The Khyber Pass Heat. Heat that isn't just from the sky; the type of heat that radiates off the ground, the rocks and the surrounding hills, beating down in constant unrelenting pulses, wearying even the most experienced traveller. This is the Kyber pass in the year 1839, and is untouched by most of the world; the few outsiders who have the misfortune to cross this path are regretting every step they take, damning their folly for ever ending up here. In Afghanistan, this route is filled with treachery, deceit and dirt, and no one can trust anybody. If one were to overlook the Kyber pass in 1839, one would immediately feel an air of tension, as on this day you see merchants travel this route, as this was ironically their only #lifeline to India and civilisation. The convoy has many escorts, who are constantly watching the jagged mountains, hand on musket. You wouldn't blame them if you knew just how treacherous this passage is, for up in the overlooking mountains and hills, evil chieftains look down on the merchants like vultures picking their prey. These greedy chieftains would live lawlessly in their towns in the hills, living like kings due to the bribes from Britain to not attack their travellers. They would sit on their thrones, licking their lips as those unfortunate fellows would cross, wondering how best to trap them. It would be because of chieftains such as these that in mere three years later, 16,500 people would be killed or captured in the infamous Kabul retreat, with only a handful of survivors who would escape to tell the story. After that massacre, little a merchant would ever been seen travelling the Khyber pass again.

Body Parliament When I'm day dreaming, I imagine my body is sort of a country, and all the body parts are like this: Brain: Capital city. MPs from each part of the body visit daily to discuss issues for each constituency. After a vote, the decision is passed through parliament. The brain MP is rather right wing, standing for revising loads and listening to all lessons no matter how much your ears bleed. Heart: Second city of the body, it's economy is based on oxygen trade. Citizens are mainly left wing activists, and the MP tends to be Liberal, standing for doing the 'daring' thing, meeting friends and enjoying #life. Mouth: Customs section of the body. Checks each immigrant to make sure they aren't armed or criminals. Any contraband must leave the body immediately through direct vomiting. Stomach: Industrial centre of the body. High crime rate which cause stomach ache, meaning the local police are regularly making arrests. MP regularly makes the case of eating more yoghurt and less cake. Kidneys: SAS training centre. Elite forces are trained here to eliminate threats of national security, and train all year round. Lungs: The body's stock market. Oxygen stock price goes through the roof when exercising, meaning muscles can't afford oxygen, which is why they go weak when exercising. I like to imagine a parliament with a right-winged brain party on one side and a left-winged heart party on the other, arguing over how to deal with everything from how to respond to a question to what to eat for dinner. If you think I'm mad I don't mind, it's much more amusing to think about than maths or physics.

The City Of Lights The great sky scrapers ominously overlook the City of Lights. Each one with its own somewhat sinister presence, the public below walk casually home from work at this late hour. From afar, this city looks like any other capital. Although, nothing is comparable to the warped City of Lights. Everything is somewhat wrong, twisted. The huge roads are unoccupied by cars, the many expensive buildings are unfurnished within and speech is kept to a minimum, as if in check. With shifting eyes, even the people are moving perfectly, almost in time... Cheery in their step one can see that behind that warm grin cold fear is freezing their heart. They are being watched. From every direction, eyes descend on the public. They must be perfect. Famine has gripped the City of Lights for years, yet nothing is said. That is the warped governments doing; keeping the City of Lights safe. The public are ever grateful; their great leaders represent them, make them strong. They gave them public lighting, the only city in the whole country with fully functioning public lighting. Their country is strong because of them; questioning them is wrong. They must not question their leaders. Even if the City of Lights sounds like a twisted alter reality based loosely on the book '1984', the City is very much alive. The capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, is the most secretive city in the world, where all of Orwell's fears are realised. Very few know this place exists. If you didn't, Wikipedia it, and even then you only have the tinniest taste of the totalitarian communist state that is North Korea, where outsiders aren't welcome.

The PowerFreedom Paradox Power is freedom and freedom is power; the two usually go hand in hand. We have the freedom to say whatever we want, which therefore makes us powerful. Yet, power leads to less freedom and more responsibility. As a person achieves more power in #life or work, they take on more pressure with much more opportunity for everything to go wrong, which results in bigger consequences for themselves and others. They then have less freedom to have a carefree #life and less freedom to make mistakes without consequences, even if they wield more power in the grand scheme of things. On the face of it, power and freedom do go hand in hand. Yet there is a fair argument the other way round, depending on how we perceive power and freedom. I believe power is influence, and freedom is the unsuppressed means to achieve that power; as the two are so strong I think they must clash at some point... But i'd love to hear what everyone else thinks; is there a hidden power/ freedom paradox? Or am I simply reading too deeply into things? Comments and opinions are welcome muchly

Friends And Potatoes "Friends are like potatoes; if you eat them, they die." Bravo, whoever said that, very true :P