Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 4.4

ACT 4

SCENE 4

The Dungeon in the Citadel at Allium. PRISONERS, including PRINCE

FELIX and RAUCUS, ELECTOR OF PIFFELBERG.

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 4.3

ACT 4

SCENE 3

The Harbour of Opprobrium on the Coast of Uraemia, with Ships.

CITIZENS, SAILORS and STALLHOLDERS are about their Business. Enter

TILDA, ETTY and WINDOZA in ordinary Garments.

For me everything is a fantasy

I was fascinated in the movies Jason Bourne needs to get in a room and locks are no obstacle 10 seconds he is in.
How do they do that ?
there are many instructional videos on the internet and diagrams and descriptions how a lock works.
Really it is not so simple.
I made dozens of these lock picks from ground bendy hacksaw blades and practised and I can report it is not easy.
a bump key may be your best bet.

Creep - Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Radiohead Cover ft. Haley Reinhart

Operation Jericho Part One - The Bombing of Amiens Prison

FEBRUARY 18th, 1944
EMERGENCY FORM “B” (Copy)
HNO T 140 A/F
UGI T 11 GROUP
V GPB GPB 5/18 ‘O’ FORM ‘B’

FROM 2 GROUP 180940A
TO 140 WING/AIRFIELD
INFO 11 GROUP, HQ T A F MAIN, HQ A D G B, HQ A E A F
SECRET QQX BT

AO,241 18th Feb.
Information: Mosquitos of 140 Airfield are to attack the prison at AMIENS in an attempt to assist 120  prisoners to escape. These prisoners are French patriots condemned to death for assisting the Allies.  This air attack is only part of the plan as other assistance will be at hand at the time.
Date and Time: 18th February, 1944.
Zero 1200 hours.
Route: Base – LITTLEHAMPTON – Via appropriate lattice to TOCQUEVILLE – SENARPONT – BOURDON – One mile  South DOULLENS – BOUZINCOURT – 2 miles west south west ALBERT – Target – Turn right – ST. SAVEUR –  SENARPONT – TOCQUEVILLE – HASTINGS – Base.
Bomb Load: 2 x 500lb M C Mk.IV fused T.D. 11 secs.
2 x 500lb S A P fused T.D. 11 secs.
Method of Attack: All aircraft to attack at low level.
1st Attack: Six Mosquitos as detailed by O.C. 140 Airfield.
Intention: To break the outer wall in at least two places.
Method: Leading three aircraft to attack eastern wall using main road as lead in. Second section of  three aircraft when ten miles from target will break away to the right at sufficient height to allow  them to watch leading three aircraft and then attack northern wall on a North-South run, immediately  following the explosion of the bombs of the leading section.
Timing: Attacks to be made at Zero hours.
2nd Attack: Six Mosquitos as detailed by O.C. 140 Airfield.
Intention: To bomb the main prison buildings.
Method: Leading three aircraft to attack south eastern end of main building and second section of  three aircraft to attack the north western end of building. Attacks to be carried out in a similar  manner to first attack above.
Timing: Attack to be made at Zero plus 3 mins.
3rd Attack: Six Mosquitos as detailed by O.C. 140 Airfield.
Intention: This force is a reserve, and will approach the target as in the previous two attacks, one  section from east and one from north, but will only bomb if it is seen that one of the previous  attacks has failed.
Method: As in 1st attack. Target will be decided by leader on approach.
Timing: Attack to be made at Zero plus 13 mins.
Fighter Support: Each formation of six Mosquitos will have one squadron of Typhoons as close escort.  Fighters will rendezvous with Mosquitos as follows:-
1st Attack: 1 mile east of LITTLEHAMPTON at Zero minus 45 mins.
2nd Attack: 1 mile west of LITTLEHAMPTON at Zero minus 42 mins.
3rd Attack: LITTLEHAMPTON at Zero minus 32 mins.
Signals:
1st Attack: Bomber call sign: D Y P E G.
Ground control call sign: A I L S O M E on 2 Group guard 1.
Bomber leader may call escort direct in emergency on 11 Group guard 1.
2nd Attack: Bomber call sign: C A N O N.
Ground control call sign: B E L L F I E L D on 2 Group guard 1.
Bomber leader may call escort direct in emergency on 11 Group guard 1.
3rd Attack: Bomber call sign: B U C K S H O T.
Ground control call sign: G R E E N S H I P on 2 Group guard 1.
Bomber leader may call escort direct in emergency on 11 Group guard 1.
Fighter call sign: D U N L O P.
General: Emergency homing to FRISTON on 2 Group guard.
A.S.R. on 2 Group guard.
Special V.H.F. codeword: RENOVATE.
Notes: (1) Following each attack sections of three aircraft of each formation are to endeavour to  regain close company as soon as possible.
BT 180940A.
XS
BARON AS FOR K WITH R +

Question Time with Going Postal, 27th April 2017

Graphic EJ

David Dimbleby chairs topical debate from Oxford.

