Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK)

A colleague remarked t'other day how random acts of kindness (according to a study) were shown to make people sadder!

I think that's a little bizarre cos, in my experience, RAOK, actually make you feel great, in the sense of knowing that you did something selfless, purposely for the benefit of someone else.

There is of course an irony in that through doing these things you do actually help yourself, it does make you smile inside to do so, so perhaps it isn't so selfless after all. I think that's an outcome most would be happy to live with though and so for me, it's win win all the way to the feel good factor bank.

Anyways, the point of this post wasn't simply to talk about random acts of kindness for the sake of them, no, it was to also suggest a few ideas for today, that you can do very easily, at next to no cost.

I'm gonna put a few, maybe you can add a few in the comments. :

• Pay the toll on a toll bridge for the person behind you
• Volunteer - there's 100's of organisations that need help, go find one and step up!
• Leave the price of a pint in the pump and tell the barman to let the next person buying a sole pint have it on the house
• Go to the local old peoples centre and take them in a big cake and offer to help make the tea
• Go buy a 'thinking of you' card and send it to a friend or relative you have'nt spoke to for a while
• If you are in the supermarket and get one of these 5p off your fuel things, or nectar point things that you don't collect, then give them to a friend or the person behind you - costs nothing

So there you have it, go make the world a better place, practice a few random acts of kindness ;0)

Breezes sail on summer seas, drift across the glades with ease
Poppies sway as milked by bees, looked on down by big oak trees

Meadow scent that drives the birds, across the plains above great herds
Over rivers, across small dales, past laughing kids and wagging tails

Invisibly sailing up and down, taking leaves from off the ground
Picking up pace or going slow, swirling around bright streets below

Powered by sun and tidal spree, fanned by waves we cannot see
Waiting for night to quieten down, the breeze no more we all sleep sound

Writing this morn seems kinda tough, the keyboard taps are not enough

Write a line and start a new, backspace, delete, review review

Mental block no inspiration, lack of vision, unknown causation

Trying hard to find a verve, to find a point of textual swerve

Words that'll speak of stuff unsaid, painting pictures in ones head

Creating joins from line to line, joins with flow, not asinine

Making sense in simple steps, no point trying to perplex

Words right now of absence be, put on screen for all to see

Eyes of chocolate full of light
Signals pulse all deep and bright
Locks that bounce all soft and flowing
Sensuous looks of absence knowing
Heart of pause of trips unknown
Removing layers encased in stone

I've been reading a very cool book by Alain De Botton. It's called How Proust Can Change Your Life
.

For those of you who don't know, Marcel Proust was a French essayist and novelist who was well known for In Search of Lost Time
a literary  effort of considerable length and critical acclaim. One of the things you'll find when reading Proust is how he could extend things out and get extremely granular and nuanced, addressing things that are usually unsaid or unnoticed.There's definitely something cool in that, as perception and interpretation can often lead us down a multitude of paths; most of which tend to double back on themselves or cross over.

In any case, it isn't for me to critique or comment too extensively upon the dude as my only real reference point is that of what De Botton uncovered and presented in his condensed view on the man and his work and life.In the book , De Botton referenced how he wrote 30 pages on the problem of being unable to sleep one night. Apparently, the piece went up and down and around and about and in and out with little real outcome. People of his time, remarked around how what he had said, could have been condensed into words like "I can't sleep, hrrrumph".

So in semi Proustian style I'm going to write about the crashing of a wave. Don't worry, I'm not going to go into 6000 words or a 20ft long blog, just a simple little piece that tries to inject a little elongation, a little romanticism, a little evocation, something simple, everlasting, powerful, cyclilic, natural etc.

The idea was borne of a tweet whilst sitting on a beach - a tweet for those unfamilair is 140 characters long and resides on the micro blogging platform twitter.

Waves are curling & bending like falling titans slain by the trident of Poseidon pulling them back as they flee the tyranny of the sea

It occured to me that Proust would have been absolutely awful at twitter, as brevity it would seem was not his bag. The above was my mickey take at what might have been his effort on the observation of a wave hitting the shoreline. A simple, yet amazing thing that we've all sat and started and wondered about, so without further ado, here it is.

Proustian Shoreline Waves

Waves are curling and bending like falling titans slain by the trident of Poseidon pulling them back as they flee the tyranny of the sea.

The shoreline hisses at the slaying of its foe, retreating in disdain at the loss of its prize, shattered into a million beads of defeated evaporated power

The vanquished drops retreat back down, bubbling frothing angry sounds, rushing back to join the masses, railing forth to make more splashes

Yet Poseidon there will always lay, ready to fight, to catch, to slay, the sea with all its swell and might, kept at bay throughout the night.

I'm working from home today, it's nice to get up late and doddle around, sitting in ones shorts, drinking coffee, not having to have faced the grind of going on the train and messing around w/ parking and walking about.

