I believe the legend of King Arthur comes from fact - he once existed, but I'm not sure if it was during the Dark Ages because Roman culture Britons would have been literate after four hundred years of speaking Latin. It does not seem feasible that Angle, Saxon, and Jutish kings were known of from the supposedly pagan English times, yet the learned Celtic Britons have no substantial record of the real King Arthur, the Arthur knights, the Arthur sword, Merlin the wizard, and of course the round table. I am no long sure of King Arthur of Cornwall and his queen, Guinevere living during the Dark Ages. After all, these were the ones who could put pen to paper at this time.
I have recently become sceptical of this mass migration of Anglo-Saxon tribes suddenly arriving in Britain when the Romans abandoned the Isle. I have seen documentaries where Saxon sites have been dug up and DNA samples of bones suggest Britons predominantly living in Saxon sites. This throws so many things into confusion and even the evolving of English language, from Frisian or what Dutch people speak.
Some historians of language think it was adopted with heavy British (ancient Welsh) influence. How this was explained was a little beyond me, but there seems to be a general agreement that pagan English tribes were already in the south east of Britain or speaking such a dialect when Rome still ruled. Were these people Christian because by this time Romans and Britons were? Names of Teutonic Gods would suggest that there was a pagan belief, but not the old British Druid system of religion. Therefore this Teutonic religion must have been imported. There are so many unanswered questions especially skeletons of Saxon settlements being mainly Briton in DNA testing.
However, as said previously, much of the DNA is still Celtic British. I wonder if Arthur and his legend were old even during these times - a folk tale back then and perhaps Saxons, Angles and Jutes replaced Romans as the enemy of Arthur's kingdom. I honestly think this mythical king of Celtic Britons was around before, English language or pagan English tribes were in Britain.
Perhaps Angles, Saxons, and Jutes speaking a strange tongue and believing in an un-Christian religion would have found themselves ostracised by Romanised Britons who were literate in Latin. Why write off these people yet not Arthur? I think he would be much more chronicled if he lived in the Dark Ages.
This is the reason I did not mention such a British Celtic King by name in the novel Saxon Quest. I think two cultures clashed in Dark Age Britain, but I can't commit to there being a King Arthur of this time. I believe he goes much further back.
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com
A Swedish expedition team has found an unidentified object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, leaving some to believe it’s the remnants of an extra-terrestrial ship.
Scientists went off on a deep-water dive to debunk some theories about the underwater object, but were left with more questions than they had answers.
The divers found that the object was raised about 10 to 13 feet above the seabed, and curved in at the sides.
“First we thought this was only stone, but this is something else,” Ocean X team diver Peter Lindberg said in a press release.
The object had an egg shaped hole leading into it from the top, working like an opening. On top of the object, they found strange stone circle formations, which resembled small fireplaces. The stones were covered in something that resembled “soot.”
“During my 20-year diving career, including 6000 dives, I have never seen anything like this. Normally stones don’t burn. I can’t explain what we saw, and I went down there to answer questions, but I came up with even more questions “, Stefan Hogeborn, one of the divers at Ocean X Team, said in the press release.
Farther back from the object, the Ocean X team said that they could see a “runway” or a downhill path that is flattened at the seabed with the object at the end of it.
“As laymen we can only speculate how this is made by nature, but this is the strangest thing I have ever experienced as a professional diver“, continues Peter Lindberg, one of the founder Ocean X Team.
Scientists are currently examining samples from the circle-shaped object, and experts in sonar imaging are processing data from the “ship” to help shed more light on what exactly this underwater object is.
The outline of the ship on pictures resembles the famous Star Wars ship the “Millennium Falcon.”
Lindberg said the odd thing about the discovery is that there is no silt on the rock, which is an ordinary thing to find when lying at the bottom of the sea.
He also told Fox News that the object is “disc-shaped” and “appears to have construction lines and boxes drawn on it.”
Lindberg told the news agency that the Americans and Japanese “are much more excited” about the discovery than the local Swedish people.
