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09 May 2008
20:36:28 o'clock BST
Thank you all
Just want to take the opportunity to once more thank all who went to the bother to comment in recent times, in excess of more than 100 all told. I am currently not blogging, and neither am I replying to emails. I do check emails, hence the post here.
I am currently in Holland. The funeral went as well as could be, but the emotion remains raw. Whether I shall remain here, or return to Lewis is totally undecided. If anything, it's too blinking hot here. Not used to 80F...
If anyone is interested in more Scottish pictures, please check out the pictures on my Flickr account. I am in the process of scanning 250 pictures from the start of Northern Trip, and the first 90 are there now. More to come, keep an eye on Flickr.
Written by pharmolo
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05 May 2008
16:58:55 o'clock BST
Monday
Very nice and warm here in Stornoway, everybody is outside (except for me at the moment). Will make final preparations for tomorrow's journey later this evening. Plane is at 8.30 am, so will have to be at airport even earlier. Hope that formalities are sorted quickly, after which I can organise onward transport.
I hope to return to Stornoway at some point in the future - whether that be soon or late I cannot tell at this point. Neither can I tell whether I'll resume blogging on here or on the alternate journal (The Shell Gallery).
I wish all well, and special thoughts to those coping with a bereavement of their own.
I hope that those of you who are coping with ill health yourselves or in the family will soon find an improvement.
Bye for now,
Written by pharmolo
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04 May 2008
13:06:01 o'clock BST
Sunday
I may make one or two posts before I head off early on Tuesday.
Although my alerts are off, I was checking a few journals on Technorati, and found that Kathy [onestrangecat] lost her mom yesterday, May 3rd. I know what she is going through, please call round. I'm very sad for her, and worried.
I am deeply moved by the tributes to myself on various journals, as well as the 100-odd comments on previous posts, as well as on Call for Support.
I shall be very sad to leave the Isle of Lewis which has been my home for the past 3½ years. You can access some of the work I've been doing from my website, www.adb422006.com.
Written by pharmolo
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03 May 2008
16:59:02 o'clock BST
No need to comment
Please place on alerts (if you want of course) my new journal The Shell Gallery. It'll be a while before I start making entries - if I decide I want to continue blogging.
Written by pharmolo
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01 May 2008
21:33:41 o'clock BST
Thank you
Although I've turned off alerts (save comments alerts), I have read the many messages by email and comments, also on Call for Support, in sympathy and compliment.
Just want to let y'all know that I'm touched. I cannot look into the future, but if you want, you can keep my alert open.
I'll continue to monitor emails until (probably) Monday.
Written by pharmolo
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13:55:23 o'clock BST
Suspended
I know this will come as an unexpected announcement and a shock, but I am having to suspend this blog until further notice, due to a bereavement in close family. I'll email the group with further details. I do not know when or if I'll be resuming this journal.
I am also going to turn off alerts by the end of today, again with the same proviso - I do not know if I'll be able to return to J-land.
As the eventual answer could well be negative, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all for welcoming me into a wonderful community.
The Call for Support journal will remain available.
All the best,
Guido
Written by pharmolo
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10:26:03 o'clock BST
Thursday 1 May
Labour Day today (please note the spelling), which used to be marked with marches with red flags, plenty of military ironware and patriotic or socialist sing-songs along tree-lined streets in Eastern Europe. That all fell silent 20 years ago. Only China still engages in that rigmarole.
May 1st is Beltane, the ancient start of summer, marked in Celtic Europe. Winter is over (is it?), the beasts can go to pasture and the evenings have already grown very long.
It's an overcast day today, and rain is possible.
Written by pharmolo
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30 April 2008
22:12:22 o'clock BST
Hurricane update - 30 April
Tropical cyclone Nargis is heading for Myanmar (Burma), and will reach that country's west coast on May 2nd, Friday, with winds at category 1 strength, that's up to 80 mph. Landfall is expected northwest of the capital, Yangon (Rangoon), probably near the resort of Sandoway.
Tomorrow is 1 May, and we're within weeks of the Atlantic hurricane season. In some years, the first tropical system can occur in the first weeks of May, so if you're in Hurricane Alley: BE PREPARED.
Written by pharmolo
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12:47:59 o'clock BST
Mr LSD is dead
Albert Hoffman has died in Basel, Switzerland, at the age of 102.
He discovered LSD (lysergic acid diethylamine) in 1938. He was experimenting with a
crop-fungus, called Claviceps Purpurea. This forms so-called ergots on wheat and related plant species.
In the Middle Ages, people would eat rye-bread, made from infected rye, and it would send them mad. It was referred to as St Anthony's Fire.
Hoffman discovered the hallucinogenic properties of LSD, when he accidentally ingested some his invention. He
described the effect as: "Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror". LSD causes hallucinations, which may recur even after ingesting only a single dose.
Derivatives of lysergic acid are used in medicines, such as older migraine preparations (ergotamine) and in obstetrics (ergometrine), to prevent bleeding.
Written by pharmolo
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12:26:55 o'clock BST
Contrasting Queens
This is an adjusted repost from an entry I did on 30 April 2007. This month, April, sees the
official and biological birthdays of two of Europe's Queens, and I'd
like to contrast them, as contrast they do.
Her
Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
[...], was born on 21 April 1926. She celebrates her birthday in
private, with no public ceremony. On the second Saturday of June, the
ceremony of Trooping the Colour is taken at Horseguard's Parade in
central London. Until 1987, the Queen would take the parade on
horseback, but her advanced age has excused her from that now: she
takes it seated in a carriage. There is a whole website dedicated to the ceremony, which I would like to link to.
Queen Elizabeth II will be on the
throne until her death. Prince Charles is next in line for the throne,
but there are voices of doubt within the UK, whether he should give way
to his eldest son, Prince William.
Her
Majesty, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was on born on 31 January
1938. She too celebrates her birthday in private, but a public ceremony
takes place on 30 April. Her mother, the late Princess Juliana (who was
Queen between 1948 and 1980), had her birthday on that day. Juliana had
the people come to her palace at the town of Soestdijk, east of
Amsterdam, for a file-past. Beatrix decided to come to the people. Each
year in her reign (she ascended the Orange throne 28 years ago) she
visits two towns in one of the twelve provinces in the Netherlands,
with a clutter of relatives in tow. Public festivities are laid on in
all towns in the country. Read more here.
I
foresee Queen Beatrix abdicating, like her mother did, to make way for
her eldest son, Willem Alexander. He is 41 this year. Beatrix was 42
when she ascended the throne in 1980.
Written by pharmolo
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