Actually, as a result I tend to get a whole lot more done too (when I'm not blogging that is) . It isnt for everyone though, some people are that disciplined, some people might just lol around all day doing nish, needing the office or work environment to get on and do what they do.

Inabit

I spend a lot of time on twitter these days, I have done for a while, since March 2007.

Here is a selection of my tweet timeline , most of them are boring, some are pithy, some are just networky sharing things.

Do you tweet? What is your @name?

I wrote a little blog post here on the subject of looking for an  SEO Job London.

If you know of anyone who's looking for work or has been playing around in the space who has a bit of talent for the gig, then do please ask them to check it out!

Thanks

 

Apparently drinking  perfume is dangerous but it  might get you drunk. Really? No Shit sherlock.

That's the conversation that went on in a pub the other day. There were these group of 20 somethings, talking about various crap when one of them pipes up and talks about how he'd tried it out with his GF's cheapest perfume!Saying he did it because he knows these products have been tested and they wouldn't sell them if they weren't safe!

Well duh, bleach and toilet cleaner is sold and you shouldn't drink that either, as in cyanide and all manner of other nasty chems that'll make your heart stop in 30 seconds flat.

His mates did laugh and rib him though, shaking their heads and asking him if he was the full shilling, but hey, thats the world of today eh.

I didn't hear if it got him drunk or not, I missed that part. I'm assuming he didn't drink enough of the stuff. His brain was obviously pickled before he started! You'd think his bodies natural reaction would just eject the stuff; perhaps he was just trying to impress his mates.

Just looked at the weather and it looks like its going to rain again this weekend, so any aspirations to cycle from Hitchin to Borehamwood I may have had are out of the window.

Lately, In an effort to alleviate my boredom Ive been playing around on seesmic, a cool little threaded video conversation thing. If you aren't camera shy its worth checking out.

Has anyone seen that film Jumped or Jump? Some kind of time travel thingy. I might check that out The film perfume is meant to be good too, so I might hop into the motor and go to blockbuster.

What you doing today?

Jetlagged? - Try Viagra!

Most Media PR Firms  today do a good job at managing the media. People like Max Clifford are well known for getting people out of all sorts of holes.It's pretty amazing when you flick through his site and see who he has associated with over the years. He even has a photo of OJ Simpson on his site.

Of course , who they are shouldn't really matter should it? We all know what a bastard the media can be. Once it gets its claws into a person then, if the content is juicy enough and a bigger story doesn't come along, then they'll just churn things out for as long as they can bringing up account after innuendo after slur, in ensuring that, in the eyes of their readers at least, the person at the sharp end is seen to be as evil or as sleazy, or as heinous as they can possibly paint them to be.

It's no surprise though. People want to read this stuff after all. People want scandal and intrigue and outrage. They want to read about alleged nazi dress orgies , and if the person at the centre is respected or well known then even better still. If the appetite for it exists then who can blame the media for feeding it? It's a 'free' society after all, right? Yet free for who? Free for us to read what we want? Free for us to go about our business free of any fear of harrassment by some organisation larger than us. Free for any organisation to report on an issue that it feels to be of public interest?

The list could go on, one mans freedom is another mans chains it seems. What is right and proper to me, may not be neccessarily so for someone else and that person will proclaim very loudly that they should be free to attack or condemn something that they feel is wrong or injust or bad in general. We are left to entrust such outcomes to our courts. The law of libel being one such mechanism for redress, provided you can afford it of course.

It's clear from that statement that I'm not too far away from a view that would suggest that the existing system isn't very fair at all. How can it be right that money, or access to, should be the determinant to getting an open hearing or justice at some perceived wrong? Isn't it time that we had  privacy laws that protect us from this, or  are you happy with how it all works? Should it be open season to say what you like when you like and how you like?

In an age of digital communications whereby anonmyous bloggers can * start stories and paint them as true   even when they have no basis in fact it's not such a huge leap to imagine how such things could be bent and twisted to suit all manner of aims and objectives.How long before you'll need the services of a PR Company?

*The story referenced managed to find its way into a radio4 broadcast a national televison broadcast and numerous big circulation newspapers

So it's Saturday morning I've had my barnet cut and am having a little laze around doing not very much at all. There's this thing on telly that Amber is watching 'Wizards of Waverley Place' about this person who has a talking zit on his forehead, a zit that insults and threatens him. Canned laughter, smiley Americans, whizz cut throughs to the next scene, you know the type; a little fast ditty, a whoosh and kazaam the next scene. What get's me though is that every single line that is uttered is followed by a chorus of audience laughter, what is it with that? Some of is is funny, but most of it isn't. I'm thinking to myself is there this school of thought in the 'make people laugh biz' that says if you do this then people will think it's funny? Is it the laughter is infectious theory? Did only fools and horses do this? Tommy Cooper shows didn't, neither do most funny films either. Can you imagine a movie that did canned laughter? No me neither.

