The winds of change blew the confidences of the masses in all different directions.
He huddled snugly into the woollen lapel of his oilskin coat as he trudged his way through the icy Croydon night.
"So this is it." the watchman muttered to himself as he put the kettle half full with water onto the cast iron stove.
His cat, huddled into the far corner, threw a ghastly shadow onto the opposite wall as the flames from the rusty stove cast dancing shadows upon the mouldy brick wall.
Day in and day out, he watched and waited, huddled in front of the stove. His filling and repeated filling of the kettle for his black tea was almost ritualistic. Who could have faulted him, for he was doing this without deviation for almost ten years.
"There is my good girl" he threw a tiny bit of blackbread to the ageing cat in the dark corner. A weak purr reciprocated his good intentions. After all, muffy, the cat that he called adoringly all these years, was his virtual sole companion.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
How Sad....
Dozens of massacred narwhals found on Greenland coast
Yahoo News 28 Aug 08;
Dozens of massacred narwhals, an Arctic whale with a single long tusk, have been discovered on the east coast of Greenland in what local police said Thursday could be a case of poaching.
"We received a complaint that there may have been a possible violation of the Greenlandic law regarding the protection of narwhals, after the discovery of cadavers in Illoqqortoormiut," the deputy chief of Greenland police Morten Nielsen told AFP.
A scientific expedition from New Zealand discovered the carcasses as they sailed along the coastline "about two weeks ago," Nielsen said.
According to Danish and Greenlandic media, 48 animals were killed, but police refused to confirm those reports.
People in Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, are authorised to hunt narwhals "but there are rules that say you can't shoot females and that you have to remove the body" after killing the animal, Nielsen said.
There were females and calves among the dead, Danish news agency Ritzau reported, adding that only the males' long tusks and some meat had been removed from the carcasses.
"We're now trying to investigate the incident and figure out what has happened and if the law has been broken," Nielsen said.
Narwhals can grow up to five metres (16 feet) in length and live primarily in the Arctic Ocean.
Males have a single long, twisted tusk that protrudes from the upper left side of the jaw and which can grow up to three metres (10 feet). It is sought after by poachers for its ivory.
Some females may also grow tusks, albeit much smaller.
The export of narwhal tusks is banned in Greenland, and imports are banned in the European Union, according to Ritzau.
Read more!
posted by ria at 8/29/2008 08:19:00 AM 0 comments
labels global, marine, whales, wildlife-trade
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Book 2- The Chronicles of SUKA the baby whale – Mythynesia
Chapter 1 – All The King's men.
The lightning flashed angrily across the battle-scarred night to reveal a hulking figure standing on the Castle minaret. The eight deadly tentacles moving as if in a trance-like dance, the way a cobra responds to an Indian snake charmer performing to a street audience.
The moon was long hidden in the swollen rainclouds, barely holding up rain that would lash out angrily at the land in a furious torrent; as if weeping for the seemingly doomed rescue attempt of the Ocean King.
“Look! O Zama my king! And watch the destruction of your futile saviours - “ Looki snarled mockingly towards his captor who was still bound in the ivory cage, which was carried and guarded by Cereus and four Andropods.
Both Cereus and his cohorts howled and shrieked in response to their leader.
The massive but subdued form in the cage remained silent.
“Let's go down and wait for the victory call, if our armies do not finish them off, I'm sure the electric storm would, hahahaha.” LOOKI did not want to be at the receiving end of the lightning flashes that were occurring more frequent.
Meanwhile, it did not look too good for the gallant saviours down at the battleground.
Slash! Slash!
Pow! Pow!
Marlin, Narwhale lances, deadly swashing tails and nun chucks found their mark as shrieking Andropods fell lifeless. However, clearly the numbers were overwhelming the band of saviours.
“It's no use! There's too many of them!” wailed Regginald in despair. Ginger was still valiantly warding off the eight-legged attackers.
Aargh! I turned and saw to my despair that a Narwhale and a Marlin had succumbed to the hordes. They fell to the ground lifeless, the massive weight and frame of the Narwhale crushing more Andropods as it fell heavily to the ground.
