Posted by admin on November 19th, 2008 — Posted in House Of Travel
I have skied in different European ski areas for example Alpe d’Huez, Portes du Soleil, Les Gets and Risoul, however in my experience through all the family’s ski holidays Chamonix village constitutes our favourite resort to go for winter ski holidays.
The cradle of alpine history and home to the splendid Mont Blanc - at 4807m European Unions’ greatest summit - Chamonix Mont Blanc France sports a superb historical snow record, a lasting snowboarding season (Nov-May), unmatchable off piste skiing, and sights to die for. Indeed Chamonix Haute Savoie has an global repute as having a few of the most outstanding, stimulating, and exciting snowboarding available anywhere in the cosmos.
Chamonix village is ample likewise it is confusing, and that’s before we figure in the abutting ski resorts; such as Megeve, Val Thorens, La Chavanette, Bessans and Le Grand-Bornand.
The Mont Blanc Unlimited skiing pass includes 10 nearby, and 11 departmental skiing mountains; with terrain equal to 3841 metres, all over 240 chairlifts, and 780 km of ski tracks - with the absolute majority of the skiing towns higher than 2050m. It supplies for every tier from beginners including experts. See our skiing domains section for an in depth look at the popular fields: Savoie, Samoens, Espace Killy, Les Menuires, Meribel and Val-d’Isere.
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Posted by admin on November 18th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
There is much talk throughout the world for debt forgiveness and wiping out poverty. Feeding the starving children is also of importance. Few would deny that we should help out wherever we can. And most agree that you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot always make him drink and thus we may wish to consider this.
Recently during a coffee shop conversation with a new friend who had spent time in the Peace Corp and also volunteering with an NGO, we all listened to the stories he had. Scary stuff, boy were we glad that we were so fortunate to have been born into such a wealthy and well run nation. He told us of the horrendous conditions and mal nutrition and of starving and dying babies. Later in the conversation he told of some of the causes to the problem and how hard it was to help them. Also how one might wish to discuss that if a human wishes to live in a society, tribe or civilization, then they should work to promote the over all group thru their efforts. That is to say help the whole.
Yet when one refuses to plant the wheat, grow the wheat, harvest the wheat, cook the bread, however still wishes to partake in the joy of eating, then one has to ask if that mediocrity, lack of work ethic or laziness is not the worst evil of all? Think on this in 2006.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
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Posted by admin on November 18th, 2008 — Posted in Shopping Stuff
BeCheeky.com began in 2005 it was created by 2 partners. They noticed a significant gap in the lingerie market & began the BeCheeky website with the plan that it would be directed particularly at helping out men obtain any type of underwear for their partners. Customers feel comfortable purchasing from www.becheeky.com this is due to the fact the staff give such tremendous personal attention and because of this it gives customers the sense that they are shopping with a modern boutique with a unbelievable personal shopper there to assist with your every single step.
The BeCheeky website was such a huge success with ladies lingerie that the staff introduced men?s underwear to the BeCheeky website as well. www.becheeky.com is popular for its choice of charming lingerie sets, bras, knickers, boyshorts, corsets, basques, bikinis and swimsuits. What makes them exceptionally special is that there is constantly a little something for all tastes. Each item that is purchased is always delivered in a beautiful silk bag filled full with confetti for that extra special touch. The BeCheeky site are also famous for their own good particularly special bargains which more often than not happen on a day to day basis.
The BeCheeky website itself is constantly exceptionally effortless to steer around as well as with easy to follow instructions to make your selection and payment transaction as uncomplicated and as smooth as possible. Once you have chosen your knickers it is time to make your mind up as to what delivery you yourself would like to select. There are a couple of different options to choose from, despite this, all mailing means are congratulated for their own fast despatch. 2 despatches deliveries to the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. The team offer 3 forms of mailing delivery, standard which will be dispatched within three days days, the next working day & lastly worldwide which usually takes between two to three days from order date. There is a small charge for deliveries ?2.30 for standard & ?5.95 for next working day delivery. Find affordable, gorgeous and stylish women’s lingerie and swimwear from designers such as StarBlu, Verde Veronica, Sunflair, Lola Luna, Seafolly and Continental Textiles.
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Posted by admin on November 17th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
Whether stars of the Disney film National Treasure or pawns of modern day political and commercial propaganda, the Knights Templar have taken root as one of the world’s leading mystery groups. But what is the truth? Did they really have a great secret? Did they really hide treasure? Were they really guardians of the Holy Bloodline? Let’s take a look.
Originally supposedly a group of nine knights (debatable), taken from the ruling nobility in the region of France known as Champagne who collected themselves together in Jerusalem around 1118 AD and formed the now infamous Knights Templar. All of this cannot be totally proven from the texts - however it is repeated so often that it becomes true. In all likelihood they had been formed in France years before.
They were pledged, it is said, to commit their lives and work to a strict code of rules and on the face of it were simply ordained to ensure the safe passage of pilgrims to the Holy Land. The knights request this task of the first King Baldwin of Jerusalem, who refuses. He then dies supposedly under mysterious circumstances only to be replaced by Baldwin II who then almost immediately grants them this privilege. For the next nine (there’s that number again) years the knights excavate beneath the Temple of Solomon (which didn’t ever exist) in complete secrecy and the Grand Master returns to Europe, supposedly with secrets that have been hidden for hundreds of years. Very quickly the knights achieve a special dispensation from the Pope to allow them to charge interest on loans - indicating their swift path to wealth. Soon the great Cathedral building period arrives across Europe with the new found architectural “secrets” discovered by the crusaders. This new found knowledge may very well have come from some of the discoveries made by the Templars, especially when we consider that the man responsible for energizing the building program was none other than St. Bernard - the same Bernard who gave the Order of the Knights Templar their rules and who was related by blood to various members. The same St. Bernard indicated in the propaganda of the Arthurian and Grail literature.
