Michael Jackson was recently on the cover of “Ebony”, the premier magazine for African American men and women. He appears without his usual face mask–and looks nothing like he used to. In fact, he looks rather like a white woman. What happened to Michael? How on earth did he decide to basically change his race through plastic surgery? Apparently, plastic surgery can be quite addictive – perhaps he suffers from that peculiar mental addiction. Or perhaps he’s just crazy. Could success and fame during his early formative years have had this impact? Could too much money, too soon, too young have caused Michael to lose his mental stability?

Now let’s take a look at Miss Spears. She went from being America’s Virgin Sweetheart–to basic trailer trash. Sad, but true. She has been brought to court for several cases of child neglect–she’s in a terrible battle for custody of her children–speaking of which, rumor has it she’s pregnant again! Does a woman who shaves her head and drinks herself into oblivion really need to have a third child? Again, the question of early success and fame during her formative years comes up–Has too much money, too soon, too young caused Miss Spears to lose her mental stability?

Is it possible that: PRETEEN FAME & FORTUNE + LITTLE GUIDENCE = CRAZY PERSON?

Ow, a little news on the work front.Well I've totally finished the buying overseas property part

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Why is it that there are some people who can’t just accept art for art’s sake?  Why can’t they read a book, or watch a movie, or even look at a work of art and accept it for what it is?  Why are they looking for a hidden meaning?

Recently an email list that I’m on had a thread about the new Nicole Kidman Movie the Golden Compass, and rather than just give opinions about a movie they’d seen the list members were complaining about the anti-Christian message it contained.  Worse still, they weren’t even basing their opinions on the movie itself, but rather on what someone else had told them about it.  It was the same with Narnia.  Even Harry Potter has been bashed around in various pulpits as having deeper meanings.  I just don’t get it. 

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I haven’t seen the new movie yet, nor did I see Narnia, but I did read the books and I enjoyed them.  I didn’t “see” any of these so-called religious references that are supposed to be there.  I saw characters and situations of good and evil in a work of fiction.  Does it matter whether or not the author of the book is pro or anti Christian?  It’s just a work of fantasy fiction.  Why can’t people enjoy it as such?  If their church is preaching against the movie, or if they listen to what someone else says without seeing it and making their mind up themselves fine, but why then try to force that second-hand opinion on others?  And then, why do other people listen? 

When I read comments from these people about something they’ve never watched, or if they did then watch would do so with such a biased eye that they couldn’t fail to see what they had been “told” to see, I have to wonder if they approach their relationships in the same way.  Do they always look for an ulterior or hidden motive behind what’s being said?  I don’t have a hidden agenda or motive in my interaction with others, and I don’t see them in movies or other media formats either, but I have to wonder about those who do, are their social interactions tinged with hidden agendas, or are these just something they judge others on.

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Brunch! It's not quite breakfast, but it's not quite lunch either!

This morning I awoke to find the weather was horrible! The wind was blowing hard, the rain lashing down, and had been called at 3am in the morning by a friend of mine so I wasn'r really in the mood to hit the road at 9am in order to make it to my brunch meeting. Oh what a fool I was! Remember when you were a kid and did the odd treasure hunt, well this was like unexpectadly hitting the jackpot with out having to go trough all the clues!

I arrived at the house tired, cold and wet, to find the most amazing spread of food waiting for me! Toast, Soda bread, eggs, beens, fruit… It was a meal that will litterally take through the day. It isn't just about the food though.

When I was growing up, as a child we would always sit down to dinner all together. We would wait for both my parrents to sit down with us before beginning to eat, and over dinner we would talk about how school was, how everyones day had been, and find out the gossip about what was going on in the family. It was a tradition that people don't really keep any more, I know that generally I don't! It was a time to bond though. That daily process of eating together meant that we always knew what everyone was doing and felt part of their lives. Todays brunch did the same thing.

As we sat together and ate, we exchanged stories, caught up on each others lives, laughed at the antics of the next door neighbours… ! We gennerally had a really great morning in which we shared our experiences with each other.

