Express Yourself: Dare to Share the Divine That's You

We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that Divine idea which each of us represents.

-Emerson

I couldn't have expressed myself any clearer than the above quote.  We each harbor a Divine seed that is waiting for us to nurture, grow and share with the world.  Today is as good a day as any to put aside false humility, the offspring of shame, and embrace the Divine creature that you are.  Today is the day to make your life, and the life of those around you, worth living.

Dare to Share!  Dare to share that Divine idea that only you represent.

Sir Hook the Divine of Warrick

Ashes to Ashes...The Dust from the Baby Boomer's Bust

Yesterday I took full part in Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, the gluttony of food and drink that proceeds Lent and Ash Wednesday. I met Sir Duke and Sir Tigger at Ollie's for some Cajun food and fun for lunch. Joining us where their fathers, 87 and 80.

I was reminded of how much I missed my father, who passed away at 79, and of the sacrifice and energy that generation brought to America in their time of crisis. Now that mantle is passed on to us to carry.



I was reminded that the "Me" generation were very fortunate; often given whatever we wanted, or at least had the opportunity to strive towards what we wanted. I believe that the ensuing greed and corruption that we now find ourselves in is an unpleasant side effect of the Boomer generation's excess.



The dust from the baby boomer's bust has created the ashes from which we must rise from once again. I remain hopeful, after watching President Obama address the nation from Congress last night, that we can put aside differences and find the common ground to begin the process of re-creation and resurrection.



I take the ashes at Ash Wednesday this morning at St. John with that as my prayer and my hope.

Sir Hook the Busted Boomer of Warrick

Thousands Pen Traveling Bible

Those are the statistics being touted by Zondervan, the publisher behind a tour to produce a handwritten edition of the New International Version of the Bible -- America's NIV -- to celebrate the translation's 30th anniversary.
"We're basically halfway there," said Zondervan spokeswoman Tara Powers. A little more than 15,000 people had put pen to paper by mid-February. Each person gets to copy one verse of Scripture.

The tour, which began in September, will wrap in Dallas, Texas, on March 22 after reaching bookstores, churches, college campuses and special events in more than 40 states. The company even has its own RV, with the Web site name -- BibleAcrossAmerica.com -- boldly painted on the sides of the 42-foot motor home.

A typical stop lasts six to eight hours, according to Powers. Many people have waited hours in line to write a verse, while a few others have hopped airplanes or driven long distances to take part.

"The youngest child has been 4, and there have been people in their late 80s," Powers said. "We had a blind person who someone guided their hand as they wrote the verse."

On any given day, the Zondervan team works in four books of the Bible -- usually two Old Testament and two New Testament.

All the verses are written twice, and the originals will be bound, with one copy going to the Smithsonian Institution and the other being auctioned off for charity, Powers said.

Zondervan says it has sold 300 million copies since the NIV was first published in 1978, making it the most popular contemporary English-language translation.

Ultimately, the handwritten verses will be digitized and printed. Because of differences in the length of verses and styles of writing, an average page will hold 10 to 20 verses, Powers said.

"We were asking them to print, but some wrote in cursive anyway," Powers said, chuckling.

"People were devastated when they made a mistake," she added. Plenty of correction fluid and tape are kept on hand.

The process has been emotional for some and nerve-racking for others.

"People were struck by the importance of this when they sat down," according to Powers, who noticed light-hearted moods turn serious when it was time to become a scribe for the Bible.

"Some people expect to be able to pick a verse," Powers said, but "they're thrilled to be part of it, even if they can't pick the verse."

There have been exceptions. A man recently finagled his way into writing the shortest verse in the Bible, Powers said.

Noticing the verse John 11:35 was coming up, the man returned throughout the day and positioned himself in line so that he was able to pen the words "Jesus wept."

Sir Dayvd ( if they did this in England...some jesters would draw cartoons etc in it..LOL.......nah... we'd be good ) of Oxfordshire

What kind of man wears a “Drink Like A Champion Today” t-shirt?

How about the Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World!

This past weekend Sir William of Keglers and I drove 500 miles (each way) to Sir William's hometown of Youngstown, OH to witness the Middleweight Championship fight between challenger Marco Antonio Rubio and the defending champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik.

Youngstown was once one of the world's leading steel towns. Then the late 1970s hit as hard as one of Pavlik's punches: several major companies shut down with nearly 40,000 workers losing their jobs almost overnight. The city hasn’t recovered.

But as I drove through Youngstown, taped on the walls and plastered over the windows, are signs of hope - pictures and newspaper clippings of the hometown hero who, as one paper put it, "seemingly has lifted all of the Mahoning Valley onto his slender shoulders."