The Templars grew in wealth and power. Their land holding and banking system made them one of the most powerful and feared groups in Europe. Virtually nobody could match their international strength. According to George F. Tull in Traces of the Templars they were also “well placed to obtain relics” as they held the respect of nobility and had many strategically placed premises across the Holy Land.
Near Loughton-on-Sea in England there are several Templar connected sites. The Temple here was “well provided with liturgical books, plate and vessels of silver, silver gilt, ivory and crystal, vestments, frontals and altar cloths. Among the relics kept there were two crosses containing fragments of the True Cross and a relic of the Holy Blood” whatever that might have been - it was not a bloodline. Tull also tells us of how some of these relics entered Britain, “Sometimes the ships returned with more specialized cargo, as when in 1247 Br. William de Sonnac, Master of the Temple in Jerusalem, sent a distinguished Knight Templar to bring to England and present to King Henry III ‘a portion of the Blood of our Lord, which He shed on the Cross for the salvation of the world, enclosed in a handsome crystalline vessel.’ The relic was authenticated under seal by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the bishops, abbots and nobles of the Holy Land.” In Surrey the Templars held land known then as Temple Elfold with 192 acres of arable land. Here again in 1308 there was mention of a grail and a chalice. It is therefore obvious that part of the wealth of the Templars came from the propaganda tools of the medieval reliquary business, proving their astute business acumen and their ability to root out those tools. They were also incidental in spreading the cult of St. George, especially when we consider that they knew of his shrine in Lydda.
But in the early fourteenth century King Philip of France organized their downfall and the supposed secrets and wealth of the Templars disappears.
At their trials the Templars were not only accused of worshipping the sacred head, but also the veneration of the serpent. As Andrew Sinclair points out in The Secret Scroll, another Templar emblem was the foliated staff of Moses, the very same staff, which turned into a serpent and was itself emblematic of the serpent religious cult and healing.
The Rosslyn Missal, written by Irish monks in the twelfth century shows in itself Templar crosses with great dragons and sun discs. Upon the Secret Scroll itself is the symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel, the breastplate of Aaron (who’s serpent staff is said to be in the Ark) with twelve squares signifying the twelve tribes surmounted by a serpent. The serpent, ruling the tribes, “. . . the Serpent as a symbol obtained a prominent place in all the ancient initiations and religions. Among the Egyptians, it was s symbol of Divine Wisdom.” (The Secret Scroll, Andrew Sinclair, which of course has been dated by scholars to the 16th or even 18th century.) Many people believe that quite a few of the Templars and their secrets escaped to Scotland and the dawning of a new age of Freemasonry emerged in later years - thought to be directly from the Templars.
In the year 1314 King Edward of England invades Scotland, hoping to bring an end to the border battles. Meeting the Scottish army at Bannock Burn he is surprised by a force of well-trained men fighting for the Scots. The tide is turned and Scotland achieves independence, even if only for three years. The standard history has it that these well-trained men that turned the tide against the well-trained English army were nothing more than camp followers and servants. Many though, now believe that these were the famous knights Templar, who had taken root in Scotland and hidden away from Catholic tyranny. Strangely immediately after the battle Robert the Bruce, the new Scottish King, rewards the Sinclair family with lands near Edinburgh and Pentland. The very same lands associated with hundreds of Templar graves, sites, symbols and much more, such as Balantrodoch (Temple.)
An indication of the popular liking for the Templars is shown in the Peasant’s Revolt of Wylam Tyler in 1381 AD when a mob marched in protest of the oppressive taxes placed upon them. Strangely they did not harm the old Templar buildings, but instead turned their attentions on those of the Catholic Church. In one instance they actually carried things out of a Templar church in London to burn the items in the street, rather than damage the building. It may be that this uprising was a natural incident, or it may be that it was inspired by the actions of a hidden and now secret society of the Templars - hidden because of the new Catholic hatred towards them. If it is the case that the Templars did indeed inspire this revolt then, even though they were not successful, they tried again a hundred years later and forced the Reformation. It was around this period (15th Century) that the first records of Scottish and York Masonic meetings appear.
However lets take a rather sideways look at the history and symbolism of the Templars.
There are some strange links between Sumerian iconography and Templar symbolism, which need to be voiced. The most obvious Templar image is that if the two poor knights seated upon a horse, which is very similar to the idea and concept of two riders seen in ancient Sumeria. This was purely a tactical device in warfare - although there may be some truth in believing that it has origin in the “balance” hypothesis of the “twins.” The Templar cross is equally seen in many Sumerian images normally associated with an upturned crescent moon. The Fleur de Lys is also a common image as well as bees, which were common also to the Merovingians. The pentagram is also seen in the images of both and symbolized the essence of the Merovingians as the ‘Shining Ones.’
