G. Michael Vasey's Blog: The Wacky World of Dr. Vasey, page 83
June 25, 2014
Sunday Afternoon
A stone throw away
Roses delivered on a sunny day
Paper plane bombs and dives
Cream cheese mixed with chives
Tea and crumpet
Fiddling with a trumpet
Babies feeding greedily
Fraternizing with the enemy
Kids kicking a football
Young men standing tall
Sunday afternoon
Always brings it all
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat.
Moon Whispers on Kindle – Free For The New Moon
The new moon occurs on June 27th and so I thought how fitting! Moon Whispers for the new moon. Yes – you can go and download Moon whispers on Kindle from the Amazon sites from June 27th for 4 days (over the weekend).
Moon Whispers is I think the best poetry I have ever wrote…. but fellow author, Gordon Strong, said this about the volume…
‘Moon Whispers – A new poetry collection’ is the fourth outing into the world of lyric and melody by Michael Vasey. This continually fascinating and ever-maturing writer has succeeded in assembling a cornucopia of new ideas, visions, and comments on his personal universe and the world ‘out there’.
A title like ‘Julia Robert’s Smile’ is typical of the poet’s wry humour. These lines from another piece neatly combine word play and a satirical edge.
Bit by bit
Revelations
Byte by byte
Animations
The combination of the classic and the contemporary is never far away. A line like ‘Forged in ancient fire’ manages to sit quite comfortably with this pair in another poem seen later in the collection.
Houston, I heard you calling
Or am I confusing you with the Clash?
The piece entitled ‘All at sea’ shows Vasey’s optimism is never far away, though he often questions whether he always possesses that quality himself. The depth of his feelings combined with an acute intelligence have, however, produced the joyous lines,
Following a golden sunbeam
Tumbling through life’s dream
Besides his poetry collections, Vasey’s other forays into authorship, a recognised authority on occult matters – ‘The Mystical Hexagram’ – and his splendid novel ‘The Last Observer’ shows a varied dimension of thought and an endless imagination.
Gordon Strong
May 14th. 2014
If you do download it, please do post a review on Amazon or Goodreads for me later and if you really enjoyed it, why not purchase the paperback? I have several of them and they really are top quality.
Tagged: Announcements, Moon whispers, Poetry
June 24, 2014
The Two Sides of Prague
We were back in Prague this weekend. What an amazingly beautiful city it is! Even though I adore Brno, its still amazing to visit Prague.
Most people who visit will do all of the touristy things like visit the Castle and walk down the hill to the Charles Bridge etc. This is wonderful of course and replete with history and symbolism but you know, its only half the story.
Some of the symbolism around the castle surely reflects Prague’s rich esoteric and bohemian background. Walking through the gardens we come across the fountain showing essentially the scene from the Strength tarot card, next we find a small but obvious pyramidal structure and then a statue of the Fool. Its all there if you look.
Walking down from the Castle you will cross the Charles Bridge full of tourists….
But that is just one side of Prague.
In Prague 6, there is a huge area of greenery, walks, cycle paths and beauty that shows its other side too…
And do you know what? In this other side of Prague, all you will find is Czechs strolling, cycling and enjoying the quieter side of their amazing city.
Tagged: Prague
WIN a Copy of The Last Observer
Still open to anyone who enters…..
Originally posted on The Wacky World of Dr. Vasey:
Enter this easy competition to win a copy of The Last Observer. It will be a signed copy too!
June 23, 2014
The Snow Queen
I am back!
Yes – back from my travels that included Barcelona, Budapest and Prague….
And to kick off the week, here is a blast from the past and one I had discussed a few weeks ago. Photos of yours truly playing the Story Teller in a school play from sometime in the early 1970′s. I don’t recall exactly when but who cares…….
In the above photo I am 6th from the top left more or less in the center of the photo.
In the above photo – I am showing the way!
June 12, 2014
In A Vacation Mood
So I am back from Barcelona just for a couple of days and then its off to Budapest on Sunday. Barcelona has put me in a holiday mood though! I had a couple of hours to spare yesterday afternoon and so I took a dip in the rooftop heated pool of the hotel and then hit the beach for an hour…. idyllic and I could feel the tensions beginning to slip away………
While I was gone, my publisher’s blog published an article by me called Are You Creating A Good Reality? and tomorrow an interview will be published in the #1 bestselling E-zine “Novel Reads By Novel Ideas.” Funny how when I go away and can’t communicate with anyone all sorts of things happen!
