RELIGION

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

GURU TONY

I cannot believe in a God-form so what can I reason? Much conflict
has been placed at the door of religion. I don’t accept this. Conflict is
caused by politics, whether in a religious or secular culture. I am not
religious, but I am spiritual. To me, the former is a social interaction of
shared belief. The latter is an inner feeling – a bonding to fellow man,
environment & universe.

The two can work together
but are different.

If you strip culture from any religion you usually find the same things –
belief in higher intelligence, a way to commune with it, memory of a
previous perfect state, an understanding of our imperfection and a
moral code. Similarly, almost all major religious icons share a life
pattern. Frustrated in youth, they question. This leads to a spiritual
crisis within which they overcome adversity. This turns them into a
charismatic on a single-minded path to change things. We can argue
that below all religious expression there exists an ‘under religion’
shared by all, suggesting that all religion begins in a ‘universal
psychology’. Upon this a specific cultural story is built. This is
powerful and gives people meaning and direction. When the stage is
reached where a whole society believes, doing real physical things in
society, then the God-form takes on an element of reality, for if it is
‘truth’ or not, the outcome would be the same. A cultural force
becomes existent above the individual, and takes on an intelligence all
its own. This element is what I call OverMind. Thus, religion can be
seen to have a universal oneness in ‘under religion’, which is all
inclusive; and specific elements of OverMind based on culture or
environment, which fragments mankind. Could an understanding of the
former lead to a new tolerance in the latter? This said, I am
convinced that a real form of universal intelligence could exist. For
analysis of this, you need to read THE UNEXPLAINED page accessed
from top of this site, which delves into the possibility in the last two
parts. But as a taster, science tells us that evolution destroys the
idea of intelligence. Yet computer programs now exist that are
evolutionary in nature, evolving new programs of their own. Yet
before this can occur, a form of subtle direction must be placed in
the form of a ‘basic design function’. Is this so with the universe?

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

GREEN NEWS: The International
Energy Agency claims we are running
out of oil faster than thought. A clear sign
for Big Biz to go Green? Don’t you believe it. Green
tech can be done by smaller companies. Big Biz will go Green
when they’ve found a replacement that guarantees the big systems
they need to survive. Until then, the planet can go boil.

BRIT NEWS: The Tories will shrink the State, says would-be PM, David
Cameron. Social issues are best handled by private/volunteer
organisations working at the local level. Couldn’t agree
more. Big Govt places directives from the centre
based on ideology rather than need. The
only problem is, can we trust the
Tories to get it right?

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – 3 Word Thursday
Friday Flash 55 – 3 Word Wednesday

THE MONSTER

Searching for monster, it’s here somewhere,
Turn my back I can feel its stare,
Its ravaging this land, getting its way,
Then its gone, as if a fey;
Things went wrong so it had to exist,
Solutions, hunters, got to enlist,
But the monster wasn’t there before the excuse,
Our inner terror can have devilish use

THE SOUL

Fiction: So often I feel disconnected. Go through life, traveling, trying
to find a place where my soul can be as one with I, but always I fail,
with just brief moments of calibration. Messages fill the ether now, all
we are is accessed through the keyboard, leaving man soulless, kexy,
aretaloger. And I feel it in every fibre of my being – this pointlessness.
But I caught my soul as this life tried to destroy it. I snatched it, filled
my gardeviance with it, so occasionally I can feel fulfilled, have
meaning, have dreams. And in those beautiful moments I sit, open
the trunk, take out my books and read.

aretaloger – endangered
kexy – more hollow
gardeviance – trunk

MONSTER WORDS

Procrastinate, prevaricate, a plethora of prose,
Monster words that don’t allow you to doze,
But how on earth did we end up with pea?
With its pernicious prickle of platitudinous glee!
No polyglot’s language can allow this to survive,
Pea must be plastered, processionally proscribed,
Choked in a parallelogram ’til porous, can’t flee!
We’re saved, at last! It’s a posthumous pea

FLASH 55 – HITCHHIKING

Fiction: He was hitchhiking. It had been so long since he started, he
hardly knew where he was going. The land just seemed to pass by,
ethereally. Of course, he knew he was hitchhiking to nowhere. He
used to hitchhike to somewhere – before he was killed. The car stops.
‘Hey, thanks for the lift,’ he says.