Another symbol seen in various forms from Sumeria to France is the Abraxus - a figure with snakes for legs - a symbol used for gods such as Oannes and not surprisingly this later became the symbol of the Grand Master of the Templar Order. What could this mean? That the head of the Order of the Templars saw himself as the chief of the serpents? In conjunction with the fact that the Templars also used the serpent symbol of eternity and immortality - the snake eating its own tail - then we have a serpent secret being held by the very highest of Christian guardians.
The Cross of Lorraine, a symbol used by the Templars before their usual “Maltese” style cross is seen in Sumeria as a symbol for kingship. These influences must have been picked up whilst the Templars were in the Middle East and then utilized later on. We know that they used the sign, as in the trials in the early 1300’s had the prisoners etching the symbol into the cell walls. What other ancient secrets did they collect?
The Cross of Lorraine was the emblem of heraldry for Rene D’Anjou, said by Charles Peguy to represent the arms of both Christ and Satan and the blood of both (from an article by Boyd Rice entitled The Cross of Lorraine: Emblem of the Royal Secret). It is also said to incorporate the symbol phi or the Golden Ration of Sacred Geometry - so very important to the Masons. Rene d’Anjou was keenly aware and interested in many things occult. He led a search for new (old) hermetic texts. The Cross of Lorraine was therefore taken on by Rene, and subsequently by Marie de Guise the wife of James Stuart V (parents of Mary Queen of Scots) for of its occult symbolism. This occult symbolism showed the cross to be representative of poison. Proof of this meaning comes also from the fact that it became an icon used by chemists (originally alchemists) on the bottles of poisonous substances. The idea of course is hidden in the duality. Why would monarchs and Templars use a sign for poison, if that poison did not have an opposite side? That of cure! Later on in the early twentieth century Aleister Crowley, the arch Magus and self proclaimed Alchemist would assign this very same symbol as the Sigil of Baphomet. The Cross of Lorraine is thought to be a sign of secrets; a sign of the Angelic Race, which came down and posited wisdom and the secrets of immortality upon the Royal Bloodline. According to Boyd Rice it is “a sigil of that Royal Secret, the doctrine of the Forgotten Ones.” And for this reason it seems peculiar that in the 1940’s Charles de Gaulle should make it the official symbol of the French Resistance.
We were playing with the standard Templar cross (Croix Patte) one day in our minds, wondering why and how it had evolved. We knew that it had eight points and all that this entailed but we wondered about what Fulcanelli had believed - that Gothic architecture was a three dimensional esoteric message. Due to the fact that the Templar mysteries emerged from many places including Arabic or Muslim influences, Judaic kabalistic beliefs and even Egyptian sacred rites, we were sure that there had to be another message enclosed within this simple shape. Basing the assumption upon the three dimensional aspect and wondering if there were any links to probably one of the greatest mysteries in the world we suddenly thought; if you cut out the cross from a piece of paper and lay it flat you have the two dimensional image. If you then take hold of the cross in the very center and lift it, you end up with a perfect pyramid - a symbol of Egyptian and Masonic wisdom and central to immortality. But, on some Templar crosses the edges are angled inwards to give the eight points. We thought that the pyramid of Giza had straight walls, until we looked deeper. The Great Pyramid at Giza holds a secret architecture - its walls bow inwards! Could it be, we wondered, that the Templar cross also had this hidden symbolism of the Great Pyramid? That it was fashioned to incorporate the three-dimensional geometry spoken of by the likes of Fulcanelli and said to have been spawned into Europe by the Templars and their brothers in the Cistercians? That these mysterious brothers in Gnosticism actually understood the meaning behind the symbolism of the pyramids - that it was symbolic in all aspects of the immortality of the serpent.
Baphomet
A mysterious object said to have been venerated by the Templars and to have been written about extensively over the past 30 years. Thought to be a skull by some.
One possible explanation for the origin of the word could strangely be found in the deserts of Yemen. The people who live here are called the Al-Mahara and they have developed many ways of combating snake poison. The special snake priests are called Raaboot men and they are said to have learned the secret by transition from father to son. Their legends state that they have immunity from snakebites.
If somebody is bitten, then a Raaboot man is called upon, who then sits by the patient along with several others who then chant in a monotone voice “Bahamoot, Bahamoot.” The poison is then vomited up or passed out of the body in the other direction. The Raaboot man then leaves. Again, here as we have pointed out before, the snake is said to have a jewel in its head, indicative of the enlightenment aspect.
Is it not possible that Bahamoot, as a chant for the curing of snakebites, could have made its way through the various cultures and found itself as a word for the ‘head serpent?’ - The same ‘head serpent’ that the Templars worshipped?
If nothing else, then the etymology of these two related items is so similar that it again shows in the language of the serpent cult, a worldwide spread.
Friday the 13th, October 1307, was a terrible day for the Knights Templars as King Philip IV’s men descended upon all of the order’s French holdings: seizing property, and arresting each of its members. Why? Simply because Philip owed them huge amounts of money and had no way of paying them back, and to add to this he had hoped that the infamous Templar treasure would be his.
With the help of his puppet, Pope Clement V, the French king tortured the knights to discover their secrets. Finally to justify his action, the knights were accused of heresy, homosexual practices, necromancy and conducting bizarre rituals such as desecrating the cross - as if to show their lack of faith in this Christian icon. This was, however a method of initiation and not a heretical act.
