<"NewsFlash">

The Times, Friday November 24, 2006. "the poisoned russian spy breathed defiance at the Kremlin as the effects of a mystery cocktail pushed him to the brink of death." "Nine members of Britain's most prolific counterfeiting gang, a criminal syndicate that forged 20 pound notes on an industrial scale, were jailed yesterday...recovered..notes with a face value of more than 14,280,320 pounds." This is real. incredible. the world is extensive. yes extensive and elusive and at large, said to be armed and dangerous, police caution do not try to restrain the suspect without backup. and it continues.

"Thousands of Christians on campuses across Britain claim that their right to freedom of expression is being challeneged by student associations attempting to force Christian Unions to allow anybody, regardless of faith, ethnicity or sexuality, to sit on their ruling committees and to address their meetings." Is this seriously a problem? an atheist who wants to run for president of the christian union? None of the articles i've read really describe how this craze began(merely hints), but all across Britain student unions are cutting christian organizations out of their funding and, as underdog religous groups do, the organizations are fighting back against their oppressors with vigor. "eight church of england and roman catholic bishops as well as lord carey of clifton" have sent letters to The Times expressing their outrage. Is this a question of tolerance, religous doctrine, secularist agenda, morality, economics, insanity? maybe i've missed the point.

"A teenager calmly informed a friend in a text message 'someone will die 2day' before he murdered a pensioner chosen at random in the street." "The current fleet of four nuclear submarines containing 16 missiles with 200 warheads will not become obsolete until 2024." "150 killed in assault on slum city" "grandmother blows herself up in gaza"

Due to the rising number of child obesity cases, groups have been forming to ban junk food advertisments from television that targets children. "for health and consumer groups only a total ban before 9pm will do." I can't even comment. hours in front of the televison may be part of the problem. i'm not a health specialist, but..

I apologize, you can read the paper yourself.
Last night i watched a film called 'network' directed by sidney lumet, 1976. A news anchor calls bullshit on the air and becomes an apocalyptic ranting star. i thought the film was fantastic.
"I'm as mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore!"

It seems we have every reason to stay inside, to cower in fear, and then again maybe we have no reason at all. our ship is sinking in the sea and as water pours over the sides we're mending our clothes sitting in the slowly flooding captains quarters. yet i hesitate to paint such a bleak picture because on an individual level, in common everyday life, people are just good, except of course when they are not. which might be where the breakdown begins. it seems so easy to bring people together, we really aren't so different(someone should talk to the guy who began the rumour that we are), in fact most people can at least learn to get along. there are entire organiztions of like-minded individuals who work hand in hand to build a happy, safe, clean, friendly community. Theres the group of friends who buy the neighborhood homeless guy dinner, theres the person who will stop anything they are doing to help you out when you need it the most. but somewhere the sense of human community breaks down and degenerates into hate, misunderstanding and violence. everyones fighting for peace. if only we could at least agree on that. we're all as mad as hell to be standing knee deep in the murky sea, but no one seems to know where the leak is, and even if we did we haven't a clue as to how to save this ship.

