Well, plenty going on as usual. Here we have the inquest into the events of 7/7/05 which is being ignored by the media as much as possible but luckily there's some good catch-up and comment at places like this http://stefzucconi.blogspot.com/
Austerity measures have been coming in so thick and fast that it is difficult to put the whole picture together, needless to say that it's looking pretty bad as well as a bit mad. The Government seem to be doing a good job of pissing off nearly everybody with their cuts and are apparently happy to be pissing off the police as well as the armed forces, so are making plenty of fairly powerful enemies for themselves. Most people that I talk to are perfectly aware as to how the government and the banks have stitched us up and that this mess wasn't caused by poor people with big televisions. What can be done about any of this is another problem and all is quiet here so far.
The strikes in France have been interesting to follow. The subject is simplified for us here by the media telling us that the french strikes are all about them not wanting the retirement age raised, but I would guess there might be a bit more to it than that.
There was an amusing piece by a Radio 4 reporter the other day where he went to various locations to catch up with the strike action only to find when he arrived that the strikers had all moved on. It went something along the lines of: "I've been told there were strikers causing disruption at the train station and they were sitting on the tracks stopping a train from going to Paris but when I arrived they had caused disruption and seemed to have moved on before the police turned up" He visited other locations where the same thing happened, with him arriving to report on all the action but with there being nothing left to see.
How unfair of the strikers not to be playing the game properly. They are supposed to strike all day in the same place, giving the police plenty of time to get there and turn the strike into a riot and enabling the media to get their shots of rioting strikers. It's almost as if they had got wise to the fact that hanging around all day and letting the police beat you up might not actually be a very good idea and that you can take your disruption elsewhere or just come back later when the police have gone and have another go. How naughty of them not to play by the approved rules and thanks for the tip BBC!
Above are photos of yew tree two, who is swallowing a gravestone. Yew tree two is a tree that looks good for climbing, comfy for sitting in and is shaped in the 'lightning strike slow motion dance' form. More yew trees coming soon.
8 comments:
lucky gravestone....
Hi , john , they are strong yew trees , you realy like this sort of trees, it seems so old .you are all right ,it is good to climb , i liked that nicely squirrel , he stands carefully , waiting to run away ,if he sees anybody .
actually ,the world is not quiet these days , it is very noisy ,ugly ,ful of poor people ,
anyway , it is life ,and all these graves in your photos tall us ,that we have enjoy life as we can do ,even any bad things , life is very short ,
at last thanks so much for your friendly welcome in your comment .
all best for you .
Yeah Su, isn't that cool? It reminds me of the famous Buddha's head in Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand. It's a weird place Ayutthaya. A couple hundred years ago 'the barbarians' (no one seemed too sure who they were precisely - perhaps it was the rugby club?) went through there and smashed every Buddha statue they could find. The Thai gathered all the pieces of Buddha and arranged them in as reverent (and picturesque) a fashion as they could manage. And one particular head ended up having a tree grow around it.
Useful travel tip! My buddy, the Schutter, who hangs out at the haiku blog, told me of some German tourists who thought it would be funny to stand on the Buddha's head for a photo. It might have been funny in German but it wasn't funny in Thai and subsequently they got the shit beaten out of them. Monks are all peace, love, and understanding until you stand on Buddha's head and laugh about it.
Otherwise John, yes, there is only one rule in conflict: seize the initiative, never give them the fight they want, and hit 'em where they ain't. There'll be a lot of this to come.
And I have to say that in your last lot of yew photos, the first one of the fallen headstone was so gorgeous, so eye-catching, such a stand-out that it deserved something a bit more permanent than a come-and-go blog page. Sure enough, I see you've put it in as your icon. Bravo - excellent choice.
Speaking of which, I don't know if you know mate, but you and I are in a race to see who has the most followers. Pen, for instance, is not in the race because she has too many fans and is putting us both in the shade. A little while ago I was one behind you but now I'm one ahead. No bleating about me being in my own fan club. As they say: all's fair in love and stamp collecting.
cool image nobody.
maybe the next haiku slot.
Now why didn't I think of that?
Hi su
It is a strange sensuality with the yew trees and this enveloping. I was thinking of it as a sign of the long lived yew trees disregard of our symbols of death but it could be read as a sexual thing as well. Does it mean anything in itself or do we give meaning to such things?
Hi Evat
The squirrels are quite friendly here as they are used to having people about. I think they like to show off a bit and they certainly like to play hide and seek, going round the trees and popping their heads out from the other side to peer at you. They are a lot of fun.
You are right about learning to enjoy the lives we have and appreciate the people we have around us. Life is very short and who knows how long any of us have.
All the best to you.
Cheers nobody and thanks for the link to the Buddha's head in the banyan tree. I don't know much about Buddhism but I like the sculptures of the Buddha very much. There always seems to be a battle between those who want to destroy these symbols and those who afterwards have to pick up the pieces and rearrange them.
Beautiful though the sculptures are I remember the stories in the press about the destruction of sculptures in Afghanistan but even then I noticed that there wasn't much concern for the people of Afghanistan and to me the living people are more important than the sculptures, however old and beautiful they are. Mostly they seemed to be stories about how awful the Taliban were and we can now see where these stories were leading us.
Yes I was very happy with that photo too. Most of the others are tricky because the trees are actually quite difficult to photograph if you want to see what is going on and these were taken so that the shapes can be seen. They are very dark underneath which results in the background colours becoming pale. If you want the background or sky right the yews just come out as silhouettes.
Your one ahead in the followers race eh? I could change this by stopping following your blog but then two can play at that game and I think you might pick up more followers anyway and where would that leave me? I'll have to let it run its own course but I'll keep an eye on it to see how we're getting on. A good game.
Follow me...follow me. It sounds a bit messianic really.
I must get outside soon, it's blowing up a bit of a gale here and I want to have a look.
Cheers for now nobody and everybody and thanks for all your comments.
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