The most unusual and perplexing evidence they came across however, was the worship of this idol called Baphomet. This strange “thing” - although sometimes referred to as a “cat” or “goat” - was generally seen as a ’severed head.’ Peter Tompkins in The Magic of Obelisks says: “Public indignation was aroused . . . the Templar symbol of Gnostic rites based on phallic worship and the power of directed will. The androgynous figure with a goat’s beard and cloven hooves is linked to the horned god of antiquity, the goat of Mendes.”
The list of charges used by the Inquisition in 1308 reads:
“Item, that in each province they had idols, namely heads.
Item, that they adored these idols or that idol, and especially in their great chapters and assemblies.
Item, that they venerated (them)
Item, that they venerated them as God.
Item, that they venerated them as their Savior.
Item, that they said that the head could save them.
Item, that it could make riches.
Item, that it could make the trees flower.
Item, that it made the land germinate.
Item, that they surrounded or touched each head of the aforesaid idol with small cords, which they wore around themselves next to the shirt or the flesh.”
(Could this cord be like the Hindu cord, symbolic of the serpent?)
Some said it was a man’s head but others a woman’s head. Some said that it was bearded, others non-bearded. Some presumed that it was made from glass and that it had two faces. This general mixing of ideas shows where the idea of the head could have come from. That it was a man’s head or a woman’s, indicates its ‘dual nature’ - and much like the ancient Celtic heads would incline us to the opinion, that it emerged from part of the supposed ancient head cult.
The Celts, it is said, believed that the soul resided in the head. They would decapitate their enemies and keep them as talismans. Probably the best-known head in Celtic lore is that of Bran the Blessed, which was buried outside London - some say Tower Hill - facing towards France. It was put there to see off the plague and disease and to ensure that the land was fertile - the same powers that were attributed to the ‘Green Man.’
‘Bearded’ and ‘non-bearded’ simply indicates again the dual nature, as does the idea that it was “two-faced,” like the god Janus. It was apparently called Caput 58, (Caput meaning ‘Head’) indicating that there may have been possibly hundreds of them. There are also strong links with Islam at this time; links that the Templars should probably not have made in their supposedly Christian world.
It is also said that the name Baphomet was derived from Mahomet - an Old French corruption of the name of the prophet Muhammad. Others claim that it comes from the Arabic word abufihamet, which means ‘Father of Understanding.’
In all likelihood though Baphomet comes from baphe meaning to submerge and mete meaning wisdom, the baphoment therefore being a device for the Gnostic tradition or belief of being submerged in wisdom, itself associated with the concept of the Sophia or wisdom goddess.
Dionysiac Architects
These are said by Masonic historians to be the prime originators of their guilds. A secretive group or secret society with doctrines said by Manly P. Hall (in Masonic, Hermetic, Quabbalistic & Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy) to be similar to the Freemasons. They are thought to have been great builders, reminiscent of the idea of the great builders who escaped India.
It was this secret society, under Hiram Abiff, that supposedly built the Temple of Solomon and erected the great brass pillars now seen as Boaz and Joachim in Masonry. They were also known as the Roman Collegia and were said to have wandered around like the Medieval Masons, building such fantastic places as the Temple of Diana at Ephesus (John Weisse, The Obelisk and Freemasonry.)
Weisse also points out that the Collegia influenced the Islamic building efforts, which were later to become a turning point in Western European architecture after the crusades and possibly via the Collegia’s influence over the Templars amongst others.
These Collegia were also thought to have been known before the Romans in Greece and were said to have worshipped Bacchus. Some even believe that Jesus, when he mentions that he will rebuild the Temple, is pointing out that he too is of the Collegia. Also, considering the Masonic fascination with the Druids, there is little wonder that William Stukely believed them to have been the builders of Stonehenge and other ancient monuments. Many Masonic writers love to associate themselves with the Druids and that they “had a high veneration for the Serpent. Their great god Hu, was typified by that reptile.” George Oliver, Signs and Symbols (Macoy Publishing New York.)
If it is true that the Dionysiac Architects and the Bacchus/Dionysius-worshipping Greek and Roman Collegia - not to mention the later Templar-Freemasonic link - were among the originators of the Freemasons, then it is highly likely that they were linked also with the serpent-worshipping Druids. They were all in fact a later showing of the worldwide serpent cult - the same as those in India, Egypt and elsewhere who all had fantastic building skills and held secrets of the true Elixir. Today we can still see a remnant of this great architectural, serpent-worshipping and secretive cult in the Masons. As George Oliver points out “The Serpent is universally esteemed a legitimate symbol of Freemasonry.”
About the Author
Philip Gardiner is the author of the best selling The Serpent Grail, The Shining Ones, and Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon’s Temple Revealed. He does talks, lectures, has his own radio show and does tours across the world via www.powerplaces.com
Philip has a degree in marketing and 9 diplomas ranging from etymology to holistic medicine. He is hosting the Philip Gardiner’s Forbidden Knowledge Conference UK (FKCUK) in July 2006.
www.philipgardiner.net
www.gardinerosborn.com
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Posted by admin on November 16th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
Peter Drucker, one of the most influential people in the innovative management age passed away on November 11, 2005, at the age of 95. The world will never be the same because of him.
While I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Drucker, I think it’s safe to say that his style had a huge impact on my life and the way I manage and lead. He stressed the importance of treating non-management as highly valued individuals, something that to most of us now is a no-brainer, but years ago, this was an amazingly innovative idea.
It’s amazing to think about how much times have changed because of this one fantastic individual. Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electic, credits a conversation with Mr. Drucker as the reason for his strategy to get out of any business that GE couldn’t be number 1 or number 2 in, one of the reasons for GE’s resurgence in the 90s and for it’s continued success in this millenium.
