Do What Thou Will

Interfaith awareness half week kicked off this morning. On the display board for Kabal had put the principals of Paganism as per the Pagan Federation with a disclaimer that not every Pagan accepted said principals. One chap says he has problems with point 2 the positive morality bit. Weird!

So we had a long rather circuitous though hopefully amicable discussion. He suggested that self harm could be unethical which I conceded (and harm be to none, not and harm be to none but self, that’s logic knowhow). And yet he still said that you cannot do what you will for some reason. I conceded that despite living in a society where consuming animal products was totally un-necessary, not every Pagan in these islands was a loony lentilist animal liberationist, but likesay I don’t see why not (though I respect other people’s position on the animals for food issue even if I don’t agree with it). Then he said how it says in the Bible that it is OK to eat animals. Permitted in certain circumstances said I but nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures or in the writings of the New Testament is the killing of an animal a trivial issue, just permitted in extreme circumstances. He disagreed. I said that he had misread the Hebrew Scriptures. He said that “Do what thou will” was forbidden in the Bible. I disputed that, surely God given morality is about God forbidding harm to fellow creatures and indeed self. I suggested that he had misread the Hebrew Scriptures and the writings of the New Testament. Cheeky perhas but why not! Anyway, enough. It turns out he is from Ghana.

Blessed be!

Little Englander!

create your own visited country map

not bad for an uitlander?

Je bent 77% Nederlands!

0%: You are either a complete moron, or not a native speaker of the Dutch language. 100%: Makkelijk he, als je de antwoorden al kent? Everything between 50 and 100% is pretty impressive!

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 20% on Nederlands

Link: The How good is your Dutch Test written by cuteandfluffy on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Are These Christians Some Sort Of Cult?

I was approached by some chap who asked was I a member of Kabal (University of Leeds Society for Paganism Magick and Folklore), thought he might be some enquirer wanting to know way to The Brickies or of upcoming Kabal events.

“Did you like our card” he said. Turned out it was the “Now Believe” one. I said it was an interesting concept and verily did ask where they bog standard evangelicals or something more wacky. Nothing wrong as such with being wacky.

“Oh we are just Christians”. He asked me how had Gnosis gone.

“Fantastic!” says I “Feel the Love!” I think I freaked him out. Are these Christians some sort of cult?

They’re The Jollier Sort Of Person

I need to get home ASAP. But anyway just popped in to do a quick blog and found a message in my inbox from someone on BookCrossing. Now dear reader my handle on BookCrossing is scarletharlot. So said BookCrosser asks am I a commitmentphobic. What a load of rubbish! Was tempted to place my reply here, might still do. But likesay have already done so passim. Likesay these monos are some sort of cult.

typo?

Oh what a listless and apathetic lot we have become.

Likesay. Far be it from me to be pedantic.

I recently think I saw a typo in my gmail email signature. I confess it wasn't spell checked as most of my blog posts are.

But I wonder. No doubt most of the people I email are not pedantic spotted said typo a mile off but didn't tell me.

OK have just spell checked said signature and here it is

*******************************************
IN AND THROUGH TRUE COMMUNITY LIES THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD

"I think the most dangerous parts of the current cultural trance are pretty obvious: male domination, materialism, and the absence of spirit. Monogamy is another one in there. These are cultural styles which, if not overcome, will probably contribure to our ever more rapid
acceleration toward, if not extinction, at least a profound brutalisation of life." attributed, by Merrick, to Terrence McKenna.

http://www.endymion.ukf.net/
mirrored at
http://www.geocities.com/bluebell4luv
blogging at
http://www.chicksdigjerks.blogspot.com/

also at bluebell_e@hotmail.com

would you like a gmail invite? e-mail me if you would

did you spot the deliberate mistake?

likesay will correct.

Perhaps however. I would be happy to place a Quakerly wager that I have emailed a few pedants since using gmail. But likesay, maybe they did not read my email signature, just as 97% of people with internet access have never dialed up a blog.

Likesay. The Mother of All Cults is the Cult of Monogamy. Or at least the mother of most cults. I have yet to meet a mono who would discuss the said cult of monogamy rationally. And it is not as if I don't meet a lot of monos on my travels. No, not particularly wishing to provoke such debate anymore, have given up. But likesay have no intention of doing monogamy. There is no virtue in it.

FEEL THE LOVE!

Greetings Herr Rimmer! I am Doctor Hildegarde Landstrom and I am COMPLETELY MAD!

"Greetings Herr Rimmer! I am Doctor Hildegarde Landstrom and I am completely mad!" ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Red_Dwarf_episodes

Guy Fawkes Memoiral Evening

Everything is spasming! Agh!

Anyway. Not keen to head home to my cottage on a council estate.

