Sunday, 31 October 2010
Doctor Who: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Daleks (The Peter Jones-y Edit)
A comical micky-take of daleks on the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. This is just a rum little dittie that will amuse you... :)
http://tinyurl.com/3676tmc
Saturday, 30 October 2010
JIMI HENDRIX - rare version 03/07/1967 belgium -HEY JOE
Jimi Hendrix Experience band from 1967 with Hey Joe. It is hard to believe that all three of the band members are dead now. Jimi Hendrix passed away in 1970 at age 27 while bass player Noel Reading died in 2003 in Ireland. The drummer; Mitch Mitchell died in USA in 2008.
It seems like yesterday when I watched them on Top of the Pops as a seven year old kid. I was living in Stoke Newington at the time. We lived there from 1967 to 1969. We moved back to Poplar in East London in 1969 and remember being surprised to learn of Jimi Hendrix dying. That was in 1970, but I don't think I learned until the following year. That's because I was saying, "When did that happen?" and replies were, "last year."
I got more into his style of music many years after his death, but I do remember watching him on Top of the Pops in the late sixties while living in Stoke Newington.
It seems like yesterday when I watched them on Top of the Pops as a seven year old kid. I was living in Stoke Newington at the time. We lived there from 1967 to 1969. We moved back to Poplar in East London in 1969 and remember being surprised to learn of Jimi Hendrix dying. That was in 1970, but I don't think I learned until the following year. That's because I was saying, "When did that happen?" and replies were, "last year."
I got more into his style of music many years after his death, but I do remember watching him on Top of the Pops in the late sixties while living in Stoke Newington.
Interview with JRR Tolkien in 1968 and Adam Tolkien in 2007
Foreign couple mocked as they re-new marraige commitment in Maldives
This is a very bad way to treat people. I don't know why they wanted to re-new their marriage commitments in the Maldives under a culture they don't understand. However, the man mocking them has done little for his nation's good name or his culture. I suppose people like this are in all countries around the world and we all like a joke. However, this goes way over the border line and is sad for the couple and the Maldives nation.
Friday, 29 October 2010
Saddam's Deputy Tariq Aziz sentenced to death
I am no pacifist and believe and understand why people of a nation might want to be rid of bad dictators that brutalized their nation, but I was very shocked and surprised by the death sentence to Tariq Aziz. I thought he was one of the more moderate ones of the Iraqi regime - trying to make the best of a bad situation. Surely all the prominent killers have paid the bill for the terrible things that happened under the late Saddam Hussein. Is the death of this man necessary? I'm not trying to pretend he was a man of honour, but was he as evil as the others who have already paid the price?
IMPORTANT!! TIME TRAVELLER IN CHARLIE CHAPLIN??? FROM 1928 (What do you ...
George Clarke from east Belfast has been puzzled for more than a year by a scene in a film which appears to show a woman talking on a mobile phone.
The unusual thing is that the movie was made by Charlie Chaplin in 1928 - long before mobile phones were invented.
In the eight days since George posted the clip on Youtube - more than 1.5m people have viewed the video online.
Even the US talk show host Jay Leno created his own spoof version.
George was checking the extras on a Chaplin DVD box-set and began watching a clip of the 1928 Hollywood premiere of The Circus.
"As I sat back to watch it I realised in the first 30 seconds there's a lady strolling by with her hand up to her ear which looked quite familiar in today's society.
George Clarke: "So I wound it back and watched it again, zoomed it in and slowed it down and got other people in to check it out.
"Everybody had the same reaction - it looks like she's talking on a mobile phone."
He has since showed the clip to a number of people, including the audience of a Belfast film festival.
He said no-one has been able to provide an explanation.
Since posting it on Youtube it has had more that 1.5m views and provoked 10,000 comments.
"A mystery like this one, bottom line I don't think we're ever going to find out," George said.
"My initial reaction was that's a mobile phone, they weren't around then, my only explanation - and I'm pretty open-minded about the sci-fi element of things - it was kind of like wow that's somebody that's went back in time."