On the panel are Conservative work and pensions secretary Damian Green, Labour MP Clive Lewis, Liberal Democrat minister Jo Swinson, the SNP's Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins, and the journalist and member of the House of Lords Camilla Cavendish.

Zirkus!

Every so often the annals of military history reveal an individual whose grasp of the situational  realities seems counterintuitive at best. Step forward Herr Major Bardlenschlager, CO of Panzer  Ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung 100, stationed in Normandy in 1944.

On the night of 5/6 June, Major Bardlenschlager stood on the terrace of his HQ at the Chateau de  Francquetot and surveyed the night sky. Twenty miles to the east lay Utah Beach, and at that very  moment over a thousand allied bombers were attacking the coastal batteries which defended the  invasion site. In the course of this one night over 5000 tons of bombs were dropped, the largest  tonnage in a single raid in the war so far. The horizon was aflame with the detonations of high  explosive bombs and hundreds of thousands of tracer rounds as the German AA guns replied. As the  explosions and gunfire rumbled in the distance the earth trembled, and the very air seemed to quiver.  Bardlenschlager surveyed the scene and pondered for a moment, then he turned to his assembled staff  and delivered his professional assessment: ‘Zirkus! Nicht fur uns bestimmt!’ It was merely a firework  display attendant on a circus or some other public jollification. Nothing at all for them to worry  about.

R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World

PMQs with Going Postal, 26th April 2017

Gif EJ

PMQs live stream here on Going Postal TV.

Midsummer at Avebury - Part Four

His Majesty

King Harold was a tall, thin, balding man in early middle age. Although diffident and reserved, quite unlike  His Excellency in appearance and manner, he was in fact a True King. He was not a ceremonial figurehead living a life of luxury encrusted boredom, a puppet moved and ventriloquised by crass and cunning politicians. He was the best sort of king - the mystic sort. He had completed the ordeals and rituals of kingship, not in any symbolic show, but in reality, so that the symbols he wielded had real effect. He had merged with the Land whilst still living, and the Powers of the Land had accepted him as Sovereign. The King and the Land were One. He experienced the timeless memory of the land and participated in the lives of the creatures that inhabited it. It was because he devoted so much effort to seeking further levels of insight and initiation that he had not attended the opening of the Avebury

Sentencing and Capital Punishment

A Personal View

Introduction

The treatment of “serious” criminals within the UK has long been a talking point which tends to  polarise people. There are those in our society who consistently blame society itself for the criminal  act and there are others who take a more pragmatic view.

Personally I believe that, as a broad rule of thumb, criminality should be punished and that  punishment should, generally, fit the crime. In the early 1970’s I spent some time in various  institutions as a result of my predilection for taking illegal drugs (whether or not said drug taking  should be illegal is moot) and for generally being involved in the “anti-social” behaviour associated  with the drug taking lifestyle. I stole things, I got involved in burglary, I avoided paying for goods  and services, I bought and sold drugs and I had very scant regard for authority of any kind.

When I was caught I was charged and sentenced in line with the legal guidelines of the time, in total  I spent just short of 15 months inside for offences that would now rarely merit a custodial sentence  of any kind. Did it make me reflect on my behaviour, at the time, no, but the memory is still raw and  the waste of my youth is always with me.

Italian Tile Break

Four years ago I found myself rebuilding a house in Provence.  We had attempted to use architects but  not been able to find one willing to follow our instructions and so I had to do it myself with a very  good builder who didn’t rate architects anyway.

At the outset we wanted to use tiles. Porcelain tiles are the best with ‘body colour’, they are harder  wearing and, if chipped, do not show terracotta colour but the surface colour. Provence is expensive,  and when we went to look in tile shops the prices were around 50 Euros per square metre before tax.  The best tiles come from Italy, with 80% of the production in Sassuolo, a small town 17 km from  Modena. A quick search on the internet revealed that the price in Italy for good quality porcelain  tiles was 17 Euros. We were buying tiles for the floors, terrace, swimming pool and shower room walls.  Later we decided to use tiles for the kitchen counter and island surfaces as well.

