Monday, 25 June 2012
alien night sky
as mentioned alpha centauri skies have similar constellation patterns but additional stars the most obvious being the sun as chief star in the combined Perseus and Cassiopeia constellation "the harper " nearby is the long constellation taking up most of the sky i call the storm sisters with orion as the archer in the jaws of the storm sister Sirius and betelgeuse by their position are seen as a very bright double star but to alpha centauri myth are they lovers, brothers or enemies ?
The sirius betelgeuse star was once million of years ago bright Sirius B when it shone as a prehistoric bright star "Red Sirius" where as Red Betelgeuse is only ten million years old "born after the death" of red Sirius so interesting alien skies in the distant past which may have been celebrated in alien myth
wolves and isolation
red deadly animals by gordon grice similair to and inspired by man is the prey by james clarke 1969 this book detailed animal -human attacks from lions in the siegfried and roy act to rabid otters and nibbing bugs it seems strange that in many countries wild animals from wolves to bears moose to cougar share the neighbourhood and the newest asian cities have feral baboons and insect swarms
interesting book for someone living in a green and pleasant land
the gathering night by margaret elphinstone set in mesolithic scotland and avoids the cliches of other prehistoric novels, not quite Jean M Auel but readable and well researched by the author however the plot was lacking in purpose and the prehistoric folk although well drawn were mainly hunting camping and fishing
the incas co written by the daughter of victor von hagen the author of the highway of the sun a 1950s book on the Inca road network this was much of the same and looked at provinces and adminstration rather than the Inca politics or religion useful tour of the ruins across all four regions from jungle to desert
from christ to coke by martin kemp how image becomes icon an illustrated study of cultural icons brief articles with bibliography on themes of christ , lion,mona lisa coke bottle , DNA e=mc2 with more content on the modern than the ancient icons
having no native Uk wolves i did however use wolves as an image in one of my poems
the theme is being old and dying alone in your own home
Wolves and isolation
crying to the pity
The day of his death
Move out of sounds way
Thin walls to the fortress and the moat
A mid coloured banner bends in the rain
Dross frost of pin flowers
Ancient bleak of wheat
No body say doomsday
however comments seemed to have picked up on first line only- do readers get beyond the first lines of my poetry ? this diatribe for example from a poetry forum i posted to i see the wolf as metaphor he sees wolves only
interesting book for someone living in a green and pleasant land
the gathering night by margaret elphinstone set in mesolithic scotland and avoids the cliches of other prehistoric novels, not quite Jean M Auel but readable and well researched by the author however the plot was lacking in purpose and the prehistoric folk although well drawn were mainly hunting camping and fishing
the incas co written by the daughter of victor von hagen the author of the highway of the sun a 1950s book on the Inca road network this was much of the same and looked at provinces and adminstration rather than the Inca politics or religion useful tour of the ruins across all four regions from jungle to desert
from christ to coke by martin kemp how image becomes icon an illustrated study of cultural icons brief articles with bibliography on themes of christ , lion,mona lisa coke bottle , DNA e=mc2 with more content on the modern than the ancient icons
having no native Uk wolves i did however use wolves as an image in one of my poems
the theme is being old and dying alone in your own home
Wolves and isolation
crying to the pity
The day of his death
Move out of sounds way
Thin walls to the fortress and the moat
A mid coloured banner bends in the rain
Dross frost of pin flowers
Ancient bleak of wheat
No body say doomsday
however comments seemed to have picked up on first line only- do readers get beyond the first lines of my poetry ? this diatribe for example from a poetry forum i posted to i see the wolf as metaphor he sees wolves only
"I see when the wolf roamed free the world over; now giving up
its empire to isolation.
