I have been in and out of surgeries etc recently what with one thing and another. Today, I had yet another appointment (in the overloaded borough of Tower Hamlets) and as I was waiting - my appointment was late - it struck me just how hard these guys work. The doctors, the nurses, the receptionists - at every practice I’ve ever attended they regularly work late, take longer than the allotted time over appointments if necessary, and are invariably kind and polite. The NHS can get a lot of stick for the waiting lists and understaffing. What I have to say is I think they do an amazing job. Thank you to all the good people who work for the NHS. I think you do a brilliant job.

PS: as I was writing this, the nurse I saw today phoned me to tell me my prescription was wrong and she was really sorry about it. She was ever so nice. It’s not brilliant, but by ‘eck would we be stuffed if these guys weren’t around.

I remember someone who in all other respects was not very wise saying something that I’ve heard repeated and reworded many times ever since, but it has stuck with me for years. “You make your own luck”, he said as he filled in an application form to do a course. He had no qualifications for it, but it didn’t stop him, and it didn’t stop them letting him do it either. The irony of it is, that he dropped the course half way through. The moral is that he got on the course in the first place; if you don’t ask you don’t get.

So it struck me that there are a few ways that I make my own luck. One way is the act of going for things, trying things. I think it’s a good policy to know your limitations and either push them or adhere to them according to circumstance. However, the making of luck that really tickles me is of the type I employ whenever I’m going for an interview or having to give a performance. There’s a common trick, which repulses me, of trying to imagine the people in front of you on the toilet. Eurgh. Seriously, that’s gross. My way is much better.

I started doing things my way by accident. I was giving a big talk at the Royal Institution of Great Britain and I was rather nervous. I went to the loo before I had to give the talk - nerves you know - and I realized I was wearing my thong inside out. It cracked me up that I would be going and talking to this audience of austere scientists with an inside-out thong on, and my nerves evaporated. Since then, when I have to face people in a nerve-wrecking situation, I’ve always tried to do something inconspicuously humourous, whether it be backwards knickers, comedy socks or a funny note in my pocket. My favourite one has to be the most recent though. I went for an interview last year for a job I really wanted. I didn’t want to rely on comedy socks for this one; I had to think of something else. As I was getting dressed I moved the jeans I’d been wearing the previous day, and out of the pocket fell the penny I’d picked up off the road (see a penny…). Having no pockets in my interview trousers, I employed the age-old tradition of women in pocketless clothes - I stuffed it in my bra.

Knowing there was a penny in my bra, how could I possibly be nervous? Of course, I forever have to live with the terrible uncertainty of whether I got the job because I deserved it, or if it was down purely to the magic of the bra-penny.

Most of us have felt the conflict between wanting to fly and knowing it is bad for the planet.

So get this: stopping flying to combat climate change is not an option – at least according to the boss of chocolate makers Green & Black’s, quoted in the Guardian’s eco blog.

In the same blog, the chief exec of British Airways, Willie Walsh, is quoted suggesting that a third runway at Heathrow airport might actually benefit the climate. Well, he would say that, but neither individuals nor government are happy making sacrifices to combat climate change.

In the same month that Ed Miliband, the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary, heads to Germany to discuss the agenda for December’s UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen, the latest offerings on climate change highlight the discrepancy between our personal decisions and official policy on emissions targets.

Nicholas Stern opined at this year’s Guardian Hay festival that the decision to go ahead with a third runway at Heathrow did not take into account UK carbon policies.

When I attended the most recent flashmob protest against Heathrow’s third runway earlier this month, I asked the John Stewart, of protest group HACAN Clearskies, why the third runway was so important.

“Although aviation may not be the biggest carbon emitter in the UK, it is the fastest growing,” he said. “For Heathrow in particular, a third runway would increase emissions related to the airport to the point where it would be the biggest single CO2 producer in the UK, overtaking the coal fired power station Drax.”

At the same protest, John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington where Heathrow is situated, pre-empted Stern’s sentiments by describing the third runway as an “iconic battleground on climate change in terms of airport expansion”. He went on to pronounce to cheering flashmobbers that he believed there would be no third runway: “I think we’ve won, but no one in the government is prepared to admit it.”

It seems that, if plans for Heathrow’s third runway proceed, it will be seen as a message that there is no substantial commitment to stopping climate change. Given the severity of the predicted consequences for global warming, you’d think that governments and populace alike would be jumping to make drastic changes to the way we live.

Governments have a duty to take all of its decisions with emissions policies in mind, but we all have a responsibility when it comes to climate change. Cheap weekend breaks, taking the car rather than walking… When it comes to the crunch, it seems very few of us are prepared to sacrifice life’s luxuries over something that might happen dozens of years down the line. Most of us only get out and do something when it’s our homes that are threatened.