An old 60s Retro Britsh Rock Band Called the V.I.Ps
V.I.Ps' Drummer Walter Johnstone is kneeling down in above photo
In the early to late 1960s; a British rock band from Carlisle began playing at the Scotch St James club in London among many other up and coming bands. They released a few albums and had some singles, though they did not break into the UK charts. They did have some success in Europe, especially Germany and France. One of the members went on to play in Humble Pie, and for a short time after 1967, Keith Emerson was in the band, though they changed their name to Art.
The original band (The V.I.Ps) consisted of the following: Mike Harrison vocals, Jimmy Henshaw and Frank Kenyon as guitarists with Greg Ridley on Bass and finally Walter Johnstone on drums.
45 Years Later 2012
Walter Johnstone Today in 2012 while telling his story of the 1960s decade
While working on the verge cutting in Essex, England during this dreadful summer of 2012, we were sent a casual worker from the job agency to help with the grass cutting. The man was retired but liked to do the odd bit here and there. He was a polite and reserved man – perhaps a little unassuming. The rest of the gang liked the retired man and he has since been called back on several occasions when a member is on leave. He has a Cumbrian accent of North England, though he is Scottish – a real Reiver from the borderlands.
During tea breaks, while we sat in the van having a cup of tea, we would talk to this guy, wondering why he left the beautiful Lake District of Cumbria to live in Essex, South East England. He was interesting and spoke of many things. He had been an oil rig worker off Aberdeen and served time on the platforms at sea. He had done a great many things during his working career.
He had been working with us, on and off for a number of weeks, and finally, on Friday 12th October, he told me a great story of some of the things he did during the Retro Brit 1960s decade. He said he was in a band and they toured a lot as a support band. They had released albums and had singles, but they did not break into the UK charts but were well received in Europe, especially Germany and France – one single getting to Number 2 in France. He said they had supported bands like the Small Faces and The Jimi Hendrix Experience band.
He said the band was called the V.I.Ps and he was the band’s drummer. I got out my phone and tapped his band’s name into the search engine and up came a photograph of the old rock group with today’s 69-year-old Walter Johnstone standing with other band members when he was in his 20s. He was taken aback - the long ago, faded away, the band were still on the net. They are on YouTube too, which surprised him, as Walter is not too knowing on computers. I was amazed too, looking at Walter in the 1960s next to the band members of the V.I.Ps. Walter is a modest and unassuming person and this past life of his came out casually in conversation.
Of the original five; only Walter and Mike Harrison are alive. Jimmy Henshaw, Frank Kenyon and Greg Ridley are deceased. Of course, other band members came and went when they were called Art. Walter Johnstone, the drummer and man I’m talking about, had left by the time the band was called Art.
Procol Huram Story
When Walter left the V.I.Ps, he did get a number of phone calls and requests from a man promoting a new band and this promoter said he wanted Walter to come back to London and do a session for this new band’s song - the group which was to be put together. This band would be good and he wanted Walter Johnstone to do the drums in a demo run for a song called Whiter Shade of Pale and it was to be by a group called Procol Harum. By this time Walter had left the V.I.Ps because the money was not regular enough and the band were not big enough. He was, however, persuaded to do the demo when offered £18 plus travel and lodgings back to London.
After doing the demo, he was offered the drummer work for the band, but he refused not having faith in the promoter who was guaranteeing £250 a week for the next five years. This was good money in 1967, but Walter had been on the fringes of the rock industry in Britain for a number of years now and had heard such promises before. For every band that hit the big time, there was a larger number, like the V.I.Ps, doing the support stints and earning little. The big break never came to every band and Walter had lost faith - especially when the promoter only gave him £8 instead of £18. He wrote him a cheque for the other £10 which promptly bounced when he got back to Carlisle. Of course, Walter Johnstone was shocked when Whiter Shade of Pale smashed the charts with Procol Harum. He said they were from Southend in Essex where we all now work, cutting the grass verges of the surrounding towns.
