Two Sides Of The Same Coin

I have tonight started to read a short novel by Paulo Coelho, its called intriguingly  The Alchemist. Its a simply written book, and not a long one either. The story concerns the journey of a young boy in his quest for hidden treasure. It is obviously a metaphor for the authors torrid real life attempts at learning the secrets of Alchemy, and all the variously dubious characters that he openly admits to having been exploited by, details of which are briefly listed in the Preface section.
   Im writing this post tonight as the style of this novel reminds me very much of a book I first read a few years ago, and one that made a big impression on me; The Golden Barge by Micheal Moorcock. This story is also a short one, and its also about a young man who travels and devotes his life to following a mysterious barge along a river. Its a parable about following dreams and the outcomes of this. These two books are uncannily the same, but Im yet to see if their conclusions are the same. Time will tell. I recommend both books. They are both simple and short, but don't underestimate their messages.

The Wire: The Blind Boys of Alabama- Way Down in the Hole

Do you know what the trouble was with this series ? It was TOO good, TOO realistic an TOO intelligent. Series 1  covered the drugs scene in Baltimore, followed by a series each devoted to the subject of corruption in the towns port, schools and political system. By the end of series 4 or were there 5 ? You had a complete picture built up about how all these parts of the city interlinked and were all corrupted and manipulated. Ive not seen a series like it since, and probably never will again. A mile stone in crime drama.

I Really Could Cry

Im sick of technology, and I think technology is sick of me. I have a history of trouble getting online, but this last month almost has me thinking that something is actively trying to stop me logging on...
  For the past month ive been limited to 10 minutes of Internet before im cut off. I rang BT and they promptly sent out an engineer who diagnosed a faulty phone wall socket. Try getting someone from a " budget " provider out to visit your house ! ( funny how they call it a discounted provider when you could only be saving 5 pounds a month ) All was well for a few days at least, then back to the same old story...
  Next I was sent a new router, a BT 4 " now even more reliable " Was there a history of the previous model being unreliable ? Dont care now as the problem has been fixed. Fantastic ? Er, no. Immediately a pop up virus exploded , just as I thought I was safe. Whats the point of a virus that only allows you to go to a " money making " website ? ! WTF . Laptop goes off the be fixed once again.
  When I collected it, I was asked if I used fb much, or looked at films people had shared ? Why of course. It was suggested that this was / is suddenly a problem. Is it ? I thought Norton Anti Virus errrrr, stopped viruses ? ! Silly me ! Where I go from here I dont know. Im getting the feeling that what once worked with no problems is no longer fit for purpose ? Im no expert, but things are getting worse. Its 50 pounds a time to clear viruses. It soon adds up unfortunately.
   Next by pure coincidence a family member caught a virus that mailed its self to all her facebook friends as a message. Luckily I havent received that f*****r today.  IS THIS THE FUTURE  WE HAVE IN STORE FROM FACEBOOK ? Its strange how nowadays everything has become a problem. I use facebook, Im not logging into some dodgy foreign porn site ! But from the tone of voice they used at the repair shop you would have thought I'd been doing something well risky ! Something just isnt right here.
   Anyway todays saga saw my Dads laptop expire. Ive been using it while mines been away. Its gone from slow to not even switching off, and its red hot ! I think the hard drive is going. See ? It NEVER ENDS !!

Its a very strange Summer. The land is about 3 weeks behind its normal condition for the 10th of June. Leaves are not all out yet, its still cold, there are no bees or moths, and few swallows. The hills are a pale green, dirty colour such as they are in March. This is all made worse by the sunny long light evenings. The length of daylight does not match how the land looks. In fact the high up ground even appears to be going backwards in its barrenness to a look of early Spring. This Summer will be over before its begun yet.

Why I like Christians ( but they probably dont like me )

I recently left a facebook group that was devoted to the discussion of Religion and Atheism. At first it seemed quite fun. The banter was fun.I wound up Christians about how they could prove nothing. They got irate as usual and hated my mystical views.
   Suddenly something odd happened, I started arguing against Atheism ! I realised that Christians had faith, just as I had faith that there was more to the everyday world than what first appears. Such things are my blogs bread and butter. Most Atheists dont believe in magick or occult things. They are empty blind people. They believe in NOTHING. Thats not big or clever. I feel I have more in common with Christians, but sadly they would probably not agree. Truth be told they are closer to my view points then they will admit. The concept of God is a very loose one.
   The Atheists on this page were infantile, had no decent arguments, and replaced every thing with a sexual innuendo. They were obsessed with exalting there sexual views. It almost seemed like at replacement religion that they felt was " grown up and worldly ". This was a running theme. When people started posting pornographic pictures of Jesus then that was my cue to leave. What a group...

A New Water Manifestation

The last few months have seen a new water based phenomenon. A short burst of water will pour from a tap that is firmly turned off. This originally started about a year ago and was quite amusing as I blamed our farms old water supply. When on holiday the other week near Glastonbury the water in our caravan did the same thing, and it was on mains. Again the tap was turned fully off. Starting to get a bit worried now. Finally on returning to my house in the village, the tap there is now doing the same thing, and it has just had a new washer fitted. This is not coincidence...

Glastonbury Abbey Ruins

A fuller picture of the scale of this building tells us that Glastonbury was high up the spiritual ladder


 

You can still sense the magic and awe that this place once inspired

 



The fish ponds are fed from what I presume are the same springs that emerge from under The Tor

 

 

Glastonbury Abbey was destroyed by Henry 8th's Reformation in the 1500's. The unfortunate Bishop was hung from The Tor tower that overlooks the surrounding area. A very macabre end !

 

The Carp above were in the abbey ponds, and were more than happy to be fed bread ect..

 

( cant get these photo's to line up. Grrrrrr  ! )