Willowsrealm

Well, another one bites the dust. Am I the only one who’s commented on a blog, only to see the blog deleted by it’s user? Twice now this has happened.

Some of you may remember Matthew Richmond. He is a christian and decided to engage a few of us in debate in my Science vs. Religion series. He got hammered pretty hard when he said we should approach some things “with our hearts open and our critical minds closed”. It really didn’t go over that well with one or two of my more ardent readers, but it did make for an excellent discussion. Well, he stopped commenting and when next I went to look at his blog, it was no longer – “This user currently has no blogs” was the message. I’ve kept him in my fiends list though in the vain hope that he will return one day. I still check from time to time.

That was a fairly sad occasion, simply because Matthew was prepared to engage in a discussion. This time however, I guiltily found myself quite chuffed at the fact that I goaded a blogger into deleting their blog.

The blog in question was a thing called Willowsrealm as you can see, “This user currently has no blogs” isn’t the half of it. It seems that Blognow have even removed the profile. I wonder if they were asked to or whether Marcel uncovered their sordid plan?

Anyway, the difference with this one was that they were asking for money. Ten dollars would buy you an emailed tarot reading and thirty, the snail mailed recording. Then there was the angels for five dollars. The angels? Well, they said that they talked to the angels and for a poultry 5 bucks would let you know what the cheeky buggers were saying about you.

Unlike the usual Viagra and travel agency spammers however, this one allowed comments, so I put one there along the lines of “Look folks, we’ve got our very own Sylvia Browne.” When I went back the next day, in the hope that there’d be a reply, I found, to my chagrin, that my comment had been deleted. Well, I didn’t swear and I didn’t say it was crap or anything, so what’s the big deal? That was when I decided that I needed to write “Woo for everyone II”.

After that, I got to thinking about what James Randi might do if he saw something like this on his free blogging service, so I whipped out a quick challenge. Now I don’t own a foundation, nor do I have a cool million bucks to spend, so I guess my challenge wasn’t quite as inspiring as his, but I figured I could scrape together a hundred in a pinch, so here’s what I did.

First I made the following comment on Willowsrealm:

Why don't you show us how good you are Willow, and advertise your skills as you go.

Here's a challenge. I'll give you any info you need about me to do a tarot reading, publicly, here in your comments and in my blog. You can post the reading here for all to see and I will get my wife or anyone you want that would know, to verify, or not, what you see in your reading, for past, present and as the future arrives, for that as well.

If you can be more than 50% accurate with anything in my past or present, I will pay you 10 times your fee, if not you get nothing. We'll leave the future out, if you want, unless you see something very short term.

Then I posted the same challenge in a comment on mine and kept an eye on Statcounter. My deleted comment made it obvious that Willow kept an eye on the blog, so I didn’t bother with a comment to let them know I’d done it, I just waited until they were online then posted it.

Sure enough, within a couple of minutes I’d had a hit on my post and the referring page was Willowsrealm. I chuckled with glee and thought nothing more about it until later that night when I logged on and saw that I had no new comments. I wondered at that point if Willow had responded on their own blog, so I took myself off to look. Well, if I was chagrined at having my comment deleted you can imagine my pleasure when I saw the whole blog had been deleted.

There are a few reasons for my glee at my success. Firstly, this is a free forum and this person was here for no other reason than to garner funds. Secondly, I’ve tested quite a few tarot readers in my time and haven’t managed to find one yet that actually got anything much right, past present or future. Lastly and to be honest, that “talking to angels” thing freaked me out a little bit.

11:04 AM - 7/3/2007 - comments {8} - post comment

Woo for everyone II

I’ve found a new blog to read. Willowsrealm is what it’s called but there doesn’t seem to be much substance. I left a comment, but it got deleted so I thought it best that I have a little look around and see what this person is up to. I figure that because they’re asking for money in a free forum and therefore have crossed the line and posted SPAM in our forum, they’re fair game. So, to Willowsrealm we go.

There’s a little bit to get through, but it’s always best to start at the beginning, so that’s what we’ll do:

Enter the magical world of Tarot,

I guess I didn’t really need to read much past that to get to the gist of it.

