Oh... these Pagans...
Feb. 5th, 2010 07:50 pmOn Sunday, 31st of January 2010, there was a television discussion on BBC2 with the subject "Is Paganism more relevant than Christianity?"
In the panel were members of several Pagan groups, and people from Muslim and Christian organisations.
The discussion, which was led very well, revolved around the question if Paganism was becoming a religious practice that should be considered more seriously by the other 'large' (monotheistic) religions.
It was interesting to witness the several ways that Christians and also Muslims view Paganism. Despite all the work that Pagan organisations have done and still are doing, some people are still clinging to the old views that Pagans are communing with the Devil or other spirits deemed evil.
And again there was the great confusion about what Paganism is. A Christian man said that he had looked at a website and had found "at least fifteen explanations of what a Druid is, and some of them were conflicting.”
For some reason, it remains impossible for many Christians to understand that Paganism is not comparable to their own religion. And that is something that intrigues me since this television broadcast.
Christians are confused by the plenitude of paths in Paganism. There are witches, Wiccans in all kinds and forms, Asatru, Druids, Germanic followers, Italian Strega witches; you name it and we have it. And what you don't name is probably there too, somewhere.
How interesting then, that Pagans don't seem confused by Christianity. After all, it all began as a Jewish sect, and now there are Baptists, Reformed, Protestants, Catholics, Trinitarians, non-Trinitarians, Lutherans in several forms, Evangelistic-
Why did I stop here? I assume that is obvious. They are all Christians. Basically they all do the same thing while calling themselves something else, next to being Christian. We are all Pagans, and basically we all do the same thing. And many of us call ourselves something else, next to being Pagan.
This raises the question with me why Christians insist that Paganism is hard to understand while Pagans don't seem to have so much a problem with Christianity. I assume that most Christians are not that so aware of other factions in their own camp; that they mainly focus on their own path.
Pagans who flock together can hardly avoid people that follow other paths. The beauty in Paganism is that this is appreciated. There hardly ever is anyone calling out that this is better, or that is worse. There is difference, and it is accepted.
Paganism, for me, still stands for unity in diversity. Please, let us keep it that way.
And to come back to the question above the reason for the BBC television broadcast:
Yes. I think that Paganism is certainly a religious practice that should be considered more seriously by the other 'large' (monotheistic) religions. It's about time.
Do you know how that feels?
Feb. 5th, 2010 05:57 pmYou think of something small to do in the house.
While doing it, you see another small thing. You take that on, and as you do that, you think yet another small thing that needs doings.
And before you know it, you're 20 minutes further and did a helluva lot!
While doing it, you see another small thing. You take that on, and as you do that, you think yet another small thing that needs doings.
And before you know it, you're 20 minutes further and did a helluva lot!
IBM has created transistors made from carbon atoms, which operate at 100 gigahertz, while using a manufacturing process that is compatible with current semiconductor fabrication. With silicon close to its physical limits, graphene seems like a viable replacement until quantum computing gets to desktop. Quoting: 'Researchers have previously made graphene transistors using laborious mechanical methods, for example by flaking off sheets of graphene from graphite; the fastest transistors made this way have reached speeds of up to 26 gigahertz. Transistors made using similar methods have not equaled these speeds.'
Found here.
Found here.
Progress is a strange beast that also lives in the shelves of shops.
One of the strange appearances is that it turns a decent box with a powder to soften the water into a box half the size, with tabs instead of powder, that are all wrapped in separate bits of plastic, at almost twice the price of the decent box.
The odd thing is that they do try to tell me that it is actually cheaper.
0.5 (contents of the original box) x 2 (double the original price) would be 1 (same price), but as the new box is slightly cheaper than that you seem to save money.
Uh-huh.
One of the strange appearances is that it turns a decent box with a powder to soften the water into a box half the size, with tabs instead of powder, that are all wrapped in separate bits of plastic, at almost twice the price of the decent box.
The odd thing is that they do try to tell me that it is actually cheaper.
