Spectacular Scumbags.

There are a select group of kids in London who are going to have childhood and teenage memories incredibly different from my own. 

I remember exploring a forest and building a den, lighting a fire the size of a tin can and thinking I was: A. a freaking genius and 2. a complete rebel. I was wrong.

Those kids are going to remember exploring a high street and trashing a livelihood, starting a fire that erupts to the size of a tin can factory and thinking they were 1. a freaking genius and B. a complete rebel. They are also wrong.

I remember watching my friend pocket a whirl of bubble gum in Woolworths and experiencing a sense of fear and excitement that I can now only compare to waiting for the comeback from a job interview.

Those kids are going to remember watching their friend lug a huge 40 inch TV through a broken shop window and experiencing a sense of fear and excitement they will never be able to compare anything to because their only reference will be a prison guard.

I remember climbing a tree to avoid a dog.

They will remember climbing rubble to escape an armed response unit.

My Tuesday the 9th of August 2011 in London began with hardly any sleep because I was watching the Live News feed on both the BBC and Sky websites while frantically checking up on my London friends and reassuring my friends and family. I can look after myself and I hate people worrying but this is slightly different from worrying if I am eating well. My music of the day was sirens. I lost count of how many policemen I saw though I know I counted three police vans crammed with riot police speeding past my Trafalgar Square lunch spot. There was an eerieness to my morning tube journey, the accompanying closure announcements didn't help any. Normal people with normal jobs reflecting and suspecting. I spent the day at work backing up files "just in case", listening to my boss's commentary on the radio news and looking out the window when sirens sounded too close. 

I always like to think about and consider both sides of an argument and it is so rare that there is only one. 

Need I say more.

"Watching the upcoming Planet of the Apes on the news 'cos it's cheaper"