Category Archives: arts

amusements, arts, memes, personal, pleasures, thoughts

100 Days of Haiku, Episode 14

So here we are at the penultimate instalment of our 100 Days of Haiku challenge. The 100th day is Tuesday 8 October and I’ll post the final results in the middle of next week. Meanwhile here is this week’s offering.

Monday 30 September
Felines emitting
zonkons. No wonder I sleep
all the afternoon.

Tuesday 1 October
Autumn eastern sky;
only two stars, just visible.
Too much urban light.

Wednesday 2 October
Life is suffering
but filled with such wonders:
blue sky and lightning.

Thursday 3 October
Sink and ye shall find,
the tap it is a-dripping.
Plumber required.

Friday 4 October
2AM. She sleeps.
I enjoy a quiet wank.
Ah! So much better.

Saturday 5 October
Three eager felines
awaiting their bowls of cod.
No need to wash up.

Sunday 6 October
October tolls the knell
of distant summer days, and
winter soon to come.

Here’s the tally of progress by week:

Week Haiku
Written
1 16
2 28
3 33
4 26
5 26
6 27
7 28
8 24
Week Haiku
Written
9 28
10 18
11 26
12 22
13 27
14 23
15  
Total 352


Final instalment in a few days.

amusements, arts, memes, personal, pleasures, thoughts

100 Days of Haiku, Episode 13

Now for the next instalment of our 100 Days of Haiku challenge.

Monday 23 September
Product of the cow
set between slices of bread.
Steak sandwich heaven.

Tuesday 24 September
Lazing along day.
No hurry, no rush, no stress.
Yet all is complete.

Wednesday 25 September
Gaze on a blank screen;
myriads of unborn words
at my fingertips.

Thursday 26 September
Pretty hairy pubes
wafting aroma aloft:
enticement to fuck.

Friday 27 September
Out of their depth the
bullies bully more, louder.
Government crisis.

Saturday 28 September
A painted lady:
pretty summer butterfly
or a pretty tart?

Sunday 29 September
Meaty piggy ribs:
marinade, oven barbecue.
Much yummy, Mummy.

Here’s the tally of progress by week:

Week Haiku
Written
1 16
2 28
3 33
4 26
5 26
6 27
7 28
8 24
Week Haiku
Written
9 28
10 18
11 26
12 22
13 27
14  
15  
Total 302


Next instalment, next Sunday.

amusements, arts, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

So here goes on this month’s selection of items you may have missed, but which I think you may not have wanted to.

Science, Technology & Natural World

Good news for cats: scientists have found a way to study the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (cause of toxoplasmosis) without needing to infect cats.

Health & Medicine

The nasty, tick-borne, Lyme disease seems to be on the increase, but researchers are on the trail of a new vaccine. [LONG READ]

According to some the problem is not that we are fat per se but that the problem is “fat stigma” and the mental effects of the ubiquitous bullying.

Health researchers are predicting that giving the HPV vaccine to boys will prevent a large number of cancer cases.

More of us, and especially women, are breaking the taboos about discussing femaile bodily functions.

And the new openness has lead to discussion of why women need to have periods, and many are deciding to forego them. [LONG READ]

Which leads us on to … research has shown that menstrual cups are as reliable as tampons.

Sexuality

In more unlikely research, it seems that women like porn as much as men (at least as shown by brain imaging) but we’re all brainwashed into believing they don’t.

Language

The British are well known for not learning foreign languages, and it is now suggested there are five reasons why English speakers struggle with them.

Art & Literature

So just what is the history of the Bible?

Rowland Emett’s fantastical railway sculpture will be on display at Bonhams New Bond Street from 12 August to 3 September, before being sold at auction.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Palaeontologists have found a massive dinosaur femur in south-west France.

It is being suggested that European Stone Age art could contain a code and possibly be the root of human writing. [£££]

In another story of the Stone Age, researchers have used modern forensic methods to solve a 33,000 year old murder mystery. [£££]

Excavations at the battlefield at Waterloo have uncovered the remains of a field hospital, including amputated limbs, and musket balls.