THE O B SCENE

The out-of-body scene is a spirited affair,
Swapping with another host, the public unaware,
‘He’s not himself,’ you may well say, and how close to the truth,
If only you knew how we could flit you’d certainly say ’strewth!’
Sometimes there’s an accident and we fall into the wrong mind,
Behaviour becomes obscene as you’re disloyal to your kind,
But it gives a whole new meaning to wife swap and other things,
Fancy a vacation from your cell? What benefits it brings,
But animating corpses can bring the greatest fun,
Wandering around spookily ’til the rising of the sun

© Anthony North, November 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

NEW IDEAS

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

BLOGGER BARD

As my regular readers will know, of late I’ve been working on a new
book. This has meant trawling through 25 years of unpublished
essays. In doing so, I’ve realized there is much more to it than a
single book – I’ve planned a whole series, requiring much editing,
rewrites, publicity and chasing agents.

I’m sorry but this means
more change.

In order to find time for this – and to visit my blogger buddies who I’ve
neglected of late – I’m now having to cut out some prompts I do, and
cut down to one Magazine Post a week for the foreseeable future.
This will appear on a Tuesday. I assure you there will be no more cut
backs. This should give me the time I need. Also, whilst reacquainting
myself with my essays, I’ve decided to begin future posts with a kind
of ‘back to basics’ series of flash essays laying out my ideas in the
raw.

All my ideas begin with
a single philosophy.

I call this Patternology, or P-ology. We live in a specialized world
where knowledge has been split up into many unrelated disciplines.
Whilst this has advantages, I’m certain that much knowledge is
missed by not taking a holistic overview of knowledge. P-ology is a
discipline that looks for patterns in this overview. I see it as a
bedfellow to specialization which can never offer truth, but questions
just where we are. Everything I do stems from this idea.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science
to religion, politics to crime

BRIT NEWS: New report says
begin formal education at 6. Please save
education from expert’s indecision. No wonder
education’s a mess.

BRIT NEWS: Brown to talk tough over public sector disquiet?
Labour always goes amid mass strikes. Why not go now? Save the
hassle.

GREEN NEWS: Is UK govt planning tax for nuke power plants? They’ll
come. Climate change beaten by global Nuke Pox? We must say no.

BRIT NEWS: Revenue to investigate 27 MPs over their tax
payments. Is the law finally catching up with
the lawmakers?

BRIT NEWS: Royal Mail hiring 30,000 temporary
staff to defeat striking workers. We can
expect severe disruption this week.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
ReadWritePoem – 3 Word Thursday
Friday Flash 55 – 3 Word Wednesday

ELUSIVE

I’ve tried to get there many a time,
But often things just don’t chime,
Many roads I’ve been down, lost,
Who knows what is the cost,
I try to think of it in jest,
But I think my GPS is possessed

FLASH 55 – REALITY TV

Fiction: He was sat in front of the TV. He felt movement, opened his
eyes, lazily. It was just a little man but menacing, creeping forward,
dagger held high, ready to stab him. He shook himself – watched the
screen, where a man smiled wickedly as he held a dagger. He would
stay awake from now on.