“Close up! Men!” The Templar immediately barked the contingency order for the remaining warriors to fill the gap left by their fallen comrades.
“Whoa..wha- the - arrgh!” Thor exclaimed first in surprise but then grimaced in pain as he found something clamped tightly to his left abdomen with such a force that it forced the breathe out of him.
“Oh no! Icarus has breached the hole!” Ginger exclaimed as Icarus swiftly lifted the still struggling Thor up with his mighty eagle beak and flung him away, hard, crashing him onto the ground. He remained motionless and still where he lay.
The little defensive circle was immediately thrown into disarray with this surprise breach. However the well -trained Templar immediately swung his mighty tail and sent Icarus flying out of the circle. However, the Templer knew that he had now no choice but to leave the circle to engage Icarus in a duel to the death, since he was only momentarily out of action.
Snarl! Roar! Whack! As the two giants locked arms, jaws and wrestled each other to the ground.
“Oh no, this is really the end !” I wailed.
“Don't be too sure my Princess, look!” smiled my Queen mother Hana as she pointed to a faint glow that seemed to come out of the East of the valley.
What could that be? Another terror in a time of peril such as this? Or Hope?
I looked up and saw beyond the castle a faint glow that grew increasingly brighter. By now rain had broken out of the sky and it fell in a steady torrent, but the glow became a fiery ball that rose above the castle, the steady rain did not even douse the fiery flames licking out from all over the fiery balls. Instead the two fireball rose higher and seemed to grow bigger and more fiery with the increasing downpour.
“Whoooaaaaaa, what's that! Another of LOOKI's tricks up his sleeve....we're doomed for sure now.” Regginald despaired as both he and Ginger beheld the spectacle before them.
Back in the castle, there was utter confusion as LOOKI snarled in surprise, then anger and fear overtook him as he wondered what was happening. It could not be possible that he was being attacked from his rear? Impossible.
“I don't care how hot it is? Get up there and tell me what it is! Eliminate it if it is not one of ours!” screamed LOOKI to his men as his eight powerful arms propelled him in instinct to the lower bowels of the castle, deep into the ground where he sought for safety.
Meanwhile, on the battleground, both assailants and the rag-tag and barely surviving usurpers had all caught the spectacle beyond the castle and were momentarily transfixed in wonder and awe initially , but turned slowy to fear as the two fireballs began transforming into two familiar shapes.
“Wow! Look! It's turned into two huge eagles on fire!” gasped Ginger, mouth agape in awe.
“These are our saviours, the phoenix of hope!” Hana finally revealed as she looked calmly and knowingly at the spectacle.
I stared wide and muttered half aloud as I saw the two mythical creatures spread their wings and head straight at us, gathering speed.
“It's coming straight at us!”
“Duck!”
We all instinctively took cover. By now the hordes of assailants had witness the spectacle and were clearly confused and awed by the display of spectacle and power before them, they started to breakaway from attacking us and began to scamper away in droves in an attempt to flee the fiery bird-like creatures that seemed to be heading for them.
The Andropods did not stand a chance. As I raised my head to peep out with my left eye, I caught a glimpse of the inevitable doom that awaited the assailants. The two mythical creatures screeched and swooped down on the plain, its flaming form torching and vaporising everything in its wake with its intense heat, including the ground and all that was on it. I suddenly realized somehow we were not scathed in a least bit by the two flaming terror.
“Don't worry my dear Princess, we are not meant to perish in this battleground.” I heard the gentle and reassuring voice of mother, as if anticipating my thoughts.
Then as abruptly as it had started, it ended. An overpowering burnt smell filled the air and an eerily peace and quiet descended upon us all.
“Are we all dead? Are we in heaven already?” That was Regginald who spoke first.
“Are you alright all of you, men! sound out!” That was the templar who first tried to rally and organise the team and to assess the situation.