"Kelly Pavlik means everything to Youngstown," says Lori Greenwalt, who runs the members-only club where Pavlik often retreats to throw darts. "It's tough here and he gives people hope."

The south side, where the 26-year-old champion lived growing up, has a rough reputation. The crime rate is nearly twice the U.S. average, stemming from organized crime that dominated much of the city decades ago to the more recent influx of drugs and random violence.

Sir William and his family know Pavlik through Mike Cox. "There are places you definitely don't want to go," says Cox, one of Pavlik's childhood friends and a police officer in Youngstown the past 10 years. "I try to take a positive look on things, but there are guys on the force who'll say, 'This place is miserable."'

"Sure, it's a struggling city, but right now the whole country is struggling," says Pavlik, who defended his WBO and WBC belts Saturday night against top contender Marco Antonio Rubio at the downtown Chevrolet Centre.

"My dad was brought up here, I've always been around here," he adds. "I've lived in Youngstown my whole life. It's where I'm from."

It's obvious that all of Youngstown loves him for it, too.

They love that he still sleeps on his parents' couch when he's training, and still works out at the Southside Boxing Club with Jack Loew, a driveway sealer by trade who has somehow managed to mould a middleweight champion. They love that he proudly represents a city that so many others resent.

"He's a prototypical guy from there. He's tough, the way he fights, he just attacks the guy he's fighting. He packs a big punch. He's been someone the people of Youngstown are real proud of."

Pavlik has a tattoo at the base of his neck that reads "Lift Our Spirits," with a picture of a crying angel hugging the world. It serves as an ever-present reminder of what he means to the city, as if he could possibly forget.


So it was that Sir William, dozens of his family and friends, and yours truly stood shoulder to shoulder with 7,000 cheering “Ghost” supporters as Kelly Pavlik launched into a convincing attack against Marco Antonio Rubio, 42-5-1 (38 KOs).

He picked his opponent apart over nine rounds before Rubio quit on his stool before the start of the tenth.

There’s more to this trip than just the fight: A tour of Sir William's “old stomping grounds,” visits with an aunt and uncle, and a day of Bochi Ball – an Italian favorite.


For now, I just wanted to give you “Rocky-like” story that is helping lift the spirits of Youngstown, OH.

Sir Bowie and Sir William (Bochi Ball Champions -- at least for one day)

Anais Nin

KMSA ..............
May I ask you to charge your glasses and raise a toast to Anaïs Nin (born Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell) who was born on this very day February 21, 1903


She was a Cuban-French author who became famous for her published journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death.

They provide a deeply explorative insight into her personal life and relationships. Nin was acquainted, often quite intimately, with a number of prominent authors, artists, psychoanalysts, and other figures, and wrote of them often, especially Otto Rank. Moreover, as a female author describing a primarily masculine constellation of celebrities, Nin's journals have acquired importance as a counterbalancing perspective.

She is also hailed by many critics as one of the finest writers of female erotica. She was one of the first women to explore fully the realm of erotic writing, and certainly the first prominent woman in modern Europe to write erotica. Before her, erotica written by women was rare, with a few notable exceptions, such as the work of Kate Chopin.

According to Volume I of her diaries, 1931-1934, first published in 1966, Nin first came across erotica when she returned to Paris with her mother and two brothers in her late teens. They rented the apartment of an American man who was away for the summer , and Nin came across a number of French paperbacks: "One by one, I read these books, which were completely new to me. I had never read erotic literature in America… They overwhelmed me. I was innocent before I read them, but by the time I had read them all, there was nothing I did not know about sexual exploits… I had my degree in erotic lore."



Faced with a desperate need for money, Nin and Miller began in the 1940s to write erotic narratives for an anonymous "collector" for a dollar a page, somewhat as a joke. Nin considered the characters in her erotica to be extreme caricatures and never intended the work to be published, but changed her mind in the early 1970s and allowed them to be published as Delta of Venus and Little Birds.

Nin was a friend, and in some cases lover, of many leading literary figures, including Henry Miller, Antonin Artaud, Edmund Wilson, Gore Vidal, James Agee, and Lawrence Durrell. Her passionate love affair and friendship with Miller strongly influenced her both as a woman and an author. The rumor that Nin was bisexual was given added circulation by the Philip Kaufman film Henry & June.

Although this rumor is widely believed to be false, Nin's journals leave many questions about her relationship with Henry Miller's wife, June. In her unexpurgated journals, she wrote that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, and refers to experiments with bestiality, and sexual relationships and experiences with women.


In 1973 she received an honorary doctorate from the Philadelphia College of Art. She was elected to the United States National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1974. She died in Los Angeles, California on January 14, 1977; her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over Santa Monica Bay.