So glad that there seem at least to be less fireworks on council estates than when I first moved in over 3 years ago.

But likesay you never know…

Deeply grateful to my Friend Simon for a his presence and a fabulous day out in Leeds

Likesay after his arrival in Leeds did proceed eventually to the Art Gallery. His aptitude in art history being a most illuminating. Such as spotting so much in Iris by Atkinson Grimshaw.

Then on to the Corn Exchange. Likesay the Corn Exchange is Great! Therein you can exchange Threadneedle Street LETS for cards, clothes, incense, condoms, jewellery, games, and a whole host of other things but not corn….

Then to the Republican Armouries. Did lead Friend Simon on a bit to the storyteller telling of a poor archer from the Lancastrian side (probably a yorkshireman, Yorkshire being a hotbed of Lancastrian support during the wars of the roses) after the bloody battle of Towton.

Then on to the audio visual exhibition on the Battle of Marston Moor

Then on to Café Sahara for a cup of coffee.

Then to the coach station to see him off on his journey back over the Pennines.

Likesay. Did you know that there was no freedom of speech in Elizabethan England? Viz the treason laws where tightened to such a ridiculous extent.

Of course there will soon be no freedom of speech in Elizabethan England. This time with the tightening of the laws against Terrorism.

Likesay the did not the first Prevention of Terrorism Act passed by an Old Labour Government allow for detention without trial for 9 days?

Was this aimed at terrorism of those naughty boys in the Provisional IRA? Or was it to prevent an anti war movement forming in Great Britain? Or indeed elsewhere in these islands?

Now then. How many people have been held under the “Prevention of Terrorism Act” so called? How many have been charged with offences related to “Terrorism”? How many have been released without charge? How many people so charged with terrorism have subsequently been convicted of “Terrorism” subsequently released when their convictions have been found to be unsafe (such as the Birmingham 6, Guildford 4 and Winchester 3). Are the jails of Olde England full of innocent men and women?

Now then. What of the Criminal Justice Act passed by the last administration.

Now then what of the “Prevention of Terrorism Act” so called passed by New Babylon defining as “terrorism” actions of avowedly pacifist groups such as Greenpeace if they where a threat to “Property”

Now then. What of the current anti terrorism legislation before Parliament allowing for detention without trial for 90 days?

Is nothing sacred under the current New Babylon government? Trial by Jury? Innocence until proven Guilty? Habeas Corpus? Freedom of speech? The rule of law? Doesn’t look like it?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not an apologist for Terrorism. Whether committed by governments or unauthorised.

But since the current definition of “terrorism” under English law is ridiculous…..

Will I really be committing an offence for glorifying in avowedly non violent action which can in no way be described as terrorism?

Would glorifying in the violent terrorist act of blowing up the rainbow warrior by the French Government constitute terrorism? Are we going to send the gunboats to France? Probably not.

May Bush the Younger, Blair and Blunkett be dammed! They should be drowning in their hypocrisy!

Love and Rage!

The Empire of Modern Passivity

The tautological character of the spectacle stems from the fact that its means and ends are identical. It is the sun that never sets over the empire of modern passivity. It covers the entire surface of the globe, endlessly basking in its own glory.

"The Society of the Spectacle:13" by Guy Debord

Now Believe!

I was walking out of the Ed Boyle Library when a nice looking devotchka asked me would I take one of her fliers. Certainly said I, would she take one of mine. I gave her a flier for Gnosis (got a stack who want’s one?) and she gave me a card which said on one side just two words. Now Believe. And on the other side nowbelieve.com nothing else at all. No pictures, no phone numbers, contact details, words of wisdom, words of looonacy nothing.

Who are these guys? Bog standard evangelicals or something more wacky? If the latter the website seems to give no clues.

Likesay cult and fundamentalist trainspotting is dead fun, whish I had more friends into it.


I was listening to the late nite radio. There was an interesting item on how the Roman Catholic Church had published something warning against excessive biblical literalism and fundamentalism. A debate was had with some Chap from the church of rome and a loony fundamentalist with an amerikan accent. Wish I had taped it. Chap from church of rome was conciliatory, presenter/interviewer asked loony fundamentalist did he take everything in the bible literally. Off course said loony fundamentalist. But said presenter the bible does contain contradictions so surely it is impossible to take it all literally. Look at Genesis, it opens with two creation stories. The order of creation is different, viz in the first men and wimmin are created last, but in the second men and wimmin are created before the animals. Loony fundamentalists answer was something like but the bible is inerrant and contains no contradictions. Loon!

No More Glasgow Salads?

