Chanting Buddha

NOTICE ABOUT THIS SITE

2011-06-12T10:10:00.000Z

As you have probably noticed, I kind of ran out of things to say on this blog that were of much use/relevance and have been using it simply to backlink articles.

I have now another site I use for that and am considering what to do with this one.

HOWEVER, I HAVE STARTED ANOTHER BLOG BASED ON MY THOUGHTS AS A BUDDHIST WHICH ARE BASED ON PRESIDENT IKEDA'S DAILY GUIDANCE AND WILL BE POSTING A NEW ONE EACH DAY.

TAKE A LOOK AT MY NEW DAILY GUIDANCE THOUGHTS BLOG.

Asparagus Pee

2011-05-15T08:48:00.001Z

Had asparagus twice yesterday which wasn't planned ... absolutely delicious, but funny how it makes your pee smell bad !!

Buying fish online

2011-05-14T18:13:00.001Z

Well it would be nice I guess to try some different fish other than what can be bought at the supermarlet and it looks like a good way tp buy them is to do so online.

root canal treatment

2011-05-14T10:41:00.001Z

Apparently, despite rumours to the contrary .. root canal surgery is not that painful !!

Root Canal Surgery

2011-05-14T10:40:00.001Z

I thought I;d do a bit of digging around about this as everyone seems to think it's dead paiful ... apparently not!!!

Sitting in the morning sun

2011-05-12T14:58:00.000Z

In teh garden .. british summers and the lovely warmth .. so how about some new garden furniture?

Blood Pressure or Hypertension

2011-05-12T14:02:00.000Z

It came as quite a shock to me a few years ago when I discovered I had very high blood pressure. Thankfully, it is now down to decent levels .. article about high blood pressure here.

Google Domination

2011-05-12T12:46:00.000Z

It seems that Google is no longer happy simply dominating the search engine market and now seem set to attack Microsoft's dominance of the sofware sector .. not by relacing it, but by attempting to bypass it alltogether with their newly announced Google Chromebooks.

New blog started

2011-04-23T09:18:00.001Z

As you may have noticed, I rarely post any buddhist stuff on here these days. It's not that I don't practise, I do but I rarely find the time anymore and I don't think anyone read it anyway.

I have now started a blog though which is more personalised which you can see at http://inmyfifties.blogspot.com/ .. basically a sometimes humourous look at life after fifty.

stinky breath

2011-04-22T09:51:00.001Z

a couple of new articles on excerptz about bad breath and the unusual tonsil stones ... never heard of them ? take a look.

new website

2011-04-22T08:36:00.002Z

finally got my own 'what I like' kind of website up and running yesterday which I hope will grow > www.grumples.co.uk

A bit of art

2011-04-18T07:54:00.002Z

Just the one this morning .. busy busy day ahead ... pop along and check it out .. an intro to buying art online

Phew busy busy busy

2011-04-18T07:24:00.002Z

Thanfully a friend dragged me out for a walk along the nottingham to beeston canal with a meal at one end and a pint at both :-) Good job too as it was a lovely day and I'd spent the morning in bed writing some articles for Extractz.... B it of a change of tactic and topic subjects including a basic guide to holidays in Greece , a bit of info and tips for online dating a couple of health related ones kind of in how to nmake a will and an article on bipolar disorder Just to lighten the mood a little, I added a couple of short articles on upcoming fashion trends Jelly Shoes and Cat Eye Sunglasses

Grumples

2011-04-13T20:45:00.001Z

Decided today to set up my own article website with my favourite topics plus room for me to rant .. after my honory title it's called grumples

first on excerptz

2011-04-13T10:23:00.001Z

After writing several hubs on hubpages, with the recent google panda hit, I thought it was worth a try at excerptz and so have written my first article there on the AV or Alternative vote

Sunday Articles

2011-04-10T11:11:00.003Z

Despite the lovely sunny weather, I spent most of the morning in bed and decided to write a couple of articles The first is a response to the ban which comes into force in France today banning facial coverings such as the burqa and niqab http://hubpages.com/hub/Burqa-and-Niqab-Ban and then a bit of a personal tribute to Kurt Cobain and how he indirectly influenced my decision to practise buddhism. http://hubpages.com/hub/Kurt-Cobain-Suicide oh and another written later in the day about the history of Harley Street

on a roll this morning

2011-04-09T11:59:00.002Z

It's been a scribbling in bed morning this morning and I have written a few articles for hubpages. My rant about celebrityism http://hubpages.com/hub/why-are-we-so-fascinated-with-celebrities What are the chances of Nottinghamshure retaining the County Championship this year http://hubpages.com/hub/Nottinghamshire-County-Cricket-Club and finally, I tried to do a little piece about Fukushima .. what it was like and facts about it pre tsunami http://hubpages.com/hub/Fukushima

A few more articles written

2011-04-07T09:35:00.004Z

A little late in posting here and haven't been as busy as before but I have now written a few more articles which you may find interesting.

How about a bit of County Championship Cricket http://hubpages.com/hub/English-County-Championship-Cricket

or maybe you wish you had the courage and money to have some shiny new teeth http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-Dental-Implants

Are you looking forward to the Royal Wedding or are you opposed to it? http://hubpages.com/hub/Violence-at-Protests

And if you need to change your life, it's back to Buddhism again http://hubpages.com/hub/Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo

Pass the Sick Bag

2011-03-25T11:13:00.001Z

Want to buy a unique souvenir of the Royal Wedding .. a sick bag or condoms perhaps ?

http://hubpages.com/hub/Royal-Wedding-Souvenirs-and-Memorabilia

Mish Mash

2011-03-24T09:41:00.001Z

Got some left over yoghurt ? Why not try this delicious simple recipe from Palestine

http://hubpages.com/hub/Recipe-Food-from-Palestine-Mish-Salad

Fed up with the dailies?

2011-03-23T10:20:00.002Z

Oppose the Murdoch takeover of the press and but the only English Language daily Newspaper in the world

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Morning-Star-A-UK-Socialist-Newspaper

Fancy a Brew ?

2011-03-20T11:49:00.000Z

How to make the perfect cup of greek coffee

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-make-a-perfect-Greek-Coffee

Another rembetika article

2011-03-19T18:45:00.002Z

Just written another rembetika article about Yiorgos Batis at

http://hubpages.com/hub/Rembetika-Musicians-Yiorgos-Batis-Baglama

The United Nations No Fly Zone - Libyan

2011-03-19T12:02:00.001Z

I've just written an article about the recent United Nations No Fly Zone over Libya at

http://hubpages.com/hub/Libya-and-the-United-Nations-Intervention-A-Caution-about-the-No-Fly-Zone

Another New Article

2011-03-18T11:04:00.002Z

An article written last night about a Greek rembetika Musician that I had the pleasure of meeting.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Rembetika-Musicians-Thanassis-Athanasiou

What's new

2011-03-18T10:53:00.003Z

Just short of a year

2010-08-20T08:24:00.001Z

.... since I last posted .... Does anyone use blogs anymore .. does anyone read them ? why am I typing this ?

Sunday 23rd August - Sunny with Cloud

2009-08-24T17:14:00.001Z

Woke early feeling a bit hungover and made my way to the City Vision discussion meeting which was quite enjoyable considering how I felt. Went straight from there to Cs and then met with her friend and had a picnic on the forest which was nice ... had a stroll into town afterwards before having a quiet evening

Saturday 22nd August - Sunny Day

2009-08-24T17:12:00.003Z

Spent the morning in bed, watching the 'embattled buddhists' dvd .. it's one of my personal favourites. Did a little work in the morning and then spent the afternoon at the cricket in the sunshine before meeting L for a drink and a bite to eat. From there we went into town and met E. and had more drinks and I'm afraid I had at least one too many .. but an enjoyable evening

Friday 21st August - Sunny

2009-08-24T17:10:00.003Z

Another frustrating day .. I really don't know what is going on with me at the moment ! Had a phone conversation with P. In it he suggested that I might take a part time job to get me out of the house more and I think he's right. Have made a determination to find the right part time job for me starting in October.

Thursday August 20th - Rain, Sun and Wind

2009-08-21T12:15:00.003Z

Another early waking day but more refreshed than yesterday thankfully. Made a real effort to focus on my work more today - a real struggle but I managed to make some good progress on a couple of things. Rewarded myself with some more late afternoon cricket - very poor game though.

In a more positive frame of mind today

Wednesday 19th August 2009 - Clear blue skies .. very hot !

2009-08-20T17:52:00.003Z

Despite the sunny hot weather, I managed to avoid going outside for most of the day. Once again though, much of this time was spent 'slacking' - much as I don't like using the word, on days like these I almost 'hate' myself for being unable or unwilling to motivate ! Have redetermined to put my determinations into action, instead of simply just 'making' them !

