Happy New Year

Hope 2009 goes a bit better c.c

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I found myself some time XD

Mom and Dad got me a Webcam&Mic with Skype wassnames! Which means I can chat with Gilles and Becca! YAY!

They also got me a Wacom Bamboo!!!!!!! *dances around with her new tablet* I'm in the middle of reading the booklet and pondering setting it up RIGHT NOW XD

I got many DVDs XD '4400' 'Hellboy 2' 'Sweeny Todd and 'The Secret Garden'; and CDs 'Amy Macdonald' and 'The Streets 2 in 1'; and a couple of books 'The Tales Of Beedle The Bard' and 'The Well-Bred Person's Book Of Etiquette'; and other stuff! A big box of assorted papers and new pyjamas and plenty of socks and even a paint-it-yourself Piggy Bank! Oh - and Matt even found one of those 'Harry Potter Twenty Questions Snitches'! (So far it correctly guessed Severus Snape, Firebolt and Harry Potter - but failed to guess Hannah Abbot - it thought I meant Susan Bones XD)

I've been helping out in the kitchen - we plan to eat at 3ish - and I've been running around all day with bells and a fairy wand in my hair, wearing a Christmas Hat and playing Sudoku with my new Sudoku book XD

The cats are seriously enjoying having balled up wrapping paper thrown at them, and really loved the treat of Tuna ^^

This is so brilliant! XD

*Sings along to Amy Macdonald*


MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

Merry Christmas!

Because I just know I'm going to be nothing but busy tomorrow, I thought I'd wish you all a Merry Christmas* now!

I've spent most of today helping out in the kitchen, preparing the brine for the chicken to soak in overnight, boiling the ham with oranges ready to roast tonight, making the stuffing ready to bake tomorrow and making the pigs-in-blankets - also for tomorrow XD

I'm just about to start de-shelling the roast chestnuts for our fried sprouts tomorrow, as well! ^^

All presents are wraped, all foods are bought and being prepared, all stockings are filled - it's now just a case of waiting!

I'm SO looking forward to tomorow! ^^

I hope everyone else has a damn fine day tomorrow and a brilliant New Years! ^^

Enjoy the day everyone!

H

More from YAMABUSHI

These are the Chibi versions of the ten characters from Yamabushi, created specifically to illustrate the Website ^^

Want to find these as single images? Go to our Deviant Page!

YAMABUSHI

COMING SOON!

YAMABUSHI: JOURNEY BEYOND THE SKIES

An original webcomic, written by Gilles Bone and illustrated by Hannah King.

Website launching in early January 2009 - with accompanying Forum, CafePress store and DeviantArt page.

Handel: Messiah

I went to see Messiah performed live at Colstan Hall, Bristol last night, with my Mom and some of her work mates.

WOW LIKE WOAH. Seriously.

I think I have discoverd a love for live classical music! It was gorgeous from beginning to end!

The orchestra was made up of seven violins, two violas, two celli, a (fucking huge) bass, two oboes, a basoon, two trumpets, timpani and a harpsichord.

The choir was the Bristol Choral Society and the four soloits wereSian Winstanley for Soprano, Buddug Verona James for Mezzo Soprano, Huw Rys Evens for Tenor and Arwel Huw Morgan for Bass.

The Conductor was Adrian Partington (who also plays piano and organ and is a chorus master).

They performed the whole thing, from the opening Overture to the final Amen, with an interval halfway through, between 'His yoke is easy and his burden light' and 'Behold the Lamb of God'.

According to tradtion, when they performed 'Hallelujah' at the end of Part Two, the WHOLE audience stood up, as well as al the performers. It was fantastic ^^

I personally think they should have had more than two brass instruments playing, because they were more than a little lost behind the Choir - and throughout most of his parts, the Timpani player's second drum was off-key (amusingly, between his parts, the poor guy was trying his best to fix the tension - lying across his drum with his ear to the skin, fiddling with the knobbs!)

