27th April 2017 - On the Road Again (PACCAR)

Thought for the day:"Someone has been shot with a starter pistol at an athletics track. Police think it may be race related."


On the road to Pacar for curious Pastimes Event 1
May be gone for a while

Cheers !

26th April 2017 - Bar Stuff

Thought for the day: "Adam & Eve had a computer - it was an apple - only one byte then everything crashed"

Found this notice in my in tray today - and since I am heading off for the world of LARP and setting up Bars I thought I woudl add it here ..

Have a good day...

25th April 2017 - Turn me Over

Thought for the day:" 'I dig, you dig, she dig, he dig, we dig, they dig' - not a very good poem but it is deep"

Tuesday and I didn't do any paperwork yesterday. Oh, I managed to get the minutes from last night's meeting completed and the attendance register - but actually facing the piles of paperwork by the desk was a no-no. And today - I really do not feel the desire.. Have to do some learning for the Allied Masonic Degree tomorrow where I am doing the St Lawrence the Martyr degree..   an interesting fellow - martyred in the third century for claiming that the treasures of the Christian Church were the poor and the sick and that all the moneys had been given in Charity...   Got roasted upon a gridiron and when he felt he had had enough called to his torturers to "turn him over" as he was fully done that side...

St Lawrence is thought to have been born on 26 December AD 225 in Valencia, or less probably, in Huesca, the town from which his parents came in the region of Aragon that was then part of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis. The martyrs St Orencio (Latin: Orentius) and St Paciencia (Latin: Patientia) are traditionally held to have been his parents.

He encountered the future Pope St Sixtus II, who was of Greek origin and one of the most famous and highly esteemed teachers, in Caesaraugusta (today Zaragoza). Eventually, both left Spain for Rome. When Sixtus became the Pope in 257, he ordained St Lawrence as a deacon, and though Lawrence was still young appointed him first among the seven deacons who served in the patriarchal church. He is therefore called "archdeacon of Rome", a position of great trust that included the care of the treasury and riches of the Church and the distribution of alms to the indigent.

St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, notes that Roman authorities had established a norm according to which all Christians who had been denounced must be executed and their goods confiscated by the Imperial treasury. At the beginning of August 258, the Emperor Valerian issued an edict that all bishops, priests, and deacons should immediately be put to death. Pope St Sixtus II was captured on 6 August 258, at the cemetery of St Callixtus while celebrating the liturgy and executed forthwith.

After the death of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that St Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. St Ambrose is the earliest source for the narrative that St Lawrence asked for three days to gather the wealth. He worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the indigent as possible, so as to prevent its being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to deliver the treasures of the Church he presented the indigent, the crippled, the blind, and the suffering, and declared that these were the true treasures of the Church. 

One account records him declaring to the prefect, "The Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor." This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom and can be compared to the parallel Roman tale of the jewels of Cornelia.

On 10 August, St Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, and therefore, the ranking Church official, suffered a martyr's death.

"Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you; to which I will add pearls and precious stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the Church's crown."

The Prefect was so angry that he had a great gridiron prepared with hot coals beneath it, and had Lawrence placed on it, hence St Lawrence's association with the gridiron. After the martyr had suffered pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he cheerfully declared: "I'm well done. Turn me over!"

From this derives his patronage of cooks, chefs, and comedians.

Some historians, such as Rev. Patrick J. Healy, opine that the tradition of how St Lawrence was martyred is "not worthy of credence", as the slow lingering death cannot be reconciled "with the express command contained in the edict regarding bishops, priests, and deacons (animadvertantur) which ordinarily meant decapitation." 

A theory of how the tradition arose is proposed by Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, who postulates that it was the result of a mistaken transcription, the accidental omission of the letter "p" – "by which the customary and solemn formula for announcing the death of a martyr – passus est ["he suffered," that is, was martyred] – was made to read assus est [he was roasted]." 

The Liber Pontificalis, which is held to draw from sources independent of the existing traditions and Acta regarding Lawrence, uses passus est concerning him, the same term it uses for Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred by decapitation during the same persecution. However, this modern scholarship is disputed by another scholar, Janice Bennett, whose study of other primary sources indicates that the traditional narratives are substantially correct.

Emperor Constantine I is traditionally held to have erected a small oratory in honour of St Lawrence, which was a station on the itineraries of the graves of the Roman martyrs by the seventh century. Pope Damasus I rebuilt or repaired the church, now the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, while the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo in Panisperna was erected over the site of his martyrdom. 

The gridiron of the martyrdom was placed by Pope Paschal II in the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina.

So - there you have it 

Turn me Over!!

Cheers!

24th April 2017 - And another week - home alone

Thought for the day :Just spent ages waxing the car. Still not sure how it gets that hairy"

Well, I am surrounded by paper and bills and stuff - and really ought to get it sorted - have been looking at int for a number of weeks now ...

Oh well - best go shopping and walk the dog ....

23rd April 2017 - Just a thought

Thought for the day:"I tried to beat the world record for eating a clock, but found it was time-consuming."

A trip to Worcester for Sunday Lunch - Order of Athelstan - very nice too

Just a thought

22nd April 2017 - On Immigration and America

Thought for the day:"I phoned a Drugs Awareness Line today and asked to speak to a cocaine councillor only to be told "he's on another line."

So, while Mr Trump is trying to keep out the immigrants - time ot share this little piccie ..