CLIFFHANGER TECH

Site click here … or …
Wear (where?) … write on above … to …
On … read it, badge …
The … wear (it) loud, just proud,
Code display it … image poem …
Your the (one to) get the …

SMELLY ONE

Fiction: To experience xenization. It was uncomfortable at first. He
was maleolent and his pigritude was almost debilitating. Hence, I
struggled to place one step in front of the other. It had been a single
thought that triggered it off – a flash of memory – and he was in me,
possessing me. I could feel my mind disappearing, but I fought to
keep my sanity. I could not go back to my teenage years.

maleolent – foul smelling
xenization – walk as a stranger
pigritude – laziness

A GHOST’S LOVE

Reckless heartache, jangle soul,
Harrowing dirge, cannot feel whole,
Caught in sorrow, purgatory’s home,
No escape, never atone;
I killed for her, that was my boast,
But then revenge made me a ghost,
Yet I crave those moments of bliss,
Don’t fret, my love, it’s just a kiss

© Anthony North, October 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

LIFESTYLE

ABC Wednesday & more prompts below
Try my Paranormal Flash now!

POLLY TICKS

What can we say about modern lifestyle? Well, we always have plenty
to worry about – but there’s plenty of therapies, especially shopping.
And then there’s an infatuation with diet – or lack of it – oh, those
lovely, expensive diet plans and fast food. Everything is so fast, with
lots to do – after all, we can’t have you doing nothing when you can
earn and spend and earn and spend and … And don’t forget the
continual fads and fashions that come along – we can’t hold on to
‘last year’s’ can we? It seems to me the lifestyle we’re sold is a
marketing ploy. We are receptors of capitalism and miss out living.

Eye On the World
Essays on everything from science to
religion, politics to crime

GREEN NEWS: Personal Carbon
Allowance proposed. Don’t reach your
quota, sell credits; exceed, you have to buy.
Won’t this just raise anger?

BRIT NEWS: The Sun moves to the Tories. Labour came
in when they supported them – and go? Why do we allow people
like Murdoch to rule us?

SCI NEWS: Was T-Rex wiped out by a sore throat? A parasite that still
attacks birds has been blamed. Not all that roaring, then.

CELEB NEWS: Stephen Fry’s 6 stone weight loss thru diet. Why is it
that when they do this they always look ill? Doesn’t seem
right to me.

TECH NEWS: Internet has now become UK’s biggest
advertising medium. This means net will become
all, with all our eggs in one basket. Madness.

EURO NEWS: Ireland says yes to Lisbon
Treaty. Clear case of a previous no
meaning yes. A Euro-President
is coming terrifyingly close.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Carry On Tuesday – Heads or Tails
Poetry Train – ReadWritePoem
Three Word Wednesday

BUILD A FEAR

Build a fear, make them scream,
Imagination can form any dream,
Tickle their nerves, wide eyed stare,
You’ve got yourself into their worst nightmare,
Now YOU produce all they see,
They’ve ceded, forever, their destiny

WHERE? WHO? WHEN?

Fiction: Where now? Is it in my nightmares or reality? Is there a
difference any more? I’m not so sure. They say like can oppose like,
but was it meant to be as terrifying as this? Is it so difficult for me to
be as one, rather than a fragmented mind of contradictory thought?
Who now?
The stalker does what he does – horrendously, omnipotently. He wraps
his hands round my throat; his urges round my mind. Can I stop him
with a thought, or do they not have effect upon this reality?
When now?
When will I breath my last? Will I welcome it? Will I yearn to be
free, finally released from this opposed likeness, my twin?

CONFUSION TIMES

I love the day, so full of light,
Often in contrary thoughts I wallow,
Doing things for my delight,
Under Moon, chilling, hollow,
Basking in Sun, enriching, pure,
Thoughts abound, often stark,
Of everything I am so sure
I fear the night, so empty, dark

THEY DID IT HERE
(Updated 7 Oct 09)

Fallow land, left unused,
No one ventures, no limit to abuse,
Such an atrocity was committed here,
If you visit you’ll sense the fear,
Hear the voices of those who’ve gone,
Vocal chills, ghostly song

© Anthony North, October 2009

Try my Pictures of Life, a novel

MORE CHANGES

Friday Flash 55 and 3 Word Wednesday
More prompts below

BLOGGER BARD

I knew it would happen – it always does. In the last couple of days
I’ve got so much into my Paranormal Flash series that I’ve finished it.
Representing the latest statement of where I’m at in my research, I
read it and thought: here comes another book.

