Hope.

I have more hope in my heart than there is water in Loch Ness.

Loch Ness contains more water than all of the lakes and rivers in England and Wales combined. It also has a greater volume of water than any other Scottish Loch.

Christian Convention Aberdeen.

Published: 16/07/2010.

A senior Aberdeen councillor has defended the local authority’s handling of plans for a major gathering of travelling people which has provoked anger across the city.

Up to 1,000 travellers are expected to arrive at the city’s Calder Park for a five-day religious convention to be held next week.

It is believed to have been organised by the Montrose and Mastrick branches of a travellers’ church called the Life and Light Missions.

Former council leader Kate Dean, who represents the area and lives nearby, was one of the few elected members to be told about the event before the details emerged on Wednesday.

She said that the organisers of the Christian gathering did not ask for the council’s permission, but officials had decided to take control and manage the event after being informed late last week.

“From what I understand the organisers hadn’t contacted the council, the council has had to take the initiative,” she said.

“If you find something like this happening and have the chance to manage it, then that is better.”

An unauthorised event was originally planned for Nigg Bay but council officials asked for it to be moved to Calder Park.

Mrs Dean found out by chance last Friday after she phoned the council’s traveller liaison officer to alert her to an illegal encampment in Nigg.

She was told it was a “suggestion” that would be taken to the authority’s chief executive, Sue Bruce.

“I said that, given the circumstances, I would not raise an objection,” the Kincorth and Loirston councillor said.

“To me it seemed better to have them in one place where they could be policed"

“I understand the various groups of travellers in the city are going to gather there.

“I do understand the community’s concerns but we have had various undertakings from the council and police.”

Mrs Bruce has written to councillors to “apologise” for not informing them about the gathering before it was revealed exclusively in yesterday’s Press and Journal, and to clarify the chain of events.

Meanwhile, the Church of Scotland minister in Mastrick has distanced herself from the event, after an advertisement flyer said it was being held “on behalf of Mastrick Church”.

The Rev Lesley Risby said: “When you see ‘Mastrick Church’ on a flyer the assumption is that it’s Mastrick Parish Church of Scotland.

“Nobody from Life and Light Missions contacted the minister of Mastrick Parish Church about the event.

“It has never had, nor will it ever have, anything to do with Mastrick Parish Church. We do not support this event.”

Life and Light Missions is believed to have a base in Cairnwell Place, Mastrick, but the group could not be contacted yesterday.

Travellers have already started arriving at Calder Park in advance of next week’s event.

About 10 caravans were at the site last night, with dozens more expected to arrive over the next three days.

Published: 17/07/2010.

Pastor pledges travellers’ religious gathering will be trouble-free
church elder ‘shocked and surprised’ by furore plans have caused

GROWING CROWD: Travellers arrive at Calder Park for the Light and Life Missions convention.

A pastor organising a religious convention for hundreds of travelling people in Aberdeen pledged last night that it would be trouble-free.

Jackie Boyd, an elder from the Light and Life Missions church, said the group was only coming to the north-east to preach the gospel.

He said he had been “shocked and surprised” by the furore plans for the five-day event have caused – and he only expected about 150 people to arrive at the city’s Calder Park.

Police initially told community leaders in Nigg that up to 1,000 people were due to congregate at the park, prompting an angry response throughout the south of the city.

Aberdeen City Council said last night it now expected between 50-70 caravans to arrive over the weekend for the Christian gathering.

Mr Boyd said: “We haven’t come for trouble – we’ve come to preach the gospel.

“The marquee we have sits 150 people. Some come in caravans on their own, some come with two or three.

“We work in 47 countries around the world – we do not expect trouble. If there has been trouble with other groups then that’s nothing to do with us. I am shocked and surprised to see such furore about people coming to preach the gospel.”

He added that the church had its own security and that it had been hosting similar events for 50 years.

Local residents have also been invited to attend the daily gospel meetings, after Mr Boyd said the event was not just for travellers.

Nigg Community Council chairman Alan Strachan was outraged when he was told about the event earlier this week.

He said last night: “A thousand travellers were expected for the week, that’s what I was told.