Jimi Hendrix and the V.I.Ps in Scotch of St James Club London 1966
Jimi Hendrix in UK 1966
Walter also told another Retro Brit story about Jimi Hendrix. The V.I.Ps (Walter’s band) was managed by a man called Michael Jeffery and this man also managed The Animals – a famous British band from Newcastle. They (The Animals) had come back from a USA tour and were in the Scotch St James club in London, where the V.I.Ps were playing. It was about the year 1966. Michael Jeffery (Manager of The Animals and the V.I.Ps) had discovered someone special in the Village (A place in New York) He was called Jimi Hendrix. The Animals Bass player; Chas Chandler also had dealings with Jimi Hendrix. From what Walter said; it seemed to be a joint interest between Mike Jeffery and Chas Chandler.
Walter is in the centre and furthest back.
Chas Chandler asked the V.I.Ps if they would let Jimi Hendrix play alongside them in the Scotch of Saint James club. The audience consisted of other British bands who liked to look at up and coming talent. Band members of The Small Faces, Kinks and other well-known groups would be in the audience. Walter said that he and the rest of the band said ‘ok.’
For the first song, which Walter can’t remember what the title was; Jimi Hendrix just played along rhythm. Then when they finished Jimi Hendrix asked them; “Hey can you play ‘Wild Thing’ by the Troggs.”
Walter said the rest of the band and himself replied yes, but thought it odd, for they regarded the Troggs as a pop band. People who played in the Scotch Saint James club regarded themselves as proper musicians. Walter laughed as he told me this, realising that perhaps, the V.I.Ps was a little too pretentious, even during the swinging sixties. After all; the Troggs made and sold records that got into the charts.
Well as the V.I.Ps began to play; Jimi Hendrix went on one of his whirlwind guitar solo acts and blew the V.I.Ps and the audience away. Walter said as he played the drums; he called to see the mind blowing effect Hendrix had on the audience. No one in the UK had heard or seen him until this moment, but Jimi from the village, across the pond, launched himself with great aplomb upon the unsuspecting Brit audience.
Walter laughed, “When Hendrix played, they (The V.I.Ps) almost shit themselves.” Evidently, Jimi made a big impression.
Take your time and listen to the reasons why a colossal super power like the USA came up against difficulty during the Vietnam War. These American historical analyse people go into great depth about the reasons why US forces came up against many unforeseen dilemmas during this intense war that raged through the 60s and into the 70s.
These interviewers and analyst cover a wide range of far reaching topics and consequences that US soldiers had to endure against an enemy that was in control of the terrain and could adapt to US military techniques.
I've always liked this folk jig done by Steelye Span - though I'm sure the jig is much older then this and has been done by many folk musicians prior. It a very jolly rum ditty tune.
I had never been to Foulness Island, even though it is close to where I live in Leigh-on-Sea. There is not much over there from what I've been told except some old British Army ranges and farm fields. I think because there are army ranges, the isolated islanders enjoy protection from the, so called, 'rat race' of modern life. This is not uncommon in the Highlands of Scotland or some of the areas of North Wales and North England, but down in the bustling South East corner of Britain and only 50 miles east of London - well...
Foulness is cut off from mainland by river Crouch and the river Roach tributaries that flow back round into the sea
Most places are rather populated, but once you venture past Southend and Shoeburyness, things become a little more sparse. There is a town called Great Wakering, which is rather small - mainly a high road and a few side streets that end at farm fields. Beyond this is the river tributary ( the Roach, I think) from the river Crouch leading back out to the sea. This is what cuts Foulness from the mainland as an island.
Down one such side street in Great Wakering; one can drive to a fenced off enclosure. This stops people getting into the army area where test shooting goes on. Therefore a restricted area where one needs permission to pass at a checkpoint.