And that’s what I have
to do right now.

I’m devoting a lot more time to further research, in-depth writing and
chasing publishers. That means I’m going to have to cut some of the
time I spend blogging. Don’t panic! I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be
visiting all my friends and doing most of the prompts, but I’ll be
cutting back on essays and current affairs, and, from next week
doing just two bumper posts on Monday and Thursday. I could never
stop blogging, and this should leave me the time I want for my new
project. As for Paranormal Flash, I’m going to give it a page of its
own, complete with links to deeper essays on each aspect of the
narrative. I hope to complete this, and link to it in my posts, from
next week also. I repeat, I’m not giving up blogging – no way! I could
never do that. Hope to see you Monday.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

FAITH NEWS: More evidence
that we’re hard-wired to believe in
God. Researchers from Bristol University
say it offers a better chance of survival through
making us work in groups. I’ve often said prevalent non-
belief in a society can fragment that society, so this makes total
sense to me.

BRIT NEWS: A survey of teachers shows they’d rather teach
‘universal brotherhood’ than patriotism. There’s a new
age adage that to love others you must love
yourself. I think it works with a nation. If
you don’t find meaning in what you
are, you become nothing and
eventually treat all with
disdain. Those
teachers are
wrong.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

One Single Impression
Sunday Scribblings – 3 Word Thursday

THE FOG

It descends, restricting view,
Swirling outside and inside you,
People disjointed, partially there,
Shocks come so easily – beware!
How do you grasp reality from this putrid mess?
Start with your failings – admit it! Confess;
When the fog descends confusion reigns,
Your mind so easily wrapped in chains

WHO AM I?
(Quilly’s word meanings below)

Fiction: The nature spirit was acting destructively. There was no
quibbleism – he literally beat the bush to pulp. Why? Well, people had
ignored him too long and he was attention seeking – overflowing with
an obrumpent personality. Indeed, they couldn’t even get his name
right. Over the eons they had referred to him as a god, a demon, a
fairy, a vampire, a werewolf, ghost, discarnate entity and now they’d
even given him bug eyes and called him an alien! Such temeration!!
And he was not having it!!! It was as if HE didn’t know who he was
any more. And are they afraid of him nowadays? No. But as he
continued beating the bush, swirling around the air, deforesting the
forests and generally having a climactic time, he knew they’d soon
need him once more. THEN he’d teach them for ignoring his ways.

quibbleism – beating around the bush
obrumpent – breaking
temeration – temerity

FLASH 55 – POISON

Fiction: He was convinced his wife was
poisoning him. She didn’t even seem to
hide the fact. Why, he didn’t know. Maybe
an affair. But he decided not to eat at
home. Rather, he frequented the café up
the road. In the kitchen, chef prepared his
special meals. He was better at it than
his lover.

HANKY

I’m a hanky; I’m feeling sad,
Too many tissues can be bad,
To a throw away society we drift a lot,
Is it funny? It snot!
Don’t be thick – think of my woes,
Don’t reject me ‘cos I get up your nose

HUNGRY
(Updated 18 Sep)

Hungry for people all the time,
Chop them up, make them slime,
Crawling in an insipid pit,
Watching, always – scored a hit,
Doesn’t matter whether man or dame,
It can get you – fame

© Anthony North, September 2009

NOTHING NEW

A post for Sunday Scribblings
Have you had a go?

PAPPA RAZZI

Can there ever be anything new? The philosopher, Plato, would have
said no. To him, everything already existed in an ethereal ‘form’.
Invention was merely rediscovery. Whilst this idea is not generally
accepted today, it does, however, tell us a great deal about our
socio-political systems.

We often ask why we never
learn anything from history.

After all, totalitarianism always seems to be approaching. This was so
from Feudalism, to Fascism to Communism, and it seems to be
returning with how Capitalism is going. And I think this is because the
only thing that is new is the culture – the media – to which the
system belongs. Underneath the culture, it is always the same impulse
towards grasping power over us. Maybe things will change when we
realize there’s nothing new. Now that would be new.

