(Nlog Day 14.) The 'Idea' State of Mind.

Due to *cough* and other such excuses, I have not posted for a few days... but I seriously have been working on 'stuff' and so forth.

I have been trying to observe what comes into my mind at the mid- point between going to sleep and being awake. This seems to be a special time in which ideas are likely to come to you. I think that the reason that ideas come to you readily when you are half conscious is because you are interacting with your unconscious mind and you are more open to its workings... the veil between the unconscious and the conscious becomes less dense.

I bet someone has told you at some point in your life that you should keep a pen and paper by your bedside just in case an idea comes to you while you are falling asleep. This advice is given because things just come to you while you are falling asleep (I find it annoying really, especially when you are genuinely trying to get to sleep but you feel that you have to write down the ideas that are coming to you because you will forget everything in the morning).

Here is my theory, from what I have gathered from various sources. Carl Jung introduced the idea of the collective unconscious. I think that the idea that all humans share the same unconscious is valid. Mysticism talks about an astral plane. In this astral plane there exists every single thought that any human has ever had in all the forms that thoughts can exist in. This plane of existence can be touched upon and manipulated through the imagination and as certain mystic traditions state, humans can tap into the astral world and bring back things into their waking consciousness.

The astral world can be understood as the unconscious mind, a mind that can be summed up as the collective mind of all life, the machinery of the universe. When we are nearing sleep, we are closer to our unconscious mind, this astral realm that can be tapped through our imagination... and therefore it is more likely that we can look into this 'place or state of consciousness and bring back ideas, thoughts and visual mental pictures into our conscious mind for us to write down and use in our waking world.

...It certainly doesn't explain why Rupert the Bear comes into my mind every night while I am falling asleep.

Just ideas for anyone that cares to read.

Over and Out.
ED.

(Nlog Day 6).

...Would you like a packet of crisps?

Now that that question it out of the way... I shall begin the post.

Two clear ambitions came to my mind for some reason today. The first ambition is starting a business. The second is a burning desire to write a book. I was not sure why these two ambitions came to my mind but it was this line of thinking that made me think about general life goals.

I happened to be in Leicester on an errand and I picked up a book about archetypes. According to this book humans are summed up in these ten types,

• The Adovocate.
• The Artist/Creative.
• The Athlete.
• The Caregiver.
• The Fashionata.
• The Intellectual.
• The King/Queen/Executive.
• The Rebel
• The Spiritual Speaker

...and...

• The Visionary.

I would say that I was a few of these things. 

I'm not going to tell you which one I am... without giving anything away I was the second one... although I would say that I was in one way or another, most of them in some degree.

If you follow who you are then you will apparently be more successful because you are going with your own personal current so things will flow more freely... sounds good... I'm reading on.

Over and Out.

ED.

(Nlog Day 5).

"I have never experienced another human being. I have experienced my impressions of them. "

Due to having a busy day today my post is the above quote.

(Nlog Day 4). Culture Jamming.

Last blog post I talked about symbols and it is through this that I have written this post as a follow- on. Read if you want to... if you're interested.

I'm going to talk about culture jamming. The phenomenon is an anti- consumerist movement and is a good example of the use of symbols in society.

Symbols are the main way that humans interact, interpret and understand the world. We are all born as symbolising animals... and as an avatar of a thought, idea, concept (and shizz) you can affect and manipulate your brain.

My understanding of culture jamming is that it is meant to decondition people's minds to the use of symbols in the media.

A simplistic example is the Mcdonald's 'M'. That can be used to condition you to eat fast food a lot more. If you are exposed to a certain symbol over time in your day- to- day life, then it will slowly seep into your subconsciousness and make you more likely to buy a certain product... culture jamming reverses the process I suppose.

Here a few examples that I swiftly gathered:

...and...

Just a subject of interest.

Over and Out.
ED.

The Science of Language (Nlog Day 3).

Seeing as how I am doing daily posts for the second time in my life, I have started to become aware of whether I can think about things that I will find universally beneficial and relevant to anyone reading, while at the same time being able to write something that interested me during a specific day. The amount of visitors that I get are consistent no matter what I write so... let's get this on the road.

Initially, when you read the blog title "The Science of Language" many people that read this will assume that the subject that I'll be writing about will not be of any relevance to them (maybe)... BUT... if anyone chooses to read along, they will find that they can take away a few things from what I say and maybe apply it to their life.

