First review – Joni was right

“You don’t know what you got till it’s gone…”

Almost at the end of my first year in Kazakhstan.

The snow is back; it’s -16 Celsius outside. The water in the mop bucket froze on the balcony – the enclosed balcony.

It’s been a year of ups and downs.

Big things – I got divorced which is sad in some ways and yet it means new doors are open.

I broke my arm – never trust vodka, a gypsy cab and a storm drain.

I met the most intelligent and beautiful woman but couldn’t hold on to her…

I finished my Masters degree, studied NLP and Russian! I had a great time in Istanbul!

And I started watching the box set of ‘Soldier Soldier’ – back to some halcyon days.

I finished the draft of ‘Trans-Uranic Elements: The Dark Side of Uranus’ another tour de force featuring the famous Fairy Hanny. It is currently being edited and will be available in the New Year.

I will be back in Blighty for Xmas and New Year. It will be fun to see the PC brigade trying to ban any reference to Christ in the ‘holiday period’; yet here I am in Kazakhstan where they happily put Christmas Trees outside of the mosque. Abu Dhabi Airport will be overflowing with it’s Christmas decorations…

More reflections as the weeks go by; only one regret but she is still there.

Poop Police with whistles – what a wonderful world!

Children armed with whistles will soon be patrolling villages in central India to try to shame those defecating in the open, a report said Sunday.

Madhya Pradesh state government is expected soon to launch the unusual sanitation initiative, in which schoolchildren will blow their whistles loudly when they spot someone squatting in the open instead of using a toilet.

Open defecation has long been a major health and sanitation problem in India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying every household should have a toilet within four years.

But a Madhya Pradesh official said many preferred to relieve themselves in the open rather than use a toilet, requiring unusual efforts to halt the practice which spreads disease.

“It is not just enough to make ‘pucca’ (proper) toilets to stop the practice of open defecation in rural areas,” Sanjay Dubey, a divisional commissioner for Indore region, told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

“There is also a need to launch an effective social drive in such areas to check it,” Dubey said.

Children in the Indore region will be educated about the need to keep their surroundings clean, before being handed the whistles and asked to roam their neighbourhoods, he told the news agency.

“This (blowing a whistle) would make that person feel shameful and would help to check this practice.”

Modi has stressed the need to clean up India, which has a reputation for poor public hygiene and rudimentary sanitation.

A recent report by the UN children’s fund UNICEF estimates almost 594 million — or nearly 50 percent of India’s population — defecate in the open.

Ken and Wayne meet Mad Tom of Bedlam

An extract from ‘Trans-Uranic Elements; The Dark Side of Uranus’. Some fantastic jokes.

——————–

The Elf’s took in the pair before them. Tom, his wild silver hair dancing the conga in its unkempt fiasco of styling, white linen slacks, his shirt a rich salmon pink exhibiting tiny images of stunning Art Deco pendulum clocks, long black boots that would make him welcome at any Line Dancing event and a cloak fashioned from black damask, whatever that is.

Magdalene, tall and tan and young and lovely, slim and slender, her blond locks cascading round her shoulders, jutting forward over her breasts, hips deliciously rounded, covered in near transparent white linens, a Goddess with black passionate eyes ready to laugh at any moment, barefoot though carrying fine black slingbacks. When the sunlight caught her dress she is a vision fit for any wet dream.

Both wore a large ring on the middle finger of their left hands.

“Is that a worm on your ring?” asked Ken.

“No it is a Great Wurm! The symbol of Eternity!” explained Tom.

“That’s what I said!”

“No you said ‘worm’ but it’s actually a ‘Wurm’. Totally different.”

“I meant ‘Wurm’ when I said ‘worm’; it could just be that the dialogue isn’t being recorded correctly!”

“Are you trying to worm your way out of this?”

“No!”

“Then just see it is the Great Wurm Ouroborous, the beginning and the end, Alfie and Omega Man, Ever loving, ever faithful; devourer of himself to show that all things must pass; yet for every end there is a new beginning, and each beginning is an end!”

“Doesn’t that last bit just mean exactly the same thing?”

