Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
The anatomy of a story is an interesting, if simple thing. The saying goes that there are only a handful of stories in the whole word of literature, that’s about the execution of the story and not the story itself (because you have heard it many times before).
Cinderella, for example. I bet you didn’t know it was the same story as fundamental Christianity? Well, the same shape at least. Well, here’s you chance to find out. Have a happy weekend 
Woke up early this morning so I am getting more of a day than I normally do. Which is ironic since today is the longest day anyway (here in the Northern Hemisphere) – Happy Solstice! I’m spending it reading libertarian websites and playing Mafia Wars on Facebook.
I got to thinking about the Orwellian global ‘order’ we live in. If you haven’t read Animal Farm and 1984 then you really should, life really does imitate art. Anyway, in thinking about these things I coined what I think is a new phrase to describe the disturbingly transient nature of international alliances and enemies, and I wanted to share it with you. Next time you’re watching the TV news or reading an article in a paper or on the net, ask yourself, who is the ‘Foe de Jour‘ and who were they yesterday (or last year, or last decade)? Makes for enlightenment, that’s for sure.
If you are on Facebook, do look me up, and if you also happen to play Mafia Wars there is always a place for you in my family Have a nice Sunday!
Do you know where you lie on the Political Compass? It’s not just left or right any more!
Political Compass Graph
That red dot is me in January 2009, slightly more libertarian than the Dalai Lama, slightly more leftist than Nelson Mandela. And here is where I am in April 2009.
Seems my attitude is changing quite rapidly. Maybe frustration with the ‘credit crunch’ and the apparently inability of the world’s leaders to see that the system is broken, so stop trying to fix it and get another one.
Where do you appear on the graph? Find out at The Political Compass.
OK, so you probably don’t feel the need for sunscreen this January day (unless you live in the Anti Podes), but trust me, this advice is the best you’ll ever have.
When I was little I had a phobia about wetting the bed. I never did, but I was always afraid that I would. Even into my adult years if I had a dream that involved (even in passing) going to the loo I would wake up at the moment when my dream self sat on the toilet.
Last night I had a dream that should have woken me up in terrors but didn’t. I wasn’t even slightly frightened although I surely should have been. Last night I got executed.
I don’t know what it was that I had done, but I found myself on an execution stage (like where they used to carry out public hangings). I was sat on a block and there were two men with executioner’s masks, each carrying a very large axe. There was a crowd there to watch but they weren’t making a sound. I had a conversation with the executioners about what was going to happen, they were very matter of fact and not unkind, rather like a police officer is when he’s breathalysing you after you run over a ninja cyclist (a story for another day). Then as I just sat there quite calm, bolt upright, they each swung their axes and cut my head off.
After the execution I was wandering around as a normal person again, but not the person I was before. It was as if whatever I had done to get myself executed was now washed away, nobody remembered it, nobody even recognised me. I was quite happy. Overall quite a nice dream.
Is this to do with the bank crisis and bail-out bringing absolution and rubbing away the world’s financial black marks of the past few years? Or perhaps something closer to home. I don’t feel like a catharsis has happened, but somehow feel that it needs to. Now all I have to do is figure out what it is I am meant to take from this dream, which somehow speaks to me like the Death card from a tarot deck. Curious.