tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52439882011-04-21T23:19:00.735+01:00In which Michael rambles on about nothing very much.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1129803704385119812005-10-20T11:21:00.000+01:002005-10-20T11:21:44.433+01:00

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Moor sheep 'killed by occultists' Similar to reports in January. Same bloke found them. Still resent the generalisation 'occultist' and 'pagan'.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1118739151206174362005-06-14T09:52:00.000+01:002005-06-14T09:52:31.243+01:00

Found: Europe's oldest civilisation Over 150 large monuments of the same design have been found in Germany, Austria and Slovakia dating to between 4800BC and 4600BC.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1115898244899688122005-05-12T12:44:00.000+01:002005-05-12T12:44:04.950+01:00

the Mail online | Mail - news, sport, showbiz, health and more | The beast of Lytham More strangeness from the north, north England this time, Lytham St Annes in Lancashire. There have been over 20 sightings in the last few weeks of a creature the size of a collie dog with large ears and mouth and a lolloping gait. Dubbed by locals the Beast of Green Drive, it is seen in the woodlands of a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1115804151704997572005-05-11T10:35:00.000+01:002005-05-11T10:46:09.703+01:00

icNorthWales - Anybody out thereI find this report interesting because it's not a one-off UFO sighting, but has been going on since March. John White (former DIY store manager apparently, I hope it wasn't MFI), has been watching unexplained lights from his house in Llannefydd near Denbigh for the last 5 weeks. He was so intrigued that he splashed out on a shedload on video recording equipment,

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1114784991762705242005-04-29T15:29:00.000+01:002005-04-29T15:29:51.763+01:00

I noticed the other day that the only book I have out from the library was overdue, so like any responsible person I ignored it. It is now two weeks overdue, but as chance would have it a colleague who works on the technical side of the library system sauntered by this morning. We chatted about this and that, and then I remembered my book. Somewhat cheekily I asked him if he could delete my

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1106757783385247572005-01-25T08:30:00.000Z2005-01-28T10:32:24.126Z

I had a dream on Monday night (24 Jan 05). Me and Jo were going into some woods. As we went in we were passed by a huge woolly mammoth that was just leaving. It must have been over 4 times my height. On its back were two cavemen wrapped in furs. I was amazed, and pointed out to Jo that mammoths were supposed to be extinct. We went further, and now saw dinosaurs. They were herbivores so I wasn't

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1105693391653572192005-01-14T09:03:00.000Z2005-01-14T09:03:11.653Z

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Dead sheep found in 'occult star' Seven sheep had their necks broken and were arranged in a seven-pointed star on Sampford Spinney, Dartmoor. The story describes the star arrangement as being significant in occult ceremonies. Although it may be indicative of some sort of sacrificial ritual activity, it may also be someone messing about. Is there any other evidence

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1105545742474637242005-01-12T11:27:00.000Z2005-01-12T16:02:22.473Z

The Christmas and New Year celebration was dampened for us by the death of my father-in-law Geoff on Tuesday 28th December 2004. He was 70 years old. Strangely enough, his death happened on the fifth anniversary of his heart attack, when he was clinically dead for over 10 minutes. It feels as though our prayers back then for more time were answered with an extra 5 years - no more and no less.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1106908736274900312005-01-11T08:30:00.000Z2005-01-28T10:38:56.273Z

On the night of Monday Jan 10th 2005 I was lying in bed awake as I often do. It is normal for me to wake up a lot during the night, and sometimes I am then awake for several hours. On this occasion I suddenly heard this sound in my left ear; I don't mean that the sound was to my left, but the sound was experienced as being localized in my left ear. The sound was like that of a radio tuner looking

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1084549397934318862004-05-14T15:57:00.000+01:002004-05-14T16:43:17.933+01:00

My my, it's been a long time since I made an entry on this blog. Not that anyone was ever reading anyway. I've been too busy with things to want to update it, and the things I've been busy with never seem interesting enough to write about anyway. My own blog-reading habits have changed in the 9 or so months since I last wrote here, and I think that has had an effect on my own blogging. With

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1061983106787697452003-08-27T12:18:00.000+01:002003-08-27T12:18:26.823+01:00

Weird Shit Happens Here is a Richter Scale of the Remarkable from The Independent, showing how weird things are bound to be happening all of the time.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1059063215865934052003-07-24T17:13:00.000+01:002003-07-24T17:13:35.950+01:00