As is clear, there were great savings to be made by buying direct. More information was required. I  looked up the price of shipping, having realised I could not do it myself in view of the weight  involved (no HGV licence). Having found that out we decided to drive to Sassuolo and investigate.

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 4.2

ACT 4

SCENE 2

A Chamber in the Royal Palace at Purdonium. Enter KING VUSILLUS and

QUEEN VULPECULA, with ATTENDANTS bearing a Crystal Ball and a

weighty Book. The ATTENDANTS set the Crystal Ball and the Book on a

Table.

The Screwtape Debate

After many decades of dedicated service, following the disgrace of his predecessor in 2016 and the latter’s recall to Hades for failure in office (and for ingestation by the next generation), Screwtape has been promoted to High Demonic Resident in Europe from his position as Chief Resident for the Balkans, where he had spent many happy years fomenting mayhem, corruption and economic collapse.  As a coming senior demon Screwtape had been able in 2015 to secure the appointment as Chief Demonic Resident in the British Isles for his nephew Tapeworm - nepotism was one way to survive in the devil eat devil underworld. 

Not for many years had Screwtape had the mundane role of contending for single souls, now he was scheming for millions.  Such sweet power and awesome responsibility.  He was a falling demon to watch all right.

Around the table in an anodyne office in Rome are gathered his subordinates, the Chief Demonic Residents for the various regions of Europe and supporting Directorate Heads.  Needless-to-say, suppressed tension is the dominant mood in the room as a consequence of their peremptory summons to this meeting only minutes before.

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 4.1

ACT 4

SCENE 1

The Village of Album on the Road from Purdonium to the Coast. Evening.

PEASANTS are disporting themselves. Enter TILDA and ETTY.

Theresa May reveals her true colours - Tens of billions more to be wasted on Foreign Aid each year

Loughgall - Big Boys' Rules

Now that the furore surrounding the untimely demise of Mr Martin McGuinness, man of peace and Deputy Leader of Northern Ireland has died down and I have recovered from my hangover, let’s examine an important milestone in the IRA’s road to peace.  Why did the most effective terrorist organisation in the world decide to embrace the political process and lay down its arms in perpetuity?  Oh wait, it didn’t….  Could it have been the blinding charisma of John Major, or the modest, unassuming negotiating skills of Anthony Blair, who disliked soundbites but told journalists that he felt the hand of destiny on his shoulder?

The Truth About The Left

The first thing to understand is that there really is such a thing as a "leftie brain". This is based on definitive research which shows that everywhere, all around the world, lefties score low on "conscientiousness" and high on "openness" (two of the so-called "big 5" personality traits). See the following links:

PMQs GE 2017 edition with Going Postal, 19th April 2017

Gif EJ

PMQs live stream here on Going Postal TV.

Midsummer at Avebury - Part Three

Organistion and Events

Mrs. Sally Sugden was especially busy at this time of year. She was the Organiser, in charge of the programme of ritual events at the Avebury Midsummer Festival. The High level rituals were, of course, not open to the public. The Stewards patrolled the vicinity to ensure their privacy. There were other celebrations and rituals, such as the dancing along the two 'snake' arms to the central circle, and the marriage ceremonies and the torchlight processions, in which the public were welcome to participate. The secular festivities went on for at least a week, centred on the solstice. The Festival was always opened by a procession around the sacred temenos and speeches by Sir Peter Churchward, the local lord and magistrate, representing the secular power, unless King Harold himself graced the occasion, and the various leading priests and priestesses, including herself. She maintained order in relation to the sacred side of affairs, and Sir Peter upheld secular justice. The Circle was always popular and in demand for all sorts of rituals and activities. She saw that clashes of scheduling were avoided, and kept a discreet eye on all that happened. The Spirits of Place were accepting of a range of formulae, beliefs and pantheons, although they had a firm identity of their own. Sally was intimately acquainted with them as she was also the Convener of the Wardens of Avebury, the group responsible for the daily spiritual practices communing with the spirits, and for the spiritual and physical maintenance of the site. All the well known sites of Wessex and the other kingdoms were in the keeping of such groups. The spiritual links between them were strong, but their Guardians often found it useful as well as pleasant to visit each other's sites for festivals, ceremonies and initiations.