Whoever gave this six is sick. Have a grand tomorrow…Jack "
wrote again to simon armitage re his grim up north pennine poetry walk actually all emails go to his literacy agent so no wonder i never got reply must think i am stalker with poetry submissions so you will ignored if you write to the author about their books and their agent is delegated to read it first a common ego event as i have mentioned before that some authors now have their publicity team do all their facebook and twitter for them
Whoever gave this six is sick. Have a grand tomorrow…Jack "
wrote again to simon armitage re his grim up north pennine poetry walk actually all emails go to his literacy agent so no wonder i never got reply must think i am stalker with poetry submissions so you will ignored if you write to the author about their books and their agent is delegated to read it first a common ego event as i have mentioned before that some authors now have their publicity team do all their facebook and twitter for them
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
the star compass lost in the rain
got design of my star compass ok using rising of Polaris as marker and the summer/winter triangle but as typical lack a summer in england
as with other garden ornaments eventually the star compass rots away if kept outside all year just in case anyone does not know the sound of a british summer try this
best run it in a loop for best effect things tend to go mouldy ever read weinbaums the Parasite planet just like england in June
alien astrolabe going well believe that orbit of alpha centauri B a 80 year circle from capella to apheratz
sun situated in middle of the milky way as brightest star next to conjunction of sirius and betelgeuse
check it out on astronexus website or software like astrofly quite a beautiful sky
as with other garden ornaments eventually the star compass rots away if kept outside all year just in case anyone does not know the sound of a british summer try this
best run it in a loop for best effect things tend to go mouldy ever read weinbaums the Parasite planet just like england in June
alien astrolabe going well believe that orbit of alpha centauri B a 80 year circle from capella to apheratz
sun situated in middle of the milky way as brightest star next to conjunction of sirius and betelgeuse
check it out on astronexus website or software like astrofly quite a beautiful sky
Monday, 18 June 2012
never had an urban legend happen to me
phantom hitchhikers and decoy ducks by albert jack this turned out to be a 2006 book released under a new name very much a guide to urban legends of the familiar kind and avoiding the most horrific or crude
a rehass of the old tales of the escaped mad axeman in the backseat or on the roof, hamsters and rabbits disappearing, lost trousers and the vicar and then as a filler padding about historical myths re JFK and Y2K. expect there is an urban legend floating about the internet about people who compile collections of urban legends
chung kuo novel daylight on iron mountain by david wingove had read chung kuo future earth novel before but we are now presented with 20 volume rewrite of entire series and what dire stuff it is sort of a prequal it read like poor Pearl Buck with hash court historicals , long series of events cardboard cut out tyrants and a trite murder mystery while none of the really interesting background the destruction of half the world and the state by state conquest of the united states by chinese armies were just headlines
how to read a painting by patrick de rynck
a beginners art history but a small format book with small selection some choice art all the way from duccio to goya but mainly reads like a website with zoom in of detail and brief comment on paintings theme this was useful in the bosch and brueghel masses of little figures but limited in all the medieval Annunciations and crucifixions
useful guide to art history and what you see by looking at a painting
apollo's angels a history of ballet by jennifer homans I admit i have seen a handful of operas on TV but never seen a ballet at all so knew nothing about ballet but aware of who margot fontyn had been interesting and concise ballet lovers guide from origins of ballet in 17th century french court dance through to the nineteenth century with its early swan lakes and giselle leaps and jumps and on to Russian ballet and a large section on modern dance a beginning for me recommend to fans
poetry wise just a few notes and musing on ruins and art
discovered i have theme and structure but still lot of loose lines
i had posted the article tp bettany hughes facebook page which i had emailed "history babe" bettany hughes in april that a lot of minoan archaelogy and the snake goddess minoan beauty is faked "babe bettany" has no opinion then-never had any reply http://crete.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/evans-knossos-and-the-minoans-facts-and-forgeries/ and the post is now missing off bettany hughes facebook which is mainly fans "praising the babe"
take it that simon armitage is not working on a yorkshire dialect translation of the kalevala as he nor his publishers assistant never replied either should i have praised him instead here is first rune of kalevala from twoohoo yorkshire translator
I' primeval times, eur maiden, beauteous daughta o' t' etha, passed for ages 'a existence in t' girt expanse o' 'eaven, o'a t' prairies yet enfahded. wearisome t' maiden growin, ha existence sad 'n 'opeless,
a rehass of the old tales of the escaped mad axeman in the backseat or on the roof, hamsters and rabbits disappearing, lost trousers and the vicar and then as a filler padding about historical myths re JFK and Y2K. expect there is an urban legend floating about the internet about people who compile collections of urban legends
