Deep Listening

Deep Listening is a practise created by composer Pauline Oliveros in order to enhance her own as well as others' listening skills. She teaches this practise worldwide in workshops, retreats and in her ground breaking "Deep Listening" classes.

"Deep Listening" practise is accessible to anyone with an interest in listening. Undergraduates with no musical training benefit from the practises and successfully engage in creative sound projects. Many report life changing effects from participating in the "Deep Listening" classes and retreats.

The founder, Pauline Oliveros, is recognised as a pioneer in electronic music and a leader in contemporary music as composer, performer, educator and author. 

Her book, Deep Listening: A Composer's Sound Practise, is a fascinating read into the workings of our consciousness and it's connection to music.

Crime Pays

$ 2.1 trillion world wide proceeds generated

by criminality according to the UN making

 crime one of the top 20 economies.

Time Magazine 7.5.12

BBC documentary investigating how criminals

evade laws designed to take the proceeds of their crimes.

Vigilantes in Londonderry

This is a very interesting piece of news on a vigilante group in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Republican Action Against Drugs, as they call themselves, are carrying out shootings on drug users and drug dealers because they do not trust the government to keep drug crime under control.

                                                

                                                  Listen to an interview on BBC Radio 4

ARE THEY DOING US A FAVOUR?

Who owns our vaginas?!

America seems to be navigating even deeper into  the oceans of insanity.
Why is Obama letting the Republican plebs make decisions when they would not know what freedom really is if you served it to them with a slice of cherry pie at a fete.

The Governor of Arizona in the USA has recently decided to restrict contraception and abortion to thousands of women because this is apparently what all Americans want!

This  Planned Parenthood Article will shed more light on the matter.

The government should just brand women at birth with "The Government Owns My Vagina". And might as well put it on our foreheads while they are at it!

Female Porn

                                       Female Porn = Porn That Does Not Demean Women

There is apparently such a thing as female porn I was told the other day and this is thought of to be considerably different to standard porn for several reasons.  Such as, women get to direct the 'movie', the 'actresses' are free to reject a particular scene ( I'm also assuming position) and there is an actual award for it!

And no it's not called the Golden 'Globes' but simply the Feminist Porn Awards .
So while it is tempting to think ( and I bet those who are thinking about it are mostly men or deluded) that there is not a real problem with women 'enjoying' flaunting their sexual parts, the difference still remains. 

That while porn of any form reduces women to mere sexual toys and brainless harlots, real sensuality and sexuality for that matter does not come from a dirty film but from women being made to feel like real women.  Powerful, beautiful and valued!

Space Fuel

In America, there is a company Planetary Resources that is aiming to revolutionise the mining of precious resources that are of limited quantity on our planet.  They are planning to find more of the precious metals, stones and minerals in space.  This plan will cost millions of dollars to carry through and it is hoped that it will be a total sucess due to the advancements in technology and also the abundant amount of natural resources found in outer space.

 It begs the question though, should we look for more dwindling supplies of natural materials outside of earth in a bid to make certain countries stronger economically and still keep a greedy outlook on the environment or simply not go to all these great and dangerous and not to mention massively expensive ones also but simply rethink our attitude towards the plant's resources. 

Surely we don't need to go all the way into space to find the answer to a problem, we just need something closer to home, using our collective intelligence and actually realising that gold is not the solution to this world's problems.

For further information this article is useful.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9225386/Planetary-Resources-mining-asteroids-project-launched.html

Get free chocolates...

At the Woolpack pub the other day I could not believe it when I won a box of chocolates for just entering a quiz.
It is fun and more importantly you get to find out just how much you do not actually know about the world.  it is fascinating and even better you can have a drink while doing it and even better than that get someone else to buy you the drinks!

It is sooooo much fun! And you get to come up with you own crazy team name such as 'Pheasant Pluckers' or more originally 'She Peed In a Tent'.  and even if you know nothing which is around the territory that I am in, it is just great to socialise and enjoy.

The Woolpack 8pm on Wednesdays!

The more the merrier!

One lived to tell the tale...

