TALK WECOMEONE

There are two kinds of sufferers in this world: those who suffer from a lack of life, and those who suffer from an over-abundance of life. I have always found myself in the second category. When you come to think of it, almost all human behavior and activity is not, essentially, any different from animal behaviour. The most advanced technologies and craftsmanship bring us, at best, up to the super-chimpanzee level.

At Wecomeone, we don’t sit on the fence - we openly support the FREE TIBET movement.

Tibet is sometimes known as the roof of the world. It’s a large country in the himalayas sandwitched between China and India. In 1947, Chinese troops invaded Tibet. The Dalai Lama (their spiritual leader) was forced to leave, and went to India. Since then Tibetians and a growing global community have been working endlessly to FREE Tibet.

We’ve complied a list of short videos for you to watch. You need to know what it is that we are ignoring. Wecomeone will always do what it can to support the Free Tibet movement - not out of any personal connection - we have no Tibetians working with us, we are not Buddhists - we support the movement because its the RIGHT thing to do.

Faith in Exile - Introduction to Tibet

What China is doing today? (5 mins)

Waking up on one cold morning with an idea of helping people is a dream, pursuing this idea and taking it further is somewhat inspirational. It is usual for us to have dreams, some realistic while others impossible. The American Dream is one idea that comes into my head about individuals who aim to have more control over their own work life but in reality it is distant and hard to achieve. But if every dream was carried further and we became more and more active, think how the world would change. Would it be for the good or would it be for the bad? 

Taking the dream further is also a challenge. As humans we can be rational and not take risks. Sometimes in life, it is about taking risks. The idea can be something completely outside the box and not appreciated by the average human being in society but others may join and instantly the idea will grow into something bigger.

Its clear what im trying to say but just a thought or dream has changed a lot of people’s lives when they have taken it further. Its nice to have ideas floating around in your head but its even nicer to put them into practice.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.                                                      

 Henry David Thoreau  

We’ve had a busy month. Our catalogues are out, and we’ve been busy sending them out, processing orders and having lots of cool brainstorming sessions on what we can do for our next catalogue.

Away from all of that, yesterday I went to watch ‘300′ - the epic about Ancient Sparta

Now I am no expert on Greek antiquity, but this film at best was a little theatrical and at worst out right drival. The story or plot is roughly accurate - and I’m being generous with the word roughly! The script however, was God awful. Essentially, you had these notions of Greeks fighting off the oppressors from the East. They make Spartan society look glorious… and, well the truth of it isn’t quite so. Spartan Society was a militaristic society with a crude hierarchy with slaves at the bottom. Children that were born weak or ‘unfit’ were left to die, so that only the best males could live. Ofcourse the film skirts over all of this as if its insignificant.

Anyhow, not all is bad. The effects were amazing, and the screenplay is a fusion between Gladiator and Sin City.

It’s worth watching if you like glorious drival. Check out the clips.

300 Trailer 

Very few know much about Leicester so here are a few interesting bits, after all this is the city that gave birth to wecomeone.

With a population of 280,000, Leicester is the largest city in the East Midlands and the tenth largest in the country. 

Did you know that Leicester is Britains 1st Environment City? Yes its true, this was declared in 1990 in recognition of the many environmental achievements made in the City together with the commitment to local sustainable development shown by a wide variety of local organisations.

If you love history and architecture then Leicester is for you. The 15th century Guildhall, the Victorian Clock Tower, the Roman Jewry Wall Museum and the Indian Jain Centre are all architectural wonders.

Leicester holds its annual carribean carnival in August, the city streets are transformed into vibrant colours and floats begin their annual parade.

We think its a great place to live.

In 2005, I traveled across North West India. I landed in the historical city of Amritsar and swiftly made my way to Dharmashala. This is where the Dalai Lama now lives since being forced to leave Tibet by the Chinese.
From Dharmashala I made my way across the shallow tips of the Himalayas to a small isolated village located 2200m above sea level called Gangotri. A steep 48km from this remote location is a peak called Tapovan. It took me the best part of 2 days to trek to this peak. Its icy glaciers give life to the Great River Ganga which sustains over 120 million people along its way to the sea.
On my way to this peak, I had barely seen another person.  The occasional villager carrying a sack full of fire sticks, who would politely nod as he walked by, was all the human contact I had.  The air was thin.  The days were crispy, and the nights were freezing. This had been the longest I had ever gone without speaking to anyone and the silence brought about a unique appreciation for the stunning landscape around me. The dusty trail was surrounded by steep banks on either side, covered with long ever greens.  The landscape drastically changed as I approached the peak. It became dry and even dustier. Every time the wind blew I was forced to cover my face and close my eyes.
At the peak, when I finally reached it, with a sore back and a devastated pair of legs, I saw something truly fictional. I saw men, old men and young men alike wearing nothing but a piece of cloth covering their ‘delicate’ bits. There I was, in my trekking boots, two thermals, sweater and thick jacket with a wooly hat.  And I was still not that warm! And here before my very eyes were men, skinny, malnourished men, wearing hardly anything at 3500m above sea level. I was astonished.  These men were no ordinary men. They had huge thick dreadlocks accompanied by thick long beards and eyes that could pierce walls.  I saw these men meditating on ice, balancing their entire bodies on one finger and men that hadn’t sat down in 30 years.
This was no ordinary place. Few ‘normal’ people ever visit here.  The trek is treacherous. The men I had seen were Sadhu’s (holy men) who had renounced the world. 
This was a truly incredible journey and the highlight of my adventure in India.   
 