Underworld - Two Months Off

It Passeth All Understanding

In the early morning of a warm August day The Sir Winston Churchill, a 300 ton fore and aft schooner,  slipped its moorings in Falmouth harbour and headed out into the straits preparatory to the start of  the 1966 Tall Ships Race. The finish line was to be The Skaw of Denmark - the northernmost point  around which shipping passed from the North Sea into the Baltic.

Going Postal statistics April 2017

January 2017

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 3.6

ACT 3

SCENE 6

VULPECULA's Cell. Enter VULPECULA, TILDA and ETTY.

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 3.5

ACT 3

SCENE 5

A Chamber at the Royal Palace. Enter KING VUSILLUS, QUEEN

VULPECULA, PRINCE VISCUS, PRINCESS GLOXINIA and COURTIERS,

attended by TILDA, ETTY and CLEMENTINE.

This is Ötzi (they call him )

Bob Ötzi

Poor guy, he must have said something to the wrong person.
I always consider him to be an honourable man but perhaps he was a thieving vagabond.
No-one will ever know.
You see he had with him interesting survival items.
some weaponry, really for hunting small animals and means for fire lighting.
like an ancient Ray Mears.
but how is this relevant to me today ?
My father was locked up by the beastly Hun but he kept running away.

"all you need is a penny, a knife and a piece of string, and the penny is to decide which way to go".
was really the only thing he told me about his escapades.

I do think I could probably survive with a knife and a piece of string.
Uncomfortably but I think I could do it.

Imagine how much easier the survival would be 10 thousand years ago.
I imagine it would be quite jolly.

The Violent End of Mussolini - Operation Oak, Part Two

DFS 230 assault gliders with Hotel Campo Imperatore background

The gliders wallowed behind their Heinkel 111 tug aircraft in the thin, turbulent air above the  mountains.  The lead aircraft sighted the long mountain ridge and the Gran Sasso Mountain behind it,  gave the order to their charges to cut the tow cables and made a hard left turn to clear the gliders.   The relatively small gliders were buffeted by the swirling air currents, but the pilots had spotted  the tiny cluster of buildings that was the Hotel Campo Imperatore and the air brakes on the wing upper  surfaces were applied to slow the gliders and increase their rate of descent.  As they came closer to  their target, the glider pilots realised to their horror, that the small meadow they had planned to  land on was in fact a very steep hillside.  With little in the way of alternatives, the pilots elected  to crash-land on the boulder-strewn, but flatter ground in front of the hotel.  Skorzeny urged his  glider pilot to get down as close to the hotel as possible, whatever the risks.

A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray

White House Press Briefing 13th April 2017

Press briefing with Sean Spicer 6.00 pm.

Incarceration, Part Six

It had been late when Colin finished relating his tale of how he had ended up being sentenced to  Borstal training and we had called it a night. We saw each other at least once a week, either casually  in the village or in the local. I managed to pin him down a couple of weeks later and asked if he  wouldn’t mind telling me what the experience had been like for him. After a bit of thought he agreed  to do so.

I ordered up a couple of pints of Wainwright, we settled in next to the fire and this is what he told me.

President Trump Holds a Joint Press Conference with Secretary General Stoltenberg

Midsummer at Avebury - Part Two

His Excellency

There was a fat jolly man with shrewd eyes above his cheerful smile and ready greetings who seemed to take considerable interest and enjoyment in the proceedings, moving easily through the gathering, leaving a good impression behind him, facilitated by his memory for names, faces and the circumstances of previous meetings and details of the lives, families and concerns of the people he greeted and who were happy to greet him. This was not quite a politician in search of votes - such creatures were extinct, although obviously capable of revival. This was  His Imperial Majesty's ambassador to the Kingdom of Wessex, His Excellency Dieter Schmitt. His Excellency, or 'Dieter' as he generally insisted in being called in the informal circumstances which he contrived and preferred, had a prodigious appetite for information, as well as for 'wine, women and song'. He made it his business as well as his pleasure to be as well informed as possible of the state of affairs in the kingdom. He certainly had a more complete and accurate picture of the numerical facts and physical capacities of the kingdom than had any of the officials of the king, and he had a very good sense of the currents of ideas and feelings and of the relations among the powerful. This made him a very good advisor to both the Emperor and the King.