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Scientists research surface of the Titan moon - BBC
Alien life on Titan or Europa
Titan and Europa are considered one of the most biologically interesting worlds in the solar system. There is the likely presence of a sub-surface ocean of liquid water which could be as much as 150 km deep. This could provide a medium and solvent for life. Europa has intense radiation from Jupiter's magnetosphere and the moon Titan; is the same for Saturn. The radiation might be striking ice on each moon's surface and releasing oxygen, which if it finds its way into oceans could provide a fuel for life. Also, there is the possible presence of undersea volcanic vents, on Europa, which could furnish energy and nutrients for organisms.
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| Exporation probe on Europa |
One Way Mission to Mars (Plan by NASA)
NASA Ames Director Pete Worden revealed that one of NASA’s main research centres, Ames Research Centre, has received 1 million dollars funding to start work on the project.
Washington State University researchers had said that while technically feasible, a manned mission to Mars and back is unlikely to lift off anytime soon and so, a manned one-way mission to Mars would not only cut the costs by several fold, but also mark the beginning of long-term human colonization of the planet.
Mars is by far the most promising for sustained colonization and development because it is similar in many respects to Earth and, crucially, possesses a moderate surface gravity, an atmosphere, abundant water and carbon dioxide, together with a range of essential minerals.
“One approach could be to send four astronauts initially, two on each of two space craft, each with a lander and sufficient supplies, to stake a single outpost on Mars. A one-way human mission to Mars would be the first step in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet,” said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a Washington State University associate professor.
Colleague Paul Davies, a physicist and cosmologist from Arizona State University, added that they aren’t suggesting that astronauts simply be abandoned on the Red Planet for the sake of science; in fact they propose a series of missions over time, sufficient to support long-term colonization.
The authors proposed that the astronauts would be re-supplied on a periodic basis from Earth with basic necessities, but otherwise would be expected to become increasingly proficient at harvesting and utilizing resources available on Mars.
Eventually they envision that outpost would reach self-sufficiency, and then it could serve as a hub for a greatly expanded colonization programme.
First, an appropriate site for the colony would be selected, preferentially associated with a cave or some other natural shelter, as well as other nearby resources, such as water, minerals and nutrients.
“Ice caves would go a long way to solving the needs of a settlement for water and oxygen. Mars has no ozone shield and no magnetospheric shielding, and ice caves would also provide shelter from ionizing and ultraviolet radiation,” said Schulze-Makuch.
The added that in addition to offering humanity a “lifeboat” in the event of a mega-catastrophe on Earth, a Mars colony would provide a platform for further scientific research.
Schulze-Makuch and Davies acknowledge that such a project would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of the Earth’s exploration.
“Informal surveys conducted after lectures and conference presentations on our proposal have repeatedly shown that many people are willing to volunteer for a one-way mission, both for reasons of scientific curiosity and in a spirit of adventure and human destiny,” they wrote.
The article is published this month in the “Journal of Cosmology.”
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
VISUAL FUTURIST: the art & life of syd mead
I did an earlier blog about Syd Mead and his imaginative artwork for the movie BLADE RUNNER. Here is some more of his futuristic art on other topics. Sometimes you can be inspired in other ways when you like at such fine art.
50 Million year old bugs in amber found in India.
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| 50 million year old bugs incased in amber. |
Remember Jurassic Park and how blood inside the guts of a mosquito trapped in amber was used to create the monstrous dinosaurs! Close to 700 such insects locked inside 50-million-year-old golden yellow amber have been found on the coast of Gujarat.
These perfectly preserved bugs – ancestors of modern spiders, ants, termite and bees – cannot be used to recreate prehistoric bugs as their DNA was severely damaged. But it can rewrite the origin and evolution tales for many invertebrates. Indian, German and US researchers extracted these bugs, spiders and scorpions from 150 kg of amber collected from Vastan and Tadkeshwar lignite mines on the Gulf of Cambay coast.
