Swine Flu, Muppets and Red-necks

Isn't it funny how just about every serious contagious disease starts with "flu like symptoms" (Dengue, Malaria, Swine flu, Avian flu, SARS, Ross River Fever), and also how as soon as the latest outbreak makes the news the hospitals the world over get flooded by Muppet's with "flu like symptoms" claiming to have swine flu even though the closest they've come to Mexico and a pig is a microwave pork burrito from a service station. Amazing!

Whilst I don't believe this latest outbreak is quite the threat that the media is making out(although I do feel for the families of the people who have lost their lives), I do hold grave concerns about the lasting effects the outbreak will have. I sense that as more people lose their lives in America, more and more rednecks in Texas and in fact all over the world will start sprouting rubbish about how this is perfect evidence of why immigration needs to be controlled.

If you are currently harbouring these thoughts as you read this, I beg you, please just take the time to think about it. Illegal immigrants don't spread contagious diseases; they simply die from them. These outbreaks are spread by rich people like you and I who jet around the world at an alarming pace! Then when we get sick, we simply pop a couple of codral and soldier on, ensuring that our germs are spread to every poor bastard on the subway/bus/train.

And for those currently suffering from "Flu like symptoms": WAKE UP... Its a COLD!

The darkness lifts

For those that haven't had the pleasure of basking in a glorious Beijing winter you may not be able to fully understand how it feels to have all the colour sucked out of your surroundings and life. For the last four months everything in Beijing has been grey. The leafless trees, the buildings, the cars, the hills in the distance and most disturbingly the people.

Case in point, the man in our building who is charged with the protection and general safe keeping of everyone's bikes has been very dark of late. No matter how cheerily I say 'Ni Hao' the response is always silence and the stink eye.

However, now that the mercury has tipped 27, and the blossoms are blooming, the birds are singing and the insects are buzzing, his mood has changed. He whistles, sings and has even started trying his best English impersonation with the occasional, 'Good Evening' (regardless of the actual time!)

Point is, the darkness that had descended on both Beijing and me, has lifted. The colour is back, the life force is back and anything is possible!

In response to this revival I decided to get a good old fashion beating at the hands of a Chinese masseuse to get the life force pumping again. However, my energy flow was more blocked than I originally realised and so she suggested an age old technique to clear the channels; a scraping.

Please see the physical results below... and watch this space for updates on whether it worked or not.

Spring has Sprung people... anything is possible!