Development of the Merlin Engine

The Rolls Royce Merlin was a V12, 27 litre engine and originally was a private venture so was financed entirely by Rolls Royce and its backers. Designated the PV12 it followed the Rolls Royce trend of a mono-bloc casting for each bank of 6 cylinders and was designated PV12. The final drawing and design were fixed on the 22nd April 1933, this coincidentally being the same day Sir Frederick Royce died.
The PV12 had a good heritage being based on the widely successful 1930 Kestrel engine which powered the Hawker Demon, Fury, Hart and Hind biplanes which ran to a total production of 4,674 units. The Kestrel was equipped with a supercharger, automatic boost control and could run on 87 octane fuel - standard car petrol. The Merlin also had its roots firmly planted in the Rolls Royce 'R' engine. This engine famously powered the SuperMarine SB6 aircraft to successfully capture the Schneider Trophy and set new air speed records.

White House Press Briefing 10th April 2017

Press briefing with Sean Spicer 6.30 pm.

President Trump Attends the Swearing-In Ceremony of the Honorable Neil Gorsuch

Donald Trump and the enigma of his style of leadership

The situation as regards President Trump and his likely course of action in Syria and the wider Middle  East region suddenly seems difficult to predict. Many of his supporters had probably taken for granted  that he would allow things to carry on as they had been, with Assad's forces in the ascendancy,  crushing the terrorist opposition, whether they be ISIS, al Qaeda, Ahrar al-Sham or others of  similarly evil ilk with little need to stir the hornets' nest when tensions in Syria finally seemed to  be, at least to some extent, abating. His recent actions have shaken that idea.

However, it isn't just Trump's views regarding the Middle East that are being questioned. Erstwhile  supporters are now beginning to wonder about his leadership abilities generally and whether he is the  type of leader they had been led to believe.

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 3.4

ACT 3

SCENE 4

An Inn in Purdonium. CITIZENS are being served by FLOSSIE, the

Innkeeper's daughter. Enter HOB and JESS.

The race for the North Pole

My interest in polar exploration was first kindled in about 1958 when a member of the Sir Vivian Fuchs expedition which completed the first trans-Antarctica crossing came to my primary school and gave us a talk with slides. I recall that he was satisfactorily bearded as you would expect of an explorer. He asked for any questions, and I piped up with "Why is the sky blue?", thinking that it was always blizzarding down there. He pretended to think it was a good question. A feature of that expedition was the use of the Tucker Sno-cat, about as cool as a tracked vehicle gets. I believe there is one in the Science Museum. It is interesting that Amundsen genuinely thought that the only way Scott would beat him to the South Pole was by using his tractors. Scott may have settled on the plodding British way of man-hauling, but the ex-torpedo officer was innovative enough to trial Wolseley tracked vehicles. Unfortunately one fell through the ice being unloaded, and the others couldn't overcome technical problems and freezing fuel.

Hed Kandi Limited Edition

Tilda -- A Comedy in Six Acts -- 3.3

ACT 3

SCENE 3

A Chamber in the Royal Palace. Enter KING VUSILLUS, QUEEN

VULPECULA, PRINCE VISCUS and PRINCESS GLOXINIA, attended by

ETTY and CLEMENTINE.

Time Lily Woke

Earlier this week our favourite Social Justice Moron Lily posted the above tweet highlighting everything us Brexiters can look forward to being blamed for in the coming month and years. The sheer gall and hypocrisy of these bullet points has prompted me to pen my first piece on GP. Taking these points one by one:

james - laid

The Fall of Mussolini - Operation Oak, Part One

In the summer of 1943, the terrible reality of total war was the closest wolf to the Italian  population’s sledge.  Mussolini’s grandiose plans for a new Roman Empire that would stretch across  Southern Europe and North Africa, was by now an unobtainable, blood-drenched dream.  Allied forces had landed in Sicily on 10^th July 1943 and on the 19^th July 1943, Allied bombers hit Rome killing over 1,000. Mussolini had called for help from his friend Hitler, but with the ongoing Russian offensive at Kursk on the Eastern Front requiring swift attention and endless manpower, no reinforcements could  be spared to support the beleaguered Italian dictator.

Question Time with Going Postal, 6th April 2017

Graphic EJ

David Dimbleby chairs topical debate from Gillingham.

On the panel are. . .

