World Ocean Day 8th June each year
14 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Event Tags: 8th June, World Ocean Day
8th June each year is World Ocean Day, so I’m giving you a couple of week to sort a response. Many people around the planet recognise the importance of the big blue and celebrate. Activities range from a personal mark of respect e.g. wearing blue to joining in a community project including:
- Film festivals and art contests
- Sustainable seafood events
- Educational programs
- Beach clean~ups
The latter so far has been easy to do here in Wales via Keep Wales Tidy as I discovered this during an annual events of Wales Sustainability Week. Phil Davies of Keep Wales Tidy did a ’Presentation on Marine litter impacts, risk assessment training & beach litter-pick’ and provided gloves, grabbers and hoops to keep the bags open. The event was hosted by SCVS Swansea. Personally, I would have liked to have been able to send some of the waste to be recycled. However, the rubbish was at least taken out of the deadly cycle for the marine life and I met some really nice people too.
We all need to improve our awareness of what is going on in the oceans from unsustainable overfishing to the arctic drilling for oil Greenpeace activists are trying to stop on our behalf. The ocean is majestic and we know less about it that the moon. Poetry on “the deep” is written about it’s untamed beauty and perilous nature. Let’s honour the oceans each 8th June if nothing else, its intrinsic value, let alone its biodiversity.
Unofficially World Ocean Day was started by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008. 2011’s events around the planet focused on reaching out to and collaborate with young people, helping to inspire them to care for our world’s ocean, now and throughout their lives. Anyone know what this year’s event is focused on? Anyways, don’t feel BLUE but wear it and be happy.
On the edge of wake up
05 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Dream gleanings
Gradually as I wake, often I recall my dreams and speed read them in my mind to see what can be gleaned… … so here it is, this mornings recollection of last nights dream turned into gleanings, they read like this:
- Scaffolding is heavy and needs more than one or two people to hold it up as it is fixed properly
- You can always find a quiet place inside yourself, a hiding place in a garden
- There’re many religious beans acting it out for the potential of attracting a partner
- Many ribbons held together in an updraft draft are beautiful and make the wind’s voice
- Keep an eye out for those who used to be able to do things, still think they can do things, but can’t and this could be dangerous
- No one can stop a lorry out of control from a distance
World Environment Day (WED) 5th June every year
03 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Event Tags: 5th June, World Environment Day
World Environment Day is celebrated each year on 5th June and is a global event created by the United Nations Environment Program. Putting this post out now to give you a heads-up a few weeks early. Activities include rallies and parades, concerts, tree planting, clean-up campaigns, flash mob dances…
Previous events included a life size polar bear ice statue by British sculpture Mark Coreth saying “When they touch the bear they are touching the Arctic and when they touch the Arctic they will hopefully feel the problem and then become with luck part of the solution to the problem,”
World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. In many countries, this now annual event is used to enhance political attention and action towards improving the environment. This observance also provides an opportunity to sign or ratify international environmental conventions. In 2011 the theme was Forests-Nature At Your Service, 2010 it was Many Species One Planet One Future, 2009 Your Planet Needs You – UNite to Combat Climate. Whatever the theme, each year the focus of attention is always on environmental positive programs to protect or restore natural heritage, in an effort to promote positive environmental action. The 2012 event falls on a Tuesday and will be its 12th Anniversary, 2013 it will be a Wednesday, 2014 a Thursday and 2015 a Friday… if we protect the Earth from our destructive developments that is and concentrate on keeping it habitable.
http://www.markcoreth.com
Alien doves of peace
29 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Doves
Each year a couple of collared doves come to our town (I’ve made an image using Microsoft Paint). They’re happy just to stick together singing like little peace protestors in the middle of the road. Maybe they are trying to slow traffic down? Maybe this is thier mission? I know one thing, they’re not easily moved and yesterday I nearly run one over! It was just so well camouflaged on top of a solid drain cover, poor thing nearly bought it! (ticket out of here expression)
Here’s the scientific bit: Collared doves Streptopelia decaocto did not originally come from the UK so their repetitive cooing would probably not have been heard here prior to 1953 and did they start to live here due to the climate changing? Anyway, they’re naturalised now, with their neutral feathers in a mushroom grey coat, having a vicar like dog collar and wear lovely ”There’s no place like home” red shoes feet. 
