Tomorrow's People

Tomorrow's people will not tolerate injustice and prejudice. Nor will they condone violence.

Tomorrow's people are today's children: the privileged generation who have at their disposal all the tools required to build a dignified and fruitful future for themselves.

Today's parents, more than ever before, are better equipped to provide their children with the  adequate guidance, care and resources necessary to ensure their children's effortless rite of passage into tomorrow.

Today's children have access to almost all of human knowledge, past and present, at the touch of a button, or more precisely, a touch on a smart phone's screen.

Today's children need never go to sleep with unanswered questions repeat-playing in their minds; as I had to. No more "ask your dad when he gets home" or "not sure son, ask mum".

I remember the frustration and sense of helplessness when I couldn't get an instant answer to what I considered an important question.

Sometime later mum bought me an encyclopaedia, followed by the biggest dictionary I had ever seen and an Atlas bulky enough to make my young arms ache after five minutes of bedtime reading.  Mum also paid for my weekly editions of Insight and a number of other scientific magazines.

If only my mum could have told me then to "google" it she would have saved herself time and money.

But that was yesteryear.

For my thirteenth birthday mum bought me a Brother Typewriter. The best present ever.

I typed my poems, song lyrics, extracts from books and magazines and just about every thing else that entered my mind. Within weeks I had to ask mum to buy a replacement ribbon; red and black and very messy to instal.

How I loved that typewriter! A love affair that lasted until three years later when I first set eyes on a word processor.

How I miss mum.

Today's children have it very different. No real effort required to learn and feed their curiosity. Instant answers. Short-lived fads and crazes that disappear overnight and with the dawn of something new.

No three year love affair with a typewriter, or an encyclopaedia.

No, I wouldn't swap it.

I am privileged to have belonged to yesterday's young generation. Just as I am privileged to be here today, to bear witness to the incredible advances in technology and lend a helping hand to tomorrow's people.

:)

black-ford in green-ford


All settled in, new home is adequate and comfy and M is back from Sweden. Normality returns, life is structured and spring is on it's way. Life is good.



We can plan ahead once again; trips, holidays, outings and even the next house move! I can't see us staying here for long, it's not our chosen area, but it'll do for now. Convenience rules!

***

Ladbroke Grove

We drove to Ladbroke Grove earlier today, intent on stopping at Cafe Lisboa for a galao coffee and pastel de nata pastry. 

Being the area I went to school in, Ladbroke Grove (Portobello) always has a powerful impact whenever I return. It is more than simple nostalgia.The streets are so familiar even though all the shops have long since changed and modernised. The people are the same, the market traders of Portobello Market never seem to get old and die, instead they continue to sell the very same items I bought from them decades ago.

Cafe Lisboa

The winter drizzle kept the crowds away from Cafe Lisboa earlier today, as you can see from the pic. All the better for us, we were served instantly.

some of the Portuguese pastries freshly baked at

 Cafe Lisboa

Super Bock lager, a taste of home at the

 Sporting Club, W10

Then on to Sporting Lisbon Club for a beer, a Super Bock to be precise. If anyone knows of a better tasting lager than this Portuguese classic then please let me know. So good even Tesco sells it.

Upon entering the club I noticed Rui, the proprietor and old school pal of mine, sitting at the bar clutching a glass of wine. He looked the same as always, if slightly greyer, sitting on the same bar stool, gazing over the same business he started some 30 years ago. The business that has enslaved him night after night and year after year. The business that has provided him a good return and enviable life-style and has also robbed him of his personal time.

We greeted each other with a hug and handshake. We hadn't see each other since Paulo's funeral. Come to think of it, since leaving school we have met no more than a handful of times. Somehow it doesn't seem to matter, we greet like we always did  in days gone by.

Nothing really changes...the greetings...the market...the beer...the weather...the area...nothing changes...nothing, apart from me.

:)



Nostalgia or just London rain in my eyes?

What joy I felt visiting Portobello Road Market with Madeleine Saturday afternoon! Great trip down memory lane for me. Nostalgia at it's most powerful! You see, I grew up around it, went to school there (Isaac Newton Secondary) and regrettably, also became complacent about it... until this return visit, that is.

What a fantastic market! And I am not just referring to the street stalls selling everything from freshly cooked paella to hand-made jewellery, from old vinyl records to handcrafted stage costumes; but also to it's variety of shops selling used designer clothes (prices to die for), musical instruments, leather jackets and handbags, and everything else under the sun. Traditional British pubs occupy every street corner, scenting the area with the sweet smell of brewed hops and sausage & mash. It is a joy to mingle in the throng of tourists and to listen to the locals with their unmistakable west London accents, as we snake our way from the Nottinghill end to the Goldborne Road intersection.

We made our way to Lisboa Patisserie in the hope of getting some Pasteis De Belem (see pic below) wonderful Portuguese delicacies, akin to the British custard tart; and of course a cup of 'real' coffee. Sadly we arrived too late for the Pasteis which are baked daily on the premises and have a habit of selling out by mid-day! When will the owners realize they are losing business and start supplying to demand? It's been the same for the last 30 years!!

Madeleine saw and fell for, a designer used handbag, (Louis Vuitton or Gucci...), I can't remember now, and has vowed to return for it as soon as her own handbag starts carrying money again. :)

Portobello Market is not the sort of place to visit if just reminiscing, as in my case, or window-shopping, as in Madeleine's. You really do need to take a wad of cash, as there are bargains everywhere. And most importantly you need to set aside a whole day in order to enjoy it's potential.

Madeleine and I have vowed to return to this most fascinating of markets on a regular basis. We may even rent an apartment nearby as soon as finances allow.

So dear friends, if you are ever in London you must visit Portobello Market, for to miss the experience would be a tragedy akin to:

...visiting Paris and not seeing the Eiffel tower, or Stockholm and not seeing the "Old Town", or Madrid and skipping the Prado, or Piza and not visiting the tower, or New York and not seeing the Statue of Liberty, or... good grief, sorry but I'm getting carried away, again !...must be the new medicine, or the quitting smoking, or the lack of a job, or the lack of sleep, or...or.. AAHGHHHHHHHHH