Websites of Woo #1: Metaphysical Spiritual Telepathic Healing and Transformation

The first in a series of Total Bullshit Websites (TBW's).

Words failed me as I dredged the rich vein of dross within this site.

Buy the Rejuvenizer®! (it's a vaguely glittery looking pendant that costs US$159, or various other lumps of rock or rings containing what appears to be opal from US$25 - $149)

Clears your energy field to 100% positive! Encoded with over 3.5 million (wowie!) healing and protective functions ... to clear your negative programming that creates dysfunction in your immune system, heart, spleen, thyroid and adrenals! Builds a matrix of higher dimensional frequencies around the body to protect the physical and subtle bodies from all the electromagnetic fields! Clears many kinds of viruses and bacteria! Clears energy blockages-created by the "high-tech" frequencies-in the area of the higher chakras!

Genuine proof it works! An unidentified (surprise) university researcher says:

"I have been researching various subtle energy and vibrational medicine technologies for several years. Recently, I carried out some interesting tests with the Personal Rejuvenizer ... I did an initial check up on myself and found 17 interferences. I did not harmonize them. I then wore a Personal Rejuvenizer for 24 hours and measured myself again. After 24 hours, 13 of the 17 interferences had been harmonized. After a further 24 hours, the remaining 4 interferences had also been harmonized. This was, to say the least, an extremely impressive result. I have not encountered another product with this ability to harmonize interferences so quickly and effectively." –A.G., Researcher, M.A., London University, M.Phil, University of Cambridge, U.K.

Hopefully A.G. did this 'research' in their own time. In secret.

This sickening display of pseudoscience infused with endless mystical mumbo-jumbo goes on for many pages. Read about how a new satellite system is wiping out everyone's etheric(?) body. The Rejuvenizers® will save you!

Read all at your peril: http://www.lighthealing.com

Check out the FAQ and you will learn how Phyllis created her Rejuvenizers® in the 4th dimension (time, hopefully) with the help of a group of Higher dimensional beings assigned to her (by who or what?) way back in 1988. "Unusual, I know, but all true." says Phyllis. Oh puh-leeze...

TBW RATING --- 10/10 'Surely nothing could be sillier than this...' - Petros

A far more effective posting

In an effort to improve my blogging skills, I will apply sound homeopathic principles to the rest of this entry...


































































...there.

An amazing improvement, I'm sure you'll agree.

Time passes

I just noticed it is nearly 2 years since I last posted to this blog. Pretty slack, I know. For the most part I am talking to myself, but this might not always be the case.

Anyway, I will try and get more stuff in here, even if it only to get shrapnel-face-girl (below) out of sight.

Cheers.

All together now: EWWWWW!

I will never, never, never understand why people subject themselves to piercing...
A few dozen neck hoops and a couple of lip plates and she'd be perfect!

Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Yesterday, a good friend turned 60.

Back in 1983 I directed a production of the political black comedy Accidental Death of an Anarchist and before starting production I had a very vivid image in my mind of what I wanted on the poster - the anarchist (who is not a character in the play) making a last gesture of defiance at the persons who had just pushed him out of a 6th story window.

The only person I could imagine for the image was my long suffering good friend, who on a hot summer day violently threw himself backwards onto a levee bank 36 times until I got the image I desired...

I plastered this all over town and the play was actually a great success.

My reasonably private friend never did tell me (at the time) that he was less than comfortable about having such an image of himself spread far and wide... so true to form, last night I pulled out an oversize copy of this poster for the appreciation of the gathered crowd celebrating my friend's birthday. What are good friends for...

PS. (waving own flag here) I just did a web search and looked at a bunch of other posters for this play that are kicking around. As far as I'm concerned, we win :-)

A Westie Moment

(Americans: 'Westie' = 'Redneck')

I was standing in a queue at the supermarket today and a voice several metres away said: "G'Day Santa Claus" After several seconds I realised the line was directed at me. I looked up to see a clean-shaven Westie (you can tell) about 10 years my junior leering at me expectantly. I smiled, vaguely.

