Varied ramblings on a Friday the 13th

Chicken feet

Playing THIS SONG will set the mood for this post ;)

Alan arrived in Vancouver on last Thursday. Food was consumed at Kirin Restaurant.  Food was good, company was fun, and for the first time in my life I ate chicken feet.  Quite yummy actually ;-)

Alan left again on Sunday, but not after watching me eat breakfast (He had to leave room for Dim Sum) at Cloud 9.  Food is still mediocre with a price tag of $16, which is actually a great deal for sitting as long as one wants at a table overlooking Vancouver with an absolute absence of car noise and even unlimited food thrown in ;-)





Again it's time to realize that most of us actually lead a quite decadent life, given how far our pleasures are removed from the basic necessities of life (see above) so it's time to remember the misery of most people.

Not my pic. The name we call these people starts with 'Refugees'

Apparently last week another 300 refugees from Libya died in the Mediterranean when their boats sank.  This happens about once a week and has been going on for years.  But apparently these lives are not as important as those of paying passengers on Cruise Ships or Car ferries, where the news coverage would be much louder and changes to avoid such a tragedy would be enacted swiftly.  Refugees from Africa apparently don't deserve that; their deaths are viewed and accepted quickly.  And everyone does that with a tiny bit of relief; Europe does not have to share its wealth with these 300.  

goes on with 'Migrants' or '

If you find that giving up some of your wealth to save some young Africans from drowning is a good idea, go to THIS WEBSITE. (A Maltese couple decided to do something and financed a boat to rescue people.  The Christening of the boat did not use Champagne but Holy Water while a priest told the crew that they were "On a Mission from God". ;-)   Thanks Francis !  And when you thinking about sharing, first think hard about whether YOU really deserved the 'lottery win' of having been born in the First World instead of some hopeless hut in Mogadishu.
The argument usually used to justify our 'First World' rank is that all other nations are LAZY and consequently don't deserve the spoils of this world.  Do you actually think that a person that somehow managed to travel all across Africa to take a boat to Europe can be called lazy?  I don't think many people in the First World would get their behind off the couch for such an endeavour !  

and ends with 'economic refugees. How about just 'Young people with Hope'? (Not my pic)

While I am thinking about issues on the larger scale, it occurs to me that on Saturday is Valentine's Day.  Some people hate Christmas and I think I might be avoiding Valentine's Day for a long while.  My Valentine died last year and February 14th also happens to be my Spare Mom's birthday.  Double Whammy they call it, I believe.  Ah well, all in all not too bad for a Friday the 13th ;-)

But there is another saying. It's always darkest just before dawn.  So it just seems fitting that Valentine's Day for me this year will mean driving to the airport and travelling to a country where people are happy to find just one type of shampoo/toothpaste/whatever in the store.  None of those bitter old faces with engraved angry wrinkles stalking the moisturiser aisle desperately searching for THEIR brand of miracle cure.  HINT: The most beautiful people are those that produce an honest smile.

Not my picture