Saturday, 22 October 2011
Friday, 21 October 2011
LOUD FRIDAY
Oh, this is good. This is very good indeed.
Henry's Funeral Shoe was formed by two brothers from South Wales, inspired and influenced by many of the albums that singer/guitarist Aled Clifford had looted from his father's vinyl collection when he was growing up. The Who, CCR, Peter Green, Robert Johnson and the Beatles were favourites, and Aled quickly became a gifted guitar player, aided and taught by Ned Edwards, a long time collaborator of Van Morrison. Aled soon played with various bands, eventually doing some recording sessions for producer Ian Grimble, and even recording at the legendary Abbey Road studios. His younger brother Brennig started playing drums at nine. At fifteen he joined a local band, learning his trade by performing covers of The Clash and Thin Lizzy before moving on to writing original material. The dexterous brothers have finally joined forces to create some of the loudest soulful rock'n'roll to come out the UK in a long time.
BAND'S WEBSITE
PURCHASE VIA MADPRIEST'S AMAZON STORE
THE MADPRIEST GANG GO FOR A RAMBLE
One of the best things about where we live now is the fact that we are very close to the North Pennines, an "area of outstanding beauty." I love it's bleakness and "away from it all" atmosphere, something that is rare to find in England where our pretty places can get more crowded than The Monument tube station during the rush hour.
Last Saturday afternoon, which was probably the final fine day of the year, the MadGang set out on an invigorating eight mile yomp across the moors above Edmundbyers ending up at The Punch Bowl Inn for a refreshing pint of Consett ale (as is the tradition).
Half way through the following photographic record of our expedition you will come across three pictures of a small, brick building. This is a netty. I'm sure you do not need me to tell you what it's usage was.
The man setting fire to the heather is doing so deliberately.
DC stands for "District Council" and is on a boundary stone.
The photo of the pub at the end was not taken by me but lifted from Google.
Click on the photos (or whatever) to enlarge them.
Last Saturday afternoon, which was probably the final fine day of the year, the MadGang set out on an invigorating eight mile yomp across the moors above Edmundbyers ending up at The Punch Bowl Inn for a refreshing pint of Consett ale (as is the tradition).
Half way through the following photographic record of our expedition you will come across three pictures of a small, brick building. This is a netty. I'm sure you do not need me to tell you what it's usage was.
The man setting fire to the heather is doing so deliberately.
DC stands for "District Council" and is on a boundary stone.
The photo of the pub at the end was not taken by me but lifted from Google.
Click on the photos (or whatever) to enlarge them.
GAY OF THE DAY
From THE NEW YORK MAGAZINE:
Zachary Quinto has played a series of gay roles, including on Tori Spelling’s TV show So NoTORIous, and on the new FX series American Horror Story, where he plays the kinky dead owner of the haunted house, and has been outspoken about gay-rights issues. Last year, the Times, in profiling him for Angels, noted that “the blogosphere is rife with speculation about his sexuality” but that “he prefers not to feed the rumor mill with either substantiation or dismissal.” That has changed. A little while later in our conversation, speaking of the cultural bipolarity that can see gay marriage legalized in New York in the same year that yet another gay teenager, Jamey Rodemeyer, was bullied and killed himself, Quinto says, “And again, as a gay man I look at that and say there’s a hopelessness that surrounds it, but as a human being I look at it and say ‘Why? Where’s this disparity coming from, and why can’t we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that?’ We’re terrified of facing ourselves.”
For coming out, speaking out and for being very beautiful,
Zachary Quinto is OCICBW...'s
BRICK OF THE DAY
For coming out, speaking out and for being very beautiful,
Zachary Quinto is OCICBW...'s
BRICK OF THE DAY
RETIRED PRIEST SHOWS YOUNG MAN HIS TACKLE
From THE INDEPENDENT (Ireland):
Two priests, originally from Clontarf in Dublin, have been celebrated as local heroes in England after they confronted and apprehended an intruder at their presbytery.
At 2am on Sunday, October 9, Fr Jimmy Shiel (67) awoke to hear someone clambering up a drainpipe at the priest's home in Dunstable. He leapt out of bed before chasing and then rugby-tackling the alleged intruder to the ground.
Fr Kieran Magovern (66), who also played his part in the ordeal, said, "He instantly went for the guy and brought him down. He played a lot of rugby when he was younger and he used it."
