Enjoy!

Hope you all have a happy holiday - and (even if you don't drink) that Dali's Aphrodisiac Coat might make you smile...

Click pic to see larger

Maybe Solstices and Equinoxes

The 'magazine' of the Maybe Logic Forum has come out. Students threw the whole thing together in a very short time - the whole thing was compiled by an editor who was able and willing to put in the hours.

Maybe Quarterly may well grow and change. I know Frater K (current editor) sees it as based on Crowley's Equinox. I wouldn't know, never having read that particular magazine, but not being a ritual magician (in fact, being quite violently against rituals of all sorts!) I would prefer if it remained somewhere in the creative 'Arts' field, rather than the 'Magick' one.

I am not very zealous about that - after all, most of my fun comes from writing and presenting short pieces to fellow students in the forums, precisely because the people seem both unshockable and well-informed, and often share my interests. A published medium like MQ can only represent a teaser campaign to get you to join the forum, really, if it appeals to you.

End of story.

I like Acrillic's stuff - especialy as he started me off into using pictures in posts (when we were doing the Ideogrammic course) and ends with some great links - The piece is called Untitled 1.0

And Ray does a good job of describing the fun of doing an online course of research and discussion in Conspiracy, Coincidance and Code. That course actually got a little lost, with the US election dominating everyone's horizon for a while.

Oh, and I contributed a short piece about Illuminatus! - both the book, and the online course we did with Robert Anton Wilson (one of the co-authors) as tutor. Excellent fun!

Fuzzbuddy's graphics are great for the cover. All in all, a success!

sometimes I wish I was a pagan...

Happy Solstice from me and my dad's wizard

Click pic to see larger

not always cynical

Back on November 24th I mentioned buying stuff for Concern, rather than presents. I sent a variation of that post to all co-workers, and a few friends.

I was delighted to hear that Llanrumney Library are buying some chickens, and Fairwater Library are going to buy a couple of goats.

Check it out here www.concerngifts.org or ring them on 0800 731 5249 - and yes, they will send you a paper order form if you prefer.Goats £25 School Supplies £15 Tools and seeds £30 Manual Water Pump £125 (Did you know that 200 million hours are spent each day by women and girs to collect water from distant, often polluted sources?) Mosquito Nets £107 Fruit Saplings £5 5 Chickens £7 Shelter Kit £40 Maize for a family for 2 months £90 Teacher Training £55

Santarchy - it warms your heart, it really does

This story about rioting Santas, from the NY Times, is a re-assurring sign for me, as I hate this time of year. (I don't know why, really, it's only two months a year, or one sixth of my life).

Check out the main archive at Santarchy

There is an extended discussion and other links on this weblog Making Light, including an excellent online e-comic about the pagan roots of all this - Saturnalia. ( and no, I am not a pagan, either).

I wanna button to drive traffic AWAY!

Aaaargh That was horrible, I noticed a button to explore other blogs, and clicked through about 4 randomly-chosen one until I hit a Christian bigot (well, I'd LIKE to hit a Christian bigot...) who was discussing the virtues of BlogExplosion - some nasty pyramid scheme to 'drive traffic to your blog'.

Aaaargh

I don't have anything to sell, or to promote. I just use this for my own thoughts and rants and notes for future reference - but leave it open for friends and family to browse. If the occasional stranger or film fan comes across it, fine - it's not hidden or private.

If you want more traffic, though, more people reading you - be fucking interesting!

Meanwhile, check out the 'anti-campaign'

Happy Hannukah!

That's a big hi to a non-christmas celebration - The Festival of Lights.

Hanukkah, in the Jewish Year 5765 ends at nightfall Dec. 15.

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/3144/menorah140x145.jpg

How Gullible are You?

Just to calmly and politely challenge all those who dislike my dislike of being dragged into a religious festival against my will, try this Christmas Gullibility Test from The Museum of Hoaxes. If nothing else it'll give you some great trivia for a good laugh at one of those self-indulgent parties...

Oh, and there is a general gullibility test on history and culture (with maybe a slight US bias) here.

Plus I'll throw in a link to some great atheist quotes (prepare to be upset - and not just by having to shut the geocities popup) - from the English Atheist. How about:

• "Anyone who has two shirts when someone has none is not a christian." - Lenny Bruce
• "If you believe in the existence of fairies at the bottom of the garden you are deemed fit for the bin. If you believe in parthenogenesis, ascension, transubstantiation and all the rest of it you are deemed fit to govern the country." - Jonathan Meades
• When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, "Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?" - Quentin Crisp
• "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." - Seneca the Younger (circa 4 B.C.E - 65 C.E)
• "After my Christmas Lectures I received letters from the pious saying that they would have no objection if only I had qualified my remarks by saying: 'But I should warn you that many well-informed people think differently . . .' When did you last hear a priest-in the pulpit, on radio, on television, in infants' Sunday School-qualify his statement with 'But I should warn you that many well-informed people don't think God exists at all . . . ?' " - Richard Dawkins
• "A man can have sex with animals such as sheep, cows, camels and so on. However he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village, however selling the meat to the next door village should be fine." - Ayatollah Khomeini - 'Tahrirolvasyleh', fourth volume, Darol Elm, Gom, Iran, 1990.

Enjoy your turkey...