My interest of the day is about symbols and language and what they do to the human mind. An idea came my way today, that seemed so obvious and familiar...

"Language and symbols are the coding system of the human mind."

Why this is so relevant to EVERYONE and so fascinating is that with this information, you can program your own personal experience with ease.

Everything that we are is what we think or what we have thought. This means that taking care of your inner world and keeping it at its peak is an essential responsibility and will have real effects in your reality.

"All that we see are our perceptions, we mistake that as our reality."

Our outer reality can be seen as a reflection of our inner reality... so if we wish to change our outer reality, then we must change our thoughts... which we can do through language and symbols because that is the way that our mind works.

Thoughts are seeds that are planted in your mind garden... the thoughts that are good are tended and worked upon.

Language and the symbols that we use to represent language can be used to change things for you and others.

The main purpose of Art is in line with the ideas I'm talking about (good art I mean). The purpose of art is probably debatable but for many people is to do such things such as,

• increase awareness.
• to affect mass change through changing the consciousness of others.
• to manipulate the mind for good (or bad I suppose).
• To widen the doors of achievable reality.

Reality is all in the mind... so be wise about what you think. 

The next post will be related to this post... I will be talking about... look at the next post and find out.

Over and Out.

ED.

Nlog Day 2.

"Since we all create our own habitual reality- tunnels, either consciously and intelligently or unconsciously and mechanically, I prefer to create for each hour the happiest, funniest reality- tunnel consistent with the signals my brain apprehends. 
I feel sorry for people who persistently organize experience into sad, dreary and hopeless reality tunnels, and try to show them how to break the bad habit, but I don't feel any masochistic duty to share their misery."
R.A.W.

When I was free I went to some woods and this happened...

It was a  right jolly jape, messing about and talking about nothing in particular with that other bloke what is in the picture... who calls himself Kiran.

This is the first proper- ish day of doing a blog post every single day throughout November. Let it properly begin.

Let's see what happens...

Long posts in the future... observations, yammering and stuff of interest...

Nlog Day 2 over.

Over and Out.
ED.

A Brief Review of A Strange Wild Song (Nlog Day One).

I have been volunteering for the Leicester Arts and Museums Service for a few months in my spare time. I was emailed a few days ago by the volunteer coordinator about getting some free tickets to a play called 'A Strange Wild Song'.
The play was written and performed by a group called the Rhum and Clay Theatre Company and had performed the whole one- hour- ish show at the Edinburugh Festival Fringe in 2012 and now had brought it to Leicester.

The play tells the story of a Belgian photographer named Leon Gimpel who befriended a group of children living in the Grenata Street neighbourhood in Paris, forming their own play army. He visited the children, regularly playing war with them, recording these meetings through the pictures that he took from his camera.

Here is a quote from the program,

"Ultimately A Strange Wild Song is a tribute to the endurance of the human spirit, and to those who can find light in the darkest of places."

Sounded like it was right up my street.

I was not sure what to expect. In my mind, I imagined a small theatre but when I got to the place, I saw that it was just one small room. We sat down on the seats prepared for us, which were no more than fifteen places  in number. A young woman at the side of the room was playing an accordion, not playing a tune at all, but instead playing random, unrelated notes... which certainly set the atmosphere and made you slightly uncomfortable.
Half of the room had been arranged into the performance area which was set out to look like ruins, only about three props altogether but you still got the idea.

Four actors took part in the play, each playing two characters each. There was a continual shift between two time periods. The first time period was during the war and the character, Leon Gimpel, meeting the children in the ruins and befriending them. The second time period was set in modern times when a descendant of Gimpel meets up with a group of historians and scientists who have discovered the camera that was used to take pictures of the events in the first time period.

The whole show was very slick and even made use of mime and props to physically show what was going on in the children's imagination. One of my favorite parts was the use of puppets to show the child's imaginative journey flying through the skies in the spitfire, fighting German planes.

It was pretty brilliant. I think that the intimate surroundings benefited the show. You certainly felt like you were part of the story and because you were so close to the actors, it made things seem more real.

I have written down the details of the company below if you wish to look at them.



www.rhumandclay.com
Facebook: Rhum and Clay Theatre Company.
Twitter: @Rhumandclay

Over and Out.
ED.

My Orienteering Experience.

A day or so ago I was sent an email by my good friend Kiran.


"...I'd like you to write a blog post about the club and what you think about orienteering. Will you be able to do that?"

and I replied,

"Yeah I'll definetly do that. Sounds good. LOL."


