Botany help???

GeoTagged, [N54.59782, E5.69016]

What on God's green earth is this plant?

Howard Marks Interview at Beautiful Days Festival 2010

Legend Howard Marks interview at Beautiful Days Festival (Run by The Levellers at Escot Oark, Hunington, Exeter).  Two men and a sofa talking drugs, music and random observations.  Interviewed by John Rob of Goldblade on a miserable wet August afternoon on the band stand.

Cute kitten Video

Cute kitten video with a healthy dash of venom at the conditions in which these kittens are kept!

Can you Write Sex?

Can you Write sex?

First of all there’s way too many pronouns and chronology:  he did this, then she did that which made him blah…

Secondly there are not enough synonyms in the English language for anatomical attributes and not enough fitting superlatives for expression – unless you’re writing really bad sex!

His arm wrapped around her waist while her hand drew soothing patterns on his skin.  His hand found her face and turned her to face him.  With a hand in her hair he held her face tenderly and the look on his face was so expressive and loving….blah blah blah

Lips and mouths are even harder, how can you describe a kiss without awkward repetition?  Then you find yourself with the dictionary open and you’re replacing mouth with orifice or mandible or worst, some clichéd turn of phrase like, ‘the door of his wet heat’, ‘his tongue’s tormented prison’?  Ah the metaphors!  Even the word love is so easily over used and you get more clinical and descriptive – affection, adoration, attraction, amorousness and none of then really mean the same until you’re replacing love with desire as the thesaurus is more forthcoming – adulation, infatuation, yearning, longing, passion, rapture, trembling loins!!!

The problem with physical intimacy is its physical and the emotional connection is powerful but instinctual.  How do you describe the feeling of romance or tenderness or delicacy or the myriad of hope, anticipation, excitement, thrill, fear, insecurity and even technical logistics without losing the heat of the moment?

Answers on a postcard please?

Or a comment

Anniversary of the J. F. K. Assassination

47 years to the day after the infamous assassination of the 35^th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy and still no reconciliation of the masses to the proposed facts of the case.  What do we know?

We know:

1. J. F. K. was fatally shot at 12:30pm on the 22^nd November 1963 on Dealey Plaza,
   Elm Street
   in Dallas, Texas.  The shots were fired just past the Texas School Book Depository (where Lee Harvey Oswald worked) AND the accursed ‘Grassy Knoll”.
2. The last words Kennedy probably heard were “Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you?” spoken by Nellie Connaly, First Lady of Texas.
3. According to wikipedia we have an overly accurate description of how he died, “as President Kennedy waved to the crowds on his right with his right arm upraised on the side of the limo, a shot entered his upper back, penetrated his neck, slightly damaged a spinal vertebra and the top of his right lung, exited his throat nearly centerline just beneath his Adam's apple, then nicked the left side of his suit tie knot.”
4. Howard Brennan, a Steamfitter testified that he saw Oswald with a rifle (a ‘Carcano’) make the second shot from a sixth floor window of the Depository.
5. Osald was arrested only 40minutes after the assassination, for the murder of a Dallas police officer, J. D. Tippit with a pistol after running into a movie theatre after dodging buying a ticket.  Oswald denies both murders.
6. The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963–1964, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976–1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.
7. Two days later Oswald was killed by Dallas nightclub owner, Jack Ruby during a prison transfer.
8. Ruby was convicted but appealed the death sentence but soon died of lung cancer 3^rd Jan 1967 before his appeal was ever heard.
9. According to Wikipedia “polls conducted from 1966 to 2004 concluded approximately 80% of the American public” were unconvinced by the official judgements.

Many would describe the details of that day to be more than coincedental.  Bill Hicks, Comedy legend and opinionated fellow with remarkable intellegence and passion, often called into question the official beliefs of that event, playing out the absurdity of the government’s claims: “They have the window set up to look exactly as it did on that day and it’s really acurate ‘cause, Oswald’s not in it…Back and to the left…back and to the left… I know it looks to the layman our someone who might dabble in physics would be caused by a bullet coming from well…up here (pointing in the opposite direction to the sixth floor window).”

