Artists of the World, Leaders of the Underground

The inspiration for this blog comes from some of my idols in philosophy, music and ideology. Don’t let the big words fool you; I merely just want to speak on some of the people I look to because of their train of thought; whether in writing, song or protest. I still don’t get the ads about O2’s mind and I do believe there is a fine line between being creative, to some things being just plain dumb...

Kicking off with Bob Dylan, I know I have ranted about music before but after listening to my favourite 80’s and 90’s music, there were so many people out there with positive messages, so many people who inspired me to be me and love who I am. Dylan may be a somewhat idiosyncratic choice, we all know of his drug habit etc, but what stood out to me more than anything was his ability to touch something inside me. So did Jimi Hendrix.

‘I’m happy, I’m feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag, I’m useless but not for long, the future is coming on’  ....... a line from my next musical love, the Gorillaz. Apart their cartoon music videos I do believe their talent is much underrated.

In a next life I think I would return as:

1. A professional violinist – That instrument moves me to tears
2. A rock star – minus the drugs and alcohol (I would get to meet Slash in person J, the Rihanna song by the same name turns me into an animal)
3. A pilot or stunt driver – I love being a fierce female!!!

As you can see my first 2 passions are music related and I do believe at some point, even if it’s through mid life crisis I may try my hand at one of them because I can find no better healer, lover, friend or teacher than music.

It is quite surprising that black people are stereotyped as mostly rap heads and it was quite funny when giving my friend a lift home the other day, he remarked, your music doesn’t seem very gangster does it? I laughed at this naivety, I guess The Strangers or the Pet Shop boys wouldn’t be the music of choice for most of us black folks but that’s the beauty of music, it’s colourless and pure.

Another one of my heroes is in the form of a Mr. Thompson S. Hunter, have you ever heard the term ‘gonzo’ before? Well, it is a form of journalism which embraces the real art of writing, even if it offends some of the more conservative aka ‘boring’ people of the world. The gonzo art form insists that one calls or says it as is without the sugar coating, nothing about Thompson’s body of work was subliminal and everything came at you at once. As a staunch disbeliever in hypocrisy, the world would be a much better place if people said what they really felt about things. Diplomacy is sometimes as bad as lying, in my book anyway. But society dictates the norm that we should follow; codes of conducts and all of the rest of it. I don’t want to get too far into the sociological aspects of things, but gonzo for me is like a way of life, I just get it off my chest most times. Like Artic Monkeys said, don’t believe the hype... live on gonzo.

To my other hero and leader of the underground to whom this blog is a tribute, Brian Haw, the anti war protester who died recently from cancer, may your soul now rest in peace. This man was more than a celebrity for visiting camera slinging Japanese, but he represented a symbol of freedom and love and wanted nothing than to see Britain’s involvement in the war over. He was not a bum, he was married with children and was well known to return his place in Central London hours after being arrested. I can bet the police in that vicinity are smiling because they have more time on their hands to watch telly or drink tea, because this time Brian won’t be returning. He too was my hero. 

 

PS Marco Simoncelli will be missed by MotorGP fans like me world over, wish I could bring you back Marco.

 

Today, stand for something you believe in. Stand up for you.

With love,

Momo

(The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the University of Greenwich - Ed.)

The Third Year Journey

Let’s begin by saying how horrified I am of my impending 10 000 word dissertation which is at the moment drowning out any excitement of me reaching the final year in my degree. I am entrusted, as are my other course mates, the task of contributing academic knowledge to the field of Tourism. Many people think it’s about selling plane tickets and booking holidays to Malaysia; it’s not all glitz, glamour and jetlag but work and research. What are the motivations of tourists, ethics involved and the many many issues of sustainability and economic leakages to communities and countries? Funny thing is I do know a lot in theory and practice, but forming my own research topic is burning out my brain cells! Its almost like doing Maths ....
Like that girl on the tv ad for the show about a school in Essex, she’s like ‘whats pi?’, ‘where did it come from?’ with the most shocked depressed look on her face. I can indeed agree, what the hell is pi? The first thing that comes to my mind is that round edible object, because anything else just doesn’t make sense. I know I suck at maths, but who cares, I don’t. I will write my heart out in an essay or report but don’t ask me do trigonometry or find circumferences, I find it highly irrelevant to my life.

I celebrated my birthday in September and decided at last minute that I wanted to go raving. You know you had a good time when you wake up and the night before was a gigantic grey blur. I got feedback from my friends that I was dancing so much, a ring formed around me. They were actually covering their eyes and faces in contempt hahaaaa !!!!!!!!!!. I was then made to take a vow that I would never ever ever dance on the floor again. I said it, but something tells me that’s not exactly a promise.

Birthday night!

The summer was a bit uneventful otherwise, there was the odd rave and drunken night out but I was mostly working.

During clearing as the receptionist, I was quite pleased to be at the forefront of the Enquiry Unit extension where I guided many many people on their proverbial roads to university. It was such a refreshing start to my own academic year to see the young fresh eager faces of the newbies and I do wish them all the best. I saw a lot of mummies and daddies on the grounds trying to get a feel of the place for their sons and daughters. I imagine it’s a proud moment for so many who have managed to survive the race for that elusive uni place.

Oh, I’m still missing Jamaica but the blazing sunny weather we’ve experienced over the past week or so has been lovely. All that was missing was the white sandy beaches, but conversely, something tells me the winter will be as harsh as it was last year. While a lot of us were happy to get a free tan and be able to drop the top on our little rides, the weather is quite extreme. I mean, 27 degrees in October? You lot better get ready for the winter then!

So to all the young’un’s who made it into uni and for us older folks already feeling the brunt of 3rd year studies. There is a fantastic uni 'dance' as I would call it in my native tongue, and it’s not to be missed. Get your tickets here: http://www.suug.co.uk/freshers2011/ball/. I know Im going, then it will be books, articles and journals keeping me company for the next 8 months.

With love

Momo x