Eye On the World
The ‘Y’ Files

MEDIA NEWS: Ofcom says the obvious:
older viewers fed up of youth obsessed TV. It’s
about time age and experience returned to TV production.

BRIT NEWS: Massive pay rises of doctors & police during good
times is coming into question. Pity the govt bribed
them so, now we’re broke.

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Try my Horror Archive

NEWGATE VERSE

Stay away! You won’t like it there,
Poor souls, trapped, do nothing but stare;
Newgate Prison was their destination,
Before they went to their assignation,
Awaiting, fearfully, their destiny,
To Tyburn, and the Hanging Tree

RETURN OF THE WIFE

Fiction: I’ve been alone too long, and in a way I suppose I miss my
wife. Jessie should be back soon. Then it will be okay. If not for the
noise. It began when it became dark and I thought: that’s new. And
the knockings built up after that, and I admit I was frightened. But
Jessie will be back soon and … WHAT’S THAT!!! My eyes dart about
the room, and there, in the corner, it’s materializing, taking shape,
becoming … I hope Jessie isn’t back soon. I fear my wife is jealous
of my new fiancé …

I’M NEW

I’m new! Never existed before,
I offer you delights galore,
When you’re done you’ll feel real good,
Which is, of course, as you should,
I’m new! Can’t you see?
And now you’ve read me, what glee!

© Anthony North, August 2009

THE YEAR

Including ABC Wednesday, Carry On Tuesday and Heads or Tails.
Have you had a go yet?

POLLY TICKS

A year is the time it take for Earth to orbit the Sun. Well, that
might be right in science, but the year is much more – it is the
ultimate form of control. Nature controls us through the seasons,
but man formulated the seasons into festivals which went on to
give us meaning.

Through meaning, we learn how to aspire to
something, so with Christianity, we find the
year taking on a new importance.

It became a continual, all-year-round celebration of the life of
Christ. This made us as one with the concept, proving a brilliant
way to define who we were. Such an ability was not lost on later
politicians, with the whole year becoming a calendar for prominent
political and cultural events. We see most of these as innocuous
celebrations, but they get under our skin and offer us meaning.
And the people who control this calendar control us.

Eye On the World
Writers’ Tips
The ‘Y’ Files

CRIME NEWS: Figures show UK most
violent country in EU. This is what happens
when govt tries to make a country what it’s not.
We’ve lost our soul.

WORLD NEWS: Italian leader picks earthquake hit venue for
next G8 Summit. I see something deeply Freudian in this.

BRIT NEWS: New MI6 chief in security error as wife
posts photos & family details on Facebook. One
hopes his staff are more security conscious.

THE TRAVELLER

Fiction: It seemed as if he had been traveling an eternity, everywhere
he had been a kind of spectral blur as memories flashed before him. ‘Is
there anybody there?’ said the Traveller, knocking on the moonlit
door. He waited, and eventually he heard the thud of heavy steps
approaching from within. Slowly the door creaked open and a pained,
harrowing face appeared. The man was stooped and the haunted look
extended to the interior of the house – an ancient house that must
have witnessed so much as the centuries had rolled by. The man
offered the traveler a drink, and noticing the obvious fear on his face,
said: ‘Don’t worry, it isn’t haunted.’ The Traveller felt at home here.
His eyes became translucent and a knocking seemed to envelop the
whole house. ‘It is now,’ he said.

SPIN

Spin the wheel, it’s how it’s done,
Offering tragedy, or maybe fun,
Sometimes you win, sometimes lose,
Giving you joy, or maybe the blues,
Spin the wheel, the wheel of life,
Could be happiness, or maybe strife

© Anthony North, July 2009

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IDENTITY

Find current affairs & prompts below.