“Even if it was 100 caravans that is less than half that amount.

“We will just have to play it by ear. It is very unclear how many people are coming.”

A mobile police unit is to be stationed at Calder Park next week, while officers from the local authority’s environmental health team will also attend, although Light and Life Missions has promised to clean up the site after the event.

It has been scheduled to run from Monday to Friday.

A council spokesman said: “The current situation is that there are eight caravans at Calder Park. We are expecting a further 17 by tomorrow morning. The latest estimate is that we are expecting between 50 and 70 caravans in total, however that could change.”

By Calum Ross.

One of the comments on this Press and Journal story:

Let us all good citizens dump our asbestos, PCB's and garden waste at Calder Park.
Then blame the travellers for the mess
Fiona Cooper.

This is one of many vitriolic comments.
If the word Traveller was replaced with the word Pakistani
then there would be no such comments alowed in the Press and Journal
and any information regarding those who made them would be
handed over to the Police.

A positive comment:

No Dorothy, I think the residents of Aberdeen are missing the point here!!! These are not travellers who are working in the area, or here to cause any harm or disruption to Aberdeen. This is an organised event to which they have been given permission to hold their religious convention. I have worked for Acc for may years and I can assure you that I know what I am speaking about. We are not speaking of unauthorised encampents, this is an organised event. I just wonder if the residents of Cove would be holding such a fuss if it was anything else than a Traveller event. On that note this event is open to all, it is not purely for travellers so please feel free to come along, and may I also stress that I am also a resident of Cove, in fact I live practicaly across the road and as a resident I have no problem with this event taking place. I have more of a problem with the youths that are walking the street of Cove at present causing trouble!!!!!
Amanda Farquhar.

Sylvia Plath.

Fonda.

When Jane Fonda wanted to change the World.



Now Jane Fonda wants to change the aging process.


She is consistent, with both campaigns being ineffective.

Happiness.

Happiness Is The Good Management Of Our Unhappiness.

Huge wind farm parts shipped from Fife.

Huge steel foundations each weighing as much as 80 elephants are being shipped from Fife to an offshore wind farm.

Energy company, Vattenfall, is ready to take delivery of the first four of 31 steel foundations for its 150 megawatt Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm.

The structures will be as high as two giraffes and each turbine blade weighing a wildebeest.
A spokesman for Vattenfall said today "This is our biggest undertaking to date our last structure was highland cow weight."

Read more on this Hippo+ of a story - here

Super Market

Famine.

A man in Ethiopia
picks up a piece of thrown bread
eats it and lives
to till again the tortured soil
in the forlorn hope
of a bland subsistence

A man in Scotland
who could pick up his phone
and have a van load
of delicacies
delivered to his door
Picks up a rope
and hangs himself

It isn't easy to understand
why a man in great need
clings to life
and a man with no apparent need
takes his life
It is said
"A man cannot live on bread alone"
and it would be reasonable to suppose
he considered the supermarket to have nothing
to comfort the torment
of his hungry soul.

Note for Sue.

Note for Sue

Your family sized tin of tomato soup
I ate it along with some bread
(you need more bread)
I shared it with Jo
we were hungry after making love.
Sorry, to have to break it to you like this
but as we once agreed in a conversation
about ex boyfriends/girlfriends
there is no easy way.
I found some money
in a tin behind the tomato soup tin
"Craig's Birthday" was written on a sticker
as it's near my birthday I took it
let me know if you want it back
I should have some money next week.
We're going out to the pub
the one with the karaoke (Jo's idea)
you know how she morphs into a karaoke Diva
after a couple of drinks.
I left your keys with Bill at 2/3
he was the only person in
you know Bill
the one you say Lear's at you
and gives you the creeps.
I'm moving in with Jo
I'll get my stuff tomorrow
could you leave the keys with someone
if you don't want to be in.
This one set of keys is a pain
if I find the set I lost
I'll send them back to you.

Chin up Babe

Luv Craig.

Teatime Dilemma.

