Weekend of Doom!

Check out this schedule:
Thursday: Off (aaaahhhhhh!)
Friday: First shift at the Phoenix Picturehouse 6pm-1am (went well)
Saturday: Coffee Republic 7:30am-3:30pm, Second Shift at the Phoenix Picturehouse 6pm-1am
Sunday: May Day celebrations at 6am, Coffee Republic 11am - 8pm
Monday: Coffee Republic 8:30am - 4pm

Oy. So I'm about to have a power nap before heading back to the Phoenix. It's an easy job at least, and the people who work there seem pretty chilled as well. At least what I'm lacking in sleep I will be making up for in money...over the course of 3 days I will have earned the equivalent of $520 Canadian. Yowza.

Pearl Jam to Tour Canada in September!

Of course they do it once I've left the damn country! If I was back home I would seriously consider dropping a few hundred bucks and taking a week off to follow them from Thunder Bay to Quebec City (with stops in Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal). It is unlikely I will have the chance to do so however. Boys back home (you know who you are!) do me proud!

And props to Pearl Jam for extensively touring Canada....most big bands only hit Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but they're doing stops all across the country, and not dipping into the States in between - this is a purely Canadian tour. I'm sure the fans out west and out east will really appreciate it. Those fellas just keep giving me more reasons to hold them at the top as my #1, all-round, all-time favourite band.

The Death of Democracy

I just watched an extremely cynical but enlightening documentary on Channel 4 about the May 5th election coming up here in the UK. It was called "Why Politicians Can't Tell the Truth" and reported by Peter Oborne. His thesis (at least, as I understood it) was that the 3 major political parties (Conservatives, Labour, and Liberal-Democrats) have become an amporphous blob who pretty much all stand for the same things. Naturally, there are some subtle differences between them, but in terms of how the country will actually be run, their campaign policies are all basically identical. The reason for this, he postulates, is because they're all focussed on capturing the votes of 'swing voters' - middle-class brits who haven't yet made up their mind - because they're the ones who actually decide the election. Ideology and representation be damned, it all comes down to the bottom line; in this case, pleasing those folks with a mortgage and 2.5 kids.

And he makes a good point, it's an awful position to be in. They all say the same positive things (more cops on the street, more health care, less taxes) and refuse to tackle difficult issues (the example he used was how despite the fact that aviation is quickly becoming the #1 emitter of greenhouse gases, no one will oppose the expansion of Stansted airport and tax breaks for airlines so they can provide cheap airfare...again, because it would be unpopular with the middle class swing voters).

The program ended with him trying to track down Tony Blair on the campaign trail, seeing as no one at the labour office would tell the reporter where his next press conference was going to be held. Granted, he was a bit of a trouble-maker, and did ask some rather sassy questions, but what good is a democracy if you can't question authority? One of the very last segments of the program showed the police arresting a 16 year old girl for throwing ONE egg at Tony Blair's bus. Man, democracy really is dead.

Ok, so the question is then, what the hell do we do about it? It's all well and good to be depressed that the richest nations in the world are ruled by their richest members, and that we can't ask difficult questions or protest this situation, but how do we change it? I'd love to become an inspiring, motivational politician for 'my generation' but I really just don't see it happening. The problem is not the people in the system, but the system itself. Democratic Capitalism (or at least, today's mutant incarnation thereof) needs a serious assessment and overhaul. Thankfully there are already many people who are skeptical and questioning, but the problem again is that these aren't the folks with any power. The other half of the problem lies with the youth, many of whom feel like i do (powerless and frustrated) and so rather than worry about doing anything to make a positive change, become hedonistic, materialistic, apathetic and ultimately nihilistic. Their ethos is that since they can't change anything, they might as well make the most out of what they've got. And I understand where they're coming from, and to a certain extent I can't blame them, yet on the other hand, I refuse to be complacent about injustice on any level. Grrr...

So that's a lot of theoretical mumbo-jumbo, without much pro-active advice, but the fact is that I just don't know what to do yet. It comes back to the micro/macro divide. Should I devote my life to helping individuals I see on the streets, or seriously lobbying international bodies like the UN, WTO, IMF, etc. to make massive global differences. I think I tend to lean toward the former, if only because of my previously mentioned distrust in the current political structures of this planet.

I'm winding myself up here, I need to go for a walk and cool down.

Maybe I Should Be a Manager?

