Never Forget

"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again" George Santayana

I pride this blog in being quite light hearted, but today there are much more important things to be talking about.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day; remembering the victims of the Holocaust and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

I'm sure you all know the terrible stories of Auschwitz and the murder of millions of people just because they were Jewish, or black, or disabled. I visited the camps last year and was totally blown away by the whole thing. You don't realize it actually happened until you are walking past the actual storerooms full to the brim of shoes, glasses or human hair. We just think its all in the past. It's not.

There is still so much hatred in the world. We live in Northern Ireland, we should know. Romanians getting driven out of their homes, Polish people "stealing" our jobs; Protestants and Catholics are still bring up their kids to hate. Sure just this month a guy got his leg blown off just because he was in the Police and a Catholic.

We can't just sit back and do nothing. The Holocaust didn't happen because of one crazy man; it happened because no-one stood up until it was too late. We have to take a stand against hatred.

The purpose of Holocaust Day is to learn lessons from the past and make sure the future is better. Take a minute and think about what has gone on in the world. We have to cut hate right out, leave nothing; casual sectarianism/racism, stupid jokes; they all have to go. We have to teach our children to respect other people, no matter what race or religion. And we have to do it ourselves.

Peace isn't no war. Peace is no hate.

Save Ferris

I like most movies, but the ones I like best just make me feel happy inside. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of those films.

It's the story of a kid who takes the day off school and hangs out with his best girl and his best friend.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Flat tire

Woke up this morning with my tire as flat as a pancake!

Being the manly man that I am, I got out all my gear and set to work changing the thing. Half an hour later, now late for work and still at my house, I had still not got the stupid wheel off. One of the security bolts was pretty much destroyed and after all manner of crazy schemes to unscrew it, I gave up. I failed as a man and called a taxi.

This was not a total downer though, as my taxi-man was an absolute legend! He looked like "Johnny Boy," the old guy from that episode of Flight Of The Concords.

Anyway, he started off pretty quiet and then just exploded with chat and told me his life story. He was pretty old himself, but he told me all about his 89 year old dad. How he used to be a grave-digger but then broke his hip on both sides and had to learn to walk again. How he never smoke nor drank and was strong as a horse. Then his wife died and he started travelling the world, Great Wall of China, Russia, America, Safari in Africa. He had a big trip to Alaska planned recently, but then got a chest infection and had to give it up.

Then he started telling me about his dad's brothers and all the rest of the family, it was brilliant! I love a good yarn!

[Update] The wheel would just not come off. I ended up just blowing up the punctured tire again and driving to the garage the next day. Then the tire men had a good bash at it with their tools and it eventually came off. Hallelujah!

Mid-January

Another busy week at work. Last couple of days have been crazy. I bought a big bag of Japanese rice crackers from the shop to keep me sane. I just munch on them all day long. Tomorrow is the company Christmas dinner (I know), so it will be good to party with the office peeps.

In other news, my new years resolutions have been pretty successful so far. I found a new dentist pretty easy and have set up a savings account called "2012 World Tour", so now I just have to put money in it! I thought I better stop wasting all this placement cash and put some away so I can visit some places. When Uni is finished, I will be chillin' at spots like this!

Mobile Blog Fail

Hello blog fans,

I was planning for this post to be sent magically from my new phone, but blogger seems to dislike this idea and I cannot get it to work. Call myself an IT professional ehh?

Hopefully I will work it out soon and be able to post lovely words and pictures when I'm on the move! Pretty cool having a camera on your phone, I have now caught up with the trend.

Another Christmas present I received, this time from my granny, was a rope. Yes that's right, 20 metres of the stuff! I'm not totally sure what it's for, but I'm sure I will find something.

Avatar

Last week myself and a few chums from work went to see Avatar in 3D. It was mind-blowing.

Honestly, the film is incredible. If you are a human being, you should go and see it. The whole thing is like some crazy dream. It's why we all love films, you can turn your wildest imagination into reality.

The movie is set on a lush, tropical world called Pandora and it is just incredible. The scenery will take your breath away, and in 3D, its even better!!

My favourite thing about the whole 'Avatar' world has got to be the crazy electronic ponytails each person has. You can plug these into an animal or tree and literally connect brains! This sounds mental, but it's awesome, you can hop on a horse, plug in your ponytail and off you go! Or jump on some crazy bird and fly it with your brain! I want one!

GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW!!