Now enjoying Malta sun & sea. A life behind me of curious change and interesting people. From Mancunia and yet travelling in both time & space here. Join me for the craic & childlike adulting.
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Random corner of Victoria They are recent. The fountain to water horse drawn vehicles is 1881. The cross is much older. Both moved in the 1970s to accommodate wider roads for today's beasts of burden, the car. It's an example of humanity's historic footprints here. 4000 years of history everywhere.
waka wake
Eleventy years in Trumpian years is a lifetime. So much destruction & death. Still, it will cement his place in history as Americas last king. As a neon god they made, the people bowed & prayed, until the sound of the post execution silence. It will be a short pause. Bells will ring out the ending.
I love a nice windmill. And flowers. Good place to be shipwrecked. Just saying.
Some beaches you have to abseil down to. Some beaches are worth it. No one else there. No one is mad enough.
Shopping this afternoon. This sad sight made me think of American voters. Claws controlled, waiting for the inevitable end, a meal for whoever has the money. Helpless.
Sunrise on a new series, a new month, a new challenge! Refreshed & returned with a vengeance!
COVID beach 5 years ago. Today it's tourist coated & buzzing. I was lucky to be trapped here during COVID So lucky I never left!
www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6GvjPcr/ How in the HELL does any government lawfully deport 600 unaccompanied minors? Who does that? Who the fuck are we? What are we? What have we become?
Chitty chatty bang bang? A child catcher & the awful realisation he believes he's saving children from the NRA bang bangs? What other reason could there be for a modern day pied piper disapoearing children? Fairy tales! Often grounded in real horror. Today the USA is creating tomorrow's folk tales.
It's a month of both endings & beginnings. The sun has moved, or rather we have & so it reminds me we are just a small ball rolling around a hot rock. In a silent sea of stars. Unseen.
Morning has broken. It mends my soul. Gozo promises beauty in every pink tinged rock & rolling road. A breeze to ruffle my senses. Cooling the sun's hot touch.
You are fortunate to see the sea & shores so often. I am mostly a landlubber nowadays. Enjoy Palma reading....
The parrot of destiny, pointing to a brighter tomorrow.
Next-door's cat sits in our flowerpot, questioning life choices.
Out of Barcelona. No wind, better sunset. Following an oligarchs party boat. Shocked to realise this was seven years ago!
Night on the terrace by the pool & two Lidl best bargains! Solar stored sunshine. While Ix-Xaghra glows on the hill top. Bells echo back to centuries past
All that gold! Rich I tell you, rich beyond my wildest expectations. Just that annoying green jacket wearing Irish bloke, waving the nobbly stick, to out pace on the M6 & it's all yours! "Should have kept it in a bank you eejit" Seems a bit upset. He seems to be a shoe salesman, a very keen one.
One of natures best creations, love it there. Enjoy some warm wind at your back and a kind sun on your face.
Definitely worth going to that!
Cup of tea; half an hour to kill. You know what that means, Bluesky: #Storytime.
How refreshing
The ferry man plys souls from here to there. The ferry man demands coin or you're left to wander. Would you wish another soul 100 years wandering the banks of the Acheron & Styx, for want of Charons obol? Can I guess who it would be? Does he still possess a soul? The underworld waits for us all too.
There is still beauty in the world. (Monsanto, Portugal 📷 unknown.)
Council only does black bin collections every three weeks. We have more rubbish than that. So, I bought a second black wheelie bin. £60 online. Painted on our house number, but added "a", e.g. 42a, put them both out for collection each time. Works a charm.
Chemist showing live premier league games. Love it here. Expect the unexpected. Great AC too.
The sea rolls on forever, no matter if we are here to see it or are no more. It's beauty just is.
If you just watched the news and had no knowledge of US history, you'd assume that Congress was an elected group of TV pundits who had no actual power or governing responsibility.
Reality TV in the fictional country, Amerika. The aim is to seize as much of the countries wealth as you can & hide it. You have unlimited power & the first one to build a golden palace & be made King wins. There are rules, but they don't apply to you. It's played on a white board & lies are core.