Went to the cricket for the last hours of play, mainly to get some sunshine as it was a tedious game. A new start tomorrow !

Tuesday August 18th 2009 - Sunny day

2009-08-20T17:49:00.002Z

Another semi-wasted day of work. I seem to currently be putting off everything including ringing the Tax Office to tell them I can't pay them! This should really be motivating me to work harder but it isn't; maybe things have to hit the bottom before I pick things up !

My Buddhist practise still strong though and I have nearly finished typing up my course notes. Should have gone to a discussion meeting in the evening but my lift pulled out too late for me to re-arrange getting there. I have to confess to a little relief, though a meeting is probably exactly what I needed !

Monday August 17th 2009 - Grey Day

2009-08-20T11:51:00.002Z

The skies reflect my mood somewhat today. I'm sure it is a form of Sansho Shima that everything I heard on the course inspired me and has definitely strengthened my morning Buddhist practise - still need to worker harder on my evening one though.

I also need to work more and harder to get my finances in some sort of order. Despite knowing this, however, I find it almost impossible to motivate myself - must snap out of this.

Sunday August 16th 2009 - Pleasant Sunny Day

2009-08-20T07:57:00.002Z

It's the day after the Regional men's Buddhist course at Taplow, and I've decided to re-start my blog. After several attempts, I have finally managed to buy a copy of 'Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary' which has inspired me to restart this as an online diary. I shall probably call it 'Charlies not so youthful diary'!.

What especially impressed me in teh book, is Ikeda's honesty about how he felt on a daily basis, including times when he idled a day away or missed a Buddhist meeting to go to a movie. This is something I can identify with and I fell shows his humanity and teh fact that we are all human with all the potential failings that entails. He never lets site of the battle being to defeat our negative tendencies and to win and reveal our Buddhahood. He also records the weather for the day, so in a 'copycat' style, so will I.

.........................................

Had hoped to catch up on some sleep today after the early start to the course at Taplow, but it was not to be. One main side effect of teh Blood Pressure medication I am on is early waking - something I will probably now have to adapt to.

Have been in a bit of a blue funk the last few days for some unknown reason and must try to pull myself out of it. Not a very productive day today but that's ok as yesterday was at Taplow and there was much to take in and process from the day and I will be typing up my notes on that in the next few days.

Determinations, Sansho Shima and Small Victories

2009-02-18T18:06:00.000Z

I recently made some determinations for this year and the first one that I need to achieve is to get my blood pressure sorted out and that's within 3 weeks as I'm likely to be put on tablets on my next visit to the doctors. I'm not so against the idea that I would refuse, and if I need them, then I need them. However, I really want to avoid this if possible.

Basically before Xmas a chance visit to the doc revealed my BP to be really high. A week of exercise and better diet did bring it down but still pretty high and it's stayed similar ever since. A week or so ago, I bought a home BP tester and as I suspected, my BP is lower when taken at home, though once again, still too high. Through using that, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that it's predominantly anxiety which is the root cause of it and so decided to try to address that.

The first thing I did was to get some guidance regarding it from a Buddhist perspective which was really useful. I think the key phrase that summed it up for me was:

"I do believe that a high life state – or specifically Buddha state – does preclude anxiety. Anxiety must be an aspect of fundamental darkness – a lack of confidence in life and a lack of understanding of life causing low level fear. So daimoku must be the starting point, together with study and action for Kosen-rufu (shakubuku), all of which raise our life state."

I think it's the 'lack of confidence in life' bit that stood out for me ... although I'm fairly outgoing, my anxiety could well be a manifestation of that. With regards to the other bits .. my study is pretty good but my daimoku is a bit random if I'm honest.

We often hear of people chanting to be in rythm with the universe but it occurred to me that I'm not really even in rythm with my own life ... that was probably best summarised by the last two morning gongyos being done in the middle of the afternoon !! So, yesterday, I spent some time planning a new daily schedule starting with my alarm being set for 7am so that I could a) get an hours chanting done in the morning and b) get more work done while allowing time for other things. I am self employed and work from home which is great BUT, with that needs to come an element of self discipline .. something it seems I lack.

Anyway ... the new schedule looks quite do-able and also allows time for a swim/gym at lunch and an hours free time in the afternoon to read/watch TV/paint or whatever.

And then today, .... sansho shima kicked in ...

My alarm was set for seven but I woke at 5am .. probably because I ate really late after coming back from a buddhist meeting. I tried to get back to sleep but it just wasn't happening. Now, usually, if I don't get enough sleep, I'd simply scrap all my new schedule ideas and have a useless day instead and more than likely abandon the idea alogether, but today, I decided to stick to the schedule 'no matter what' ... so I eventually got up at 7am, having not slept since 5am, and did do an hours chanting with morning gongyo. The next bit of my plan was to go for a 15-20 minute 'walk to work' .. ie a walk round the block before starting work ... I usually find a bit of exercise relaxes me a bit ... of course, when I did the schedule, I was thinking of a nice stroll in bright sunshine ... and what was the weather like ? grey and drizzly .. once again, I'd normally think ... "manyana" .. but once again I decided to actually go for the walk and it was ok actually ... sun would have been better but !!!

The next challenge was the lunch time exercise ... I did consider not doing it as I was tired but as my BP was really high this morning, I thought it was probably wise to do some exercise to relax a bit ( I suspect it's high because of the lack of sleep but not sure) so once more .. I stuck to the schedule and went for a walk followed by a swim at the gym (fortunately realllly close by).

And then came the 'treat' bit (after a period of work of course .. I do actually do some ;).. I've allowed myself an hour in the afternoon to do something such as read or paint or something creative, however, today I decided to put my head down for half hour or so to catch up on sleep a bit .. well .. I deserve it :-) and that was nice .... though longer would have been nicer :)

And then back to work ... which I'm now coming to an end of. Just evening Gongyo to do at 6.30pm and I'll have succeeded in my first day or new routine.

So all in all, it's not been a great day but I guess that in itself is a small victory .. the fact that despite feeling like shite, I stuck to my schedule even though I really didn't feel like it .. and that's when I usually just give up ..... Is it a turning point .... let's see if I can keep it up :)

The Eternity of Life - A Discussion

2009-02-16T18:38:00.001Z

Last weekend, I attended an SGI-UK study lecturers training day at Taplow Court. It was a really interesting talk by Mrs Takahashi, the European Study leader.

However, I really struggled with this one as it was predominantly (though not exclusively) about the Eternity of Life which is a subject that I find difficult. When I say difficult, I don't mean difficult as in dealing with death etc but how the whole process of the eternity of life works.

As those who practise know, there are three proofs in this Buddhism; theoretical proof, documentary proof and actual proof, the 'actual' being the most important. I'm sure all of us who practise have had 'actual' proof that the practise works, otherwise we wouldn't practise .. would we !!

However, and this is where it gets a bit confused for me. It is of course, impossible to have actual proof of the eternity of life .. no one has come back and told us what happens etc and at the same time, though scientists can tell us when brain waves stop, they can't tell us what happens to the 'life force' that was there.

Now, I'm not a complete sceptic on this .. I think this explanation is as good as any and more plausable than most and I do believe that lifeforce doesn't just vanish on death and continues in some form or other .. the thing I can't get my head round is how it then 're-establishes' itself ... My own thoughts are that either a) it becomes a part of the universal energy or b) that it simply exists in the form of peoples memories and the influences that we have left behind. For example, I don't believe that Martin Luther King has been 're-born', but I do believe that his memory and influences live on and that this has an effect on the current world, and I'm sure our own influences left behind will do so albeit possibly on a different scale. In many ways to be honest, I'd be ok with that.

If we take the 'energy as part of the universe' option though, what I really really struggle with is the bit that goes something like .... "and when the time is right, we are reborn" .!! I'm not saying this isn't the case but I can't quite put the bits together .... at what point and how does this happen ? As sperm ? while the babies in the womb ? once it's born ?.. and how does it get there ?... I know that sounds daft but it feels to me like a bit of the jigsaw is missing.

All that said, I'm not overly worried about it though if anyone can enlighten me, that would be great.

My own take is very similar to something Daisaku Ikeda once said (and this is from memory so not a quote as such). He said:

"The fact is that we don't know what happens after we die. Many religions have many different explanations but none can be 100% certain. However, what really matters is how a religions view of death makes us live our lives in the here and now"

So on that level, I'm happy with that, but thought I'd throw my thoughts out for possible debate ... any takers ?

Buddhist Determinations

2009-02-10T13:47:00.001Z

As a Buddhist, each new year, we make new 'determinations' for the year ahead. These are kind of similar in some ways to resolutions but are intended to be supported by our buddhist practise.

I have had quite a few in my head but maybe it's age as I keep forgetting them, so I'm going to list them below ... will be interesting to see how many I achieve !!

