Human rights, Environmental costs

My friend Scott forwarded me a campaigns letter from the World Development Movement about a UK-based company which is proposing to open a coal mine in Bangladesh. So what, you might ask? The rights and wishes of the community appear largely to be ignored - 40000 people will be displaced from their homes with limited compensation (most workers in the area do not own the land they work on). Building the mine will affect: livelihoods, quality of and access to fresh water, stability of food resources in the area. No one in the Community seems to really want this mine. The wishes of the people are being ignored with no opportunity for them to formally have their concerns addressed. This video is an interesting summary of the problems (I can't vouch for it's balanced reporting however).



IF you'd like to send a letter to CGM click here! Thanks

Tom Baxter

Tom Baxter is one of my favourite music artists at the moment. I have just found these new youtube postings. only one of them is on his latest album 'Skybound'. So it's really great to hear some new material!

So really, I am adding these to my blog for pure self-indulgence! But if you like listening to him as well, then that's a bonus for the world as far as I am concerned! :)

It will all get better in time

Leona Lewis - amazing and beautiful singer, natural and exceptional talent; excellent song

I can't embed, so here's the link to youtube

OK GO!

This posting on Youtube has had over 31 million hits which is might impressive. I really like it - combines many things which I love - music, choreography/dancing, running (machines/treadmills), humour and innovation.

Please watch and enjoy/appreciate this piece of modern art....

Graduating & Running

My dear mother has summarised very well what happened to me last week, on her blog which she writes with friends from her college days.

I will let her describe the afternoon's proceedings....click here!

Physiotherapist at work looked at my knee last week and gave me some exercises/massage to do to make sure it's in tiptop condition. I need to build my running up very slowly and gradually. This will be much easier to do now that the evenings are getting lighter - I won't have qualms pounding the streets after work.

But this Sunday I am still running one mile for Sport Relief! I am running with the 'Lazy Town Team' - which consists of Little Miss God Daughter, niece, nephews and their parents! If you would like to sponsor (I have a modest fundraising target of £20), please click on my link and sponsor moi! The money will go towards helping those who live unimaginably tough lives overseas.

http://www.mysportrelief.com/greenabby

Thank you, merci, danke schon, gracias, grazie, nandri etc etc

A very addictive dance track

I can't get this out of my head, it's really big on the feel-good factor. I bet they have a really BIG carbon footprint.... ENJOY! :)

Are you Happy?

Gosh, I am on a roll this week.

Just read an article on the BBC news website where they claim that your level of happiness is determined half by your genes, the other half by lifestyle, career and relationships. Thought-provoking...read it here.

I guess this kind of research leads to a deeper consideration for me of what is actually meant by happiness. I assume they no doubt would have provided a definition of happiness upon which to base this research, but I can't see it referred to explicitly in the article.

So, here's a definition I found doing a google:

Happiness is an emotional or affective state that is characterized by feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction. As a state and a subject, it has been pursued and commented on extensively throughout world history. This reflects the universal importance that humans place on happiness (Wikipedia)

How much we can rest on Wikipedia's definition I am not sure, but it's food for thought. My brother and belle-soeur bought me the Dalai Lama's book 'The Art of Happiness' two Christmases ago, and a very good book it is too. It is rather Buddhist in its outlook (well, there's a surprise) but common sense too. Underlines the ideas of non-attachment - because if you become attached to things this will only cause suffering and misery as nothing lasts. And encourages you to develop compassion and goodwill towards others which should raise your happiness levels because you are giving, and helping others kind of thing.

The BBC article states that researchers who did this believe that even if one is more predisposed to feelings of unhappiness than happiness, there are things we can all do to increase our happiness levels.

So these are some of the things I do to try and maintain a healthy dose of happiness in my life:

- Meditate
- Running
- Singing and dancing to music
- Drinking wine occasionally (like right now - haha! well, I have had a tiring day!) ;)
- Spending time with my family and friends and friends' children (especially Little Miss GodDaughter!)
- Writing down whatever stuff comes into my head

Lots lots more besides but they're some of the immediate things that have popped into my head. Nothing particularly unusual or out of the ordinary.

I hope you are all happy and remember to invest your time and energy into the things that make you feel happy and give you a sense of fulfilment and joy.

So as a parting note, here's yet another youtube video of a man whose music makes me very happy. I think I must be one of his biggest fans - he's fab! This is him singing on dear old Richard & Judy...

Fabulous tune

Very Catchy...it's been in my head for some days now. The piano bit underneath the rocky beat and mood is groovy.

I give you Muse.....

Not Running Half a Marathon...yet

I decided earlier in February to withdraw from running the Bath Half Marathon which is scheduled for 16th March. This is down largely to my dodgy knee which I fell on just before Christmas, and has only really in the last week or two got back to normal. Even though I was running in the New Year this (as a result of my fall) ended up exacerbating an old injury on the same knee (which was caused by another fall a few years ago!) so I have been resting. I have also had a persistent cold which has not cleared up properly for weeks. Therefore I made the decision to not push myself to run 13.1 miles just now. I hope to postpone my entry until next year.

In the meantime I will continue to run with my running club. I have a physio appointment this week through work, and thereafter intend to start running again properly. I'd like to do another 10km run sometime later this year, so will look into that.

I am spending this weekend trying to sort things out, that have been sat around for ages. It's very boring, mundane stuff so I won't bother describing it.

I wrote an email the other day to the British Olympic Association to complain about the rumour that athletes wishing to compete at the Beijing Olympics will effectively have a gagging order imposed on their contracts which prevents them from speaking out against human rights issues in Darfur and China. I just think this is plain wrong and to my mind contradicts the principles of Olympism. Read this article for more information if you are interested. Thankfully, the article does insinuate that the 'final draft' of the contract will now NOT contain wording which implies athletes will be gagged. Let's hope so.

Here's a happy photo of Little Miss GodDaughter to help raise a smile or two out there xx

Wooaahhh Im a Scatman!

Surfing Youtube I found this song which is such a reminder to me of my days at University - I LOVED this track....good to dance to, and to try and sing along to haha! Play it and you will see what I mean! :)