“What?”

“The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end. I don’t quite get the difference.”

“Well we’re at the beginning of our quest just now; and when we get to the end it will all start again!”

“Helter Skelter!”

Wayne leaned forward in the tender.

“Why do you want the Witches?” he asked.

“Witch Iz we need.”

“What?”

“Witch Iz is the Witch we want to find.”

“Then go to the land of the Witches!”

“Which is?”

“What?”

“Where is the land of the Witches?”

“Stop!” shouted Magdalene. “I’m getting so confused I can’t work out who is talking or who is asking what question!”

“I asked the What question,” said Ken. “Perhaps you should travel back in time and read the conversation again…”

“Perhaps I already did but still came back confused,” stated Magdalene.

They paused, acknowledged the vagaries of travelling through the chronosphere; and then continued.

“So you want to get to the Land of the Witches; the Land ruled by the Witch King?” asked Ken.

“That’s the one!”

“To find the Witch Iz?”

“You’re on the ball now!”

So Ken adjusted his position and sat more comfortably.

“Do you know about the Witch King?” enquired Ken, with a slight look of terror in his eye; though it may just have been a tear of sympathy at his former predicament; or maybe it was irritated by mushroom spores that wandered lonely in a cloud, beside the river, beneath the trees, looking for a nose to make it sneeze.

“Which King?”

“Some people call him a Space Cowboy, Some call him the gangster of lunch; some call him a joker; others say he is a joker. But I can tell you he is a mean old son of a bitch!”

“And how would I address this mighty King of the Witches, should I ever chance upon him?”

“Some call him … Maurice!”

“Maurice?”

“No – Maurice! Like lease, peace and grease!”

“It seems to me young Elf, that you are familiar with this Maurice.”

“That is a lie! No Elf would ever be a familiar to a Witch! No matter which Witch it was!”

The faceless void engulfed Tom momentarily as he tried to work out what the feck these Elf’s were saying.

“What the firkin Heck are you saying, young Elf?” probed Mad Tom of Bedlam.

“Look,” steamed Ken, “I know about Witches and I know about the Witch King Maurice. But I aren’t his familiar. Nor do I like to be probed!”

“OK! OK! Let’s start again. Tell me about Maurice!”

“He’s dead!”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know what dead means?”

“Yes I do – but how can he be dead?”

“He’s a Witch!”

“And?”

“Lots of them are dead. They seem to like it that way! It cuts down on taxes!”

“So King Maurice is a stiff?”

“Not all of him, just the parts that keep the ladies entertained.”

“How does he look?”

“He uses his eyes, like most folks; but apparently he has a deathly stare. And an awful twitch in his left eye…”

“So he is a winking Witch King!”

“Yes the Witch with a twitch.”

“And what of his countenance?”

“His what?”

“His mien?”

“Yes, he’s mean alright! Wouldn’t give you the time of day – not that that would bother you!”

“I mean what does his gob look like!!!!”

“Ugly fucker by all accounts. Face like a bucket of smashed crabs. And pale!”

“Pale?”

“Did you ever go to school? I mean his face is very white!”

“So he is wan?”

“Yes, just him; the only one.”

“Wan!”

“I see! Yes he is the winking wan King.”

Tom looked to Magdalene – who looked to all purposes like a totally muddled epoch touring vegetable.

“So we are looking for Maurice, the winking wan King of the Witches! Where can I find him?”

“I haven’t got the foggiest!” declared Ken. “I’m happy for the Witches to be a legend of some renown but you can kiss my sweet patooty if you think I’d want to know where they live!”

“What about you?” asked Magdalene, homing in suddenly on Wayne like a Labrador on a high pitched fart.

“He lives in Witchland!” spurted Wayne.

Ken Tucky went red with anger, rage and constipation. Like most of us really.

“I told you to forget that!” screamed Ken at his trembling chum.

“I forgot to remember to forget!” bleated Wayne.

“Which land is Witchland?” asked Tom.

“Yes,” said Ken. “Though they do say this land is my land, this land is yore land, and his land is Witchland!”

“What land?”