In no particular order:

1) To never miss morning or evening gongyo even if it's only a short one( ie the buddhist practise)

2) To read all 12 volumes of 'the human revolution' by the end of the year (currently on vol 2)

3) To look after my health, remembering that I'm no longer 20 (or even 30 or 40 !) and get my BP down

4) To earn more money and to double my biggest KR contribution next time

5) To have 10 new men or older young men practising in our chapter by the end of the year

6) To go and chant with one man in our chapter per week

7) To be in a relationship by May 3rd 2009

and some more

2008-11-16T19:52:00.006Z

I paint, therefore I Ham

2008-11-12T10:32:00.003Z

Not so much of a catch up as nothing much to report apart from having a birthday which was pretty good .. usual .. Mayfair .. yum yum !!

Made a determination at the start of the year to do something creative. This determination seemed likely to fade into oblivion when we were asked as part of our Buddhist group to donate something on the subject of 'my mentor and I', for a book to be published. My initial thought was a poem as I've done a bit of that in the past with moderate success ..... well I quite like them anyway lol ( see http://www.lulu.com/content/761774 ), but I decided to have a go at something I've wanted to do for a while and have always enjoyed looking at in galleries .. I decided to paint !!! So far I've done two things, the first for this project and the second just a general thing .... I've got a feeling I may enjoy reading teh comments ... NOT !!!!! lol

Summer Course of course

2008-09-19T08:09:00.007Z

With all the dampness and recent rain, it was great to be able to travel down to Knebworth for the Mens Regional Buddhist Summer Course. Pretty good turnout from Nottingham with only one or two of the regulars unable to make it. Feedback was that it was a really great meeting and well worth the long journey and I'd have to agree with that .. especially the lecture by Robert Samuels which was probably the best lecture that I've heard yet and which clarified that this Buddhist practise is about battling our own inner negativities every day and to win in our lives, whatever that means for each of us. He emphasised that it's not about being 'nice' and 'peaceful' but involves a daily challenge to live our own 'human revolution'. He also emphasised that the practise is not just about chanting but about encouraging others too .. not even necessarily to practise, but to encourage people to believe that they have what we call 'buddhahood' in them .. ie their own best self .. to encourage them to challenge their own lives to be happy ( not a great word but meant in a 'not grinning stupidly' way .. ).

Anyway .. great day and like most others, I suspect, I went away redetermined to strengthen my practise.

A few days after that I went over to Lincolnshire to see my Mum .. which was pretty relaxing as she lives in a village so all quiet .. birdsong and all that. Had an hour in Boston .. or Bostonski as the locals are calling it. What a dead looking place it is now too .. lots of 'pound' shops including one called 'It must be stolen' !! Ironically, the most interesting bit now is the once almost dead area of West Street which seems to have sprung up a basic tapas bar along with several Polish grill places and cafes .... Will probably try to pop in one one time.

Last night was also the second in the Jazz season at Bonington which was pretty good .. probably around a 7.5 out of 10 ... Much of it was a bit low key and one tempo'd for me but they did end up with a few excellent tracks including a version of Horis Silver's 'Song for my father' ... Interestingly, they had a female drummer... wasn't too sure about her until near the end when she seemed to relax and played really well .. seemed a bit stilted for much of it though but that could have been the style that they wanted perhaps. All in all a good night though and I managed to keep the whisky intake to a reasonable level ;)

It's the end of Summer as we know it (unofficially anyway)

2008-09-10T13:22:00.005Z

Only unofficially because cricket season hasn't ended yet .. quite !!

But also, unofficially as last night marked the start of the new Jazz season though in a bit of a 'warm up' way. The realMcCoy ie the Jazzsteps gigs start tomorrow, but last night saw Simon Spillet appear at the Fiveways pub in Nottingham with a local backing band. On the whole a pretty good night for £6 and the backing band are pretty decent too. A couple of negatives was the beer was awful so whisky was drunk unsurprisingly. Also half way through the second set, a woman in front of us passed out causing a bit of a panic. Anyway, we managed to carry her outside (still in her chair !!) and after getting some fresh air she seemed to recover ok. One of the guys with her kept saying to us ... "don't get old .. don't get old" ... cheers mate :).

It's nice to be somewhere, where at nearly 50, you'r by far the youngest there lol

And that's it really .. hectic week or so coming upo including a long trip to Knebworth on Sunday for a Buddhist course .... should be good though.

More soon ....

The BIG catch Up

2008-08-19T17:33:00.001Z

Jeeeze .. it's really been a while since I posted here .. well properly anyway !! Nearly 6 weeks .. so a little re-cap to catch up ...

CRICKET
Bit ofa usual 'summer' thing here .. actually got a bit of decent weather for a few games and saw some good cricket. Unfortunately, with the 20/20, most of the cricket I like, gets squeezed in the start and end of the season when it's wetter !!

FOOD
Had a bit of a pani as the Mayfir seemed closed when I went past on the bus, but turned out Mike was away for a week so had a bit of a Mayfair break ... didn't last long though .. and had some great food (as always) although too much wine (and a visit to the poacher afterwards) meant I couldn't remember too much about it.

Also managed to visita couple of other places; The Memsaab which Ild been to about 10 year ago andwhile ok, thought was heavily over rated. This time, I ordered the fish curry ...quite frankly, thought it wa pretty horrible .. and expensive .. that said, several others had different curries and enjoyed but I didn't enjoy teh place either really and won't be heading back in a hurry.

On a positive note, I did go to a new Tapas bar in Nottingham called 'Iberico' ( http://www.ibericotapas.com/ ) which isn't very heavily advertised but is excellent. It's a bit on the pricey side but compared to the rubbish that La Tasca serves, is well worth a visit. The food comes reasonably quickly and is nicely presented if a little pretetntious ... Also pretentious is that the waiters tell you how things should be eaten which actually is quite comical when it comes from an East European waitress .. 'please to eat the gooseberries after the fish please' :). But I would definitely go there again.

BUDDHISM
Nothing too much to report here .. been going to West Bridgford Meetings which I've enjoyed .. also been doing a little 'home visiting' after years of getting over the phobia .. actualy it's quite easy once I stopped calling them 'home visits' and just said I was going to chant with someone !

Had a couple of excellent Study lectures .. one from Michelle Lamb and one from Jason Jarrett ho does the Buddhist podcasts. In fact if you go to http://abuddhistpodcast.com/ you can hear the Studio Version of the study he gave in Nottingham.

Currently managing to do around an hour each day so all pretty good there at the moment.

And I think that's about it ..... Just a couple of vids ... the Buddhist One again just so I don't lose it and a Greek TV one .. sweeeeeet ;)

YOUNG AND BUDDHIST

Watch live video from Antileech on Justin.tv

Buddhist Interview

2008-08-15T10:13:00.002Z

yeah yeah .. I know I haven't posted in ages but here's a little video I found to keep you going .. worth a watch.

YOUNG AND BUDDHIST

Leonard Cohen

2008-06-30T14:34:00.003Z

After 15 years I think, when I saw him last, Leonard Cohen is playing the UK and while I didn't get tickets to see him (though if he adds Nottingham I will !) I was looking forward to seeing him on TV from Glastonbury but apparently he or his manahement wouldn't let it be filmed (maybe a dvd coming out later ?).

Anyway .. a few people filmed it off the screen from Glastonbury .. so enjoy :)

What can I say ??

2008-06-26T09:15:00.002Z

That's a good question .. I'm starting to feel a little guilty about not posting but it kind of reminds me of when I first started work and used to keep a diary which predominantly said:

Got up
Went to work
Practised Drums
Went to Pub

Exciting life eh ;)

So that's why no posts I guess, though I've done some Buddhisty stuff such as going to Taplow a couple of weeks back for a lecture to Study Lecturers (likely I'll be doing one in, well... half of one, in September .. scarey !!). The lecture was by European Womens leader .. Mrs Takahashi and was really good, though it was a full day and by the third lecture in the afternoon there were a few 'sleepers' around teh place :-). There's also been a New members day for people practising less than 2 years (but open to all members). That was more succesful than I expected and we had 60 people in one room .. just a normal sized one .. pretty warm that was.

Anyway .. I think I'm now coming out of my period of Mourning for Harold leaving Neighbours and I'll leave you with a tribute to him

It's the end of the world as we know it

2008-06-13T11:15:00.002Z

Today I'm feeling sad because the Big Bang Theory season finished last night :(

Finally, at last and arghhhhh

2008-05-05T16:24:00.005Z

Finally

I got my tokubetsu gohonzon enshrined !! I received it last October I believe and for one reason and another I didn't get it enshrined, but finally I had a little ceremony last Friday and then went over the pub where I drank too much and then drank whisky after coming back and felt like crap all the next day and did no work !!!

At Last !!