0.5 (contents of the original box) x 2 (double the original price) would be 1 (same price), but as the new box is slightly cheaper than that you seem to save money.
Uh-huh.
Sleep
Decided to go to sleep early (as in a more normal time). Lately I've been practicing to become a night owl and that is not me. So why did I have to wake up at 2:20 in the morning and not go back to sleep until after 4? Woke up at 5:15. Nocturnal injustice here!
Primeval
Watched another episode this morning. It is really a great series, glad I got pointed to it by![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
majkia. The CGI on the creatures is really good. After watching that I set off for the
Gym
Did 40 minutes of heavy-duty cycling and topped things off with 15 minutes running. Can we spell poopt? (Apparently not.) As the weather gods were in a good mood they had made the wind such that it hit me full frontal on the way biking back, so my legs told me all kinds of interesting things. Will I suffer from this abuse later?
Avatar
Going to see it in the cinema for the last time tonight. Makes a total of 6. I read somewhere that 20th Century Fox plans on bringing out DVDs and Blueray discs before the end of their fiscal year (end of June), so I will have to make do with an 'unofficial release' of the movie.
Tea
India Chai.
Dad
Saw him last Tuesday evening. he was doing really well. I'm glad. He has problems navigating the Windows Media Player that comes with Windows 7, so I will set up Winamp for him when I'm over there again. Hopefully the internet connect will be moved too then.
Writing
For the fans of Hilda: the new story is coming along just fine. I am working on chapter 21. And do remember: the current story of Hilda and William versus Zelda is still growing on the web.
My new story, inspired by Avatar (does sound better than stolen, right?) is coming along fine also. Working on chapter 41, revised chapters upto 10. Not sure when I feel safe in starting to posting, I'll let you know. Whether you care about it or not. Just because I can. So there. Just to tease, here's Zoodi:
Now
And that's all for now.
Decided to go to sleep early (as in a more normal time). Lately I've been practicing to become a night owl and that is not me. So why did I have to wake up at 2:20 in the morning and not go back to sleep until after 4? Woke up at 5:15. Nocturnal injustice here!
Primeval
Watched another episode this morning. It is really a great series, glad I got pointed to it by
majkia. The CGI on the creatures is really good. After watching that I set off for theGym
Did 40 minutes of heavy-duty cycling and topped things off with 15 minutes running. Can we spell poopt? (Apparently not.) As the weather gods were in a good mood they had made the wind such that it hit me full frontal on the way biking back, so my legs told me all kinds of interesting things. Will I suffer from this abuse later?
Avatar
Going to see it in the cinema for the last time tonight. Makes a total of 6. I read somewhere that 20th Century Fox plans on bringing out DVDs and Blueray discs before the end of their fiscal year (end of June), so I will have to make do with an 'unofficial release' of the movie.
Tea
India Chai.
Dad
Saw him last Tuesday evening. he was doing really well. I'm glad. He has problems navigating the Windows Media Player that comes with Windows 7, so I will set up Winamp for him when I'm over there again. Hopefully the internet connect will be moved too then.
Writing
For the fans of Hilda: the new story is coming along just fine. I am working on chapter 21. And do remember: the current story of Hilda and William versus Zelda is still growing on the web.
My new story, inspired by Avatar (does sound better than stolen, right?) is coming along fine also. Working on chapter 41, revised chapters upto 10. Not sure when I feel safe in starting to posting, I'll let you know. Whether you care about it or not. Just because I can. So there. Just to tease, here's Zoodi:
Now
And that's all for now.
Please help...
Feb. 2nd, 2010 09:54 pmhttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeacti
Life, day by day
Feb. 1st, 2010 08:13 amDad (1)
I went to see Dad again yesterday. He's doing very well. He is pleased with the new housing arrangement, he feels well and looks well. He's really thriving, I dare say. He does not need his roller inside the house:
He told me his legs are getting stronger (no more stress about where he's going and all that, I am sure that helps). And he is glad he has his own coffee maker, as he said the coffee in the house is not so good. *grin*
Dad (2)
There were some bits and pieces of his other PC (the mini tower) to collect from his old apartment. It's almost up and running. Somehow the power cable for the monitor decided to take a break and refused to be found. Bro in law said, when I called him, he'd get another one over. Now I am going to see Dad again on Tuesday, so I'll call him before I go over and make sure there's a cable. Otherwise I'll take one along.
