28th February 2018 - Off to Mythodea

Thought for the day:"I'm still an atheist, thank God"

Had my notification from Mythodea, and I shall be attending as a Category 1 performer again this year - meaning I have two compulsory sessions a night in the main taverns - if the past is anything to go by I shall be doing a lot more than that ...

But the Trailer is out ...

Official 2018 Trailer

And a teaser ...
and the Onslaught

So - time to look at trains and crossings

hmm - prices are going up again ... Will have to look at the Tesco Coupon offers to get there this year again ...

Meanwhile - a nice trip to Twickenham today for the Consecration of the new Court of Scion Abbey - Athelstan - and ended up acting as Grand Captain of the Guard.. That is two Grand ranks in meetings so far this Masonic Year ... 

Back home through the snow (not a lot to be honest but it is really parky out there !)

maybe some mulled wine?

27th February 2018 - No Snow

Thought for the day:"Necromancers are just healers who do not give up"

So, got my Germany trip confirmed today - and so I will be heading out for Mythodea again this year,. Also sat down with Aled from the Cadno Studio to start looking at the mix on the tracks - at least he did not throw me out of the shop ...  so have given him three tracks to take away and look at...

Meanwhile the rest of the country seems to be having snow - while we are cold here but no sign of the white stuff.  Was meant to be heading for Twickenham tonight and stay over for meeting tomorrow - but we are driving down tomorrow early instead. Best think about an early night I suppose - though I won't be driving I reckon.

Will pack the warm woollies in case of snow on the way...

Meanwhile we are attempting to keep the cold out of the room by doing a double glazing scheme which involves a large piece of Cling Film over the window - we tried Susie's window today - if it works then we will try another one tomorrow...

Best get back to the minutes for last night's meeting.
No rest for the wicked !!!

Cheers 

26th February 2018 - Just a thought

Thought for the day:"I was shocked when I found my toaster wasn't waterproof!"

Busy day - finishing with Mark Lodge at Llanelli and another candidate with two in the pipeline...

So just a thought today I think
Cheers

25th February 2018 - Back to the Daleks

Thought for the day:"668 The Neighbour of the Beast"
(thanks Matt Perry)

Sunday and the sun is shining brightly and the weather is cold and heading for snow - so they say - but little sight of that at the moment.

However we have had a whole week without any road works outside the house - which I think is a bonus - though I think there is still a smell of gas at the junction of New road and Harries Avenue - but that may just be me!

Was thinking about forthcoming LARP awards and found this little thought - seems legit.

Of course in the terms of fantasy there is little that can complete with a stain glass Dalek and this one came into my feed again - or it is a different one - not sure - I know I have considered a similar creature before ...

And so I did ...
http://vollsanger.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/22nd-october-2016-delightful-daleks.html

But worth a reference again I think


Cheers!

24th February 2018 - Boats and Burns night bulletins

Thought for the day:"I drank Bud for 12 months - it was a lite year"

Was looking for yachts earlier today, as you do if you can't afford one and came across this fine picture of the yacht anchored outside Agios Nikolais Harbour last year. Belongs to abramovich apparently and wasn't as expensive as I thought being only in the 100 million range ...

It was quite impressive when you saw how small the helicopter on the roof looked.

Oh well - other people's worlds. I had an enjoyable day at the Divisional meeting of the Military and Masonic Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in Bridgend. Nice meeting, good food, and good company. What more could anyone want ...



Nice write up in the West Wales Mason - okay - I wrote it but it is still nice..

Not much else in the news today other than a cold snap on the way - glad we have some central heating...

Cheers 

23rd February 2018 - Render unto Youtube... And drink to Jemima

Thought for the day:"A Dishwasher salesman was sacked from his job for sending Indesit images to his customers"

Had many problems with video editing yesterday and have no idea why..
First of all the "section" software in the editing suite seemed to show the full page in all the previews - but when rendered the images were foreshortened and incomplete. Found a work around. Then uploaded to Youtube and found that the High Res version that I was loading - and it took long enough - would only play at 320 pixels not HD - and to be honest you could really see the difference.

So I re rendered it and uploaded over night.. But it stopped at 18% and was still there this morning .
So I stopped the process and tried uploading again - and it is still at 80%

So hoping that it improves during the day - as it is the re-work of Lilie's Song - "Dance for Me"

See how we go ...