The cricket season started at Trent Bridge. I went down for a one day game on the sunday after going to Kosen Rufu gongyo. I was a bit late and missed 2 wickets. I watched a few overs then went to the co-op to get some food and when I got back, 2 more wickets had gone !! Anyway .. Northants ended up with a pretty low total which Notts beat with relative ease. Have to say though that I can't understand why people prefer one day cricket to County Cricket .. Apart from the last 4 overs, I found the game pretty dull.

Arghhhhh !!

While it was raining at the criocket, I walked past the physio room and trhey were offering free blood pressure checks so I thought 'why not' .. Much to my surprise I discovered I've got high blood pressure !!! 160/100 .. Nothing to worry about apparently but probably a good idea to keep it in mind re diet/exercise etc ..... Can I do that at the Mayfair tonight ?? Not so much battered food or wine ... mmmmm tell will tell ;)

An Important Ceremony

2008-04-30T08:11:00.002Z

I know what some of you are thinking ... but you're wrong .. this ceremony happened a few days ago and it's called 'The Washing of the Hat Ceremony' and is my official marking of the start of the County Cricket season.

All season, I wear my hat to the cricket .. without a wash so as you can imagine, it's a bit nasty b the end of the year (but let's face it, County Cricket ain't a place to pick up chicks .. ya dig lol :-) ... So every year at the start of the season, I give it a ritual wash .. God I can't believe how sad this is sounding as I write this :-) .

Anyway .. the season got off to a good start with a win at Kent which is good as Notts may struggle a bit this year so all points will come in handy.

Ok .. enough sad man talk ... on with work now.

Before and After

A couple of Buddhist Podcasts

2008-04-20T18:28:00.004Z

Just a quick 'stop gap' post ... but I came across this excellent 2 part podcast by Dr. Eric Hauber, Vice General Director of SGI-USA on the Buddhist perspective of Life and Death ... Found it really interesting and well done ... pretty suitable for people who know little about Buddhism too. Oh .. and if you want to know the Buddhist view of sex, listen to the the Q&A's at the end :-)

Part 1

Part 2

4 eyes good 2 eyes bad

2008-04-14T19:24:00.003Z

Oh Bollox .. !!!

I've just trodden on my glasses and bent them out of shape !!!

Now I've got to walk around looking like freakin Kermit until they're fixed .. grrrrrrr

Buddhist Interview

2008-04-10T14:34:00.003Z

Found this randomly .. it's a video interview by the Washington Post with Bill Aiken who is US Vice General Director of Soka Gakkai International .. though you might find it interesting .. shame about the military ad first though :O

Another post shock .. and a new(ish) book

2008-04-06T19:09:00.004Z

I recently book the book 'The Reluctant Buddhist' written by TV presenter William Woolard ( used to present Tommorow's World for those of you old enough to remember !).

I have to say that I was very impressed by the book and I think I'm going to be recommending it for new people to read, even before Buddha in Your Mirror.

Although it's not strictly an introductory book as such, it covers his own journey from sceptic to a long practising member and I'm sure many members will identify with many of the things he mentions. It does cover all the usual introduction points, though I would have liked at least a brief explanation of SGI which he does mention, and also Daisaku Ikeda, but doesn't go into any detail on them, which is a shame as a brief history would have been really helpful for new people.

That said, he explains very clearly, the difference between this and other forms of Buddhism, in that this practise is not an 'other world' practise, but is firmly rooted in daily life and designed to move our lives forward.

I've just started to re-read it but for me, it's a great book.

Ta da .... !!!!!!

2008-04-02T12:38:00.005Z

Nag Nag Nag .... jeeze, just because I haven't posted here, you'd think I'd left the country lol ... Ok .. well truth told it's only one person who is sooo bored at work that he needs to read my blogs .. You know who you are lol.

So .. what have I been up to .. not a lot, truth told. I've taken on a work from home job which takes 2 hours a day and that seems to have impacted fairly heavily on my free time which is irritating, but helps pay the bills so I shouldn't moan I guess. Apart from that .. well , quite a bit of jazz including the excellent John Donaldson and the Partisans, been to the Mayfair a fair few times (now, there's a surprise huh !). Also been out for a couple of meals .. one of which was after a Kosen Rufu meeting and cooked by Makato, a Japanese chef (aided by his mad dog Iggy !) .. Real simple meal with sushi to start and sea bass steamed with herbs and soy .. sounds so simple but it was perfectly cooked. The other one was at Easter at Emily's .. with her Dad and lodger .. funnily enough .. Sea Bass again .. all nicely done .. though she did manage to almost caramalise the frozen lemon mueringe (spelling ?) pie lol.

And I seem finally to have a date for my tokubetsu enshrinement ... May 1st ... good day really as it's also International Workers day and as I used to take the Morning Star and the guy enshrining used to be an SWP member, it's probably appropriate.

I can't even remember when I received the Tokubetsu but probably around October last year and I finally got the Butsudan (cabinet) for it last week and you can see the pictures below.

Ok ... that enough for now Simon ;-) ?

On the move !!

2008-02-27T18:19:00.003Z

Only kidding .. I'm going nowhere, but I have finally moved my Gohonzon into the living room ready for when I finally enshrine the new one ... about bleedin time too !!

I've been umming and ahhing over whether to move it but I think it's best away from my PC so don't keep checking my e-mail, plus it has been in my office which is increasingly looking like an office .. ie very untidy. I do at least keep my room reeeeasonably tidy in comparison so I'll try it there for a while. Could probably use a higher table but it will do for now.

That's what friends are for !!

2008-02-20T15:18:00.002Z

Been a while since I posted .. I've been so busy .. that's what you get for chanting about money I guess .. I was hoping for a lottery win ;-)

Anyway .. in case you think I have no friends, I thought I'd show you what I found stuck on my PC by one of my friends .. thank you Charmain :-)

update and quote

2008-02-14T09:48:00.002Z

Just a brief post as it's been a week or more and not too much to post really. I've been making a concious effort to bring in more money by actually getting up early and working reasonably solidly. I'm also starting a part time work from home thing next week .. just a couple of hours a day at first but expect that to rise to three or so in teh near future which will just about cover my rent which is always a priority !! My official title I believe is 'editor' .. how cool is that :-)

Received an e-mail from a fellow Buddhist in Brazil today who sent me a quote someone had given him so I thought I;d share it as it's a bit of a 'thinker'

TIME DOESN`T EXIST IN BUDDHISM, PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME JUST DOESN`T EXIST. DEPRESSION, ANGER AND SO ON EXIST IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME ( WHICH HUMANS CREATED, A WRISTWATCH FOR EXAMPLE DEPICTS HUMAN CREATED TIME…). OUR BUDDHISM EXISTS IN THE NOW. THE PRESENT MOMENT ONLY. THEREFORE OUR SUFFERING, OUR DEPRESSIONS ARE ILLUSORY. FIGMENTS OF THE PAST OR THE FUTURE, WHICH IS PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME. THAT’S NOT BUDDHISM SHE SAID. WE DON`T NEED TO WAIT TO BE HAPPY, WE CAN BE HAPPY NOW. SHE SAID TO CHANT FOR THE THINGS WE WANT TO BE HAPPY RIGHT NOW AND WE WILL RECEIVE THEM, RIGHT NOW. OUR HUMAN REVOLUTION IS FIRSTLY ABOUT OUR OWN LIVES. OUR HAPPINESS. ONCE WE BEGIN TO CHANT IN THE “NOW” AND DROP THE PAST OR FUTURE OUR LIVES BECOME `ONE` WITH THE UNIVERSE AND OUR HAPPINESS IS ABSOLUTE, NOT RELATIVE. THE SECRET IS IN THE POWER OF “NOW”.

The land of Gilad

2008-02-01T08:42:00.000Z

Had to post this because if you've never seen Gilad Atzmon then you really should.

They say that genius and madness are closely linked and this guy definitely falls into that category ! Before he played his set, there was support from Sarah Gillespie who, I have to say, I didn't really like much at all .. she just seemed to be a mix of other people to me .. looked like Courtney LOve with dark hair and influenced by Kate Nash, Mott the Hoople and the Cranberries amongst others ... I spoke to a few people afterwards and the suspicion was that there were 2 reasons she got the gig ... and they were both resting on her guitar as she sang !!!

But anyway on to Gilad ... An Israeli who hates Israel (and Tony Blair) and has a Palestinian Drummer Asif Sirkis ... this guy is a brilliant Jazz Musician .. and in my opinion, especially when he plays it with the Middle Eastern influences .. I just get lost in those .. or maybe that's the whisky. However .... Gilad being Gilad ... he'll suddenly meander off into an almost techno dance track (and dance like your favourite uncle !!) ... he also recently seems to have taken to pressing a few buttons on a keyboard to make it squeal too .. but it wouldn't be a Gilad gig without that ...

