…self-enclosed bubbles – isolation by technology…

…it has been three years or so since this ol’ Scots Jurassic scribbler last set foot in London… I’ve arrived for a few days break from the Middle East… and being the iconic Legend-In-My-Own-Lunchtime writer-observer that I am, I am appalled by what I see… that insidious, creeping, personal hostage-taker, Technology, has taken even deeper hold of the population… being amongst crowds of people in the street, and on the Lahndan Underground subway system, or just sitting resting in the park, all around me are totally incommunicable human beings, impervious to their surroundings and to others of our species… why?… because the majority of the ones that pass me by, and many, who actually bump into me, are engrossed in their eyes-down-while-walking stare-fixations at mobile telephones and other devices… others, I notice now, have wee, white, plastic protrusions sticking out of each ear, electronic extensions of the aforementioned devices, ostensibly to keep them in touch with whomever and whatever, but certainly not with emb’dy in their immediate vicinity… it’s often said that the loneliest place to be sometimes is in a crowd… nowadays, with the individual modern version of these self-imposed ‘isolation cells’, more and more of our fellow beings are encased in self-enclosed bubbles – isolation by technology… whatever indisputable benefits the products of Samsung, Apple, and Huawei deliver to the planet, the downside of the powerful addiction to their ‘communication’ instruments is killing the art of conversation… they are deriving many of us of the simple pleasure of merely talking to another individual… add to that the ubiquitous habit of referring to Google to ‘establish’ or ‘verify’ facts, and our ability to think independently suffers even further… in the big grocery stores, through self-packing machines, and in other places, the human interface has been removed… banks no longer encourage customers at their teller-manned branches, but channel us to operate via online transactions…

… I know, I know, I know, people will call it ‘progress’… well for me, ‘fraid I’m still ‘old school’ and am in no hurry to change… see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!

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…’S’TRODN’RY!’

…it’s not often that this ol’ Scots Jurassic scribbler has been present at the birth of a new word… but one such memorable occasion presented itself many, many moons ago… it happened during that part of my career when I was part of the legions of Financial Masters of the Universe, as the embodied historical photograph of the yesteryear money market/foreign exchange maestro in the dealing room in Hong Kong here indicates…

…part of the role of being a prominent F.M.U. entailed, (naturally), whizzing around the globe, ostensibly arranging mega-billions worth of deals (Master Soros, eat yer heart out!)… a trip from the Far East had my itinerary taking in financial institutional visits in London, then carrying on to Noo Yawk in ‘Murica, to repeat the exercise with some of our American banking friends… I usually travelled light, with merely hand luggage and a laptop… the F.M.U. status, of course, warranted First Class tickets all the way… in the British Airways First Class lounge at Heathrow Airport. it transpired that the First Class flight seats had been over-booked and the offer was made to emb’dy with hand luggage only, holding a First Class ticket, to be transferred to a Concorde flight, departing for Noo Yawk around the same time… I volunteered, as I had never flown with the Big-Beaked Bird before…

…soon afterward, I settled into my seat, and the plane took off across the Pond… now comes the good part… a little while into the flight, the pilot came on the intercon to address us… y’know, there are posh English voices, and there are really posh English voices… this lad was in a superior vocal act, all of his own… and of course he had a double-barrelled monicker, …‘Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen… this is your Captain speaking, Charles Bloominfort-Huntingdon… welcome aboard this most S’TRODN’RY aircraft’… ‘STRODN’RY’?… he’d just invented a brand new word for me!… he had me in stitches right there, so much so, I lost the gist of most of what else he said, except the closing sentence, ‘If you should require any assistance, our butler, Mister Kenneth, will be on hand with your caviar and champagne!’… not being an imbiber of alcohol by that time in my life, there was little else of luxurious note during the flight… in fact, apart from the great boon of getting to the destination supersonically in about half the normal time, the rattling across the skies in this oversized cigar tube was quite uncomfortable… the seats, all mono-class, of course, supposedly First Class, were less than the size of the normal Business Class seats on the standard British Airways flights… but, the plane was ‘S’TRODN’RY’… see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!

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…’The Long Journey Home’… a must read… from the pen of Vivian Salama…

…it’s not often that the title of a book catches my eye in such a way that absolutely compels me to read it… Authoress, Vivian Salama, has more insights probably than most about the rigours of life among the migrant population in the strife-torn townships of Syria, having seen the impact of civil strife at close hand as a highly-respected journalist for several years in the Middle East… I have shared often on my blog my own personal thoughts and feelings about the tragedies and heart-wrenching upheavals that hit innocent families, not only in Syria, but across other ravaged countries and communities, including those in Africa… to have the story told through the eyes of a child, whose innocence is ruthlessly stolen from him, is beyond price… and we have to believe in the eternal hope that things do improve when each of us commits to try to make this a better world… I commend ‘The Long Journey Home’ to each and every one of you, my dear friends…

…here’s the synopsis:

Hassan loves playing soccer, hanging out with his friends and eating his mother’s home-cooked meatballs. But as calls for revolution begin to echo across Syria, his country is thrust into an era of chaos. As trouble creeps closer to his hometown, Hassan’s friends flee Syria, one-by-one, to seek a better life abroad. One day, when his family suddenly decides to leave as well, Hassan is forced to abandon everything he knows, including his remaining friends, his school, and the soccer field he so dearly loves. Little does he know that his journey is just beginning. In this tale of migration and acceptance, inspired by true stories, an innocent Syrian boy is upended from everything he knows after his family flees his war-torn homeland in search of a better life.

Download:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Journey-Home-Vivian-Salama-ebook/dp/B07QF7SXJT/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Vivian+Salama&qid=1556816958&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr.

Vivian Salama became a White House Reporter for AP in January, 2017. In 2014, she became the Baghdad, Iraq bureau chief for the AP. She  has covered the elections in Egypt, the insurgency in Iraq, the Arab Spring, and drone deaths in Yemen. ^[1]

She hails originally from New City, New York. ^[1] She moved to the Middle East in 2003 and was a freelancer for Associated Press Television News in Cairo, Egypt from 2004 to 2006. ^[1] She also reported from Pakistan and opened Bloomberg News‘s bureau in Abu Dhabi. ^[1]She worked as a producer for NBC News and ABC News in New York City.

…see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!

ALL MY BLOG POSTS ARE FREE TO SHARE OR RE-BLOG SHOULD YOU SO WISH – BE MY GUEST!