Readings are read (what else can you do with them?) by an experienced, passionate tarot reader, ~*willowsrealm*~.

This is all there is by way of credentials here, so thanks Willow. We wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t told us. You could at least tell us where and when you graduated from tarot school. A little educational punch, especially if you expect people to listen when you tell them how they should live their lives, never goes astray. “Every little helps”, as my mum always says.

You’ll be pleased to hear though that your tarot reading will only cost you $10 if it’s emailed to you but $30 for a recording to be posted. Personally I think I’d go for the email. It’s always best to have the evidence in writing if you can manage it. Although, a signed transcript of the recording would probably be better in court, but as we’ve seen with various Royal Commissions, an email can get you into just as much trouble.

Trouble is though that if I was to get a reading from Willow, then a reading from one of the ladies my wife works with, then get a reading at random out of the paper, then go and see the most expensive tarot reader I can find, every single reading will be different. I know this because I’ve tried it. One or two almost got close to the truth too, but none could be more accurate than less than %50 with their guesses and predictions. That makes it no better than chance so it’s obvious that they were all guessing.

Now for my favourite bit:

Ask the Angels A question You will learn what the angels have wanted to tell you…

Oh dear… And that's just for the use of capitals and lack of punctuation. But which angels would those be Willow, the little ones in your head that just won’t keep quiet? Sorry, that was a low blow but you’re going to have to do better than that. For starters your going to have to say which ones. I mean, are we talking Arch Angels here? You know, your Michaels, Gabriels and Satans or just your run of the mill “guardian” angels like George or Nancy? I reckon you should probably do a separate line in Arch Angels though. Surely those lads would be worth much more than the poultry 5 bucks your asking. Money in the bank. But once again people, your “Angel speak” will be emailed to you within 12 hours.

Guided by Spirit, Given with Blessing, Love & Light…

I’d have thought that spirits could do better than 12 hours, but what that “light” on the end is supposed to mean has got me stumped! How do you give someone something with light? Give them a lit candle or a switched on torch I suppose.

Seriously though, this is much worse than anything even Sylvia Browne has managed to dream up so I had a poke around at the web site. At least Willow has the decency not to charge $700 for an over the phone reading like Sylvia. But everything there is nice and anonymous, not even a PO Box. All there is, is an email link to a user called “twistedwillow”. Now that made me giggle.

I had to wonder, what with all this stuff about speaking with angels, why Willow would bother with the Wicca stuff that’s advertised at that site. Has Willow not read Revelation? You’d like to think that Willow had if Willow is talking with angels, but Revelation makes it quite clear that if it doesn’t come from god then it comes from the devil and the whole pentagram/witchcraft thing seems to me at least, to be a little “devil” (notice how I’m not saying Satan here…) inspired. So it would seem my dear Willow, that biblically speaking, you can’t possibly be talking to angels unless they’re angels of the kind that most gawd fearin’ folk prefer to steer clear of. Me, I just prefer to steer clear, unless of course they should happen to try and lay down some spam and solicit business in our beautiful free forum.

1:05 PM - 23/2/2007 - comments {15} - post comment

Birthday Rant!

Well, it’s my birthday today so I thought I’d treat myself to one of my favourite rants. Enjoy…:)

You see, I had a visit from some Jehovah’s Witnesses on Saturday. They were very polite and were happy to stop and have a chat with me. Obviously, these particular guys hadn’t been around before and I think the woman was angling for a cuppa because she kept trying to see into the kitchen. She was out of luck though, because I’ve been experimenting. I think you get a better argument if you keep them at the door. Although, if you invite them in for a cuppa and leave the bickies in plain view but don’t offer them any, that seems to work just as well.

Anyway, we began with the usual menials, “how are you”, “lovely day”, that sort of thing, but quickly moved on to what mattered most. My spiritual wellbeing. Now bear in mind that it was lunchtime, I’d done night shift the night before and hadn’t slept yet. I told them this but they continued on undeterred, so I did too.