Which all goes to show; there is gold in them there Moleskines, if you mix in the right circles and keep at it diligently. Failing that, just keep jotting down your thoughts.

I leave you with a few of her bon mots, and say Happy ( what would have been 106th) Birthday Lady Anais of Santa Monica, if the FF's would allow her in.... ....

* "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

* "This diary is my kief, hashish, and opium pipe. This is my drug and vice."

* "...for no one has ever loved an adventurous woman as they have loved adventurous men."

* "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

* "I do not want to be the leader. I refuse to be the leader. I want to live darkly and richly in my femaleness. I want a man lying over me, always over me. His will, his pleasure, his desire, his life, his work, his sexuality the touchstone, the command, my pivot. I don’t mind working, holding my ground intellectually, artistically; but as a woman, oh, God, as a woman I want to be dominated. I don’t mind being told to stand on my own feet, not to cling, be all that I am capable of doing, but I am going to be pursued, f**ked, possessed by the will of a male at his time, his bidding."

* "How wrong is it for women to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than set out to create it herself."

* "Each friend represents a world in us, a world not possibly born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

* "I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls."

* "Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terror, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them."

* "Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing."

*"Dreams are necessary to life."


Sir Dayvd ( a simple Knight, ever curious to the wonders of a Lady's mind )
of Oxenfordshire...

The Other 10 Commandments

What some would say is attention deficit syndrome, I prefer to call foraging for information.  If I'm not writing, reading, thinking, surfing the web and watching TV, sometimes all at the same time...I'm either drinking or sleeping.

One of the of the authors who compete for my attention is a business owner, turned columnist and motivational speaker from Minneapolis, Harvey Mackay, the author of the best selling business motivational book, "Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive".  

He is also a United Features columnist, featured in hundreds of newspapers across the country, including the Evansville Courier and Press.  In today's column Mackay shared "The Other 10 Commandments".  I share them with you for your consideration and assimilation.  Words of wisdom for today's environment.

I.  Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.  A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.  People get so busy worrying about yesterday or tomorrow, they forget about today.  Today is all you have to work with.

II.  Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.  Every crisis we face is multiplied when we act out of fear.  When we fear something, we empower it.  When we refuse to concede to our fear, then we have nothing to fear.

III.  Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded.  Solve the issues before you right now.  Tomorrow's problems may not be problems tomorrow.

IV.  Thou shall face each problem as it comes.  You can only handle one problem at a time anyway.  Problem solving is not easy, so don't make it any more difficult than it already is.

V.  Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make poor bedfellows.  Problems always seem bigger in the middle of the night.  Wait for the light of day to shed new light on your problem.

VI.  Thou shall not borrow other people's problems.  They can handle their problems better than you can, even if you think you are better equipped to handle them.

VII.  Thou shall not try to relive yesterday.  For better or worse, it is forever gone.  Concentrate on what is happening in your life today and be happy now!  You are responsible for your own happiness.

VIII.  Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own.  You can win more friends with your ears than with your mouth.  People will only listen to you once they feel that you have listened to them. 

 

IX.  Thou shall not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.  Frustration has never improved a situation.  Better to take a break, collect your thoughts, and redirect your attention to a positive first step.

X.  Thou shall count they blessings!  Never overlook the small blessings in life, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.  We all have something to be grateful for, even on the worst day.

As Harvey says, "These may not be chiseled in stone, but try them...they'll make your life less rocky."  I couldn't agree more!

Sir Hook the Mackay Moses of Warrick 

The Interface of Science & Religion

I attended a lecture Tuesday evening at the University of Southern Indiana by Kenneth Miller, from Brown University.

Miller, a cellular biologist, devout Christian and equally devout Evolutionist, wrote "Finding Darwin's God" and three Biology Text Books widely used in American Public Schools today.

His lecture was on Darwin, God & Design...America's Continuing Problem with Evolution.

Miller is picking up where Theodosius Dobzhansky left off. Dobzhansky was a Russian immigrant to the United States who in the 60's helped to further the discovery of mutation of genes as the catalyst for natural selection in evolution.

Dobzhansky was also a devout member of the Eastern Orthodox Church who said, "I am a Creationist and an Evolutionist. Evolution is how God chooses to Create."

In his lecture Miller stressed that, "Science doesn't trump religion and religion doesn't trump science. Evolution is the interface of science and religion." He also said, "You are a descendant of primates whether you acknowledge it our not."



Miller became involved in two of the country's most vivid Federal trials, Georgia in 2004 and Pennsylvania in 2005, where the leaders of the Creationist movement tried to replace the teaching of Evolution in public schools as scientific fact with their argument for Intelligent Design. In these trials the Judge, a Republican appointed by George W. Bush, when presented with the arguments from both sides declared that, "Intelligent design is a religious doctrine disguised as science and therefore can not be taught in public schools."

