There was something different about the supermarket yesterday. The building was in the same place, still the same pastel yellow walls and off white polystyrene roof tiles. Still the same range of products more or less where they were the last time I was here. Even a few seasonal products in highly visible red packaging didn't explain my sense of foreboding.

Got it. Music. Hard to miss it really since it was being played somewhat loudly. Mind you, calling that cacophony 'music' is stretching things a bit. Each song was identical, upbeat tempo's, plentiful tambourines, and happy go lucky melodies. Now that I think about it, the problem isn't really the supermarket at all.

At the till I had a quiet word with the shop assistant. Could you tell the manager that we already know it's christmas? She blinked a couple of times, then realised what I meant. No, please, it wasn't that funny...Look, can I just pay for this stuff and go?....Please?

Big Rocks

NASA have been charting all the asteroids orbiting nearby and it seems there are thousands of big rocks hurtling around up there. That would be plausible of course, since Earth is lots of these rocks impacted together in the early days of the solar system, and any asteroids with stable orbits would still be orbiting instead of colliding. Still, it is worrying that we have so many Rocks of Damocles hanging above our heads.

No-one seems to know quite what to do if any of these asteroids are discovered to be on a collision course. Most would be extremely damaging, to say the least, many potemtially with enough energy to wipe out our endangered species in spite of all those television campaigns to raise awareness. Come to think of it, humanity isn't exactly assurtred of survival in that situation either.

By coincidence I was watching a documentary about a disturbing event in the stone ages. Neolithic farming communities had progressed toward prosperity using their new farming methods, and the older hunter/gatherer lifestyles had waned significantly. Settlements showed evidence of complex social structures, communal living, and sophisticated living. Yet all of a sudden, in a two to ten year span, they became cannibals.

As a global society human beings do tend to be somewhat proud of their control over the planets surface, their vast networks of infrastructure and nests, and indeed, it seems to be a facet of succesful societies throughout history that we regard oursleves as masters of the Earth. Bow down and serve us, animals, lest we punish you for being so tasty to eat. But in what way are we actually in charge? As far as I can see from news of catastrophes around the war, humanity seems incredibly ill equipped to deal with the vagaries of weather, climate, and the occaisional geothermal disturbance.

I've often said that civilisation is not an automatic quality of the human species. It's something that must be taught and encouraged, and even when we adopt 'civilised' living, we discover that the primeval barbarian is lurking under the skin. After all, our cats and dogs are loveablle family pets for the most part, yet their behaviour can turn feral very easily indeed.

So what can we do to preserve our confortable lives in the event that an orbital rocks wobbles dangerously? Sadly, not much, although I suspect the survivalists will be very proud of themselves having invested in concrete bunkers and stocks of weaponry. At least, that is, until they realise no-one's making ammunition any more. I suppose we really do need to understand that humanity is not guaranteed survival, neither by divine decree, macho heroism, or superiorty complex. Civilisation is fragile, and in the natural quest for superiority in the enviroment, easily overturned by aggression and disaster.

Okay, go ahead. Play that darn christmas music. Anything that preserves life as we know it. I must admit, those happy tunes do seem to be keeping the asteroids away.