PAPPA RAZZI

Identity

Who are you? Well, we can answer the question in many ways
– what you do for work, for hobby, your class, your status – so
many definitions of you. Most people think that the defining thing
about you is that you are an individual. In this way your identity
is made. But I don’t think this is true. Always, ‘you’ are defined
in terms of your society. It seems to me that your culture says
as much about you as you do.

My Columnists
The ‘Y’ Files

Inde-Pol

BRIT NEWS: Govt sent out 1000s of
fake job applications to see if they could
catch racist employers. With such tactics, no
wonder we don’t trust govt.

CRIME NEWS: Madoff gets 150 yrs for his huge con, but a thought:
he only got away with it because too many people in positions to
realise were too greedy.

BRIT NEWS: Queen needs pay rise – first since
1990 – ‘cos she can’t afford upkeep of
palaces. We should’ve increased it
before. £42m a yr for a head
of state is cheap.

READ WITH MUMMY
The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Totally Optional Prompts
Three Word Wednesday
Thursday Thirteen
ReadWritePoem

THRILLER

The zombies dance, they want your soul,
Heroes no good, nothing to console,
Riotous as they walk the night,
Intrigue – what a nasty sight,
Lurking behind every shade,
Lurid thoughts do pervade,
Everything – you cannot resist,
Run! Get away! If you want to exist

SEDUCTION

Fiction: To yearn for one so sweet. He took in the prettiness of
her; the innocence, the decency – the delicateness – wrapped in
a perfect figure of womanhood. Her long blonde hair, the flowing
white dress – all accentuates the feeling deep inside him. The
seduction is subtle and when they meet in an embrace, passion
grows to fever pitch. Soon they collapse to the floor and the
conquest is complete … Afterwards, they open their eyes – look
out into the street. Watch the people. He knows what he must
do, even though the blood lust is new to him. But she holds
his hand … sweetly …

THIRTEEN LINES FOR THURSDAY THIRTEEN

WEATHERING SOUL

Climate cool, feeling fine
Life goes on, you walk the line,
Storms approaching, run indoors,
Stop! Take stock – mental pause
Winds are going, life goes on
Survived the maelstrom,
Going strong

DONKEY DREAM

Donkey sitting in a field,
Rather silly, so surreal,
Umbrella shading its form,
Definitely not the norm,
Holding it must be a pain,
Especially as it doesn’t rain

© Anthony North, July 2009

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DRUG HELL & MORE

Find current affairs & prompt below

Shoot. Smoke. Snort. There are many way to do it – get high. The
trip has been described as similar to a mystical experience; indeed,
it is well accepted that the ancients used narcotics to help induce
such experiences. Experimental mystics have used drugs and testify
to the similarity. This was once used as an attempt to glorify their
use, which is, of course, a load of rubbish.

I don’t deny the connection between drugs
and mystical experiences. But the difference
is in the intent.

A mystic tends to spend his whole life in a search for the Divine. The
lessons he learns during this journey are taken into his life, and in
this sense he is enriched. This is totally different to the attitude of
the average user. A few manage to use them as recreational –
usually the rich – but to most it is a means of escape from a
deplorable life. No lesson is learnt, and in being an ‘escape’, their
only need is to get back there as soon as they can. Hence,
there may be a theoretical link, but in terms of experience
it is a road to hell.

© Anthony North, June 2009

TV WATCH: Sir Alan Sugar threatens
to take The Apprentice to ITV as BBC unsure
whether a new govt advisor is impartial. It’s hell being
an apprentice.

GREEN NEWS: US won’t make China commit to emissions cuts.
Sorry, did I say this was ‘green’ news? Sickly green, maybe.

BRIT NEWS: Tories plan to scrap some Sats. Scrap them
all, full stop. Exams to see how well a school is
doing diverts attention from the kids.