School Board elections during 2006 in Ohio and Kansas also sought unsuccessfully to replace rational thought with intelligent design. During the elections they would present their candidate as: "If you believe in God, Creation and True Science vote for our candidate...if you believe in Evolution, Abortion and Sin vote for theirs."

Now, I'm no doubt a sinner, but I also believe in Evolution as Creation, God and True Science...in my case Evolution. In marketing terms they had a very weak "positioning statement".

Miller presents that Creationist use two main weapons to battle Evolution.  First is intentional distortion of scientific fact.  This is made evident in stressing that the earth is only six thousand years old, or in the above election position of equating Evolution with Abortion and Sin.  Second is the fear of Evolution itself. This fear is based on the premise that if we are a species because of gene mutation, a mistake, there would be no need for morality, no purpose, no meaning to our lives. In effect if we weren't created from the beginning as we are, in God's image, there is no need for religion. How shallow a faith that is!  I believe that all life evolves and that all life reflects the essence of God.

Evolution is an essential component in the Creation of the Universe and all life. As Miller says, "How awesome is that! To think that God is so big as to set in motion the evolutionary process of creation...one that never ends. The true design of life is in the evolutionary process."

Miller wrapped up his lecture by presenting that science accepts that the origin of nature must have another source. To non-believers this would be the discovery of what set this into motion. To believers that source is God. He quoted C.S. Lewis who said, "God likes matter. He invented it!"

Miller concluded with how long this argument as been around.  St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the Doctors of the early Church, in 411 AD wrote in his book, "On the Literal Meaning of Genesis", excellent advice for all Christians who are faced with the task of interpreting Scripture in the light of scientific knowledge.



"Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods and on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion."

Christianity teaches that lying is a sin.  It is more than ironic that the lie of intelligent design is supported by those who profess the Christian faith.  Darwin's God is the same God as their God...unlimited as life continues to evolve.

Sir Hook the Evolutionary Creationist of Warrick

Trip Round the Near Universe

Knights and ladies...I'll try and make this as simple as I can. We on earth are but a simple lump of rock swirling in one vast galaxy, of which the Milky Way high above us in the night sky is but our only sense of the edge or this galaxy.

Our universe is not only filled with stars...but billions of galaxies similar to ours. Now the Good Scientists of Oxford need your help, as they have found that the human brain is excellent at recognising patterns...better even than the very best computers available.

So they have put the first quarter of a million pictures of individual galaxies they have taken so far...and are asking people on the website below, to help them collate the galaxies into types.

It is very simple....takes no time at all to become a galaxy expert...and in doing so you start to sit there at your computer in total wonder at what might actually be happening on these galaxies far far away.

Great fun...and it helps me put all my problems into perspective...:))

https://www.galaxyzoo.org

Just go to this site and click on how to take part....and do your bit for scientific advancement...

Have fun too...

Sir Dayvd ( the Urban Spaceman....and here comes the twist...I... don't.....exist )
of Oxfordshire

CDC Aert

This just in from Sir Norman of William Nottingham Court:


The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically.
This virus is called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (WORK).
If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT!!! This virus will wipe out your private life entirely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises.

Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life.

This has been a public service of Sir Norman of William Nottingham Court

Unity Through Diversity: A Lesson for the American People

We the People.....



That is how the Constitution of the United States begins. "Power to the People" is more than a catch phrase to the framers of the Constitution. Sadly, our current political climate has given rise to leaders who have forgotten that they are elected to serve the people and not themselves.

The United States of America began as a grand experiment in the the basic tenant of the Knights of Moleskine, Spirit and Ale..."Unity through Diversity". We could have very well taken on the name of the Unified States of America.



Now is not the time, nor should there ever be time allowed, for the politics of hatred. Rush Limbaugh, who I prefer to call Lush Limpballs, says he's an American. However, the self anointed leader of the "New Right Wing Republicans" has one HUGE problem with his rhetoric. He wants the American President, and thus, the American people to fail. This is the same results that Osama Bin Laden wants for the American people!

Wake up Rush! You're a terrorist and a traitor to the American people! You should have Bin Landen on your show so you can discuss how nice it will be to have a country full of people that finally believes as you do (whether they like it or not), instead of a country full of people who have the freedom to think for themselves!



Republican House Minority Leader, John Boehner, lead the boycott of Republican votes in the house for the current stimulus package proposed by President Obama. This is the same man who spear-headed Bush's bailout of Wall Street and the funding for Iraq's infrastructure, which resulted in us literally losing 12 billion dollars in bundled up cash there. His answer, "It's not that big of a price to pay for freedom." What?! Yet, somehow this is too big of a price to pay for the American people!