“Consult a bloody Geography teacher if you really want to know! I am a humble supervisor of a small scale Magic Mushroom Farm, not a cartographer!” declared Ken with more than a hint of annoyance.

“And where would I find such a person?” asked Magdalene trying to relieve the tension; she certainly had the looks to inspire instant relief.

“Probably in one of the bars in Setebos,” said Wayne.

“Hey ho, let’s go!” said Tom.

DC Jason Beavers Yoga Theory.

I’ve not added much personal writing recently so I thought I’d share a bit of philosophy from Detective Constable Jason Beaver. This is an extract from ‘Inspector Flaange and the Barking Spider’.

———-

“How are you feeling then boss?” asked Beaver as he sat devouring a delicious Cornish pasty.

“Feeling the tension, Beaver. Not sure where this case is taking us,” replied the Inspector as he rolled his shoulders back and forth.

They sat in the canteen at the Oak Street headquarters in Ipswich. It was one of Beavers favourite places. Well actually anywhere that sold food would count as his favourite place.

Bars, restaurants, fast food shops, Burger Bars, hot dog stands, sweet shops, football grounds; even a school canteen.

So much fantastic food to be consumed and only one lifetime in which to do it.

His exception was wine bars as they were just for ‘ponces, hairdressers and men with vaginas’.

Flaange watched the cascade of pastry drop to the plate as his subordinate munched away. No doubt this would be his second or third of the day, his bloated stomach a testimony to the inflatable effects of wheat based products; or so his doctor said.

“I’m considering taking up Yoga,” declared Flaange, a gambit designed to provoke a response from his gluttonous DC.

Beaver stopped mid-bite, looked at the Inspector, then slowly continued to eat. He stared knowingly into the eyes of his well respected leader, slowly chewing the latest bite of sustenance.

Beaver swallowed and put the pasty down.

“You don’t want to be doing that Sir. It’s not right that men should do Yoga. It will be the end of civilisation as we know,” he said whilst dusting crumbs from his greasy fingers.

“If this is going to be another one of your homophobic rants you can keep it,” said Flaange, leaning forward slightly menacingly.

“Not at all boss; I’m saying this for your benefit. Just don’t go there.”

“Why on earth not?” demanded the Inspector. A wry smile came to his lips as he felt beaver would go off on some pseudo-Scientific bullshit.

“Tell me boss – why Yoga?” asked Beaver innocently.

The Inspector again rolled his shoulders, moved his head side to side, then rubbed his temples.

“It will help me to relax and distress from the job.”

“Fair point. It can be stressful dealing with idiot paper pushers upstairs while trying to explain to a young mother that her son’s body has been found sexually mutilated. I grant you that,” added Beaver. “Any other reason you want to try Yoga?”

“Lots of women go,” grinned Flaange.

“Ok so it’s an attempt to pull a bit of fanny; a good enough reason in itself and highly commendable in a divorcee like your good self, Sir. Any other reason?”

“Yes it helps with flexibility; I’m not getting any younger,” added Flaange.

Beaver beamed.

“There you have the reason behind it being so dangerous for civilisation!” declared Beaver, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms in triumph across his ample chest.

Flaange looked across at him. As a trained Scientist he was good at following logical arguments; he even knew why ‘E’ is equal to mc-squared. But there were times when he just could not make out what this fuckwit of a junior detective was trying to say.

Flaange also leaned back, mirroring Beavers position.

Beaver leaned forward, began tapping the table with his right forefinger as he went into explanation mode.

“When you get flexible do you think you will be able to bend double?”

“Yes; that’s what the videos and flyers are saying about flexibility.”

“So when you bend double where will your head be?”

“By my knees I guess!”

“And if you’re really flexible will you be able to tuck your head in further toward your groin?”

“Maybe…”

“So your mouth will be hovering just over your meat-and-two-veg! Will you be able to resist a suck?”

Flaange laughed; “Don’t be ridiculous Beaver.”

“Imagine Sir if men could give themselves blow jobs. Why would we ever need women? So no need for women equals no baby’s equals no civilisation. QED!”