Carry On Tuesday

CAUGHT IN THE LIGHT

Fiction: He didn’t believe in such tales. Oh sure, he’d heard all about
the barn – how people fear to go inside at night – how you could
disappear for ever in there. But he was a big fellow, rational, and he
wasn’t about to be put off by ridiculous folk stories. As he
approached, a lantern light from deeper in the barn shone on a man
and woman in the door. He felt comforted by this and immediately
thought, why do I need to feel comforted? There’s nothing to it. He
walked into the barn, approached the people … He didn’t believe in
such tales. He’d heard about the barn – how people disappear. He
was a small, rational fellow. As he approached, a lantern light from
deeper in the barn shone on a big man in the door …

POETIC TWEETS

Splitter splatter, rain hits ground
Such force it rebounds
Dancing while inside we cower
Lightning 100 times per hour

Freedom flickers in Iran
Watch them in protest’s van
Question: will it flicker out?
Or will it knock oppressors out

© Anthony North, June 2009

TONY ON MODERN ART

Including Heads or Tails, Carry On Tuesday, Manic Monday and Poetry Train.
Have you had a go yet?

PAPPA RAZZI

Modern Art

Every now and then the debate rages – is modern art really art.
Usually conceptual and temporary, pandering to the darker or bizarre
side of life, many believe it is not art. Sadly, though, they are
incorrect. Whilst it often lacks permanence – even, it could be
argued, skill – an art form is a reflection of society; which is
increasingly becoming conceptual and temporary in its fads.

My Columnists

EDITORIAL

This post is in two parts – newspaper and
magazine. Read either or both. It is also
a debating platform, so do join in. Don’t
forget to call again.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Eye On the World – Choose an Essay

Inde-Politics & Socio-Capitalism

BRIT NEWS: Women are out-performing men
in nearly every university subject. This is due to
a general loss of confidence among men.

BRIT NEWS: Rout in local elections, his Cabinet falling apart,
rebellion in ranks, Brown say he will not go. I say: he will
not listen.

BRIT NEWS: Ex- spy chief says logging net/phone
use vital. To whom? Carry on this way and
the enemy becomes the State.

Call back Wed for more NewsFlash

READ WITH MUMMY

The Magazine Post with a gentle hint of horror

Try my Horror Archive

HAUNTING MELODY

It’s in your mind, won’t go away,
Memories rush in, thoughts do stray,
To happy times filled with glee,
Yet now, a haunting melody,
Tuneful acceptance of when you were one,
Remembrance of beloved gone

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH

Fiction: The book was thick and black and covered with dust, but I
had found it. At last, after years of searching, it was before me. The
library hadn’t been entered in centuries – for so long had the Book of
Truth been denied us. And as I walked into the library its boards were
bowed and creaking. But there was no fear within me now – at last I
was to know the Truth! At last I would we able to go into the world
and tell the people how things should be, how we must live, how we
must exist! Yet just as I was in reach of the Truth, the boards gave
way and down I fell, forever down, the boards snapping shut once
more above me. I spent many eons in that dark place, amidst the
prophets and dictators, before I realised the world could not handle
Truth.

SHINE

Shine bright, being of light,
Bath your rays on us, delight,
You banish the weird that invades our mind,
Only joys will we find,
Except …
Always you let the darkness in,
Trapped in our shadow, its veil very thin

© Anthony North, June 2009

SCRIBBLERS’ NEWS

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Carry On Tuesday
A new poetry/prose prompt here. Take a look.
Manic Monday
The word is: shine
Poetry Train
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Weekend Wordsmith
New prompt word every Sat
Saturday Scribes
Have you tried this prompt yet?

TONY’S MUSE DIARY

Health wise Him Outside is a delicate thing. Each day when I
descend from literary heaven into his head I have to check the
bodily workings. With cfs, his abilities can vary daily. The term
‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ is actually a joke, giving the idea that
sufferers are simply ‘tired’, poor things. Well, if you add constant
muscle pains, regular insomnia, never ending flu-like symptoms,
loss of concentration, temporary unconsciousness if you do too
much, dizziness and countless more embarrassing things, you’ve
about understood it. Oh, and being fatigued all the time.