John Stewart on his Daily Show a few nights ago summed it up best..."We should declare the American people terrorists and then let the government invade us...that way we would get the money we need, the buildings repaired, the democracy restored and schools rebuilt." A sad, yet true irony.

It's time to put a stop to this finger pointing and political back stabbing at the expense of "We the People". How?



By realizing that the same flag that stands behind President Obama and Senator Boehner is the same flag that stands behind every American. The same flag that stood behind it's founders, our ancestors who sacrificed to keep the dream a reality and us who stand on the cliffs of despair today. It is a symbol of hope and of "Unity through Diversity" that has...and still can...make us a better and stronger people.

John McCain did have it right when he said, "Country first." We are all Americans first before we are a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc. I invite the followers of Rush Limbaugh to come out of their terrorist caves and put "Country First" once again.




It is time to rise above what we were and to strive towards what we can become!

Sir Hook Who's a Real American of Warrick

Henry VIII love letter exhibited

It seems even one of history's most notorious womanisers had a romantic side - at least in the beginning.

Henry wrote Anne's initials in a heart at the bottom of the letter

Concealed in the Vatican for almost five centuries, a love letter from King Henry VIII to his second wife Anne Boleyn is to go on display at the British Library in London.

Probably written in January 1528, it shows a softer side to the infamously bloodthirsty royal as he pursues her.


He assures Anne that "henceforth my heart will be dedicated to you alone," and apologises profusely for ever suggesting she could be a mere mistress.


Unfortunately, that devotion did not last and as school children learn, things ended badly for Anne. Henry eventually had her beheaded at the Tower of London in 1536 and subsequently married another four women.

Turning point

The letter is part of a major exhibition on Henry VIII opening at the British Library in April. Never displayed publicly before, it was almost certainly stolen from Anne. It speaks of the King's "unchangeable intention" to marry her and marks a turning point in their relationship.

Before then, Anne had held out - aware of Henry's womanising reputation - and had refused any pre-marital sexual relations. The letter - originally written in French - appears to show that she has finally made a "too humble submission" to his advances.

It reads: "The demonstrations of your affection are such, and the beautiful words of your letter are so cordially phrased, that they really oblige me to honour, love, and serve you for ever.... "For my part, I will out-do you, if this be possible, rather than reciprocate, in loyalty of heart and my desire to please you. Beseeching you also that if I have in any way offended you, you will give me the same absolution for which you ask, assuring you that henceforth my heart will be dedicated to you alone, and wishing greatly that my body was so too."

The letter is signed like a love-sick schoolboy, "H seeks A.B, No Other Rex," alongside his beloveds initials in a heart.

Historical significance

Henry battled with the Vatican throughout his life, ultimately leading to him separating the Anglican church from Rome and creating the Church of England. He also led a brutal suppression of Protestantism.

The exhibition - which also includes portraits, tapestries and armour, as well as correspondence, official documents, maps and books - gives an insight into what drove him.

It is curated by historian and broadcaster Dr David Starkey, who said: "Henry is not only England's best-known king - with his wives, his girth and his bloodthirstiness - he is also our most important single ruler. When he came to the throne, Henry was the pious prince who ruled an England at the heart of Catholic Europe. When he died, he was the great schismatic, who had created a national church and an insular, xenophobic politics that shaped the development of England for the next 500 years."

Sir Dayvd of Oxenfordshire

Heretic Knights?

A HERETIC IS: "someone who sees a truth that contradicts the conventional wisdom of the institution - and remains loyal to both entities."

Art Kleiner - The Age of Heretics: Heroes, Outlaws, and the Forerunners of Corporate Change

One of the greatest Heretics of all time was Galileo.

From History.com

On this day in 1633, Italian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome to face charges of heresy for advocating Copernican theory, which holds that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Galileo officially faced the Roman Inquisition in April of that same year and agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. Put under house arrest indefinitely by Pope Urban VIII, Galileo spent the rest of his days at his villa in Arcetri, near Florence, before dying on January 8, 1642.


Galileo, the son of a musician, was born February 15, 1564, in Pisa, Italy. He entered the University of Pisa planning to study medicine, but shifted his focus to philosophy and mathematics. In 1589, he became a professor at Pisa for several years, during which time he demonstrated that the speed of a falling object is not proportional to its weight, as Aristotle had believed. According to some reports, Galileo conducted his research by dropping objects of different weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. From 1592 to 1630, Galileo was a math professor at the University of Padua, where he developed a telescope that enabled him to observe lunar mountains and craters, the four largest satellites of Jupiter and the phases of Jupiter. He also discovered that the Milky Way was made up of stars. Following the publication of his research in 1610, Galileo gained acclaim and was appointed court mathematician at Florence.

