my ebony tower part 3 travelling

ah the library

i say you can tell the prospects of a community by its library or lack of library
like some might say you can tell a city by its quality of night life

and i saw why i do not frequently escape the walls of my own enclosure

it was a horrific experience
and it embarrassed me

and that this establishment and its inhabitants were a reflection of me
and i did not like what i saw

in a hypothetical if someone had a wondrous gift to share and rightly but in this case wrongly surmised
that within the bosom of books i would find many awake to admire this addition this gift

to start of there were these kids supposedly studying but shouting profanities regularly being dissuaded from their task
and to find a few hours from closing time that the paper they were doing was on the easiest of difficulties and they had taken the better part of twelve hours to do so
with the test tomorrow

and further more with their summarizing of their career path and their prospects
they had reverence nor any real understanding of path chosen

then immediately beside me i was beset by a person free from self control or reverence for the bosom of books or others in that mind state
and they began to snore uncontrollably
so bad it was increasing in decibels
and the sleep so deep that their phone a few mere milimetres from the earlobe could not jog them from slumber
so i assisted in tapping the chair

i thought what happened to silence in a library

then i happened to glance to my left where a woman was huddle behind a book stand
cross legged upon the floor breastfeeding her baby a mere hopscotch away from the toilets and secluded area
one could remark how it is a natural occurrence
but why on the floor with a thinly veiled attempt at obscuring others view
with ones body tilted towards children
and a few steps from the lavatory
and lastly why in a library

you would not do so in a nightclub or a restaurant so blase
in a sense lesser establishment
not one which feed your soul your consciousnesses
then i heard a guy smugly describe poorly to another guy book sections
then haughtily announce i am going to look for the science books
cue surrey accent
and later on i wandered upstairs
and saw their philosophy section
it was one row
with spaced out zone of three books

of books on philosophy not even philosophy itself
and then downstairs


the school girls arrived
huddling in the corner to talk about boys
and to inform you they go to an all girls school
yeah
note to parents segregation does not work
but the whole anti intellectual vibe their has put me off going

and let me not get started on the people who go to the library to play games and go on youtube to watch music videos

and i did get in these people shoes and returned thankful i have my own

this concludes part 3

Hope to see these gangsters acting like teachers

This song when i first heard it captivated me
from the melody
to the hook
down to the verses
which where wet with other worldly wiles of a wordsmith wrapped in philosophy
i could take a verse at random and drown in its metaphors

but i will pick one
which stood out to me above the others
I hope I see these gangsters actin' like teachers
the link provides not just the lyrics but a perspective of the meaning behind the verse
or the use of double entendre

when people think of gangster an array of things can spring forth from the media tinted portrayal
being the zeitgeist of our time or the avenues with where its light is found
intertwined with scenery dictating the back drop

for gangster for some is


the role of the gangster and its influence is a conflicting yet complex one
which would need more than a few blog entries to give justice too
at its simplest it is a person of force and villain of many a piece

And the attitude towards gangster is one of varied response depending on your side in relation
but of those who hold the word with powerfully negative connotations
prison or death is the end of the road for them as far as many of them is concerned

but life does not end at prison and sometime nor with death

so returning to the title it can be construed in two ways positively or negatively
one as gangsters teaching others to become gangsters
or gangster enriching another

and it inspired me for this mini series
of gangster who became teachers literally or metaphorically
and even those of the manufactured kind


http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/31296/omar-to-play-omar-on-community

for those of you who watched the wire omar will be easily remembered
and just as the lyric i was shocked but happy proud even when i saw him in community


http://community-sitcom.wikia.com/wiki/Marshall_Kane
there is a link to the info of his role in the program
but of key note he has achieved a degree in biology in prison

referring back to my point of prison is not the end of the story

and the title also appears to the notion of gangsters being the anti education or learning
and that they become gangsters due to that fact

so this concludes part one

Balance

A word understood but yet overlooked
synonymous with equilibrium
it is preached but not always followed
for i fear balance is not always taught
for balance is like air it can be forgotten
and fade into the background
but once it is removed the importance is seen
when you picture balance
scales and see saws spring to mind
but its not just felt on the immediate material
which was seen with the obesity rise
and the then calls for balanced diets
but as i said balance can fade into the background
for sometimes the things that balance us do also
for what use is a ship without an anchor
i was reminded about the importance of balance whilst playing football on the weekend
the team i ended up on unfortunately
just comprised itself of attacking players
but what is attack without defence
i love the quote that we have two ears and yet one mouth