First came a little introduction to their tracts. Was I familiar with them? I explained that I was probably more familiar with them than they could imagine, being the type that likes to rip this stuff apart on my blog. He frowned and she told me that that wasn’t very nice. I told her not to cast aspersions where they weren’t warranted because I’d wager that she’d never read my blog and therefore probably wouldn’t know. So were they familiar with my blog? Well no, so we got that cleared up in short order. I explained that I was very polite about it, I invited comment and that they were welcome to do so too if they were so inclined, and left it at that.

So then we got onto how fantastic god is. Now this is where it got interesting. I agreed that he is indeed fantastic because god is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Says so in that book you’ve got there. They agreed so I went on with the bit about that if this is how he wanted the world to be, and obviously he did, then he’s probably not really all that fantastic, when you think about it. When I mentioned that the people holding the reigns of power seem to all be good god fearin’ folk after all, they told me that they are the wrong sort of christians and are victims of false religion. Really? I told them the Mormons were here last week and told me that the Jehovah’s were wrong, so one of them has to prove it now. Would they like to be first? Apparently not…

That was when they started on the tried and true idea that the reason things are so bad is because there’s a battle going on. I agreed that Iraq is a prime example of what christians are capable of when they put their minds to it, but they politely corrected me. Apparently the battle is between god and the devil. I told them that this was news to me and asked if they were telling me that the current state of affairs was all the devil’s fault. They said “Yes”, I said “Oh dear…”

At least now we’re getting to the crux of the matter though, or so I thought. So I asked them to point out a story in the bible that mentions Satan or (anyone else for that matter) being cast from heaven. They told me it was all right there in Job. I said “Oh dear…” (again) and explained about the Archangel Satan, “The Accuser”, what his job is and that nowhere in Job is he cast out of heaven. Nowhere. If they were willing to look at my blog I’d have just pointed them to El Diablo. As it was, I had to explain that Satan really hasn’t been around that long and that the other old testament stories aren’t about the devil or Satan either and put them all into their proper historical perspective so they could understand.

After a rather frantic but fruitless search through the “good book”, accentuated by many surprised looks and red faces, we turned straight to the subject of living forever. I said “perish the thought”, they were aghast. They couldn’t get it through their heads that I’d rather have no life at all than spend eternity with a megalomaniac. Then I had to explain again that hell really isn’t an option because there isn’t really a devil in the bible. He told me it was all in Revelation. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I said that Revelation wasn’t written until 600ad. I don’t know where that figure came from, but he managed to win a point from me when he said it was actually 96ad. Conceded…

So just to be cheeky and to see if I could get away with it, I asked if we knew who wrote it. It worked, he said it was John the Apostle. So I took some time here to explain that John the Apostle was a contemporary of Jesus. They agreed. I then explained that 96ad is 96 years after Jesus is supposed to have died. I was greeted by blank looks, so I felt obliged to explain that even if John lived to be 100 (very unlikely) and died the year he wrote the book, he was only 4 when Jesus died. In that case, please explain how he could possibly have been an apostle if he was only 1 when Jesus began his ministry.

That was when they realised that that line of argument wasn’t going to get them very far, so they turned to science. Here, they really were scraping the bottom of the barrel. The first thing they mentioned was cryogenics (yes, we’re still on the “living forever” thing). I said that there’s nothing to worry about there, we don’t actually have the technology to make that possible, even though John and Walt had hopes. But if we thaw those lads out now, all we’ll be left with is a mess. That didn’t stop them though, so I explained about ice crystals and the need for some sort of anti-freeze, otherwise cells get destroyed during the freezing. I also explained that at the moment and at anytime in the foreseeable future, there’s probably very little chance of people being able to live forever by being frozen. They told me there are other ways to live forever. Oooh mysterious… I told them I’d be surprised if they could prove it.

Ah, but that’s what god wants, or so I’m told and the proof comes from within. You can’t see it and you can’t measure it. Well of course not. Duh! Then they explained about god’s plan. You know, paradise on earth and all that. I explained that the pictures in their tracts (yes, she actually pointed to one as part of her explanation) really are very simplistic, extremely misleading and probably wouldn’t find a place in a decent illustrated children’s bible, unless it was one of theirs, of course. Then there were the inevitable cries of; “but the bible is the truth” to which they got a standard “what, the one you guys wrote in 1950, or the original?” Now I’m afraid to say that that didn’t go over very well. Seems I’m allowed to know my bible history, but Charles Taze Russell and the history of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is taboo to the uninitiated…:)

So it was that at this point I took the opportunity to politely explain that I really did need some sleep and so they took their leave. They were kind enough to leave me a copy of “Watchtower” and “Awake!”, so it wasn’t all bad at the end. I’ve got material enough now to last me quite a while…:)

11:26 AM - 5/2/2007 - comments {17} - post comment

Psychics.