I find I rather enjoy watching the choir members - there was one particular male singer, in what I'm guessing was the Bass section, who is very dramatic while he sings XD Oh, and the Bass player was also very passionate in her playing - arms-a-flying and so on.

Mum explained the First Violinist's dramatic playing to me after the show (the other violin players were keepingtime with her, rather than the Conductor - which is why she was dramatic in her movements while playing!)

The four soloists were done up to the nines in gorgeous eighteenth century outfits! The two me looked VERY distinguished - and even took it so far as to sit in regal fashion betweentheir pieces. The two women looked gorgeous in their flowing gowns - though at one point, the Soprano nearly hit one of the Cello players with her expansive skirts!





Over-all it was bloody brilliant and I really enjoyed it ^^

Mom has decided she's goingto take me out to see more such performances ^^

I look forward to it!

Prophecies R Us - an interesting diversion

Thanks to everyone for your comments. We can agree to disagree. Nonetheless, I stand by my prediction. I say that Hillary Clinton will be the 44th president because I have faith that it's what the universe intended. I'm not like other "psychic" people who claim to have had a vision of Hillary as president several months ago and then their prediction "changed". The ONLY person that I have seen as the 44th president since several months ago (and the only person I STILL see as the 44th president) is Hillary. It's her hand that I see placed on the bible ----- not Barack Obama's hand, or John McCain's hand, or Joe Biden's hand. I have faith that this not something that's subject to change based on people's actions, because it's the universe that's directing this. Keep in mind that there are no accidents in the universe. Also keep in mind that we have no 44th president yet, only a president-elect. The universe intended for Hillary to be our next president, and therefore will deliver the presidency to her. Just how EXACTLY will Hillary wind up with the presidency? Only the universe can dictate that. But regardless of the choices people make from here on out, we will still arrive at the same conclusion: Hillary will the 44th president.

Damianos

I'm waiting with baited breath for the 'inauguration' process now. Seriously XD

There are so many prophecies on this website, regarding Obama and the Inauguration - it's thoroughly amusing. Predominantly, they're anti-Obama, almost all of them relating some tale of his demise or inability to take the Presidency.

It gives me the idea that most of these 'Prophets' are Republican and/or Right Wing Christians of some sort. I could be wrong, of course, but that seems the most likely situation.



In other news, there's a '2017 Survival Guide' posted by 'dennis'.

This is very comprehensive and goes so far as to cover the intervening years! It reads like a badly written novel, of course, and even makes some predictions that I'm sure the author would say he made in early 2007:

Recession starts the 4th quarter of 2007 due to housing bubble, sub-prime loans, gas prices and the trade and budget deficits careening out of control in the US. This recession carries all the way through 2008 ending in 2009.

Very nice of him to let us know.



'Maxindigo' believes there will be flooding in the UK (and Europe) in 2009:

i had a dream last night of sever floods in the UK and Europe. i live in wales where floods occur some of the time but his was sever stuff. there was no land at all. there wasn't a tidal wave just complete rise of the tides and no where for anyone to go. has anyone else has similar experience or dreams?

maxindigo

Of course, he's not told us specifically where, or what triggers them, or even specifically when they will happen, so we just have to sit back and wait for them. Also, they are apparently 'sever' - whatever that means.



'Mark' reckons there's going to be a pandemic in some winter, some point, somewhere:

Had a dream last night just before waking. Saw a playground covered with a dusting of snow. No footprints in the snow, the equipment had not been used in awhile. There were dark, winter clouds of an impending snowstorm visible through the leafless trees. I heard a voice say "The plague this year has been especially hard on the elderly and small children". End of dream.

Mark

There's no information about where in the world, or even what year this will be - though it presumably happens in an English speaking country (unless his dream was 'translated') but that's not exactly specific. It also has to be noted that the elderly and the very young are always the most at risk, so it's a safe bet to mention them.