My crazy and wonderful lecturer once escaped a vicious cult and what is even more intriguing is that she actually told us all about it.  What a brave woman!!!!  It stared with the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh cult (characterised by their orange robes) when they poisoned the water in Oregon, USA in a bid to take over one of the cities.  Their aim was for most of the voters to die and the cult members would be the only ones left.  It was the first bio-terrorist attack in America.

You can not make this stuff up! I guess it's true what they say, fact really is stranger than fiction.

She has written a book based on some of her experiences ... it's called Orange by Cherry Coombe.
 Full of sex travelling and joints! Who knew lecturers could be so interesting.

The moral of the story: stay away from evil cults!

Shake it baby shake it!!!!!!!!!

I think some people have such awful ideas that those responsible for putting these ideas into the consumer market are doing so just to have a laugh at those idiots' expense. 
I'm referring to the exercises equipment craze on the market ( especially in America) called Shake Weight, that not only guarantees weight loss but also has the added bonus of bestowing you with killer abs...and ALL this only from shaking something.  Yeeeep! If you want to make yourself feel better that you did not 'invent' such a useless waste of space, follow the link below ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hba9N-aVWOM

For Clarity of Mind

Being a student is so hard........only a student would really understand.
After all the partying, socialising, dealing with the nightmare that is the opposite sex and doing your own dishes and laundry... well, one also has the added stress of having to actually study.

Hence we simply need time to relax our minds and not to take life so damn seriously,  which is why the wise saying goes "angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" ( if it's not a wise saying then it should be).

If you ever feel like you want to smash your housemates' head in with the frying pan that they have left unwashed in the sink for the past 2 weeks or scream at the top of your lungs in the library at the insolent morons that can not read the sign 'Quiet Area' and use it as a social club instead, do not despair.
Instead revel in the fact that when university life is all over, those idiots will be without a job because they never studied and without a boyfriend/girlfriend because they are soooooo dirty and disgusting.

And most importantly remember that keeping our mind and body stress free should a main priority when dealing with a heavy workload and the pressures of partying! 

Recently I was imparted with some good advise from my yoga teacher .  And here it goes........

All you need are three exercises three times a week:

• stretching exercises for 30minutes first thing in the morning
• strengthening exercises for 30 minutes at lunch time
• cardiovascular exercises for 30 minutes such as walking, swimming, badminton, table tennis or even running.

Exercising helps our minds to concentrate as well as our bodies to keep going.

  

mirror mirror on the wall......

Want a hot body that is free from all the sins of eating, having fun in the sun and basically living?

Want to banish all signs that you are a human being with a few unique characteristics because these things get in the way of you possessing what you really want?

OF COURSE YOU DO!

After all that's what everyone is after and it has nothing to do with the consumer saturated society we live in.

Well...........here is how to do it!



http://vimeo.com/34813864

and failing that, do not worry, there is still hope!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/hibyAJOSW8U

Communicating nothing

A famous British artist once said, "I sometimes feel I have nothing to say and I want to communicate this".  So here it is! This is me communicating nothing because  I really wanted to.
It is strange but a lot of people feel like that everyday however they have no way of communicating what they feel because of their persistent shyness or fear of being ridiculed, which unfortunately in todays' society happens all too often. 
They should be encouraged though and probed and challenged because it is only then that we will discover what we have been missing out on.  It is often those who are the quietest that have the most enlightening ideas and opinions. 
They should not, as they often are, be so easily dismissed.

Moaners

Some individuals feel it is their duty to complain about everything.  For example certain BBC Radio listeners managed to have a whole program dedicated to their complaints the other day which was followed by endless apologies from the BBC.  One would think that BBC Radio had decided to broadcast porn or racial hatred from the amount of complaints made.  In actual fact the commotion was made in relation to certain small glitches that have been occurring during the broadcast on very few local radios across the country.  Needless to say these small glitches do not affect the audio clarity of the broadcast, at most they are simply a nuisance on the ear.
However certain listeners were not only angry but also shocked that such a disastrous problem had been allowed to continue for months now hence the world has stopped spinning on it's axis.  While most of the population are concerned with tsunamis, mass murderers and ongoing wars, some waste their time on frivolous occurrences.

Do I hear marbles hitting the floor?

Some BBC  Radio listeners must surely be looking for them!