Galileo's research led him to become an advocate of the work of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1573). However, the Copernican theory of a sun-centered solar system conflicted with the teachings of the powerful Roman Catholic Church, which essentially ruled Italy at the time. Church teachings contended that Earth, not the sun, was at the center of the universe. In 1633, Galileo was brought before the Roman Inquisition, a judicial system established by the papacy in 1542 to regulate church doctrine. This included the banning of books that conflicted with church teachings. The Roman Inquisition had its roots in the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, the purpose of which was to seek out and prosecute heretics, considered enemies of the state.

Today, Galileo is recognized for making important contributions to the study of motion and astronomy. His work influenced later scientists such as the English mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton, who developed the law of universal gravitation. In 1992, the Vatican formally acknowledged its mistake in condemning Galileo.

(end)


When I look up at the stars at night, I'm reminded of a great Law of Life: There is no limit in the universe. “Look around at all the things that humans have created, write John Templeton. “Now, look beyond those things and see before you the vastness of the resources from which the objects are created – the the greatest of these resources is the mind. Our minds are filled with ideas and thoughts that show us how to build or create the things our imagination con conceive.”

Of course, you need to approach everything with an open mind – ideas that some will call heresy!

Are you a heretic?

Sir Bowie “at times a heretic” of Greenbriar

Happiest Day of My Life

www.theonion.com is one of my favorite new sites, i have found recently.

With the national news bulletins tiptoeing between political correctness, convention, etiquette and absurdity, this is a beautifully tongue in cheek chuckle at the between the lines news.. with a classic example below, demonstrating admirably that no matter what is said in blogs... we only show the world what we have to.

'This Is The Happiest Day Of My Life,' Lies Man Holding Baby

February 7, 2009 |

PASADENA, CA—Looking out at a sea of expectant faces, new father Dan Rudloff commemorated the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth, by holding the small, vulnerable child in his arms and blurting out a series of lies and half-truths about how happy he was at that moment.

New father Dan Rudloff tries to express joy while realizing he will never ever be able to get that boat.

"Oh my God," said Rudloff, staring down at the squalling, vernix-covered infant who will depend on him for everything from eating, to bathing, to keeping her head upright. "She's beautiful."

Realizing he was now forever tethered to this utterly helpless new life, responsible for its shelter, upbringing, education, safety, and all related expenses for the next 18—or, perhaps more accurately, 25—years, Rudloff rattled off a series of patently false pleasantries about being overjoyed with his new baby girl. The 32-year-old property manager even managed to form his lips into the strained approximation of a smile, despite suffering through near-constant visions of dropping the fragile baby or accidentally squishing her delicate internal organs with his clumsy, brutish hands.

According to onlookers, Rudloff took the resulting lull in conversation as an opportunity to shift his gaze from his wailing progeny and stare into his wife's opiate-sedated eyes, at which point the two shared the knowing glance that comes only with the realization that your days of selfish solitude, unrestrained drinking, sleeping in until noon, and enjoying any semblance of independence are now forever gone. After taking several deep breaths to maintain his composure, Rudloff came up with another sentiment he thought was expected of him

"This is the greatest day of my life," Rudloff said in an apparent attempt to convince friends and family of his delight so he could sit down, drink a glass of water, and gather his thoughts. "I've never been happier."

In fact, records indicate the new father had been happier on several occasions in the past month alone, usually following a satisfying meal. Records also suggest the greatest day of his life actually involved a particularly fun round of miniature golf that ended with the coital act that resulted in the child he was now holding.

Nevertheless, Rudloff continued to grasp for more happy words to conceal his trepidation at not being able to casually leave the house for the next 13 years without making provisions for his daughter.

"This is so…," said Rudloff, thinking "nightmarish nightmarish nightmarish" as tears began to well in his eyes. "I never thought this day would actually come. I'm—I'm speechless."

Thus fulfilling the first of thousands upon thousands of new fatherly obligations, Rudloff posed for a picture.

Though not a habitual liar, Rudloff has skirted the truth to meet social expectations on previous occasions. Late last year, he expressed gratitude to his mother-in-law after receiving a Scottish sweater for Christmas; and from the ages of 14 to 16, he feigned an interest in playing JV football.

After estimating that he had held her for an adequate amount of time, Rudloff quickly scanned the room to find a suitable candidate to whom he could relinquish control of the infant before he completely lost it right there in front of everyone he knew.

"I can't imagine doing anything greater than this with my life," said the hapless father, hoping against hope that his daughter would not retain the memory of his trembling arms and grow to resent him, leaving home at 15 to cover her body in tattoos and piercings and hitchhike around the country, bedding any random trucker whose arms would give her the feeling of protection she never received from her worthless dad. "Here you go, honey."