I may have changed the name, but as you can see Plonka is still very much Plonka…:)

Those who are regular readers (you know who you are) will know that there are times I can be a bit of a sceptic. Something, or I should say someone, has come to my attention once again and I can’t keep my mouth shut this time. So people, it’s time for some more WOO! Grab a coffee, tea, vegemite and hot water or whatever takes your fancy, kick back, have a read and watch the clip. I’m interested in what you have to say…

There are two of these so called psychics or mediums in particular that get my goat. John Edwards and Sylvia Browne. Johnny boy seems to have been a bit quiet since people started to accept the fact that he’s a total fraud. I guess that if you say things like “I can prove it” and “I’ll take your test” and “Of course I can do it with a single person I’ve never met before in a controlled environment”, then go on to refuse to take James Randi’s test, fail miserably at proving it and just not bother to turn up for the last one, then it’s hardly surprising that the world wakes up and says “You look like a fraud to me!” Still, the guy made his money cashing in on people’s misery, and that makes him a total blackguard (and I mean that with all the old world sentiment attached). He should be made to pay it back but unfortunately, this swindle is legal.

Sylvia Browne on the other hand, can’t seem to keep her mouth shut and seems to be totally convinced by what she says about herself. This woman is worse than Edwards ever was in my opinion. I’ve been seeing her a lot lately, telling us how she works with the police all the time and gives them leads that help them solve crimes and in the case of the clip you’re about to see, telling people their kids are dead when they’re not.

Every time I see this woman do her funky thing, one thing strikes me. When she’s telling people what she’s “getting”, she always looks away and creases her brow, covers her face or waves a hand or both. These my friends, are classic signs of distress and are signs that interrogators around the world are trained to see as signs of lies being told.

She says she works with the police. Well as you know, I work for a paytv company and get to see a lot of weird documentaries. I saw an interview with her the other day where she talked about some of these “cases”, and I use the term loosely. I wonder why it is then that she couldn’t or wouldn’t name any of the police departments or even any county that she’d done work for. I also wonder why it is that I can’t find any valid information, by that I mean anything other than Sylvia Browne saying so, that confirms she’s done any work at all for any police anywhere. She also says she’s done work for the FBI, but that must be classified because they say that she’s never done any work for them when they’re pressed.

What I found interesting about it though, were her mannerisms. When she was talking about herself, she was able to look at either the interviewer or the camera without issue. When she talked about the “cases” however, she looked mostly at the ceiling with a rather painful look on her face. My first impression overwhelmingly, was that she was lying. The distress she was showing was unbelievable and unmistakable.

Anyway, to the promised clip. It concerns Sean Hornbeck and what she did to his parents on national television. I’d like the parents out there to try and imagine you are these poor people…

I’m of the firm belief that no parent should ever have to bury a child. I really don’t think I’d deal with it very well. But to make parents go through that unnecessarily is, in my humble opinion, a crime. But then to say that she’ll give them more information for her “standard fee”, whatever it is, well, blackguard doesn’t begin to describe it!

There are some links there that will enable you to do a little poking around about these two. Have a read and make up your own mind. As far as I can tell and as Robert Lancaster says she’s wrong more often than she’s right. Even if she averaged 50% though, that makes it no better than chance, which simply means she’s guessing.

So, you tell me, genuine psychic or complete fraud?

7:28 PM - 25/1/2007 - comments {20} - post comment

The end is nigh!

The end of false religion.

I got some more religious spam. It was on paper and in the letterbox this time, but it pretty much amounts to the same thing in my opinion, and you know how I feel about that…

“A worldwide message”

“The End Of False Religion Is Near!”