He also has this to say about the economy:

I GOT A MESSAGE THAT THE DOW INDUSTRIALS WILL BOTTOM OUT AT 4200 AND SETTLE AT 4800. SORRY NO DATES. IT LOOKS THAT THIS MESS HAS NO WAY OUT SO EXPECT MORE BAD NEWS AND GET OUT OF DEBT FAST.

Mark

Playing with people's current fear in this one. And again, nothing specific. Note the ALLCAPS to denote urgency.



'Yandra Knowledge' reckons there will be an earthquake:

There will be a large earthquake (over a 6) in the Mojave Desert in 2008. The quake will occur just south of 34 degrees N latitude and 117 degrees W longatude. The quake will be felt in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties and as far away as San Diego.

Yandra Knowledge

There's 13 days left of 2008, y'never know, it could happen XD

This one is very specific, however, even disregarding the outdated mode of earthquake recording (we no longer use the rictor scale) it's very knowledgeable, but considering it's now December 18th, I'm not expecting much from this one.



And the most recent 'prophecy' is from 'Carlos Franco':

Ive been psychic ever since i was 5. Being blessed with this ability and now having the privilege to share it with many more other psychics proves that is up to us to change the world. Not from a government leader who promises change for the majority. People have been so caught up to great speakers that they forget themselves are in capacity of changing everything. If were able to elect a president to supposevly change the fate of america then were able to change anything. For the better or worse. All of my dreams turn out true or turn out false. There are thousands of dreams that i cannot list since i dream every night or every time i sleep. There are some though that i feel that should be known:

1.] George W. Bush is a reincarnated war leader from the past. Who is it: Genghis Khan. There is a Nostradamus Quatrain to it but is not from it where i learned from him. Its the famous 1999 one. Look it up and see it for yourselves.
2. ] 9/11 was an inside job from him. He destroyed the twin towers because he wanted to start a different economy and a dictatorship. He wanted to "revive" it and wanted to be honored like a super hero. It backfired on him. Its a long long story but he will be put on trial for his cruel act of work.
3. ] The Holy Dome in Jerusalem will crash down. Due to a earthquake it will cave in fulfilling a religious prophecy and causing havoc among the people. Date i dont know.
4. ] The Catholic Church in Italy crashes down taking the pope with it. This means two ways the catholic religion will cease to exist and the church will literally fall down.
5. ] Barack Obama has a dark aura around him. Reason why he is going to try to revive the economy and since all the people love him he will set a dictatorship. The power will go to his head. He is not the Anti - Christ as many people suspect but he will make a costly mistake that will put him on stage.

Lastly these are just but a few of the thousands that i have yet i wont post due to personal reasons. I will post more every week or so depending on event levels.

Carlos Franco

Every word in the following two sentences makes sense, but put together? Not so much:

People have been so caught up to great speakers that they forget themselves are in capacity of changing everything. If were able to elect a president to supposevly change the fate of america then were able to change anything.

And this little line if perfect:

All of my dreams turn out true or turn out false.

It just covers all the bases, don't you think?

Anyway, a rare 'prophet' who dislikes Dubbya! In fact, he thinks he's the reincarnated Genghis Khan. Interesting! He doesn't offer any proof for this though, very disappointing - and not exactly a prediction, either.

You know what? I hate 9/11 conspiracy theorists - if it wasn't enough of an insult that those people had to die in the way they did in the first place, now people want to make light of those deaths? Disgusting. And again, no proof is offered for this absurd assertion.

A typically non-specific earthquake involved destruction - this time of a fairly important religious building. The problem here is that it could happen, perhaps a decade, two decades from now, and they'll think they were right. However, I find it unlikely.

However much I would like the Catholic Church to falter and fail, this is another unlikely prediction. The Catholic Church is far too powerful and far too old to be toppled so ignominiously. Of course, there's no time frame mentioned, so maybe it'll happen some time far off in the future?

Oh - this 'prophet' doesn't much like Obama, either! Apparently he's going to set up a Dictatorship in the US. Fascinating.