Once the intruder had been grounded, Fr Magovern was tasked with sitting on him until police arrived. Police raced to the site of the break-in within minutes and arrested the alleged intruder.
A 28-year-old man was remanded in custody by a judge at Luton Magistrates' Court last week to appear before a sitting of the crown court at the end of the month.
COMMENT: I can't help thinking that the Irish may well have achieved a better result against the Welsh the other week if only they had signed Father Shiel to the team.
Two priests, originally from Clontarf in Dublin, have been celebrated as local heroes in England after they confronted and apprehended an intruder at their presbytery.
Fr Kieran Magovern (66), who also played his part in the ordeal, said, "He instantly went for the guy and brought him down. He played a lot of rugby when he was younger and he used it."
Once the intruder had been grounded, Fr Magovern was tasked with sitting on him until police arrived. Police raced to the site of the break-in within minutes and arrested the alleged intruder.
A 28-year-old man was remanded in custody by a judge at Luton Magistrates' Court last week to appear before a sitting of the crown court at the end of the month.
COMMENT: I can't help thinking that the Irish may well have achieved a better result against the Welsh the other week if only they had signed Father Shiel to the team.
THE PRAYER LIST: 21ST. OCTOBER 2011
The Prayer List is a daily feature at OCICBW... with an option to light a candle as you pray. If anybody has any concerns they would like included on tomorrow's list please email me with details or leave your request in the comments to this post. I will include relevant photos if provided.
THANKSGIVING
Happy Birthday to Marguerite C.
***
Lesley, from LESLEY'S BLOG, and Alan, the bloke she shacks up with, have, at last, been given a moving date. It's the 25th. October, so the newly weds have very little time to get packed and say their goodbyes. Please pray for their children who are having to say goodbye to friends and move school yet again.
***
From QUEER UK:
In a meeting today with Turkish Cypriot leader Derviş Eroğlu, Marina Yannakoudakis, Conservative MEP for London, protested against the continued ban on homosexuality in the northern part of Cyprus. Marina received assurances from Dr. Eroğlu that the Turkish Cypriot community was seeking to repeal the ban. Dr. Eroğlu then promised Marina that he would sign the repeal into law.
***
From UKPA:
Two senior Ulster Unionist politicians will not face Orange Order punishment for attending the funeral of a Catholic police officer murdered by dissident republicans. Party leader Tom Elliott and Stormont regional development minister Danny Kennedy, both long-time Orangemen, were subject to a complaint from an Orange lodge in Belfast for their decision to attend Requiem Mass for Constable Ronan Kerr in April. According to Orange Order rules, members are forbidden from taking part in religious services that are not of the reformed Protestant faith. But after the politicians attended disciplinary hearings, the Order's leadership has now decided not to uphold the complaint.
***
From THE BBC:
"I've never seen anything like this," said Douglas Ormachea as he watched indigenous protesters enter La Paz at the end of a two-month march from Bolivia's Amazon lowlands.
"Not even the Pope got such a reception when he came to Bolivia."
Mr Ormachea was among the crowds of cheering people lining the streets of La Paz, the seat of government, as the marchers paraded like heroes at the end of their 65-day trek. The group of some 1,000 people set out on the walk to highlight their opposition to the construction of a controversial road through a rainforest reserve known as Tipnis.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
From Whiteycat:
The story below is what has been happening here. Without revealing every gory detail I would like to be included once again on your prayer list.
This is my Snowgirl's story. She is about 9 years old. All four cats have been living together peacefully for 7.5 years. Sometime this summer (mid-Aug.?) Snowy attacked Diamond, my oldest cat. Diamond now has PTSD and high blood pressure. This was followed by an infestation of fleas. All four cats were treated. BTW, the cats NEVER go out! I was told a human brought the fleas in and they have been present in huge numbers this year due to excess rain and ultra high humidity.
Snowy had actually spent an overnight at the vet due to her fleas. She was bathed as well as being treated. When I brought her home she refused to use the litter box and would only go on my clothing. After several episodes of this I had to remove her from the house. Diamond had been living in the garage in sheer terror has now come back in the house about 70% of the time. Snowy is being boarded at the vet going on three weeks now. I have called numerous no kill shelters and all are booked to capacity. I've been advised that even if a shelter such as the SPCA takes her, she will be euthanized.
