Travel XIX, Paella Sandwiches

Got back from Barcelona on Friday, at 2.30am, that was the mother of all flight delays. I took the opportunity to phone Australia, it's not often I'm awake when they are, being on t'other side o't rock 'n all. Hmmmm... that came out all Last of the Summer Wine, maybe I'm missing Fish and Chips again, probably.

Anyway, I've been on a high tech show/fair thingo from Monday to Thursday, this was about the future, it was unbelievably "accurate" although I couldn't help thinking "I'd love to tape some of these lectures and play them back to the speakers in ten years time", they do come out with some garbage.

Killer robot vacuum cleaners? Implanted memory extensions? Infra-red contact lenses? Women with mute buttons! They should hear themselves talk, I mean the speakers at the show, not women. Obviously no one wants to hear women talk.

Whatever happened to my internet enabled fridge? Wasn't that "the thing" some years ago? So why is it when I open my fridge all see is a few cans of Maes and half a box of fish fingers? Answer that so-called Bill Gates you big phoney.

But seriously, imagine how you are going to feel when the western world is in the grip of the longest deepest recession in living memory and the only thing on tv is blanket coverage of the Beijing Olympics all shiny and flashing their money around. It's going to be the end of the Olympics, rather than face the truth of declining superiority the west will start saying "excessive carbon footprint, too ostentatious in the middle of a recession, the Chinese are insenstitive to global issues" and the chinese will exclaim "sour glapes!". The only real "global issue" is that western banks have amassed so much money they've simply sucked everything dry. Blood sucking greedy scumbags, watch now how they make their employees redundant and start re-possesing homes from people who they were encouraging to borrow beyond their means six months ago.

That reminds me, the owner of the Jade Fountain chinese restaurant near Merode metro speaks Hindi, only a little but he did give me a start. I wondered what the bloody hell was trying to say at first. Needless to say I never went back, Belgian-Chinese people speaking Hindi is more than a little disorientating for English-Indian Punjabi speakers from Wolverhampton. Is this Globalisation? Brimey mistah O'Riery!

Well, I'd love to stop and chat but I've got to pack, Paris is expecting me! I'll tell you all about it next week.

JJ