Satisfied with his masquerade of cheerfulness, Rudloff gingerly handed the infant back to his wife.

"I'm so proud of you," Dana Rudloff said while thinking about an old college boyfriend she broke up with who went on to become a successful software designer. "You'll make a great father."

Sir D of O

Less is More of the Same

We've been hearing "more" about "less" in this challenging economic environment.  What happens when you let "less" invade your mind and you succumb to its drug of despair?

Hope becomes hopeless

Care becomes careless

Comfort becomes comfortless

It's time to be creative, to seek the inner strength that all human beings harbor within and to wake up the sleeping dead man.

Less is More of the Same tired song of the hopeless.  Let's put "on" at the end of "less" to create a "lesson" of Hope for the generations.

In the words of Yoda, "Do, or do not.  There is no try."

Sir Hook the Hopeful of Warrick

A KMSA Public Service Announcement

As Ben Franklin said:  "In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria."

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E coli), bacteria found in feces. 

 

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whisky or other liquor), because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember:  Water = Poop....Wine & Beer = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit!  

This has been a public service announcement from the Knights of Moleskine, Spirit and Ale Ministry of Health.

Sir Hook Who's Keeping His Water Purified of Warrick

Meeting the Neighbours

One of the keystone blocks of the KMSA is Unity through Diversity, and nowhere is that more important in the area of next door neighbours.

Next Door neighbours, I imagine the world over, are always regarded as somehow irksome and encroaching, and it is always a sad part of human nature to throw up a defensive line, either mentally in the form of a disparaging picture , or physically in the form of a hedge or a fence.

Of course Countries do it too, America has Canada and Mexico, and I'll leave my American friends a moment to think on what they think of them...... and The UK realistically has France, twenty two miles across the Channel ( tho Scotland and Wales would have something to say about that )

Actually, despite all the obvious differences in food and language and attitude, the UK and France have never been better friends than right now... ... with their Governments opposition to the Iraq war matching the British People's ( not the governments ) opposition to the war , plus the moronic Bush supporters jibe at them being "Cheese eating surrender monkey's " somehow banded us together in a blood thicker than water kind of way.

Also thousand of Brit's have now emigrated to northern France, ( my own sister included,) as French life and values are more culturally reminiscent of life in the UK in the fifties, that and the warmer weather are of great appeal to retiring folk.

( If any right minded Brit did his history homework anyway...he'd soon find out this nation's DNA is as stocked from around the world as America is, being built up of French, Euro and Scandinavian invaders, with the last of the indigenous English blood now tucked away in the Welsh mountains as druids, which is ironic in itself...)

So where am I going with this.... well, one of my best friend's, Jules, who is a singer, is half French, and her French mother ( Ann Marie ....in the photo at the top ), who still teaches French in Oxford... annually holds a simple charity Soiree ( french word there for evening party ) in a Victorian Church hall in north Oxford, where mainly French songs are sung a cappella, or with simple acoustic guitar, and around seventy of us who understand enough French to make sense of it all, crunched and slipped, Saturday night through the Ice and snow, to cast off our coats and have a fine fine evening drinking wine and eating kettle chips and sandwiches.

French songs are very strong on story telling narratives, and as was reiterated several times during the evening, even attempting to learn another language, increases your respect and understanding of a nation, your own language, and the beauty of other peoples minds. The world doesn't entirely think in English.

And so with candles burning brightly in champagne bottles we were warmly regaled with old French songs by Brel, Babara, and Piaf and ancient tales, and Jules too sang some of her sweeter English songs.

One of the highlights of the evening was of genuine surprise and moving quality, where one of Ann Marie's young relatives,Geraldine, visiting from France, stood up and sang a cappella the beautiful French song "la Vie en Rose" ( life in the pink, or life through rose colored glasses ) This song to the French, is like "the stars and stripes forever " is to the USA ... so it was especially moving to watch a young girl sing it in her native tongue.



So I will also leave you with a link ( below ) to a video on youtube ( taken by the young girl on the bottom right of my photograph above, of Geraldine singing "La vie en Rose", ( and I will put the translation underneath for your extra enjoyment ) and I urge you to watch it and raise a glass of vin rouge to the KMSA motto Unity through Diversity....then go next door and hug your neighbor :))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20DGUlk2JN0

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs
And tho I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom

And when you speak, angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

I thought that love was just a word.
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong. and love is real

give your heart and soul to me
and life will always be
la vie en rose

Sir Dayvd ( entente Cordiale ) of Oxen-ford

Enthology: Enlarging Hearts and Minds in an Ever Shrinking World

Over the course of the past five years I have been engaged in what some would call "Enlarging My Territory".  Not so much in the material sense, but more in spiritual and mental matters and through my relationships.

