Donkalicious

After much wrangling the theme for a next house party has been decided. It's gonna be a Wigan Pier themed party. If by some horrible misfortune you haven't heard of Donk, or Wigan Pier, watch this, and then watch this donkumentary to flesh out the horror.

You can recover a bit by watching this wonderful bit of animation.

So, what's up?

Well, our house has become a home, and the third housemate, who might have been leaving to go back to Norway in June, is now staying till December. Security abides.

The rainy season is coming to a close, and the long dry awaits. I had what I think was my most American street exerience in the rain last month. 4 in the morning, thick, straight-falling rain, warm air. Hood up, head down, gotta get past the danger zone in the center of town - the homeless paradise, 'People's Park'. It feels fucking ghetto out there. Someone is walking on the opposite side of the high street, pacing backwards and forwards. i heard him shouting from some distance and as i get closer the words become clear:

"I am ALIVE! I have a god damn RIGHT to be alive... How DARE they not let me work for my family... GOD made men to LIVE damn it..."

It goes on after I have gone past.

Just another crazy in a crazy town. One more left on the curbside by the state.

Back in the 80's Reagan massively cut funding for mental health care. The result was thousands of insane people ending up on the streets. Many are still there now, and they and all the new homeless all around California they head to Berkeley. It has the highest per capita homelessness rate in America and is known to be kinder than other areas. There are soup kitchens, parks where they can camp, and guilty students with spare change. In some nearby towns, any homeless people are picked up by the police and given the bus fair to get to Berkeley. We are the people dumping ground.

But the university remains a flashpoint for revolutions. Riots and protests that began in Berkely have spread nationwide and last Thursday there were protests in the capitals of no less than 21 states in support of public funding for education. Not just university education but all levels of education. It is probably a losing battle, but those who make the least noise are killed off the fastest.

I hear that higher education in the UK is just beginning to feel the brunt of the governments monetary problems. Good luck, it is a painful process, but universities that deserve to survive will, and in time the humanities will have their funding restored.

Okay, got a bit carried away with Berkeley stuff there, back to me. I am deep in the ride now - 7 weeks down, 7 to go. Thank god we have spring break in a couple of weeks! My courses are great, and the research is interesting but I wish I had more time to do it in.

Truck no keepon x