Buy Nothing

I didn't nag you all on Buy Nothing Day (Nov 27th), but don't forget that if you are short of cash, or short of temper, or not in the mood, or think the fun has gone out of it, or whatever, you would not be alone if you decided to buy nothing for Christmas - and it's not just anti-capitalists - there are even Christian campaigners for this approach - look at these Canadian Mennonites...
I know it can be tough to rebel against the revel's alone - and I sometimes succumb to the pressure right near the end, and feel like I have to go get some little thing for the nearest and dearest - especially if they are hiding some large item in the cupboard!

If you want to test your ability to resist social pressure, here's a little winter game I try. When someone sneezes, resist the temptation to say "Bless You!" It's not easy. It sounds like a stony silence. The really superstitious people (after all, they haven't got the plague, have they?) then say "Bless me!" because someone has to say it! I have managed to keep that up for weeks sometimes, but I notice I have slipped back to saying it recently (working with a Christian) although I have taken to mumbling it as a throwaway (splitting the difference).

Try it! It's like resisting picking up the phone. It's instructive. Conditioning, and all that.

Read these entries backwards...(not word for word)

Punch and Judy. The name of Mr. Punch, the hero of the puppet play, probably comes from Italian pulcinello, a diminutive of pulcino, a young chicken. His identification with Pontius Pilate and of Judy with JUDAS ISCARIOT is imaginary. The story roughly in its present form is attributed to an Italian comedian, Silvio Fiorillo (fl.1600), and it appeared in England about the time of the RESTORATION. Punch, in a fit of jealousy, strangles his infant child, whereupon his wife Judy belabours him with a bludgeon until he retaliates and beats her to death. He flings both bodies into the street, but is arrested and shut in prison whence he escapes by means of a golden key. The rest is an allegory showing how the light-hearted Punch triumphs over (1) Ennui, in the shape of a dog, (2) Disease, in the disguise of a doctor, (3) Death, who is beaten to death, and (4) the Devil himself, who is outwitted. In subsequent English versions JACK KETCH, instead of hanging Punch, gets hanged himself.

The satirical humorous weekly paper, Punch, or The London Charivari, was named after Mr Punch, who naturally featured prominently on the cover design for very many issues. It first appeared in July 1841 under the editorship of Mark Lemon (1809~70) and Henry Mayhew (1812~87). Its falling circulation led to its closure in 1992 but it was relented in 1996.
Punch drunk, to be. To experience a form of concussion to which boxers are liable, causing unsteadiness of gait resembling drunkenness, used figuratively of someone 'reeling from heavy punishment'.
Punch line. A vivid, often surprising climax to an anecdote, joke, story or the like, which gives point to all that has gone before. The figurative 'punch' suggests that the listener is struck by this line.
As pleased as Punch. See under AS,
Devil's Punch Bowl. See under DEVIL,
Pinch and a punch for the first of the month, A. See under PINCH,
Pull one's punches, To. See under PULL.

Brewer's Phrase and Fable - a mythical name

Nice to see I have made it into the Millenium Edition of Brewers' Phrase and Fable. I'll leave it to you to decide if that is my 'real' name or just a joke from my dad - my 'given' name (I wasn't christened) is Toby, not Tobias, which is the Jewish version, and means 'God is good' Tov Jah):

Tobias. See TOBIT .
Tobit. The central character of the popular story in the Book of Tobit in the APOCRYPHA. Tobit is a scrupulous and pious Jew who practiced good works, but, while sleeping in his courtyard, being unclean from burying a Jew found strangled in the street, he was blinded by sparrows, which 'muted warm dung in his eyes'. His son Tobias was attacked on the Tigris by a fish, which leapt out of the water and which he caught at the bidding of the angel RAPHAEL, his mentor. Tobit's blindness was cured by applying the gall of the fish to his eyes. Father and son prepared to reward Azarias (Raphael), whereupon the angel revealed his identity and returned to heaven.
Tobit's dog. See CAMEL.
Toby. The dog in the puppet show of PUNCH AND JUDY. He wears a frill garnished with bells to frighten away the Devil from his master.
Toby jug. A small jug in the form of a squat old man in 18th-century dress, wearing a three-cornered hat, one corner of which forms the lip.
The name comes from a poem (1761) about one 'Toby Philpot', adapted from the Latin by Francis Fawkes (1720-77), and the design of the jug from a print sold by Carrington Bowles, a London print seller, to Ralph Wood, the potter, who turned out a great number of Toby jugs. Sir Toby Belch. See under BELCH .

And my mum was a Vose - or probably a Huguenot refugee 'de Vaux' - so whether we have a connection to Guy Fawkes - Vaux - faux - false (name) I leave to you to decide. (He was the Lee Harvey Oswald of his age). I like to think we are entitled to Vaux Hall (now Vauxhall, a previously rundown area of London, but still - probably - one of the most expensive bits of planet to buy) but it's all nonsense to me, so make up your own jokes...

Some people make even me proud to be British

Mr Wilson just recommended this song from Eric Idle, and if you have speakers attached, and a fast enough connection, I highly recommend it for 'laugh of the day'.

Oh and for Brits, the FCC is the Federal Communications Commission (censors)....

If you don't fancy buying a goat, score a bit of Goatboy

I realise that not everyone wants to give to strangers (and if you send the card onto your friends, then they know EXACTLY how much you spent on them, which seems to matter in these ghastly money-obsessed days) -

So if you don't want to be CONCERNed then perhaps I can recommend you go and support Sacred Cow, and buy something subversive. It's not just Bill Hicks stuff, great though that is.....

Blessed Be.