1. What is false religion?
2. How will it end?
3. How will you be affected?

Hope swelled within when I read that. I thought we might have finally come to our senses and declared religion false. Alas! You can imagine my chagrin when I turned the page and uncovered the grubby fingerprints of Jehovah and his so called Witnesses. What a waste of a fantastic title! I’m not worried so much about the false religion thing, it’s true. It’s the false hope that I’m annoyed about. But that’s religion, isn’t it?

First some background. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were founded by Charles Taze Russell in 1879. Well, he had a spat with one of his fellow cronies, the one who’s eschatology he’d adopted (a certain Nelson H Barbour) and started to publish his own magazine, Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. No prizes for guessing it’s current name. In 1881 he created the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. So there you have it. A young upstart by comparison to most. Oh yeah, they also wrote and published their own version of the bible in 1950 because the usual one didn’t tell enough lies the truth as they saw it.

Right, into the tract….

First heading: What is false religion? Well, there’s no explanation here, just a few more questions like; Why does religion seem to be at the root of so many problems? I’d have thought that god might be a good place to start here, but no, apparently it’s false religion that’s the problem. A bit of Matthew, 7:15-17, the stuff about false prophets and bad fruit, and that’s all. The way they word it, it seems to be saying “bad fruit means false religion”. Ok, I’ll remember that…

Second heading: Meddles in war and politics: Ah, now it’s becoming clearer, it’s metaphorical fruit. We have a quote from the well known and highly respected journal, Asiaweek (it’s CNN, but I couldn’t find the article) that concerns the manipulation of religious sentiment to justify terrorism. Fair enough you say. But then we get some 1 John 4:20, “If anyone says ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.” Then some more Matty with 5:44 about loving your enemies. It looks like they conveniently forgot about Luke 14:25-35 which is all about the need to hate your Father, Mother, sister, brother etc. Maybe it’s just an editorial error…

Third heading: Spreads false doctrine: I think we may have just covered that, but let’s have another poke at it anyway because it gets interesting here. Apparently we have no immortal soul. Phew! It’s true or there’d be no need for resurrection, see? (Ezekial 18:4  Eclesiates 9:5, John 11:11-25) Well, it sort of says that but then, I don’t have their bible and maybe theirs says just exactly that. I’ll ask next time they knock.

Fourth heading: Tolerates immoral sex: Here we go, another beat up on homosexuals in general, same sex marriage, homosexual clergy, etc. They’ve added a kicker though. …tolerated religious leaders who have sexually abused children. Even politicians don’t stoop that low. Grubby tactics if you ask me!

So, How will false religion end? Picture the scene. A harlot is sitting on the back of a fearsome beast. The beast has seven heads and ten horns…. A whole bunch of Revelation here. In fact, it’s all Revelation. Apparently the harlot represents all religions that produce rotten fruit. The beast that the harlot rides pictures the world’s political powers. O…k…. So the world’s political powers are going to eat the false religions that produce rotten fruit. Not very tasty I’d have thought, but who am I? Although, I’ve seen cows get into an orchard and eat half fermented windfalls and get seriously drunk. Maybe that’s got something to do with it, who knows…

Then we get onto How do you recognise true religion? This is basically answered with “Talk to a Jehovah’s Witness” and read “Watch Tower regularly”, although they use a few more words to say it.

That’s about it really. There’s a few ads for some books they’ve written and of course, your coupon to fill out and send in for more information. You can also tick the box for “a free home Bible study”. How cool’s that? I might have to send this in…:-)

9:35 AM - 30/10/2006 - comments {19} - post comment

The Mufti's shooftee

The Mufti who was…

From The Australian, 27 Oct. 2006

"If one puts uncovered meat out in the street, or on the footpath, or in the garden, or in the park, or in the backyard, without a cover and then the cats come and eat it, is it the fault of the cat or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem ... If she was in her room, in her house, wearing her hijab, being chaste, the disasters wouldn't have happened. The woman possesses the weapon of seduction and temptation,"

Bigoted? A chauvinist? Disrespectful? Or just a good Muslim? Please note the absence of any need for responsibility on the person who sees “seduction and temptation” when what he should see, is another human being.