Gym
Yesterday I went to the fitness hall again. Things are working well with that training scheme.
An online friend warned me not to hurt myself there. I told her that I'd hurt others instead. Well, I also told my trainer about that remark. Response: "You don't need to hurt yourself. That's what I am here for."
Uhm...
Snow
We had some more in the last few days, and at the moment some light snow is falling. For a change.
This is what I faced yesterday morning, after clearing the gallery once more.
A good thing is that it won't be freezing today, and tomorrow it will be well above freezing and we're supposed to have rain. That will take care of the white stuff. It looks pretty, but it's darned cold and dangerous.
Had a few interesting skids yesterday while I was out.
Work
Last week I had a talk with a new sales-lady from the office, who wanted to get to know me a bit. She's working hard on getting a foot in the door with some city councils. There is one, she said, that's very eager to get going with a lot of IT projects, and she thinks I would fit in there quite nicely. I almost died laughing when she told me the city she was referring to is Venlo. It is the town I lived in for over 40 years,the same town I was glad to "escape from" 9 years ago when I moved to Cuijk. Isn't that a comic.
She said that she may know something more specific in a while, after the carnaval (which would make it towards the end of February). That's nice timing, because I'll be back from a diving vacation in Egypt (Marsa Alam) by then.
Writing
Well, lots of that of course, still not having an assignment. The main projects are Zoodi, the story I was inspired to write after seeing Avatar, Lester (a detective), and the fifth Hilda story.
Blue beams
Yup. I have a blue-ray player now. And it is fabulous. I watched 2 original blue-ray movies on it, and that is awesome. The imagery is so clear, the sound is so phenomenal.
I've also watched a regular DVD on it. I had heard and read that a blue-ray player will enhance the picture of a DVD. It does. I sampled a part on the DVD player, then watched the same bit on the blue-ray machine. It's true. And to the reviewer who claims that blue-ray is only worth the while with televisions larger than 40": PFFFFFFFFT!! Get a better small-diameter television!
Note: yes, I write blue-ray. blu-ray just looks wrong.
Television series
No, not actual tv-broadcasts. A lot of the good stuff only makes it over here on the torrent waves. I am watching Castle now (which is great for ideas for my detective), Primeval (which is just great), Burn Notice (as it comes along, also great), and 'The IT crowd' (fabulous IT nerdmanship and silliness galore). I gave Demons a try, but after 2 episodes I have lost interest. The demons themselves are nicely done, but it's too much Buffus the demon slayer.
I went to see Dad again yesterday. He's doing very well. He is pleased with the new housing arrangement, he feels well and looks well. He's really thriving, I dare say. He does not need his roller inside the house:
Dad (2)
There were some bits and pieces of his other PC (the mini tower) to collect from his old apartment. It's almost up and running. Somehow the power cable for the monitor decided to take a break and refused to be found. Bro in law said, when I called him, he'd get another one over. Now I am going to see Dad again on Tuesday, so I'll call him before I go over and make sure there's a cable. Otherwise I'll take one along.
Gym
Yesterday I went to the fitness hall again. Things are working well with that training scheme.
An online friend warned me not to hurt myself there. I told her that I'd hurt others instead. Well, I also told my trainer about that remark. Response: "You don't need to hurt yourself. That's what I am here for."
Uhm...
Snow
We had some more in the last few days, and at the moment some light snow is falling. For a change.
This is what I faced yesterday morning, after clearing the gallery once more.
A good thing is that it won't be freezing today, and tomorrow it will be well above freezing and we're supposed to have rain. That will take care of the white stuff. It looks pretty, but it's darned cold and dangerous.