Well then I went downstairs, made some food, ate it, listened to some music, made a tea... then I remembered what I was meant to be doing and started to write this post.

Has anyone reading this post ever heard of orienteering? No... I can hear a few sprinklings of yes... for the benefit of everyone I shall talk about what orienteering is.

Basically you have a map and other useful tools like watches, torches, x ray vision glasses (the last one was a lie) and you have a wide area where you have to tag certain points within a certain time... that's the basics of it anyway. The area that this is done is varied; woods, fields, mountainous regions and so forth.

Kiran is a keen orienteerer. We visited an undisclosed Leicester pub and talked together with a cider and a beer. The conversation turned to the orienteering classes that Kiran had been going to and on a friendly whim he said that the next class would be the next day and I should go with him.

I believe in the well known philosophy know as 'F***k it' and so I immediately said YES!... and that was how it all began.

To be honest I never even knew that this whole thing existed until I was enlightened by Kiran. The one thing about competitive stuff is that I'm not at all competitive in any way, but I'm up for a good laugh so this new experience was going to be beneficial one way or another.
I set off in Kiran's car and got to the the location, a sports field behind a school. There were about six other people there between the ages of about 12- 70 including the two of us.

We did the starting exercises,

1. Jogging in a circle while throwing our arms around the place for some reason.
... and...
2. Doing funny walking like John Cleese... the latin term being Walkinus likius eiya spazzus.

Then it all truly began.

It was completely dark when we started the main activities. We had twenty minutes to tag all of the locations that were somewhere within about four of the fields in front of us. I hadn't got a clue what was going on so I teamed up with Kiran. After the first try we were told that we would do the whole thing again but this time we had ten minutes to do the exact same thing... which left everyone taking part knackered.
Each of us had been given a tag that you strap to one of your fingers... an electronic tag (that works like the ones that I believe must be somewhat similar to the ones that get convicted of crimes... I'm just saying...).

Kiran seemed to do really well with reading maps... I had no clue so it was my duty to hold the torch.

How did I find the experience? Intriguing.

Intriguing is the word.

I want to try fire walking next... and jousting.


Over and Out.
ED.

*In order for me to push myself to do it I shall say that I will be writing a blog post every day in November because I did it in February last year. Now that it is recorded for all to see in blog form... it is law.

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.

I started to watch an anime a few days ago called "Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit"... an adaptation of the book series by Nahoko Ufhashi... who I have never heard of either.



The reason that I started to watch it was that I saw a trailer of the series and immediately started to writhe on the floor and speak in tongues.

I bought it from amazon... shoved it in the DVD thing on the laptop and started to watch it.

Holy Fu... cow!!!

When it comes to watching television or tv series, I find that there are not really any programmes that I have a dedication to or a strong connection with... I have not really been a television watcher as of late. It was not until recently that I started to taking a bigger interest in anime when I ACCIDENTALLY signed up to an anime streaming website where I ACCIDENTALLY paid £4.99 for a one month membership. In order to get my money's worth, I started to watch series that were on the site. I found shows such as Attack on Titan, Sunday Without God and Gargantia and got utterly blown away by how visually stunning they were and how much I clicked with the stories. I had dabbled in anime before with Death Note, Ghost in the Shell and Spirited Away but now... it was on... more than it had been anyway.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The synopsis;

"At a time when the balance of nature still held the civilizations of mankind in thrall, a single drought could spell the end of society and doom its inhabitants to piteous deaths. Prince Chagum has been possessed by a water spirit that exists in egg form in his belly. Court advisers only see one solution. Chagum must be put to death by his own fathers hand because this is thought to be the necessary thing to do for the good of the kingdom. His salvation is in the form of Balsa, a spear woman and mercenary from the kingdom across the mountains. Her skills are legendary, and although reluctant, she is held by a mysterious vow to save eight souls before she dies. Can she fend off an entire empire and make Chagum her eighth soul?"

The main focus of the series is the relationship between the adult, commoner, warrior- woman, Balsa and the young, noble prince, Chagum.
My initial ideas going into the series was that Chagum was going to be a brat, an assumption that was proven wrong in the first episode. He turned out to be a good- hearted soul whose knowledge of the world outside royal life was little.
What I find interesting is that although we have two opposing sides, one being Balsa, Chagum and their allies and the other being soldiers and servants of the royal court; it is clear to see that there are no bad guys in the piece, no good or evil. One side is bound to save a child's life from death and the other is bound by duty and the protection of an entire kingdom to find and dispose of a threat- both are valid, both points are understandable... yet I know which one my preference is.