On Thursday 6th April 2012, I went to this check point for the first time because I had a van and a trailer with grass cutting equipment aboard. A triple mower that a work mate used plus a push mower and a petrol operated strimmer. We had to cut the grass of the old church on the island of Foulness but had to pass the checkpoint on the mainland before driving over a bridge and onto the isolated island of Foulness. When we gave our reasons for going onto the island, we were given a pass and went on our way. I was surprised at how big the island was and the small community of island dwellers that worked the farms and some that lived in a village called Churchend. There was a sea wall to our right as we went through the small community of the village and my work mates met another grass cutter working on some verges here. We stopped and exchanged a few pleasantries before moving onto to St Mary the Virgin Church. As I drove along the island was mostly farms and flat coastal marshland with scattered trees.
Next to the old church was an old pub - no longer in use, and an old looking groceries store (All in above pictures.) The old Scottish security guard at the checkpoint was telling us that the church had no one looking after it anymore but there were preservation people interested in buying the building. However, there was no solid foundation to the church and it was sinking a bit and was fenced off around the building. Evidently St Mary the Virgin Church needs to be underpinned.
We went into the cemetery and cut the overgrown grass and I was trimming all around the grave stones. This took us a few hours, but was very pleasant work on the isolated island. The place was teaming with the more rare birds and a huge hare darted up from behind one of the old grave stones as we worked. Some of the stones were so old and weathered that they could not be read. I did make one out as departing this world in 1769 at the age of eighty. There were some more modern grave stones too.
There is also a small museum further along from the church which was once a school that closed in 1988. In this museum, there are artifacts that offer evidence of a Roman-Briton settlement upon the island. It was also flooded in 1953 during the great flood of this time. Two people were killed and the rest of the islanders had to be evacuated from the high point by the church where most of the islanders had to gather. Some had to be forcefully removed because they did not want to leave their live stock.
All these things seemed far removed from the quite of this island when I was working in St Mary the Virgin church grave yard. Also the TV series of Sharpe was once filmed here during the story of Sharpe's Regiment with Sean Bean.
Gravestone of Ionas Allin (I remember this one, but I'm certain I saw one saying aged 80 in passing.)
Thomas the Rhymer is also a favourite from Steelye Span in the 1970s. I like some of the old Brit folk songs jazzed up on modern day instruments and blended with old authentic as well. Steelye Span were very good at doing this.
I think Judie Tzuke had a great dreamy and haunting voice because her songs take me back to the early eighties when I was in my early twenties. My life stretched out before me and I was always going to do something great tomorrow. But tomorrow never came and a slow realization that the world was not my oyster did. However, discovering these things is all part of growing up and these lovely songs and singers lost their appeal as I got older. Not Judie Tzuke, of course, because she is captured in my mind's eye and in a time when I was a youth, like many artists of that time. I mean that today's good artists don't touch me in the same way because I'm happily biased and protective of my past retro memories. Her voice and song takes me back to the dreamy years when I was full of optimism and ill deserved confidence.
I like the way I came of age and would not change the way I lived over the past few decades. These songs let me reach back and touch one of those retro moments of my bygone younger days. And for a moment; I can indulge myself with a smile at how wonderfully naive, I'm glad to say, I was. You can't be a youth without enjoying some of your mistakes. After all; they were not bad errors - just a drop of youthful self indulgence to wear, if you can reach back through a nice dreamy song, like Judy Tzuke from 1983 - Shoot From the Heart. Smashing stuff to lean back and close your eyes to and then walk about London in the 1980s as I was then in those little moments of eternity. They are always there and can never go away because in liner time you are frozen in such moments like a photograph and somewhere, somehow; you'll always be able to wrap yourself in such kind things.
An estimated 10% of Irish soldiers from the Republic of Ireland, deserted to join the British Army during WWII. Some of these soldiers (around 5,000) helped liberate small nations under National Socialism. Some were present when the British Army liberated Belsen Death Camp and others fought against Japan in the far East. This was only twenty years after Ireland won Independence from the UK during the Tan War and the following Civil War. These events left strong anti-British feeling and caused much suffering for Ireland's people.