Teatime Dilemma

"Mummy" Now that Graham's dead
can I get his bed
can I get his room
I'll open a window
to get rid of the stink
of his girlfriend's cheap perfume

Can I get his clothes
not everything
just the things I like
and his mountain bike

Can I get his college fund
that integral part of your great design
can it be mine

Can I get the car
you were going to buy him
when he graduated
can my life be celebrated

"Mummy" What are you doing
get away from the phone Leave it alone
"Daddy" Is that you
There's been a terrible accident
Graham's dead
I think Mummy is too
and there's nothing made for tea
on the way home could you stop and get
a take-away for me.

Chameleon.

Chameleon of virtue.

The chameleon of virtue
studies nature
with the natural eye
in unnatural light
defining matter
by an illusive
immaterial association
imputing credibility
to the incredulous
and approval
to the applied morality
of immaculate self deception
in blatant derision
of innate truth.

Reflected on a shop window

Window Shopping.

They glare at me
their faces a cauldron
of seething belligerence
I always seem to bring out the worst
I'm an expose' to their lack of grace

They notice I see them
instantly all smiles
stopping to chat

My response is tempered by grace

I see many things
the man with the camcorder comes to mind
"This camera" He explained
"Is focused on the human heart
from the inside to the outside
motive and intention
reason and emotion
thought and feeling"

It didn't dawn on me at the time
but in retrospect
I believe that man was an Angel.

Corridors.

This is not our life
or our time
this is an illusion of reality
composed of moments
when you still haunt me

You open a door
into a corridor within my mind
leading to another door
and into another life
a life lived in another time
mirrored in the memory
of what is to come

Time itself is an illusion
time is not outside us
time is within us
returning all things made
to the origin of substance

The body returns to dust
and the soul returns to God
we leave upon the Earth
the immortal human seed
and leap into timelessness

Where the past and the future
are remembered together
and the present invades all time

Where the light
floods the dungeons of hell
and the roar reverberates
bouncing off worlds

It is there that all are found Alive

Another door opens
and you are there
the love that never was
and always is
the passion that never lived
and cannot die
captured in the amber of youth

Tainted, by being virtuous
Prodigal, by being dutiful
Lost, by being found at home.

"Excellent"

Insalutary Tale.

From John Snow's blog:

As we sweat ourselves through what is promised to be the most painful UK budget in thirty years, there is an insalutary tale from far afield.

Ken Talbot and the entire Board of the Australian Sundance Resources company has been wiped out in an air crash in the Congo. Their plane, piloted by French and British pilots was flying from Cameroon into the Congo to visit a mine.

Ken Talbot was worth a billion Australian dollars. In flying in the same plane he and his board broke corporate protocol.

Talbot had also been mired in a corruption scandal, and was due to appear in court in August. He was the CEO of Macarthur Coal, but had stood down after being charged with bribery in his home state of Queensland. He had pleaded not guilty to all alleged charges.

At one level it is of course the most terrible tragedy. But on another it may say something about finance, politics, wealth and the frailty of human life.

Talbot faced some thirty five charges of paying ‘commissions’ to the disgraced Australian Labour MP Gordon Nuttal, jailed last year in Queenland for corruption. Named in his trial was one Ken Talbot.

Mr Talbot now only has to make his reckoning with the grim reaper, the charges against him are wiped from the slate.

But how fickle life is. By all accounts Talbot had everything. But there it is, it’s all over. He leaves an awful lot of money, a lot grief, a company with no Board, and criminal charges the outcome of which we shall never know.

Why do I blog about it?

Because on Budget day it tells us something about our transitory lives. Perhaps too that money isn’t everything – whatever the Chancellor may do about it – and that we are all well advised to play it straight.

Oh, and if we care about those we leave behind, we shouldn’t all be found aboard the same plane when flying in inhospitable conditions on a twin turboprop a long way from home.

John Snow.

Luke 12.

Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

And he told them this story: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Appleby Fair Question Time.

Appleby Fair Question Time from Travellers Times on Vimeo.