That sounds a tad harsh I know, but when you listen to the rhetoric that comes from some Muslim sections of our society, at times it seems to be all of those things and much more. But then we always get the “Islam is a religion of peace you know…” Sorry guys, but your own rhetoric makes a mockery of that statement because it seems that Islam will only ever be peaceful once it’s the only religion left and everyone believes it.

Anyway, here’s what he said afterwards, probably not long after he realised that his words were heard by many who are not Muslim, ooops:

"I fully respect women. Any degrading conduct towards or disrespect to women is degrading conduct and disrespect for my mother, my sister, my wife and my daughter."

Give me a break! After you said what you did, you now expect me to believe you have respect for what you obviously see as either someone who should be covered up and shut away, never to see the light of day or alternatively, something you see as nothing more than a piece of meat. Hmmm. Somehow, I don’t think I’m likely to abelieve you Mr. Mufti. I’m much more likely to have pity for your mother, sister, wife and daughter who are undoubtedly locked in their rooms, wearing their hijabs and being chaste as I type. I say that because I’m sure, being as devoutly responsible as you are, that you’d practice what you preach.

Obviously though, he’s smart to enough to realise that there are some non muslims out there who will see through his hollow words, so some more damage control was required. Here’s what his daughter had to say:

"he has probably spent more time working for women's rights than for his own family. And he has upheld the values of all women, no matter what they wear."

Yeah right, “probably”. I think she needs to look that one up. I reckon that If he was as active in this area as she makes out, you’d probably be able to Google him up with the following search string “Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali women's rights”. All that turns up is a bunch of stuff about how he advocates women wearing the veil and being very unclear about whether or not he condones terrorism. I hope she’ll forgive me for reserving judgement on that until I hear it from some non muslim women, but being the infidel I am I doubt it.

To show such disdain for women, regardless how they dress or who they are, in my opinion makes the man a complete and utter fool. “But he helped and supported Michelle Lesley!” Really? I’d say he saw a good marketing opportunity in a cute face and a nice body, nothing more. He even supported her return to the cat walk dressed as nothing more than the affore mentioned piece of meat, in a bathing suit, which doesn't sound much like a hijab to me.

Is it just me or is anyone else out there getting sick of hearing this sort of crap? Personally I reckon it’s time it stopped. But how, that’s the question. My solution is simple, but by no means easy. We need to kill god. Sorry, but that’s all there is to it. Of course, no god doesn’t automatically mean no fundamentalism, but it would give those that feel a need to be passionate about something the opportunity to be passionate about things that actually need to be addressed, rather than spend their lives and energies on an endless quest in pursuit of a utopian paradise that even in the wildest dreams of the most insane, couldn’t possibly exist.

Many have said that religion and hypocrisy go hand in hand and I see nothing to contradict them here…….

12:24 PM - 28/10/2006 - comments {6} - post comment

Three Reasons

He’s supposed to be all things to everyone, so here’s a few to get you started…;-)

Three reasons Jesus was Jewish:

1. He went into His Father's business.

2. He lived at home until he was 33.

3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God.

Three reasons Jesus was Australian

1.      He went walkabout.

2.      He copped it sweet.

3.      He had to get up for smoko.

Three reasons Jesus was African American:

1. He called everyone brother.

2. He liked Gospel.

3. He couldn't get a fair trial.

Three reasons Jesus was Californian:

1. He never cut His hair.

2. He walked around barefoot all the time.

3. He started a new religion.

Three reasons Jesus was a Native American:

1. He was at peace with nature.

2. He could live off the land.

3. He talked about the Great Spirit.

Three reasons Jesus was a WOMAN:

1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.

2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.

3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was work to do.

7:17 PM - 8/10/2006 - comments {2} - post comment

Och Laddy!

I just have to repost this one. Woof! Woof!

I saw it over at GIFS and laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.

It seems that our magnificent and magical messiah (Jesus) has revealed himself for us once again. Nothing so mundane as a piece of toast, a slice of pizza or a potato though, no way! Anyone can do that. Our Lord has gone out of his way so we can be sure that he’s real and to let us know what he really thinks of us this time.

Meet Angus MacDougal. He’s a three year old terrier mix and as cheeky a lookin’ pooch as you're ever likely to see. In fact, he seems quite normal really.