In other news we can celebrate Brexit today - well an historic Brexit and the last invasion on British soil - and the glorious victory of the Welsh over the French - and life our glasses to Jemima Nicholas for though the invasion started yesterday in it was on the 23rd February 1797 that the women of Fishguard  captured the French and marched them to St Mary's Church .... and all because the Welsh Costume the women wore made them look like English Army Soldiers...

That's why we hate the French

Live Version for Chords  

 Cheers - To Independence and Jemima -

22nd February 2018 - Application for Mythodea is away & UK LARP Awards

Thought for the day: "A man with a stutter died in prison today - before he could finish his sentence"

So - the application is away - hoping for a category 1 pass - which is some food and booze and and free ticket and 2 performances a day  ....    we shall see

http://www.picfront.org/d/9GVH

and my favourite video link from Taurusiuvavi : Bad Norderby - the Video LINK HERE 

On the same day it seems that I am once again short listed as Bard of the Year in the UK LARP Awards - nice citation

Bard of the Year

Vollsanger

·         A beautiful man, with extreme passion and immense kindness. He has a heart and pipes of gold.    

·         It wouldn't be a larp event without him! His music is known multi system wide.        

·         He makes my events some times, genuinely a pleasure.

Nice to know..  Sadly do not think I can get the the awards this year. Last time I missed the event they awarded me a Lifetime Achievement Award - ho hum.

In other news it seems that the Police are being attacked by Livestock!! and they have a working group for it !!!

And today we took one further step into incredulity - as after another ( apparently the 18th) School shooting in America - this time in Florida where a teenage lad decided to go on a rampage, and pupils and parents call out for stricter gun control, it seems that Mr Trump has agreed to look harder at the background checks and mental stability of those asking for guns - but his main solution is to arm the teachers and the school Coaches ....  on the basis that if the Coach had a gun - he would have taken the kid out before most of the deaths could occur...

Trump hangs his head 

Thank you America for reminding us why the War of Independence was such a good idea...

21st February 2018 - Guardian Retracts Statement

Thought for the day:"Everything happens for a reason - sadly, sometimes that reason is that you are stupid and made bad decisions"

Guardian Retracts article on Freemasonry

Not sure whether the links will survive time or not - but it is here for the moment . This is the article from Freemasonry Today with links..

THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND IS GRATEFUL TO THE GUARDIAN FOR AMENDING THE ARTICLE ORIGINALLY TITLED “TWO FREEMASONS’ LODGES OPERATING SECRETLY AT WESTMINSTER”ON THEIR WEBSITE ‘TO REMOVE A MISLEADING IMPRESSION CONVEYED BY THE ORIGINAL HEADLINE’

This follows a letter to The Guardian highlighting several inaccuracies and to clarify that the lodges mentioned do not operate in Westminster, their existence is not secret and that no MPs are members of New Welcome Lodge. As a result of an investigation, The Guardian concluded that the article's headline, standfirst and lede conveyed a misleading impression and corrected the inaccuracies.

The Guardian has also placed a correction notice at the bottom of the online article which states: ‘This article was the subject of a public complaint by the UGLE and an investigation by the Guardian readers’ editor.

‘On 20 February 2018, consistent with the readers’ editor’s conclusions, the article was amended to remove a misleading impression conveyed by the original headline, standfirst and lede to the effect that the existence of the three named lodges was secret or covert, that they met secretly at the Palace of Westminster, and that New Welcome Lodge had MPs among its membership currently.’

The Mirror also removed an article published on their website which contained inaccurate and misleading information about Freemasonry, as a result of an Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) complaint.

A personal letter by Dr David Staples, Chief Executive of UGLE, titled ‘Enough is Enough’, first appeared as a full page advert in national newspapers on 7th February 2018 calling for an end to the discrimination and misrepresentation against Freemasonry in the media, leading to a series of public TV, radio and press interviews.

However - for me I was more interested in the terms "standfirst" and "lede" which I had not come across before - a daily advancement in my learning !

standfirst n. in British journalism, introductory or summary information above a newspaper article; a kicker (U.S.); a précis. Editorial Note: Sometimes wrongly used as a synonym with lead (or lede), which is part of the article whereas a standfirst is not.

lede - The phonetic spelling of lead, the beginning, usually the first paragraph, of an article, so spelled as to indicate the specialized meaning rather than the common meaning to a Linotype operator.  

