Fresh (ish) from my New York trip I unfortunately didn’t get to catch up with the gang from Sesame Street as I was’nt sure if it was set in the Bronx or Queens! The trip was a success as an East Coast publisher requested the manuscript of GO! Smell the flowers so we’ll have to wait & see.

With the U.S  of A’s hearty food portions (tick tock diner filled me up) I was never short of energy enjoying walking around the east side, meat packing district, MOMA, Bryant Park and the theatre district. 

Central park by horse, Manhatten island by boat and the subway wherever possible I really got back into the New York way of life (beep, beep)

Back to the topic in hand – FOOD! I was impressed to find this clip of one of the most powerful women in the world preaching healthy foods on Sesame street, brough to us, of course, by the Childrens Television workshop:

Good old Elmo, taking it in his stride and I wonder if cookie monster is now surplus to requirements?

Comments welcomed on the state of healthcare situation in super-sized America in conjunction with sharing who your favourite Sesame street character is!  Try and link the two in your answer and let’s see where this one GO’!s

This post was brought to you by the number 8 and the letters F, Y & I.

Though not particularly politically active, I’ve long believed in the core principles of socialism as a political path. On a personal level the concept giving within your needs to those whose needs are greatest (the old, young, infirm & yes, even, the jobless) seems to make sense – whether on ethical, moral or political grounds.

As a young man I read one of the key socialist pieces of literature, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist by Robert Tressel, a political novel which paints a story of capitalism & factory owners greedily exploiting the working man (a little didactic & bludgeoning for me, but gets the idea across; well summarised in the cartoon below). I also remember staying round Jimmy’s in the NW of England & waking up the morning of May 2nd, 1997, when Tony Blair & Labour (left UK political party) came into power: there was genuine sense of relief & excitement that the right, Conservatives, had been deposed & with it the avarice & selfishness of 80s Britain under Maggie Thatcher was behind us.

But the left-wing Labour transmogrified into the left-centrist New Labour. Across Europe, too, the left political parties & regimes had fallen (the most notable examples being the break up of communist USSR & the fall of the Berlin wall, separating communist East Berlin from West Berlin) or continue to decline & edge towards the right or bland, vote-winning centrist politics (Nicolas Sarkozy for the centre right UMP in France or Angela Merkel for the right CDU party in Germany – including the trouncing of the left political party, the SDP, in the most recent German elections, last Sunday, 27th September, 2009).

Even communist China & Vietnam though espousing communist ideals & politics, actually appear to work on a strange communist/capitalist hybrid dictatorship, where communist rules exist but allow for capitalist style business practices. Cuba seems to be the last bastion of truly left-wing, communist politics & governance.

Having said all that, America, the biggest world power (still, just) & probably the most successful symbol of capitalism has a free-thinking president in Barack Obama, & is finally addressing the needs of its people for universal healthcare (as discussed by another contributor Lib – wanted to link but can’t find it? anyone care to add Lib’s Obama healthcare piece?), one of the most obvious & necessary policies of socialist doctrine, & only 60 years after it was implemented in the UK as a right of anyone needing healthcare.

So is socialism going the way of the dinosaurs? Do people care (obviously not, since socialism is based on care & consideration)? Or are all politics just melting into one single, centrist, vote-grabbing, grey form?

Enjoy books & reading, but have an almost OCD necessity to read newspapers & the acres of supplements that accompany them (at weekends). In a late summer pique of chucking out the cr*p I’ve just thrown out months’ worth of weekend supplements that have been piling up beside the sofa, softly but constantly nagging to be read.

Next: some decent books, with engaging characters, plot-lines & depth; something that’ll stay with me longer than the ephemeral articles & weekly reportage pieces.

Shepard Fairey, a street artist, who  increased his public profile with his iconic ‘Hope’ Obama posters during the US elections last year, was commissioned by Penguin to design book covers for two of George Orwell’s classic novels ’1984′ & ‘Animal Farm’. Both are stunning pieces of design & art, & based on this I bought them & sit waiting to be read. Soon; this week, promise.

May seem a shallow move to some, but as a fan of Shepard Fairey’s art & George Orwell’s writing the two together seemed a perfect package.

Would cover art be enough to sway you or am I just a simple mind swayed by pretty colours, the proverbial marketing man’s dream?

Books in this particular example, but the loss of cover art on old album sleeves, or gatefold art, has long been cited as one of the losses with modern music packaging (1st the smaller CD packaging & then just electronically as MP3 files on your computer … though iTunes with their cover-flow capability are trying to re-invent some of the cover-art aesthetics).