Someone happened to notice however, that young Angus has been  "touched" by the Lord. Personally, I think the Lord could have found a better place to reveal himself, but hey, we're told that the Lord works in mysterious ways so who am I to question how and where he does these things.

I also wonder how you'd come to notice it but once again, who am I to question what people do in their spare time...:)

I'm not sure we'll see this one on Ebay though... So how does Angus reveal Jesus to us? Well here ya go........

10:05 AM - 24/9/2006 - comments {11} - post comment

Push Bike Twister

“The Yoga of Cycling.”

Well, you can imagine what I thought when I read that can’t you? You see, I like to ride my bike, even more so these days because I’m doing something ridiculously stupid and will ride Melbourne’s “Around The Bay In A Day” soon, 210km with the goal being to get it done in about 8 hours or so. Well, less than 10 anyway… That being the case though, a bit of work’s been required out on the road, so I thought I’d best join Bicycle Victoria, if for no other reason than membership provides some pretty decent insurance.

Another thing that membership provides is the monthly magazine “Ride On”. Generally it’s not to bad, with articles and reviews of nerdy bike stuff like lights, computers, mudguards, clothing, racks, panniers, etc, your more practical sort of a publication. You can imagine my surprise then when I saw the above headline, in red bold type, emblazoned on the cover of this months issue. In smaller white type underneath it says “Riding is a state of mind”. Oh dear…

The article get’s top billing in the index so it must be good. I dutifully turn to page 8 as directed and am immediately confronted by a glassy eyed practitioner of what seems to be “push bike twister”, except that the ever present yoga mat doesn’t have the required red, blue and yellow dots. It’s a bit spooky lookin’ though because this guy’s got a serious stare. I guess that look is just supposed to convey peace and tranquillity, but it looks to me like he took to many of the red pills and not enough of the green ones that morning. Still, he seems to be able to tie himself into some interesting knots, all the while incorporating his push bike AND yoga mat while wearing his helmet. Weird…

I knew the article was probably going to be more of the same, but I just couldn’t help myself;

Yoga is not just about post-ride stretches, it’s a state of mind that can change your attitude to cycling.

Well, we’re not off to a very good start here are we? I mean, I like to stretch after a good ride, it helps lessen the pain the next day but seriously, this dude’s standing on his head with his bike between his feet. I guess that’d probably help me relax for a bit after a ride though, but only while I regained consciousness. This is just the bold type introduction by the way, the real article is still to come, as Lucy Broome reports…

We open with the common story of struggling up the hill in Melbourne’s peak-hour traffic in the pouring rain on your way home, negotiating traffic and trams in narrow streets. Woe is me. It even includes an idiot that opens the car door without looking, right in front of you, as if you didn’t already know that was going to happen and have it constantly on your mind and weren’t ready for it. Relief comes in the following thought though, apparently;

“Thank god I wasn’t going any faster… that I was watching the road ahead and wasn’t distracted.”

Lucy, sorry, but you forgot the bit about pointing out the stupidity of the person’s actions at the top of your lungs. Really, it’s very important. Sorry to any motorists that may have been on the receiving end of that, but when you’ve just had a life threatening experience, it’s always best to get it off your chest immediately I find. It helps avoid a bad dose of the shakes later on.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the next heading and it’s opening couple of sentences;

Cycling Yoga?

Yoga is not just restricted to a few postures on a rubber mat. The practice of yoga pervades our lives and in its fullest form…blah blah… and of course, while riding a bike.

Then we get the analogy of the stirred pond and the still pond which leads into a short discourse on the aim of meditation. Is this seriously suggesting I “meditate” while I’m riding? Sorry, but there’s just to much else to concentrate on, like traffic, debris on the rode, pedestrians stepping off kerbs, etc. I’d like to get home in one piece really, if that’s ok.

You are as you breathe

Some lessons on how to breathe here, which is good. Well, I need that, I haven’t been doing it very long after all. I like the way it talks about how you breathe as being beneficial and influencing your state of mind but never speaks of what you breathe.

Lengthen when exhaling a little more than when you inhale. In doing so, you are directly affecting the nervous system to bring about a calmer state.