This is not an action orientated anime, although their are a few wonderfully done action sequences. It can be argued that not a lot happens in a few episodes, for example in one episode all that really goes on is that the pair leave their house, go to the blacksmith and then return home. Personally I like the so called normal moments because it emphasises what their life is truly like... and it allows you to focus more on the dialogue, the facial expressions and the people instead of massive fight sequences and explosions, that may be thrilling but doesn't really add much to the main story- line.

Moribito is not needlessly showy but it gives you exactly what you need to see.

An anime for people that are charmed by the small things in life, the bonds that keep people together, strong female characters and literally breathtaking visuals.... literally.

Over and Out.

ED.

Principia Discordia (A Topic of Interest).

'"One day Mal- 2 asked the messenger spirit St Gulik to approach the Goddess and request Her presence for some desperate advice. Shortly afterwards the radio came on by itself, and the ethereal female Voice said YES?

"O! Eris! Blessed Mother of Man! Queen of Chaos! Daughter of Discord! Concubine of Confusion! O! Exquisite Lady, I beseech You to lift a heavy burden from my heart!"

WHAT BOTHERS YOU MAL? YOU DON'T SOUND WELL.

"I am filled with fear and tormented with terrible visions of pain. Everywhere people are hurting one another, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war. O, woe."

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THAT, IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?

"But nobody wants it! Everybody hates it."

OH. WELL, THEN STOP.

At which moment She turned Herself into an aspirin commercial and left the Polyfather stranded alone with his species."'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above quote is taken from a book known in an underground book called the Principia Discordia, the founding religious book of Discordianisn.
What is discordianism?...

"POEE
is the one manifestation of
THE DISCORDIAN SOCIETY
about which you will learn more 
and understand less

We
are a tribe
of philosophers, theologians,
magicians, scientists,
artists, clowns,
and similar maniacs
who are intrigued
with 
Eris
GODDESS OF CONFUSION
and with
Her
Doings"


One of the things that Discordians do is to hand out business type cards that declare that the holder is instantly a Pope and so should be treated right. Discordians are encouraged to gives these cards out to the general public...

I certainly advocate a bit of weirdness in life and this is the perfect example.

There is a motto that all discordians have, that 'all discordians must stick apart'. This means it is a bizarre non- movement... if that makes any sense in any way.

One event that I heard that a group of discordians did got me laughing. They gathered in a main city centre in America... I believe they were dressed in Santa Claus outfits. Some people in the group were protesting against 'things', another group of them were holding up signs showing that they believed in 'things' and were for them completely, one last group were on the fence about 'things'. When a member of the public asked one of them about what was going on this type of conversation occured...

Member of  Public: Whats's this all about?

D1: We are here to say that we are fully against things!

D2: But I am fully for things!

... and then a whole argument would ensue about... things.

Oh yeah and who is Eris Goddess woman?...

Firstly she is also called Discord... hence discordianism and she is goddess of... yes... confusion. She is a Greek lass. Zeus was preparing a wedding feast for Peleus and Thetis but didn't invite Eris because she was a bit of a troublemaker (bit rude of Zeus though if you ask me). Eris was a bit miffed with the old lightning thrower and so fashioned a golden apple and inscribed the word 'Kallisti' on it which means 'to the prettiest one'. During the feast she rolled the apple into the feast and all of the female gods started to squabble about who the apple was meant for. After a while, most of the gods couldn't be bothered anymore and so gave up, leaving only Athena, Hera and Aphrodite yammering on. Zeus said that someone should decide who the prettiest one truly was and so picked a human from Troy called Paris. Each of the goddesses approached Paris secretly attempting to bribe him to pick them. Athena offered heroic war victories, Hera offered wealth and Aphrodite said she would give him the most beautiful woman alive. Paris picked the last offer and thereby started the fabled Trojan War...

Discordianism certainly is not anything that is to be take seriously. The book declares,

'Principia Discordia is the official bible of the most relevant religion ever conceived. A legendary underground classic, out- of- print for years and impossible to find, this new edition truly contains "Absolutely Everything Worth Knowing About Absolutely Everything"... (a) religion for these screwed up times.'

II found a pdf version of an early incarnation of the book here if you want to read it... you can also buy it online as well of course.  http://www.principiadiscordia.com/downloads/Principia%20Discordia%20(Wholly%201st%20Edition).pdf

Over and Out.
ED.