chung kuo novel daylight on iron mountain by david wingove had read chung kuo future earth novel before but we are now presented with 20 volume rewrite of entire series and what dire stuff it is sort of a prequal it read like poor Pearl Buck with hash court historicals , long series of events cardboard cut out tyrants and a trite murder mystery while none of the really interesting background the destruction of half the world and the state by state conquest of the united states by chinese armies were just headlines
how to read a painting by patrick de rynck
a beginners art history but a small format book with small selection some choice art all the way from duccio to goya but mainly reads like a website with zoom in of detail and brief comment on paintings theme this was useful in the bosch and brueghel masses of little figures but limited in all the medieval Annunciations and crucifixions
useful guide to art history and what you see by looking at a painting
apollo's angels a history of ballet by jennifer homans I admit i have seen a handful of operas on TV but never seen a ballet at all so knew nothing about ballet but aware of who margot fontyn had been interesting and concise ballet lovers guide from origins of ballet in 17th century french court dance through to the nineteenth century with its early swan lakes and giselle leaps and jumps and on to Russian ballet and a large section on modern dance a beginning for me recommend to fans
poetry wise just a few notes and musing on ruins and art
discovered i have theme and structure but still lot of loose lines
i had posted the article tp bettany hughes facebook page which i had emailed "history babe" bettany hughes in april that a lot of minoan archaelogy and the snake goddess minoan beauty is faked "babe bettany" has no opinion then-never had any reply http://crete.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/evans-knossos-and-the-minoans-facts-and-forgeries/ and the post is now missing off bettany hughes facebook which is mainly fans "praising the babe"
take it that simon armitage is not working on a yorkshire dialect translation of the kalevala as he nor his publishers assistant never replied either should i have praised him instead here is first rune of kalevala from twoohoo yorkshire translator
I' primeval times, eur maiden, beauteous daughta o' t' etha, passed for ages 'a existence in t' girt expanse o' 'eaven, o'a t' prairies yet enfahded. wearisome t' maiden growin, ha existence sad 'n 'opeless,
Monday, 11 June 2012
Star Trek voyage of the TV argosy
read star trek a brief guide by Brian J Robb as an avid 40 year trekkie believed this book would tell me little did not already know despite most of my reading being technical manuals and star fleet chronologies
useful read ( but as expected you can find the same info on wikis and fan sites ) spending equal time on all the franchise from early roddenberry pilots to next generation and the other ones all the way to a good chapter on unfilmed episodes and plot ideas with less on the usual actor memoirs and studio politics
lot of interesting info ie from early next generation casting of Roy (The Invaders) Thinnes as Picard , pre movie star Wesley snipes as Riker and Jenny Agutter as Dr Crusher - useful to wonder what first contact woud have been like with Tom Hanks in the role of zefrem cochrane and that first contact was originally to be called Star trek Renaissance with Picard and leonardo da vinci taking out the Borg
some excellent detail on what we did not see ie a 1970s planet of the Titans (Star trek play on chariots of gods) Star Trek phase II new series of 1978 and the planned next generation movies "Star trek Prime Directive " and "Star trek Stardust"
good chapters only went to prove that Deep space Nine started well with good plotlines tacking colonialism and gender stereotype but ended up in dominion war Ray gun battles, that Voyager honestly did make it up as it went along and that Star trek Enterprise has some good story arcs such as temporal cold war and founding of the federation but gave up on these early in the shows run ended up replaying old 1960s ideas but at least that failure saved us from other series ideas such star trek academy(cadets lost in space) and star trek federation( the 30th century federation treking in andromeda galaxy )
the book only went to prove that as I know from experience it is truly possible to draft the story board for a complete two season star trek series on one side of A4 on a wet sunday afternoon yes I am looking at you Star Trek Glory ( the aftermath of a Galaxy wide Borg Dominion war ) and Star Trek Resistance ( an alternative history where Earth lost the pre federation Earth-Romulan war)
Despite mention in the book of Star trek 2012 (Star Trek Evolution? ) still waiting for this to be released it is now Star Trek 2013 latest rumour that Benedict Cumberbach is playing either Khan wrathing again or the lesser known TOS character Captain Garth or an English accent villain with PSI powers "Montagu Fanshaw- Cholmondeley" and it will be bigger and character led rather than bringing in Klingons this time instead of Romulans but that is what they said about DS9 and voyager
the best art you have never seen 101 hidden treasures from around the world by julian spalding picture book guide on treasures in private collections , artists homes or in museum basements from parts of buddhas to painted over religious art from art hidden by hate to art hidden by concepts useful links at end to ever present websites and museums world wide
the projection of britain a history of the GPO film unit a dry academic work a series of articles that given the small subject matter often tell the same story twice but does its best to make films about phones and mail boxes interesting as did the original film makers on what is best understood by watching the films on you tube check out len lye and night mail two examples of the best