He also wrote a slew of amazing books that have helped me become the leader I am, including the recently published Daily Drucker, which is great to get bite sized portions of insight. It’s a book I highly recommend for all leader and managers. It’s easy to read, and is quite impactful for leaders of all skill levels and experience.
In closing, I feel fortunate to have experienced much of Mr. Drucker’s richness by reading many of his outstanding articles and books. My wish is for the spirit of Peter Drucker live on in all of us as we manage and lead our teams, our lives, and ourselves. Thanks for the memories!
Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of IT help desk professionals in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component in his success as a leader and as a person. Phil’s personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders’ fantastic book Love is the Killer App: “Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow.” Read more of Phil’s ideas at http://makeitgreat.org
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Posted by admin on November 13th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
There is something about Charles Dickens’ imaginative power that defies explanation in purely biographical terms. Nevertheless, his biography shows the source of that power and is the best place to begin to define it.
The second child of John and Elizabeth Dickens, Charles was born on February 7, 1812, near Portsmouth on England’s south coast. At that time John Dickens was stationed in Portsmouth as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. The family was of lower-middle-class origins, John having come from servants and Elizabeth from minor bureaucrats. Dickens’ father was vivacious and generous but had an unfortunate tendency to live beyond his means. his mother was affectionate and rather inept in practical matters. Dickens later used his father as the basis for Mr. Micawber and portrayed is mother as Mrs. Nickleby in A Tale of Two Cities.
After a transfer to London in 1814, the family moved to Chatham, near Rochester, three years later. Dickens was about five at the time, and for the next five years his life was pleasant. Taught to read by his mother, he devoured his fathers’ small collection of classics, which included Shakespeare, Cervantes, Defoe, Smollet, Fielding, and Goldsmith. These left a permanent mark on his imagination; their effect on his art was quite important. dickens also went to some performances of Shakespeare and formed a lifelong attachment to the theater. He attended school during this period and showed himself to be a rather solitary, observant, good-natured child with some talent for comic routines, which his father encouraged. In retrospect Dickens looked upon these years as a kind of golden age. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers, is in part an attempt to recreate their idyllic nature: it rejoices in innocence and the youthful spirit, and its happiest scenes take place in that precise geographical area.
In the light of the family’s move back to London, where financial difficulties overtook the Dickens’s, the time in Chatham must have seemed glorious indeed. The family moved into the shabby suburb of Camden Town, and Dickens was taken out of school and set to menial jobs about the household. In time, to help augment the family income, Dickens was given a job in a blacking factory among rough companions. At the time his father was imprisoned for debt, but was released three months later by a small legacy. Dickens related to his friend, John Forster, long afterward, that he felt a deep sense of abandonment at this time; the major themes of his novels can be traced to this period. His sympathy for the victimized, his fascination with prisons and money, the desire to vindicate his heroes’ status as gentlemen, and the idea of London as an awesome, lively, and rather threatening environment all reflect these experiences. No doubt this temporary collapse of his parents’ ability to protect him made a vivid expression on him. Out on his own for a time at twelve years of age, Dickens acquired a lasting self-reliance, a driving ambition, and a boundless energy that went into everything he did.
At thirteen Dickens went back to school for two years and then took a job in a lawyers office. Dissatisfied with the work, he learned shorthand and became a freelance court reporter in 1828. The job was seasonal and allowed him to do a good deal of reading in the British Museum. At the age of twenty he became a full-fledged journalist, working for three papers in succession. In the next four or five years he acquired the reputation of being the fastest and most accurate parliamentary reporter in London. The value of this period was that Dickens gained a sound, firsthand knowledge of London and the provinces.
Dickens was very active physically. He loved taking long walks, riding horses, making journeys, entertaining friends, dining well, playing practical jokes. He enjoyed games of charades with his family, was an excellent amateur magician, and practiced hypnotism. One tends to share Shaw’s opinion that Dickens, in his social life, was always on stage. He was like an eternal Master of Ceremonies, for the most part: flamboyant, observant, quick, dynamic, full of zest. Yet he was also restless, subject to fits of depression, and hot tempered, so that at times he must have been nearly intolerable to live with, however agreeable he was as a companion.
In view of his very strenuous life it was not surprising that he died at fifty-eight from a stroke. At his death on June 9, 1870, Dickens was wealthy, immensely popular, and the best novelist the Victorian age produced. He was buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, and people mourned his death the world over.
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Posted by admin on November 12th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
Now, good men, God forgive you your trespass,
And guard you from the sin of avarice,
May my holy pardon save you all,
So you can offer coins,
Or else brooches, spoons or rings.
Bow down your heads before this holy bull!
Come up, you wives, and offer of your wool!
Your names I’ll enter on my roll, now,
Into Heaven’s bliss you will all go..
For I’ll absolve you, by my special power,
You that make offering, will be as clean and pure
As you were born.- And lo sirs, thus I preach.
And Jesus Christ, who is our souls’ physician,
So grant you each his pardon to receive;
For that is best; I will not you deceive.
In medieval times Pardoners were people who sold pardons or indulgences as a way for people to lessen their time in purgatory for the sins they had committed. These pardons were certificates from the Pope and pardoners themselves were sanctioned by religious houses given them the backing needed to sell these items. Pardoners became unpopular because many of them were seen as little more then frauds disguised as men of God. This image of unholy man playing at God’s work is the one Chaucer gives us in his Pardoners Tale where the last fifteen lines demonstrate not only how morally bankrupt the pardoner is as he tries to absolve others of their sins but it also is a reflection of the corruption in the church at that time as well.