The landscape was indeed totally devoid of life, save for us. It seemed like a dream that barely a moment ago we were desperately fighting for our lives, a hopeless and futile effort against an army that had carpeted the land with their sheer numbers. There was not even a sign of our fiery saviours that came in the nick of time. A smouldering blackened hulk of a pile was spotted by Ginger a few feet away from her – the remains of Icarus, since the blackened form of his bird-head was unmistakeable.
“Hey! there's nobody left! Not even a trace!” Ginger barked, running everywhere excitedly looking for any survivors or bodies after the encounter.
“Arf Arf!” Regginald suddenly barked and sped towards the smouldering horizon, to the surprise of all of us.
“Hey, where's he gone to?” Ginger asked, but being equally inquisitive she too, followed closely to Regginald's heels soon after.
“Why – it's” I immediately recognized the two silhouettes that emerged from the horizon with Regginald and Ginger prancing up and down and around them, jumping up to lick their faces as the four of them made their way towards us.
“Yes, it's Denver and Dill, they are our saviours my dear Princess.” Queen Hana completed the sentence for me.
The reunion was a joyous one, with Queen Hana making introductions to everybody on the two new additions to the rag-tag band.
“SO under the magic of Mythynese We transformed into fiery phoenixes and DID ALL THESE?” Denver asked incredulously. Dill was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of their animal alter ego and their efforts in helping to rescue the overthrown King of the Ocean, Zama.
“Oh goody! And now we can really communicate with Regginald and Ginger!” added Dill again, gleefully squeezing Regginald and Ginger head hard to her bosom. Both dogs howled in delight and pain.
“We are now ready for the final showdown with LOOKI and his minions.” Queen Hana looked ahead to the castle and said with a definite finality in her voice.
“We rest a while, it's gonna be a long night ahead of us. Thor, see to setting up a parameter.” The Templar re-assumed control and had the party settle for the night, excitement building up within him as he anticipated the final battle with LOOKI and the liberation of his King Zama.
The lightning flashed angrily across the battle-scarred night to reveal a hulking figure standing on the Castle minaret. The eight deadly tentacles moving as if in a trance-like dance, the way a cobra responds to an Indian snake charmer performing to a street audience.
The moon was long hidden in the swollen rainclouds, barely holding up rain that would lash out angrily at the land in a furious torrent; as if weeping for the seemingly doomed rescue attempt of the Ocean King.
“Look! O Zama my king! And watch the destruction of your futile saviours - “ Looki snarled mockingly towards his captor who was still bound in the ivory cage, which was carried and guarded by Cereus and four Andropods.
Both Cereus and his cohorts howled and shrieked in response to their leader.
The massive but subdued form in the cage remained silent.
“Let's go down and wait for the victory call, if our armies do not finish them off, I'm sure the electric storm would, hahahaha.” LOOKI did not want to be at the receiving end of the lightning flashes that were occurring more frequent.
Meanwhile, it did not look too good for the gallant saviours down at the battleground.
Slash! Slash!
Pow! Pow!
Marlin, Narwhale lances, deadly swashing tails and nun chucks found their mark as shrieking Andropods fell lifeless. However, clearly the numbers were overwhelming the band of saviours.
“It's no use! There's too many of them!” wailed Regginald in despair. Ginger was still valiantly warding off the eight-legged attackers.
Aargh! I turned and saw to my despair that a Narwhale and a Marlin had succumbed to the hordes. They fell to the ground lifeless, the massive weight and frame of the Narwhale crushing more Andropods as it fell heavily to the ground.
“Close up! Men!” The Templar immediately barked the contingency order for the remaining warriors to fill the gap left by their fallen comrades.
“Whoa..wha- the - arrgh!” Thor exclaimed first in surprise but then grimaced in pain as he found something clamped tightly to his left abdomen with such a force that it forced the breathe out of him.
“Oh no! Icarus has breached the hole!” Ginger exclaimed as Icarus swiftly lifted the still struggling Thor up with his mighty eagle beak and flung him away, hard, crashing him onto the ground. He remained motionless and still where he lay.
