Saturday, February 21, 2009

<< Crazy Season !! >>


So the weekend is here and I'm all charged up with enthusiasm, ready to make my next lesson. For this particular video I'm going to fill in the gap that was left by the replacement of lesson 10. The original lesson ten was about fear, but I was never really happy with the quality of that particular video, so recently I remade it as a later lesson and the original was deleted, thus leaving an empty space in my lesson list. It was always my intention to replace it with a new lesson. So what should be lesson 48, will in fact be lesson 10. (Does that make sense?)

I really love this time of year because the weather becomes milder and the first wisps of Spring dance merrily around and of course the nights become shorter. If I was honest then I would have to say that early Spring is my favourite time of year. The feeling of transition from the cold, dull Winter days to the bright and blowy Spring ones literally puts a 'spring' in my step.

Of course along with Spring comes the crazy season, when people behave in the most peculiar way. I think it is a kind of release from the short days and long bitter nights of Winter, or perhaps it is just that there are a lot of crazy people out there, but there can be no doubt that this time of year makes many people go doo-lally!

From my recent visits to the local shopping centre, there certainly seems to be an air of madness about, as people swarm in to the shops looking for the bargains and then walking proudly out, clutching their newly purchased possessions, all tucked away inside glaringly branded plastic carrier bags. This really does (not) seem like the behaviour of a nation in the grips of a recession. If things are so bad, then why are we still spending like there is no tomorrow? I love watching people and there is no better place for doing this than in shopping malls. I'm always struck by the blank and vacant expressions on the faces of the shoppers as they wind their way around from shop to shop, making a mental note as they walk along, of what to buy next and how much they can save, thanks to the misfortunes of other people.

Of course I don't blame them, as we are being encouraged to carry on as if nothing is happening. The message from the people in power is, 'keep on shopping, inject your cash back into the economy as fast as you can!'. This is all very well and good, but there is one small problem. Most of us are already deep in debt with our mortgages and credit cards, so just how are we supposed to do this? Yes you have guessed it...Borrow more money! This is like giving a child who just smashed your window a big pile of bricks and leading him to your greenhouse!

Maybe it really is because of the arrival of Spring and the general feeling of craziness that tends to go with it, or maybe it's because we are all blindly following the same behaviour that got us all into this mess in the first place. I really want us all to learn our lesson, but sadly it seems that may never happen. The desire for those shiny things and the chance to make another person jealous of us is a very strong one and is not likely to go away soon.

(Misterduncan) .....................................................




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi Misterduncan why you not reply my letters ? i am still waitting .

Anonymous said...

Hello, James!
Welcome back! :)
To be precise, we were not annoyed people, but disappointed and sad.

On youtube you can’t post a big letter. To send one you have to divide it into parts and this is really annoying!

Here, in Cyprus, the winter is the best season for me, because the summer is very hot! You can’t breathe because of scorching and humid air. There is a big problem with fresh water in Cyprus. Nobody knows that a lot of villages in this island receive the water only 2 times a week in the summer months and have to collect the water in gang-сasks. The best thing that can happen is rain. That’s why all native people wait for this cold and rainy season.
I have taken my baths in the sea all the time I am in Cyprus. I think that the temperature of the winter water here may be little more cooler then the temperature of Neva’s River water (St.Petersburg) in the summer.

You wrote that you like watching people in shopping malls. I think that I am happier then other people, because I don't like and avoid going shopping. It’s waste of time for me. In that way I eliminated one of the possible sources of negative emotions for me :).

Irina.

Anonymous said...

Oh… Your message is so sad! Especially in the end :)
Do you really think that people spent money just “to make another person jealous of us”???? I do not want to believe you in such case!
The spring is closer and closer, and we are more and more mad :) Come on, leave your computer and spend couple of hours outside. Your mood will be significantly improved!

天天 said...

Hello Misterduncan~
There are some words to block my comprehension.Would you please explain?
I'm always 'struck' by the blank and vacant expressions on the faces of the shoppers as they 'wind' their way around from shop to shop, making a 'mental note' as they walk along, of what to buy next and how much they can save, thanks to the misfortunes of other people.

Anonymous said...

Hello, James!
I know, that you are very busy, but I need some explanations too :)
"I'm not a fan of green screen, but if push comes to shove, then I will have to give it a go!"
Sorry, I didn't get the meaning of this expression.
Irina

Anonymous said...

It seems that duncan is a veritable busy man:)Sping comes and many people become gone mad. Why this behavior affects people in every corner all over the world?
especially in China :)