The Pardoner begins the last lines of his tale by suggesting that the pardons he offers will be able to save those who purchase it from the sin of greed,
Now, good men, God forgive your trespass,
And guard you from the sin of avarice,
May my holy pardon save you all…
Having the Pardoner suggest that his pardons would be able to save anyone from any sin, including greed is a complete stretch of what Pardoners were supposed to be able to do. Buying a pardon might be able to lessen the time one spent in purgatory but in no way would be able to save anyone from their sins. To have the Pardoner make such an obvious lie, given the fact that we know he is well versed in Catholic doctrine due to his ability to quote scripture in his tale, Chaucer is making a statement about the credibility and the moral fiber of this man claiming to be a servant of God. More importantly the Pardoner is preaching against a sin that he admittedly embraces. His focus on greed is also important because his tale was a sermon on how greed can only lead to death, yet in having the Pardoner first relate a tale of the danger of money and greed and then portraying him as being as greedy as the men in his story Chaucer uses him to portray the dissatisfaction that people had with pardoners and money loving church officials at the time.
The Pardoner asserts his authority to be able to sell pardons when he tells the
patrons at the tavern,
So you can offer coins,
Or else brooches, spoons or rings
Bow down your heads before this holy bull!
Come up, you wives, and offer of your wool!
This official edict of his ability to sell pardons goes right to the heart of the corruption the church would have been experiencing at the time. With the Pardoner being as morally bankrupt as he is having church sanctioned authority to participate in what amounts to a government sanctioned swindle, Chaucer indirectly questions the morality of those in position of power in the church. By having the Pardoner wield his “Holy Bull” around Chaucer suggests that whoever gave him this authority knows of his corrupt nature and is just as corrupt as the Pardoner. However, Chaucer’s attacks seem to be aimed at the people in the church not Christianity itself. Never once is there a questioning of Christian teachings or principles, just those delivering the message. The Pardoner offers wonderful lessons on the dangers of gluttony, gambling and swearing, quoting scripture, and imparting ideals that should be followed, yet he is a man who indulges in the same sins he preaches against. This raises the question of how well those in the church were following the teachings of Christ that would later lay rise to Luther and the Reformation.
Also in these lines the Pardoner shows his method of ensuring that no one can claim that they don’t have the means to pay him his fees. In his prologue the Pardoner makes it clear that he doesn’t care about those that he’s selling his indulgences too. That they can be poor and if they can’t feed their families because of the money they give him for his pardons so be it, it is not his concerns. There is a sense of urgency in the lines as he requests these goods, as if by offering many ways for people to pay he is eliminating any possibility that someone would be able to say they don’t have the money or means to purchase a pardon and in turn fulfilling his own greedy desires he expressed in his prologue.
As he continues with his final plea to the patrons in the tavern he ratchets up the sell by making even more extraordinary promises on what he is able to do for one’s soul,
Your names I’ll enter on my roll, now,
Into Heaven’s bliss you will all go.
For I’ll absolve you, by my special power,
You that make offering, will be as clean and pure
As you were born.-
Here the Pardoner promises to absolve the patrons of their sins, a statement that is in direct contradiction of Catholic doctrine as only priests are ones that would be able to offer absolution. Part of the dissatisfaction with Pardoners was that there was confusion on what “powers” they had and what they were really capable of doing. Chaucer’s Pardoner is no exception. He, as his tale established, is clearly a man well versed in church doctrine so he knows he has no power to absolve anyone of sins and it is just a device to assuage the concerns of anyone who may be skeptical of him and what he is selling. He even offers to place there names on his roll as another way to look official and to reassure the patrons of his authenticity. Also, his willingness to deceive those that are relying on him for their salvation is similar to the three friends in his story. They thought nothing of deceiving and killing each other to fulfill their greedy plans and while the Pardoner isn’t a murderer he demonstrates once again how willing he is to deceive for his financial gain.
As he ends his speech the Pardoner reminds the patrons of the salvation that really matters,
And lo sirs, thus I preach.
And Jesus Christ, who is our souls’ physician,
So grant you each his pardon to receive;
For that is best; I will not you deceive.
The Pardoner seems to catch himself in these lines. The previous lines of the speech are all a push, one that starts small and then reaches a crescendo with the promise of absolution but then he brings it back to Jesus Christ seemingly as way to add another of validation to his request. As the “Holy Bull” acted as church sanctioned authority, reminding everyone of their Lord and Saviour gives him the spiritual authority as well. The lines seem to be delivered a bit tongue and cheek. It’s as if the Pardoner has realized he’s pushed things to far so, as any good shady salesman would, he reassures those he’s trying to sale of his honesty. The line is interesting, however, in that the pilgrims know that the Pardoner is a liar, so his assurance of, “I will not you deceive,” seems to be for reassuring the patrons at the tavern as much as it acts as a capstone a, ‘See, I told you I was good at this,” to the pilgrims who know his true nature.
Chaucer offers us an interesting window into the politics of the medieval world with his Pardoner’s Tale. The satire and unflattering portrait of this holy pardoner offers a look at the problems facing the church at the time as well as one of the best villains in English literature.