Flaange stared at him in disbelief. He could never tell if Beaver actually believed some of the bollocks he spouted or if it was just a very clever cover to make him look like a moron.

“So your argument is that self-fellatio would make men switch off from women?”
“Indeed!”

“So why hasn’t masturbation led to the same thing?”

“I take it you’re not dating anyone just now Sir?” added Beaver as he grabbed at the remnants of his pasty.

Massive Action – from my friend Roy Everitt

One of the things you’re likely to hear from motivational speakers,
prosperity coaches and other people promising to help you improve
your life, your wealth and your value to the world is that you need
to take “massive action”.

They’re not wrong; they just don’t mean what they say.

Let’s take an example. Let’s say you’ve decided you’re overweight
and unfit. Let’s say someone of your age and height should ideally
weigh about 11 stones (154 lb) and be able to run a mile in about

eight minutes, whereas you weigh about 18 stones and can’t run a

mile at all.

Massive action suggests you should go out tomorrow and attempt to
run that mile. It also suggests you shouldn’t eat a proper meal
until you reach your ideal weight.

Massive action, in other words, will probably kill you.

What you can do instead is eat a bit more sensibly than you do now
and start to take some exercise, like walking. After a time you can
start to eat a little less and exercise a bit more.

In a few weeks you could be eating very healthily and walking
faster or cycling or maybe even jogging a short distance. You still
won’t weigh 11 stones and you won’t be running an eight-minute mile
yet.

In a year’s time, though, you could have reached both those
milestones. Overall, you will have taken massive action. In fact,
your massive action was committing yourself to reaching those
targets and then sticking to it (more or less, because you’re only
human) until you got there.

The same goes for any other targets you might have.

Can you go from being deep in debt to millionaire status by next
week? No.

Can you become a chess master from scratch in a month? No.

What you can do is take the first step – starting from where you
are now, not somewhere you need to reach before you start – that
will start you on your journey towards your target. And commit to
continuing on that journey as far as you can go in the time you
have.

Also understand that you might not get there as fast as you hoped
or as quickly as some people promised. But do commit to the journey.

That is massive action. And it’s completely within your power.

~ Roy Everitt   http://www.royeveritt.com

Free Money – for Peace of Mind, Books Galore, Tasha and I.

Being creative on low energy is either deep joy or hellish torture.

Working twelve hours a day then writing a blog – I am a star.

Yet it is time to look for something else, an alternative source of income so I can devote more time to creating Tall Stories – Fairy Hanny needs a new outing but I am stuck on Uranus with the Witch Iz.

Bless the Middle Ages when it was possible to get a patron. I’m not sure anyone in their right mind would sponsor Tales from Uranus or the misdeeds of Inspector Flaange.

I live in Hope.

Actually that’s not true; I live in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Perhaps I could move back to Liverpool and live on Hope Street?

So I’m searching and working for free money.

No such thing as a free lunch…

So I am investigating Internet Marketing.

My first conclusion is that there is a ton of opportunities for making money online.

My second conclusion is that they all take time and effort.

But my goal is my Mediterranean retreat where I can write and my lovely lady can paint, if she wants to.

My research is growing. In the last three months I have invested a large amount of time and some money to get started.

And I am ready to start.

I will document all of my efforts on a new Blog – this is for writing, for quoting motivational articles and finding all of the stupidity this life presents to us.

Some of you may know that I am a Teacher. I don’t just mean a classroom teacher of Maths and Physics (yes it is ‘Maths’ for my followers in the American Colonies). But I also teach sailing, climbing and any other new skill I develop.

I am already passing on some of my new NLP skills to my students to help them overcome Exam Anxiety.

So the new Blog will show what I spend, in time and Money, plus what I generate as income. So far I am looking at ‘Fiverr’, use of free software, monetised blogging and a great book called ‘Copy This Idea’

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Copy-This-Idea-Kick-start-anywhere/dp/1118786726/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413205475&sr=1-1&keywords=copy+this+idea

Hey I know I should be able to make money from putting in a Link like that but I don’t know how – YET!

Fire your Boss in a year?

We shall see.

And for Tasha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7QzMH9BOqQ