a brief history of the grail giles morgan a compact detailed book with less emphasis on new age glastonbury and arthurian victoriana as usual in this subject covering without comment all the pre celtic legends to grail myths of dan brown and the quest films of george lucas and peter jackson
now the jubilee is over all we have is the twiiter comments of a n even more regal person Fearne cotton veteran kiddie TV and trending pop show presenter taking offence at every criticism of peoples opinion her poor TV presenting at the jubilee Events
you could tell all the tweets replying to complaints were from Fearne Cotton as each was probably prefaced with "Do You Know Who I am! "
or I just judging
useful read ( but as expected you can find the same info on wikis and fan sites ) spending equal time on all the franchise from early roddenberry pilots to next generation and the other ones all the way to a good chapter on unfilmed episodes and plot ideas with less on the usual actor memoirs and studio politics
lot of interesting info ie from early next generation casting of Roy (The Invaders) Thinnes as Picard , pre movie star Wesley snipes as Riker and Jenny Agutter as Dr Crusher - useful to wonder what first contact woud have been like with Tom Hanks in the role of zefrem cochrane and that first contact was originally to be called Star trek Renaissance with Picard and leonardo da vinci taking out the Borg
some excellent detail on what we did not see ie a 1970s planet of the Titans (Star trek play on chariots of gods) Star Trek phase II new series of 1978 and the planned next generation movies "Star trek Prime Directive " and "Star trek Stardust"
good chapters only went to prove that Deep space Nine started well with good plotlines tacking colonialism and gender stereotype but ended up in dominion war Ray gun battles, that Voyager honestly did make it up as it went along and that Star trek Enterprise has some good story arcs such as temporal cold war and founding of the federation but gave up on these early in the shows run ended up replaying old 1960s ideas but at least that failure saved us from other series ideas such star trek academy(cadets lost in space) and star trek federation( the 30th century federation treking in andromeda galaxy )
the book only went to prove that as I know from experience it is truly possible to draft the story board for a complete two season star trek series on one side of A4 on a wet sunday afternoon yes I am looking at you Star Trek Glory ( the aftermath of a Galaxy wide Borg Dominion war ) and Star Trek Resistance ( an alternative history where Earth lost the pre federation Earth-Romulan war)
Despite mention in the book of Star trek 2012 (Star Trek Evolution? ) still waiting for this to be released it is now Star Trek 2013 latest rumour that Benedict Cumberbach is playing either Khan wrathing again or the lesser known TOS character Captain Garth or an English accent villain with PSI powers "Montagu Fanshaw- Cholmondeley" and it will be bigger and character led rather than bringing in Klingons this time instead of Romulans but that is what they said about DS9 and voyager
the best art you have never seen 101 hidden treasures from around the world by julian spalding picture book guide on treasures in private collections , artists homes or in museum basements from parts of buddhas to painted over religious art from art hidden by hate to art hidden by concepts useful links at end to ever present websites and museums world wide
the projection of britain a history of the GPO film unit a dry academic work a series of articles that given the small subject matter often tell the same story twice but does its best to make films about phones and mail boxes interesting as did the original film makers on what is best understood by watching the films on you tube check out len lye and night mail two examples of the best
a brief history of the grail giles morgan a compact detailed book with less emphasis on new age glastonbury and arthurian victoriana as usual in this subject covering without comment all the pre celtic legends to grail myths of dan brown and the quest films of george lucas and peter jackson
now the jubilee is over all we have is the twiiter comments of a n even more regal person Fearne cotton veteran kiddie TV and trending pop show presenter taking offence at every criticism of peoples opinion her poor TV presenting at the jubilee Events
you could tell all the tweets replying to complaints were from Fearne Cotton as each was probably prefaced with "Do You Know Who I am! "
or I just judging
Friday, 8 June 2012
Queen enough for you
results of jubilee poem came in did not win of course with "England I love this Republic" the winners were two elderly women and a school girl really simple rhythm no wonder pam ayres loved them
mixed emotions over the jubilee was it just a TV event "her majesty god bless her" strange having to say prayers in church for the heirs of Henry VII
finally put my jubilee poem together and on to the Olympics
mixed emotions over the jubilee was it just a TV event "her majesty god bless her" strange having to say prayers in church for the heirs of Henry VII
finally put my jubilee poem together and on to the Olympics
Queen enough for you
Not quite an era , an epoch
All one in decades
Age ridden monument
Of kings and a line of kings
God gave them their
stone
Castle fast tombs
Where they are
grinning like lords
Red white and blue
White rose
White cockade
Not part of me
Past and emotionalated
Rigid biped moving at diagonals
Vertical severe architecture
Elizabethan virgin, Victorian virgin
She walks among us
The restless beef a
shout crowd and flags
Can this be a Republic
But no I fall at the first
Cry to near century
Not part of me
All of me
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
totally jubilated
after four days of jubilee totally royalist