Brunch was more than about just eating good food. It was about sharing our lives as people, and it was about family. Not just the family that we are born into, but the family of people that we have built up around us as live our lives.

Long live Brunch!!

Our company has been running for over 50 years, and I think they've finally realised it! As members, we now get a discount on any kind of

HREF='http://www.Courthouseclinics.Com/lineswrinkles.Asp'>reduce wrinkles treatment at the local clinic! Hanna says her boyfriend Matthew has said he'll chip in some money as well to make it even cheeper. If you've ever met her or seen a photo of her, you'd know why!

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Despite the criticisms of British cuisine, food is big business and nowhere is it bigger than in London.  For in London, there is still a substantial number of people who will by the contents of their fridge from independent retailers and market traders.  Also with the boom in ‘eating-out’ over the last fifteen years, there has been a massive demand for food sources beyond the supermarket supplier.  After all, a restauranteur in Wapping cannot wait in line for a 10lbs of Sea Bass nor does a the owner of a Vietnamese Food Store want ‘2 for 1’ on Sesame Oil.

Welcome to the world of the wholesale market.  London has six of them.  The most famous is Borough market, by London Bridge.  However, the market that most tourists walk through is a ‘Cinderella Version; with olives served in wooden vats.  The real wholesalers are ‘early birds’ usually trading from 2am and finishing when everyone else is getting up.  The other grand markets are New Spitalfields, New Covent Garden, Western International (Produce), Billingsgate (Fish) and Smithfield (Meat).  A visit to any of these markets at hours more suited to Nightclubs will reveal a labyrinth of life.  Of loud voices and large bundles of cash exchanging hands.  Boxes of goods, flung through the air and fork lift trucks speeding to and fro.  And everywhere you go, there is an array of food to feast the senses.  Eat your heart out, Asda.

Yes, these are wholesale markets.  The term is so strange to anyone unacquainted.  Basically this means buying in bulk and cash only, but anyone can attend.  Wholesales are not limited to white vans and the proprietors of Michelin Reviewed Eateries.  The wholesale market is a wonderful place to explore what food really means, real food, the smells, the icky bits and the roughness that comes with the trade.  A world apart from the freezer section in the supermarket.

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So a few months on, what is the smoking ban like in the UK, now that the whole country is covered by the blanket ban on smoking in enclosed, public spaces?  The outcries that went up from various interest groups.  The wails from various sections about ‘Civil Liberties’ and the encroachment of the ‘Nanny State’.  It seemed that we were all doomed, or so the media seemed to portray.

And as always, everyone keeps on going.  A minor inconvenience for smokers and a minor refreshment for non-smokers.  Like the Millennium Bug, the introduction of London’s Congestion Charge, the implication of 20 mph zones in residential areas, people just got on with it.  The hype generated by the ban turned out to be a damp fizzle.  After all, the majority of restaurants, all transportation and many workplaces had already implemented ‘no-smoking’ policies over the last twenty years.

Oh well, I look forward to the next public outcry.

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Last night we had the annual parade of trick-or-treaters knocking at our door.  Some of them were way too young to be dressed up in costumes as scary as their parents had allowed them out in, never mind too young to be allowed out to go knocking on the doors of strangers in the first place!  The US influence of this tradition is fixing a tighter and tighter grip on our nation as the amount of children whose hopeful faces look at me as I answer their incessant knocking and ringing increases.  Unfortunately the “cute” factor of the US tradition has been lost somewhere across the Atlantic.

Every single child was dressed as some kind of evil, scary person from the underworld.  There were a few quite normal looking witches complete with fake hair and warts, but for the most part it was shop bought attire that promoted some horror movie or another.  In the US many mothers make their child’s costume, or at least provide their face make-up so that there’s some effort involved.  Last night I didn’t see one child who hadn’t done more than stick on clothes and plastic. Somehow it seems a lot more like begging – anyone can buy and wear a costume, why should I give sweets out to someone who just pulled some things over his head?
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