He's also a bit of a joker too .. referring to his band (The Orient House Ensemble) as 'the refuejews' .. claimed that he had a prostrate problem and a song was entitled 'waiting for peace' (get it ?) .. I guess it's the way that he tells 'em too :-)

Anyway .. great gig .. one I'd always try to see ...

Have a listen anyway .. not everyone's cuppa I guess but a definite one off !!

Or a three part documentary if you want more ....

Grrrrrrrrrrr

2008-01-30T09:03:00.000Z

I'm angry ... well .. just a little bit and at myself !!

A few years ago, I left the place I worked to concentrate on the web design and on the whole it's been ok. Two main problems though .. firstly, I probably make about 85% of what I NEED to earn and have subsidised through loans/credit cards etc and it's got to the point where I need to do something about it ! .. The second thing is that basically I live the life of a pensioner, sometimes not going outside for days !!

Last night I just got really pissed off with myself and stuck a big note in front of my Gohonzon basically saying 'get a life' !! So this morning, instead of my usual getting up around 10am (or later), I got up at 8am with the intention of working more, though the reality is that I'm blogging and faffing about but I'd probably have done that anyway. I do need to get in the habit of getting up earlier though so I'll try to stick to that.

Re the money side, I definitely need a second income and would also like to be more selective about the web jobs I take on. I'd like to go back to when I enjoyed doing web design rather than having to do it to pay the bills !! So with that in mind, I'm currently going through the process of doing some online tests for a company that does business research via the web and then inputting the data on their database. If I do 4 hours a day of that and with even just half of my usual web income, I'd be just about ok, and the reality is that my web income would probably not drop much at all so I'd be a lot better off financially which would be a weight off my mind.

The problem with that though is that I'm still going to be stuck at home, though I suppose the income would mean (providing I keep getting up at 8!) that I can pop out for a couple of hours in the afternoon, which will be nice with Spring not too far away.

I'm also setting up a few web sites using amazon associates so that when people click a book (like on the right of the blog) and buy something from them, I get a few % of the sale ... probably won't bring in large sums but if I do a few sites it might work .. apparently some people earn 1000s but I'm sure they study it carefully ... Hopefully I'll bring a couple of hundred in eventually though it definitely takes time.

Anyway .. that's 1 1/2 hours wasted now so better actually do some work :-)

I'll keep you posted.

and wow .. how 'karmic' is that .. I was just looking for something when a Buddhist book opened up and I read the following quote:

"Intertia is subtle, it creeps up unnoticed. One who forgets about daily renewal and improvement, snugly content with the status quo, is already in its grips."

mmmm time to change methinks !!!!

Taplow part 2

2008-01-21T13:12:00.001Z

And another trip to Taplow at the weekend but for a single day this time for the HQ and Chapter Leaders meeting. The morning was a regional one and generally fairly practical rather than inspiring but a few interesting things did come up.

The afternoon was more a general meeting and was absolutely packed which I guess shows how SGI-UK is growing in numbers.

Just a few pints from it (arrghh I mean points .. a freudian slip there :-) .. I've still got to type up the previous weekends notes too but for now anyway !!!

There are 2 types of daimoku (chanting) .. 'Offensive' (as in attacking) daimoku which is where we put our own personal goals and determinations in line with others happiness and there is 'defensive' daimoku where we simply chant for our own desires. The latter tends to shrink our lives more whereas 'offensive' daimoku expands it.

Important to encourage others (as well as ourselves of course !) to attend Study meetings and to get engaged in discussion meetings and to take an active rather than passive role in SGI-UK.

Yas encouraged us to be ourselves and never to 'pretend' that we understand something based on someone else's belief .. he encouraged us to understand things personally and if we didn't, then to talk to others about it to understand more.
Be aware of our own negative thoughts and challenge them before they determine how our lives will be.

That's kind of it .. a lot of the stuff was practical really for leaders etc so not really for here.

And that's it for now I think .. need to work again ... but have just made a perfect cup of Greek coffee so I took a photo :-)

Ooops .. update

2008-01-15T17:33:00.000Z

Just a daimoku update for my own record while I remember !

days 4 - target (mins) - 1148 - done so far (mins) -- 949

(behind by 199 mins)

Tired after Taplow

2008-01-14T13:00:00.000Z

Well .. actually not too badly tired as I was lucky enough to share a room with only one person ... and they didn't snore so got a reasonably ok nights sleep.

The course itself was really good and I definitely feel that I learned a lot on it and one thing especially about my own practise .... but that can wait for a discussion meeting ;-)

I'll be typing up some notes and will post any appropriate ones here when I get round to it.

Had a couple of good nights in the canteen afterwards .. especially when one member produced some whisky .. though I didn't think so the next day !!

Anyway ... here's a few photos for now, including one of Taplow at 7am .. see .. I do see that time sometimes .. also Alan and Annette playing at being 11 again sending each other dirty text jokes ... and I'm NOT posting those here lol. I'll post some better pics when I get them from a couple of people who took some on the course itself.

All my bags are packed ..... (pt 76)

2008-01-10T11:00:00.000Z

Just a quick post really as I'm away for a few days and I know there are a few of you looking forward to my exciting installments .. yaaaaawn !!

Should actually have something to post worth posting (I hope) next week as I'm away at our Buddhist HQ & Chapter Leaders Course at Taplow this weekend .. which should be interesting ... and also usually means lack of sleep and early mornings .. no weekend lie in for me this weekend .. sob :(

Anyway .. looking forward to it and though it's pretty, I really hope Taplow doesn't look like this !!!!!!

More next week

days 9 - target (mins) - 738 - done so far (mins) -- 597

Yum and eeeuch too much sugar mannnnn

2008-01-07T11:32:00.000Z

Yesterday was our HQ kick off day ... not really a lot to report though it was a good day .. generally pretty relaxed.

It was also close to the guy who established SGI's 80th birthday so an excuse for a bit of a cake fest ... I felt so sugared out, I came home and actually made a salad .. in winter !!!!

days 8 - target (mins) - 656 - done so far (mins) -- 512

Daimoku Target Update

2008-01-04T16:42:00.001Z

Just an update as much for my records as anything until I find some better way to do it !

days 5 - target (mins) - 410 - done so far (mins) -- 260

New Year

2008-01-03T10:39:00.000Z

Happy New Year all ....

Well I guess this is the bit where I put down my determinations for 2008 though they don't really differ from last year to be honest. The only newish one really is the amount of daimoku to be done. For the last 6 months of last year I chanted an average of 1 1/4 hours a day which was more than double what I was doing (though it took a marathon at the end to hit that target !), and on the whole, it wasn't too difficult so I'm setting a year long target this year of a nice round 500 hours .. which works out at 1 hour and 21 or 22 mins. I'll have a look round to see if I can find some sitre or other to log my progress and keep it as a permanent link on the right but for now I'll log it at the bottom (already 45 mins behind lol).

Anyway ... I reckon these are my key determinations for the year:

Finally sort my finances out and get some sort of order
Find a relationship
Chant 500 hours during the year
Keep going to gym but increase a bit (more swim less jacuzzi !)
Have some sort of holiday

That's that .. but I've also decided to have a monthly concrete determinations and for January they are:

Hang on in there financially .. it's going to be a really tough month (tax man !)
Enshrine my Tokubetsu Gohonzon one way or another !
Spend 20 mins per day at least to flat sorting (throwout/clean)

So that's it so far and with a target daimoku after 2 days of approx 2.75 hours, I;ve done 2 so a bit to catch up on already :)

Daimoku Countdown

2007-12-28T18:44:00.000Z

As previously mentioned, I set myself a target to average 1 1/4 hours a day of daimoku (chanting nam myoho renge kyo) three months ago and I'm a bit behind schedule, with just Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday left to do it in.

Thought I'd keep updating here how the final countdown is going and to motivate myself to do it !!!

Target Time to Chant over last 4 Days - 17 hours

Time each day so far:

Friday - 2 hours
Saturday - 3 hours
Sunday - 6 hours
Monday - 6 hours so far

Remaining Time to chant - 0 hour

Yipppeeeee finally finished .. now to watch the last 7 episodes of season 7 of Buffy .. what a way to end the year eh ;)

Turkey and Tantrums !!

2007-12-28T15:05:00.000Z

Well, thank f@#k that's all over for another year !!

I'd hoped and perhaps naively expected that this Xmas wouldn't be tooooo bad and up until Boxing Day night it was tolerable ... albeit dull and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too hot at my Sisters .. Then Boxing Day came and with it came my 14 1/2 year old neice's tantrums .. big time !!!! Jeeze .. I'm pleased I don't have kids I can tell you !!

Finally got home yesterday afternnon. I'd only been gone 2 and a bit days but it felt like a life sentence !!! I usually enjot the bit between Xmas and New Year but got to say that I'm feeling a bit negative at the moment on all fronts really. Money I'd expected to come in hasn't materialised and to top it all, Orange took my payment out twice which means I'm really going to struggle to pay my rent in a few days time. On top of that, I feel a bit under the weather .. I've had a bad back/hip for a couple of weeks and though it's eased, it's still there ... I slept like crap last night too and all that's on top of eating way too many sweet things that make me feel like crap ... so healthy food for a few days and lots of water to flush it out my system I think !!