The little defensive circle was immediately thrown into disarray with this surprise breach. However the well -trained Templar immediately swung his mighty tail and sent Icarus flying out of the circle. However, the Templer knew that he had now no choice but to leave the circle to engage Icarus in a duel to the death, since he was only momentarily out of action.
Snarl! Roar! Whack! As the two giants locked arms, jaws and wrestled each other to the ground.
“Oh no, this is really the end !” I wailed.
“Don't be too sure my Princess, look!” smiled my Queen mother Hana as she pointed to a faint glow that seemed to come out of the East of the valley.
What could that be? Another terror in a time of peril such as this? Or Hope?
I looked up and saw beyond the castle a faint glow that grew increasingly brighter. By now rain had broken out of the sky and it fell in a steady torrent, but the glow became a fiery ball that rose above the castle, the steady rain did not even douse the fiery flames licking out from all over the fiery balls. Instead the two fireball rose higher and seemed to grow bigger and more fiery with the increasing downpour.
“Whoooaaaaaa, what's that! Another of LOOKI's tricks up his sleeve....we're doomed for sure now.” Regginald despaired as both he and Ginger beheld the spectacle before them.
Back in the castle, there was utter confusion as LOOKI snarled in surprise, then anger and fear overtook him as he wondered what was happening. It could not be possible that he was being attacked from his rear? Impossible.
“I don't care how hot it is? Get up there and tell me what it is! Eliminate it if it is not one of ours!” screamed LOOKI to his men as his eight powerful arms propelled him in instinct to the lower bowels of the castle, deep into the ground where he sought for safety.
Meanwhile, on the battleground, both assailants and the rag-tag and barely surviving usurpers had all caught the spectacle beyond the castle and were momentarily transfixed in wonder and awe initially , but turned slowy to fear as the two fireballs began transforming into two familiar shapes.
“Wow! Look! It's turned into two huge eagles on fire!” gasped Ginger, mouth agape in awe.
“These are our saviours, the phoenix of hope!” Hana finally revealed as she looked calmly and knowingly at the spectacle.
I stared wide and muttered half aloud as I saw the two mythical creatures spread their wings and head straight at us, gathering speed.
“It's coming straight at us!”
“Duck!”
We all instinctively took cover. By now the hordes of assailants had witness the spectacle and were clearly confused and awed by the display of spectacle and power before them, they started to breakaway from attacking us and began to scamper away in droves in an attempt to flee the fiery bird-like creatures that seemed to be heading for them.
The Andropods did not stand a chance. As I raised my head to peep out with my left eye, I caught a glimpse of the inevitable doom that awaited the assailants. The two mythical creatures screeched and swooped down on the plain, its flaming form torching and vaporising everything in its wake with its intense heat, including the ground and all that was on it. I suddenly realized somehow we were not scathed in a least bit by the two flaming terror.
“Don't worry my dear Princess, we are not meant to perish in this battleground.” I heard the gentle and reassuring voice of mother, as if anticipating my thoughts.
Then as abruptly as it had started, it ended. An overpowering burnt smell filled the air and an eerily peace and quiet descended upon us all.
“Are we all dead? Are we in heaven already?” That was Regginald who spoke first.
“Are you alright all of you, men! sound out!” That was the templar who first tried to rally and organise the team and to assess the situation.
The landscape was indeed totally devoid of life, save for us. It seemed like a dream that barely a moment ago we were desperately fighting for our lives, a hopeless and futile effort against an army that had carpeted the land with their sheer numbers. There was not even a sign of our fiery saviours that came in the nick of time. A smouldering blackened hulk of a pile was spotted by Ginger a few feet away from her – the remains of Icarus, since the blackened form of his bird-head was unmistakeable.
“Hey! there's nobody left! Not even a trace!” Ginger barked, running everywhere excitedly looking for any survivors or bodies after the encounter.
“Arf Arf!” Regginald suddenly barked and sped towards the smouldering horizon, to the surprise of all of us.