Rene and Kerouac

space and time are slowly loosing meaning. more and more. on a bus. its friday 15:34 and already getting dark. to scotland. news papers and empty coffee cups on the seat next to me, empty the only one on the bus. the rest stop in newcastle england is no different from a reststop in western pa. the untrained reststop observing eye could mistake them at a glance and frankly this upsets me. what did i expect? a reststop with not fuel, toilets, food, parking and coffee, but piles of shale, knights, old women serving tea and robin hood? five hours on a bus leaving from allentown and, if the traffic was right, you would be very lucky to hit ohio. we will cross half of the UK. its raining. i forgot my umbrella. a store owned by wal-mart, i chuckle, no one is safe. reading the paper. edinburgh? 14 C. i think i can hear four different languages being spoken in my immediate vicinity. even in the dark, or perhaps due to the dark, i envision the city built upon the landscape and for centuries continuing to be built upon itself. filling every space, inhibiting all movement, growing up and out in blocks of stone an organism a bacteria feeding on itself on the landscape on the rock faces molded on mans terms alive and constraining built to contain the flow down streets and up stairs continuing. 18:47 the hostel! crammed into the kitchen and waiting. an hour later still in a que waiting for a room 21:00 aleks and i managed to be the last two to get a room, but we scramble out for a look at the city, edinburgh. the search for the chinese resteraunt pauline swears she saw on the way in. two hours later we settle for a meat pie and chips. but the hunger for chinese will threaten us again soon...free breakfast in the hostel botanical gardens sunshine downpour sunshine rain cloudy weather oh coffee the museum. the descent to streets below. an entire street of used book stores i think i've died and gone to heaven we leave one and enter another next door, books piled on books on shelves on shelves on books and a dog and i purchase a copy of marx's communist manifesto and the women behind the desk, to my enjoyment, begins to get nostalgic. oh when i bought this book i had to get it from this shady guy on the street and you know it was illegal, i'm spanish, and to this day i keep a flower cover on it because my father nearly had a heart attack when he saw it, oh read it when you're young. 16:33 i can't stand to see people running to catch the bus. man was not made, man has not evolved, to be frantically running desperatly pleaing with short quick steps bag hung over the shoulder one hand outstretched as if to grab the bus and slow it down if he could just get near it the other hand stiff at his side begging the city bus gods to just this one day relieve his anxiety and let him get to the bus in time fear and foolishness plastered to his face. i'd run for the bus too. but17:52 Chinese Resteraunt. aleks and i climb the stairs and before i gain control we are wisked into the restaurant seated by two waiters and staring around in disbelief at the rose on our table the white linen table clothes and the nearly empty room. would we like a bottle of wine? the sign downstairs said chinese takeout. a giant mound of chicken chow mein is placed before me and one of our waitresses, yes there were many, dishes out rice for aleks. im a little uncomfortable. i want a cheap dirty and quick chinese buffet in huntingdon and i have a big cloth white napkin in my lap, will this be expensive whats going on. the waiters patrol like guards pacing back and forth across the room parading for their meager crowd of customers if the dish is empty it is taken away before i know i ever ate. so the night continues on and we walk and follow a ghost tour until told we didn't pay and walk and the hostel bar and pool and numerous games of hangman. i get the top bunk. being the last two in line we're in a room with the organizers and the couple i jokingly imagined were on their honeymoon, it turns out they actually are married. but they all sleep early and soundly and so do aleks and i. the hostel hallway smells like the big building at camp men-o-lan. so another breakfast of toast in the hostel and we visit the art gallery and buy coffee and i rant about how frustrated i am that i can't get a decent cup of cheap coffee. i've spent more money on coffee than i like to think about. oh to think we took those long mornings of continuous coffee at the coop-d for granted. but more walking and talking about television friends sex and the city animaniacs victorian literature etc. but back on the bus and returning to leeds i've been reading big sur by kerouac for two and a half hours straight and when i attempt to bring the oatmeal raisin cookie to my mouth half of the crumbly goodness plummets towards the center of the earth so in a manic scramble i stumble and reach out and self consciously bring the nearly departed cookie to my mouth suddenly in a moment of clarity or confusion realizing i'm on a bus in england and i'm almost suprised by the fact that i've just discovered. back in newcastle at a rest stop 40 international students congregate outside the bus getting ready to board. when the driver climbs in the other side and sits down we all see him in the window and sigh as if enlightened and chuckle as if embarrasssed all at once together because the door is on the other side of this crazy english bus we've all lined up outside.

sea side.

are you going to scarborough fair?








I should have spent more time thinking about writing and less taking subpar pictures. Contrary to the dreary cloud cover displayed in these photos scarborough really does give one the feeling of fanfare. A beachside town in october still bustling and selling incredible amounts of ice cream, i imagine the hordes that swarm the area in july. wandering, enjoying the ocean view, kids on a rope swing, the castle with an entrance fee means we walk the outside wall instead. the village market, old books, old ladies, old clothes, new clothes, fresh meat, fresh fish, antiques, cheap toys, the wafting smell of marijuana? winding streets, an ancient cemetary, endless flights of steep stairs, fish and chips with tea at winking willies, how english, walking the beach, a happy dog, children in the sand, sudden interest in digital video, oh a beautiful patch of blue sky!, the sun slowly sets, broken benches, transition to the train.