Disasterjunkie DJ's emergency ipod - on the riot track

Thousands of miles away from home, I was gobsmacked to watch the recent events in UK cities and towns unfold.....the rioting, needless violence and looting (and that was David Cameron as a young lad) and then I was tremendously encouraged by the community outpouring of the 'keep calm and carry on' spirit during clean up and repair of our communities....

What soundtrack could possibly accompany this real-life unfolding drama?

Well in my own way of coming to terms with the crisis, here's my top ten:

I predict a riot - Kaiser Chiefs 
I'm the leader of the gang - Gary Glitter
Breaking glass - Hazel O'Connor
My generation - The Who
London calling - The Clash
Money for nothing - Dire Straits
Ghost town - The Specials
Every breath you take (I'll be watching you) - The Police
One step beyond - Madness
The wombling song - The Wombles of Wimbledon


An alternative way of letting of steam in the same vein as the 'keep calm and carry on' spirit is to say (and for those of you with sensitive demeanors please shut your eyes or turn away now) ......

Disasterjunkie jargonbuster 4 - Humanitarian space

Humanitarian space.......the final frontier. Another little gem from the aid bablefish that needs a teensy bit of jargonbusting...

According to the Oxford online dictionary, as mentioned in disasterjunkie's jargonbuster 3,  a

humanitarian - is a person or groups concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare

and

space - the dimensions of height, depth, and width within which all things exist and move; the physical universe beyond the earth's atmosphere

so if we put them together we might come up with something like this

"humanitarian space is the physical universe beyond the earth's atmosphere within which humanitarians exist and move"

Imagine that, humanitarians moving about in outer space delivering inter-galactic aid without any national, international, or planetary borders, where flash appeal means "Flash, aaah....aaah......saviour of the universe"

Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo.....hmmmm Planet Mongo, sounds like a new NGO doesn't it? Not to be confused with mango, the fruit. Maybe it is the Martian Organisation for Neighouring Galaxy Outreach.  After all there are a lot of aliens that might need protection and assistance or durable solutions to help them return home or resettle elsewhere. The Men in Black have been doing that since the late 1990s....

 

Just think of the rights of vulnerable aliens, like the Daleks, for example, who are often discriminated against and excluded and might require special measures in place for them to be able to access aid.

And what about those creatures, humanoid, android or other that might require a little bit of tlc and psychosocial support after many years travelling a the speed of light, getting sucked into worm holes or caught in the cross fire of star wars? Well Red Dwarf has been providing that service for years too. Just take a look at a clip from one of their counselling sessions.

So I do believe we have plenty of opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and support to help us to prepare for multi-dimensional missions.  As one of my favourite inter-galactic logisticians, Mr Spock, said "It's life, Captain, but not as we know it", we must be ready to save lives wherever and whenever we are needed.


If you are feeling kind of Kevin at the moment (oh come on people, work it out, you are an intelligent life form are you not?)

As I said, if you are feeling a little bit Kevin these days and in need of  a new mission that is out of this world, don't klingon to the past, do the Timewarp instead.

Switch to warp drive and get ready to meet a Star man! And with that I'll leave you with the wise words of Ziggy Stardust

"There's a starman waiting in the sky

He'd like to come and meet us 

but he thinks he'd blow our minds.

There' a starman waiting in the sky

He's told us not to blow it

Cause he knows its all worthwhile.

He told me:

Let the children lose it

Let the children use it

Let all the children boogie"