Right now it appears there is no hope for Snowy. I cannot afford to board her indefinitely. It is breaking my heart ... tearing me to shreds actually. Snowy would most likely need to be an "only cat" and I can't guarantee the box problem.
Do you have any thoughts? Ideas? I am desperate to try and save her life.
Prayers and sympathy are greatly appreciated.
This pretty much summarizes what has been going on. The other problem is that my house has about 15 years of clutter everywhere. The woman who was just beginning to help me clear it quit when the fleas arrived and won't come back until the fleas are gone. The exterminators won't come until the clutter is gone as all floor areas must be clear ... closets included! I've been caught in an endless loop. Finally getting some help via a guy at church but we have a LONG way to go!
Prayers desperately needed for the whole scene here.
***
We pray for the people of Libya.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
THANKSGIVING
Happy Birthday to Marguerite C.
***
Lesley, from LESLEY'S BLOG, and Alan, the bloke she shacks up with, have, at last, been given a moving date. It's the 25th. October, so the newly weds have very little time to get packed and say their goodbyes. Please pray for their children who are having to say goodbye to friends and move school yet again.
***
From QUEER UK:
In a meeting today with Turkish Cypriot leader Derviş Eroğlu, Marina Yannakoudakis, Conservative MEP for London, protested against the continued ban on homosexuality in the northern part of Cyprus. Marina received assurances from Dr. Eroğlu that the Turkish Cypriot community was seeking to repeal the ban. Dr. Eroğlu then promised Marina that he would sign the repeal into law.
***
From UKPA:
Two senior Ulster Unionist politicians will not face Orange Order punishment for attending the funeral of a Catholic police officer murdered by dissident republicans. Party leader Tom Elliott and Stormont regional development minister Danny Kennedy, both long-time Orangemen, were subject to a complaint from an Orange lodge in Belfast for their decision to attend Requiem Mass for Constable Ronan Kerr in April. According to Orange Order rules, members are forbidden from taking part in religious services that are not of the reformed Protestant faith. But after the politicians attended disciplinary hearings, the Order's leadership has now decided not to uphold the complaint.
***
From THE BBC:
"I've never seen anything like this," said Douglas Ormachea as he watched indigenous protesters enter La Paz at the end of a two-month march from Bolivia's Amazon lowlands.
"Not even the Pope got such a reception when he came to Bolivia."
Mr Ormachea was among the crowds of cheering people lining the streets of La Paz, the seat of government, as the marchers paraded like heroes at the end of their 65-day trek. The group of some 1,000 people set out on the walk to highlight their opposition to the construction of a controversial road through a rainforest reserve known as Tipnis.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
From Whiteycat:
The story below is what has been happening here. Without revealing every gory detail I would like to be included once again on your prayer list.
This is my Snowgirl's story. She is about 9 years old. All four cats have been living together peacefully for 7.5 years. Sometime this summer (mid-Aug.?) Snowy attacked Diamond, my oldest cat. Diamond now has PTSD and high blood pressure. This was followed by an infestation of fleas. All four cats were treated. BTW, the cats NEVER go out! I was told a human brought the fleas in and they have been present in huge numbers this year due to excess rain and ultra high humidity.
Snowy had actually spent an overnight at the vet due to her fleas. She was bathed as well as being treated. When I brought her home she refused to use the litter box and would only go on my clothing. After several episodes of this I had to remove her from the house. Diamond had been living in the garage in sheer terror has now come back in the house about 70% of the time. Snowy is being boarded at the vet going on three weeks now. I have called numerous no kill shelters and all are booked to capacity. I've been advised that even if a shelter such as the SPCA takes her, she will be euthanized.
Right now it appears there is no hope for Snowy. I cannot afford to board her indefinitely. It is breaking my heart ... tearing me to shreds actually. Snowy would most likely need to be an "only cat" and I can't guarantee the box problem.
Do you have any thoughts? Ideas? I am desperate to try and save her life.
Prayers and sympathy are greatly appreciated.
This pretty much summarizes what has been going on. The other problem is that my house has about 15 years of clutter everywhere. The woman who was just beginning to help me clear it quit when the fleas arrived and won't come back until the fleas are gone. The exterminators won't come until the clutter is gone as all floor areas must be clear ... closets included! I've been caught in an endless loop. Finally getting some help via a guy at church but we have a LONG way to go!