some people are balanced as some are not
some are prepared for anything
and others just go with the flow
though arguments against either can arise
but together they work perfectly
for the meticulous can be slow to act and over cautious
but the other to risky lackadaisical and rash
the bipedal
brains and brawn
for you cannot bulldoze everything
and you cannot wait everything out
which is shown great through teams
in football you need people to score you goals
but you need people to stop your team from conceding
and the balance makes a great team
for what use is a dull knife
balance is not always opposites or does not have to been see as such
but compliance
it reminds me of the graphic novel title
for the man who has everything
and what do you get them
for even those who seem to need no help
do need help
for there is no one that has everything
but there are people who do not need anything
you may know of someone who for you has unfathomable
amounts of skill or talent
and it could cause in you a sense of inadequacy
but it is not necessary
you may think what can you do
but sometimes it is about what you can not do
for every great team sports player who steals the limelight
there is a simple player who aides them
and sometimes it is as simple as bringing another viewpoint
example some people may favor one side of their body
right hand
right foot
etc
but remove the other and the drastic change is evident
you may not be able to draw or catch or rythm in time
but it is of considerable use
as an experiment
to try not using something
you rely not so heavily upon
like your left hand
your left foot
etc
and see how hard it is with the unbalance

libraries are not for reading

This is the first in my mini series of poverty of philosophy

When i think of libraries i think of the previous pictures
books lining the walls as if they are the walls
oceans of knowledge where five lifetimes of constant swimming
would not get you out of its shallow end

But when i visit most libraries i see this



It started when i went to a library i had never been before and as usual i went in search of the philosophy section
but as usual there was none
i found one philosophy book and it was on this one miniature bookshelf which
was housing three main titles
politics religion and philosophy
but was named as religion and belief
i was thinking generally in my travels there is a lack of a philosophy section but seriously
no politics section
yet there is a graphic novel section

so then i went to my local brand new library
the first thing i noticed was the computers within five minutes i had been through
every corner of the available library
where i once again discovered an absence of philosophy
and books of a denser sense
but for sure i found the graphic novel section
and then my fall back science i found but was tucked away
and then as i was leaving i see people there on face book and playing computer games
i even saw one guy playing the old time mobile phone favourite snake
whilst one was reading a newspaper
i walked out vowing to never step foot in that library again
but more on topic that people were in there for stuff that they could do anywhere
you can play mobile phone games at home
you can surf face book at home or walk less then hundred paces from their to an
internet cafe and do the same
another local library of mine saw its biggest rush of people on its opening day
not because of books or learning
but because of the array of computer games
which consequently also got stolen

on that note i was with a friend and we were just walking and talking he said he came to
collect something and was surprised to see him dart into foyles
and then walk only a few paces to find the graphic novel section i did not know they had a graphic novel section
where as for the philosophy section i had to traipse up the stairs
but that is nothing compared to the

near my university where on the third floor subsequently the top floor right at the back
was where the philosophy section is located
people may say that they follow the monetary incentive and that they advertise or make it easier for the books they know people want
but that is one side of a coin
is it because they want it
or because they know of nothing else
for prior before entering philosophy i had no idea it existed
and if the philosophy is in the shadows or hidden under misleading headers
wont poverty ensue in the minds
and what would happen to book shops like foyles or waterstones if they
put the fiction and accessories at the back of the shop at the end of three grand flights of stairs
or if libraries followed suit
but the fact that it is not all libraries
my actual university library on the first floor a few yards before you come in you can meet the
philosophy section
which is quite vast
yet the library is a three story library
but it is not open to the public
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/a-city-of-children-who-cannot-read-6406797.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392782/Boy-9-tells-teacher-The-book-house-Argos-catalogue.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/02/illiteracy-in-london-schools

for since when did libraries have to sell themselves on
 graphic novels
computer games
 music and internet surfing
this person i knew actually used to travel from east london to north london
to experience a better or you could say an actual library

i previously did a post of products of our environments
for what happens to people lacking mental stimulation
provided with books with more pictorial images then words
i even recently encountered a man who converged to me that
he could only scribe in capitals
for he was never taught to do so any otherwise
so what to think of those who think in only one way
closed of to the avenues of ideas or lacking the combination to the gates of knowledge
not knowing how to read
when their local knowledge market place has shortchange them
providing more of a leisure center than a learning centre

lastly the requirements to be a library assistant can not even mention
an interest in books

But perhaps we can ponder upon the last time we went to a library or people we know

i would like to apologise for the tardy entry
i have been experiencing some computer problems
but i have quite a few works i will be bringing to you in the coming days