"I call every guy I see with a beard, 'Santa Claus'!"

With that, he was gone. It felt rather surreal.

Here is a rather recent photo of me with my children. Do I really look like Santa Claus?


(11 years ago I was paid $250 to play Santa at a business dinner, but that's another story... :-)

American Measurements Dept.

Americans often use non-standard or obscure (to everyone else) measurements in cooking.

Q. How much is a stick of butter?

A. 4 oz (US) or about 125g (Rest of World)

Wasted Opportunities

This image was on 'Astronomy Picture of the Day' recently:


The picture was taken nearly 37 years ago.

Why are humans not still there? The United States pulled off the greatest feat of engineering and exploration in history, and then abandoned the Moon.

Once there, they should never have left.

Now it will take yet another decade to make it back, while the imagination-free scream 'Been there! Done that!' and 'Waste of tax-payer dollars!' etc.

Many of the same people have no problem at all watching countless billions being poured into the black hole of the US military to wage unnecessary or imaginary conflicts of their own creation. A fraction of the military budget would put humanity back on the the moon and on Mars. And would be a better use (duh!) of the money.

The next 'giant leap for mankind' is inevitable (as long as a wandering 10km wide asteroid doesn't take us out first). The problem is getting politicians now to fund something that is not of direct benefit to their re-election strategies. Any true commitment would not bear fruit for decades or even centuries.

Sigh. It should have been in my lifetime. Now I doubt it will occur in my children's lifetimes...

Cooking: Tomatoes and Pasta

All right - kind of basic, but we love it. Caramelising the tomatoes makes all the difference.

Serves 2 - 4.

Ingredients in metric. Sorry Yanks - the rest of the world left Imperial measurements behind years ago... As a small concession I have counted the tomatoes in non-metric units.

INGREDIENTS

• 8-10 good very ripe tomatoes
• Good Splash or 3 (or 5) of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Freshly Ground salt and Black Pepper
• 1 or 2 anchovies, or Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
  
• A bulb of Garlic
• A handful of fresh Basil Leaves chopped or shredded
  
• Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
  
• 125g - 150g thin spaghetti per person
• Fresh parmesan cheese or similar

METHOD

1. Preheat oven 200 degrees celsius.
2. Cut the stalk core out of the tomatoes and cut a deep cut into each tomato. Stuff the cut with the basil and place in a suitable baking tray.
3. Slice the top off the bulb of garlic, leaving the skin on and showing a cross-section of all the cloves within. Place in baking tray with tomatoes.
4. Break up the anchovies into tiny pieces and place them on the tomatoes. If you don't like anchovies, you can substitute a sprinkle of Worcestershire Sauce (or omit it).
   
5. Splash on the olive oil.
6. Grind on the salt and pepper in amounts that suit you.
7. Place tray in oven and cook till tomatoes are collapsed and caramelised. The browner the better - the richer the flavour. Don't go to black... :-)
   
8. If you wish, pluck the skins off the collapsed tomatoes. I am in two minds about this - the skins do provide flavour but the bits of skin may be undesirable to some.
9. Pull out the garlic. Separate out some of the cloves from the garlic bulb - as many or as few as you like. The cloves should be mushy if you squeeze them. Mash the cloves and add back into the tomatoes.
   
10. While the pasta is cooking, pour a little balsamic vinegar (if you like it) over the tomatoes and mash it all up. It should look runny and very rustic.
11. Spoon as much as you like over the cooked pasta and grate on some fresh parmesan cheese.

EAT IT

With a glass of good red - Heaven on a plate.

Art Stuff

Over the last year or so I've spent as much time as possible trying to develop drawing and portraiture skills. This was from yesterday and was one of my first attempts at using soluble graphite pencils, to give a washed/painted look. They are not easy to use, but I think I'll persist with them as they provide a lot of opportunities for different effects.

You can see more of my artistic efforts good and bad here.