I know I have been as guilty of this as anyone else. I’ve tried to “do my bit” for the environment. But my individual decisions, just like those made on a national scale, are a trade off between convenience and good intentions. Global temperatures are rising, so remind me – what’s the road to hell paved with?

On my way home last night I ran into a Critical Mass ride at the junction of Goswell and Clerkenwell Roads in London to commemorate the passing of a cyclist there a couple of weeks ago. I saw the accident scene just after it had happened, and I joined the ride for a while. When I went further on my way, I saw some graffiti opposite Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road. Especially after the CM ride, I was struck by the starkness of it. In large and uncomplicated writing, a panel fence of the building site screamed for “Justice for Ian Tomlinson”. There’s a change in the air. There are shops closing down, there are people losing jobs, people losing hours, losing pay. We’re getting angrier, and we’re getting more active. Sometimes, just sometimes, I get back my hope that maybe we can effect a change. Maybe now the time is right. Something’s coming.

Just got in from Bishopsgate after heading down to try to get into Climate Camp. We took provisions down with us to distribute amongst the campers, but were met with a wall of police at the North entrance, and were prevented from entering.
A considerable body of people were waiting to see if the police might let us past, mostly peacefully sitting or standing, a lot of people with cameras, and one guy playing the fiddle. When we asked a policewoman in riot gear if we’d be able to get in, she said not any time soon. She seemed exasperated, and told us they’d been moved here from another area.
There were clearly some troublemakers in the crowd. We were approached by a guy who asked us which side we were on, and told us there was going to be a “big party” heading down this way soon, and were we ready. Well, it turned out that there was a big push from the police in the direction he was saying, so who knows which side he was on. Tired of waiting for us to get bored, the police decided to move us out by pushing back North up Bishopsgate. They would threaten ringfencing by coming up behind us, and then in short spurts they would push us ahead of them, sometimes using force - I saw a couple of people hit with batons and brought to the ground, one girl was bleeding having been rammed into with a shield and brought down. I also saw one officer push someone off his bike, which I thought was particularly unfair. It’s only fair to say that there were troublemakers in our little breakaway group too; some glass bottles were thrown into the oncoming police ranks. I was quite proud of us though, mainly we were peaceful, playing drums, clapping and advancing up as far as Shoreditch High Street, bringing traffic to a halt. I feel sorry for the people who were waiting for buses, but we were forced up the roads by the advance of the police.
After about an hour of being chased off, our breakaway band was down to about 25 people. The police were being brought in to deal with us, so my co-protester and I sloped off down the backstreets to go back to the North entrance. On our way, we saw these terrifying, armoured police vehicles heading East. The were gliding along silently, fitted with armour plating and grilles. I counted 6, plus a regular police van, and was struck by the irony of what I had just witnessed the police doing to a fairly peaceful protest, when juxtaposed with the motto painted on the side of the black tanks passing me: “working for a safter London”.
Our adventure ended when we made it back to the North gate, only to be unceremoniously manhandled away (there were fewer of us now, and manhandling was, therefore, an option). As we were being “moved on”, I glanced back over my shoulder and saw hordes of policemen filing into the camp. Turning my eyes North again, I was confronted with row upon row of police vans lying in wait. I can only guess what was going to happen to the brave campers who were still ringfenced inside the square mile.

My love for you is blinding like the sun,
Its purity and splendour ne’er outdone,
It pales the stars and moon, the orb’s undone,
All shamed and to the earth are loath to come,
By forces old and pow’rful, yet so young,
My heart is bound to thine and made as one.

Bucky O’Hare’s Ship
I am not chain, I am not ball,
I do not smother or control.
I’ll not be made into what I’m not,
By dint of your accusations.
Don’t punish me,
Every time you see,
Your own damn limitations.
I am not chain, I am not ball,
I do not aquiesce.
I will not be chain, I’ll be no ball
Rather, be nought to you at all.

Love/Love
Hold on tight
While we spin in the dark
A dance, unchoreographed
Half understood, half chance
The drum beats and bursts
Jellied legs on fumbling feet
Dizzy exhaustion clouds
Crying eyes
Hold on tight

Hold on tight
So the force doesn’t claim me
Pull me near, keep me closer
As it pulls me away
Anchor to the floor
Dig your heels in, put your foot down
And no rain will come to hide my
Crying eyes
Hold on tight

Destroyer - awesome! From a member of the New Pornographers
Breakestra
Elf Power - totally brilliant!!
Red Root - very exciting and touring with Pete Doherty
The Popsocks - highly entertaining hippity hop

http://tinyurl.com/d7wmox and search austen to find the review!