Tigger I have just read the sad news that Simon's cat Tigger died yesterday. I have known Tigger for a long time, along with Simon's other cats Lara and Ben. Having not seen Tigger for over four years since moving to Plymouth, I saw her again less than two weeks ago, when I was in Brentwood for my great uncle Jack's funeral. She was mostly sleeping in an armchair near the television, which

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1058535931429960322003-07-18T14:45:00.000+01:002003-07-18T14:45:31.313+01:00

More Ghosts I managed to collect a few more family ghost stories when I was in Essex a couple of weeks ago following my great uncle's death... To begin with I must report that my father has been getting around again (see my earlier entry on ghosts). This time he appeared to my great uncle Jack while Jack was dying (as we now know) in hospital. My great aunt Grace, Jack's widow, has a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-105767808631003662003-07-08T16:28:00.000+01:002003-07-08T16:28:06.316+01:00

In memoriam - Jack Linse My great uncle Jack died on Saturday evening, the 5 July 2003. He had been in hospital again for just over four weeks. Despite a course of chemotherapy last year followed by radiotherapy earlier this year, some cancerous particles were swimming about and took root. One of the first entries in this blog was about Jack's experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi labour camp

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1053596160081908192003-05-22T10:36:00.000+01:002003-05-23T16:12:53.093+01:00

Ghosts There's been a few recent Ghost things on the Net. The BBC is carrying a story about some psychology experiments into ghostly experiences which is very interesting. The theory is that the brain interprets particular environmental factors as spooky presences. Despite the researchers anti-ghost line the BBC did stick some interesting spooky photos with the story, taken during the

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-1053086130869579802003-05-16T12:55:00.000+01:002003-05-16T15:13:00.066+01:00

Car Accident I had my first car accident last bank holiday. Well, my first proper accident. My first accident took place during my driving test (the one I passed that is). On that occasion I was ten minutes into the test and doing the parallel parking, doing quite nicely in fact and nearly there, when a car reversed into the side of me. The examiner cried out and I cursed my rotten luck, but

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-931031942003-04-23T10:56:00.000+01:002003-04-23T10:56:24.550+01:00

Family ValuesI just saw this story about a Lottery winner. He has just won £14.2 million and has asked his long lost son to make contact, promising to make him a millionaire. Well, surprise surprise! Said son is apparently looking forward to seeing his father again after 6 years. I expect he is also looking forward to seeing his next bank statement.OK, perhaps I'm being overly cynical, and by

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-930540432003-04-22T17:25:00.000+01:002003-04-22T17:27:37.000+01:00

Easter has now passed, so my Lenten vegetarianism is technically at an end. Having said that, I'm yet to eat any meat. The Olden and Golden section at What's new, pussycat? had an amusing story about a veggie restaurant with lots of interesting comments. Basically the restuarant menu seemed to make everything out of tofu, cunningly shaped and flavoured to be like various meaty things. I

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-927724382003-04-17T12:51:00.000+01:002003-04-17T12:58:11.000+01:00

Science Fiction, Double FeatureMy legs ache today, because last night me and wifey went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at Plymouth's Theatre Royal. Rocky Horror is 30 years old! We went 2 or 3 years ago the last time it was here, but we didn't dress up then and were completely unprepared - I got rice all down my shirt, and nicely sprayed by water-pistols. This time we kitted ourselves out in

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-926560602003-04-15T16:51:00.000+01:002003-04-15T16:51:12.373+01:00

KaraokeOn Sunday night, I was in the Duke of York pub near Blackpool's North Pier with wifey and the in-laws. Earlier in the evening we'd taken part in a free pub quiz (in which we scored an astonishingly bad 14/30) and now they had karaoke on. We'd had some wine and I was feeling relaxed, when my mother-in-law said that I should sing something for them. I was obviously feeling too relaxed,

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-926436592003-04-15T12:36:00.000+01:002003-04-15T12:44:10.000+01:00

Pythagorean dreamsI had a strange dream last night. I was in a class room, and the class was gathered around a table that had a sheet of paper on it. The teacher drew a large square on the sheet and started to tell us that Pythagoras regarded the square as the perfect shape. Within the square it was changeless, while anything that might affect the square was simply reflected off of the