The Appleby Horse Fair is a horse fair which is held annually at Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria (until 1974 Westmorland) in England.
It is held every year in early June and has taken place since the reign of James II, who granted a Royal charter in 1685 allowing a horse fair "near to the River Eden". Since then, around ten thousand Gypsies and Travellers have converged each year to buy and sell horses, meet with friends and relations, and celebrate their music, history and folklore.
Another thirty thousand people visit the fair during the week.
The fair is one of the oldest horse fairs in Britain. The fair is held outside the town on what was formerly called Gallows Hill (named after the public hangings that were carried out there), which is now known as Fair Hill.
The fair customarily starts on the first Thursday in June, unless that is on the 1st in which case it starts on the 8th. (From Wikipedia.)

Letter of the Law.

Letter To A Young friend.

I Lang hae thought, my youthfu' friend,
A something to have sent you,
Tho' it should serve nae ither end
Than just a kind memento:
But how the subject-theme may gang,
Let time and chance determine;
Perhaps it may turn out a sang:
Perhaps turn out a sermon.

Ye'll try the world soon, my lad;
And, Andrew dear, believe me,
Ye'll find mankind an unco squad,
And muckle they may grieve ye:
For care and trouble set your thought,
Ev'n when your end's attained;
And a' your views may come to nought,
Where ev'ry nerve is strained.

I'll no say, men are villains a';
The real, harden'd wicked,
Wha hae nae check but human law,
Are to a few restricked;
But, Och! mankind are unco weak,
An' little to be trusted;
If self the wavering balance shake,
It's rarely right adjusted!

Yet they wha fa' in fortune's strife,
Their fate we shouldna censure;
For still, th' important end of life
They equally may answer;
A man may hae an honest heart,
Tho' poortith hourly stare him;
A man may tak a neibor's part,
Yet hae nae cash to spare him.

Aye free, aff-han', your story tell,
When wi' a bosom crony;
But still keep something to yoursel',
Ye scarcely tell to ony:
Conceal yoursel' as weel's ye can
Frae critical dissection;
But keek thro' ev'ry other man,
Wi' sharpen'd, sly inspection.

The sacred lowe o' weel-plac'd love,
Luxuriantly indulge it;
But never tempt th' illicit rove,
Tho' naething should divulge it:
I waive the quantum o' the sin,
The hazard of concealing;
But, Och! it hardens a' within,
And petrifies the feeling!

To catch dame Fortune's golden smile,
Assiduous wait upon her;
And gather gear by ev'ry wile
That's justified by honour;
Not for to hide it in a hedge,
Nor for a train attendant;
But for the glorious privilege
Of being independent.

The fear o' hell's a hangman's whip,
To haud the wretch in order;
But where ye feel your honour grip,
Let that aye be your border;
Its slightest touches, instant pause-
Debar a' side-pretences;
And resolutely keep its laws,
Uncaring consequences.

The great Creator to revere,
Must sure become the creature;
But still the preaching cant forbear,
And ev'n the rigid feature:
Yet ne'er with wits profane to range,
Be complaisance extended;
An atheist-laugh's a poor exchange
For Deity offended!

When ranting round in pleasure's ring,
Religion may be blinded;
Or if she gie a random sting,
It may be little minded;
But when on life we're tempest driv'n-
A conscience but a canker-
A correspondence fix'd wi' Heav'n,
Is sure a noble anchor!

Adieu, dear, amiable youth!
Your heart can ne'er be wanting!
May prudence, fortitude, and truth,
Erect your brow undaunting!
In ploughman phrase, "God send you speed,"
Still daily to grow wiser;
And may ye better reck the rede,
Then ever did th' adviser!

Robert Burns.

Midsummer Day.

Midsummer Day.

In a brightly printed cotton dress
styled for a Midsummer day
She sat beside me on the bank
of a meandering river Tay

The fragrance of wild flowers
infused the hazy breeze
From the bank across the river
bird song filled the trees

Wisps of delicate pollen
floated along on the air
Leaning back she ran her fingers
through her sun bleached hair

We looked up at the deep blue sky
as a little cloud covered the sun
Then we covered each other's eyes
and listened to the river run

We walked the path along the river
to where the Tay and Lyon meet
then sat and talked beneath a tree
shaded from the midday heat

We talked about the future
we talked about being together
and from the vista of our youth
our future seemed forever

I didn't know how beautiful she was
life and love were all brand new
I didn't know such precious moments
could only be precious few

The elements of nature
seldom by will or chance of play
In moments of alignment
converge to make a perfect day

I thought about her yesterday
while walking on the shore
I thought I'd give
whatever time was left
to live that day once more.