T.S. Johnson is a Florida Based Freelance Writer for Hire, Providing Nation-Wide, Professional, Freelance Writing Services. For All of Your Writing Needs Visit http://prologuezine.com Today!
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Posted by admin on November 8th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
Many of us know that Van Gogh cut off his ear. Thou it is lesser known that he was so poor at twards his final years he lived on coffee and sugar and milkThis is why his teeth always look bad in films about him. As far as his ear goes some think he cut it to impress the prostitute that he gave it to. He was also an epilipetic and an absenth drinker this may have caused the erratic movement to cut off his ear.
Picasso the grandfather of all Modern art, his innovations have created the Cubist movement and art would never be the same. His life and love life were wild and colorful. Picasso had many Women over the years. Durring one stage Picasso was living in a brothel of which he named the piviotal work marking the begining of Cubism the Des Madmosel De Avignon.
Dali was not sexual like Picasso he was more the oppisite. his parents created a fear of sex by leaving books out and open with sexualy transmited deseases. Imagine the mind of young Dali a brilliant genius child and std photos.
If you love art visit the local library, read up on your favorite artists and please come to our site to look around, add to our forum or just join us. Picasso / Van Gogh
Art has marked us and we have marked it since the beginnings of time from cave paintings, before our ancestors to Leonardo Da Vinci more intelligent then most of the best minds today 500 years later. Art of the greatists will always hold a place in our hearts like the works of Dali or Van Gogh.
Discover some of the lesser known stories of the artists you have always loved. For example many people don’t know that Picasso use to carry a gun around and shoot it in the air at random. Also many people don’t know that Dali borrowed $500 from Picasso when he was traveling to the United States for the first time. Enjoy your life, create and live.
“Artist student of art and life. B.A. in Fine Art at UC Santa Cruz. I have a passion for the arts. I see something in painting that is so needed in our world. It it is like we are moving too fast to see the paintings now. A painting is a way to stop and leave this world briefly at the same time engulfed in the moment.” Andrew Zirkin
I get so much passion from the greats like Dali, Leonardo Da Vinci, Monet, Degas, as so many others. Check out our museum at http://www.ezmuseum.com
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Posted by admin on November 8th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
54th Battalion. 4th Division. Unit 984. Belgium. 1944. Crumbling buildings. Strewn bodies. A growing fear. Boiling, uneasy groans. Seeing beyond the pale light of the war to the dim glimmer of death. Something is inside of these men, twitching, squirming. Just the pebbles of a once great civilization crunching beneath their feet. walking steady, keeping your head up, looking around cautiously, sometimes drawn into the tomb of thought and unweariness. A dead body lies against a building. Nobody notices. More marching. A soldier’s head falls, himself still marching. A girl. A face. A lover. A friend knocks him out of dreams with a gentle hit. More marching. More climbing through the traughs of earth. Conquering more territory in the nightmare of existence. Squinting. Confusion. Fog. Myst. But a clear day. Rest stop. A soldier sits on rubble and dumps the contents of his canteen on his face. Another wipes his neck with a white cloth. Lying on his stomach, occassionally making noises, another soldier stairs into the inevitable future, undeniable fate. He turns over on his back, his weapon by his side. He gets up and leaves, his gun left. Clinking and clanking of tools and weapons, as everyone senses the move out order. Then it comes. And more marching. They’re on the road that leads no where and it goes for miles and miles. They will walk until their feet had worn down, and they had nothing but nubs left, and then they would walk 10 miles more.
His rifle in his hands, moving at the same pace of the other soldiers, Che walked with about as much uncertainty as he has inexperience. He was, like many of the soldiers in his platoon, a soldier, a boy, a man, a lover, a hater, a beast of passion, desire, love, and lust. He was in another nation and sacrificing days of his life that would torment him for years. The opinion of this varied from man to man in the platoon. To some, it was a patriotic call to duty, and to others it was just a requirement, while others still were Pacifists who had been tortured and threatened with imprisonment by the US government, as was not uncommon. It didn’t take long for the patriots to realize that what they were doing was hardly patriotic, that it was not helping their people, nor was it helping any people. Either way, like Che, the members of this platoon were here on foreign soil, armed, with orders to destroy, themselves unready to kill. The platoon moves, until it finds its locations: no where. The platoon leader tells his soldiers that they’re sleeping here, among the rubble with rats and roaches.
Nighttime. A cloak of darkness spread over the land, as soldiers retired to the ground for sleep. As the sun sets on the horizon, so it sets on this evening of their lives, never to come again. And with their lives full of hardship and existence, today is the last day they will have this much ahead of them. Whether there is only one day before death, or a great many decades, there is a limit on existence of all those men. Here they are, in a great World War, fighting to end the existence of other men. Their names may not be remembered, but what they do will forever change the course of the planet.
Daybreak. The soldiers struggle to consciousness as they warm breakfast over scattered campfires. The morning dusk has brought nothing but chills. The endless march began again. Every soldier has their own lucky charm, or momento, or tangible piece of sentimentality. One soldiers carries a pendant given to him by his grandmother. To him it is a purpose, but to a scavenging German soldier, it is a small piece of profit from melted down silver. Another soldier carries around a picture of his daughter, while another carries just the memories in his head of his childhood house, secluded in a small town in the woods. But among these men, these marching soldiers battling for control over their lves as much as the next man, there is one man — Che — who holds one thing prized above all: a love letter given to him by his lover. At least, she once was his lover, and she once swore all of her love just to him. Laura, a name so divine that only the angels could speak it. Her tender legs, moist inside, passionate touch, lustfully in love and always sincere in her affection. These were the thoughts racing through the mind of Che, as he marched in the war parade across the streets which yielded no playful and careless children.