For the first time the researchers were able to melt the amber and extract the insects for detailed study. Early insects are rarely preserved as fossils because of their delicate structure.
The study so far has revealed 100 species types belonging to 55 families and 14 orders. The insects revealed unexpected geographic connections to contemporary species from Asia and Australia, and to ancient ancestors found as far away as Mexico and Central America.
The research—published in the ‘Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences’ on Tuesday — offers a direct fossil evidence of Indian amber containing an early record of a tropical forest with diverse fauna. It also opens up a new window for scientists to understand the origin of Indian biodiversity. Indian landmass was separated from Africa 160 million years ago. It remained adrift for about 100 million years before the collision with Asia about 50 million years ago. Scientists believe a lot of Indian biodiversity was evolved in this period when India was floating in isolation.
“The discovery represents a completely different picture of Indian biosphere from what is known till date. This study helps to unravel some of the mysteries of what kind of organisms like insects, spiders and plants lived during those times,” informed Ashok Sahni, one of the team members and professor emeritus at Punjab University.
Sahni and his colleagues reported the presence of insects in Cambay amber in 2005. But they found only 5 insects and also could not classify those bugs. The study also shed the nature of forest cover in prehistoric India.
The insects were trapped in the resins of a globally widespread family of a tropical tree family that now covers almost 80 per cent of Asian tropical forest.
“The remarkable insect diversity shown in Vastan lignite mines probably had as its trigger two geological events that heated the earth for some time to more than 6 to 8 degrees Celsius above prevailing mean global annual temperatures,” Sahni said.
Info from newspaper source.
Info from newspaper source.
Emporer Stag still alive? Please be true...
A mysterious, unnamed witness had claimed the 9ft tall, 300lbs red stag had been killed by bounty hunters after a price of more than £1,000 was put on its head.
It was presumed the creature - the biggest wild animal in Britain - was gunned down by marksmen seeking the large cash sum for his prized head and antlers.
Murder mystery: Since the death of Emperor was reported, there have been numerous reported sightings of the beast leading some to speculate that news of his death was circulated in order to protect him
But since reports of his apparent killing two weeks ago in Rackenford, north Devon, no one has come forward to claim the kill or produce hard evidence of it.
There are no known photographs of the beast's body and landowners in the area have denied they sanctioned the killing.
Now farmers on Exmoor claim talk of the Emperor's demise is a 'myth' which was invented to protect the animal from rogue hunters.
For a year, Emperor roamed lady landowner's estate. Then there were gunshots... and she hasn't seen him since
Double delight as a stunning rainbow lights up the skies over Devon
Lesley Prior, 54, a farmer in nearby Oakford, said yesterday: 'The animal has been seen regularly after the time he was supposedly shot near Rackenford.
'I live less than three miles from where this beast was supposedly shot two weeks ago.
'My builder, who lives five miles away on Exmoor, was telling me a few days ago that the stag had been in his garden last week.
'Most locals are fiercely protective of this stag, knowing him very well and alerting all to any perceived threat from poachers.
Myth: Since Emperor's death was reported, no evidence has been produced to support the kill, leading local villagers to believe that he could still be alive
'This includes members of the local stag hunt who have a considerable respect for this elderly male and were not keen to see him end up as a trophy on someone's wall.
'I won't believe he is dead until I see actual evidence of it.' Locals also claim a large stag - purportedly the Emperor - has been spotted nearby, with rumours rife around Winsford, a scenic village just a few miles from Rackenford.
A villager in Winsford, who did not want to be named, said: 'There has been a lot of talk in the village about a large stag spotted in the hills here.
'Some people have claimed it is the Emperor.'
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
King John of England 1199 to 1216
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| King John signing Magna Carta |
King John’s 17-year reign was marred by a string of political events that would portray him in a historical bad light, much of which is unfair. The kingdom of England had been a possession of Normandy, won by a Duke called William (the conqueror). The man had won the kingdom in 1066 and his Norman dynasty still, flourishes to this day. He was, of course, King William I of England who spoke only French as did his Norman followers. These French-speaking nobles still ruled with a firm hand over 100 years later when King John came to rule in 1199.