Supper.

Until Supper Time.

Tell me

all your secrets

and I

will tell you mine

and we

will whisper precious things

until
supper
time

your eyes

are like an ocean

very deep and very blue

your complexion

is aglow

by the loveliness in you

your hair

is very fragrant

your lips

are warm and sweet

and I

will love you completely

when I

wash
your
feet.

Clockwork Orange.

It usually takes a few years for our Leader to develop this level of arrogance:

David Cameron has warned the public sector it must take its fair share of the cuts burden. Unions are angry that the Government will target public sector workers
It is thought public workers will face a pay and pension squeeze in next Tuesday's emergency Budget.

The Budget is expected to be the toughest in years with the Government launching action to tackle the record £155bn deficit.
The annual £180bn public sector pay bill and pension schemes - the cost of which is set to triple to £9.4bn over the next five years - will be targeted.

However, the Prime Minister said there was no agenda against public sector workers.
"There are three large items of spending that you can't ignore and those are public sector pay, public sector pensions and benefits," he told The Times.
"We revere and want to stand up for people working in the public sector.

"There is no animus against people because they work in the public sector. It is just a question of how do we best deal with this budget deficit in a way that is fair."

Welfare payments are also expected to be squeezed.
But Mr Cameron said that was not enough: "There is no way of dealing with an 11% budget deficit just by hitting either the rich or the welfare scrounger."

Mr Cameron said the formulation of the Budget was a "collective process" within the coalition with the Lib Dems.
"I pay tribute to the Liberal Democrats. I didn't predict that we would come together and agree properly robust fiscal action but we have, and that's all for the good," he said.

The PM would not be drawn on which taxes will rise in the Budget but insisted that any hike in capital gains tax (CGT) would bring only "some modest additional revenue".

Meanwhile, business leaders have warned against a large hike in CGT after a report suggested that such a move would reduce the amount of money the Government receives.

The one striking a pose second from the left
is our Leader David Cameron.

Afghanistan.

KABUL, June 17th - Afghanistan's mineral deposits may worth 3 trillions U.S. dollars and the government would utilize it for building economy and development, Afghan Minister for Mines Waheedullah Shahrani said on Thursday.

"The minerals and untapped treasures in the country may value 3 trillions U.S. dollars," Shahrani told a news conference here.
He made the remarks just days after the U.S. influential daily The New York Times citing United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that Afghanistan has mineral deposits worth one trillion U.S. dollars.

"More study and survey needed to identify and explore the underground resources," Shahrani emphasized.

Afghanistan has huge untapped natural resources which have enormous potential for our economic development and growth, the minister said.
However, he also said that there are challenges and security remains a big challenge in the country especially in the south to explore minerals.

According to the minister lack of corridors and major highways in the land-locked militancy-plagued, Afghanistan is also among the challenges to explore the natural resources properly.

The Ministry of Mine has been closely working with the international organizations including World Bank and United States Geological Survey to ensure that the war-torn country benefit from its rich natural resources.

According to the official, the biggest deposits discovered so far are iron and copper the quantities are large enough to make post-Taliban Afghanistan a major world producer of minerals.

However, Afghanistan which is mired with over three decades of war does not have any mining industry or infrastructure to explore natural resources properly, so it will take decades for the country to exploit its untapped underground treasury appropriately.

Editor: Yang Lina.

Contact: Addresses - UK and Afghanistan.

Stella.

Stella.

Strait is the spot and green the sod
From whence my sorrows flow;
And soundly sleeps the ever dear
Inhabitant below.

Pardon my transport, gentle shade,
While o'er the turf I bow;
Thy earthy house is circumscrib'd,
And solitary now.

Not one poor stone to tell thy name,
Or make thy virtues known:
But what avails to me to thee,
The sculpture of a stone?