I feel the only use the internet has is tube access to reaction videos! Today's youngsters listening to our 'old music' and enjoying it It's like hearing it again for the first time through their eyes & ears. A rabbit hole I often plummet down. Feed your head? Today it opens many doors in my head.
Ah, those sepia tinged school memories. The faint smell of gym shoes & chloroform, blood on the moon, torn clothes in the hay bales. You can check out, but you can never leave? They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast. Ouija boards at break. Grammar school traumas?
Manchester my backdrop, music my passion, sport my focus. My dad was a big Shadows fan. Took me to the winter gardens every summer to see bands like Herman's hermits. He did not share my music taste for Led Zep, Floyd, ELP, Yes but had a great radiogram I could use. DJ?✅ Sadly I was on the doors!🤜
The whole point of Nuremberg was so it would never happen again. A weak response ensures it will. I fear America is so hollowed out by the worship of money & power there is no longer an appetite for justice. Yes prosecute his fellow enablers. But that will be mired in court hearings for years. Shame
Or indeed how family members interact with what has becomes a modern day SS. History teaches us about man's inhumanity to man, or indeed women's. They possibly feel safe because Trump survived multiple times, but his supporters & followers are not financially protected. it goes deeper. America chose
The race to release before the apocalypse? Hopefully human resilience will endure.
That album was the one that turned me on to look beyond pop into what got labelled progressive. The album even now brings back vivid memories of my teenage years. It stands the test of time far better than I have. They were the first band I ever saw live. Front row & my hearing never recovered.
These ICE animals will grow old & relive this in their heads over & over. If they ever grow back any humanity it will hurt. I only hope they also get to relive it over & over in a court room under oath. The guards in the camps were prosecuted for what they did too. Those giving orders will vanish.
Crescent moon hiding behind the fiesta lit church, centuries picked out in colours.
Eyes being windows on the soul fits this nicely.
That compromise when older, leave the door open a bit, in case I should die in the bathroom. To safeguard the door from future damage in a rescue.
No matter what we may say or do, the sea still turns & sweeps the land. I found it clears my head after seeing what human stupidity gives us. This morning it was still hot but the breeze kept it refreshing.
Living in the UK for most of my life the threat of gun violence was virtually nil. Prison for just owning one bullet effectively ended the gun as a threat. The Dunblane massacre was followed by laws that killed most gun ownership. You need to ask why you love guns more than kids. It's an easy choice
Back atcha from Gozo, an island of catacombs.
Miserable fishermen not in the rain.
Farage thrives on hate & publicity. Ignore him he withers & dies away. Of course that's in a normal, mature society. Looking at his followers we seem to be living in a children's story book. Starmer is denying him the oxygen of publicity. But the media still promote him & his views despite few MPs.
Brain dead policies, clearly an inspiration.
If you want to get protected in this twisted, sick country declare your gender as a gun.
Waving from little Gozo. If you get lost I will use my phone torch tonight, spot the light to find where you are? Possibly a big ask.
Sailing west along the south coast Sardinia. It's an awful place and a horrible job, but someone has to do it... Follow with live tracking here share.garmin.com/99PHC #Sailing #boating #yachting #ThatSailingPage #Mediterranean #Italy
You suffer so much for your pension! I don't know how you cope with all that sun & sea. I for one salute you.😁
Winning the socials today :)
Was Berlin before the wall fell a similar surreal place? Less violent of course. Less about dogma over medicine. Less inclined to disappear people of colour. Actually thinking about it, America seems to be trying to out dictate the country it faced in the cold war! The Empire strikes back? It's odd.
That was the part that really touched a nerve creating a deeply unsettled vibe right from the start. My daughter now in her 40's stopped watching at that point as it overwhelmed her. She does not know why. Brilliant idea.
I know! It's so interesting. How the organic & inorganic react to emotions. I think about our chemically controlled lives. Soft machines interacting with hard edged ones. I love ART & the relationship that emerges. The non binary undercurrent too, emotion swamps logic. Sanctuary moon & safety. Deep.