However, I hope these men, who were caught in a dilemma of conscience, will be pardoned by the Irish government as they remained proud Irishmen and returned to Ireland, after the war, to be ostracised by their country. Other deserters who turned to crime were not put on such a terrible check list, banning all government industries from employing them. In some cases, children were taken from these people and put into state care because they could not be kept by fathers with no income. Did Ireland fight a war against doing this sort of thing? Surely there can be some pardon for the Irish soldiers? Such things have come about in other nations of Europe.
If it was not for the help of many people from other nations; Britain could have been over run and then Ireland would have been too, for I do not believe that her neutrality would have been respected once fortress Britain fell. These Irish soldiers did great service for the UK and, in the long run, Ireland.
Please, to the government of Ireland, pardon these men who left to follow their conscience. They did not betray Ireland and I'm sure they never would. They helped stop the spread of National Socialism and the attempted genocide of a whole race of people.
10% of Ireland's Neutral Army joined the British Army in WWII
To the good Government of Ireland, please pardon the 'much appreciated' 10% - the very brave men who joined the British Army in WWII.
It’s all getting very nasty now the French are throwing their rattles out of the pram. This sort of thing just hardens people’s resolve. The UK wants the Euro to succeed and get out of the mess it is in. The UK is outside of this but still a member of the European Union. Despite being outside of the Eurozone; (Countries that use Euro currency) the UK is still obliged and will help financially to get the Euro back on track. We will not sign the fiscal Union of the new amended treaty because it threatens our banking industry in London. We do not want to drive them overseas. Because our British Prime Minister David Cameron Vetoed the new treaty on the basis of the banks; France is now acting like a spoilt little baby and making an already bad situation worse. David Cameron came up against the Eurozone countries stubborn resilience concerning this matter. So he chose not to enter the UK into the new treaty agreement. He had no choice and the UK will not be blackmailed by France on this matter.
Again this wins votes for the anti-European movement in Britain. Many British people want the UK to remain in Europe, but there are a large number that want to quit. Sooner or later one of the main political parties will fight an election on the referendum vote. This could be dangerous for the UK, because decades of work within the European Union will go to waste. However, when one is confronted with this type of French winging; it forces one to wonder if being united with such a fickle government is worth it.
During World War Two, Germany and Italy had some very fine battleships but no aircraft carriers. The Germans had the Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier but it was never fully completed and never saw active service with aircraft. This was a big miss for the two Axis powers and gave the Royal Navy an advantage at sea with obsolete aircraft called Fairey Swordfish (Stringbags.) Far out at sea, the Fairey Swordfish had no rival because enemy, land based, aircraft could not reach them.
These antiquated biplanes were able to attack huge battleships and inflict serious damage. In 1941 the stringbag was responsible for bringing about the battleship Bismarck's terrible demise. The formidable German ship broke out into the Atlantic to hunt British convoys. She could fall upon the merchants ships like a wolf upon sheep. The Bismarck destroyed a British Battleship called H.M.S. Hood with over 1,500 crew when her huge guns scored a direct hit on the Hood's Magazine. Only three sailors survived the horrendous attack.
As Bismarck cruised on, a British aircraft carrier sent out Fairey Swordfish to make a number of attacks upon the German Battleship. They could not sink her, but were able to inflict crippling damage to Bismarck's rudder.
The Royal Navy was then able to close in with many ships from different directions and destroy Bismarck - a huge ship that succumb on her first mission, due to the obsolete Fairey Swordfish (Stringbag.)
Kraftwerk means power plant or power station and the name is synonymous with the very influential Retro German band. Their strictly electronic style started in the 1970s. They are regarded as pioneers of the late seventies and early eighties electronic music movements. Kraftwerk had a great presentation style that accompanied their music, almost like un-dead, yet something ultra clean and almost sterile. It does not sound complimentary, I know, but there still remains something evocative about their simple lyrics and their germ-free appearance – something pristine and self-assured still won through and captivated people all over the world.