London

Wenceslaus Hollar created a 5 meter long aerial panorama of London shortly before the Great Fire of 1666. Here’s the story. [LONG READ]

In another piece of history, here’s the story of the Thames watermen and ferrymen.

There’s a fantastic new book about London Bridge and its houses.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Mid-year burnout. Is it a thing, or are we all just terminally tired?

Medieval monks had some advice for us on avoiding digital distractions.

Regret can be all-consuming and destructive of mental health, so here’s a look at how to leave it behind.

Shock, Horror, Humour

To end with several items which have amused me unreasonably much this month …

First, there was Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany

In a surprise revelation, opium-addicted parrots are terrorising poppy farms in India.

Concerned members of the public rescued a bright orange seagull, covered in curry or turmeric. Actually I think it’s a very fetching look!

And finally … a dancing parrot.

Enjoy the silly season!

amusements, arts, personal, pleasures

100 Days of Haiku, Episode 4

Weekly update on my 100 Days of Haiku challenge. I’ve struggled for inspiration again this week – well the hot weather has helped nothing – but here’s this week’s selection (one a day).

Monday 22 July
Bright green minibeast,
door lintel is its park bench:
small oak bush cricket.

Tuesday 23 July
Little brown fluttery-by
busily seeking nectar
in overgrown hedge.

Wednesday 24 July
Clear azure blue sky,
zip-wired swifts circling high
pick off flying ants.

Thursday 25 July
Wispy mare’s tail
cirrus clouds so high above.
Swifts circling below.

Friday 26 July
Harley or Honda?
Who cares the make when all rev
so noisily.

Saturday 27 July
Sleeping all day long:
pussy cat where have you been?
Night down the rat mines.

Sunday 28 July
Rain, glorious rain,
making gardens green again.
Daybreak brings wet cats.

And the tally of progress by week:

Week Haiku
1 16
2 28
3 33
4 26

More next week.

amusements, arts, personal, pleasures

100 Days of Haiku, Episode 3

Weekly update on my 100 Days of Haiku challenge. Not such a good week, this wek, as I’ve struggled much more for inspiration, but here’s this week’s selection (one a day).

Monday 15 July
Small roach, I feared!
Closer look in shower shows
just a tiny moth.

Tuesday 16 July
Grey shape, movement in
silver birch. Camouflaged
squirrel eating shoots.

Wednesday 17 July
Red golden glows the
moon eclipse through lacy trees.
Such speechless beauty.

Thursday 18 July
A lady’s pretty
cunt glimpsed beneath a skirt.
Such rare delight.

Friday 19 July
Bold Samuel Pepys
much drinking and wenching did;
but bad boy done good.

Saturday 20 July
Soft rain, heavy rain:
wring out the returning cats
many times today.

Sunday 21 July
Flashing red and white:
a Red Admiral supping
Buddleia’s nectar.

And the tally of progress by week:

Week Haiku
1 16
2 28
3 33

More next week.

amusements, arts, personal, pleasures

100 Days of Haiku, Episode 2

As promised, a weekly update on my progress through my 100 Days of Haiku challenge.

My target is to write at least one haiku each day. In week one I churned out 16, although not all were good. This week, week two, I’ve written 28 – again not all good – and I have a few ideas on the stocks. Here is a selection, one a day, from this week.

Monday 8 July
Always branded bad:
erotic, pornography,
essential for life.

Tuesday 9 July
Sunny windowsill;
solar-charging cat dozing.
Night out spent mousing.

Wednesday 10 July
Dryad of wormwood,
halucinogenical.
Fay green absinthe.

Thursday 11 July
Awakening to
pigeon’s morning serenade.
Warm snugly lover.

Friday 12 July
Foot pain go away
though treatment more painful.
Attractive masseuse.

Saturday 13 July
Cool evening breeze
wafts away humid summer
sunshine and warmth.

Sunday 14 July
Catnip stuffed fish.
Hallucinogen causes
spaced out pussy.