He only echoed the conspirary theorists over the decades that claimed the government to be lying to its people.  Of course if the government is lying then such a powerful body could easily fabricate evidence, buy witness statements and doctor reports.  Is it our patriotic pride and trust that makes the possibility so inconcievable especially in light of the various scandals proving the humanity and therefore sometimes lack of moral conscience or ethics of politicans.

All the jokes and stories that stereotypically lump all politicians into liars and disassemblers but society needs a structure, a security and foundation of belief.  Many also claim that the 1969 moon landing was a fake, mentioning the blowing American flag in the supposed atmospheric gravity bubble of the satelite.  What are the reasons behind these lies, if that indeed is what they are?  A powerful man would probably say protection of the populace, steering humanity the way it needs to go because the idea is stronger than the facts that attested it.

On an episode of Bones recently, the lab of the Jeffersonian was taken over by official looking types who brought the gift of an unidentified corpse dating back to 1963.  I have to wonder if today’s medical science could illuminate some shocks and facts?  However could the results of any such examination be trusted?

All together I feel frustrated as humanity often phrases the meaning of life itself as discovery and knoledge and the confusion rot by potential lies rips into so many basic truths that society is blind and free thinking misinformed.  Where do we even start, as a layman and not a genius scientist, when faced with the possibility of years of evolved knowledge being wrong?

Youtube video of Bill Hicks:

Let Sleeping Cat's Lie

Ten Ways to Annoy your Cat

Cat’s are cunning creatures full of hazardous curiosity if the idiom is too be believed and lucky to boot with almost as many lives as Timelord regenerations or seasons of ‘Friends’.  They comfort us when we cry; claw us when they are happy, overheat us in our sleep and are more effective than an alarm clock if you’ve fallen into bed without feeding them.  They posture at being proud, nick the best seat in the house, pounce on your feet unless duvet secured and always stand where you’re about to walk.

We love our cats; we feed them, play with them, stroke them and vacuum the house repeatedly in the summer when they are losing more hair then that baldly uncle you know but sometimes it’s fun to push their buttons and get the upper hand clever Cheshire cat smile.

So without further ado here are ten ways that are sure to drive your kitty crazy.

1.)    Buy a laser beam pen and dance it around the floor until their curiosity is peeked then turn it off when they pounce on it and watch the look of sheer bewilderment, confusion and injustice on their faces.

2.)    Let that perfect pet get all comfy and snugly on your knee while you’re watching your favourite show and get up and change chairs at every advert break.

3.)    Feed the dog first and shut the cat out of the kitchen; pay more attention to the dog; simply have a dog in general and if you don’t own one invite your neighbour dogs in for a bow-wow and watch your cat ruffle its feathers and get all territorial on their doggy bottoms!  Oh but don’t leave them alone as blood stains are far too hard t get out of the carpet.

4.)    Shut a door, any door and that will be the one they want into. 

5.)    Buy a bird bath and place it in front of your cat’s favourite window sill though if you’re cat’s completely clueless this may result in head to glass damage but at the very least you can watch their aggravation and disgust grow as they click their teeth and natter at the winged chancers that are beyond reach.

6.)    Buy a cat harness or lead and hire out your cat to the young children of family and friends to complete their witches outfit at Hallowe’en.  Actually trying to manoeuvre your cat into a collar or harness is betrayal enough.

7.)    Dress your cat up in dolls clothes complete with bonnet and take pictures to cement the embarrassment making sure to use a flash that they can’t help but look at ‘til their seeing sun spots!

8.)    Rattle their food bowl, tap that fork against their tasty meat tins or use their dry food like maracas to get them to can running and then plug in your ear phones and ignore the mewling meows for an hour or simply sit down to a steaming dinner of salmon or tuna, let them jump on your lap and slowly spoon feed yourself above their heads.