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-923684782003-04-10T17:31:00.000+01:002003-04-10T17:31:18.013+01:00

Ahh ... BlackpoolIt's only Thursday, but for me this is the end of the week. I have Friday off work, as well as next Monday. Last weekend me and wifey saw my mother, this weekend we're off up north to see my in-laws. While my mother is in her mid-fifties (though getting to late fifties I think), Jo's mother is in her early seventies and her father is in his late-sixties. Neither of them drive

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-923546532003-04-10T13:06:00.000+01:002003-04-10T13:11:08.000+01:00

The SupernaturalistAfter my last entry I just want to make clear that this blog is not called Diary of a Supernaturalist because of my theological interests. Neither does it indicate any desire on my part to remove my clothes in public. It is named after a Divine Comedy song, Death of a Supernaturalist. I decided to call the blog Diary of a Supernaturalist rather than Death of a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-922284892003-04-08T17:11:00.000+01:002003-04-08T17:16:29.000+01:00

Apparently, I am a holy manSimon commented on my Lenten vegetarianism that I am a holy man. I'm not sure if it's the vegetarianism that makes me so holy, or just observing Lent. A few years ago we (me and wifey that is, though we weren't married then) tried giving up alcohol for Lent. This quickly became modifed to being allowed to drink at weekends, and then further modified to being allowed

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-921569092003-04-07T17:22:00.000+01:002003-04-07T17:22:09.513+01:00

Hair issuesA little earlier, whilst washing my hands in the gents, I noticed in the mirror that there is a hair growing out of my nose. My left nostril to be precise. Damn it! I only chopped a hair from that very nostril only a few weeks ago. As yet there are no rogue hairs from the right nostril. I fear that I am going to have the sort of bushy nose that my grandfather used to have. Damn

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-921438372003-04-07T13:11:00.000+01:002003-04-07T13:15:37.000+01:00

Hangovers, chips and vegetarianismLunchtime at last, though I must confess to having eaten my sarnies before midday. I just get too hungry to wait until proper lunchtime.I visited my mother in Cornwall on Saturday, staying overnight. Consequently I had a hangover on Sunday morning. I only get these hangovers (the head down the toilet kind) when I visit mother. This time it was the whisky, or

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-921404232003-04-07T11:23:00.000+01:002003-04-07T11:23:25.530+01:00

Just got the updated code from enetation.enetation

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-921395982003-04-07T10:52:00.000+01:002003-04-07T10:52:16.250+01:00

I heard from Simon, who said suitably pleasant things about my fledgling blog and suggested I add a commenty thing using enetation. I had been planning on this, and hopefully have added the code correctly to make it work. Expect a flurry of posts as I try and get it going properly.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-919889842003-04-04T17:19:00.000+01:002003-04-04T17:19:30.170+01:00

As it's gone 4:30 and it's Friday afternoon, and as nearly everyone else here has already gone home, I feel justified in spending time at my desk blogging. If that's the correct verb form. I was in Essex last weekend sorting out flat things, and while there we visited the relatives I still have there. My mother moved to Cornwall last November, so she is just down the road now, but I still have

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-919830592003-04-04T15:32:00.000+01:002003-04-04T15:33:48.000+01:00

After what I just wrote, I noticed that the new post made the template change kick in. I now realise that I have been a royal dullard. So now I have put my email somewhere a bit more obvious, and am posting this for no other reason than to make sure the changes are there.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-919821812003-04-04T15:14:00.000+01:002003-04-04T15:14:04.186+01:00

Had to rush home at lunch time because our estate agents are crap. My wife is selling her flat in Essex. The tenant moved out last week, and we went there at the weekend to check things over. On Tuesday evening the estate agent tried to go to the flat and couldn't get in, because the door has two locks and he only had one key. It turns out the tenant only ever had one key as well. However,

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5243988.post-919756322003-04-04T12:20:00.000+01:002003-04-04T12:26:34.000+01:00

I was reading about blogging the other day, and I thought to myself 'I bet Simon has a blog'. Simon was a friend when I lived in Essex. Being a bloke, I'm quite crap at keeping in touch with mates when I can't see them down the pub every Wednesday. Or perhaps blaming it on my gender is a sorry excuse, and it's just me that's crap. Anyway, I don't think I've seen or spoken to Simon since I got

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01678659105993082708noreply@blogger.com