I'll sit me down upon this turf,
And wipe the rising tear:
The chill blast passes swiftly by,
And flits around thy bier.

Dark is the dwelling of the Dead,
And sad their house of rest:
Low lies the head, by Death's cold arms
In awful fold embrac'd.

I saw the grim Avenger stand
Incessant by thy side;
Unseen by thee, his deadly breath
Thy lingering frame destroy'd.

Pale grew the roses on thy cheek,
And wither'd was thy bloom,
Till the slow poison brought thy youth
Untimely to the tomb.

Thus wasted are the ranks of men-
Youth, Health, and Beauty fall;
The ruthless ruin spreads around,
And overwhelms us all.

Behold where, round thy narrow house,
The graves unnumber'd lie;
The multitude that sleep below
Existed but to die.

Some, with the tottering steps of Age,
Trod down the darksome way;
And some, in youth's lamented prime,
Like thee were torn away:

Yet these, however hard their fate,
Their native earth receives;
Amid their weeping friends they died,
And fill their fathers' graves.

From thy lov'd friends, when first thy heart
Was taught by Heav'n to glow,
Far, far remov'd, the ruthless stroke
Surpris'd and laid thee low.

At the last limits of our isle,
Wash'd by the western wave,
Touch'd by thy face, a thoughtful bard
Sits lonely by thy grave.

Pensive he eyes, before him spread
The deep, outstretch'd and vast;
His mourning notes are borne away
Along the rapid blast.

And while, amid the silent Dead
Thy hapless fate he mourns,
His own long sorrows freshly bleed,
And all his grief returns:

Like thee, cut off in early youth,
And flower of beauty's pride,
His friend, his first and only joy,
His much lov'd Stella, died.

Him, too, the stern impulse of Fate
Resistless bears along;
And the same rapid tide shall whelm
The Poet and the Song.

The tear of pity which he sheds,
He asks not to receive;
Let but his poor remains be laid
Obscurely in the grave.

His grief-worn heart, with truest joy,
Shall meet the welcome shock:
His airy harp shall lie unstrung,
And silent on the rock.

O, my dear maid, my Stella, when
Shall this sick period close,
And lead the solitary bard
To his belov'd repose?

Robert Burns.

Commonality.

Little Hand

You don't know
you're breaking my heart
or how I wish
it could be me instead of you
I sit at the bottom of your bed
and there's nothing I can do
I pray my earnest prayer
for God to let you stay
but know deep inside
he's taking you away

Carefully structured expectations
unspoken hopes and plans entwined
though struck by such a feeble hand
collapse entangled in the mind

This is the last of carefree days
of youthful jest and childlike joy
but captured moments of these and more
this day will not destroy

And the wounded heart will never
let go of this little hand
still reaching where the treasure is
will sojourn only in this land

And the wounded Saviour will never
let go of our grief and pain
God knows we do not understand
it's hard enough to be sane.

Naive heart.

The stomach is full
the bed is soft and warm
but the soul
is oh so hungry
in the restless night
Everything seems so small
and so far away
the attendant murmur of age
mingles with the distant sound
of children at play
And little lights
almost in view
once cities of interest
now glow for a moment
only to fade
into the dull sameness
of what has been
The naive heart
enquires for purpose
in a frivolous void
of diversion
and the penitent
subconscious soul
confesses nightly
to the God
inescapable.

Lonely road.

O my God
I feel so empty inside
falling through the void
of my own emptiness
there is nothing
only fear
so afraid of living
so afraid to die

The desolation of my soul
has met me on a lonely road
and every way I turn
and all I try to do
seem only moments of distraction
from this unknown life
and knowledge of death

No one is old
seventy is not old
seventy millennia would not be old
and still not long enough
to learn to be a man
We are children
lost in a dangerous world
the present uncertain
the future unclear
and our deepest needs
will not be found here.

Heaven's Gate.

Meriden Villagers block gate to land owned by Travellers.

Sonnet 29

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings

W. Shakespeare.

Waiting for the rain.

Noah's Ark from Travellers Times on Vimeo.