Sunday afternoon I walked up to Hyde Park Corner and went into the Yellow Chip Shop (the one with the big poster saying “We cook in vegitable oil” Hyde Park Fisheries next door used to have a sign saying “All our Chips are fried in Vegetable Oil. And Everything Else” think about it…..) and purchased a Glasgow Salad for 1 UKP.

To my horror discovered something horrific therein.

“What is this?” I asked the man behind the counter.

“Oh a piece of kebab” he said apathetically.

“but I’m a vegetarian” says I. No apology no interest.

Left said Glasgow salad on the counter and walked out. Didn’t have the energy to kick up any further fuss.

Must stop purchasing take-aways. Pity cause the yellow chipy did do rather good glasgow salads. And a friend found a piece of ugh in something she purchased in Flames over the road from the parkinson steps. I had had many take aways from said establishment over the years.

Meet the Ancestors!

Happy Hippy Samhain one and all! Nothing alas communal to do tonite. Did have an Osteoarchaeology practical session. And if that is not a chance to meet the ancestors….

Someone at Head to Head did say

"Ooooh - I've ofetn wondered about that - it really bugs me that archeologists seem to feel they have some sort of right to dig up bones in the pursuit of knowledge of the past. I would be pretty bloody pissed off if someone dug up my bones, although whether I would actually know about it is another thing, of course. But still, it is a bit crap really isn't it, just because a body has been there for a long time, to dig it up?"

I agree. This is all pretty spooky. Rather sickening really. Who knows the dead might just want their bones to still be in the earth like the native australians. And what right do we psuedo scientific rag and bone merchants have to pick over someones anatomy. What good are we doing? I will probably go mad!

So let’s go for it! Archaeology is for wierdos! ;)

Let the Sun Shine! Let the Sun Shine in!

No I am not paranoid. I am lonely. I am so sick and tired of unfriendly up their own arses people. It is easy to be hard. As if the world needed more hardness. As if the world didn’t need more softness.

Just watched the film “Hair” Disappointing really. But was singing along in the end to “Let the Sun Shine!”

Am I the last of the hippies?

Let the sun shine!

“Intelligence enough to conceive, courage enough to will, power enough to compel. If our ideas of a new Society are anything more than a dream, these three qualities must animate the due effective majority of the working people; and then, I say, the thing will be done”

William Morris

http://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/tmp/commune.htm

The Fall of Zion

The more observant readers of this blog may have noticed that the University of Leeds School of Continuing Education has been discontinued, some Continuing Education ultra-lite being provided by the new life long learning centre. Unfortunately this led to the closure of the School of Continuing Education Library. A truly unique library! Absolutely ideal for continuing education students. But such is life. So, after the University Libraries had taken away any of the books that they could give a good home to, a closing down sale was held with proceeds to the bursary fund. Plan was, so I am told, for the rest of the books to be sold by the yard to a book dealer. So, spent a fortune that I could not afford but at least came away with a sackfull of books. As follows:-

Angela Carter: "The Bloody Chamber"
Angela Carter: "Wise Children"
Angela Carter: "The Magic Toyshop"
Asa Briggs: "Victorian Cities"
Ronald Hutton: "The British Republic 1649-1660 "
Cecil Woodham-Smith: "The Great Hunger 1845-1849 "
Malcolm Lambert: "Medieval Heresy"
Simon Schama: "The Embarrassment of Riches"
George Orwell: "The Road to Wigan Pier"
George Orwell: "Animal Farm"
George Orwell: "Keep the Aspidistra Flying "
Christopher Hill: "Reformation to Industrial Revolution"
Ashton/Fryson/Roberts: "The Chartist Legacy"
Marge Piercy: "Woman on the Edge of Time "
George Rude: "Revolutionary Europe 1783-1815 "
Michael Wood: "In search of the Dark Ages" (poor paperback version)
Kathleen M Kenyon: "Beginning in Archaeology"
Rosalind K Marshall: "Elizabeth I "
Andrew Pickering: "Lancastrians to Tudors "
Robert Kaiser: "Inside the Council"
E H Carr: "What is History?"
Malcolm Todd: "Roman Britain 55 bc-400 ad "
Michael Crawford: "The Roman Republic"
John Bunyan: "Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners/The life and Death of Mr Badman"
John Bright: "A History of Israel"
Arnold Bonner: "British Co-operation"
Babera Watterson: "Introducing Egyptian Hieroglyphics"
Frank Delaney: "The Celts" (paperback edition)
Robert Stewart: "Party and Politics 1830-1852"
Samuel Smiles: "Self Help"
Herman Melville: "Moby Dick"
Hilary Wilson: "People of the Pharaohs "
J F C Harrison: "The Common People"
Alvin Toffler: "Future Shock"
Michael Vickers: "The Roman World "
Hillel Geva: "Ancient Jerusalem Revealed"
Jay M Pasachoff: "Astronomy"
Colin Renfrew: "Before Civilisation"
Colin Martin/Geoffrey Parker: "The Spanish Armada"
Carol Duncan: "Civilising Rituals – Inside Public art museums"
John Bunyan: "The Pilgrim’s Progress"
Henry Pelling: "Britain and the Second World War"
David V Erdman: "Blake – Propet Against Empire"
R J C Atkinson: "Stonhenge" (very old tattered and torn copy)
William Cobbett: "Rural Rides"
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch"
Christopher Hill: "Society and Puritanism in Pre-Revolutionary England"
Michael Kidron/Ronald Segal: "The State of the World Atlas"
1997 Whittakers Almanac
97th Pears Cyclopedia