Twisted Nerve (Deep Chill - Remix)

A Wiltshire Junior School, 1953 to 1957

Change has always come slowly to rural Wiltshire, in 1957 the 1944 Education Act hadn't affected my schooling to any great extent. The school I moved to after the infant school was one that took children through from the age of eight to their fifteenth birthday, the age then when children could leave school. Those who did not pass the eleven plus exam stayed on at the same school. Shortly after I moved on to grammar school a new 'Modern School' was built on the bleakest and least accessible, by road transport, spot that could be  found locally

The school was next to the church and alongside a river with its well used footpath, there was no rule about going into the churchyard other than to respect the place. The church porch was a place to sit quietly out of the way or you could enjoy the shade of the big pine trees. I didn't realise then that some gravestones named my ancestors. The church was part of school life, as there was no school hall we used the church for any assembly or get together. The huge old yew tree that we passed by on our walk to school predated the eleventh century church by a millennia or two.

President Trump and King Abdullah II Hold a Joint Press Conference

Press briefing with Sean Spicer 6.00 pm.

Midsummer at Avebury - Prelude

Stonehenge at midwinter had been bleak. Wet, windy, with empty bellies, full of discomfort. Discomfort, though, had been appropriate to the purpose and the season. In some years the snow fell early, and there were those who saw this as a favorable omen, silently merging the landscape into the Great White. It was certainly more cheerful whilst the snow was fresh. Last year there had been no snow, but there had been cold winds, driving and eddying downpours of rain, hissing and keening around the Stones. Not even the small fire which Tradition permitted at the centre had been possible, nor would it's warmth have availed even those closest to it, although that indeed was not it's purpose. In some years there was an atmosphere of peace, even of joy and exaltation as the sun slowly arose in a clear still morning, beginning to strengthen for a new round of days, and the noble spirits amongst the recently dead made their passage to join it, opening the way and so assisting those souls and spirits of lesser capacity who could follow but not initiate. Last year had not been like that. No Great One had died recently, or been present at the ceremony to bless it from either side of the Portals of Life and Death. The atmosphere had reflected unquiet earthbound spirits, who did "rage, rage against the passing of the light" because they lacked sufficient inner light to make a good Passage. For them a different ceremony had been required. All night the drums had muttered, thundered, howled and growled in concert with the weather. The pipes had shrieked and moaned like lost souls themselves. The storm intensified, lightning flickered in the murky clouds. The Old Priest had writhed and leapt, apparently in a trance of frenzy, spittle and gibberish spilling from his rain-lashed lips, until with a great scream his foot had stamped and his staff struck the earth at the same time as a mighty clap of thunder and a lightning bolt which singed the air and temporarily seared the eyeballs of the participants,signaled the acceptance of the Gods.

Introduction

Midsummer at Avebury was quite different. The weather was excellent, the landscape was dotted with crowds of cheerful people, talking, walking, watching and taking part in the sporting events, picnicing, playing with children, chaffering with the hucksters and applauding the performers of tricks and plays. All the fun of the Fair.This was the most popular of the annual festivals, attracting the largest crowds, and transacting the most public business most publicly. Private and public, death and life, winter and summer, this world and the Otherworld, each has its place and it's business and the requirements of all must be met.

Alvin Wendover considered that Wessex was lucky. Through the favour of the Gods, and the work and wisdom of ancient men, long forgotten but still admired, Wessex and it's people had inherited the greatest and most famous and awe inspiring collection of megalithic monuments amongst the three kingdoms into which the Island of the Mighty was now divided, and he did not think there was a superior set in the rest of the world. Also, although not strictly megalithic, the exposed chalk of the Downs displayed the great hill figures and the eerie ramparts of the duns most impressively, shining white amidst the green, revealing the Great White of the Otherworld hinting of the accessibility of its allure and permanence within and underlying the mutability of the everyday world. Although not greatly talented or favoured, he himself had stood at the head of the White Horse and learned directly from the horse's mouth. He had entered the portal opened and guarded by the Long Man. In a minor capacity he helped to restore and extend the great network of sacred places which mediated the Powers within the Land for the collective and individual benefit of those of the land. Much more recent than the very ancient times in which this relationship had been established and focused with sacred places had been the Evil Old Times when the sacred had been scorned, denied, derided, perverted and ignored. The Island of the Mighty had instead become a den of thieves, corpocrats and socialists, bureaucrats and parasitical invaders, avaricious, atheist or islamist, materialistic, canting, contemptuous, cruel and ultimately destructive first of others and finally of themselves. As in the old Grail story of the knights of an evil king who had raped and despoiled the fountain maidens whose bounty had at first been freely offered, so they had maltreated the land and it's inhabitants. Now, Alvin was one of those who worked at healing and correcting those imbalances and preventing a recurrence. He enjoyed the festival but he had more important business here.


Cynic ©