

Rocky road to equity

Life doesn't feel very rosey at the moment, but the whole world seems to be moving right so that's no great surprise.

I should really stop writing because you know, no pay.

However, stuff keeps bugging me.

This is the future guys, like it or not

Like the fact that whenever progress happens it never takes everyone with it and it amazingly it can be progress for some and a retrograde step for others.

This would be why people say two steps forward, one step back.

Although sometimes it's one step forward two steps back.

High hopes

Then again a world in common is utopian.

Only losing things you love to someone else's agenda, especially an agenda that you suspect to be greedier than yours, is tricky and sometimes downright heartbreaking.

It's sad when asking people to dream you always have to dash their hopes a bit at the same time, like an insurance policy.

A fine balance

Progress is a strange thing.

When it comes a litany of winners and losers, the sad and the happy.

Often the future we hope for is not the one that we get and we are left wondering what went wrong.

Why say this now?

I have been treated to a set of comedians who seem so far removed from my sense of humour as to leave me reeling.

They left me offended.

In this case I feel they had misjudged their audience, because I was not the only one not laughing.

A fine comedic line

The humour edged on the black kind that seems so much a feature of my speech these days.

Yet they seemed to have missed the point.

Like the world we each inhabited was miles apart and I didn't even have a clue what words I could string together to connect with them.

Democracy and education

People often give up on democracy when something catostrophic happens, or a terrible leader is elected.

However, the value of democracy is that it is bound to it's time.

If it is sufficiently flexible and foresighted it can withstand the test of time and create a legacy so great as to lift further generations to the skies.

The reason I am writing this now is some of my country seem to have forgotten the wars of the past, the lessons learnt and the growth still needed.

Heed your lessons

The reason for this is that in order for a democratic society to succeed it needs to develop and learn.

In order for a democracy to learn all of its people need to learn with it.

If you leave too many people behind your democracy will be a farce.

You create a democratic deficit in terms of wealth and education.

Higher deficits in terms of privilege, wealth and education; or indeed to unequal a journey can lead to grave democratic outcomes that hurt the many that go to the polls.

A sad day in Trafalgar Square

I have a notebook full of notes about what happened today on Jo Cox's black birthday.

The fact that the square filled to capacity to commemorate this woman's death on the day of her birth is cause for hope, yet there was little to raise a smile.

A number of multi faith representatives were present, but did not speak.

It was Mariella Frostrup that mainly led proceedings.

Some heartening words were spoken by many of her family though right now I feel too sad to try and transcribe them, I may amend it later.

The pensioner that tried to save Jo's life is recovering his health, while she is being mourned by half the world it seems.

She stood for something

It was said that the values that she stood for were justice, equality and inclusion.

Yet there is nothing just about the murder of someone that has the bravery to stand and be elected to represent many.

This woman was no Hitler, she deserved to live a full and rich life.

Four music acts performed: a folk band called Diddly Dee who knew Jo, Lilly Allen one of her favourite performers and two choirs, one singing a song from Les Misérables and one of children.

And a poem was read: I will stand for love.

Malala also spoke.

Why not officer?

I happened to be in town recently and saw police tape cordoning off some of Oxford Street.

I beckon over one of the policemen to ask what had happened.

An incident.

What kind of incident?

I can't tell you.

Why not?

It's private.

Will it be going to court?

I can't tell you at this stage.

Perplexed

Now this all seems very innocent, but I'm stood there thinking: Why am I allowed so little information?

After all it happened in a public place.

Someone may have got hurt and I'm not even allowed to what kind of incident it was.

I mean I'm not asking who and I already know the where.

But I'm not allowed to know what kind of incident happened in my own city that has drawn police attention.

Is this all lies?

This piece is paraphrased from memory, they are not exact quotes.

Think Trump, think Enoch

It was with great sadness that I wrote my last post, but as I realised that some people might not have the true context of what I was trying to convey I will be more elaborate.

If you're currently following the US elections, think of Enoch like Trump.

A fear monger.

History

A man who saw any Britain that accepted too many people from abroad being instantly ruined and swept with unimaginable violence.

He really did use the words "rivers of blood", a term that Thatcher was later to echo in a speech many years later, despite the rivers never appearing.

He tried to whip up racial tension at a time when London was struggling and to capitalize on the pain that British people were feeling to win votes for an insular nation.

Why the hump?

His picture has been used in the campaign by the Brexiters, which immediately made me view the whole thing extremely darkly.

This man was not celebrated by broad minded people.

He was stirring up fear and frenzy among good hard working people.

Hence the comparison to Trump.

Enoch? All bets are off

I was undecided about the EU Referendum.

Europe was increasingly feeling like a distant and a little too right leaning place to stay in.

So despite the economic arguments I was pondering what Britain might look like outside the EU.

Then last night I was watching the Vote Leave broadcast, which was already looking thin off the ground on the evidence side and presenting rather an insular world.

Finally they finished it all up with a picture of Enoch Powell, famous for his "rivers of blood" speech that never materialized.

My heart fell through the floor.

If that is what Britain wants for its future then I want no part of it.

Decision made.

NHS abuse over criticism

As London goes to the polls to elect the Mayor and assembly and the junior doctor's fight to be allowed into a negotiation over their new contracts, a grieving mother has received verbal abuse.

Sara Ryan who tragically lost her son within the Southern Health NHS trust, has been labelled a "vindictive cow" by someone claiming to be a member of NHS staff.

Sara has been campaigning for accountability within the trust after her son drowned in a bath in the Slade house in Oxfordshire.

Shocking attacks

The message (as reported by The Guardian) started well, with the statement "it's tragic, and I hope you find some closure after the report," but descended into abuse.

A Southern health spokesman is investigating the call.

It is shocking to think that a member of NHS staff would behave in this way, after all a campaign and criticism from a grieving mother should be seen within the context of the loss she has just suffered.

No one is their best self while grieving, especially when that grief is for a child.

Thoughts for the future

I hope that once an investigation has been completed that the trust will identify this alleged member of staff and take them to task.

If you're putting a cross in a box today think carefully about what direction you want the world to go in and which candidate is offering that direction.

Wonderful Wonderland and rollicking Rumpus

I was beginning to feel like an ageing hermit when I was invited to Wonderland this year.

This event has taken a turn for the better, with a collection of music to keep you on your feet almost permanently.

A mixture of old school classics and interesting new arrivals made for a varied event to suit eclectic tastes and committed dancers.

This event also featured a glitter shower, oodles of fun for getting you in the party mood.

I couldn't recommend this event enough for getting your groove on.

Rumpus

Wonderland DJs also featured at Rumpus, an event on shortly after, on April Fool's day.


This event was even more flamboyant in terms of party gear and decor.

Space was allowed for people to paint their face, select clothes and have their fortunes told.

It felt like a maze of different musical oddities and hosted an impressive set of live bands with sparkling energy and tight performances.

If you're looking for an extraordinary night out then this may well be it.