I have to wonder how well that works when you’re labouring in the exhaust fumes of a small truck?

Stay focussed: The use of a Dristi

Ah Grasshopper, did you not know that a Dristi is a Sanskrit term for ‘point of focus’. This is important Grasshopper, because;

directing our gaze at a single point we are doing 2 things:

1. We are making efficient use of our limited energy resources……..
2. By choosing a dristi and, therefore, blinkering ourselves to distracting objects around us, we are more able to stay in the ‘present’

This is a wee ripper isn’t it? Stay focussed on a point a certain distance in front and pay no attention whatsoever to what’s going on around you. Brilliant! I don’t know why she put “present” in inverted commas. Let’s face it, if you don’t pay attention while your out riding on the road, you probably won’t have much of a future, so I reckon she’s bang on there. So much for “not being distracted” when the idiot opened the car door above too… ouch. There’s a broken collar bone at best…:-(

At last, the article draws to a close with a bit about how good yoga is for the spine. While I have to agree that stretching the back is probably important, I fail to see the importance of opening my mind to the universe while I do it, or any other stretching I might think I need to do before or after I ride.

It ends with Lucy’s credentials;

Lucy Broome is a Melbourne based yoga teacher and writer. If there were a ‘slow cycling’ movement she would join it. And eat a slow lunch in the sun afterwards. For more information on yoga with Lucy email yogarising@dodo.com.au

That almost sounds like someone thinks Lucy might be a bit ‘slow’, doesn’t it?

So guys, please, just stick to the bike stuff, that’s all good…

5:29 PM - 15/9/2006 - comments {16} - post comment

Not Happy! Finale

Ok folks, as promised. Here’s John’s last email. We’ll take a closer look at this one though. He’s in italics;

Yes I have been "researching" all of that stuff for over  30 years.

I like the way he’s put “researching” in inverted commas. The term is obviously used loosely here. What surprises me though is that he’s found enough in it to keep him interested and occupied that long.

My initial email was merely a polite (hopefully non-offensive) attempt to introduce you to Adi Da's Wisdom Teaching.

Well I’m sorry John, but unsolicited email of any nature is offensive. Religious “propaganda” is worse, in my opinion. And what happened to the “Luminous Wisdom Teaching” from your first email? I liked the “luminous”, it sort of gave it a bit more mystical oomph I thought.

In effect an invitation for you to consider it and make up your own mind. That is all.  No attempt at conversion.

That certainly sounds to me like there’s a decision to be made where I might just decide to convert. Doubtful, but possible. If only you had spent a little more time and read a little more John. Then you’d have known how doubtful it was and probably would have picked on someone else.

The same insipid "tactics" that I use a lot.

Look out people, there’s one coming your way for sure. Definitely would have picked on someone else though. A lot, by the sound of things.

If you happened to find it useful then good. If not then good too! 

Well, he had to say that, didn’t he? Of course, if I had found it useful, you would have found yourself a convert. (See above…)

And you come back with this torrent of abuse! Why??

Well, I’d hardly call it abuse John. But why oh why did you abuse my inbox??? (woe is me, it’ll never work…)

I certainly wont be making any comments on your blogs comments section. I couldn’t be bothered engaging such hostility.

Well naturally. Did you look at any of the comments I get here? There’s not many by comparison to some, I’ll grant you, but the one’s there are come from rational people who would seriously question this stuff. If you can’t answer a simple question about the meaning of the term “Big Bang”, then I doubt you’d be able answer the questions anyone here might ask you. It’s not hostility John, it’s ignorance that’s the problem.

The About Adidam site (plus associated sites) provides a very intelligent assessment/appreciation of the ins and outs of Adi Da's Wisdom Teaching.

No “Luminous” again…sigh… A pity the associated sites are all direct references written by the same person. Everything in all of those pages, including the stuff at Dabase, is owned and run by The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd.

Here’s the disclaimer from both web sites;

All excerpts from the works of Avatar Adi Da Samraj and and pictures of Avatar Adi Da Samraj © 2002-2005 The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam. All rights reserved. Perpetual copyright claimed. "Adidam" and "Ruchiradam" are service marks of The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd.

4:12 PM - 10/9/2006 - comments {10} - post comment