A Quote That I Found Already Quoted In Another Book.

"There are not many, those who have no secret garden of the mind. For this garden alone can give refreshment when life is barren of peace or sustenance or satisfactory answer. Such sanctuaries may be reached by a certain philosophy or faith, by the guidance of a beloved author or an understanding friend, by the way of the temples of music and art, or by groping after truth through the vast kingdoms of knowledge. They encompass almost always truth and beauty, and are radiant with the light that was never on sea or land."


Have that quote on me.

Over and Out.
ED.

Folklore and Urine.

This is a good question to start off this blog post... Do YOU want to have inexhaustible money?

"Sure do Ed... carry on typing and let me know how to get that!"

I know what you may be initially thinking that I might tell you. Perhaps I shall tell you that you should save a £5 a week in a separate bank account or get into business and learn the ropes of making money... perhaps you were thinking that you could put some money in shares or something... well you were wrong.

THIS is how you get money...

If by accident, you find the back tooth of a horse, carry it about with you as long as you live and you will never want money: but it must be found by chance.

DO IT NOW!!!

Quick fact: Alan Sugar and every other rich person that has ever existed always keeps a horse tooth in their pocket at all times... that's why they are so rich... obviously.

Have you ever wanted to turn invisible? I sure have... and here's how,

Get a raven's heart, split it open with a black- hafted knife, make three cuts and place a black bean in each cut. Then plant it and when the bean's sprout put one in your mouth and say,
"By virtue of Satan's heart,
And by the strength of my great art,
I desire to be invisible."

I could go on and on about the amount of times that I have taken a bean sprout from a rotting bird corpse and become invisible... I mean the amount of raven's I've had to kill in order to become invisible beggars belief.

I'm joking of course about the above superstitions...

A few months ago I was given a book called 'Lady Wilde: Ancient Legends of Ireland' and have been looking up various superstitions, folk customs and belief out of a curious amusement.

The folk customs that I have read don't sound any more bizarre (bizarre= wonderful) than what some scientists have been doing lately. Today I read on the Independent newspaper website about SCIENTISTS GROWING HUMAN TEETH FROM URINE.
This is the article that I read if you want to also read it... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-grow-human-tooth-using-stem-cells-taken-from-urine-8737936.html

I heard a few years ago about scientists who were trying to grow teeth through human hair... but I wasn't aware of the old urine.

But in all seriousness I do believe that there is something to all this superstitious stuff. I think that if you truly believe that something will work then the subconscious mind will make things happen that will conform to the beliefs. Say you have a wart and someone says to go and roll in mud and kiss a pig... if you believe that this remedy will work then your mind will make it work... the mind's a powerful thing after all... I'm not sure how far this idea goes to turning invisible... although I can easily turn invisible, I don't know if this is true with anyone else...

Brilliant stuff.

Over and Out.
ED.

Cut Up Technique.

This is a good writing exercise and there are many ways to 'do it'. You can get a newspaper, magazine or even you can use your own writing and you cut it up randomly into a series of statements, words or sentences. You then organise these cut ups randomly and then see what comes out of it.
In this case I put two pieces of writing I had done ages ago and tried to see what I could get out of it.

This is one of my pieces of cut up writing...

My mind and my will believes life must be in a persons thinking, it has to be nothing to do with anything given outside. Live godhood to the god while the law is with some people. It is right being that brought out trying.

Many thought that people must exist, reading about the created ones preached through a book. We are the thoughts in order to live and hence the lounge recognises itself as many lives age.

Shall the life thank and explain life? Is God their situations? Do not point at destiny as one. The best people exist the laws! As now the individual is I!  No one can party more with the universe.

What but power thought of knowledge? Take their product away from the law and from the divine. The fault must and can only be of the devil that fully made nothing they taught and understood. He taught techniques on how thoughts are comforting. All this occurred and it brings  life.

One reference to themselves will be good- looking. We must search clearly for the main shows to create purpose and forsake conditions alot. Modern? It’s you that makes people magicians. It has people aware to a wonderful and releasing doubt that teaches everything.

Their people feel sound into thoughts. How better you release life that consciously takes responsibility, whatever its mind is unconsciously saying.

My circumstances? My mind? My will? My life? I am thinking about nothing given as  godhood.  To the outside he lived while the law that had me right was literally trying.