In some ways, I think this is also down to setting some determinations about three months ago to happen by the end of the year .. two key ones being to be financially secure .. well, see above re that !! The other was to be in a relationship .... mmmm long way off that one !!! All that was combined with a determination to do 75mins chanting each day which I was doing fine at until I had a temporary dip in my practise .... This has left me with 17 hours to do in 4 days if I'm to do it .. and I've done about 45 mins so far so I'm a long way behind .... Guess I know what I'll be doing New Years eve !!!!

So, with the spirit of 'never giving up until the end', I'm going to try to hit my chanting target and hopefully something will change on other fronts .... I'll keep you posted !!!

Bah Humbug !!!

2007-12-18T17:40:00.000Z

Well ... I thought I'd better say it .. I mean it's so close now to that dreaded time of year ... shuddderrr !!! As always, I'll be pleased when it's over and I can look forward to possibly 8 months before it's rammed down our throats again.

Actually started my Xmas shopping today and was pleasantly surprised how few people were in town .. maybe they really aren't spending this year !!

Well .. at least there's the consolation of one more Mayfair before Xmas .. this Friday .. big Yum ... it's usually a glutton fest this one with definite puddings of battered fruit and ice cream .. surprised the Glaswegians didn't get there first !!!

Oh well .. I'll leave the (somewhat crude) last words to Eric Idle

A Jazztastic night

2007-12-14T19:03:00.000Z

Funny day really .. the first e-mail I opened in the morning was telling me that Toni Kofi was unable to play at the Jazz at the Bonington in the evening due to gastric flu (actually, the e-mail went into slightly more detail than that .. but .. eeeewwww !!). That was a big blow as I'd been looking forward to see him play.

Brian rang me later to say that Brian Edwards was standing in for him ... I thought WHO ????? I was pretty cautious as stand ins haven't always been great, but this guy was brilliant .. especially as he only had a few hours notice and virtually no practise. There were a couple of small cock ups but that was to be expected and were only loose endings and who cares about that. I was really pleased that the Bonington crowd gave him a great reception and I think he was impressed.

He has some music on his myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/noggmuzikif you fancy a listen .. and pic below:

So Popular !!

2007-12-10T12:22:00.001Z

A classic track murdered yet again by the Midget Submarines .. Last song of the evening/band .. ever !! Except that we we're all pretty well oiled by then (as you can probably tell) .. we did come back an hour or more later but thankfully I don't think that was filmed !!

Right .. all sing along now .....

Negativity

2007-12-08T17:32:00.000Z

Nah .. not really .. just idleness .. foul weather and lack of drive today ... Not really done much at all and it's 5.30pm and I've only done 15 mins chanting so about to do some more .. but for now .. I'll dedicate one of my fave Nirvana songs to my idleness :-)

Bahhh Grrrrrrr jazz moan

2007-12-07T11:58:00.000Z

Oh deary deary me I think the expression is !! What a dissapointment the jazz was last night and I was really looking forward to kicking back with some live jazz and some whisky ... Now the whisky was ok but the Jazz !!!!! Get in your time machine and go back to the mid seventies just before punk happened and visit your local university concert place .. yep that's it the ones with guys with long hair and scarves ... then look up on the stage and see 4 self indulgent prog rock musicians who throw a bit of jazz in .. and you've about got the picture. They even did 'see emily play' and destroyed it ... some of it sounded like holiday camp jazz or advert music ... I'd like to find something positive to say but I really struggled last night. I didn't expect purist jazz but thought it could be interesting as he does get rave reviews, though for the life of me I can't see why .. but anyway ... it's over .. definitely the only below par one this season I'm pleased to say .. and looking forward to Tony Kofi next week for the last one of the season.

Oh .. and if the music wasn't bad enough .. look at what he was wearing !!!!!!!

Just a wee catch up

2007-12-04T18:59:00.000Z

Nothing really to report post gig apart from much after gig embarrassment but at least it's all in the past now :). Have felt a bit down this last week, though not too sure why, though I'm sure my financial situation doesn't help ! Have finally decided to deal with that though and have filled in a job application today ... only an admin job (part time) but it's for Victim Support so could be quite interesting .. got to be better than shelf filling anyway !!

What else has happened ... Oh yes .. Guy Barker orchestra at the Jazz on Sunday which was pretty good, though unusually I didn't like the second half as much .. could be a coincidence that I wasn't drinking that night maybe ;-).

Anyway .. I made a determination to chant for three hours today and I'm on one and five mins at the moment so I doubt I'll get there but I'll do 2 anyway which is not too bad. I'm behind on my target for the last three months where i made a determination to average 1 1/4 hours a day .. I would have been ok if I hadn't had a 'mardy' for a week or so when I hardly chanted at all .. so now I've got 15 hours to make up before the new year .. on top of 1 1/4 hours a day .. yikes !!!

So ,,,, onwards and ....... blah blah blah

Midgets Videos - Part 1

2007-11-28T10:49:00.000Z

Here's the first batch of Videos from the recent gig .. Birthday and 99 Red Balloons .. both murdered !!

Sing Paul Sing !!!

2007-11-27T14:45:00.000Z

I've taken a couple of days to post this blog after the Midget Submarines' re-union gig, partly because I was suffering from severe over indulgence and partly because I was suffering from embarassment ! Was it that bad ? Well in some ways yes it was but in others no. It's got to be said that having a rehearsal was a pretty pointless exercise really .. especially when a key band member starts drinking scrumpy at 3pm on the afternoon of the gig (stand up mr Woods .. if you can :-) ... and it all went downhill from there !

In truth, and maybe it's the Whisky deluding me, but I didn't think it sounded awful mostly, but it always sounds different behind the drums anyway ... I can't really say that Paul played or sang badly becuase he basically stood and swayed for much of the gig ... but anyway .. I quite enjoyed it really .. or maybe this is the recent nostalgia kicking in ... always seems better after the event. For myself, I think I played ok on the whole .. I took a decision to keep it dead simple and not be a clever arse so just held the rythm (mostly!). We did come back on after the main set for a couple of unrequested encores (and this was about an hour after we had finished). I even sang on one of them but sadly that wasn't filmed so I'll never know just how bad I really was :-)

Anyway .. I believe videos are going up tonight so I'll post when available if I can bear to .. but in the meantime, here's a few pics from the gig ... we sound great in photos :-) .. also Maria's blog about the gig after them.

I think the gig was best summed up by Ken who said "Next time, let's not bother to rehearse and just stand on stage without instruments and let people laugh at us"

All photos by Penny Spanglyflora

'As is' was as is but Mayfair is not as was !!

2007-11-23T17:00:00.000Z

Jazz night last night again at the Bonington with ByronWallen's 'As Is' .. on the whole I enjoyed it but there were moments of self indulgence and the addition of a second guitarist seemed a little .. well almost pointless. Without wanting to be cruel, he was obviously a decent musician but didn't seem to add much. Would personally rather have had a pianist insted but !!!!

Also .. had a nasty shock the other day as I was on teh bus .. I thought the Mayfair restaurant had gone !!!!! However, on closer inspection it's had a bit of a facelift ... Not sure I approve .. there was something comforting about a place that hasn't chaged since the sixties .. though I guess it was probably due a change ... just hope the food is as good !!!

Food for thought

2007-11-21T09:25:00.000Z

Ok .. a bit of a tenuous title there but just wanted to record something said at a Buddhist Meeting last night. Someone was telling Kazuo at Taplow about their problems, how busy they were, kids jobs, Buddhist practise etc etc and that they just had far too much on their plate. Kazuo thought for a moment then said to them "Chant for a bigger plate" .. Brilliant :-)

Taplow - The Big One

2007-11-19T17:28:00.000Z

After much umming and ahhing ... I finally decided to get my Tokubetsu Gohonzon at Taplow on Saturday. First obstacle to overcome was to get up a bit after 5am .. wouldn't have been so bad but I was knackered from the night before and still feeling a bit rough ! Anyway .. in the end, we got there at 10am .. an hour before we needed to, though it was nice not to be rushing around for a change.

As usual, I tried to sit near the back out of the way but got ushered forward as those receiving it were near the front. Funnily enough, out of approx 200 people there in the morning, I ended up sitting next to Fiona, one of four people who I practised with in Boston all those years ago !. Also getting theirs from this area were Don, Hannah, Jenny and Bex who used to be here. As usual, it was a simple ceremony which suits me just fine .. can't be doing with fuss !!