I was just eight years old in 1969, but I can remember the older kids of the neighbourhood looking like this and my cousin in the early 1970s. The people in the first photo above, would be around eighteen I would suppose. Today they would be touching sixty. That is scary. At school some of the youngsters had skinhead haircuts and the whole little culture liked reggae music that was refereed to as Ska. We all wanted Ben Sherman shirts and Doctor Martin boots with straight Levi jeans that had neat turn ups - also black crumby coats. I think in Britain, this faze metamorphosed out of the mods, though (no doubt) some would disagree. Sadly in later decades the Skinhead culture changed to a less desirable doctrine. However in 1969 there are much more pleasant memories with the moon stomp reggae dances. The world as changed so much since, though I never noticed on a day to day basis. These little retro Brit photos from above make me realize just how much Britain and the world has changed. It is a nice nostalgic trip from the memory of my childhood.
A documentary video about Nephilim Giants and how they came about from the religious point of view and the reason why their down fall came about by God's hand. A bit heavy from one point of view - perhaps farcical and fantastic from another.
Moyra Melons wanted to show of the new ear rings she had bought while shopping. She had returned, put them on, and waited for the forth coming scrutiny of her husband's keen eye.
As one might well imagine, Moyra's fatigued husband had all those tied cobwebs blown from his eyes as he walked in, from the garden, to see his wife as you, the reader, see in the above photo. She was moving her head from side to side as though dancing.
"Do these hang properly?" she asked. "I wanted ones that don't swing about."
"I should say so darling," he replied excitedly raising a surprised eye-brow.
"As I swing my head from side to side, do they juggle about? I don't want to go to your works do and attract attention by swinging them here, there and everywhere."
"Well they do tend to wobble a little Moyra, but I don't think the chaps will mind too much."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Of course - I would go so far as to say they might be delighted."
This time Moyra raised an eye-brow. "I'm surprised to know that men get so excited over my ear rings, though I have to confess that my ear rings are the one thing I have going for me when ever I go out. I always notice people staring at me and I know its down to the varied choice of ear rings I am able to display."
Her husband coughed slightly. "Well... It's not just the ear rings Moyra."
"Oh come now," she teased. "What else could it possibly be?"
Once again he closed the door and let Moyra know what else she had going for her. Could you, the reader, ever guess what it might be."
I always wonder if we will be able to inter-react in realms like this on a personal level, when games consoles become more advanced - like a holodeck I suppose. I don't do PlayStation or Xbox or any other of those things. Even though some of the art is great. However, I live in hope of them becoming advanced enough to enter a realm where scenes like this montage are all around us and we can walk in such places - well convincingly tricked into thinking so... :)
Moyra Melons called her husband into the on-suite when they were getting ready to go out one night. She was impatient to try on her new ear rings and wanted an honest opinion.
"How do these look?"
"Well..." began her husband, shaking slightly. "They look absolutely adorable dear."
"I thought a glitzy type of necklace here," she said putting her hands upon the incline of her neck and shoulders as you, the reader, see in the photo above.
"Well perhaps darling..." replied her husband finding it a little difficult to concentrate on tiny ear rings and attempting, woefully, to visualise a glimmering necklace.
"Well I thought it would take one's gaze from these ear rings. I don't want to over emphasize them, so I thought a nice necklace would divert attention from such prominent attractions."
"I don't think a necklace would take attention from such things," replied her husband coming over in a very excited hot flush.
"Really?" replied Moyra Melons, a tad disappointed.
"However, I don't think your ear rings will steal the show completely because there are other things to take into account dear," said her husband. "Allow me to lend this understanding to you my little ear ring charmer."
He closed the on-suite door and from inside; came the sound of a lot of splashing and giggling - jolly frivolity, one might say. The result of which, allowed Moyra Melons to realise that she did not need a necklace to divert attention away from her ear rings.
Obviously, Moyra Melons has a patient and understanding husband who believes in making education a fun thing - would you not agree?
The Harrier Jump Jet is a British designed, vertical take off and landing aircraft. There are many types that have had design upgrades over the decades. The Sea Harrier saw military action in 1982 and the plane has also been used during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s. It is a craft that captures the imagination and the sea Harriers are excellent for use on board small aircraft carriers.