Many ‘thought beings’ brought people to read. It helps existence to prefer what is preached to us through a book that the created ones in us live and recognise thoughts in us. Hence they lounge themselves and in their old age many lives go in many ways. God came because we are responsible. It is he that has changed us, it may mean everybody. Reality pushes life already.

I ‘am’ because of the universe. That is my life.

Over and Out.

ED.

Dream Work.

Here I shall write down five dreams that I have had recently.

1.
"I was trying to climb up a massive slide in a room in a crumbling castle, with other people around me. All of the people, both male and female, were bald. At the top of the slide was an old woman that was dressed in clothes that you might expect a woman from Ancient Rome might wear. She was wearing something like this... 

While she was looking at us climb, she was throwing buckets of sewage down the slide so that it was slippery. We were getting absolutely covered. At some point I remembered that I could fly so I flew over the slide, noticing what a lovely scene it was above the slide. I flew out of the castle and traveled to the sun for a while. I came back and I found that the old Roman woman was gone and all the people around me were dead, lying in the sewage... I rubbed my face defiantly.

2. 
I was walking around my home village aimlessly. Every so often I would stop, touch my leg with both hands and then continue walking. I was outside Tesco... I checked my leg once more... to my complete fascination I found there was a thorn sticking out of it. I pulled upon the thorn and out came a worm. The thorn was the top of the worms head... I threw the worm on to the road and felt the hole that was left where the 'thorn worm' once was. I continued to walk around aimlessly... I checked my leg again. This time there was a lump. I pulled on the lump and a thorn poked through. I pulled on the thorn and another 'thorn worm' came out. I threw it on the ground and felt the second hole that had been made on my leg. I think I must have pulled a few worms out because I remember feeling my leg and there were many, many holes.

3.
I attempted to give  a high five to a cat. It gave me a high five to the BACK of my hand. The cat looked at my hand and realised that it's claws had been out at the moment of contact. There was a hole now in the back of my hand, showing that inside were robotics that were covered in organic veins.
The cat said, "Oh shit" casually, went onto a light brown sofa and just yawned, then got slightly fatter.
"Lazy cat" I thought.

4.
A man was on a stage in blue jeans, shirtless. He was laughing... stopped... and laughed again.
At some point in the performance I got up and shouted,
"Don't you dare make it like that!"

5.
I was sitting next to the mirror. The face of the mirror was facing a wall with floral patterns on it. I was trying to bring some being into physical existence. I felt a sucking force and then a bang as if someone had fallen on the floor. The creature was invisible but I knew it was a genii. I was excited.

Over and Out.
ED.

Review of "20th Century Boys" by Naoki Urasawa.

I have been reading an ongoing series of manga called "20th Century Boys" for about four years on and off and I have finally finished all of the twenty two volumes and the extra two volumes entitled "21st Century Boys." I feel that I have achieved some form of degree or achievement at finishing the last volume and think I should share this through blog form... and then review it so you may experience the thrills of this manga (and perhaps even pick it up and read it for yourself... because no one I know seems to have read it for some reason... the nerve).

As it says in each volume, Naoki Urasawa is seen as a national treasure in Japan. He has written and illustrated not only the 20th Century Boys series but he has also written another amazing manga series called "Monster", which tells the story of a doctor who saves a young child from death... only for the child to grow up and become a psychotic killer... which can only mean that it must be grown up, dark and complex. Pluto is another one of his great manga's, taking the children's comic character Astro Boy and adapting a story- line that is more for adults than children... he also performs in his own band and releases albums... as a hobby.

Right then, what is the manga series all about? It is a story that spans from the 1970's and finishes in 2015... but the story is non- linear and goes this way and that with the timeline (not as confusing if it sounds when you actually start to read through the volumes), Urasawa reveals what he wants at certain points and then returning again at the same point in time and the same situation to reveal something else that was missed the last time. There are literally hundreds of characters with their own subplots and branches of the tree of the main story... the whole thing is a complete mindflip.
The main story- line revolves around a group of friends who liked playing together as kids in the 1970's. They made a club house from reeds in a disused yard that they went to in order to meet and read manga together. They had dreams about being heroes, saving the world from a great evil that would overcome it and so they wrote down a series of prophecies about an evil that will engulf the world one day... and in their childish innocence they thought that they would defeat it. They called this note pad the 'Book of Prophecy'. The group call themselves 'Friends'.
They all eventually grow up and forget anything about a 'Book of Prophecy' until one day one member of that old gang hears rumours of a cult arising in Japan... a cult in which all members are called 'Friends'. The mysterious leader of the cult prophecies that the world is in danger and certain catastrophies will soon take place... unfortunate events that were written down in the boys 'Book of Prophecy' when they were kids...