It's still here, but the pools a bit small to sail in & tonight's fireworks are blotting out the stars for navigation!
Ix-Xaghra festa is gathering pace. The church lights are creating the ambience. The fireworks are next.
You are correct. However as an old man who was a planner in Rochdale. The environmental damage will never fade. Asbestos. Buried but still poisoning the factory site. Let's clean it up! Here's the report & costings. Let's not. Hide it under cheap housing? Even bigger costs to deal with health issues
But will he seek to emulate the Pharaoh's & take us all into the afterlife with him? Only future archaeologists will know. Not by books but by bones. That is the work of the future, looking back into the Trumpian times. An end of empire.
You can tell ots cold tonight. All four furs on the couch with me.
More than a three dog night then 🎹🎸
To flee, to cast off these earthly chains To soar into an oft remembered dream of sea & blue skies, As Icarus heading Daedalus warnings unbounded flew & never fell.
Depths that only emerge on rereading. Which I do regularly. Everything from the outcome of capitalism on a corporate future to what it is to find your place in a world that's alien. Relationships? Organic parts are reacting, so having to stand in a corner. It's a joy.
I am reminded of the conditions that birthed the Co-Op in Rochdale in 1844. Mill owners controlled wages, housing, shops. The workers were serfs in all but name. Shocking that barely 150 years later it's still the default position of society. Squeeze the workers to feed the rich. Protect the rich.
Dogma. The curse of society & now some football clubs. Round pegs, square holes, force hammers home the message. Treating humans like machines, whilst seeking to humanise machines & AI is a symptom. Nature has had millions of years to build who we are. A drive to 'improve' over decades? No points!
In Malta they are few in number. But printers, copiers, stationary, cards, games & toys all bring the community in. The books then call to those customers coyly from the shelves. Reading is a challenge as Maltese is a language not common in books. English, the primary language on the islands, helps.
Evidence of late night failed cat burglar? The book store security guard using non lethal force on Cat Nip, international book thief. A novel for the more gullible reader. A sea shanty faintly plays in the background, the smell masked, as was the cat burglar. The hound of the Baskerville's missing?
Metamorphosis? I feel Kafka chose wrong & missed a fabulous idea. 🪳
Outstanding! I could not skip past that....
Break a spine. That's a sort of acting good luck metaphor, about breaking a leg, but book spines.. Anyway moving on.....
What is he smoking? 😂
Money. It talks. Advertising feeds the media so unreality stars like him are gold. The destruction of the country? The death & misery being inflicted? Ethics? None of that puts money in the media pockets, so it's worthless. Click bait & a feeding frenzy are everything. Hate sells. Reality is ignored
Dictators dictate. You only have your voice left All power is in his tiny hands. The Great Leader until death. Yours or his? America has been pillaged. You actually invited it. It will take decades to undo. Follow the money. But you won't recover it or your world standing. The trials of forever.
That was last night at sapana in Xlendi. This morning? A mist of spicy fumes eddying across the bedsheets. A heaviness of eye & heart with an underpinning of latent energy needing a coffee trigger. Enjoy your evening!
Isolationism? Everything's connected today. Nothing is in a silo. The attempt to artificially do this will create a forgotten backwater of an island that's reduced to begging for relevance within a decade. Of course the rich inherit a captive ignorant docile work force they can milk for profit. Serf
It's going to get biblical. As an anti christ movement it's got a big following. The unspoken part of the bible would be Satan conceals his true form & purpose to fool worshippers. They seem to think they would never follow the devil because it's all fire brimstone & horns. Prince of lies? End times
Why is another of these cosplaying fools on TV again? Four MPs & small change? Entertainment value? The rest of the world is the bin fire it is because countries like the UK do not care. We created an empire to steal everything we could. Then we came home. The victims wash up on our shores daily.
Another sunset here in the land that my retirement suits. Every day proves that life is full of joy, you just need to get out of bed & live it. Shift happens. Go with it.
Words gave power, but not in the dark battling our inner demons. They really do come in all shapes & sizes. Fuelled by the cocktail of chemicals that drives these meat bags. I have no magical insight to drive away the darkness you are touched by. Except. Get through today. You are seen as a giant.