9.)    Throw their preferred cat toy, rubber band, pen, your favourite lipstick etc into the shower cubicle, close the door/curtain and turn on the water.

10.)                        And always, always encroach on their personal space especially when they are sleeping.  This could take the form of blowing on their ears, pulling their tail or just holding onto their tail when they want to swish it back and forth like a light sabre, tickling the pads of their feet or lightly plucking on their whiskers.  Have fun with it.  Experiment.

Review : The Giant's Causeway Hotel

The Giant’s Causeway Hotel exudes history and charm.  Over one hundred and fifty years old, this sturdy, white washed building perches on the majestic cliffs of the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland.  The Mountains of Mourne Coastal Route is known as an area of natural beauty and is steeped in geological and mythological lore.

Location, as they say, is everything and you can’t quantify the priceless scapes of the strange, hexagonal pillars of the Giant’s Causeway and the sea caves and picturesque walks that abound throughout.

The Hotel stands beside the National Trust Visitors Centre.  It is free entry to the Causeway however (unless you are staying at the Hotel) the car parking is charged.  The story of the Causeway as many variations passed down from oral tradition over the years.  A favourite, more Irish in tone, goes as follows:

Finn MaCool was a family man who also happened to be a Northern Irish giant, who lived on the North coast of the Island.  Finn bragged about his giantly heroism and combat, slandering Scotland’s giant, Benandonoor in the process.  As one would imagine, Benandonoor was not pleased or privy to having his good name debunked and fuming with rage he built a bridge (Causeway) between Northern Ireland and Scotland to challenge Finn to a dual.

When mighty Finn heard this he was rightly, afraid and ran back to his wife and baby at home (probably from the pub!).  MaCool dawned his baby’s bonnet and climbed into its crib, rocking back and forth, snuggled in a blanket so that whenever Benandonoor barged through the door and caught sight of the, apparently sleeping, baby, he fled for fear of the size of the father that would bare such a child. 

As he retreated he tore up the middle of the causeway, throwing huge chunks of land into the sea (that would later be known as the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man) so that he couldn’t be followed.

Now-a-days thousands of visitor’s journey for all walks of life to see the weird rock formations left behind.  Many choose to stay in the isolation Hotel that stands weathered and white against the night sky on the edge of a cliff.  The vista’s from the rooms are indeed spectacular however if you are seeking modernity and neutral, minimalistic accommodation, the Causeway Hotel is not for you.

The Hotel shows signs of age and the passage of time.  It is large and was very grand in its day, opulent, with rich warm décor.  Now the wallpapers peeling slightly and the carpets are worn but the cosy, friendly atmosphere is welcoming and friendly.

Photographs and landscapes of the area adorn the walls.  The restaurant bar and pub is old fashioned with brash family crests and heavy mahogany furniture.  The space is large, yet has private booths and a good range of drinks.  The food is fairly priced and of a high quality, if not haute cuisine, it is none the less a hardy and enjoyable meal.

The restaurant proper is a little sparse and less attractive but again the service and food on offer is of a high standard.  The Hotel also offers many conference rooms and suites.

The rooms are large and in keeping with mid-eighteen hundred style though with a lot less opulence.  There is an historic feel throughout and the rattlely, prominent windows are a little drafty and spooky, the corridors, echoy and lengthy.  The ambience is enchanting for ghost stories and watching sea frets move in over the coast and the whole building retains a level of dignity and splendour of a bygone age.

For a period escape with epic scenery and outdoors walks the Causeway Hotel is most apt however if you are not interested in the countryside or the Causeway, the Hotel is fairly remote and you would be better staying in the touristy sea side town of Portrush a few miles away with 24 hour shops and good public transport, many a traveller has been stranded at the Giant’s Causeway without transport.