There is evidence to suggest that the English subjects were no different in their views of King John then they were of previous kings – maybe less resentful as he had not gone off on crusades and did spend more time in England than most. The English serfs might not have been overwhelmed with love for him, but the bad reputation of his reign in fiction might be exaggerated from many English historical perspectives.
He was unpopular with King Phillip II of France and the French king supported his nephew Arthur – allowing him to govern some of the Norman French provinces. This caused a conflict between King John and his nephew Arthur. The dispute ended with King John capturing Arthur and holding him prisoner. The young man perished under ominous circumstances. Some say King John killed him and had his body weighed down and buried in a moat. Others believe that Arthur was castrated and died of the effects. In truth – no one knows the whole truth except that Arthur perished.
Phillip II of France later took the Norman provinces forcing King John back into England where he taxed his English subjects all the more to make up for the lost revenue of his northern French provinces now in Phillip II control. King John imposed these unpopular tax increases with the ambition of re-invading and winning Normandy, Brittany and other lands back.
Further disruption was caused when he fell into dispute with Pope Innocent III in 1205. The Archbishop of Canterbury died and King John – his bishops and barons all had a choice of a new Archbishop. Pope Innocent III wanted his own choice of Stephan Langton. Things got worse when King John expelled the Chapter who supported Stephan Langton and the Pope immediately placed an interdict on the kingdom of England.
In this day and age; the only people who wrote were monks and priests all under the control of Rome and the Pope's censorship. This resulted in more unfavourable writings during the interdict. It was even rumoured that he tried to broker an alliance with the king of Morocco and convert to Islam in order to win back his status and Norman lands. However, this was written by people who wanted to give him a bad press. In 1213, King John was forced to yield to the Pope and let holy Rome have its way. He also had a major dispute with his barons which brought about the signing of the Magna Carta. All in all, the reign of King John was very turbulent and full of political intrigue.
A few hundred years after he died, the play writer William Shakespeare had poetic licence to write what he liked on Plantagenet Monarchs. For the new Tudor dynasty had destroyed the Plantagenets and of course, stories like Richard III (another Plantagenet) and plays of the diabolical King John were applauded.
In defence of this king; he was more substantial than history generally reports him to be. He had many enemies from the start and tried to stand his ground unsuccessfully on a number of occasions. His reign seems to have become a sequence of damage limitation rather than reclaiming what was taken from him.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Visions Of The Future - Part 1 of 5
More great science fiction artist with their visions of the future. Many of these pictures are used as front covers for Sci/fi novels.
My Search for a Heroine - warts and all
1. Then I ask myself, why do we always imagine sexy heroines in fantasy or dystopian worlds?
At my old writing class in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, we had a tutor named Marian Hughs. She said, always use the things around you to write a story. Such things are your tools. She is right. Also, other people close to me had tools. And making a good story always has roots that can be dug up and re-fashioned for different uses.
My third pastiche novel is called, The Last Days of Purgatory. It is set in the alternative post-apocalyptic Victorian London. A city that has fallen under the invasion of Martian driven tripod machines. Again, it is like the second story; the Martians are dying of various things. The huge alien machine monoliths are all over the city but most are just dormant and dead. I said most, but some are still active and my twisted heroine and her two misfit companions are up against those few rouge alien machines that wander the city.
The idea of my new heroine came from two sources. As a child, I often asked my mother about her childhood. The way many children ask or are told of things our parents did at our age. My mother and aunt would get full of bile when they spoke of their infant years in a convent. My mother was born in London, November 1939 and my aunt was a couple of years older. They were put on a train and sent to a distant convent run by nuns early in the war. Many children were evacuated from the cities due to bombing etc.