I came up with a phrase, my mantra really, about three years ago..."Endeavor to Engage".  It's a philosophy for me to improve and expand upon what I was yesterday and dare to be today. It's becoming a road map to an even more interesting tomorrow!

The House of Warrick and the House of Greenbriar are planning a trip this July to England, part of which is to hold the Council of Oxford, the first reunion of the Knights of Moleskine, Spirit and Ale Founding Father's from both sides of the pond.

In planning the trip, Sir Davyd of Oxfordshire shared with me of how he has grown to appreciate even more where he lives and his Island by helping us decide where and what to do.  I shared with him that we have discussed what we would want to show him if he came to visit here, and through doing so we have come to the same realization.  That's when, as if the words where put into my head instantly, that I responded with, "I love enlarging my heart and mind in an ever shrinking world!"

The light bulb went off, everything aligned and I gave birth to a new philosophy that I call "Enthology".  Enthology encompasses all that we have been, all that we are and all that we dare to be.  Enthology pushes you to endeavor to engage, and through that encounter, to enlarge your heart and mind.

It's not a religion, though religion can be part of it.  I prefer to think of Enthology as the blending of the spiritual and physical worlds, and a catalyst for the ultimate goal of achieving Unity through Diversity.

So there you have it...the Five Pillars of Enthology:  Endeavor, Encounter, Engage, Encompass and Enlarge.

The ability to Endeavor starts the whole process.  This "Power Word" first drew my attention when spoken by Chief Dan George in the Clint Eastwood movie, Outlaw Jose Wales, when he was asked how he handles adversity, he answered, "Endeavor to Persevere!"  That phrase along with his, "It's a good day to die!" began to shape me from my late teens to who I am today.

Without the effort, the ability to endeavor, to "go where no man has gone before", you remain stagnant, small and inferior.

In my early days I would have gone straight to Engage; however, Engagement without the Encounter is sometimes too aggressive.  "Endeavor to Engage" in the hands of an enthusiastic novice can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings and problems.  That is when I realized that you need to Encounter, to soak in what makes someone or something tick before you Engage. In essence, do your research, learn, appreciate and then Engage.

Encountering involves all the senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing and the ability to feel the spiritual current that surrounds what you are about to Engage.  Encounter is the Fore-Play to Engagement.

Engage!  I loved to hear Patrick Stewart issue that command from the bridge of the Enterprise as Captain Picard.  Engage is probably my favorite thing to do.  But fair warning, to Engage without the self discipline to Endeavor and to Encounter is a mistake.  Engage by itself became the policy of the Iraq war.  Only now are we trying to Encounter who we Engaged.

Endeavor, Encounter and Engage are the tripod upon which to build a new and better you.  It's the foundation upon which to build your personal Enthology.  It is what lead me and Sir Dayvd to Think, Drink and Be Merry as strangers in a bar in Pennsylvania and leave as friends with a bigger and better vision for the Knights of Moleskine, Spirit and Ale.

Again, in my younger days I would have stopped after being engaged.  Sure, I would recall the magic while celebrating with friends over a beer or too, or perhaps journal about it to lay unread for years.  Worst yet, only apply its lessons when convenient. 

 

It is only recently that I have learned how to apply what I've learned or gained through my Endeavor to Encounter and Engage.  I call that phase Encompass.  

Now, here's the danger involved in learning how to Encompass.  You can literally drown yourself in a sea of thought and dogma.  The danger of this happening is obvious when one Encompasses without Encountering and Engaging, flying from one religion to the next, from one way of living to another.  However, when you are grounded and centered in your belief system, then you are free to Encompass other belief systems without the fear of losing yourself and actually Enlarge yourself in the process. 

 

Speaking in religious terms, I choose to center myself in the Catholic-Christian tradition; however, I Encompass around that center the beliefs and teaching of other spiritual teachings like Buddha, Hindu, Islam.  This begins the journey of discovering true Unity through Diversity. Finding the common thread that ties all thought, all life together.

Finally, we arrive at the "fifth pillar" of Enthology...Enlargement.  By spending the energy to Endeavor, deploying the senses to Encounter, being brave enough to Engage, and humble and open enough to Encompass, you can not help but Enlarge your heart, your mind, your very soul through the experience!

Once you achieve the "fifth pillar" of Enlargement, you begin to plant the seeds to the true fruit of Enthology...Enlightenment.

I humbly share this old, yet new way of looking at this natural process of life.  I trust that you too can find wisdom and happiness through the pillars of Enthology.

May you find peace and joy as you enlarge your heart and mind in an ever shrinking world!

Sir Hook the Founder of Enthology of Warrick