Tuesday 5 May 2009

Nostalgia

I don't know what's been going on with my mind the last few days, but for some reason I keep thinking back to happy days growing up and living in England. The country has become a cesspit in recent years with an increasingly "Big Brother" government so why on earth have I had these feelings? Have you read George Orwell's book "Nineteen Eighty-Four"? The latest attempt by the government to introduce a widely-hated national ID card scheme now has them forcing it on a group of unwilling professionals "voluntarily".

The voluntary bit is that the pilots don't have to partake in the scheme. If they don't, however, they can't work as they'll need the ID to get access to their aircraft. That's ignoring the current situation where pilots have to go through the same security as us passengers and can't take a tube of toothpaste larger than 100-ml with them onto the aircraft because it might explode. Let's forget the fact that once on the flight deck the pilots will be be able to crash the aircraft into their building of choice whether they have that toothpaste or not - or turn their "office" into a bloody murder scene with a quick swing of the crash axe.

Sorry, I'm going off the point. I miss England although I don't want to live there ever again. Despite my opinion though, I still have happy memories of the place. I lived in Preston, Lancashire, for seven years of my life after growing up near London and made many good friends there and still miss the friendly locals and some great pubs!

Today I came across this youtube video. It's not the greatest movie in the world but memories of Preston town centre came flooding back. The song's quite nice as well.



I don't think I saw one CCTV in that video. It must have been taken a long time ago...

2 comments:

Zuzana said...

Tom, I think I can relate to your feelings. There is something that happens to anyone who leaves one country and relocates to another; not for week or months, but for years and maybe decades. Although even though successfully assimilated by the customs and tradition of the new country, underneath it all, something is always missing. Like a piece of puzzle that is for ever lost, never to complete the picture.
And the most saddest thing of all is that even if you would go back, you go back to something alien that you do not recognize.
This is the burden of every emigrant, one that can only adequately be understood by another, at best.
Eventually and ironically, this is something that becomes an issue as we grow older and reflect upon our life.
I too am struggling with similar thoughts and sentiments.

I really enjoyed the video clip; it has a very special atmosphere and I think I know how it might make you feel.
The song was really good.

Tom said...

Protege - your comments deserve more than just a quick response from me here. I'm going to think about writing a post addressing what you said. Keera also posted something a little while ago and I think I mentioned at the time I would write about things I miss and things I like here. I need a little time to compose my thoughts properly (plus I'm busy at work), but thank you for your comments. They're very special and quite deep!

Tom