Had a few interesting skids yesterday while I was out.
Work
Last week I had a talk with a new sales-lady from the office, who wanted to get to know me a bit. She's working hard on getting a foot in the door with some city councils. There is one, she said, that's very eager to get going with a lot of IT projects, and she thinks I would fit in there quite nicely. I almost died laughing when she told me the city she was referring to is Venlo. It is the town I lived in for over 40 years,the same town I was glad to "escape from" 9 years ago when I moved to Cuijk. Isn't that a comic.
She said that she may know something more specific in a while, after the carnaval (which would make it towards the end of February). That's nice timing, because I'll be back from a diving vacation in Egypt (Marsa Alam) by then.
Writing
Well, lots of that of course, still not having an assignment. The main projects are Zoodi, the story I was inspired to write after seeing Avatar, Lester (a detective), and the fifth Hilda story.
Blue beams
Yup. I have a blue-ray player now. And it is fabulous. I watched 2 original blue-ray movies on it, and that is awesome. The imagery is so clear, the sound is so phenomenal.
I've also watched a regular DVD on it. I had heard and read that a blue-ray player will enhance the picture of a DVD. It does. I sampled a part on the DVD player, then watched the same bit on the blue-ray machine. It's true. And to the reviewer who claims that blue-ray is only worth the while with televisions larger than 40": PFFFFFFFFT!! Get a better small-diameter television!
Note: yes, I write blue-ray. blu-ray just looks wrong.
Television series
No, not actual tv-broadcasts. A lot of the good stuff only makes it over here on the torrent waves. I am watching Castle now (which is great for ideas for my detective), Primeval (which is just great), Burn Notice (as it comes along, also great), and 'The IT crowd' (fabulous IT nerdmanship and silliness galore). I gave Demons a try, but after 2 episodes I have lost interest. The demons themselves are nicely done, but it's too much Buffus the demon slayer.
As on this BBC news site:
Avatar Hallelujah Mountain in Hunan/ A scene of Pandora in Avatar
Officials said the film's images (R) were based on photos of the mountain
A Chinese mountain has reportedly been renamed in honour of the sci-fi film Avatar, after claims it had inspired scenery in the fantasy blockbuster.
The Southern Sky Column in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, will now be known as the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
Local officials said photographs of the mountain had been used as the basis for Avatar's fictional world of Pandora.
Avatar has become the most popular film ever in China, making $80m (£50m) at the box office so far.
Xiaoxiang Morning News said the mountain was officially renamed at a ceremony on Monday.
The paper said a photographer from Hollywood had visited the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, the location of the mountain, in 2008.
"Many pictures he took then become prototypes for various elements in the Avatar movie, including the 'Hallelujah Mountains'," Reuters quoted the website as saying.
(More on the BBC news site)
Avatar Hallelujah Mountain in Hunan/ A scene of Pandora in Avatar
Officials said the film's images (R) were based on photos of the mountain
A Chinese mountain has reportedly been renamed in honour of the sci-fi film Avatar, after claims it had inspired scenery in the fantasy blockbuster.
The Southern Sky Column in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, will now be known as the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
Local officials said photographs of the mountain had been used as the basis for Avatar's fictional world of Pandora.
Avatar has become the most popular film ever in China, making $80m (£50m) at the box office so far.
Xiaoxiang Morning News said the mountain was officially renamed at a ceremony on Monday.
The paper said a photographer from Hollywood had visited the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, the location of the mountain, in 2008.
"Many pictures he took then become prototypes for various elements in the Avatar movie, including the 'Hallelujah Mountains'," Reuters quoted the website as saying.
(More on the BBC news site)
Pagan bits in writing
Jan. 27th, 2010 08:47 pm
Why do I bring this up? This evening, again, I found out that, while I don’t do rituals, I can write them pretty well. I just did something that is half ritualistic and half Bardic, and I am very very pleased with it.
I went over the interwebs to look at different kinds of mythology, for research, as I was writing a story-teller who has to tell the myth of origin of their (alien) people. I came across the Lakota mythology, used that, and I am so very pleased with the way the story came out.