I didn't have a particularly bad day at work or anything, but a thought struck me as I was walking home: maybe I should become a manager! After all, I've had enough shitty managers to know what NOT to do, and actually one or two good ones along the way too. I like people, and I like investing in people. The only problem is that on paper I don't have any experience...and I wouldn't want to manage any sort of sales-driven team, as that would mean putting profits first and most likely having to suck up to corporate head office. Yuck. I would have to manage a team at an independently-owned location, or else a team not in the field of selling. Then again, maybe I should just become a minister like I've planned all along, since that's basically what I'd be doing...

How much does a day off cost?

About £40 actually.

All right, so I haven't posted in a while, and for those who actually missed it, I apologize. But I'm posting now to make up for it!

So I decided to call in sick to work this morning. My head is all clogged up and I can't figure out whether it's allergies, a sinus infection or a combination of the two. I probably was well enough to go into work, but we were insanely busy yesterday, and today I would have been closing with the manager (which is never fun) and frankly, I'd rather just not. I haven't been working there long enough to earn vacation pay yet however, so this means that I'll be lacking a days wages when it comes time to be paid. I may regret the decision when I see that pay cheque but at the moment, it seems like quite a good idea, if I do say so myself.

I went around to Tesco this morning and bought myself a fruit smoothie, tons of apple juice (well, 4 litres) some vitamins and anti-histamines, so hopefully I'll be rarin' to go today! I certainly have no intention of wasting today in bed, it's far too beautiful for that! I'll pump myself full of goodness, run some errands, and then go for a walk or something (being sure to avoid the city centre!)

In other news, for those who haven't heard, I got myself a job at the Phoenix Picturehouse! yay! Well, at least I have two trial shifts this Friday and Saturday (but I'm sure it'll all work out). I'm taking a pay cut (although it's only 15p/hour less, so if I work one extra hour per week, I've made up the difference) and it probably means it will be harder to co-ordinate multiple days off in which to travel, but on the upside, it means I won't be stuck in that other place for 40 hours each week! Plus now I get free movie tickets and video rentals...the perks just keep coming!

The Mildly Drunken Ramblings of a Sensitive Heart

This is the story:

Today was the second day of my 'weekend.' I decided to go visit Blenheim Palace in Woodstock (Winston Chuchill's homestead), just outside of Oxford. On getting off the bus, I met a group of American students from Minnesota (Minna-soda) and hung out with them for the day. They were all really nice, but one, Laura, was especially nice. We talked and laughed a lot through out the day and it made the trip much more pleasant than it would have been on my own.

We bussed it back home together and had dinner at the Royal Oak pub. They invited me to go dancing at the Purple Turtle that evening, so I figured why not! Shortly after I arrived, some British friends of Laura's arrived, and she proceeded to snub me for the rest of the evening. I really don't think it was intentional, but she was obviously more interested in the other guy then me. She said 3 sentences to me all evening (I counted them) and then danced with the other guy for the rest of the night.

I really shouldn't care, after all they're leaving for the States in another week, and I only spent a day with them. But still, it sucks. It's rare that I meet girls that I 'click' with like that. Anyhow, I think I'll listen to 'Second Best' by Pedro the Lion then go to sleep and get up for work for the rest of the week. Bah.

For Erin K. Pellow

Stop reading this and get back to doing whatever it is that you're supposed to be doing at the moment - no more procrastinating; you have a degree to finish! We can discuss this more when you get over here :P

Sincerely,
Christopher James Langston

Went for a pint with Rich and Alberto after work today. Rich gave me the professional advice to not bitch about my job and/or manager in a public forum (like, say, on the internet), so I'll leave it at that.

What I will say however, is that even though I have to be back at work in exactly 9 1/2 hours, i think I am going to go for a sunday night bike ride before I go to bed. After all, it's a clear night, and like 11 degrees out. Considering the fact that it was SNOWING two days ago (what is this, Canada?!) I think it will be worthwhile. I'll leave you with cryptic lyrics that have been running through my head today.

Pearl Jam - Present Tense

Do you see the way that tree bends? Does it inspire?
Leaning out to catch the sun's rays. A lesson to be applied.
Are you getting something out of this all encompassing trip?

You can spend your time alone redigesting past regrets, ohh, or you can come to terms and realize you're the only one who can forgive yourself. Oh.
Makes much more sense to live in the present tense.

Have you ideas on how this life ends?
Checked your hands and studied the lines.
Have you the belief that the road ahead ascends off into the light?
Seems that needlessly it's getting harder to find an approach and a way to live.
Are we getting something out of this all encompassing trip.

