200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar

Oct 21 was the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, at which my illustrious almost-ancestor, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, defeated a superior force of French and Spanish ships off Cape Trafalgar, at the western end of the Straits of Gibraltar. He died at the height of the battle, from a bullet fired from the mizzen top of the "Redoubtable", which lodged in his spine. The Redoubtable was entangled by the rigging with the Victory, Nelson's ship.

He is my almost-ancestor because his brother, Reverend Willam Nelson, First Earl Nelson, was my great-great-great-great-grandfather. Here is a link to a relevant web site with a portrait bearing a striking resemblance to my mother and her mother.

Three hundred and forty-three years ago in London (extract from Samuel Pepys' diary)

From the website:

Friday 17 October 1662

This morning Tom comes to me, and I advise him how to deal with his mistress’s mother about his giving her a joynture, but I intend to speak with her shortly, and tell her my mind. Then to my Lord Sandwich by water, and told him how well things do go in the country with me, of which he was very glad, and seems to concern himself much for me. Thence with Mr. Creed to Westminster Hall, and by and by thither comes Captn. Ferrers, upon my sending for him, and we three to Creed’s chamber, and there sat a good while and drank chocolate. Here I am told how things go at Court; that the young men get uppermost, and the old serious lords are out of favour; that Sir H. Bennet, being brought into Sir Edward Nicholas’s place, Sir Charles Barkeley is made Privy Purse; a most vicious person, and one whom Mr. Pierce, the surgeon, to-day (at which I laugh to myself), did tell me that he offered his wife 300l. per annum to be his mistress. He also told me that none in Court hath more the King’s ear now than Sir Charles Barkeley, and Sir H. Bennet, and my Lady Castlemaine, whose interest is now as great as ever and that Mrs. Haslerigge, the great beauty, is got with child, and now brought to bed, and lays it to the King or the Duke of York.¹ He tells me too that my Lord St. Albans’ is like to be Lord Treasurer: all which things do trouble me much. Here I staid talking a good while, and so by water to see Mr. Moore, who is out of bed and in a way to be well, and thence home, and with Commr. Pett by water to view Wood’s masts that he proffers to sell, which we found bad, and so to Deptford to look over some businesses, and so home and I to my office, all our talk being upon Sir J. M. and Sir W. B.’s base carriage against him at their late being at Chatham, which I am sorry to hear, but I doubt not but we shall fling Sir W. B. upon his back ere long. At my office, I hearing Sir W. Pen was not well, I went to him to see, and sat with him, and so home and to bed.

1. The child was owned by neither of the royal brothers.—B.

Forgiveness

I like this way of looking at our human situation (from a website by Colin Tipping). I found it interesting but somewhat dogmatic. I am one who, though no saint, does not find it hard to forgive. Or rather, I don't hold grudges easily. Neither do I for a moment believe that "God is angry with me and will punish me severely one day". Not because I am exceptional, but because God is never going to punish anyone. A punishing God is an absurd notion.

"Radical Forgiveness
by Colin Tipping, M.Ed

Notwithstanding our need to have revenge and restitution whenever we perceive ourselves to be victimized, the power and importance of forgiveness is central to every religion. It has even entered the annals of psychology and is now seen as essential to mental health. In the world of recovery and 12 step programs the forgiveness step is considered to be the most transformational. We also know that forgiveness is a highly effective adjunct treatment for cancer and other immune deficiency diseases and that lack of forgiveness is a reliable predictor of who is most likely to get cancer.

Yet forgiveness always seems so difficult – almost super-human. We know we should forgive, but somehow we simply can’t do it. We consider people who forgive as verging on sainthood. Why is this? What makes it so arduous? Why do we find it so hard to let go of toxic emotional baggage?

The answer lies in our powerful attachment to the victim archetype. We have lived out of this archetype for eons. It pervades our mass consciousness at every level and we have come to believe that victim consciousness is absolutely fundamental to the human condition. Jesus was the embodiment of forgiveness, yet we have even made him a victim – the ultimate victim in fact. We will not give it up. Why?

Because the victim, archetype is sustained by the Ego, that wholly false belief system that holds that we are separated from God and that God is angry with us and will one day punish us.

