They Say There’s a Recession…

They say there’s a recession

But the sky’s still just as blue

They say there’s a recession

And it’s really up to you

They say there’s a recession

Times are hard and friends are few

They say there’s a recession

And I guess it might be true… (after all)

Because everywhere houses are for sale at halfprice and the vagrants going through my rubbish are twice as many and even my rich pals owe me money and there’s a baaaad feeling in the air… o fok.

Missing Link Discovered!!!

Oh, yes, and how the Anti-Creationist Lobby is gloating!! One can practically hear their saliva-glands working overtime, and one can hear them shouting: “We knew it all along! We told you so!!”

I must admit that, although I’m not a Creationist, I’m not fully convinced that Evolution is the only cause of life as we know it. Of course, I accept that there is such a thing as species development, but I don’t think that disproves the existence of a Higher Intelligence or Synchronicity. I am not an atheist either, but, to be honest, I kind of like atheists. The only atheists I feel uncomfortable with are the militant ones, the “zealous” (dare one use that word?) crowd. They seem to take themselves just as seriously as religious zealots, and there’s just too much ego involved there…

Has anyone ever read “The Book of Atheist Spirituality” by Andre Comte-Sponville? When this book appeared in 2006/7, I thought it would make a major splash. It didn’t! It should have!! Though I don’t agree with it 100% – I am, after all, not an atheist – I loved reading it. Comte-Sponville’s atheism is, in fact, much closer to my semi-humanistic kind of faith than most religious writing today. Which just goes to show how the boundaries are blurring (see my previous entry).

Be that as it may: the Missing Link is here to stay. Hallo, Missing Link! What on earth took you so long?

The Universe made me do it!

It’s with some degree of astonishment that I read about the vicious battle between religious believers and atheists which dominated headlines – and decorated London buses! – recently.

Whereas I hate religious zealots as much as any sane person, I’m taken aback by the militant stance taken by some atheists. Sometimes I wonder whether militant atheism and militant Christianity aren’t flipsides of the same coin.

The one group may say “The Lord led me to do this” whilst the other group claims “The Universe prompted me to act in a certain way”. Frankly, I can’t see the difference. It’s just a matter of giving God different names.

Put all these guys in an aeroplane. throw in some heavy turbulence, and you won’t find any REAL atheists among them (with the possible exception of Chuck Norris). Whether they pray to God, Allah, or the Universe, they will pray. I’m bloody sure of that.

My cat’s favorite snack

No, it’s not a saucer of milk.

No, it’s not a tin of tuna.

No, it’s not a struggling piece of livestock.

It’s a small portion of buttered bread with cheese dipped in a cup of strong coffee, served on a bed of linen early in the morning.

I love my cat, but…

…Why does he insist on drinking water from a tap and ignores the water in his water bowl?

…Why does he try to trip me in the corridor when I’m in a hurry?

…Why, when I’m eating breakfast and reading the newspaper, does he jump onto the table and falls asleep on the page I’m trying to read?

Do other cats also behave in this way, or is it just mine?

PS  Thank goodness he embraced pacifism in his old age. (At least he no longer deposits small half-dead livestock on my bedroom carpet.)

Thought for the day

When you’re tired of not being in London, you’re tired of life. (Sigh)

This has never happened before…

As the Western Cape is at last smothered by winter weather, I find myself entertaining a thought which has never entered my mind before.

I miss London.

I miss the impersonal tube rides, the grime-filled canals full of depressed geese, the endless escalators, the talking elevators, the street corners full of huddled smokers in suits, the pubs…

I have never missed London before, and I know that, even if I were there now, I’d probably miss South Africa. I always miss South Africa when I’m in London. I miss the fresh fruit. I miss the beach sand. I miss Cape Town accents.

To me, London has always been a means to an end. You stop there before taking the Eurostar to Holland. Before your connecting flight to Spain, Portugal or Turkey. You eat a few donner kebabs, check out some shops in Regent Street, and you’re off. London, to me, has always been a utility, not a place in its own right.  A rather drab utility, but a utility.

Now I miss that drabness. The only thing I don’t miss is the English breakfasts. London restaurants sure don’t know how to get their bacon nice and crispy.

Speaking of bacon…

Maybe I don’t miss London all that much, after all.

We don’t have swine flu in South Africa. Not yet….