The main mystery of the story for the first few volumes is who the cult leader, calling himself/herself the 'Friend'. As the lead character, Kenji, searches his past he begins to find which one of his childhood friends is the 'Friend'. His journey leads to rampaging giant robots, a killer virus that kills most humans and the rise of a great world power... oh yeah and a fake alien invasion to fool the world.

We live in an age in which comics, graphic novels and manga are seen as equal to the so called status quo of the prose book. Everyone should take advantage of all forms of storytelling... and comics and manga do storytelling brilliantly well. It took me until I was sixteen for me to get into the comic book, storytelling- through- pictures medium and I have never turned back (and never will god dammit *cough*).

The music fanboy in me was delighted to see references of various rock bands and blues artists which Urasawa has planted into the narrative; T- Rex is the obvious reference, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Janis Joplin... and more.

A thoroughly good read... and the end of the story didn't at all turn out how I expected it.

I would give it a go if you like, especially if you are starting on the journey of manga appreciation. It oozes the idealism that exists in a lot of rock and roll.

Over and Out.
ED.

My Argument For Why The Imagination Is Just As Real As Physical Reality.

'"Are you real or are you in my head?"
"What's the difference."'
Taken from 'An English Monster' by Lloyd Shepherd.

I got most of what I have written in this post through rambling through a country park by myself in the early evening... and I'm only writing this for the sheer fun of rationalizing supposed irrationality.

This might sound bizarre.

I'm going to say something that might sound funny... the imagination is just as real as the physical world that we are aware of through our senses... and here is my line of reasoning.

"What the heck Ed?!"

...Yeah I know but hear me out.

Firstly I am going to say that physical reality is just as much an illusion as the imagination and science proves this... yes I know it sounds weird. Matter is vibration... matter is loads of vibrations that are slowed down to a certain frequency to be precise(or summing or nuffing). So that means that what you are seeing, feeling, touching, tasting right now... is nothing but a field of energy, vibrations that your consciousness is interpreting and making into something that you can process and understand... quantum physics.

Right... so now that I have told you the first part of my argument I can now finish off by writing the second part of this delving into the fantastic...

Think of something in your imagination right now. Think of a chair or a table or a fictional character, anything. Now tell me what that picture is made of. Surely it is made up of electric signals that your mind has put into form.

So when we think about it, the world out there in the physical world is just as real as the imagination...

Physical world is made of of vibrations... an energy field interpreted by your mind.
The images of the imagination are made up of electric signals that your brain has made into something that you can see with your mind's eye.

So what is more real... vibrations or electricity?... equally as real as one another.

Duh Duh Duuuuuuuuuunnnnnnn!!!!!!!

Freaky stuff!

It is obviously very silly to take all that I have said as fact because then you might be seen as a little bit crazy... something to think about I suppose.


Over and Out.
ED.


An Add On...

It has occurred to me that the senses that you use in order to be aware of the physical world cannot work in the so called 'world of the imagination.' You may find it hard to smell or touch the table or chair that you may be imagining.
Perhaps we are observers of the world of imagination and we have literally taken things from this world and written it down or created a script or play from the ideas and concepts that we take back with us from this world that we can see through our mind.

A Quick Story. An Unknown Legend.

I haven't posted for something like a month... I was busy trying to levitate and eventually achieved my goal... which finally means I can start posting again.

In my spare time I have been volunteering at a nearby museum as well as acting out selfless self- glorification in my life. The people that work with me are incredibly friendly and while chatting with one of them I found out about a 92 year old man (whose name I won't mention) who they knew. They told me his story about what he got up to during the second world war when he was young. After hearing the story I thought that it was so unique and so amazingly amazing that I have decided to tell it to you, whoever you are who happens to be reading this blog right now. You will be amazed. I am calling him "Old Man"...