You will see them feeding on the ground in ones or twos, then perching on roofs and wires. These little birds seem to love being around our homes and making their stick nests in trees near us. They lay two white eggs that hatch just over a fortnight later. These babies are ready to fledge about the same amount of time again. What a welcome alien to Britain to live around us and be a symbol of peace.
Precipitation picnic
27 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Picnic
When the rain comes bucketing it down, miles from home when having to travel to an appointment, the car can be such a lovely little haven of familiarity. A packet from home for lunch and snuggled for a few minutes resting from the rushness of the city. All these little places dotted here and there, along the sides of roads since Roman times (when roads came into their own), have been places to stop and eat and maybe ponder. My daydream like viewpoint, had patterns of rain running down the windscreen and beyond to the city of Swansea being washed in the swathes. Rain can water a garden or wash it away (and just lately the garden has been flooded!). Rain stops play or makes puddles for children to splash there wellies in. Rain refreshes, cleans, it makes mud, it is liquid precipitation (scientific bit), it is the product of condensation of atmospheric water vapour… I cannot always muse from the shade on a sunny day, laying on a hammock. Those type of days are not so many now, it seems to rain a lot more. Have you ever just sat quietly looking at rain though for any length of time, blissfully pondering?
Run down the window ░ little rain drop jewel of rainbow clear and join the others ¯`• off to the sea and become part of the big blue, the plankton soup ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ the cloud (`⁀`´´⁀) but return to my windows ░ little rain drop jewel of rainbow clear ¯`• then tell me your story of clearing away the past, making way for the tomorrows in today.
Promised, borrowed, wanted, stolen, needed land
23 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Land
Not sure where I’m going with this, but bare with me here. Anyone remember ‘The Waltons’ an American family series based on a diary? In one episode, Jason is pressured into signing up for the army. Some of it subtle, some not so subtle, but basically he is told the big truth:
’This is fought for land’
For my family history, I think I guess that the first original reason why some of my family went to America was because someone kicked them off the land they were on. The history of land clearance in Scotland seems to have made it into my family history. It was made legal, that those who could read and write could just write on a piece of paper: [I own Rousay] and tell those living there to clear off. Many folks in Orkney who could not read or write were forced off the land, but let’s go a little further back. Many of those living on Orkney at that time had come from the Viking lands (not so fertile, rugged and mountainous) and did they not force their way onto the land? Let’s not stay here, but go even further back. Were those living there before that, Picts originally from Greece? …
We cannot change the past. We can change our attitudes. So here we all are, warts and all. An important acceptance of the here and now. Maybe it would be better study the reasons people fight over land: Need, greed or a bit of both. Better still is to study our own hearts as to why we do this or that. While we may be so detached from the reality of others back-in-the-day or over-there and their reasons, we need to attach ourselves to accepting this reality: When we point a finger three fingers point back at us! We need to openly accept our own immoral nature: Wanting what we think we need, judging others more than ourselves, unthankful, unkind, wasteful and unwise.
Not being flippant too much, but accepting my limitations or at least my self imposed ones. So, as for me, right now I’m thinking “coffee time” and yet my conscience isn’t going to be 100% clear. I will have to accept reality and not totally know about where the sugar or coffee came from. It will not be clear about the energy source to clean and then heat the water. Was the cup manufactured using sustainable resources, who worked on it and why? Yet not every day as I enjoy my coffee, do I remember think on that and feel thankful. Maybe I should be more natural as a lioness, but maybe I am judging by assuming the lioness doesn’t think about the antelope when she eats it, but wants to be able to live on that land. I hope this blog post raises questions, ’cause I sure do NOT have all the answers!
Big white apple
20 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: New York
Forget about painting the town red, Luke Walsh of the edie newsroom reported that across New York city’s iconic landscape, around 1,500 volunteers have helped to paint more than one million square feet of roof white. A scheme to only run during the summer, thus, reducing cooling costs, energy use, carbon footprint and green house gas emissions. The photo was taken by my son.
Well, maybe painting roofs white will be beneficial, depending on what and how the paint is made. Clay paints are natural and toxic free, and solvent free gloss paint is now on the market, but if whole buildings get the same treatment, won’t New Yorkers be needing new sunglasses? We have a north facing wall and that part of the house is cold, so a dark colour was on the cards to absorb as much heat as possible. 