Yet, herein lies the clue to why, deep down, we feel that forgiveness is the key to our salvation. As we recognize that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, we realize that we are NOT separate from God after all. We never have been. It was simply a dream. We are all here expressing the ever expanding consciousness of God. This is what’s driving this ‘campaign’ for forgiveness as we approach the next millennium. Deep down we know it is the key to our spiritual evolution.

What follows from this is even more interesting. Gregg Braden, in his book, Walking Between the Worlds, shows that underlying all our problems, anxieties, neuroses, unhappiness and loneliness, are just three basis fears:

(a) fear of abandonment.
(b) fear of not being enough.
(c) fear of trusting.

These all come from our core belief that we are separate from God and that He is angry with us and will punish us severely one day. They play out in a myriad of ways – child abuse, spousal abuse, addictive behavior, family dysfunction, relationship problems, and so on – but the core issues underlying all these things are the same: those three basic fears. As we let go of our belief in separation, we see that these fears have no foundation whatsoever.

But how to let go? Ordinary forgiveness won’t help us because it is firmly tied to the victim archetype. “Letting bygones be bygones,” means I will let you off the hook, but I still believe you did something to me. I am still a victim. No, to break free we must do better than that. We must replace ordinary forgiveness with something so compelling and spiritually liberating that it magnetizes us away from our commitment to the victim consciousness. That something is Radical Forgiveness.

Radical Forgiveness literally obliterates the belief in separation. It takes us beyond the drama and the illusion of the many ‘stories’ we create around the three basic fears and enables us to see the truth that we have NEVER been abandoned, we ARE enough right now and that it is SAFE to surrender to Spirit. When we awaken to that truth, we are able to understand the true meaning of our suffering and transform it immediately, thereby releasing the victim archetype.

When we recognize that everything that happens is simply an outplaying of our three basic fears and that we needed the experience in order to heal those fears, our life changes immediately. We understand then that, because we chose it, there is nothing to forgive. We are no longer victims. We can then live our life knowing that, without exception, everything that happens to us is divinely guided, entirely purposeful, and for our spiritual growth. That is the essence of Radical Forgiveness.

That doesn’t mean we won’t often slip back into victim consciousness. We will. As soon as someone or something upsets us, we will almost certainly revert back. And that’s OK. That’s what being human is actually about. But we won’t need to hang out in victim consciousness for very long. A day or two perhaps, a week maybe – but not years or lifetimes – which has been the norm until now! ..."

Islamic Soccer

These rules for Islamic Soccer are said to have originally appeared on an Islamic Web site. They are translated by Geoff D. Porter.

"IN the name of God the merciful and benevolent:

1. Play soccer without four lines because this is a fabrication of the heretics' international rules that stipulate using them and delineating them before playing.

2. International terminology that heretics and polytheists use, like "foul," "penalty," "corner," "goal," "out" and others, should be abandoned and not said. Whoever says them should be punished, reprimanded and ejected from the game. He should be publicly told, "You have imitated the heretics and polytheists and this is forbidden."

3. Do not call "foul" and stop the game if someone falls and sprains a hand or foot or the ball touches his hand, and do not give a yellow or red card to whoever was responsible for the injury or tackle. Instead, it should be adjudicated according to Sharia rulings concerning broken bones and injuries. The injured player should exercise his Sharia rights according to the Koran and you must bear witness with him that so-and-so hurt him on purpose.

4. Do not follow the heretics, the Jews, the Christians and especially evil America regarding the number of players. Do not play with 11 people. Instead, add to this number or decrease it.

5. Play in your regular clothes or your pajamas or something like that, but not colored shorts and numbered T-shirts, because shorts and T-shirts are not Muslim clothing. Rather they are heretical and Western clothing, so beware of imitating their fashion.

6. If you have fulfilled these conditions and intend to play soccer, play to strengthen the body in order to better struggle in the way of God on high and to prepare the body for when it is called to jihad. Soccer is not for passing time or the thrill of so-called victory.

7. Do not set the time of play at 45 minutes, which is the official time of the Jews, Christians and all the heretical and atheist countries. This is the time used by teams that have strayed from the righteous path. You are obliged to distinguish yourself from the heretics and the corrupted and must not resemble them in anything.