Plus a pamphlet “Affirmations – God in the Modern World- The Inner Light”, yup, you guessed it, by some dodgy Quaker type one Gerald K Hibbert. Plus two cds, one of Tibetan one of Japanese Music.

Managed to get said books back to my flat. In the long term they have all gone to a good home. Though in the short term, I don’t have room, I am not cut out for a bridge of sigh’s bed sit.

Noticed that the book “The Fall of Zion” about the decline of Chapel Architecture in Yorkshire had gone to a good home. This was the end of an era.

“Come on Bluebell you’re supposed to buy these books not read them” said Doctor Chase at one point. Ah if I had unlimited funds. And more volume in cottage. Still, perhaps I should get a badge struck “MAD PROFESSOR IN TRAINING” plus the t shirt and bumper sticker.

Textual Harrassment Part two

It hurts to be knocked back. It cannot be controverted that La Donna E Mobile (“woman is fickle” how many examples would you like) and there is certainly no accounting for taste.

Well, I had a long exchange of both messages and texts with one woman, and she hit all the right buttons before knocking me back telling me that she was monogamous. Why did she not say as much earlier and indeed put it on her love@lycos profile!

I was moved to send the following text to my little brother

“Female creatures! What can you do with them!”

Kevin replied

“Shag them… Unless they human In which case its not worth the Hassle.”

I replied

“Baa! Perhaps the countryside alliance have a point still think they r wrong about killing foxes lmao! Not sure what drives me most 2 distraction wimmin who know what they want or those who don’t.. Right I’m off 2 find a sheep! Might go 4 a male sheep so much simpler! Baa! Winnin r pathetic! luv bluebell x”

Tea and Prime Ministers

Funnily enough a remarkable number of Prime Ministers have been named after varieties of tea. In Olde England at least, not sure about Amerika.

Managed to score some earl grey in Morrison’s this afternoon, likesay I am a historian and and am skim reading a book on a naughty prime minister of yesteryear. I am not much of a tea drinker, coffee if it is going and extra caffeinated and if you can’t stand your spoon up in it call it a disaster! England takes drugs in psychic defence! In answer to Gael’s impassioned plea for a carbon audit likesay all my food is locally sourced, usually from the local Morrison’s…

So, what tea would you suggest for a latter day aristocratic public school tory prime minister? Such as Tony Blair? Clearly Baroness Thatcher Tea would be full of iron but have a very bitter taste and result in a 20 year depression. No doubt Grocer Heath Tea would have a faint taste of sea salt. Keep ‘em coming folks!

A Rainbow over Leeds

Today on the way to a computer room I saw a rainbow. With secondary bows.

http://www.thebricktestament.com/genesis/the_flood/gn09_13-15.html

Likesay the good Reverend Brendan Powell Smith has added to The Brick Testament. Perhaps he will make it all the way to the New Jerusalem yet.

Pictures of Pussy on the Internet (Part two)

No Comment. Hi Gael! did you get Friend Harold's non-wank mag?

The Purple Rod

You know, there really is a Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod. Ah this is England….. I read it on Wikipedia so it must be true. If there was a Gentleman Usher of the Pink Rod it would sound like something out of Viz of course….

Bad Blogging

Hello to anyone reading this blog. Likesay. I am low in energy. Haven’t posted much to this blog. I am not at my best. I am in severe pain. Hireling dental surgeon says everything is aok. General Practicing Doctor is referring me to the maxilo facial specialist, but says there could be 4 month wait. In the mean time I am in agony. Have prescription pain killers but have stopped taking them. I am in less pain it would seem as a result…… mad shit!

I still live in a bridge of sighs bed-sit on an inner city council estate. Still feel very lonely, harassed unloved.

So blogging energy a bit low at times. I do appreciate that worse things happen at sea, and indeed they could in the not so distant future. I get scared.

Ok. I am depressed and lonely. Have been trying for years to get over dangerous isolation. Looks like I keep turning in the wrong direction. When you are depressed you find out who your friends are not.

Rant over?