"Old Man was in the navy during the war serving on a ship...obviously. In the bay in which he was stationed a lot of bombs were being dropped in the sea, the type of bombs that would blow up ships (they may be called sea mines... I'm not well versed in military shizzle). It was his job to go off ship and recover and deactivate these bombs that were being dropped in the sea. While he was off ship doing his job, his ship was hit and sunk. He was found and taken to a prisoner of war camp. He stayed at this camp for seven months until he found a way to escape and run away. He tried to travel in the direction of Britain by himself. He was found and captured again and then put into another camp where he stayed for a few more months but just escaped again. He continued to travel in what he thought was the general direction towards allied territory or Britain... and was captured by enemy soldiers again, put into a prisoner of war camp... again... and escaped... again. He continued to travel and survive by eating what he could, usually falling asleep in a bush or some other place that he could use as a shelter. One day he woke up and heard an uncomfortable sound of rustling in the bushes. He knew that if he was captured this time then he would definitely be shot. He came out of his cover with his hands up. The soldiers he saw were Americans driving in a vehicle which stopped right in front of him. When he asked these men what was happening he found out that he was a mere ten miles away from where the D Day landings were taking place."

I don't know if he had to fight in D Day or not... I assume not. I thought that it was a brilliant story and I felt that this unknown mans story should be told on this blog.

There are really some great characters out there... you could literally make a film out of what he did or write a very entertaining book.

Over and Out.
ED.

My Letters to Some Fictional Characters Who I Consider To Be Mates (Part 1).

I have written some letters to some characters that I feel have influenced me in some way, have some connection to or just think are really interesting. Some of these may be considered strange choices but... you know.
Here we are...


Dear Apollo (God),

I wish to thank you for what you have taught me. A few months back I found my old book on world mythology and looked you up after years of absence of having experienced your 'presence'. I'm glad that you have finally visited me in reverie form. 

I read something called 'Hymn to Apollo'... written in the days in which people actually worshiped you and I must say that this sums up what I think,

"You are caring about all the source and the end
You make everything bloom!
It is thine all Natures Music to Inspire,
With your various- sounding harmonising lyre."

I think that you and we should meet up some time and you can help me to bring a revolutionary movement of making everyone see some form of goodness every day in their lives. I also think that you should bring Bacchus along with you... that would be a right laugh.

I know that you play a lyre... and you are a god so I am guessing you are a very good musician by default. What type of music do you like? I ask this because you have never told me. I doubt that you would like heavy metal... I think that Hades is the guy that is more likely to listen to that. I'm guessing your favorite music is Folk Music, Classical Music... maybe some Acapella shizz. Am I right?

I could write you a massively long letter asking you lots of questions about your condition, what it is like to bee a god and so forth, but instead I have written this letter to say thanks for the good times... and thanks for helping to grow potatoes and the rest of the stuff that humans farm.

Talk soon man. Keep shining boy.

Yours Sincerely 
Ed.

Gaining Ground.

I wrote this short thing ages ago. I can't remember why I wrote it or for what reason but I am just going to write it down on this blog post anyway. Yeah I know... I'm being a bit "lah dee dah" perhaps... whatever.

Gaining Ground.

1.
Humanity has created civilisation since the beginning of prehistory.

2.
Dead cities makes rubble, makes dirt and on that new systems are built upon.

3.
Each Empire of History is a step on Babels side in the hope that we might touch Heaven.

4.
Next one up is transcendence beyond our instincts, touching the stars, defying the nature of indifference, the mathematical inevitability that shapes our actions.

5.
I wonder how animal we look to them as we climb pouring libations to be blessed, measuring how far we have fallen, born to ascend.

6.
Knowing that the gate of Instinct is locked against access to the Mount of Assembly we climb artificially to rest in the Eternal Garden that we glimpse only when we sleep.

Over and Out.
ED.

Thoughts And The Monthly Record.

"To these "rational" scientists imagination equated daydreaming and was therefore unnecessary. Just like a grumpy school teacher who tells off a school boy for staring out of a window, science shouted at us to pay attention without actually realising what powers imagination had. Science was brilliant at saying what was happening now, but what of the future? Inventions and human development are 99 percent the work of dreamers and imaginative people."

After spending my time doing 'stuff' and various other necessities and pastimes I have decided to keep a 'thought book.' You know those thoughts that just bubble up when you have nothing better to do, thoughts that you may think are ridiculous and not worth much attention or development... well I have decided to record down as many thoughts as I can for a month or so. Each page that I write thoughts on I will fold in half so I won't be able to see anything on the paper... and then after the month has gone I can look back on the thoughts I have written down and see what happens.

I will write down anything that comes to mind, as long as I am able to record them down at the time that I think them or if I remember them...

...And then I will write down some of these thoughts in a month on this blog.


Over and Out.
ED.

Arthur Machen.

                               This will be framed on my wall in the very near future.

Over and Out.
ED.