Prayers desperately needed for the whole scene here.
***
We pray for the people of Libya.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
EDDIE IZZARD DOES A BONO
Ah, now, I can actually answer that question, Eddie. It's because of people who earn far more than they need to live on and when they give to charity hardly notice it because they've got so much feckin' money to begin with and who insist that when they do something for other people, like getting poorer people to sponsor them, they do it very loudly and talk about it on every chat show on TV and radio. People like those trendy, atheist comedians who charge their fans £35.00 to go and watch a one man show where the only piece of equipment that is needed is a feckin' microphone. It's a good job these trendy atheist comedians are not Christians because if they were they would probably feel a bit guilty about what Jesus had to say about rich people and hypocrites.
WORD OF THE DAY
Your word for today is
"preposterous" meaning absurd, or contrary to common sense.
You will receive by first class male (that's me) 10 whole days off purgatory if you include the word "preposterous" in a comment today (and only today).
"preposterous" meaning absurd, or contrary to common sense.
You will receive by first class male (that's me) 10 whole days off purgatory if you include the word "preposterous" in a comment today (and only today).
WHY SHOULD THE DEVIL HAVE
ALL THE GOOD MUSIC? (10)
All of today's tracks have been chosen by Greg. He has given us a very bluesy, down south experience and mighty fine it is too.
I'm still taking suggestions by the way.
Jesus Took My Hand - Black Joe Lewis
Walking With The Spirit - Coco Robicheaux
Down There By The Train - Tom Waits
God Only Knows - Joe Henry
Tears Of God - Los Lobos
FEMINISM IS A BAD IDEA
I truly believe that the women's liberation movement was not only a very good idea but the most important thing that has happened in our world in the last 100 years or so. But feminism is a different matter altogether. An argument could be made that in the early days of the fight for equality, feminism played an important part in freeing woman from the chains of patriarchal brainwashing but, even if that is so, it is now well passed its sell by date and has become part of the problem.
Any "ism" that is based on gender difference is counterproductive in the fight to get people to understand that gender cannot be divided up neatly into convenient little boxes.
We should not now be fighting for justice for specific types of people but for all who are oppressed. Once we divide ourselves up into such groupings the inevitable outcome is that certain groups will claim to be more worthy of justice than others and will often make gains for themselves at the expense of other less powerful groups or, at the least, make gains whilst ignoring the plight of other groups. You end up with different groupings of the oppressed arguing about who is the most oppressed, who has been hurt the most.
The feminist perspective (feminist readings, that sort of thing) is also a dividing hermeneutic. For goodness sake, people, we are all people. The only split in the human species that is relevant is the divide between the haves and the have nots (whether that concerns wealth, equality, justice freedom or any other moral right). Some people will always try and take advantage of other people and such people like nothing better than to see those they try to dominate splitting themselves into little, separatist groups that spend much of their time arguing with each other. The only way we will ever win equality for all is if we stick together. The 99% seem to understand this. I hope and pray that this wonderful new movement is the start of a true togetherness, a unity of purpose and the end of our false, selfish and divisive divisions of which feminism is probably the most dividing.
Any "ism" that is based on gender difference is counterproductive in the fight to get people to understand that gender cannot be divided up neatly into convenient little boxes.
We should not now be fighting for justice for specific types of people but for all who are oppressed. Once we divide ourselves up into such groupings the inevitable outcome is that certain groups will claim to be more worthy of justice than others and will often make gains for themselves at the expense of other less powerful groups or, at the least, make gains whilst ignoring the plight of other groups. You end up with different groupings of the oppressed arguing about who is the most oppressed, who has been hurt the most.
The feminist perspective (feminist readings, that sort of thing) is also a dividing hermeneutic. For goodness sake, people, we are all people. The only split in the human species that is relevant is the divide between the haves and the have nots (whether that concerns wealth, equality, justice freedom or any other moral right). Some people will always try and take advantage of other people and such people like nothing better than to see those they try to dominate splitting themselves into little, separatist groups that spend much of their time arguing with each other. The only way we will ever win equality for all is if we stick together. The 99% seem to understand this. I hope and pray that this wonderful new movement is the start of a true togetherness, a unity of purpose and the end of our false, selfish and divisive divisions of which feminism is probably the most dividing.