Cheers
Enjoy

21st April 2017 - Voting blues (as in sadness not a party)

Thought for the day"I put my photo in my locket - I am independent"

So, election boredom is setting in and we are only a couple of days into the campaign - thank goodness it is only 7 weeks unlike the 5 month referendum marathon. Image of the day...

Made me chortle a little.. and the of course there is the undeniable wit and insight of the late Douglas Adams...

 

Last day on the South Coast for this week. We have cleared rooms ready for delivery of beds and hoists and stuff ready for the home-coming of my mother in law.
Back to Llanelli for a couple of days then ....

In the meantime - I saw this bit of humour...

 
Seems legit..
Cheers!

20th April 2017 - Rossi Songs

Thought for the day: "Today is Chocolate Mint Day.  Think I'll wait until after eight!"

A Song written by Kim Huggens for the Green Cloaks Rossi Camp

Rossi - Land of Cold

Chorus / refrain:
Ey ukhnem, ey uhknem*,
Once more boys, and yet once more!**

Verses:
Rossi, Rossi land of of cold,
Barren grandmother, dark and old.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

Proud, tenacious Rossii people bold,
Arms in strength the nation to uphold.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

Red, the stars of a Rossii sky,
Voiced raised in united cry.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

Blood and sweat and tears: our currency,
In service and labour we are truly free.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

Death and pain beside us all the while,
We face the darkness with grim smiles.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

Let death take me if it will,
But Rossii blood will never still.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

We drink to fear that foece untold,
For Rossii hearts are already cold.
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
Once more boys, and yet once more!

* “Ey ukhnem” is old Rossii, and translates roughly as “Yo, heave ho!”
** “Once more, boys, and yet once more”. This song was often used as a working song, and this line has been kept in the song over the years to remind the singers of its (and their) origins in hard work and labour.

In traditional Rossii fashion, this may be slowed down and sped up as suits the mood. The chorus/refrain may be used as frequently as desired, sometimes being omitted completely except for the beginning and end of the song, sometimes being inserted between verses. The repeated last two lines in every verse act as another refrain, and may be given to one group of singers while the first two lines are sung by another group. In this form, the song becomes a call-and-response song, and has been known to become a performative and competitive act of national pride during particularly celebratory moods.

Kept here for a future resource...

Meanwhile - some images of the Crimson Moon Mothere Ship and the ODAT HEL transporter have come to light...

Crimson Moon Mother Ship

HEL Transporter (Heavy Engineering and Logistics)

An intelligence report regarding the ODAT (Orbital Deployment Assett Transport) at Zengorr has now been received and is being decrypted.... watch this space...

Oh dear -too much time on my hands - a battle version ..

C    F(C) C  C    C(F) C 
Ey ukhnem, ey uhknem*,
C       Am   Bm    Am    C     F    C
Once more boys, and yet once more!**

 C                    Am F  C     
Rossi, Rossi land of cold,
 C                              Am   F C
Barren grandmother, dark and old.
Am                  C    Bm  Am
Ay-da die-da! Ay-da die-da!
C       Am   Bm    Am     C     F    C
Once more boys, and yet once more!

Work in Progress.. Click for Soundcloud

and in other news..
and one for me ....

19th April 2017 - Just a thought

Thought for the day:"  My wife told me to take the spider out instead of killing it - We went out , had drinks, cool guy - wants to be a web designer"

A fondly remembered conversation with a chap in the Tavern last year-
"I've seen Monsters avoid the Mercenary camp when the only people there have been three sleeping old men."
Myself: "Oh aye, but what sort of person do ye reckon gets to grow old as a Mercenary..?"

Down on the South Coast again... and Facebook is full of Election moans...  think I will leave it at that ...

Cheers

18th April 2017 - Green Cloaks Event - Part 2

Thought for the day:"Viagra shipment stolen… Police looking for hardened criminals"

More Photos today  - general shots from the event at the weekend

JJ and Pete - my fellow conspirators

Young Drake was celebrating his 11th Birthday 

A couple of songs for a birthday boy 

always attractive creatures at LARP Events

The ODAT Elite Troops - LOKI (Locate Observe Kill and Interrogate)

Nobody Here ( Fist in air !!)

and Flower Power

And the only picture I have found which includes me at the event ...

Cheers

17th April 2017 - The O.D.A.T. at Green Cloaks

Thought for the day:"New Password "WaitingForGodot" - Error - Password must contain at least 6 characters"

So - back from another region of space in the area of Zennor. And the Green Cloaks were visited by a new R & R facility - the Orbital Deployment Asset Transport ...   It seems that they have an elite squad of troops known by the acronym of LOKI - Locate - Observe - Kill...    though the last two may be the wrong way aound...  There is also the Heavy Engineering and Logistics (HEL) and the Orbital Deployment Intelligence Network (ODIN)

It is believed that the mother ship (strangely entitled Crimson Moon) is still in Orbit..
But is the Base Area Resource (BAR) more than just a place to hang out and enjoy a drink and a song or two?
Who and what are these Elite Troops that land just before the battle - the LOKI team?
Who is the enigmatic Engineer - and there appears to be a Pilgrim of the Way??
Time will tell... but it is clear that they assisted in the outcome of the battle before they disappeared once more....

And here are some pictures..

What Fun !!!
Cheers