Once started of course you end up in all sorts of issues:

Here I found an entire glossary of journalistic terms : https://www.journalism.co.uk/glossary.php  

Cheers 

20th February 2018 - Relations Listing and Daffodils

Thought for the day:"Stranger put his hand in my chest and threw one of my vital organs in a pond...my heart sank!"

It is that point in the week when the cover pictures are changed once again.

In other thoughts - I found an interesting sheet that purports to explain all those relations that you have - those First Cousins twice removed and such like ... Once again - for the interests of finding stuff in the future I place it here in the central repository of all things large and small
 

Relations and Naming

And after the weekend a few pictures of the Choir Daffodil Ball. Beautifully laid out and all the ornaments were hand made by a choir member - simple but most effective in their effect.

a good night was had by all and it looks as thought £2,850 was raised for Marie Curie - well done everyone.

and with this thought I lift my glass to you...

19th February 2018 - Parking and Paramedics

Thought for the day:"My therapist says to let go of your anger is to write down the names of your enemies and burn them. I feel much better now - but what do I do with the paper?"

I have a thing about parking badly. I also have a battle with some residents in Derwent Street who do not think I should park in "their" Street. I cannot park outside my house due to yellow lines. The Traffic Management department in Carmarthen are "looking at" my request to park around the corner as a resident paring permit but I am not holding out any hope for that one - I think they are just waiting to see how to say a polite No!

But this appeared in my feed today - and I remember the story when it broke ..

It was an irate householder who became abusive when the Paramedics Ambulance parked ( in a parking space)  outside their house to treat someone who was ill.
The content is quite clear...

I thought it was nice to see the result this morning which is the report that ...

A woman has been arrested in connection with an angry note telling an ambulance driver to "move your van".

The handwritten message was left on an ambulance in Tunstall, Staffordshire, while paramedics attended a 999 call.

It read: "If this van is for anyone but Number 14 then you have no right to be parked here.

"I couldn't give a s*** if the whole street collapsed. Now move your van from outside my house."

On Monday morning, John Owen, commander of policing in Stoke-on-Trent North, wrote on Twitter: "We have arrested a 26-year-old female for public order offences.

"Emergency services must be able to carry out their roles without fear of abuse/intimidation of any kind."

Earlier, he had written: "It's important that those working to save lives feel safe in the course of their duty.

"I'm sure that's the view of 99.99% of our population." 

After the note was found over the weekend, Katie Tudor, a paramedic mentor for West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), posted a picture and wrote on Twitter: "So upset to be sent this by one of our crews this morning!"

She said the team involved had also been verbally abused, adding that the ambulance had not been blocking the road and was in a parking space.

nice to see a positive reaction on this occasion ...

I shall move my car later I think ...

And so today is a Monday and that means change of Profile and Background...

Have a good day ...

18th February 2018 - The Earth Moved !!

Thought for the day:"The worst pub I ever went to was called The Fiddle. It was a vile inn."
Not sure if this will link in the future so I have asked for a copy so I can put it onto Youtube - but here are the Vlammende Adelaars singing Laars Trekking 

Meanwhile we had an earthquake here yesterday...

Epicentre near to Clydach - not far from us so not surprised that the ornaments shook in the glass cabinet. It was enought to get me out of my chair and go and check the doors of the cabinet - had no thought of tremors at that time - just intrigued...

 and some data that popped up - whatever that means ..

But we survived so that is a blessing ..

But we will survive

The earth moved - I will drink to that

UPDATE: Found out the cause!!

Cheers !!

17th February 2018 - Selected Daffodils and Road trips

Thought for the day:""I went to the zoo yesterday and saw a baguette in a cage. The zoo keeper told me it was bread in captivity..."

Busy Saturday ... Giraldus Cambrensis Royal & Select Masters when I seem to have become the Director of Ceremonies again - and the Daffodil Ball for  Marie Curie with Côr Curiad Choir and Susie ...

A Good time had by all - I am sure photos will wend their way into the feed sometime ....

In the meantime these few have come form my camera from the Friday Night trip ...

and a few from instagram

Classy eh ?

Cheers !