Laura, once the avowed lover of Che, but no more. For after this love letter he is holding in his hands, which was like fleeting touches of her body, another letter came. The first letter spoke of devotion and the second of desertion. His four months (now 6) of existence in a foreign land was too much for her. Her first love letter was volumous, with imagery of physical affection and love — something any soldier would cherish from their lover. Physical love manifested within the words of our humble English language. The words of the letter were etched into his heart, the way two lovers claim a tree by marking the bark. He memorized every sentence, every syllable. But she left him. The initial shock was almost disbelief. Then, there was a void in his purely militaristic existence. And while the real Laura was away with another, she was dead to him. A once living beauty crumbled to pieces as he read the truth on white paper. His mind churned with the ingredients of misery, preparing the concoction of fate. Marching with a heavy head. He still kept the first love letter, to remind him of how happy he once was. And oh how he was indeed! In no other time of his life could he sincerely attest to so much comfort and love. Slowly through denial, anger, sympathy, he kept his love letter, and just as surely as he read her aged words of affection, she was reading another man’s poetry. Two months had passed since the breakup. He march, still in tune to Laura’s love song, not with a heavy heart, but the beautiful past lifting him in the air.
But it was this day that Che marched with the words of Laura in his hand, not looking, not thinking, but just visualizing her soft caress as her words looked at him. The debris of broken tools, destoryed buildings, or tattered clothing was subject to his worn, numb feet, his fixation not altering once. And whether it was by his own negligence or lack of concentration, he wound up where he was. He looked up, stopping in his tracks and the words of the letter, and he saw German faces, with German-military helms and wearing German-military outfits. Holding his letter in his hand, his rifle slung, he saw one of the German soldiers raise his gun to shoot. Che asked one thousand questions: Does she love me still? Does she still think about me? Does she know that I still love her? Does she know I kept her letters? What does she think about me? What does she think about me? What does she think about me? And then a blast lasting no more than a microsecond, and he fell, the wind taking possession of his letter. But as the azure skies turn a darker shade, and as his body loses feeling, Che wonders if he should have lived his last few weeks of existence as he did.
Yes.
http://www.punkerslut.com
For Life,
Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website http://www.punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for “subversive activities,” and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.
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Posted by admin on November 7th, 2008 — Posted in Education + Training
I am sick. I don’t know what’s wrong nor if what I have has an official name. Maybe they call it, “Ah-ha-now-you-can’t-breathe-well-and-feel-like-you-are-going-to-die virus. I don’t know. I will probably go to the doctor tomorrow if I am not feeling better.
Going to the doctor in Mexico is simply a delight. There are several reasons for my enchantment with going to Mexican doctors. One is that I can afford it. The best part, in fact, about going to the Mexican doctor is at the end of the visit when you have to pay less than $15.00 for an office call.
This is what you will hear your American doctor telling you,
“That will be all for today. Now be sure to pay your $150.00 DOLLAR office visit fee so you can help make the payment on my brand-new SUV. Be sure to take a look at it on your way back to your little rust bucket of a car. After all you are paying for it!”
You instead hear this from your Mexican doctor,
“That will be $150.00 PESOS (less than $15.00 USD). Oh thank you very much,” the Mexican doctor tells you, “you are very kind.”
Reason number two why I love going to the Mexican doctors is that, if you are a man, they do not ask you every single time to drop your pants to have a look at that worrisome prostate gland.
If you aren’t a man then you have no idea of how obsessive the American medical community becomes about your prostate gland after you reach a certain age! After I hit 45-years old, each time I would go see the doctor, any doctor, they would always want to know when the last time I had my prostate gland looked at.
I would go to the doctor for:
A sore throat: “Oh, that red throat sure looks bad,” the doctor would say, “but let’s have a look at your prostate while you are here.”
A cut finger requiring stitches: “There you go. That last stitch went in perfectly. Now strip off all your clothes, put on this gown, and I’ll be right back.”
An asthma attack: “Oh, oh, oh my God! The lungs sound fine but I think I hear something in your prostate gland. Quick, let’s have a look!”
The neurologist slithers in:
“I think we need to look at your prostate.”
“But doctor,” you protest weakly, “I am here because my right leg has been numb for three months.”
“Ah, yes. I think the prostate may be causing it. Bend over this table and let’s have a go at it, shall we?”
American doctors will go to any means to get to have a look at your prostate. It is as though they win some sweepstakes for the most prostate glands they get to “have a look at.” I just don’t know!
The third reason I love going to the Mexican doctor is that they actually care about you. I am not making this up: They will call you at home, because they worry about your condition. If you are suppose to return to the doc for a follow-up visit and are one day late they call you to see if you are ok or what has happened to you. Can you even begin to fathom that?
When we came back from a Puerto Vallarta vacation, I contracted a jungle related rash. Don’t ask me how. I was not swinging from disease carrying vines or rubbing up against something I should not have been. I just caught this hideous rash.
My Guanajuato doctor was treating me. It was rather a severe case and he got worried when I didn’t return exactly on the 10th day he asked me to come back. So he called me up to see how I was doing.
I love Mexican doctors!
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico.
His new book, Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241
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