BLOODY AMERICANS
From CNN:
An Ohio sheriff believes no more exotic animals are on the loose after his deputies killed 49 lions, tigers and other wild animals freed from a local farm by its suicidal owner. Of the 56 animals released Tuesday night, only a grizzly bear, two monkeys and three leopards were taken alive, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said. One monkey remained unaccounted for Wednesday night, but conservationist Jack Hanna, who assisted in the effort, said the animal may have been eaten.
The farm's owner, Terry Thompson, pried open cages and opened the farm's fences before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday afternoon, Lutz said
None of the deputies were equipped with tranquilizer guns.
As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities had killed 18 tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon. Those captured alive were taken to the Columbus Zoo.
COMMENT: This is terrible. Not just the fact that all these rare and beautiful animals were killed due to no fault of their own. But mainly because Americans are allowed to keep wild animals locked up for their own pleasure or for making money. When will the people of the USA realise that freedom and doing whatever you want whenever you want and damn the consequences, are two completely different things?
An Ohio sheriff believes no more exotic animals are on the loose after his deputies killed 49 lions, tigers and other wild animals freed from a local farm by its suicidal owner. Of the 56 animals released Tuesday night, only a grizzly bear, two monkeys and three leopards were taken alive, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said. One monkey remained unaccounted for Wednesday night, but conservationist Jack Hanna, who assisted in the effort, said the animal may have been eaten.
The farm's owner, Terry Thompson, pried open cages and opened the farm's fences before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday afternoon, Lutz said
None of the deputies were equipped with tranquilizer guns.
As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities had killed 18 tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon. Those captured alive were taken to the Columbus Zoo.
COMMENT: This is terrible. Not just the fact that all these rare and beautiful animals were killed due to no fault of their own. But mainly because Americans are allowed to keep wild animals locked up for their own pleasure or for making money. When will the people of the USA realise that freedom and doing whatever you want whenever you want and damn the consequences, are two completely different things?
THE PRAYER LIST: 20TH. OCTOBER 2011
The Prayer List is a daily feature at OCICBW... with an option to light a candle as you pray. If anybody has any concerns they would like included on tomorrow's list please email me with details or leave your request in the comments to this post. I will include relevant photos if provided.
THANKSGIVING
Happy Birthday to ace blogger, KittKatt, from the JESUS IN LOVE blog.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Mark from ENOUGH ABOUT ME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY has said goodbye to his little cat, Miutu, due to an incurable and painful illness.
J. Michael Povey from POVEY PRATTLE is recovering from Photodynamic Blue Light Therapy to treat the “Actinic Keratoses” on his face. He's confined to barracks for a couple of days as he has to keep out of the sun but otherwise he is doing very well indeed.
***
From THE BBC:
The Thai government says it will be impossible to save all of the capital from flooding because of a build-up of water to the north.
From THE NEW YORK TIMES:
Marie Dedieu, a disabled Frenchwoman kidnapped by Somali gunmen in Kenya this month, has died in captivity.
***
From AFP:
NATO-led peacekeeping troops fired tear gas to disperse protesters Thursday as they began dismantling a barricade erected by Serbs in northern Kosovo near a disputed border crossing with Serbia.
***
From AFP:
Turkish air force jets bombed Kurdish rebels camps in northern Iraq overnight in response to the attacks which killed 24 soldiers in the southeast.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
Happy Birthday to ace blogger, KittKatt, from the JESUS IN LOVE blog.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Mark from ENOUGH ABOUT ME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY has said goodbye to his little cat, Miutu, due to an incurable and painful illness.
J. Michael Povey from POVEY PRATTLE is recovering from Photodynamic Blue Light Therapy to treat the “Actinic Keratoses” on his face. He's confined to barracks for a couple of days as he has to keep out of the sun but otherwise he is doing very well indeed.
***
From THE BBC:
The Thai government says it will be impossible to save all of the capital from flooding because of a build-up of water to the north.
Marie Dedieu, a disabled Frenchwoman kidnapped by Somali gunmen in Kenya this month, has died in captivity.
***
From AFP:
NATO-led peacekeeping troops fired tear gas to disperse protesters Thursday as they began dismantling a barricade erected by Serbs in northern Kosovo near a disputed border crossing with Serbia.
***
From AFP:
Turkish air force jets bombed Kurdish rebels camps in northern Iraq overnight in response to the attacks which killed 24 soldiers in the southeast.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
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