12th August
Or so the backrest display says, only 5,147 miles from Heathrow, heading homewards at 552 mph.
My favourite bird is the pelican, ungainly on the ground but magnificent in the air - just like a 747; the problem in following the analogy to its logical conclusion, is that Mum, Laura and I, ensconced in its belly, would then be half masticated fish, and it all gets pretty disgusting. I do like 747’s though, their first flight coincided with the release of ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ - my era, a dream of mass, affordable travel, uncomplicated by questions of carbon footprints and sustainable ‘eco-tourism’. Ah well, that was then, and this is now…or at least as near as damn it to whatever now the time zone we’re in says it is. - 1.54 Friday morning in Hong Kong, 6:00 the previous evening in London…God knows what time up here in the clouds, but I’m feeling pretty mellow thanks to two small bottles of really terrible Spanish wine kindly provided for free by B.A.
Talking of now, it is odd to read in the local TV news of London being described as a war zone, all the places we’ve visited seem so well ordered, Hong Kong especially, no litter, no graffiti, no police on the streets. Hong Kong came as a complete revelation to me, it’s like having a futuristic version of the familiar played back to you - the same fashions, the same pop music, the same Japanese cars, familiar street names like Gloucester Road and Victoria Park, but transformed into a Sci-Fi film set, part ‘The Jetsons’ part Bladerunner.
Nothing quite illustrates this better than the world of tee-shirt slogans - Hong Kong citizens, young and old, do like their emblazoned tee-shirts. Cartoon characters, from Disney, through ‘Hello Kitty,’to the Smurfs are popular - but not as popular as the art of the random English phrase. Older adherents like the aphorism, from the uplifting, but trite, ‘BE YOURSELF’ to the thought provoking, if slightly sinister, DESIGN IS THE MOTHER OF EFFICIENCY. However, it’s the younger enthusiasts of the phatic that help you realise that most of the time the fashionistas sporting these phrases have little or no idea of what the words actually mean, nor one supsects do the designers. How else can you explain ‘ASPIDISTRA COOL’ or the word SUBURBAN singing out in a flame red and gold ‘death metal’ font in the front of a 5’ 2”, bespectacled skinny kid. Than there are the strange adoption of corporate or institutional tees - like SHEFFIELD HALLAM, or, the even more esoteric - AEROSPATIALE 1987 - I mean just what was it about the late 80’s activity of the Toulouse based subsidiary of Airbus Industries which make it so cool in HK in 2011?
And of course, what is happening is the signs and symbols which have meaning in one culture get adopted in another for quite different reasons and take on new connotations. The English words have lost their original meaning - now they just mean the West is cool and trendy and can be adopted as a simple fashion accessory.
Ironically, as the youth of Hong Kong voraciously consume designer goods, - more Gucci shops than Mcdonalds.- marauding mobs in Manchester loot and burn the very same designer shops.
I’m left thinking of how, in the First Century BC the Greek Cities of the near east, Persepolis, Alexandria, continued Greek Art, Architecture and style, but ditched all those tricky issues to do with Democracy, and Athens itself became a mere trinket in the Roman empire for rich Romans to become paying consumers of Socratic discourse - is that the future for the West? To be absorbed into a corporate, globalised world where having a cooler mobile than your mate becomes a primary aspiration. Goodbye the Enlightenment and dreams of individual freedom - I mean who needs to be enfranchised when you could have Lincoln’s Gettyburg Address printed on your tee shirt.
It’s goodnight from Dad, afloat now over Ulam Bator - and see you both tomorrow - big big hugs!!!!
xxxxxx