spend time watching the TV coverage but soon learn to avoid the trite low level personality driven bbc coverage of events
spent rest of time reading books and working out the line of relationship between henry VII and Richard III and their descent from Edward III( great great grandson RIII, great great great great grandson HVII best to use pen and paper for this but used to be able to do it from memory
read last white rose the secret war of the tudors by desmond seward having won the battle of bosworth when most of richard the third army changed sides the tudors faced rebellions and loads of relatives with better claims to the throne for the next forty years hence henry VIII's search for a male heir and executions of relatives and great lords good sections on the pretend pretenders lamber simnel and perkin warbeck and how henry VII was as eager to execute his nobles as his son who having been the middle son of three grew up aware of himself as sole tudor heir of a distant descendent of the past dynasty that claimed the crown on the battlefield typical english history book for those who like tudor politics at is best
read the last lingua franca the rise and fall of world languages by nicolas ostler
fundamentally the triumph of world english but long and interesting chapters on the medieval languages of turkic and pali and the rise dominance and decline of Persian from the ancient world to nineteenth century indian ocean trade
the masque of africa glimmers of african belief by VS naipaul rather random in content never really achieving the object little new on african belief but the old idea that it is traditional and half way to witchcraft and not really a travel book mainly conducted in english and colonial in scope
lore of the land by westwood and spencer excellent and concise countywide A to Z guide to englands legends and myths ideal for anyone with interest in boggarts, shucks and hobs read this for fifth time
its familiarity meant that i was not really inspired to write any new poetry
spend time watching the TV coverage but soon learn to avoid the trite low level personality driven bbc coverage of events
spent rest of time reading books and working out the line of relationship between henry VII and Richard III and their descent from Edward III( great great grandson RIII, great great great great grandson HVII best to use pen and paper for this but used to be able to do it from memory
read last white rose the secret war of the tudors by desmond seward having won the battle of bosworth when most of richard the third army changed sides the tudors faced rebellions and loads of relatives with better claims to the throne for the next forty years hence henry VIII's search for a male heir and executions of relatives and great lords good sections on the pretend pretenders lamber simnel and perkin warbeck and how henry VII was as eager to execute his nobles as his son who having been the middle son of three grew up aware of himself as sole tudor heir of a distant descendent of the past dynasty that claimed the crown on the battlefield typical english history book for those who like tudor politics at is best
read the last lingua franca the rise and fall of world languages by nicolas ostler
fundamentally the triumph of world english but long and interesting chapters on the medieval languages of turkic and pali and the rise dominance and decline of Persian from the ancient world to nineteenth century indian ocean trade
the masque of africa glimmers of african belief by VS naipaul rather random in content never really achieving the object little new on african belief but the old idea that it is traditional and half way to witchcraft and not really a travel book mainly conducted in english and colonial in scope
lore of the land by westwood and spencer excellent and concise countywide A to Z guide to englands legends and myths ideal for anyone with interest in boggarts, shucks and hobs read this for fifth time
its familiarity meant that i was not really inspired to write any new poetry
Friday, 1 June 2012
transit gloriania
so its 60 years of the queen and dating from 907AD a lot longer for the monarchy of course must not forget the last legitimate king was Richard II Plantagenet murdered by his cousin Henry IV and that the house of Lancaster and york spent the next hundred years wiping each either out over claims to the throne ending in the completely illegal claims of the Tudor dynasty making some sort of peace
Given that the queen mother lived to be over 100 years old will we we be as glorious about the 70th jubilee in 2022 and our endless monarch
Where as England was once four kingdoms Scotland was of course a kingdom from 843AD and I think it is still part of the united kingdom
it is also the period of the transit - the Transit of Venus that is
unlike 2004 when i had a transit cake of lemon icing and chocolate drop baked for me by my learners the 2012 is in the middle of the European night
of course all planets transit the sun at intervals found this video of the transit of earth seen from Mars not to be viewed until 2084 when hopefully Mars will have human colonies - same hope once expressed for the 1984 transit
Given that the queen mother lived to be over 100 years old will we we be as glorious about the 70th jubilee in 2022 and our endless monarch
Where as England was once four kingdoms Scotland was of course a kingdom from 843AD and I think it is still part of the united kingdom
it is also the period of the transit - the Transit of Venus that is
unlike 2004 when i had a transit cake of lemon icing and chocolate drop baked for me by my learners the 2012 is in the middle of the European night
of course all planets transit the sun at intervals found this video of the transit of earth seen from Mars not to be viewed until 2084 when hopefully Mars will have human colonies - same hope once expressed for the 1984 transit
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