“Hey, where's he gone to?” Ginger asked, but being equally inquisitive she too, followed closely to Regginald's heels soon after.
“Why – it's” I immediately recognized the two silhouettes that emerged from the horizon with Regginald and Ginger prancing up and down and around them, jumping up to lick their faces as the four of them made their way towards us.
“Yes, it's Denver and Dill, they are our saviours my dear Princess.” Queen Hana completed the sentence for me.
The reunion was a joyous one, with Queen Hana making introductions to everybody on the two new additions to the rag-tag band.
“SO under the magic of Mythynese We transformed into fiery phoenixes and DID ALL THESE?” Denver asked incredulously. Dill was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of their animal alter ego and their efforts in helping to rescue the overthrown King of the Ocean, Zama.
“Oh goody! And now we can really communicate with Regginald and Ginger!” added Dill again, gleefully squeezing Regginald and Ginger head hard to her bosom. Both dogs howled in delight and pain.
“We are now ready for the final showdown with LOOKI and his minions.” Queen Hana looked ahead to the castle and said with a definite finality in her voice.
“We rest a while, it's gonna be a long night ahead of us. Thor, see to setting up a parameter.” The Templar re-assumed control and had the party settle for the night, excitement building up within him as he anticipated the final battle with LOOKI and the liberation of his King Zama.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
When are they going to stop and move on ?
Just this morning I heard over the radio Hollywood is going to make another Batman movie.
Just when are they going to stop milking this long dead cashcow and move onto something more original? Have they run out of ideas ?
The night before I read in the news that Marvel Comics is going to engage a Japanese Anime company Madhouse to reprise all the Marvel Comics Superheroes into Anime format, to introduce to the Anime afficianos within Japan and without.
Talking about insulting our intelligence.
Just when are they going to stop milking this long dead cashcow and move onto something more original? Have they run out of ideas ?
The night before I read in the news that Marvel Comics is going to engage a Japanese Anime company Madhouse to reprise all the Marvel Comics Superheroes into Anime format, to introduce to the Anime afficianos within Japan and without.
Talking about insulting our intelligence.
Friday, August 22, 2008
And not to forget Provence, South France
It will be good to take off to Provence, South France for a year or so ... to renew, recharge and rejuvenate.
My memories of the region is lots of sunshine, French castles, cobbled walkways, quaint alleys, lots of little shops etched into centuries old cobbled walls selling curios, retirees playing chess or Patung on lawns, stone fountains, leisurely walks, idyllic afternoons, lavender fields, Mediterranean cuisines, whitewashed houses.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Where I want to go next for a getaway....
I'm planning to go visit the UK again. I guess I would land at Manchester Airport, take a Hertz car and drive up to peak district, then next to the lake district.In between I would cover quaint English towns like York and Bath. Next I would make my way up to Scotland- by car of course.
The other place I would love to revisit is Wales, a beautiful place too, driving along the Welsh coast and it's magnificent castles and quaint bed and breakfast. Not to mention London and all the way down to Brighton.
I was there alone as a student more than ten years ago. This time, my beloved wife would be accompanying me. Perhaps extend to France too, via the train the runs under the English Channel?
The Life Guard
The Life Guard,
Sitting beneath the shades,
Hiding behind an
Oakley Sunglass.
Watching,
Waiting.
The Life Guard,
an empty pool lies ahead.
A stunning blue reflecting the tropical sun,
Then swiftly the rain clouds came
Ominous, dark and foeboding,
chasing the sun away.
The Life Guard,
Sitting beneath the shades.
Hiding behind an
Oakley Sunglass
Watching,
Waiting.
Sitting beneath the shades,
Hiding behind an
Oakley Sunglass.
Watching,
Waiting.
The Life Guard,
an empty pool lies ahead.
A stunning blue reflecting the tropical sun,
Then swiftly the rain clouds came
Ominous, dark and foeboding,
chasing the sun away.
The Life Guard,
Sitting beneath the shades.
Hiding behind an
Oakley Sunglass
Watching,
Waiting.
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