6. Do not play in two halves. Rather play in one half or three halves in order to completely differentiate yourselves from the heretics, the polytheists, the corrupted and the disobedient.

9. If neither of you beats the other, or "wins" as it is called, and neither puts the leather between the posts, do not add extra time or penalties until someone wins. No, instead leave the field, because winning with overtime and penalty kicks is the pinnacle of imitating heretics and international rules.

10. If you play soccer, do not appoint someone to follow you called a "referee," since there is no need for him after doing away with international rules like "foul," "penalty," "corner" and others. His presence would be in imitation of the heretics, Jews and Christians and would follow international rules.

11. Young crowds should not gather to watch when you play because if you are there for the sake of sports and strengthening your bodies as you claimed, why would people watch you? You should make them join your physical fitness and jihad preparation, or you should say: "Go proselytize and seek out morally reprehensible acts in the markets and the press and leave us to our physical fitness."

12. If you finish playing soccer, do not talk about your game and say, "We were better than the opponent," or "So-and-so plays well" and so on. Instead be concerned with your bodies and their strength and muscles, and say, "We played only to drill in running, attacking and retreating, and to prepare for jihad in the name of God on high."

13. You should spit in the face of whoever puts the ball between the posts or uprights and then runs in order to get his friends to follow him and hug him like players in America or France do, and you should punish and reprimand him, for what is the relationship between celebrating, hugging and kissing and the sports that you are practicing?

14. You should use two posts instead of three pieces of wood or steel that you erect in order to put the ball between them, meaning that you should remove the crossbar in order not to imitate the heretics and in order to be entirely distinct from the soccer system's despotic international rules.

15. Do not do what is called "substitution," that is, taking the place of someone who has fallen, because this is a practice of the heretics in America and elsewhere.

These are some conditions and precepts so that morally aware youth do not inadvertently imitate heretics and polytheists when playing soccer ... Hell awaits those who die playing soccer according to rules established by heretical countries, at the head of which is America."

Geoff D. Porter directs Middle East and North Africa analysis at a political risk consulting firm.

Dressing for the town

I normally wear just a thin pair of shorts in the house, no shirt or shoes. But when I go into the town I put on a shirt and change into shorts with pockets that will hold coins. Usually, I put on the shirt first, then remove my house shorts. At this stage, if Rose happens to catch sight of me, she will start waving to me and telling me goodbye frantically, at the same time bursting into irrepressible giggles.

You see, I am a little absent-minded. Rose is convinced that one day, which she is greatly looking forward to, I will set off for the town on my bicycle wearing only my shirt and underpants, or perhaps only the shirt, having forgotten to put on my shorts.

Modern Poetry

Extract from an article in today's "Observer" newspaper:

"Stephen Fry has launched a scathing attack on the 'arse-dribble' of modern poets and revealed a private passion for writing his own verse.

In his new book, The Ode Less Travelled, a guide to writing poetry, Fry argues in favour of traditional form and metre.

He expresses admiration for WH Auden, Robert Browning and other dead poets, but condemns 'the condition of English-language poetics' today as 'tattered and tired'.

He goes on: 'Add a feeble-minded political correctness to the mix and it is a wonder that any considerable poetry at all has been written over the last 50 years. It is as if we have all been encouraged to believe that form is a kind of fascism, and that to acquire knowledge is to drive a jackboot into the face of those poor souls who are too incurious, dull-witted or idle to find out what poetry can be.'

These candid comments come in the month that National Poetry Day failed to capture the public imagination and prompted calls for 'an ambassador' to help give poets the same star status as leading novelists."

Harold Pinter has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. I wonder what Stephen Fry would make of this poem of Pinter's:

God Bless America

Here they go again,
The Yanks in their armoured parade
Chanting their ballads of joy
As they gallop across the big world
Praising America's God.

The gutters are clogged with the dead
The ones who couldn't join in
The others refusing to sing
The ones who are losing their voice
The ones who've forgotten the tune.

The riders have whips which cut.
Your head rolls onto the sand
Your head is a pool in the dirt
Your head is a stain in the dust
Your eyes have gone out and your nose
Sniffs only the pong of the dead
And all the dead air is alive
With the smell of America's God.