This story reminds me of this verse from the Bible:

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

And this Poem:

Milk for the road

Subtle sickly sweet hypocrisies
turn them sour overnight
xenophobic by morning
Police and men from the council
demand that we move on
from their picturesque village
and neighbourly people
We are breaking the law
of aesthetic ambiance
causing the people
to become transmogrified
by our vicinity
to their cocoon
of acceptable association.

I have been aware for some time now that Travelling People
do expose the intentions and motives of the human heart.

Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

The Value of Pi with Delia

The Value of Pi.

"You may ask"
Why I'm lying in bed
I've been thinking
The tree growing in the ground
the rain falling from the sky
the fruit ripening in the sun
It takes such a lot to make
apple crumble pie.

Anyway - I've been all over
I tried to be a soldier
but the trade is dead
I tried to be a farmer
but the crops won't grow
I tried to be a builder
but you can't build on the snow.

It's the same old story
The money men have it all
they've formed a consortium
and are gathered in the square
they're burning barrels of money
and it's warm and cheery there.

We should get ready
and go down
to warm our hands and toes
it won't last forever
you know how money goes.

Delia Smith will be sixty nine
on the 18th of June - I don't believe it!

The importance of being David Bowie.

Thai Sea Gypsy.

This man is a sea gypsy in his longtail boat near Lipe island
in southern Thailand.

Travellers Trailer Video.

The fifth Trailer shown is a Westmorland Star in the 60's my Parents had a Trailer exactly like this one. This link has some information about who made them.

Questions.

Nicky Gumbel interviews Tony Blair at Holy Trinity Brompton.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of his personal Christian faith, his work in the Middle East and his vision for his Faith Foundation at a church event attended by 1,200 people on Tuesday night. 21st July 2009.

Tell me the mystery
the half light
of your dark fantasy
the black day
the white night
of amoral innocence

Tell me the truth
your truth made mine
and show me the proof
the proof ephemeral
animated in your mind

Tell me your mind
the clinical ambition
the gregarious charm
the sociopathic innocence
the earnest pernicious desire
the benevolent funeral pyre

It is not right for a man
to judge his worth
by denying worth to another

It is not right for a man
to injure what he cannot heal
or destroy what he cannot build

It is not right for a man
to kill like Cain
or die like Abel
killed in the twilight
of good overcome by evil

Hear the whisper of his blood
utter a bewildered sigh
for the innocents caught up
in our devious violent world.

Tesco hikes price of booze.

Supermarkets price off licence chain out of business:

The off-licence chain which trades as Threshers, Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine is closing 128 shops in Scotland.
First Quench owns 219 off-licences across Scotland but went into administration at the end of October.
The shops, which are spread across the country, will all close before Christmas with 688 redundancies.
Across the UK, 391 stores will shut, resulting in 2,140 redundancies, though the Wine Rack brand has been sold.

Now -We- want the supermarkets to hike the price:

Supermarket chain Tesco says it wants to see curbs on the sale of cheap alcohol during this Parliament.
Tesco has welcomed a promise by the coalition government to ban below-cost sales of
alcohol in England and Wales.
The UK's biggest retailer goes further, saying it would back the more radical step of introducing a minimum price.
Tesco says polling for the company found excessive drinking and the anti-social behaviour it causes is one of the public's most serious concerns.

Jackie Bird, Nicola Stugeon and Lucy Neville-Rolfe. From Tesco.
All presented this on 'Reporting Scotland' as Tesco responding in a humanitarian way to the wishes of the people of Scotland.

"Crucially Tesco have reached their position after consultation with customers, demonstrating that there is also consumer support for change.
"Like me, they believe that it's wrong that you can buy alcohol in supermarkets for less than the cost of bottled water" - Nicola Sturgeon.

There is a news story here but not the one presented to us.

N. F. L. - Update.

Summer Walker.

Walking the roads of Argyll.