My Aunt Gladys can remember my Grandmother waving them off on a train while a young nun tried to console them. The nun was overseeing the matter and escorting the evacuees to where ever the convent was. My aunt also told me that my mother was very young and was sitting on the train and gurgling the way very young infants do. She was not aware of what was happening.
My mother's first memories of growing up were in this Roman Catholic convent and she said she new Gladys, (my aunt) was her sister. She could not remember who her mother was but she knew Gladys was her kin. They had other older siblings but only Gladys and my mother were at this convent. Both my mother and aunt said the nuns were very strict and would chastise them all in harsh ways. Often beating them and locking them in a cupboard under the stairs. Even today, my aunt shakes with anger when recollecting the dark days of the convent. They both admit it was a very miserable time.
My Grandmother never visited them once during the war and towards the end, my nan, another aunt, and an infant uncle were buried alive when a doodlebug hit Hobady Road in Poplar - East London where their house was. It was obviously during a bombing raid and near the end of the war. The doodlebug (as they called it) hit further along the terraces and the entire block of houses collapsed like a deck of cards or perhaps a domino effect might be a better way of describing it.
All my relations survived the housing collapse and were dug out by rescue services. However, my Grandmother had sustained very bad head injuries and was taken to the Royal London in Whitechapel, I believe. As a consequence, my mother and aunt remained in the convent even longer than most children because my Grandmother needed to convalesce and recover from her head traumas.
One thing, of the convent, that stood out in my mother's memory was an old Irish nun who was kind to them. She would often protect them from the other more stricter nuns. She said this old nun was harsh of manner and ugly, yet she always looked after them and often turned her bile on the nuns who might be too strict with the children. As a consequence, the children of the convent often flocked close to her. My mother included. She said this old nun died during her stay at the convent and many of the children were upset and a little scared because she would not be able to protect them from the other strict nuns of the convent.
One day, my Grandmother turned up at the convent and my mother and aunt were taken home to Poplar in East London. My mother was six years old by this time and she was in awe of her elder siblings she met for the first time. She often spoke of the strange yet kind old nun at the convent, but can't recall her name. She maintains, to this day, that the old Irish nun was kind to them but died.
I also saw a wall mural somewhere. It was of a nun wearing a criss-cross belt of bullets like a Mexican bandit and holding a rifle with a telescopic sight. It might have been a Banksy graffiti piece but I can't say for sure. It was fabulously controversial and I remembered thinking to myself, "Where and when would such an image be acceptable?"
I have had great fun writing The Last Days of Purgatory - (The Martian Apocalypse of Victorian London) My heroine is a combination of this graffiti wall mural and the late old nun of the obscure convent where my mother and aunt spent their war years.
BLADE RUNNER artist Syd Mead (BBtv interview)
This clip is of an interview with an artist called Syd Mead. He was responsible for the creative artwork that went into the Philip K Dick story (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) adapted for a movie called BLADE RUNNER - a Ridley Scott film.
The Artist Syd Mead talks of his visions for the movie and some of the sci/fi pictures are breath taking. From these compelling drawings came the special effects for the dismal neon city, during the future, at night and in rain.
http://tinyurl.com/3676tmc
http://tinyurl.com/3676tmc
MGB (Affordable British Sports Car and another dream of dreams)
Last day of the old Routemaster bus in London
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Moyra Melons ear rings are a handicap on the golf course
Moyra Melons was in the living room explaining to her husband about her golf stroke. She had just joined a club and thought perhaps her ear rings might be a slight disadvantage.
She said she had to wear subtle ear clasps as anything that swings about her person puts her off.
Her husband came over in yet; another hot flush and decided he was a little concerned. He visualized his delightful wife, Moyra Melons, practicing her golf stroke. Anything like heavy hanging ear rings would exaggerate a swing and with such momentum; he wondered how his gorgeous wife might stop if she put too much vigor into such a pendulous move.
I would have to agree. If Moyra Melons started to spin wearing heavy and dangling ear rings; I don't think she would be able to stop - do you?
Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance 1988
Neneh Cherry was born in Sweden in 1964. This is one of her songs from 1988 and brings back a lot of good memories from that time. She has lived in many places including UK, USA and of course Sweden. This particular song is very up beat and presented nicely. I like the two girls in the back ground doing their thing as though they don't care, while Neneh Cherry zooms in for the lyrics as the video goes on. Still, looking good today - looking good in every way... :)
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Do You Believe in Fairies
She sighed with relief when she reached the drive and nervously turned her vehicle through the old gate posts where a snow covered path caused the vehicle to lurch, pump and slide towards the picturesque house. As she turned the engine off, she could hear Janice shouting and slamming things about.
“Oh dear,” she thought. “What’s Simon gone and done now.” Her brother had been doing so well over the past three years since he had come out of the rehabilitation clinic, but it had taken its toll on Janice who had stuck by him through thick and thin. The poor woman was always paranoid that Simon might drift off the rails and start the lies again – the way many drug addicts do when trying to cover up for their social indiscretions.
She heard her brothers imploring tone and over heard much of the argument. “Janice, please! For God sake, I’m on the bloody level here – I’m telling the truth – as weird as it sounds – it’s all true, every bloody word – I swear it.”
“Right now you believe every word of it, Simon. I believe that.” Then she screamed furiously at him. “But when the bloody mushrooms begin to wear off you’ll realize what a stupid…” She stopped in mid sentence then roared at him. “I just hate you at times; you are full of empty promises.”
“I haven’t been eating mushrooms and I haven’t been taking any form of drugs. I’m telling you the truth, even the dog bolted off in fright – that’s why it got back well before I returned.”
Janice screeched again. “I can’t believe that you have got the audacity to try and say this to me. I wish I had a video camera – I would love to film you now and play it back to you when you’ve come back down from your very bad trip.”
Sandy apprehensively rang the bell and the door opened almost immediately to reveal her brother Simon, looking wet and bedraggled as though he had been caught out in the storm for some time prior to returning.
“How long have you been back?” She asked. “Janice phoned me when the dog returned without you. She said it was barking hysterically.”
Simon sighed with frustration and shook his long wet hair while gritting his teeth in anger as he tried to fight back the tears that swelled in his lower eye lids. He had the look of a man that was trying to bottle up a quagmire of emotions that he dared not let out, but could not contain indefinitely.
Janice barged passed him, equally as distraught. “I’m going out for a breath of fresh air – I don’t want to be around you when you are like this – I hate it.” She looked at Sandy. “Come with me for a walk, will you. I’m so sorry to have dragged you out here in such conditions, but I was so worried.”
“Yes,” replied Sandy as she turned and walked the snow covered pathway that went into the woodlands. She looked back at Simon sternly and put her finger to her lips – an angry imploring that told him to hush – he had done enough damage.
“We might as well bring the dog too,” sniffed Janice distraught.
Sandy looked to the black Labrador bitch and patted her knees as she called. “Nelly! Come on girl.”
Nelly yelped despondently and tucked her tail between her legs as she scampered behind Simon – looking for protection from the woodland that she normally loved to run about in.
“See,” he called to Janice. “When have you ever known Nelly to decline going out.”
“Oh for Gods sake shut up,” she shouted, completely awash with the man. This time he had really pushed her too far. “Come on Sandy, we will not get any sense out of him until he comes down.” She trudged off through the snow towards the tree line where the woodland began.
Before following, Sandy took one last look at her brother – she could always tell when he had been taking drugs because of the look in his eyes and the manner in which he acted. He was distraught but she had the merest of inklings that it was not the intoxicated look – an appearance that she had not seen on him for three years. Desperately, she hoped that her brother was telling the truth and perhaps poor Janice was getting paranoid. It had happened before. Maybe Janice just needed to talk and calm down. She felt deep sympathy for her brother’s girlfriend and her neurotic disposition had been brought about because of Simon’s past antics.
