What would you do in an apocalypse?

Last night we had a powercut.  It lasted about 5 minutes (probably not even that) but, don’t laugh, it really freaked me out.  I think there’s several reasons for this:

1.  I also had no phone signal or 3G (I guess the phone mast was knocked out)
2.  I have been reading loads of dystopian books and watching The Walking Dead
3.  I always assume the worst has happened

So naturally I silently freaked out (didn’t want my housemates thinking I was a nutter) and assumed it was the apocalypse.  Stop laughing!  A million thoughts ran through my head  and when the power came back on (thank god), two things dawned on me. 

1. Without power, I would really struggle.  How would I stay in contact with my family and friends? How would I navigate without google maps? (to be fair, I would just use a normal map. But I’d have to go pilfer one from somewhere as I don’t have one) How would I find out stuff without asking google every 5 minutes? How would I know how to survive?
2. What would I actually do if it was the apocalypse? Imagine a more realistic scenario than a zombie outbreak – say a deadly virus or something – what the hell would  I do?  I whastapped my family after the powercut and asked what would be our plan of action – would we all try and meet up, or go it alone?  They just laughed at me and said I was weird, sad times.  I suggested we all met in Reading (halfway to Bristol) then head to Bristol to pick up my other brother, then head to Wales and either live in the cottage or make our way to Anglesey where it would hopefully be less likely to be affected by the virus (I am assuming whatever happened to trigger the apocalypse happened in the cities and they’d be the worst affected, plus would be contagious to people so you’d want to stay away from other humans).   But you’d probably want to be near a library for books and knowledge, and a pharmacy so you can ransack the medicines, and a supermarket so you can raid the shelves.   

Anyway that’s my mind going into overdrive a bit.  I think I need to stop reading so many dystopian books.  I finished the Margaret Atwood Oryx & Crake trilogy – it was REALLY good and I highly recommend.  It’s set in the future and the world is run by corporate businesses and there’s lots of scientific developments and experimentation – people eat chicken meat grown from chickens with no heads or legs, pigs are created with human brains inside so they can be reaped for their organs, and vitamins contain all sorts of drugs to make you a healthier happier person.  However someone revolts against the order of the world by releasing a pill into the population that causes the majority of people to die when taking it, and the story is about one man’s journey once everyone’s dead, and his survival.  The third book, MaddAddam, was my favourite as it had humour and was generally more positive than the other two books.  But it did make you think – especially when the note from the author at the back says ‘all of the ideas are not far from reach and are within the realms of scientific possibility’.  Scary stuff!

On a lighter note, I went to the Sony World Photography Awards last week.  I think I preferred the 2014 entries, but this year was also good.  I recommend it if you like photography/have an interest in the world – it’s a collection of photographs under different themes such as sport, portraiture, current affairs, and there’s nothing too weird or abstract.  It’s held in Somerset House which is a lovely venue in itself.    Most of the photos have really interesting annotations too – for example I learnt that in Sweden, parental leave is up to 480 days whilst also receiving an allowance from the state.  They also stipulate that 60 of the days must be taken by the father or they are lost.  How incredible is that!

Two of my favourite photos are below.  The first one is by Bernhard Lang and is an aerial shot of the Italian Riviera – I love it because you can’t really tell what it is at first, it looks like a weird abstract piece of art, but on closer inspection it’s the beach and parasols and it makes a striking pattern on the sand.
 

my photo of a photo - doesn't do it justice

The second shot is called Exuberance by Christine Kapuschinsky Johnson, it’s basically my face when someone gives me a doughnut.
 

 The exhibition is finished now but you can see an online gallery here, and I recommend visiting next year and it’s less than a tenner. Bargain!
 
Saturday night we went out for Becky’s birthday in Putney which was good fun, me and Liz spent the night chanelling our inner Beyonce.  We decided on the way home that night busses should sell chips – just think of the money they could make. They’d never have to strike again if they pocketed the profit.   We also explored Peckham a bit – this blog had listed a load of snacks to try in Peckham so we went on the hunt for some of them.  The beer stick is an overpriced pepperami – nice but not worth 95p (like most of the things in the General Store – they had 15 truffles for £13! Sooo expensive).  We also had the steamed pork bun and glutinous rice from Kim Lien Mini Market – amazing! Such a gem of a find – they have so many Vietnamese foods, I want to do an Asian themed dinner night one day. As well as a murder mystery night...and a board game evening...and a karaoke night...so any plans, so little time!

Happy Birthday Becky xxx