So, I am now in a summer mood or at least I was until I saw the pile of emails and required actions in my inbox this morning. Apparently, I am creating a busy reality.
June 9, 2014
Culture, Trips and Extremism
For the next two weeks posts may be somewhat erratic as I will be doing some traveling. This week I will visit Barcelona where I am the keynote speaker at a conference. I shall have my work to do as not only am I giving the keynote on Wednesday but will also present again the following day. However, I have been to Barcelona once before and as I recall it is a magnificent city so it should be a nice trip. The following week, I am going to Budapest where I am giving a two-day workshop and then attending a big conference. It’s all go.
I like to travel – less so perhaps now than when I was younger but it is a bonus to get to visit other places as part of your job. While the EU can be criticized for a lot of things, it has made traveling around an extended Europe much easier than it used to be and in some parts of Europe, passports are no longer required. Very civilized I would say.
One thing though that has become noticeable to me over the last 25-years is the erosion of culture. When I first visited Paris, finding a french restaurant was easy. They were on every street corner! These days, its the KFC or MacDonalds thats on the street corner and finding a genuine french restaurant in between the pizzerias and pasta places, is pretty tough. To me that’s a huge loss. Unfortunately, its the same almost everywhere. Fast food and brands in favour of local culture and great food.
So, as I head out on my trips this next two weeks, I will be avoiding the fast food places and seeking out some local flavours – both in terms of food and everything else. Local is good. We should celebrate our differences, our languages and our culture. We should work to preserve and protect them.
The other side of this coin though is ugly. Its nationalism. The recent EU elections showed the soft underbelly of this obscenity in all its ugliness. The National Front, Greek Nazis, The UKIP and all flavours of this horrendous evil that should have been caged for good at the end of WWII were out on display. It seems that people often want not just their own culture but they don’t want anyone else to have a different culture. Yes, celebrate our differences, celebrate culture .. not just your own but others too.
June 7, 2014
Science is Never Proven
If I had a quid for every time some punter on TV or in the media or even a politician has said “The science is proven” when referring to global warming, I’d be a very wealthy man indeed. I have to tell you, as a Ph.D. scientist myself, every time I hear this I literally cringe. The person saying it or writing it cannot then understand the philosophy of science as no scientist who does would ever utter such a stupidity. Yes – stupidity.
Today, I read an article by a scientist on CNN about the big bang. Please read with me the following excerpts…
“Everyone wants to be right. Most of us sure hate being wrong. But scientists know that new discoveries often change or even invalidate earlier ideas. Being wrong can mean we have learned something new.”
and…
“It’s the way science progresses. You put an idea out there and your colleagues — many of them good friends and scientific collaborators — try to shoot it down.
A scientist’s first reaction to a new idea is often: “That’s wrong because….” To which the proponent replies, “No, you are wrong because…” And so the debate begins.
No matter how much a scientist might hope to be right, nature holds the answer. One theory may be more beautiful than another, or more complicated, or more elegant, but nature doesn’t know or care. The job of a scientist is to find out what the real answer is, not to advocate for any one point of view.
We do that by making careful measurements and assessing the accuracy of the result.”
Later..
“That’s one reason the debates will continue until one side convinces the other. But most scientists really don’t care about the “win” — we care about understanding nature.”
And finally..
“Controversy and debate may be messy but that’s how we make progress in science.”
Excerpts from an article by Meg Urry – the Israel Munson professor of physics and astronomy at Yale University and director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
You can read her article here.
Yes. That’s how science works – should work anyway and there can never ever be a 100% definitive right position… just a working hypothesis. So please, next time you hear someone tell you that there should be no FURTHER debate on global warming because THE SCIENCE is PROVEN.
Please educate them.
1. Science cannot ever be said to be proven
2. Without debate, there is no science.
Tagged: Rants, Reality
June 6, 2014
Lazarus
Memories fade as the years gently pass
The urgency of attraction has gone too
Wished fond goodbye as the years flew
But Lazarus sings still from time to time
Our bond slowly strengthens bit by bit
Shared experiences and the pass of time
Takes care of that my dear partner in crime
As our Lazarus makes his soulful reappearance
Who would have ever have given us a chance at all
The unlikely impossibleness of such a meeting
Our differences should have made our time fleeting
But beautiful Lazarus was our siren song
Kept us together all along.
Tagged: Happiness, Poetry