I dunno, I find this website amusingly diverting, it passes the time interestingly and I can groan or laugh quite happily (mostly at their fumbling attempts at writing coherent English). These people are deluded beyond all reason, and it's very sad to see, but I can't help enjoying reading their 'predictions' XD

Random thought ofthe day

So, I was washing my hair when I heard Matt turn on Star Trek.

I got to thinking - again, this is a fairly frequent thought of mine - about why the aliens in that program call us 'Humans' when we call them by whatever planet they come from.

Ferengi from Ferenginar
Vulcan's from Vulcan
Bajoran's from Bajor
Clingon''s from - well, Kronos, but originally from Cling
Cardassian's from Cardassia
Betazoid's from Betazed
Bynar from Bynaus
Enaran's from Enara Prime

And so on. But we get called 'Human's from Earth or Terra Firma'. Why aren't we called 'Terran's', 'Earthan's' or even 'Earthling's'?

I'm pretty sure it's not just Star Trek that does it either. I think Babylon5 did it as well and probably every other sci-fi humanity-in-space program out there (except maybe for Battle Star because, seriously, they're none of them from Earth and call each other 'Capricans' and 'Gemanons' anyway - though the collective name is still 'Human'.)

Suffice to say, I think it just generally bugs the hell out of me >>

Our race isn't named after our planet, so why the hell is every race ever thought up in these programs named after theirs? It's silly.

/random thought


Also - I looked at the list of races from Star Trek on Wiki - bloody hell, people >> That is one long-ass list!

Goodbye Oliver Postgate

I felt I should mark Mr Postgate's passing, because I love his childrens programs to this day. In particular, Bagpuss is a great favorite of mine (and is probably one of the many reasons that I'm nicknamed 'Bag' by the family).

I grew up on Bagpuss and The Clangers - I have a Bagpuss and a Clanger of my very own in fact, and love them both dearly (though I believe they are currently packed away in a box in the garage at the moment) - and I will never forget the programs.

I wish his family well and hope he is remembered for a long time to come for his brilliant children's programs.

Large Hadron Rap

The End Of Bratz!

YES! Mattel, I think I love you XD

Mattel wins permanent injunction vs MGA in Bratz case

I have hated Bratz since they first appeared on the shelves a number of years ago - those dolls seriously pissed me off.

All the girls were dressed as tarts/sluts/whores (take your pick) with lips so large they surely must have been designed specifically for fellatio and caked in so much make-up if any child tried to emulate it, they'd need a high power hose or a trowel (or both) to get it off again;



the boys were all jocks/punks/skaters (again, take your pick) and while this is slightly less annoying than the girls, they still pissed me off with their stupid trousers and artfully mussed hair, tattoos and piercings;



worst of all however, were the 'Baby Bratz' which still had the fellatio lips, caked-on make-up and luxurious hair!



EVERY time I saw these things on the shelf, I ranted about them. Literally and to whomever poor sod was shopping with me at the time. Normally the rant goes along the lines of never letting my own daughter anywhere near them, prefering Barbie or Sindy any day and calling the dolls tarts/sluts/whores (and yes, sometimes within hearing of staff and/or parents.)

Now - my wish apears to have come true - Bratz are off the shelves!

Now I just hope they never come back.

'Child Witches' once again in the news

The BBC has another report on the treatment of children in Africa 'suspected of being witches'.

I've been following these stories for a while now, but I'm still saddened and disgusted every time I read or hear something new. This particular report centres on Nigeria.

That children are beig subjected to abuse - including having nails driven into their skulls, being thrown into raging rivers, being tied to trees in the middle of forests and left to starve, and being beaten or burned so badly that they are permanently maimed - is horrifying.

The blame for these acts lay almost exclusively at the feet of the religious - in particular, the brand of Christianity that has taken hold over there. Evangelical Christian Pastors have been spreading the fear of 'black magic' and 'witches' since the 90s (at least) and the result is what we now see.