Long time ago I had to write a ritual also, for another story. That actually came out so well that someone who read it told me it made her cry, so moving as it was.
Sometimes I feel like writing is my ritual.
Dad
Moved. Sis picked him and his last small suitcase up from the nursing home and took him to the new place, where I was already waiting. The goodbye at the nursing home had been really nice, they said. Everyone hated to see him go, which gives a good sad feeling.
He was welcomed also by two people from the new home, which is good. His room is nice, he felt comfortable there. Sis and I left when someone came to show him to the dining room. Good going.
Internet
Coming weekend I hope I can set up Dad's internet. I'll also move his big PC then, so he has his whole data-centre where he wants it. LOL!
Package mail
Has not called yet (no note in the mailbox that they tried and did not find me), which is good. Today the Blue-ray player should be delivered. And the discs tomorrow, if all goes well.
Confirmation mail
Got one yesterday evening, that Valyrian Steel sends off my Needle today, and this morning I found a mail from UPS that they were ordered to do the pickup today. Things are moving. Soon I will be able to stick 'm with the pointy end!
Game of Thrones
Still enjoying the books tremendously. Reading Clash of Kings now. Dany just left the House of the Undead in Qarth...
Moved. Sis picked him and his last small suitcase up from the nursing home and took him to the new place, where I was already waiting. The goodbye at the nursing home had been really nice, they said. Everyone hated to see him go, which gives a good sad feeling.
He was welcomed also by two people from the new home, which is good. His room is nice, he felt comfortable there. Sis and I left when someone came to show him to the dining room. Good going.
Internet
Coming weekend I hope I can set up Dad's internet. I'll also move his big PC then, so he has his whole data-centre where he wants it. LOL!
Package mail
Has not called yet (no note in the mailbox that they tried and did not find me), which is good. Today the Blue-ray player should be delivered. And the discs tomorrow, if all goes well.
Confirmation mail
Got one yesterday evening, that Valyrian Steel sends off my Needle today, and this morning I found a mail from UPS that they were ordered to do the pickup today. Things are moving. Soon I will be able to stick 'm with the pointy end!
Game of Thrones
Still enjoying the books tremendously. Reading Clash of Kings now. Dany just left the House of the Undead in Qarth...
Tech, Linux, Java, Firefox 3.6
Jan. 27th, 2010 07:42 amIn case you're running Linux and using Firefox 3.6, there's something to take notice of.
For some obscure reason the Mozilla gang changed to using a different library for Java support in Firefox 3.6 (and up, probably).
Instead of softlinking libjavaplugin_oji.so to the firefox/plugins dir you now need to softlink libnpjp2.so. Took me a while before I found this out (and located it on an Ubuntu forum, not on the Mozilla site itself!)
For some obscure reason the Mozilla gang changed to using a different library for Java support in Firefox 3.6 (and up, probably).
Instead of softlinking libjavaplugin_oji.so to the firefox/plugins dir you now need to softlink libnpjp2.so. Took me a while before I found this out (and located it on an Ubuntu forum, not on the Mozilla site itself!)
Time for an assignment yet?
Jan. 25th, 2010 10:06 amMy feats of the past handful of days are... uhm... not very featful.
Dad
Went to see Dad yesterday. He's been in hospital for a few days again after yet another a light Cerebro Vascular Attack, but he's okay again. We'll have to wait for him to move until the nursing home physio declares him fit for that. His new place at least is ready for him.
Television
Got the first 3 seasons of Primeval and watched 2 episodes. Also watched a few Castle-episodes,they are fun.
Blue-ray
Ordered a few blue-raydiscs at amazon UK, as they have a raging discount action going on them.
I ordered:
Blue-ray again
Well, to play these discs you need a blue-ray player, and as I do not have one, I ordered one of those puppies also. Not at Amazon UK, but at a dutch store. Always just a bit more convenient in case of warranty issues. I ordered a NAD T587. I blame the person who got me hooked on NAD for getting more NAD equipment. (Well, that would be me, in this case.)