Why are these Reform fools on the TV all the time? Four MPs & some councillors! Although those numbers are dropping as they get bored actually trying to do a job they have absolutely no ability at. The media want the entertainment value I suspect as they are guaranteed a high laugh per minute ratio.
John, wiping dog crap off his Seal Team 6 gloves "Damn jerome, I feel so seen" Jerome sighs. "Man I really thought cleaning up DC was going to be sorted of exciting!" " I even brought my new assault rifle, all Whitehouse Down hero stuff." "Tasering that old lady on the bus felt so good, Fuck Trump."
Leading the mob is easier when targeting the monsters they fear however unfair. Witches were burned alive led by a witch finder after all. Logic & proportion have fallen sloppy dead along the path to this rabbit hole. The King moves across the chess board in any direction. His victory is assured.
Go for it. In today's world we are powerless & only have our voices. Use them. Defy the silence. Overcome the gag. Lift the hearts & eyes.
Tree of the Day. Singapore
There are very few trees here in Gozo so I enjoy your finds. Those that are here are rare & usually olive trees that day from BC. It's rather thought provoking eating breakfast in the sun, shaded by a thousand year old gnarled survivor.
You now live in a dark new world. Power was handed to a dictator. He is now dictating. All you have are your voices. He won't listen. But he is not immortal. Be ready for 'the King is dead', to avoid 'long live the King'. This time pursue the wrong doers, despite the money they use against you. Pray
My thoughts are with you Hopefully once underway the job will be quick, easy & working. Check for leaks before they go Bleed the boiler & watch that gauge.
The last boiler we replaced was done years ago. Deposit. Half on commencement. Balance in completion. Tines changed then. Here in Malta it is like going back in time. Deposit? Why? We know where you live. Bought a car recently. A week without a car. He lent us a car at no cost. No rush to pay either
Yet she is successful. Big discounts too. I cringe, she celebrates. It's a white knuckle ride for me. She says I am too English. I suspect you are too. Fail to deliver? Expect the wrath of the very heavens to descend on you. She does not shout or threaten. She corners them & drains the life essence.
Money was your only leverage sadly. My wife sees such matters as urban warfare & only works with trades people who get paid afterwards. I used to think that was not feasible but somehow she does it. I suspect her half Pakistani heritage is the reason. She barters on everything to my embarrassment.
Senility in a gold throne room. It's magnetic for all the wrong reasons.
The business front end, sales, is given everything as a visible source of income. The business back office, delivery & fitting, is cut to the bone as it's seen as an overhead. It's the British business model that's dragged most companies down into failure. The customer matters more. But short term?
It may very well serve as a template for the USA after 'Dear Leader' finally inhales his last fat burger. The UK is playing catch up with a wannabe dictator Farage. 'United' in the country's name hints at a future shift to broken up states & counties. The USSR was the original. Oligarchs awaiting?
So, boiler update? Is it fitted or are you going to be breaking up furniture for fuel, to burn on an open fire to heat yourself & water this autumn? I hope not.
The media are giving him an unearned platform for a reason. Look at Trump to see why. Unfettered dictatorship using you & I as pawns. People do not matter to those already in power They matter even less when the dictatorships are fully in control. There are enough examples in history to see this.
ICE sneak around to side and behind peaceful protester—suddenly rush and blindside tackle him. Agents then literally drag him over the concrete by his arms and legs. Is this what we want in america? Legalized gang members?
What is the endgame? They are not protecting anything. They are simply meeting quotas. Grab anyone without reason off the street. Disappear them. It looks like a dictatorship. It smells like a dictatorship. It sounds like a dictatorship. It sounds like a dictatorship. It acts like a dictatorship.
It's not his money he's spending. It's yours.
Bought. Paid for. Decades ago. Watergate? Not even get a ripple today. Normalised crime. Corruption. Chaos. Baby steps dictatorship? Now big strides. Mainstream media owned by the rich & powerful. Along with every aspect of your lives. Wage slaves. No wonder they are trying to whitewash slavery.