As it turned out, I could have got a lift back about 1pm but decided that if I was going to go all that way, I'd try to get my moneys worth !! So I managed to get into the district leaders meeting in the afternoon, which I was pleased I did as it was a pretty good meeting (I'll try to post some key points up when I've de-cyphered my scribbles) .. And that was it .. got home about 7.30pm, cooked some quick pasta and then TV !!

Only negative of the day really was that I didn't get the butsudan to hold the gohonzon ... I really can't afford it but decided to get it anyway but the one I wanted wasn't there and won't be until the new year so not sure what to do at the moment ... something else to chant about huh !!!

Midget Submarines are Go !!!

2007-11-16T12:57:00.001Z

Badly hungover today .. wine and real ale stout last night .. don't ask !!

Good news is that the Midget Submarine rehearsal vids are available and below ... best to go about 2 mins into teh first one as it's just faffing around before that .. well and during too :-)

Once more with Feelingzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2007-11-12T13:19:00.000Z

Just a bit of a catch up post really as not a lot has happened since the last post .. partly as I've felt a little bit shattered (and grumpy), so not been very pro active at all. Did see a great Jazz Band on Thursday though ... Jamil Sherrif. I'm not normally a fan of octets etc but this band were really excellent from start to finish .. and played some great self composed numbers too.

Saturday was fairly lazy with just a Buddhist meeting in the afternoon. Sunday was perhaps the laziest ever though. I decide to take a 'day out' .. well from life really :-) .. After waking I made a cuppa and watched 3 episodes of Buffy Season 6 in bed. After that, I did finally get up after mid-day and did spome chanting before settling down to watch the Italian Football on TV with a fry up .. followed by more TV, some chanting and yet more Buffy .. In fact, I've only got one episode to watch in the whole series and I only bought it a week ago !! Poor old Theo Angelopoulos hasn't had a look in lol. Think when I've watched the last one, I'm going to start again from the first episode ever and work right through and hopefully get season 7 at Xmas.

On a positive note I have finally decided to get my Tokubetsu Gohonzon next Saturday and have sorted a lift for that .. and I reckon I'll do the Midgets gig too though I need to sort some things out for that yet !!!

Knackered and OUCH !!!!

2007-11-08T16:45:00.000Z

So finally after 16 years, the Midget Submarines finally came together for a proper rehearsal .. we booked a room and even a new drum kit .. was pretty weird at first sitting behind it but soon got into it though I found my confidence had gone so ended up (mostly) keeping time and very little else ... which made it fairly uninteresting. Quite amusing though that we naturally seemed to play everything slower at first .. must be age ... even Paul 'Boo' Woods !!!

As time went on, I must admit that I enjoyed it less and less and by the time I got home, I really didn't want to do the gig and am still undecided, though I need to make my mind up pretty quick so they can find a stand in if I do drop out. Number or reasons really but one was that I was completely exhausted after drumming for 2 1/2 hours .. I like to think I'm reasonably fit and nothing really ached .. just feel completely drained of energy .. which is probably why I'm so grumpy about playing, so we'll have to wait and see I guess. If we do play, we definitely need to do the sets shorter and sharper !

With a bit of luck, there'll be two clips here later which might swing my mind one way or the other .. have to say it sounded pretty bad from where I was but the others thought it sounded OK and it can sound bad from behind the drums to be fair. Best quote of the night was Ken 'why's my beard grey' Popple who said .."... hey .. it sounds really good with earplugs" !!

Also .. I think I need to refine my technique ... as well as hitting the snare, I end up wacking my leg at the same time and my leg looks like a piece of tenderised steak today !!!!

Anyway .. here's couple of pics taken on my phone .. poor quality though:

nearly there !!!!

2007-11-07T16:24:00.000Z

Phew ,... think I'm there or there abouts now .. decided to refresh the colours but not sure about the scheme at the moment .. definitely need to sort a better header .. but not today.

Tonight we've booked a reheasal space for the Midget Submarines and apparently there's a brand new drum kit .. shame I'll be playing a cobbled together one on the night but it'll probably be a shambles anyway so who cares :-)

Oh SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-06T15:55:00.001Z

Oh bugger !!!!!! I was trying to create a blog for someone and I accidentally overwrote all my hard worked coding now I've got a boring blog again !!!! Initially I lost all my old posts so at least they are all restored now ... I'll try to get my old one back somehow though could take a while .. I hate blogger for making changes that made me do it :(

Later >>> OK .. well I've managed to salvage something of teh design but want to tweak it more but need to do other things now so hopefully more tomorrow !!!

Photos from Birthday one

2007-11-03T14:19:00.000Z

Ok .. finally got the photos from day one .. some pretty awful ones but here's a few anyway :-)

Without further ado

2007-11-02T13:28:00.001Z

Pretty busy today and a bit tired from being out so much this week due to birthday and jazz so looking forward to a night in to give my liver a rest !

Good gig last night .. Helen McDonald and the London Bridge Ensemble ... must admit that I thought it might just be ok but actually worked really well so that was a plus .. and of course .. it's always worth going for local jazz hero Brian 'without further ado' Pearce :-)

It's my Birthday . Part Two

2007-10-31T10:58:00.000Z

Well .... that's over for another year ... why do we celebrate getting older ? Though I guess it's more of an excuse to drink .. and who needs excuses eh !!

Pretty much took the day off really apart from essential work and just pottered around really most of the day. I had promised myself to chant for at least 2 hours but in the end, just fell short of one hour !! Need to really start catching up. Think from November I'm going to aim for a min of 2 hours a day until the end of the year !!

Anyway .. back to the birthday .. well it was the classic 'Mayfair' and what a veritable feast it was ... have to say that I thought the food was really excellent and I managed to take a bottle of wine that was excellent .. a Reisling that had that wonderful 'petrol' kind of taste that I love ... sounds bizarre but really works. Anyway .. a really enjoyable night though I did fall asleep on the sofa until 3am then went to bed and couldn't sleep for ages so ended up being a bit of a late start this morning so probably not going to be my most creative day ever !! But I am going to do a couple of hours of chanting today .... honest !!!!!

It's my Birthday . Part One

2007-10-30T15:25:00.000Z

Well it's not really .. it's Tuesday but I went out with Emily, Laura, Patrick and Charmain last night as we've already got a biggish crowd at the Mayfair and it's easier to chat in small groups .. So .. off we headed to Yo Sushi ... Was a good night though I did think Yo Sushi wasn't as good as last time with less things on the belt .. I ordered a sampel sashimi with 3 different types of fish and they didn't have one of those .. OR the Eel Nigiri that I ordered .. so it didn't get off to a great start. Other than that though it was ok and the blackened miso cod was very nice .. easy to spend loads there if you're not careful though .. have to keep an eye on it .. anyway .. all in all a good night and I think the warm Sake helped :-) ... Charmain took some pretty hilarious pics so I'll post some of those here when I get them.

Part two tonight :-)

Oh we're still the ..........

2007-10-29T11:58:00.001Z

MIDGET SUBMARINES !!!!

After an abscence of 16 years, the legendary Midgets .. well 3 of them, got back together for a rehearshal as we're doing a one off gig in November .. don't worry, we won't be reforming !!! I must confess I was reluctant to do it .. partly as I don't like nostalgia but it was good to meet up with Paul again .. especially as he's a LOT balder than me :-) ... and it was surprising how the old songs came back .. all sounds promising and we have two more rehearsals before we play which probably doubles the number of rehearsals that we ever did in our whole existence ... Age seems to have caught up a bit though as we did drop a couple of the faster numbers as we can't keep up any more ! I'm sure it will decend into the usual chaos though ... and I'm sure that some of that will surface here !!!

Keep an eye on us at http://www.myspace.com/midgetsubs

Anyway .. a couple of sneakily taken pics from the rehearsals ... especially like the 'fat Ken' one :)

Oh .. and I couldn't resist taking this one .. County fans .. get on your knees :-)

OH .. and if you're wondering what the Midgets sound like .. here's three songs that others have covered that we wrote (yeah right )

Shine a Lightsey !!

2007-10-26T10:20:00.000Z

Well .. that was an interesting Jazz Gig last night. It was the Kirk Lightsey Trio ... Now I've seen Kirk before and it's always a great gig but this one proved interesting as it should have been Piano, Bass and Drums .. a fairly standard Jazz trio line up. However, the bass player was unable to play as his wife was ill, so rather than get a replacement session type muso, they got in a friend of theirs who plays sax .. so it was now Piano, sax and Drums .. which is a pretty unusual line up. Didn't help with the Sax player turning up late and in all truth the first set was patchy with the sax player a little unconfident in his playing except for on a Wayne Shorter number .. in fact Kirk thanked the audience for watching a live rehearshal which is did seem like at times.

