There are a number of films that I can identify with one of my favourited being Billy Elliott. Im sure you all know the story of the young boy from a mining community who decides he doesnt want to do boxing and instead goes off in search of ballet, overcoming hardships and rejection from his family as he sets out to do something he loves - with the eventual conclusion that he becomes a successful ballet dancer. Well lets get one think clear... I cant do ballet and wouldnt even attempt it! But so many things in the film remind me of my childhood. I remember the miners strike... I now know the miners strike actually started in a village next to where I live, less than 3 minutes from my house! I remember my dad been out of work, and mum struggling to get coal for the fire. The film reminds me of growing up in a mining community where everyone looked out for everyone and knew everyone. These days its not the same, we dont live in a mining community anymore, we live in the call centre community. The guys dont go out and earn a crust, the women do... and its to the TSC and Ventura call centres. What went wrong? Brassed Off is another one of those films thats close to my heart, again set in South Yorkshire... the story of a Brass Band dealing with the fall out of the closure of the pits, and the personal loss of the conductor of the band to cancer. Just thinking about the film brings tears to my eyes, as we all know people who have had cancer and we have all probably sat in the hospital with loved ones who are battling it, and unfortunately the battle isnt often won. I think Brassed off reminds me of the people in my family who have lost the battle and how we as society have forgoten people in our communities as we havent got communities anymore. We all live in our ivory towers and dont give a shit about our neighbours, and this wasnt always the case! Growing up the kids used to all play together, we would play in the woods behind our house, get nettled and have Mary from next door feed us cakes and cover us in calamile lotion! Steven would be building some new go-cart that goes faster that we can play on the street with. Me and my sister would go to the local church where my sister was in the majorettes and I would just fanny about. The best thing was the swimming club! Me and my sister would go to swimming club every Friday night at about 7pm and spend 2 hours in a pool learning to swim, my sister was miles better than me. Mum would sit talking to all the other house wives watching us from the balcony. The pool was horrid and was built for the minors. Clothes used to go in metal baskets and Billy took the basket off you and gave you an arm band. If we were lucky once a year they would get out an inflatable crocodile and we would play on that instead of having swimming lessons. I remember coming home nackered calling to the chippy that used to be at the top of my nans street, and sitting on top of the speaker in the living room eating my sausage and chips. We  didnt have remote TV's back then so sitting near the TV meant you could switch between channels easier! Another great film that I love (even though most people thought it was shit) is Green Street, the story of the football hooligans from West Ham (the Hammers!). This harps back to something I didnt really have as a kid, and thats the sense of belonging. Elijah Wood went and joined this gang that ultimately led to a sad ending because of the sense of belonging, he felt part of the "gang" and as such got involved. I can see this, and the only time I have had this feeling is when I spent the weekend at High Melton College with school where we had a "revision" weekend. Whenever I watch this film I feel the same feelings I had the day I left the weekend and knew that the sense of belonging I had just experienced would be hard to capture again. As you can probably tell im a sentimental old sausage, who longs for the past and in some respects lives in the past because the future aint that nice a place. I dont know my neighbours in London, they dont want to know me. At work there is not a community atmosphere, its every man for themselves, and now the ship is sinking at work... I suspect every man will be fighting to protect themselves rather than working as a collective. When I was in Canada a few years ago, I experienced the collective feeling on a number of occasions. CBC had put up a marquee to celebrate Prison Break, a brand new programme for their network. People gathered to watch it! On a Thursday evening the Blue Jays would play baseball at the Rodgers stadium and thousands of people from Toronto would turn up to watch. Whilst I was there the annual "rat race" was run, this raised money for cancer charities and was an after work run organised by the people who worked for the enterprises in Toronto. I did feel a sense of belonging there, much more than I do currently in the UK. I live in North London with millions of people and your never really away from other people, but yet I couldnt feel more alone at times. Life isnt about the places you visit.. its the people you meet. In London there is a shortage of friendly people (this was tipified recently when a woman threw a bottle out of her car at me on the A1 all because I changed lanes to overtake another vehicle). Aint it a wonderful world we live in!