Writing
Doing a lot of that. I so far wrote 31 chapters in the new Zoodi story, 7 of them being reworked several times already. Hilda story #5 has progressed to chapter 15. Lots of funny stuff in there again. :-)
Blue-ray again
I know the normal name is "blu-ray", but that looks just so wrong, with the missing "e".
Dad
Went to see Dad yesterday. He's been in hospital for a few days again after yet another a light Cerebro Vascular Attack, but he's okay again. We'll have to wait for him to move until the nursing home physio declares him fit for that. His new place at least is ready for him.
Television
Got the first 3 seasons of Primeval and watched 2 episodes. Also watched a few Castle-episodes,they are fun.
Blue-ray
Ordered a few blue-raydiscs at amazon UK, as they have a raging discount action going on them.
I ordered:
- Blade Runner-the final cut
- 2001 a space odyssey
- Godzilla
- the Matrix (first movie)
Blue-ray again
Well, to play these discs you need a blue-ray player, and as I do not have one, I ordered one of those puppies also. Not at Amazon UK, but at a dutch store. Always just a bit more convenient in case of warranty issues. I ordered a NAD T587. I blame the person who got me hooked on NAD for getting more NAD equipment. (Well, that would be me, in this case.)
Writing
Doing a lot of that. I so far wrote 31 chapters in the new Zoodi story, 7 of them being reworked several times already. Hilda story #5 has progressed to chapter 15. Lots of funny stuff in there again. :-)
Blue-ray again
I know the normal name is "blu-ray", but that looks just so wrong, with the missing "e".
I really don't understand what is the matter left and right, with Firefox and Google's feed-reader.
On FF 3.0.16 and FF3.5.7 it worked just fine, snappy, no problem. Now the upgrade to FF 3.6 happened and it's lag, lag, lag again.
Going from 1 article to the next takes 2 to 3 seconds. I know, 3 seconds is not much, but if you have to wait for that each time, when going through 45 articles, that does add up.
So I went on a hunt and found feedly. This is a combination of an add-on and a website, and this feed-reading situation is really nice. Feedly allows you to pick a layout that suits you best, and hands you some (limited but still) options to tweak what is shows and what's left out. It can even show you the last bunch of twitter-articles from your feed.
Best of all, which was my reason to go looking: it's fast. No more 3 seconds wait between articles.
On FF 3.0.16 and FF3.5.7 it worked just fine, snappy, no problem. Now the upgrade to FF 3.6 happened and it's lag, lag, lag again.
Going from 1 article to the next takes 2 to 3 seconds. I know, 3 seconds is not much, but if you have to wait for that each time, when going through 45 articles, that does add up.
So I went on a hunt and found feedly. This is a combination of an add-on and a website, and this feed-reading situation is really nice. Feedly allows you to pick a layout that suits you best, and hands you some (limited but still) options to tweak what is shows and what's left out. It can even show you the last bunch of twitter-articles from your feed.
Best of all, which was my reason to go looking: it's fast. No more 3 seconds wait between articles.
Haiti and Voodoo
Jan. 23rd, 2010 08:06 amI found this little bit on Wildhunt.org:
Stupid Things Being Said About Vodou: Mark Krikorian, at National Review Online, joined the growing “it’s all Voodoo’s fault” chorus yesterday with this rousing endorsement of colonialism.
Stupid Things Being Said About Vodou: Mark Krikorian, at National Review Online, joined the growing “it’s all Voodoo’s fault” chorus yesterday with this rousing endorsement of colonialism.
“My guess is that Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough … A major indicator of how superficial is the overlay of French culture in Haiti is the strength of paganism, in the form of voodoo — the French just weren’t around long enough to suppress it, to the detriment of Haitians.”Yes, if only they had been under the heel of the French for a bit longer, because we all know how well colonialism worked out for the Native Americans. Do these commentators actually read what they write before it gets posted? I wonder.