Anyway after the break and obviously they'd chatted, the second set was a lot better and at times really excellent .. unfortunately as they'd started late, we had to leave before the end to catch the bus back .. though I'd had quite a bit of Whisky then so probably no bad thing :-)

Anyway .. here's a pic and I've just found a quote that applies to me:

"We must overcome our own inner weakness. This is what our Buddhist Practise is all about"

and my inner weakness is laziness so I'd better get on :)

Trip number 2

2007-10-24T10:44:00.000Z

Well .. as I promised myself, I ventured to Leicester again to take one last look at the Picasso Ceramics exhibition before it finishes on the 28th October. I nearly didn't bother as I wondered if I would find it less interesting but it was quite the opposite and I also spent more time in their regular gallerys which has some really interesting stuff ranging from some 15th century woodcuts to more modern contemporary stuff from people such as Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and a really nice simple, almost calligraphic (is that a word !) painting by someone whose name I can't remember. Apparently they have an ancient Greek exhibition coming soon so that might be interesting.

I'm planning to visit the gallery at Nottingham Castle soon though from memory, it's not a patch on theis place which is actually a disgrace for a major city .. still .. all seems to be about shopping these days here !!

Had a wander round Leicester again as last time it was raining really heavily .. got to say that I really like the place .. less pretentious than Nottingham .. but there again I still like Nottingham so I'm not about to move !

Anyway ... a few pics below .. couldn't really take any in the exhibition but it's a taster:

Leaving Hicksville and Herbie says Chant !!

2007-10-20T09:42:00.000Z

I've just returned from a couple of days in Yokelsville ie Lincolnshire .. had the misfortune to spend an hour in Boston .. does me good though as it reminds me why I left !! It's also easy to see why it won the 'fattest town' award last year though and you can smell the lard at the local chippies .. honest !!!

Good to see my mum again though .. she's 78 on Sunday and is generally in good health so that's all good. Picture of the best bit of Boston at the end of the post.

Just found these audio links of Herbie Hancock talking about Buddhism which I thought I'd share too:

On Practicing Buddhism

Why Jazz Is Like Buddhism

Chanting a Buddhist Meditation

Buddhism Is Inclusive

Also .. had a good Buddhist meeting last night ... my last one with the Seven Hills district though I'm sure I'll pop back for a few of them in the future. There were a number of good experiences and one of the key things that came up was the question of what is Faith. The main thing that came from that is that Faith isn't blind faith as we often believe in our Christioan society but is the strong belief in our own potential and the perseverance to manifest it.

Oh .. and here's the best bit of Boston .. I think I'll just call this photo "Leaving" :-)

Definitely a One Off !!!

2007-10-16T10:26:00.000Z

Bit of a Rock night last night .. went to the Maze to see a few bands .. unfortunately they decided to stick an extra singer/keyboardists at the start who was something of a cross between keyboard psychedelia and Richard Stilgo !! Could have done without him as it meant we had to leave before the headline band though after Scott Biram (more later) doubt they could have topped that !!!

Next up were Old Basford a local band .... pretty good and professional .. Basically had two R&B styles .. one similar to Queens of the Stone Age and one more like Free .. a 70s rock band ... Found the Free numbers a bit lacking but the Queens of Stone Age style ones were excellent .. would have liked more of those .

Then came Scott Biram .. well .. what can I say .. this guy looked like he's just been changing the oil on an old pick up .. not sure if it was an act or not but he certainly pulled it off if it was. Using a 1950s Gibson and a radio mike and sometimes a Police loudspeaker !! He certainly could not be accused of being unoriginal .. and funny .. best line was "someone get me a whisky and don't ya'all spit in it or dip yer pecker in it"

Anyway .. crap pic below and a couple of youtube vids .. worth a listen.

Quick Quote

2007-10-10T09:52:00.000Z

Just read the guidance for today .. I like, therefore I quote :-)

It doesn't matter in what area, just keep working on your personal revolution to transform and improve yourself in the way most natural for you. The important thing is that you change in some positive way. There is surely no more exhilarating a life than one in which we write our own unique history of human revolution each day. And the growth and transformation we achieve in this way can convince people of the greatness of the Daishonin's Buddhism more eloquently than anything else.

The Purpose of Faith and Raw Fish !

2007-10-09T09:40:00.000Z

Raw fish ? Ok .. well just an excuse to post about Yo Sushi really. I went there on Friday and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. Definitely not as good as the Higoi in Lenton which is excellent, but there again, Yo Sushi is basically a fast food place, though that would be my main quibble. You can take the plates of the conveyor belt but we decided that as we wanted a few hot ones we would order them and get them fresh. Have to say that the service was a bit on the slow side and it wasn't that busy !!

Funnily enough, the one thing we didn't have was sushi !!! We had the Miso soup which was excellent then a couple of hot dishes which were pretty good. I also tried the sea bass sashimi which was ok but I think sashimi should be finer and REALLY fresh. Don't get me wrong, it was reasonably fresh but was a bit chunky for me .. ok though. We them had some seafood and some tofu tempura ... cost just over a tenner each which wasn't bad, but you'd have to watch the cost oif you just grab the plates off the belt .. could soon add up !! All in all though, pretty good and will go again soon.

And the faith bit ? ... Well, we had Study on Friday which was pretty good, though the pints I had afterwards seemed to wipe my memory banks a bit so hoping to listen to a recording of it at some point, but I did read the hand out and was particularly struck by the last bit of it which I've copied below:

The purpose of faith is to freely realise our full potential and shine in our own unique way. That's why it's important to keep advancing and challenging ourselves, to have the spirit: "I will exert myself in my practise!" "I will deepen my faith!" "I will do my best as a member of the Soka Gakkai!" This is the certain path to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

That's a big one !!!!

2007-10-04T09:51:00.000Z

I received my letter yesterday from Taplow saying that they would like to offer me the opportunity to receive Okatagi Tokubetso Gohonzon .. that's the bigger one.

On one level, I'm happy to get that as they definitely look nicer (though some of that is probably the light in the bigger butsudans), but there's a little bit of me that's concerned that others might see it as an 'elitist' thing .. which I know it isn't .. but I guess that's something I need to chant about.

It also means spending a couple of hundred quid on a new butsudan as it won't fit my current one .. could do without the expense .. especially as it's one of my determinations this year to be more secure financially !! Still .. on the other hand it's a contribution to Kosen Rufu I guess ...

dilemma dilemma lol .. but I'm sure I'll go for it.

Eye Eye Picasso (what a load of bulls)

2007-09-26T09:12:00.000Z

After overdosing on Buffy DVDs and various other junk TV, I decided that I needed a dose of culture and having noticed a good review in the Independent, I headed off to Leicester yesterday to have a look at the Picasso Ceramics exhibition at the New Walk Museum.

I have to confess that I spent a little too long wandering around Leicester. It's a strange place with some horrible new development going on, but there are some great old parts too. One of the main things I noticed was that how many more smaller individual shops there are than 'corporate' Nottingham .. even in the centre. One of the best bits though is the Market .. vibrant and lively .. makes Nottingham's look shabby (which to a degree, it is !!).

Anyway .. on to the exhibition .. which was free !! All the ceramics were donated by Richard Attenborough from his personal collection and were nicely exhibited in 2 all white rooms. As usual with picasso there were lots of naked women and a lot of bulls !! My favourite (front view below) was a vase .. the front of which was a head on bull, but if you walked behind it, you saw the bulls rear legs .. with a massive pair of testicles hanging ... typical Picasso humour !

The exhibition has been extended until the 28th October now which is great as there were a few other exhibitions on which I would have liked to spend more time over (and mooching round Leicester), so I'm definitely intending to have another look before it finishes.

Details at http://www.leicester.gov.uk/picasso/index.htm

And We're up !!!

2007-09-21T10:23:00.001Z

After a long and fairly tedious weather hit season, Notts have finally got promotion. That said, there are warning signs ... such as being the ONLY team to lose to Glamorgan all year and the final match at Somerset, being beaten by an innings and 121 runs. In bothe innings, we started well for the first two wickets then collapsed badly ... just hope it's not a sign of things to come next year !!

Still .. we have got Stuard Broad next year ... let's hope he bowls better than in the video below !!

The jazz was pretty good at the Bonington last night with the Dylan Howe quintet .. unfortunately a couple of his band had dropped out and certainly in the first set they semed a little cautious and uneasy but warmed up nicely in teh second set .. or was that the whisky !!!

Stan's The Man !!!

2007-09-14T11:35:00.000Z

Just a brief post to say what a great gig it was last night at the Bonington in Arnold. It was the 10th Anniversary there hence the Octet. All superb musicians but the star of the show was still Stan Tracey ... Now in his 80s he's lost none of the dexterity and performed wonderfully and still shows a sense of humour (announcer when they were late coming on stage .. "Stan Tracey has not left the building" .. Stan - "Only because I couldn't find my way out" ;-).

Anyway .. here's a rather poor pic taken on my mobile:

Chanting Buddha

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