They entered the forest where soft white snow beads were dropped everywhere from the leafy canopy and onto the wet fern covered forest floor. The dampness carried a fresh cold sent that was invigorating and Sandy new that after a little while Janice would calm down as she walked through the woods and the heath land.
“I don’t know how he has managed to get his hands on anything – we’ve been in all week,” said Janice exasperated. “He must have been eating mushrooms. That’s it, I bet he has been eating them bloody mushrooms that grow in the forest. He’s eaten too many and started to hallucinate.”
“Perhaps he has not,” suggested Sandy wearily.
Her friend frowned and rocked her head from side to side as though it was useless to even propose such a thing. “Have you any idea what he is trying to make me believe?”
“That he has not taken drugs or any other stimulant for three years.”
“And…,” added Janice. “…that he has seen a fairy up in the little wood at the top of the heath.”
“What did you say? Can you just lay that one on me again please?” Sandy thought that she might have been trying too hard to get Janice to listen to her and had neglected to pay enough attention to what her brother’s girlfriend wanted to say in return.
“He said that he had been frightened by a real live fairy – up in the little wood on the top of the heath. The heath land that is at the end of this woodland we are walking through.”
“So some sad man made an improper advance towards him up in the little wood.” Sandy scratched the top of her head, hoping she had struck the right note.
“No Sandy, not that kind of fairy – I mean a real fairy from a fairy tale. He said she was a very pale young girl with wings on her back. She had an angelic childlike face – a slight frame and wore a short white gown that looked like frosted cobwebs – layers and layers hiding her so called modesty.”
Sandy looked confused and disappointed. It seemed her brother had slipped back into his old ways. She did not for one moment doubt that Janice was telling the truth. Simon had been imploring her to believe him and if this was what he had been trying to make her accept; then she could understand Janice’s frustration and anger.
“You should have heard the elaborate tale he tried to get me to believe,” continued Janice. “He said that he had made his way through the snowy heath land with Nelly and reached the little wood to get out of the new snow fall that he and the dog were caught in. There Nelly started growling at the ferns and began to act strangely.”
“Maybe she sensed the change in Simon if he had been eating mushrooms,” cut in Sandy.
Janice nodded her head as they came out of the wood onto the snow covered heath. Together they looked up the gentle rise of the snow covered heath towards the little wood where Simon had claimed to have his strange adventure.
Janice continued to tell of Simon’s hallucinating dream story “He said that there was a strange aurora in the wood which made Nelly yelp and bolt off back down the heath land towards home – leaving him with this strange glow of light that moved amid the wood ferns. He also said that summer plants grew at high speed – budding, blossoming and then blooming before withering and dying in the snow. Like what you see on a documentary of a speeded up film of a plant growing and blooming. This happened where ever the strange aurora went and as this strange light moved away so the blooming flowers withered and died. He said even parts of tree branches budded leaves that quickly withered and died in the same way, as the glow left. He described in vivid detail this wave of budding, blossoming and blooming plant life that rolled like a wave amid the forest floor and lower tree branches and in the passing wake of the moving glow was the withering and dying petals and falling leaves.”
“Good God,” muttered Sandy. She was beginning to get extremely angry with her brother. “All that work and effort that people put into rehabilitating him and in one instant, he’s thrown it all away. God, how can he be so selfish?” She gritted her teeth trying to contain the anger that was churning up inside her.
As they ascended the heath land towards the little wood Janice felt compelled to continue telling the ludicrous story that Simon had told. “He said the radiance twisted and turned with the fast blooming flowers suddenly heading towards him – the withering and dying petals still in the wake when it stopped a few feet before him – a mass of vibrant and colourful flowers basking in the now still aurora – flourishing in the snow. He said he was transfixed by the beauty and colourful splendour, which suddenly exploded in cascading confetti of flower petals and withering leaves. Then, as the colourful debris settled, there before him, balanced upon the rocking tree branch, in a crouched posture as though about to leap, was this slightly built angelic frame of a female with transparent wings. She was about three foot tall and had the look of a young female – no longer a girl but not yet a woman. Her skin was like white porcelain and vapour came from her mouth as she breathed. She had a face of pure innocence but eyes of childish mischief and like an adolescent female that does not know how to woe the object of her desire she crudely lept at Simon and tried to kiss him.”