Vegan tiddy oggie
12 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Tiddy oggie, Vegan
Basic vegan tiddy oggie ingredients:
- Oil (sunflower, vegetable…)
- Onion chopped
- Soya chunks (Dehydrated textured soya protein)
- Vegetable stock cube
- Swede and potato chopped
- That last remaining apple sitting on the tree outside before the frost gets it!
- Flour (Self raising is best)
- Margarine (Pure is vegan)
My simple throw together vegan tiddy oggie method:
- Okay then, put the onion in a pan with a bit of oil and fry gently for a very short time
- Add a handful of soya chunks, stock cube and some (just enough to cover) boiling water from the kettle to hydrate the chunks
- Simmer genlty with a lid on (saves energy) till the soya is nearly cooked
- Turn off the heat under it and let it carry on for a few mins with that lid still on (saves more energy)
- Add the veg stir and leave for a minute
- Drain the liquid off to use later for making a veggie gravy and allow to cool
- Make a basic pastry with the flour and marg
- Roll out and with apple chopped at one end and the other mixture at t’other, shape into a pasty/pasties. [No' forgettin t' leave a peedie bit o' left over t' cook for the brounie!]
- Pop that straight in the oven to bake (medium heat) or straight into the freezer to bake when your baking something else (saves energy) or pat flat and bung on a griddle over a peaceful camp fire with some sort of non-combustible lid over it (an upturned wok is good) and hope for the best!
Did I say I was a good cook? Nope! I am not that domesticated, but I bet you still want to have a go at yer own basic vegan tiddy oggie don’t yer? Go on give it a go.
Humanities of the Internet Security kind
08 Apr 2012 2 Comments
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Internet, Peace, Security
Learning by mistakes as children, we venture out into the wonderful and yet often worded the “Big Bad World”. As we grow up into different parts of various complex societies, we also now have to learn lessons about the dangers of this and that online. Passing on information to protect each other should already be part of our humanity and so it must continue. Those of the so called computer-literate community perhaps need to advise those newer to the systems and protocols more often? or maybe all of us need to speak regularly of the dangers to each other to remind each other, but it must be done without deploying scare tactics. Yes, we need to be telling children and adults alike of the dangers of privacy invasion using the Internet, but not to make each other feel paranoid and go running for the hills, fearing waves of panic flooding over us because we typed this or posted that, NO!
Thing is, so what if mum, dad, the local gossip, our teacher, our boss or a so called ”Best friend” sees how you felt at any given time? The saying goes: ‘Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind’ so just be at peace
Some of the posts from Vmyths can be an interesting read on the subject.
Gentlepersons agreement for life
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Tags: Contract, Heraldic Badge, Profound
When I’m tired I get profound and I am sooooo tired this morning, after talking through a problem in a tense committee meeting over a disagreement with someone else’s contract, so here’s me being profound:
So moving swiftly on, to making a positive pact and have a gentleperson’s agreement: An informal agreement between intelligent gentle folk. Unwritten, unspoken. just simply an understanding as part of a pact that’s mutually beneficial. The essence of such an agreement relies upon the honour of the parties for its fulfillment, rather than being in any way enforceable legal or otherwise. Unlike a [Gentlemen’s agreement] defined in the early 20th century as “an agreement between gentlemen looking toward the control of prices” or more recently to regulate international activities such as the coordinating money, trade or power usually to the benefit of the few.
As a gentleperson myself, I declare my intentions never to take unfair advantage, never to mistake sharp sayings for arguments, have sense not to be upset by swearing, to conduct myself towards my enemy as if only one day away from being a good friend, to see the best option, for the best outcome, as often as possible for all of us who live on this precious planet. Gender is irrelevant to me in matters of manners, the sharing of power, resources and doing my best for all on planet Earth.
Here’s my definition of a gentleperson:
One who never takes unfair advantage, by no means defends themselves with an unnecessary angry or agressive reply, has no ears for slander or gossip and wants to interpret things wisely and do everything they can for the benefit of many, including themselves and the environment that we are all part of, even if it means having to go without some trashy stuff that will no doubt end up in a landfill.
Are you a gentleperson do you agree?
or you could always just play at making your own Heraldic Badge like the one I played at making to include my dippy pony on top who thinks it’s part unicorn etc…