So let’s keep a tally of how many we write each week:

Week Haiku
1 16
2 28

We’ll have another instalment next week.

amusements, arts, memes, personal, pleasures, thoughts

100 Days of Haiku

2 Comments

As I have nothing else to do (joke!), and wanting to add something to my woeful practice of mindfulness, I have set myself a little challenge:

To write at least one haiku a day for 100 consecutive days.

What are haiku? Haiku is a Japanese verse in three lines with 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively. Traditionally haiku are mood poems and don’t use any metaphors or similes; however beginners, like me, are usually start with just the restriction of the number of lines and syllables. There are many online collections of haiku, for example here, including those of the Japanese master Matsuo Basho.

I started this challenge last Monday, so I’m now seven days in and it is time to record the first results. In total I have written 16 haiku in the seven days – some good, many not so good. Here is one from each day showing a variety of ideas and subjects.

Monday 1 July
Cicadas singing
Long through sultry summer nights.
Thunder before dawn.

Tuesday 2 July
Sunshine streaming in
windows open wide for air.
Why such depression?

Wednesday 3 July
Hickory dickory dog,
rough enough through cough, lough and chough.
Cork works porky quark.

Thursday 4 July
Useful man, Paddy:
Build, fix, repair, recycle.
Moonshine of the bog.

Friday 5 July
Wispy cirrus cloud
Against Dutchman trouser blue.
Metal bird glides by.

Saturday 6 July
Sticky, sticky day
Energy drained away.
Starry, starry night.

Sunday 7 July
Seven round a table;
Friends’ dinner party makes mirth.
Mountainous paella.

Well no-one said that haiku had to make sense – at least not modern haiku; the traditional style seems more rigid!

I’m not going to post an offering every day, as some proponents of 100 day challenges do, but I shall attempt to post at least weekly updates. And I’m logging all the output, whether posted here or not, so who knows what might happen at the end.

amusements, arts, personal

10 Books I’ve Loved: 10

Before Christmas I was nominated by Graham Page to post, over 10 days, the covers of 10 Books I’ve Loved, no explanation necessary – just the covers.

This is being spread over the five working days of each of two weeks. I don’t usually tag people on memes, and tagging someone every day (as requested) seems too big an imposition, so to compromise I’m nominating these five people to produce their own list: Alden O’Brien, Keeley Schell, Ivan Hutnik, John Monaghan, Ashley Herum. Of course anyone else is welcome to sing along!

Day 10 : Malcolm Bradbury; Rates of Exchange

Later in the year I hope to follow on with other similar themes. I already have Books I Hated / Can’t Read and Books I Found Influential / Formative lined up. There may be others.

amusements, arts, personal

10 Books I’ve Loved: 9

Before Christmas I was nominated by Graham Page to post, over 10 days, the covers of 10 Books I’ve Loved, no explanation necessary – just the covers.

This is being spread over the five working days of each of two weeks. I don’t usually tag people on memes, and tagging someone every day (as requested) seems too big an imposition, so to compromise I’m nominating these five people to produce their own list: Alden O’Brien, Keeley Schell, Ivan Hutnik, John Monaghan, Ashley Herum. Of course anyone else is welcome to sing along!

Day 9 : Nick Catford; Burlington: The Central Government Emergency War Headquarters at Corsham

Later in the year I hope to follow on with other similar themes. I already have Books I Hated / Can’t Read and Books I Found Influential / Formative lined up. There may be others.

amusements, arts, personal

10 Books I’ve Loved: 8

Before Christmas I was nominated by Graham Page to post, over 10 days, the covers of 10 Books I’ve Loved, no explanation necessary – just the covers.

This is being spread over the five working days of each of two weeks. I don’t usually tag people on memes, and tagging someone every day (as requested) seems too big an imposition, so to compromise I’m nominating these five people to produce their own list: Alden O’Brien, Keeley Schell, Ivan Hutnik, John Monaghan, Ashley Herum. Of course anyone else is welcome to sing along!

Day 8 : Gabriel Chevallier; Clochemerle

Later in the year I hope to follow on with other similar themes. I already have Books I Hated / Can’t Read and Books I Found Influential / Formative lined up. There may be others.