Sitting in the cart shed
I ate cheese and bread
drank a jug of milk
then lay down my head

I awoke it was dark
the roof rattled with rain
I ruffled the straw
then lay down again

I awoke it was clear
and a beautiful day
thanked the goodwife for breakfast
then went on my way

I walked to the next farm
and knocked on the door
a day in the fields
by Drumlemble shore

Gathering Summer
from the meadows of Thane
up on the big mill
threshing the grain

A girl came to the field
with a basket of food
I thank her very much
and tell her it was good

She is pretty and feisty
melt your heart with a glance
she tells me all are welcome
at the end of harvest dance

The farmer's son became enraged
He said "You had no need thank her
and you will not be welcome
not you or any other tinker"

I didn't answer him a word
I could see that he was smitten
perhaps I had overstepped the mark
in a manner unbeffiting

But words were not enough for him
he pushed me off the mill
then jumped down on top of me
and beat me with a will

I heard the farmer shout "Enough"
then brought me water to wash my face
his son protested "These tinkers Dad
why do you allow them about the place"

The farmer sided with his son
and the workers began to goad
as he handed me my wages
and pointed to the road

The farmer walked me to the gate
then told me he was sorry
I wished him well with all good will
knowing he did not say it for me

I walked to the next farm
battered and sore
The girl from the field
opened the door

I had thought from a beating
could only come harm
not a beautiful wife
and an arable farm

We sit in the church
to worship and pray
the farmer and his son
now stay away

It's a struggle being accepted
by these good farming folk
lives seldom affirm
the fine words we invoke

Some are amused
from some a distant regard
and some could see me
in the church yard

We sit in our parlour
and look out to sea
my beautiful wife
snuggles closer to me

I whisper - She asks me
"What did you say"
I tell her "I want us to sit here
and watch our grandchildren play"

She giggles and says "O old man'
I'll be your grandchild watch me play"
She runs into the garden
jumping and skipping and tilting her head
I hide and she finds me
sitting in the cart shed.

Abandoned Holiday.

Why did Mr and Mrs McGrath abandon their holiday in Torquay?
If you have the time and the patience - You can read about it here.

Oasis - Don't look back in anger.

A lull in conversation.

A lull in conversation.

I'm sorry
I wasn't good company

I was thinking
If space time curves
into a fourth dimension
does that dimension
form an umbilical
between time
in the physical universe
and timelessness
in spiritual eternity
and do we
share in timelessness
by being known
in the eternal mind of God
omnisciently alive
born into time
destined for timelessness
from Alpha to Omega

And I lost the gist
of your anecdote.

Wax.

A picket fence.

A picket fence
forming a line
toward the horizon
disappearing in distance
leaving an impression
of infinity

A semblance of love
expresses itself boldly
but in unintelligible terms

A man waiting
to become mature
by the discipline of need
asks rhetorical questions
and receives evasive answers.

An experience in wax.

An experience in wax
melts
in the black heat
of the midnight sun

becoming white
in natural light

articulately endearing
in a display of compatibility
with an endangered species

reacting spontaneously
with all the art
of practiced
self preservation.

Combatants.

Psychological
combatants
an attempt
to dominate
a struggle
to defend
autonomy
Concealed by
camouflaged
emotions
retreating into
three
dimensional
thought.

Me and Katie.

At the transport museum in Glasgow.

Mayfly

Mayfly

She's young and beautiful
she doesn't have to
be sensible

It's in the effortless
ability to please
floating ephemeral
on the Summer breeze

It's in the lightness
of not needing to know
the origin of the stream
or to where it will flow

It's in the ambient harmony
of breakers on the shore
the rhythmic universal pulse
declaring:"Life is more"

It's in the unconscious breaking
of another unwritten rule
and the hundred friends on facebook
all whoopin': "It was cool"

It's in the morning's joy
of living for the day
her personal sunrise calling
all her world out to play

It's in the designer handbag
her make-up clothes and shoes
she is ready for her girlfriends
and they are ready to cruise

It's in the natural ratio
of volume mass and weight
she only has to say
"What was the question?"
to transcend the debate

It's in the oblivious flower
thriving on no-man's-land
the fallen soldier reaches out
an Angel grasps his hand.

The picture is of Jade Goody.

Poem for 1st of May.

SONNET 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

William Shakespeare.

The picture is of a German Gypsy family.