Human Identity Crisis

Two films and my personal concerns about the way society
is encroaching upon human dignity, respect
and freedoms inspired this blog entry.

The two films are the 1949 comedy "Passport to Pimlico" and
the 2005 action movie "The Island".

Passport to Pimlico is about the inhabitants
of a small post WWII cockney section of London SW1, who declare independence
from the rest of the UK and set up passport controls for movement through
the makeshift border barriers, hastily set up around the streets of Pimlico.
The Island concerns the growth of human tissue for replacement of diseased
body parts for those men and women wealthy enough to pay for extending
their life spans by buying insurance in the form of
custom made cloned body parts of themselves.

The Island's scientists discover that the cloned body parts
will only function if they are farmed from whole human clones
so they create the humans in the labs but keep that secret
as the clients and world at large
would be aghast if they knew that whole beings that appeared human
have to be killed to provide the repacement body parts for their
original insureds. Two escape however and they meet one of the
original humans for whose benefit they had been created.
The escapee clones could only be identified by their bar codes,
and murder and mayhem ensue.

The attitudes of those running the
giant labs where the clones of "The Island" were grown
and their experiments with human tissues and clone-types to
make the best spare parts for the wealthy human clients,
completely devalued the essence of what it is to be human.
When the two clones began their escape, the scientists' concern
was that the "product" ie the two clones, was becoming contaminated. The
analogy with modern day scientific experiments on human embryos
and the abortion of foetuses as unwanted waste products or
contaminents, was clear - to me anyway.

Then the use of bar codes for identification purposes is scarily becoming
a reality too. The Passport to Pimlico's theme was in 1949
an absurdly funny notion. Since then the kind of security
checks now in place everywhere from museums to the High Court
have detracted substantially from the quality of life. Possibly
given the fanaticism of suicide bombers, such security checking
is essential though that does seem to hand the fanatic, a victory
of the dog in the manger variety - "If I for religious or political or
other reasons cannot enjoy your freedoms, then neither will you."

However the UK government is now proposing a scheme, the effects
which will bring together some of the worst elements from both of
the above mentioned films, namely scanable compulsory ID cards.

UK citizens have long eschewed compulsory ID cards as
undermining individual human freedom and dignity.
The use of these ID cards will not be restricted to Pimlico
but will be required to be produced anywhere in the country,
to anyone in power who may be
concerned about the product being contaminated.
Great Britain - The Island perhaps?

The Hollies at Cannizaro Park Festival 2007

Torrential rain on Friday 20th July flooded parts of Wimbledon, including
Elys and Sainsbury's. Was the open air concert by the '60s hit pop
group The Hollies planned for sundown, going to be a washout too?

A pint and pub supper with 'the headmaster' and his wife who had very kindly
provided the tickets, gave us all some Dutch courage for walking
through the wet evening to the concert venue at the Cannizaro's Italian Garden SW19. The news was that the lead singer had been travelling on a train
in the floods for 13 hours but that the show would still go on at
night time rather than sundown. There was some incredulity that pop stars
actually used ordinary trains at all but when he arrived at 9pm and the
concert started the wait and the wet were soon forgotten. The dark blue
and black hues of the sky, the glitzy stage lighting, and of course the
music made for a great atmosphere. The Hollies in the 60s apparently
produced more songs than their contempories, the Beatles. Most of
the crowds dancing and swaying to the music in 2007 probably
did to the same music in 1967.

To the great credit of the Hollies,
their, music, songs and singing sounded as good now as they did then. The
open spaces, fresh cool night air and
the earlier hydraulic refreshments, added to the
prevailing spirit of freedom.

My favourite on the night was:

"The road is long, with many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows where
But I'm strong, strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

So on we go, his welfare is my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know, he would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

If I'm laden at all, I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart isn't filled with the gladness
Of love, for one another

It's a long, long road, from which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share
And the load doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

He's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother."

Thanks head and mrs head for a great night.

Ebay stuff

Having previously bought some DVDs successfully on Ebay at a
large saving on the market price, I decided to go for the 3rd series
of the addictive American TV series 'The Shield'.

The DVD was listed on Ebay UK with a UK '15' rating
I bid and was pleased that mine was the highest bid. Unfortunately
when the DVD arrived it was incompatible with the UK DVD system.

On checking through other Ebay listings, it became apparent that
UK compatible DVDs, like those of Europe, are 'Region 2'. My seller left the
region blank but not being wise to the technicalities of DVD
compatibilities I failed to interpret his later
cagey response to another bidder, from Portugal, as a not usuable in UK/Europe
warning, so am a few £s out of pocket pending the outcome of
the free Paypal arbitration.

Ebay when it works well is like an efficient re-cycling machine
but like all machines needs watching.

I'll try to remember to post some thoughts on Paypal arbitration
process when the outcome is known

Global Warming but Meanwhile...

The emphasis this week-end is on saving the planet and on sport.
Saving the planet theme is marked by pop concerts in every continent
of the globe. Turning off the lights and switching from plastic
to china coffee cups at the office do appeal and maybe worthwhile but
in the broad run of things will they make much difference?
I doubt it. The planet is now so full of human beings that
we are causing life on Earth to become unbalanced/out of kilter.

Mother nature will eventually take her normal course of bringing
imbalance back to an even keel, which I surmise will involve
some shocks leading to reductions in the planet's human
population. Politicians could
limit such shocking changes but as this would curtail
much activity which many hold dear, like
easy cheap car driving I doubt that they will do so.
The Biblical references to "weeping and gnashing of teeth"
and to "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places"
seem alas to provide more clues as to the course global
warming may take than the new found china coffee cups at the office.

However "The End of the World has been Nigh" for as long as I can
remember so ample time yet to make the most of this wonderful
place and of the incredible privilige of our very existence.
Sport may not sound an answer yet this week end along with
the Live Earth concerts there has been a wealth of great
sport.
Having watched some of the women's Wimbledon tennis final,
seen that Hamilton has won pole position
for Siverstone F1 race, noted the huge interest
being engendered by Tour de France cycling starting in
London and having myself
had a great jog over the Common b4 breakfast this
morning, sport comes to mind as a theme for living life to the full.
Interesting to observe how most people out jogging early morning
on the Common, greet each other - usually total strangers -
in friendly fashion whereas a mile down the hill the usual
shopping frenzy in the Broadway is taking place. There, total
strangers are often cheek by jowl with each other but
friendly greetings are far rarer.

Bob Geldof's 1985 Live Aid jogging may be nearer the mark
than Al Gore's 2007 musicals.