“And with great chivalry he politely declined this crude advance,” scoffed Sandy. “How gallant he must be.” She laughed in exasperation. “How the hell his mind must be working to think of such things and then try to get you to believe them. He is just reciting tales my Grandmother used to tell us when we were children. She always told him to avoid being kissed by a fairy or he would lose his heart and soul to her for ever.”
“Well,” muttered Janice scornfully. “That little fairy doll would have come unstuck trying to win over his heart and soul. I think he sold it long ago for mushrooms and acid trips.”
They reached the little wood and stopped midway into the tree cluster. The snow had stopped and it lay upon the bare branches and ferns
Janice frowned as she scrutinised a low branch that stretched out across the snow covered ferns where leaves a flower petals laid gently upon the snow – masses of it – reds, yellows and pinks amid withered leaves. Leaves that had only recently fallen – flower petals from various times of spring and summer that had only just fallen in January.
“That’s odd,” she whispered.
“What is?” replied Sandy as she turned and looked upon the array of colourful flower petals. “Good God that can’t be.”
Slowly, they both moved forward – each frowning in disbelief as a light breeze began to filter through the woods.
Suddenly a far off giggle, like that of a child, echoed from behind and they swung round startled by the unexpected noise. Then another from behind forcing them to wheel back around to the debris of flower petals that lay upon the snow covered ferns.
Their hearts were thumping as each woman fought to contain the fear that was welling in the pits of their stomach. They clasped each others hands.
“I don’t like this.” Janice was begging to shake.
“Don’t worry,” replied Sandy, trying to put her friend at ease. “It’s just the wind making strange noises and Simon’s silly trip running around inside our heads.”
“How could those flower petals blossom and fall at this time of year. They have fallen since the snow or they would have been beneath it and rotted by now.”
“Look!” pointed Sandy as an array of flowers blossomed in the distance – a moving abundance of summer flora springing up through the snow covered ferns – a rolling mass of plant life springing up and heading towards them amid an aurora and childlike like laughter.
“Its coming towards us like Simon said.” Janice was fighting to contain the panic within her as she waited in dreadful anticipation of what must surely follow.
Sandy was shaking. “Fairies only kiss men,” she gulped pathetically trying to play down what surely must be some kind of prank as she took a nervous step backwards still clasping Janice’s hand tightly.
The colourful display came to a halt before them for a moment and they looked to the wake of withering petals and falling leaves from the lower branches upon the path which the radiance had taken. Then the explosion of flora erupted about them – showering both women in cascading beauty and as it settled each was startled by the sight of two young male forms crouched upon the rocking branch before them. Boy forms with young adolescent men’s faces. One had black hair while the other was fair and each had a fringe that stopped above their eyes – playful blue irises full of boyish mischief. Each smiled at the girls who regarded them with cautious wonder and astonishment.
Each male was about three feet in height and were naked except for the cold white frosted cob webbing that covered their modesty. Their small muscular torsos seemed oblivious to the cold and both had alluring smiles for the ladies that stood before them. They tensed as transparent wings opened and then retracted behind them.
Janice and Sandy gasped in amazement at the two impish forms – almost smitten by the delicate beauty of the two fairies that were crouched upon the swaying branch before them.
“Hello,” said Sandy quietly like some nursery school teacher meeting a child for the first time.
Each fairy smiled a little more radiantly and then in unison they said in high pitched childish voices, “Look in to our eyes, look, look into our eyes, we make stars look dull in night time skies.”
And with fast motion and gentle grace each fairy lent forward and put his lips to the women and quickly planted a brief, forever smitten kiss.
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