A couple of weeks back, I met a real gentleman, a guy called Sandeep. He has created an organisation called Darbar - a celebration of South Asian Cultural Music. He brings together the cream of classical Indian artists in the UK.

I have now been to two of these performances. They take place once a month at Phenoix Arts in Leicester, Derby and some other place, which I can’t remember. He left a complementary ticket the first time, to entice me to come. You see, am a sceptic when it comes to music. I have little to no knowledge of music classical or any other!

Relectantly, I went. To my surprise I spent the 1st hour listening to these artists talk about their instrument, how it works, its history, where it came from and how they got into it. These artists spent time to tell me about their journey in the world of music, it was fascinating. Their musical journey was like my philosohical journey, expect their’s sound nicer! I was hooked. The next hour was the most amazing piece of instrumental I’d ever heard. It was beautiful.

I now go every month in Leicester. If you want to find out more visit: http://www.darbar.org.uk/ 

It’s a gorgeous day outside, which is why I’m writing this post while sitting outside on my laptop.

Yesterday, I dropped Dong at the airport, he was on his way to South Korea. Soeul to be precise. Here’s some facts about Korea, that i found really interesting:

A few stories from Dean’s Korea…
Did you know that the average broadband speed in S. Korea is 100MB?
Did you know that in the 1940’s Korea was poorer than some African countries?  Now it is the 11^th largest economy and is one the most technically advanced countries in the world.  Dean has always maintained that Korea is what it is today because of good leadership and the Korean emphasis on family run businesses. 
Korea’s Independence Day (from Japan) is 15^th August 1945.  Two years later on the same date India was made independent (from Britain). 
Did you know that Seoul is the world’s tenth largest city with a population of 10 million?
Did you know that the Korean script is based on the shapes our tongue has to make in order to pronounce the word?

I’ve had a busy week so far and today was no different.  Today, as I do occasionally, have felt detached. This afternoon the sun shone directly into my eyes from the office window. Normally, my first reaction would be to shut the blinds…but not today.  Instead, I stared back at the world outside. I watched the people walk on by, some rushing, some dreaming, others laughing and one poor soul even crying. The sun felt warm on my skin, as I just kept still, not particularly thinking anything.

I like moments like those, where I think nothing and my mind is still. The world seems clearer in those moments. My brief moment of silence was broken as the phone rang to remind me that I better put something up on the blog for today! 

Silence is more revealing than thoughts.

Another valentine gone, another hole in the wallet and if you’re a student, it’s even deadlier. I was in the local supermarket trying to look for a last minute gift; I didn’t want to give a rose but rather something we could share. I found chocolate. But this year I happened to notice something that surprised me, it was the amount of chocolate being bought. I went and looked at the figures and found that Chocolate accounts for around 70% of the whole UK confectionery market, and we spend £3.75billion a year, on chocolate. That’s 500,000 tonnes of it every year. It’s estimated that each person consumes 14kg of chocolate, we come second in Europe. It’s only the Swiss who eat more, but we can understand that, it’s the place were Toblerone comes from. I wanted to find out how chocolate became so popular and why it’s one of the world’s favourite flavours. 

We would think of chocolate as a sweet confectionary but it dates back 2,000 years ago and was discovered in the tropical rainforests of America. The ancient cultures including the Maya and Aztecs first discovered the tasty secrets of chocolate. It wasn’t eaten; it was made into a bitter drink and seasoned with spices. It was drunk only by the most important and noble men. The Spanish people brought the seeds to Europe, where new recipes were created and the love of chocolate spread through Europe in the space of 100 years. Since then, new technologies and innovations have turned it into one of the world’s favourite confectionary.
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the Theobroma cocoa tree. Theobroma is Greek for ‘food of the gods’. Mass produced chocolate tends to have less cocoa solids and this is replaced by artificial substitutes, these are the things that give it the bad reputation. More exquisite chocolate is the one that’s been processed naturally and for longer, it tends to feel smoother.

Chocolate is made to contain chemicals which create a mood elevating effect; more chemicals are added to regulate these moods. Even more chemicals are added to prevent high concentration of these chemicals entering the brain. Studies show that certain chemicals make you crave for chocolate when you feel rejected or depressed. It is said chocolate can help you with a cough. It’s also an aphrodisiac, not sure if that’s true but it is a famous ritual for most occasions. Chocolate triggers the release of chemicals in the brain which produce feelings of pleasure, so it was a great cover up for a valentine’s gift and will continue to be my saviour for every forgotten occasion in the future.

Since 2,000 years chocolate has played an important role in our social lives. Chocolate was used in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events. Priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods for good fortune and served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies. Every year I must make offerings of chocolate to the better half in exchange for good fortune.

Kay (Wecomeone Team)