Assisted suicide

Imagine this: your brother has just been a victim in a motorcycle accident in London. He is in intensive care, the doctors say he is suffering greatly, and there is no chance he is going to survive. His last words, before he loses consciousness, are that he wants his family to help him end his life. Imagine this: your brother wants nothing more than to pass away with dignity. But the doctors tell you - this is not allowed.  Now, how would you feel? Maybe, maybe it is a fact of life that every man will suffer for his needs, but here, his suffering is useless, incurable.  If a man is suffering and can hope for nothing more than a long and painful end, is it not the simple duty of a human being to help him end his life?

Why is it illegal that this should be so? Fighting the legal system has only lead to distress on the part of those who want to end their own suffering, and honest families must endure hours of right-wing bureaucracy when their real concern is the dignity of the people they love. It should not be illegal to honour the decision of a family member when they have chosen to end their suffering. But what right does the government have to tell us when we are supposed to die, anyway? They force us to pay taxes, they spend all our money on prisoners' jobs when honest people are rotting on the dole, and they think they can tell us what to write on our gravestones, too! No. We are individuals. We hold our Rights and Freedoms up as beacons of hope, fairness and justice, and it is upon these that we build our society. If we allow these freedoms to be taken away, then the pillars of society will crumble. Is this the legacy we wish to leave our children? Or do we want to leave them a future where, instead of sweating out their last morphine filled hours in a white hospital bed, they can die with their family around them, in the arms of their loved ones, safe, at home? But not only do they force us to die slowly, but they demand that we pay for it, too! £200 million is spent on running life support machines every year, when in many cases the doctors are certain that there is simply no hope. Don't get me wrong, I'm not George Osborne or Hilary Clinton – I know how wrong it is to speak about the 'financial value' of a human life - but when that human life is painstaking and devoid of hope, and when a human being has decided that they want, with dignity, to end it; to refuse that right is ridiculous and wrong, and the costs fall on all of our shoulders, as well as the family involved. In short, this government, however flimsily elected, needs to learn to respect the Rights and Freedoms of individuals in our society. The legalisation of assisted suicide is a major part of this. Anyway, in the run of things, as human beings, we are all going to die. But if we are allowed to choose when to die - to die gracefully - surrounded by the people whom we love; the people whom we love will rest easier knowing that we can Rest In Peace.

Football

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.

Bill Shankly, In Sunday Times (UK) Oct. 4 1981

Football is a very bloody game and it is also extremely emotional.  The former being a result of the latter as so many usually sound of mind human beings transform into creatures from nightmares within a relatively short period of time.  It is this instantaneous shift in behaviour that has produced some of the worst violence imaginable throughout decades and across countries.  In 1985, the FA Cup quarter final between Millwall FC and Luton Town FC started, continued and ended in one of the most disastrous football matches in history with fans breaking out of control and causing devastation inside as well as outside of the stadium.  This physical display of hatred is not limited to public property damage as human casualties are often the result too.  In 2003 in Warcow, Poland one person died while 229 others were arrested after the city became a theatre stage for an organised football fight between fans from five different cities across Poland.  Furthermore the riots between the Rangers and the Celtic fans at the Scottish cup final in Glasgow in 1980 caused the government to declare the sale of alcoholic beverages as illegal at sporting events in Scotland.  This is an issue that the British government seems unable to fully control as the feelings about the most loved game world wide run deep into football fan's psyches.  It is the thrill of being part of a collective who shares the same ideals as well as the anticipation and build up of the end result of a game that has such a powerful effect on those involved but while other sports games have more of a mellow following, football in particular is associated mostly with violence and disruption.  This is an unfortunate connection especially since it causes many to dismiss the true enjoyment of such a historical and skillful game.      

 

Stay safe!!!

Just the other day someone told me of something horrific.  They had their drink spiked in the bar Thirteen.  Then later someone else told me the same story and also a guy friend mentioned how this happens there all the time! How could this happen, in a place that is as small as Buckingham, where everyone practically knows the surname let alone the name of everybody else?  It is despicable that people must know something about it and yet do nothing to stop these monsters who prey on young innocent women.  These monsters are not only doing something illegal but also allowed to get away with it because it is not something that most girls would report for fear of causing too much trouble or disrupting their studies.
It is the MOST important thing to stay safe and now we have to keep on the look out all the time because some people are too stupid and uncaring to let the rest of us have a good time.
We should NOT keep quiet abut this and by doing so we are allowing the disgusting creatures that try to engage in rape get away with it and carry on thinking its alright to do so.
Keep safe girls (and boys actually!)
Don't allow others to even look at your drink let alone touch it and always stay with a friend! Because you might think that it is never going to happen to you, until it actually does.