Arvind here, reflecting on how it is a month today since President Obama began his term in the White House. Perhaps never before has so much been expected of one man. And yet President Obama is just another human being and he cannot achieve everything on his own.

What the world needs is many more people ready to take up his call for personal responsibility and to do their own thing, not just for themselves but for the greater good.

Knowing that our time is limited means that we ALL must do something TODAY. Quite a responsibility – and what a challenge!

We all need a CAN do attitude. As well as “Yes We Can!”, it is time to say “Yes We Will!”

What are your thoughts on President Obama’s first month in office? And more importantly, what are YOU doing to become more socially responsible?

Do share…

Arvind here with some Friday Fun.

It seems that Obama mania has hit India too!

How has he gone down in your part of the world? Do share any videos!

Wow.

I mean, seriously. Wow.

I don’t mean to be a sycophant but he’s quite special isn’t he? Not your average special or indeed the type of special displayed by Dubya in RYK’s post but truly special. The kind of extra-ordinary that would not give up when beaten in the democratic primary run for the U.S House of Representatives, but instead run for the U.S Senate. And win.

He’s in good company as well. It was famously said that ‘Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama’s running so we all can fly‘

Undoubtedly all of these people were and are special but what makes them so?

What makes these kind of people special/different/better/legendary?

Is it all pre-ordained? Or is it in us all?

Feel free to ‘define special’ and who you think should go on the list as well….

Can Obama continue to whet the appetites of the masses when he delivers his inaugral speach on Tuesday 20th January?

It will probably be the most widely watched address ever delivered, one that will draw millions of Americans and billions around the globe together – to savor the moment and the message of one man at one memorable turning point in American history.

Hey, even Homer tried to vote for him so this guy must be onto something:

It’s unlikely there will be a dubious declaration as there was in this George W flashback from 2001:

“We will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans. We will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge. We will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors.” – George W. Bush, 2001

Oooops.

What would you say to addresses the masses? Any guesses on what his first line might be? Do tell!

Arvind here wondering just what the world would be like if we were all to become more socially responsible.

Fresh from reading the previous post about the tragic bombings in Mumbai, I have just learnt how President elect Obama is hoping to usher in “a return to an ethic of responsibility”.

He and wife Michelle will make sure that this begins at home as they have revealed that their two daughters will still be expected to do chores after they move into the White House:-

Obama girls still to do chores

They want their daughters to make their own beds and grow up in a “normal” way. Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, will be the youngest children to live in the White House since the 1960s. Mrs Obama has emphasised how she intends to focus on her children’s well-being.

At the same time, Mr Obama said he hoped to bring about a return to some sort of personal responsibility and common sense – he criticised executives for flying corporate jets to Washington to ask for federal funding.

He has also suggested that bankers forego end-of-year bonuses, what with millions struggling in the economic crisis.

So in light of Mr Obama’s fresh outlook and personal initiatives:-

What one or more thing do you think we should do to become more Personally Socially Responsible?

What will you do?

From giving up the company jet and foregoing end of year bonuses, do share your ideas, no matter how banal or serious – in fact the more banal and funny the better!

Arvind here in a wintry London, still on a high after the historic win by Mr Obama last week in the USA Presidential Election race.

Ever since last Tuesday night, three key words keep coming back to me – Yes, We Can!

Like many people globally, I stayed up till late on Tuesday night as history unfurled. If you haven’t yet seen Mr Obama’s powerful acceptance speech, then where have you been, flower smeller?!

Grab a cup of your favourite brew, settle down and click on the above video clip. It lasts just 18 minutes or so and it is sure to inspire you. This is an incredible experience of oratory power and speaking from the heart.

You can also read the whole transcript of the speech here on the BBC website.

The message from Mr Obama is clear – Yes, We Can!

Wherever we are on our life journey and no matter what challenges we face in our life, it is possible to make things better. When we change our own little world for the better, the whole world gets better.

We can also broaden our horizons and see how we can all contribute to the world and make a difference in our way, small or big. GO! Smell the flowers is on the way to become THE alternative community for health, inspiration, media, food, people & places. Right?

Never give up hope and never lose sight of your dreams – what would have happened if Mr Obama had lost hope whilst he was growing up as a young boy in a trying environment?

You don’t have to aim for world changing things, start in your own back yard and then work from there.

So here are some questions for all of you to look within and answer.

What can I do?

What will I do?

When will I begin?

Please do share

Today is the day after the election 08 results and we all know by now that Barack Obama is the president-elect for America. Spare a thought for those obsessive supporters who for the last year and a half have spent every waking hour following Obama all over the country side.

Now, because I couldn’t embed the video, here’s a snippet of what they are up to:

roflmao

What do you make of this unusual phenomenon?