After a little rant, Him Outside has some news. After some
recent comments he’s decided to end his break from his longer
works. While these Magazine Posts will continue at three a week,
he’s also going to do a Tuesday essay, and on Thursdays he’s
going to post a longer story written before he became a blogger.
Hopefully he’ll keep it up for a while.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL
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News & blog source on the unexplained

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TONY ON TOLERANCE

Including Friday Flash 55, Totally Optional Prompts and Three Word Thursday.
Have you had a go yet?

POLLY TICKS

Tolerance

Why is tolerance so difficult to achieve? I suppose because some
things we shouldn’t be tolerant about – murder, theft, rape, etc.
But in addition, what we judge as acceptable behaviour depends very
much on our knowledge, which also provides moral values. Hence, it
is so easy for our knowledge to class as immoral something that
shouldn’t be. We should always be aware of this intolerance.

My Columnists

EDITORIAL

This post is in two parts – newspaper and
magazine. Read either or both. It is also
a debating platform, so do join in. Don’t
forget to call again tomorrow.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Eye On the World – Choose an Essay

Inde-Politics & Socio-Capitalism

BRIT NEWS: Dept of Transport gathering
data on Heathrow runway critics while hushing
around in their jackslippers. Orwell does another turn.

HEALTH NEWS: Survey of surveys of tea says 3 cups a day lessens
risk of heart trouble and has possible anti-cancer effect. That makes
me immortal, then.

MAD BRITS: Health & Safety leaflet says wear earmuffs
when working with pigs as the noise can be
damaging. So loud it can make you
squeal, I guess.

Call back Sunday for more NewsFlash

PSI-WORLD

A small step into the dark

My Unexplained Sub-Domain

SONG OF THE DEAD

Wail of the Banshee, a frightening song,
Heard it!? Won’t be long,
Before you’re gone …
Sing another song

Wail of the loved, a sorrowful dirge,
Made it!? You’re on the verge,
With the dead you merge …
Sing another song

Wail of the frightened, a haunting tune,
Seen it!? It’s a full moon,
A ghostly croon ….
Sing another song

FLASH 55 – THE MESSAGE
Word meanings below

The medium picked up the pen, and let the spirit in. Amanuensis
was the plan. She was tyro, but soon scribbled away. By her, the
niddering stood, hoping to get an answer – why he felt so incomplete.
Suddenly the medium wrote the truth. Showed him what he had
written. At that, his ghost was gone.

Niddering – wretch
Amanuensis – person who writes what another dictates
Tyro – a beginner

VAMPIRE’S DILEMMA

So much pain, no respite,
To inflict, such delight;
But no more – it just isn’t right!

No matter how much I fight,
It’s no good, I cannot bite!
Must find a dentist who won’t take flight

© Anthony North, May 2009

SCRIBBLERS’ NEWS

Check out my Writers’ Tips posts

Keep up with the latest prompts and writing
news. Let me know of any new sites.

One Single Impression
The present prompt is: dropped
Heads or Tails
The prompt is: starting with ‘A’
Poefusion
You can usually find a poetry prompt here
Manic Monday
The word is: memorial
Poetry Train
Link any poem here

TONY’S MUSE DIARY

I recall when I first appeared in this mind. Him Outside had recently
come down with cfs and was searching for answers ‘cos the medics
couldn’t provide them. He picked up a book – Mankind In Amnesia by
Immanuel Velikovsky – and began reading. It was a book about
mankind repressing memories of catastrophe in the deep past. He’d
never read anything like this before, and even though the theory is
rubbish, it introduced him to all kinds of concepts – concepts that
have kept him going for over 25 years. And it introduced him to me,
‘cos up I popped into his mind and said hello. And there was a lot of
empty space in there, I can tell you.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Keep up on alternative news or join a campaign.
Together bloggers can make a difference.
Friends of the Earth
Campaigning for the environment
Liberty
Promoting human rights in the UK

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and campaigns

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