This website is helpful for some facts:
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/date-rape-drugs.cfm

and this is where you can report it and receive support:
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/Policeprocedure2.php

Banks

I have never thought about my bank's influence on my life until the subject was discussed recently in a lecture.  It is so strange that something that has such a great impact on our lives is hardly ever deeply thought of or questioned by most of us. 
Firstly, there is the relationship we have with our banks, they are so dependent on us as consumers and workers yet they are so authoritative in connection to us.  Think of bank letters and how they are worded, we are constantly being told what to do and because yet because it's constructed nicely and politely we ignore the tone and do not really question it.  It is strange how this relationship between banks and their customers is never really as equal as we are lead to believe, for example if you have lots of money in the bank then they will do heir utmost to get in contact and act caring and concerned.  If on the other hand you do not then no one really cares to check if you are having difficulties and the formally cold letters that normally follow are proof enough of how much you really mean to the bank managers.  Surely, it is precisely when we are in trouble that we need the biggest support?  Secondly, are they really making us happier or are they just complicating things further.  The real problem is that even if you realise that you do not want to be involved with banks any longer, everything around us makes it almost impossible not to be.  A bank account and/or credit card has become necessary! And why do we need a middle man anyway?  After all, we survived centuries without them and we were none the worst off for it.

The links below are informative and a start:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/28/survey-which-banks-customer-satisfaction

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1712893/Half-of-bank-customers-unhappy-with-service.html

English weather

The English weather is like a woman PMSing.  I can't belive that today I just put on my best spring clothes and stepped outside, into what I thought would be a beautiful day, for the REST OF THE DAY.
Well.......to begin with the sun was a little shy this morning so, naturally, I dressed accordingly and decided to wear warm clothes and then just like magic after a long hour of deciding what to wear ( and then I wounder why I am always late) and matching everything up, of course, I had to change AGAIN! 
The sun was out, so as everyone knows when the sun is out, one can not go around dressed like an eskimo.
So, anyway, after another hour and being dressed in my best spring clothes and I discovered to my surprise that it is not as hot as it should be.  I give myself a mental note by this point, to have a word with the 'big guy' upstairs. After all, I don't just go to church every now and then for nothing!
Then, later on as I am sitting outside the library, knowing full well that I should be inside being productive ( as if trying to get tanned is not productive) but hey it's only uni work and even better only prelims, lo and behold instead of basking in the sunlight I am bombarded with hail stones.  I am beggining to understand, finally, what the poor WW2 people were going through.  One minute is nice and quiet and then the Naziz are at it again.
Therefore my hair is ruined, my make-up resembles Heath Ledger's Joker (RIP, what a shame such a fit guy had to die) and my lips are quivering, unfortunatelly not with pleasure but from the cold.
There must be a place where God knows what he is doing? Not in England though, so I only forsee one solution: marry a rich man, move to the Bahamas, never suffer another PMS weather tantrum again.
Failing that, as realistic an option as it is, maybe I should just carry an umbrella with me.

Too many choices!

What the hell is wrong with our society? It seems to me as though human beings will never be happy. They either have too much or not enough or have just lost the will to care somewhere along the line of ungratefullness.
Some say it is not entirely our fault, after all we live in a consumer staturated society and others demand that we take responsability for what we feel, think and how we react.
Basically, we are constantly bombarded with the need to make choices, what career to choose, what clothes to wear, what ideologies to support, what cereal brand to eat.  It is no wonder that we are overwhelmed by the mass of choices we have to make,  and we can't simply not make a choice, right? Because then, we are systematically labeled as serially unproductive in society. However can it be helped that the result to having too many choices is that we are almost paralyzed?  It is a vast sea and the more we have the more we don't know what to do with it.  There is also the fear of making choices but in the end making choices does not limit our options it only narrows them down, make a wrong choice and our life is not really over, we just have to try something else!