The Boy and The Coconut Tree

We are now in mid March and as I type this it is 3c and falling from the sky is a mix of rain and snow. It is not at all nice. Last week was cold and next week will be too. As Easter approaches I think March will be a month of coughs and sneezes and winter coats. And as all thoughts turn to Spring, in its many guises, here is a photo (and it could be photo-shopped ? ) to warm your hearts!!? March 2013 has been an interesting one, last week (March 14th) the world got a new Pope. I have never seen so much excitement over something so anachronistic.  The BBC was obsessing despite the fact Catholics in the UK are outnumbered by Anglicans, Muslims and Atheists. Maybe the fact the new Pope is an Argentinian and the Argentinians have replaced the Germans as our cultural bogeyman. We no longer poke fun at or fear the Germans, they are now our friends. We now have the Argentinians, a far away place, created by colonialism and its fight over one of our colonies. Another anachronis...

This is a paper I wrote in 2005 for my LLM but never submitted it. Fundamental rights are, arguably, the single most important aspect of a successful democratic society. Without them the general public's freedom would be restricted to such an extent that a peaceful existence would become almost impossible. However, although they are common to all democracies, this certainly does not mean that they are subject to the same treatment the world over. As I will illustrate, the way in which England and the US treat fundamental rights has general similarities but is often vastly different when it comes to specific branches and settling individual cases. To begin with it is vital to point out how each country's code on fundamental rights came about. In America fundamental rights are set out in a written constitution, formed in 1787 after the American revolution. At this time there was a feeling of uncertainty in the air and the American citizens were anxious to see their ri...

There has been much talk of upgrading the British rail network and building a new high speed line to Birmingham and Manchester from London, called   HS2 . It is expected, thanks to British work ethic and bureaucracy, to take 30 years or so to get built. The public enquiry will probably take 10 years. I think it will be fantastic and I hope to be using my old persons rail card as I travel around the country in my pension years. I am travelling by train today from London to Newcastle on the  east coas t line, one of the busiest routes in Britain and supposedly the fastest line in Britain with a top speed of, wait for it; 125mph. French commuter trains are faster. The train station, Kings Cross, built in the 19th century at the peak of the first railway boom, has been rebuilt and is great, spacious, and comfortable and has plenty of shops and cafes, the same cannot be said about my train today. My train is what they used to call an  Intercity125 ; this train was built...

A few years ago two of my friends had been together almost 12 years and they felt marriage would mark a positive and inevitable stage in their relationship. The bank holiday weekend finally provided a chance for me and others who know them to celebrate their love: it was their wedding day . I will refer to it as a wedding because the whole experience was so similar to every wedding I have ever been to and, as far as all the people involved last weekend were concerned, that is what it was. I will always call it marriage despite the current debate and opposition from some Tory politicians . Legally speaking, though, it was just a civil partnership ceremony. I did not know much about civil partnerships until I attended this event, but it feels as if they are a half-way house because the government will not go ahead and allow gay men and women to have a civil marriage. Why not? I don't understand this. What are they frightened of?...

Does flattery get you anywhere and does flattery work with you? I ask this as something funny happened to me today and I shouldn't have been shocked. I was swimming at my gym and minding my own business as that is all you can do when you are face down in a swimming pool when I paused at the shallow end for a drink of water. A female personal trainer was standing at the end of the pool watching the swimmers. She introduced herself and told me she thought I was a good swimmer. Of course my ego was tickled and we chatted a little about how I love swimming, I used to swim in a team a long long time ago (I was 14 or 15) and swim a lot. She invited me to join the gym's swimming club on Thursday evenings. It sounded good, a bit of competition and coaching etc and she asked for my contact details. She then slipped in at the end that there was a fee of £5 per week to join in. Now my gym is not the most expensive in London but it isn't cheap. I felt a little cheated and rea...

I recently found this quote from one of my all time favourite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I sent it around to a few of my friends: "No one deserves your tears,  but whoever deserves them will not make you cry" One of friends responded with a question about tears of joy and I realized I don't think I have ever cried tears of joy. Have you?

Another week has flown by and what a week. It has been a sad week for some. A close friend lost his mum this week. Something none of us can even begin to understand until we go through it ourselves. My thoughts are with him and hopefully I can be a supportive friend when he returns and tries to get back to normal life. Though I personally cannot imagine life without my mum. The weather was crazy all week and the snow came and went, the ice came and went and the trains continued to be a farce, delays, cancellations and overcrowded trains. South Eastern trains should be particularly ashamed of themselves. They ran a terrible service in and out of London Bridge all week and the confusion and overcrowding in that station was some of the worst I've ever experienced in London. The excuses ranged from " slippy tracks " , " bad rail condition s", " staff shortage s" and " severe weather " now having lived in North America, severe weather is not 1 i...