A deep and fervent belief in what these Pastors say: that demons posses their children, that their children are evil, that their children are witches or wizards - that any ill fate that befalls the family is the result of a curse or witchcraft - is the reason so many children are suffering.

Because of this rampant spread of lies (almost exclusively by the Pastors themselves, who make a profit by 'exorcising' the children - taking money that the families can barely afford to give them, and taking it again and again, sometimes holding the child at ransom) even the hospitals refuse to treat any child accused of witchcraft. Hundreds, thousands of children are tortured, starved and murdered; those who survive are left traumatised, some actually believing they are possessed.

This disgusts me and simply goes towards shoring up my personal belief that religion should be wiped out for good.

Christmas Decorations!

I decorated today ^^

To see the photographs, and read about my stupid cats, go to my Art Blog XD

Enjoy ^^

Favorite Quote of the Moment

'If I morph them enough, I can make all continents fit contiguously and perfectly. The platypus. Therefore, the earth is growing.'

From Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes!

This had me giggling for a least ten minutes XD

'Black Friday' death

I've just heard about this, but I'm not terribly surprised by it. I simply find myself wondering if those Long Island shoppers are proud of themselves for what they did.

One man, Jdimytai Damour (34), was killed and at least three other people injured when shoppers 'grew impatient' and literally 'broke down the doors' of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream.

What makes things worse, is that while this man was being trampled to death, no-one - again, NO ONE - in the crowd stopped to help him. Those fellow Walm-Mart workers and Cops who tried, were 'jostled' and nearly prevented from helping him.

It gets better - when Wal-Mart employees asked the crowd of shoppers to get out of the way, so the man could be treated - they refused. Plenty of shoppers continued shopping.

I don't know about anyone else, but that's disgusting. This poor man, contracted for the holiday season, lost his life between 5 and 6 in the morning, simply because impatient shoppers wanted to get their hands on cheap merchendise.

It makes me sick, sometimes, what humanity does to itself.

That's settled it.

I've made the decision.

I'm sending to Bath Spa University for a Prospectus about their PGCE courses, specifically the 'Art And Design for Secondary Education' course.

I'm extremely happy that they actually offer that course there, because I've had problems before finding a university close enough that offers it. Luckily, Bath Spa is only a bus and train ride away.

However, I think I'll have to learn to drive as well, because the school placements won't be on the train system, and eventually, I'll need to drive from home to work and back again.

(I entertain the idea of teaching Art at my old Secondary School, under my old Art teachers. That would be ironic and amusing to the extreme XD Though, remembering how much I hated two of the three, if I do end up training or even working there, it probably won't be as much fun in reality as it is in my head...)

Anyway, I'm reading 'How To Survive You First Year In Teaching' and looking up the details of paying for the year-long course. Again luckily, the £3225 doesn't need to be paid up-front, nor do I have to pay it back until I'm earning £15,000pa.

The next course starts in September 09, so until then, I'll need to get a job - and I'm going to call up about this recently advertised job as an 'Assisted Play Assistant' for a nursery for disabled children tomorrow. That job starts in January and is until the end of the summer term. I have experience in both nurseries and working with disabled children (though that was incredibly brief) and if I get it, it should help with my interview for the PGCE.

I've also emailed my cousin to see what advice she can give me, because she's taking a Teaching Course (in Drama, I think?) at the moment, in Cardiff.

Oh, and I've got to take my portfolio to the interview - so there's something I need to work on again! It's a good excuse to get painting again, though.

Lieutenant Kije - Troika

Finally, I can put a name to my favorite piece of Christmas Music!



I think I first heard this in the Christmas movie 'Santa Claus: The Movie' with David Huddleston, John Lithgo and Dudley Moore.

David Huddleston is the 'Santa' by whom I compare all Santa's - he is, to me, the perfect Santa - though considering the film is only two years younger than I am, I can't have started this way of thinking until the film itself was at least five years old!

Anyway - enjoy the music ^^