Top Ten Things To Do In Liverpool

Liverpool is a city in celebration.  Wining the 2008 Capital City of Culture award has brought fresh investment intended to match the amenities of the old city to the passion of its devoted citizens.  With money poured into renovating the city centre, improving shopping facilities and areas for nightlife along with the rapid growth of Liverpool as a city of art and culture Liverpool is the booming city of the North, genuinely a city that has something for everyone. It is certainly worth a visit with lots of places to stay too.

The Cavern Club

The self-proclaimed ‘most famous club in the world’ is the legendary birthplace of the Beatles and without doubt one of the most important cultural landmarks in Liverpool.  Inspired by Parisian cellar bars the Cavern Club opened in 1957 but it wasn’t until November 9^th 1961 when the unknown Beatles were introduced to Brian Epstein that the club cemented its place in pop history.  Since the Beatles completed their 292 show residency artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who and recently the Arctic Monkeys have gone on to play at The Cavern defining the club as a hot-spot for emerging talent and an icon in world music.

The Cavern Club is situated along the lively Mathew Street just off the city centre and is open daily from 12pm holding live music nights and DJ events playing anything from Mersey Beat to Brit Pop.

http://www.cavernclub.org/

Albert Dock

This secluded patch of Liverpool’s heritage offers a break from the city centre with plenty to see and do across a picturesque waterfront.  Combining bars and restaurants with museums and tours the Albert Dock has something for everyone.  The Merseyside Maritime Museum and the National Slavery Museum as are certainly worth a look and Babycream and Panamerican Club are both great places for something to eat or a quick drink.

http://www.albertdock.com/

Turning The Place Over

Described as the most daring piece of public art in the world, Richard Wilson’s revolving slice of condemned office block is a sight to be seen.  Set just outside the city centre in Moorfields and only viewable during daylight hours Wilson has cut out a huge 8-metre oval from a building’s façade allowing it to rotate in its place exposing glimpses of the inside to passers by.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBXwA0gcBm4&feature=related

China Town

Liverpool has one of the largest and most established Chinese communities in Europe.  The Imperial Arch on Berry Street acts as a gateway to an area revitalized with the Capital of Culture award.  With bars and restaurants open daily and a busy market selling clothes, herbs, food and drink open on a Sunday Liverpool’s famous China Town is a colourful escape from the city centre.

Tate Liverpool

Founded as part of the 1988 renovation of the Albert Dock the gallery houses important works from both contemporary and classical artists and offers fresh non-permanent exhibitions and a full package of activities for children.  The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday 10pm – 5pm.

Concert Square

The hive of Liverpool nightlife is always busy as bars and restaurants compete for custom with staggering drinks deals and nauseatingly infectious Scouse House music.  Modo and Arena are two of the best while Walkabout is always a lively place to watch any football, cricket or rugby matches.

Rawhide Comedy Club

Always good for a meal and a laugh the Rawhide Comedy club at the Royal Court on Roe Street has hosted the likes of Peter Kay, Jimmy Carr and Johnny Vegas and continues to attract the best emerging comedy talent from around the world.  Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the main nights but be sure to book early as tickets are usually sold-out on the door.

FACT

The Foundation for Art and Creative Technology is the UK's leading organisation for the commissioning and presentation of film, video and new media art forms.  Situated just off Wood Street in the Ropewalks area of the city centre FACT is a resource for artists and creatives but also an entry point into the world of new media with regular short film competitions and commissioned work from the likes of Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger and documentary filmmaker Isaac Julian.  FACT is also the best cinema is the city showing both independent movies and major Hollywood releases.

http://www.fact.co.uk/?group=1

Anfield Tour and Museum

You can’t go to Liverpool without at least one proud local reminding you that the football club representing the red half of the city is the most successful British club around.  The tour takes you behind the scenes at the club, visiting the dressing rooms and sitting in the team dugout while the museum holds a large number of trophies and memories including the European Cup installed permanently after Liverpool’s fifth victory in the 2005 final in Istanbul.

Walker Art Gallery

This gallery really is the ‘National Gallery’ of the north.  Situated across from Lime Street station on William Brown Street the neo-classical Walker Gallery has a large collection of work spanning the years from the pre-Raphaelite works of Rembrandt and Degas to contemporary works from Lucien Freud and David Hockney.  Entrance is free and the gallery is open between 10-5pm daily.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/visit/

Staying in Liverpool

Liverpool offers a diverse range of different types of accommodation. You can find a nice hotel in Liverpool at reasonable rates. Liverpool Accommodation - includes hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs & inns if you need a Liverpool Budget Hotel – offering value for money hotels for those wishing to keep to a budget then these are ideal. Or perhaps you want to stay in an Apartment - primarily self-catering accommodation for the more independent guest .Enjoy your stay in Liverpool!