Harold Pinter January 2003

more about love and peace

And how about these quotes, I like them, too:

' Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within
the storm.  If you continually give then you will continually
have.'
  -- Unknown Author from the Crystal Meth
Anonymous Support Site

   “The choice between love and fear is made every
moment in our hearts and minds. That is where the peace
process begins. Without peace within, peace in the world is
an empty wish. Like love, peace is extended. It cannot be
brought from the world to the heart. It must be brought
from each heart to another, and thus to all mankind.”
  --Paul Ferrini

    'Thus, the task is, not so much to see what no one
has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought,
about that which everybody sees.'
    ~~ Erwin Schrödinger 1887-1961 

the question is wrong

I like this snappy little quote, don't you?

"If Love isn't the answer, the Question is Wrong"

found on http://quantumtouch.groupee.net/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6901071811/m/5621092811

What Tarot card are you?

I found this on Lock and Ki, thank you, jewels



You are the Hermit card. The Hermit has chosen a
solitary spiritual path. He shines light on his
inner self and, by this means, gains wisdom.
The Hermit's home is the natural world and it
is by being in tune with that world that he
learns the laws of nature and learn how they
operate within himself. His path is a lonely
one as he lives in silence and has for
companionship only his own internal rhythms.
But those crossing his path are touched by his
light and wisdom. Though often alone, he
manages nevertheless to instruct those who meet
him and guides those who chose to follow him on
a path towards enlightenment. Image from The
Aleister Crowley Tarot deck.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/thoth/


Which Tarot Card Are You?
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On the Banks of Allan Water

When I sing even the first line or two of this song, my voice chokes up and tears start in my eyes. It's not the story, but rather the music and the words together, that produces this effect on me. I wish I knew how to publish the music here, it's so beautiful. Can anyone tell me how to do it?

Allan Water is a river in Scotland, near where I used to live. It rises in the Ochil Hills and joins the River Forth just below Bridge of Allan, Fife. The song is believed to have been written by Matthew. G. Lewis around 1805.

There are lovely pictures of the river here and here and below is a copy of a broadsheet giving the words. In case it's not legible, I have copied the words below.

ON THE BANKS OF ALLAN WATER.

On the banks of Allan Water,
When the sweet Springtime did fall,
Was the miller’s lovely daughter,
Fairest of them all.
For his bride a soldier sought her,
And a winning tongue had he:
On the banks of Allan Water,
None so gay as she.

On the banks of Allan Water,
When brown Autumn spreads its store,
Then I saw the miller’s daughter,
But she smiled no more;
For the Summer grief had brought her,
And the soldier false was he;
On the banks of Allan Water,
None so sad as she.

On the banks of Allan Water,
When the Winter snow fell fast,
Still was seen the miller’s daughter,
Chilling blew the blast.
But the miller’s lovely daughter,
Both from cold and care was free:
On the banks of Allan Water,
There a corpse lay she.

M.G. Lewis.

Locally produced cheese

I couple of weeks ago Rose and I were riding through the streets of Calbayog city, me pedalling and Rose riding in the sidecar, when we saw a street vendor selling cheese. These little thin disks of cheese are made from the milk of the carabao (water buffalo) and are very salty. I don't know why they have to be so salty, and I wash them in clean water for a few minutes before eating them to remove some of the salt. It's the only local cheese, there aren't many dairy cows here.

We bought 100 pieces for 300 pesos (about $5.35). The vendor put his little tub of cheese down on the road, put a plastic bag over his hand for a glove and carefully placed the pieces in another plastic bag for us to carry. He told us they are made in Gandara, a town an hour's ride away, where Rose's brother Rody happens to be the District Judge.


Four piles of carabao milk cheese on our dining table 

Building up high

We are making a tree house for the children. The tree it's in is a star apple, which has plenty of fruit in February/March. I don't actually like the fruit very much, it is full of latex which sticks your lips together when you eat it. Quite sweet and a bland taste. Click on a picture to enlarge it.


Tree house with some wall in place


Tree house getting its roof. That's Sanny up there fixing the nipa shingles with thin bamboo strips to tie them on to a bamboo framework, just as in full size houses here.