Author: basgallop

consider the cephalopods! yer octopusses (i spy an octopii), squid and sundry cuttlefish… such astonsishing, amazing, beautiful creatures!
a brouhaha of pondering aloud to Finn whilst strolling up the cliffs in the sunshine (a tolerant lad), else further musing, when cooking a huge cauldron of dahl at 7:00 this morning
of course i am basing all speculation on having met a very small one once, for a few brief moments, whilst snorkling off the tropical coast of the americas decades ago…
we gave each other a beaky eye… before she skulked off to hang out neath a rock… and i cheerfully varmoosed for the surface, lungs long forgotten about oxygen… as an aside, never forget to gob in your mask folks
also the extraordinary footage of one on the blue planet a few months back… and an exhumed LRB article from last summer…
a few things:
‘They are sophisticated problem solvers, they learn and can use tools; and they show a capacity for mimicry, deception and, some think, humour’. wow
they communicate by changing colour!
they’re sort of molluscs, giant baggy, be-tentacled, shell less snails!
half of their neurons (brain stuff!) are in their tentacles
they are utterly nothing like us! our closest common ancestor was a blind spineless worm 600 million years ago…
and they have eyes
what this means, is that 2 of lifes most preposterous miracles: consciousness and the eye, evolved completely independentally TWICE on the same planet, genuinely gobsmacked
what might be some of the usual drivers for intelligence/consciousness?… dunno… omniverous behaviour to exploit and flourish in an environment of opportunity and complexity?
social behaviour… dolphins, wolves, us… all have rich social interactions…
longevity, takes time to learn stuff…
culture, most of our much vaunted knowledge is what somebody extraordinarily bright worked out and taught to other folk
yet octopusses don’t talk to each other, completely anti social with their own species… billy no mates… and they live less than 4 years
proper gnarly! truly bizarre and beautiful beasts! …oops, all this eight limbed enthusiasm, on tentacle tenterhooks, yeah, yeah best get back on with work

‘So raise that scarlet standard high
Beneath its folds we’ll live and die
Come cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We’ll keep the red flag flying here!’

google made an animation of goofing about with the flag on the beach on christmas day… pics by marie
curiously the red flag has the same tune as o tannenbaum… so socialist seasonal!
personally feeling more this quote today:
‘Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.’
einstein

and a fabulous socialist poster… tho no idea what its saying

ah was going to post billys version of the red flag… but always prefered this one… st georges hill! sadly Cliff Richard lives there nowadays

Claire: happy new year lovely Fagin. xxx

thanks m’dear, hope you and the horrors are flourishing midst the devon damp… come visit if ever you fancy a sussex jaunt xxx

Charlotte: I see the weather is as good there as it is here ……happy new years !!! xx

wind, rain and deplorable wintery-ness… sure the north is a balmy idyll! happy new year to all you guys xx

blessings on this time of new beginnings
softness, kindness, strength… playfulness, green tara heart chakra. love x

one of the changes i’m hoping to make this year is to move my eating habits somewhat nearer to the vegan end of the spectrum
prompted by the fact that even whilst eating free range and organic it’s a pretty cruel fate for most farm animals
it’s a very recent notion, so will see how it goes… concocted whilst devouring a delicious masala dosa yesterday and then stomping through puddles in wellies today!
currently i’m not at the stage where i can be reading labels all the time, so was thinking just to not buy milk, cheese or eggs
gotta be a start… cheese will be almost impossible…’my struggles with cheese’ a plausible autobiography?
go green tea! lots of risottos… and i’m off to cook a mountain of dahl… now… nosh hurrah!

… chat with Karen about Dosa

… and a suitably green themed dosa pic from last year!

post from RP

my reply:

ha! marvelous. a trifling forty seven amd a half, somewhat eventful, years on from ‘duck pond day’
think we can mostly attribute it to your extraordinary tolerance… will have a rummage for some old old snaps when next at mums… heres a fave from the 90’s xx

lovely to see you guys… and also wonderfully exciting to be up at the trees! pedalled up the hill next door on the epic bike ride, super steep.. gateway to the west, it’s the iconic trees on the hill opposite honiton little chef!… Melanie Basgallop Chicalo where you flung yourself off the wall

reply to comments: ha! thanks guys, sea was blooming freezing, as you might expect… but not as frigid as march
saltdean was a good choice, at low tide gently sloping, even tho waves fairly rough
i followed my usual maxim… plough straight in, thrash about like a loon, then when you lose all sensation in hands and feet and other extremities, time to get out
all grand, but for a slight case of ice cream wobble head…. sets ya up marvelously for a day of festivities! xx

dank. deep within winter woods, dun in raiment, a symphony in brown… nuanced, subtle… mildewed!
all is Russet, else spigot of lichen lurid green
mud, rot, cankour
yet stop, listen in the stillness, warble of the stream mingles with december bird song…
muffled, cosset the warmth in our hearts, there! somewhere behind, yet borne up… this ancient winter silence
yeah… quizzical oaks throwing shapes (quercus!) else ruddy soft spongebob red woods
turfed son out at gatwick early in the morning, so crumble and i had a pleasant amble down to the lake next to nymans
ha, always love a merry fugue, christmas bonhomie yule y’all x

tundra! black hound on white ground… crumble, camels and i away off up t’cliffs
strategies for winter? clashing colours n’chunky knitwear.
hamster cheeks. genghis khans eyes. same expression in every snap. whiskey

sipping coffee with the taste of fresh chopped chilli on my lips
creep squint, crab wise, through the shadowy half light, not convinced by this morning lark?
the rich pong of frying leeks and garlic… it is often thus, organic veg, of various description, malingers in the bottom of the fridge… then at peculiar times of day or night… usher forth center stage, leek it is your time to shine! uncoil Ring tight nestled within Ring
Krishna Das blaring out, the euphoric dirge of a harmonium… perfect for winter… this urge to kindness, softness, whether acknowledged or not, cosseted within sweet nectar darkness
yes, like me, rummage through the ragbag internet for gong baths, and sundry yoga nidra!… rotation of consciousness, now the time for gentle spiral down
… and a pic (not mine) of jaisalmer jain fort, a profoundly peaceful and beautiful place

much yoga nidra here

http://www.yoganidranetwork.org/downloads