There is purportedly a burgeoning arts scene in Bangkok, and I have spent quite a lot of the last week trying to find it. It seems that the rule is as follows: If it’s meant to be there, it won’t be. If you aren’t looking, you’ll turn a corner and find it. I must have spent hours and walked miles in the heat, hunting for galleries that either no longer exist or are inexplicably closed with no indication of when they may reopen. The most exciting was my visit to Tadu Gallery in the Barcelona Motors Building, which my trusty (ha!) Lonely Planet indicated was a “major centre for experimental art, culture and conversation” close to the Thailand Cultural Centre metro stop. In fact it’s about a half mile trek down a hot and polluted 3-lane road to find, in my case, an empty and unmanned space full of boxes atop a BMW dealership. I’m sure that when they have exhibits, the exhibits are great, but from the information I could find there it seemed that these are few and far between - hardly a hive of activity.

The one exception to that, and I think we were lucky to find it, was Subconsciouscape by Noraset Vaisayakul at Galley VER in Klong Sarn Plaza building, Klong Sarn Market. Getting there was an adventure in itself, involving the BTS (skytrain) and 2 ferries. When we got there, we navigated our way up a foreboding and unlit stairwell past what can only be described as heaps of junk. Just as the floor came to eyelevel, we were greeted by an extraordinarily intricate and energetic, life-sized pencil sketch of a dog that had been drawn on the wall. On an almost empty shelving unit had been placed a clay sculpture of a head. We found the unassuming door to the gallery opposite piles of wood and cardboard; on the wall by the entrance was the brochure for the exhibition, so at least we knew we were in the right place. On entering, however, all we found was an alcove with a tv on wheels, and a huge, triangular box constructed from mdf and 2by4s, suspended from the ceiling. Timidly, we walked accross the room to a doorway, through which was emanating lots of excited Thai conversation. I stuck my head through, and was greeted by 6 men and a video camera. I slunk back, but was followed by a man who turned out to be Noraset himself. It turns out that he and his exhibit were being filmed for a Thai tv show and, as the camera man followed him when he came to talk to us, so were we!

He asked us to come back after the interview. So, we went and explored the area and returned in 30 minutes, a little unsure of what might greet us given my previous 6 or so experiences with Thai art galleries. When we were shown the installation by Noraset, it turned out that you sit in the ‘control area’ and use a wireless remote to explore the terrain that Noraset constructed - his subconscious - within the aforementioned triangle. You control the direction of movement of a robot, and the direction of view of the camera, in order to journey through the strange, eerily beautiful world that is the inside of Noraset’s head. The robot is a bit hard to control, the camera a little fuzzy, and the terrain is jagged and bumpy. You often get stuck and disorientated; but every so often, you are suddenly confronted with something beautifully etherial that quite simply takes your breath away. It is a perfect allegory of the building of a relationship with someone. Seriously, Noraset’s installation is absolute genius.

So, for anyone hanging around Bangkok at the moment here are my tips for getting to see good contemporary art:

1. Go to Gallery VER, it’s amazing! but the installation is only there until Feb 14th. Get to it by taking a ferry to stop 3 on the river - Si Phraya. Turn left and walk up past the big hotel, turn left again and that takes you to the river crossing pier of Si Phraya - from here cross to Klong Sarn. Walk into the market, go down the 2nd row of stalls and VER is very obviously on your right.
2. Go to the Thailand Cultural Centre changing exhibitions gallery to see a wide range of Thai art. Some of the sculpture is astounding, and there are obvious Thai influences in some of the very original work you see there.
3. Go to Chatuchak market for a load of amazing stalls. My favourite, and a guy from whom I bought, is Kongsak Poonpholwattanaporn, who is also exhibited at…
4. Zen: The Art of Living on the 8th floor of Central World, Chit Lom or Siam BTS - new trends in furniture and art, some amazing chairs!
5. More design than art, Moody at MetroMall in Asok / Sukumvit change over.
6. The cafe next to Zen on floor 3 of Central World has some intriguing art on the walls at the moment - not worth a special trip but if you’re that way for #4 then it’s worth popping in.

NB: I haven’t had time to see the university art galleries, but given the quality of the artwork I’ve seen here, IF they are open, I think they’d be worth a trip. I’m too tired of tramping around in the heat to go out to them on my last day in the city though!

Finally - get GuRu magazine for tips on what’s on and from there you can find places that will have leaflets. It’s always a gamble to find places here, but if you persevere it can sometimes really pay off. Don’t give up due to the frustration of the daft, hit-and-miss Bangkok address systems.