You can spend your time alone redigesting past regrets, ohh, or you can come to terms and realize you're the only one who cannot forgive yourself. Oh, ohh.
Makes more sense to live in the present tense.

Weekend Update with Norm Macdonald

I have Wednesdays and Thursdays off for the next 3 weeks, so they essentially have become my 'weekends' (which is pronounced over here as 'wee-kend', rather than 'week-end' as back home...)

Some random stuff:

• Oxford's weather has been bi-polar today...honestly, it seems like every 20 minutes it's either pouring rain or bright sunshine...I kid you not.
• Bought the new Lonely Planet: Europe on a Shoestring today, which listed the following website:
• www.couchsurfing.com - amazing! What a great idea, check it out! My profile can be found here
  
• hOME tonight
  

that's it for now, back to work tomorrow.

The Micro and the Macro

This is gonna be a long post, consider yourself forewarned.

I started my day at 6am when the alarm went off and talked to Matt on MSN just before I left for work (it was just hitting 1am back home). Worked from 7:30am-2:30pm at the soulless coffee shop. Came home, filled out and application for the indie movie theatre downtown and had a nap. Woke up, made some supper, and then decided to take a stroll down to the theatre to drop off my application stuff. On the way, a homeless man named Sam stopped me. He's a 'rough sleeper' who camps out in the same place every day (in front of the alcohol shop right before the roundabout, across the Magdalen Bridge for you Oxford folks). We ended up talking for a whole hour. Or more accurately, I ended up listening for the better part of an hour. Sam is a self-confessed alcoholic, and was clearly drunk, and yet lucid enough to carry on a conversation (I guess you have to be when you're an alcoholic). Sam just recently found God, and though Sam's theology is a bit suspect, I could tell it's changed his life. Despite still being an alcoholic who sleeps on the street, there was a sparkle in his eye that was more than just the booze. Incredible. Anyway, I ended up buying a meal for Sam and then said goodbye, but I imagine I'll stop and chat with him again, seeing as I walk past him every day on my way to work.

So, eventually I ended up at the theatre and dropped my application off. As I walked out the door, I saw that Hotel Rwanda was playing in 15 minutes, so on a whim I turned around and went back in to purchase a ticket. Wow...what an unbelievably incredible film. If you haven't seen it, GO SEE IT TONIGHT! I don't care whether you have an exam or board meeting, how far you have to go, or how much it costs: you need to see this film! And if you've already seen it, watch it again to remind yourself how powerful it is.

My first reaction was that I wanted to be a UN Peacekeeper, but then I realized that I'm not really into the whole gun/fitness thing. Then I thought about hopping on a plane to Darfur and helping out there, but I realized that would probably be a waste of the resources available to me. So what then? Politics? Possible, but I don't know if I could handle the bureaucracy and inherent bullshit involved. In my gut, I just want to grab a megaphone and yell at people to wake up and get off their lazy asses, but then, we all know that that's not really an effective motivator. So what then? I don't know, and that's the tricky part. One thing is certain though, I've been extremely selfish lately, in many different ways, and it needs to end. Serving overpriced coffee to rich Europeans is not the best way to use the gifts that God has given me. But like I said, I don't know what is... I'd like to get a Master's degree in Critical Theory, but maybe something like Humanitarian Development would be more practical? Or social work? That's part of the problem: how to change the world? On the micro level, like hanging out with Sam for an hour every day, or on the macro level, by lobbying influential people to stop things like genocide from ever happening in the first place. Again, I just don't know, but I'm determined to figure out. I will seek advice, and I think I'm going to be praying a lot more in the coming days and weeks. Man, do I loathe the Western lifestyle...it's so quietly manipulative...without even realizing it you're lulled into this existence of false values and false worries, when in actual fact there are many, many more horrible things going on across the world.

Before I finish this up, I want to mention some choice quotes from the film. At one part, an American journalist shoots some footage of the massacre, and the protagonist thanks him, but the American replies "People at home are going to see this on TV, say 'that's horrible' and then go back to eating their dinner." At another point, he's talking to a rich hotel manager in France who has asked the governments to intervene (mostly to save the hotel) but he says "The Americans, British and French don't care...Rwanda doesn't buy them votes." And then there's a great speech by a Canadian peacekeeper (the only country who did stick around...but even then there really weren't enough of us to do anything) about how he should be hated because he contributes to such awful, systematic (and systemic) racism.

Ugh, I could go on and on about this, but it's probably best that I leave it there for now. Go see that movie! Over and out.