I was tagged by Christine.

I AM … getting hungry while completing this tag post.

I WANT … so many things but I know I will not get them all.

I HAVE … a headache as I write this post.

I WISH … to see the earth from space before I die.

I HATE … ungrateful and inconsiderate people.

I FEAR … I’ll be renting forever.

I SEARCH … for the perfect pair of shoes.

I WONDER … if mass space travel will be a reality in my lifetime.

I REGRET … being too analytical sometimes.

I LOVE … to laugh.

I ALWAYS … try to give my best in whatever I do.

I AM NOT … always the one to introduce myself first.

I DANCE … to keep myself fit.

I SING … in my head all the time.

I CRY … even when it is not my birthday (gets? it’s my birthday and i’ll cry if i want to)

I WRITE … for this blog to keep my friends up-to-date.

I WON … tickets to Live 8 back in 2005.

I AM CONFUSED … at times with different things but I always try to make sense out of each one.

I NEED … to finish my ironing.

I SHOULD … get my ironing started.

THE LAST THOUGHT I GO TO SLEEP WITH IS … whatever I was watching on telly to help me to go sleep.

My turn, I tag Pia, Kala and Tanya.

(image source: Flickr, Boris Banana by tom-mason.co.uk)

Boris Johnson beat Ken Livingstone for the London Mayoral race. It was a very close call with Ken falling short of around 140,000 votes only! The results also showed that no candidate had enough votes for a majority thus reflecting a really diverse London. Liberal Democrat’s Brian Paddick came third and Sian Berry of the Green Party finished on fourth.

Like the spread of the votes, the reactions from people are also mixed. But I believe that this is good because those people who have not voted for Boris will always be at the edge of their seats to make sure that he actually delivers all his promises even when deep down inside, they are just wanting him to fail. I just hope that the good turnout of voters will also turn into an active participation in making our lives better in the capital.

For now, Mayor Boris Johnson deserves our benefit-of-doubt.

The local elections have come and gone although London is still waiting for the result of the mayoral race at the time of writing of this post. I know that I haven’t been able to keep up posting about each of the candidates and I have no excuse for that. We’ll just have to wait and see who wins it. Results are expected around 7pm.

Anyway, as I scoured the internet for updates on the local elections, I stumbled upon this headline — “Beckham to appear in Sesame Street”. The report says that David Beckham is to appear in the children’s TV programme with Elmo, teaching him a new word. I wonder what that word is. Or maybe it is Elmo that is teaching Becks. I wouldn’t be surpised.

(image sources: Flickr, David Beckham by googae.rich, Elmo by El mapache azul)

Going through Sian Berry’s campaign website made me feel that there is a real person behind the campaign. Well, of course, there is a person behind each one (d’oh!) but what I meant is that Sian’s proposed policies were presented in a way that ordinary people would understand. It even encourages participation by letting people leave comments and questions! And, the best part of it all, Sian’s replies actually sound like it was her behind that keyboard tapping away the answers! You also have the opportunity to make your own campaign for Sian with the help of tools that are provided on the website.

Well done to her and her party for that!

What I don’t get is why there are sections in the website that are in Polish? Is she of Polish origins? If not, then why the preference, why not include other languages spoken in the capital?

more…

It seems to me that Gerard Batten is running for the Mayor of London just to undo what Ken Livingstone had done. In his campaign website, all his policies where written like Ken-did-this-but-I-will-not-do-it-the-same-way or Ken-didn’t-do-as-promised-so-now-I’ll-deliver-it.

Reading through, I noticed one area that I believe would be good for London:

TRANSPORT — Timed tickets on single journeys, which means that if you are visiting London and you buy a single ticket, you won’t have to pay for another single ticket if you transfer from tube to bus within the hour. I’ve seen this scheme in other cities and towns in Europe and for a tourist, I believe it works out quite well.

As for the rest of his policies, it did put me off with the style that it was written and presented. There are some that I doubt would work or are just plain spite out of the current government:

• “I believe that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner should be elected by Londoners. We currently have a politicised Commissioner who toadied to politicians to secure a knighthood: I say let’s have a Commissioner who is selected by the people.” — Waste money towards campaign for each candidate? Where would they get the money from?
• On the London 2012 Olympics, “What I’d really like to do is surcharge Livingstone, Jowell, Coe, Tony Blair and the rest of the crew responsible for this fiasco but as I can’t do that, I shall insist that the bill is spread over all UK taxpayers, not just Londoners.” — Now, now… would you really expect someone from Manchester paying towards the cost of the London Olympics when they would gain nothing out of it?

(Note: Quotes taken verbatim from the Gerard Batten for London Mayor website)