WHO IS THIS GUY CALLED ARIEL?

By ariel70 - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Saturday, November 5, 2005

A PARALLEL UNIVERSE. A REPOST AS THE FIRST OF A SERIES ON OUR WACKY LIFE

I’m reposting this piece as an introduction to a series on our wild and wacky life in Spain; which really is a parallel universe. Although the series is tongue-in-cheek, it isn’t all that far from the truth. I’ll let you know in advance which bits are well over the top. I had just applied the blazing tumbler to Paco’s bare back, when Fraquito, the transvestite goat-herd, came to invite us to coffee at the hogar de jubilados. ( That’s a sort of bar/clubroom for elderly people that most Spanish... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, November 4, 2005

NOT A POEM, NOT A STORY, NOT FICTION ... JUST ARIEL'S STUFF

Life here in sunny Andalucia’s pretty hectic at the moment, making it difficult to keep up with what’s going on in my blog. But I will get back to all you nice people who left such nice comments as soon as possible. If I happen to leave anyone out, then please ask me for a reply. I’ll also get around that poem competition that I set you. Have fun!! TOUGH LOVE It’s tough, loving you my love, for sometimes you’re as edgy and spiteful and mean as a junkyard bitch on a tether; all snarling teeth and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by ariel70 at 10:27 AM | add or view comments (12) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

NOT A POEM, NOT A STORY, NOT FICTION ... JUST ARIEL'S STUFF

Life here in sunny Andalucia’s pretty hectic at the moment, making it difficult to keep up with what’s going on in my blog. But I will get back to all you nice people who left such nice comments as soon as possible. If I happen to leave anyone out, then please ask me for a reply. I’ll also get around that poem competition that I set you. Have fun!! TOUGH LOVE It’s tough, loving you my love, for sometimes you’re as edgy and spiteful and mean as a junkyard bitch on a tether; all snarling teeth and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by ariel70 at 10:27 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, November 3, 2005

A CHALLENGE TO ANY WANNABE EDGAR ALLAN POE

As a late entry to the Halloween festivities ( it's late 'cos my ISP was playing up, I challenge anyone to complete this poem in exactly the same style in which I began it; much in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. Five clicks to the best entry. ( I'm sorry about the odd couple of lines, I can't seem to fix it ) ARACHNE Late in deepest midnight couching, beings of Night around me crouching: creatures of ensanguined jaws, and dripping, fangy, gaping maws: hideous of visage,and foul of breath, these... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, November 2, 2005

A COUPLE OF DESSERT RECIPES

What do you do, when the kids start fighting over the fruit bowl; when everyone wants the only banana you’ve got, and they turn their noses up at the other pieces of fruit? Well, what you can do is make a nice simple fruit salad, that’ll please everyone. We hope. It can either be eaten as it is, or with a cream, custard or yoghurt topping. This is what you do:– Wash and peel all the fruit, and put all the peelings and cores into a pot, ( yes, including the banana skin ) and cover with what you... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005

A RATHER UNPLEASANT JOB, PART TWO ( final part )

A burst of raucous laughter came from the sitting legionaries, and the centurion frowned, and shook his vine staff at them. “ Now then lads” he said sternly “ Let’s keep the noise down eh? Let’s have a bit of respect round here!” Chastened, the legionaries began to talk quietly, this time only an occasional smile creasing their leathery faces. Most of the sightseers were gone now; back to the city, or wherever they had come from, but that woman still stood there, and his gaze slid over her, and... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, October 31, 2005

A RATHER UNPLEASANT JOB, PART ONE

The centurion gazed at the squad that he had been given to carry out this particular job: good men all. It was highly unusual to send a centurion to carry out such a routine task; usually it was left to a couple of trusted men, with maybe a decurion in charge. But the authorities had thought that there might be a spot of disorder on this occasion, so they had sent a much larger squad than usual. There had been a group of their so called holy men, standing in their long gowns, and wearing those... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, October 30, 2005

LAST WALK

My weekend has been too hectic for me to finish and post the second part of our trip to Alhama de Granada, so, just to kep the pot boiling, I repost this story, which I first posted last July. I hope you like it. LAST WALK The walk up from the cortijo, along the narrow, winding, steep tracks had been exhausting: harder than she had ever known it to be, and she had lagged far behind the others, gasping for breath, her joints stiff and painful. She staggered into the cooling shade of a widely... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, October 29, 2005

THIS BLAGGER'S ON THE BLAG, BLAGGING FOR .................................

...................CLICKS! See below the headline I hardly ever post short pieces, because I think it short-changes my 3 and a half regular readers, but this is so funny that I had to share it. An inmate of a secure mental hospital escaped, raped a woman in a laundry room, and fled. The headline read …. “ NUT SCREWS WASHER AND BOLTS! ” Not very PC, is it? Sign in to see full entry.

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THIS BLAGGER'S ON THE BLAG, BLAGGING ...............

…….. CLICKS. I promised to post part two of our adventure at the balneareo in Alhama de Granada, but life has butted in, making it impossible for me to finish and post it today. So, in order not to disappoint my 3-strong horde of regular readers, I offer this piece instead. The blag words, “ blag” (noun) “ blag” (verb) and their derivatives, are British slang words, of unknown origin – to me at least. Roughly, to blag is to solicit for some form of gain, but like so many other slang words, the... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, October 28, 2005

LADY ARIELA'S AND ARIEL'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE AT THE BALNEARIO, PART ONE

It was a very special occasion. Not the very special occasion – that was to come on the following day – but a sort of prelude to it; an hors d’oeuvre, if you like. But a rather nasty little hors d’oeuvre, and I stood gazing glumly into the back of Lady Ariela’s truck, seeing, ( as one was once wont to write, but which seems now to have gone out of fashion ) … viz:– Sundry empty plastic water bottles, possibly six in number, and of varying size; an intriguing assortment of sweet wrappers, mostly... Sign in to see full entry.

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Thursday, October 27, 2005

ARIADNE, POEM

This is one of three poems that I’m not sure if I actually wrote. I know that seems a bit silly it say, but it really was as if they’d written themselves; or someone else was in my head forming it for me. For each one came to me fully formed it seemed while I was asleep, and all I had to do the next morning was simply edit proof read them. I expect most, or all of you have had a similar mysterious thing happen to you. So, this is the poem that gave birth to the story below. ARIADNE Ariadne stood... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

THE TRAGEDY OF ARIADNE, PART TWO

Theseus begged, he pleaded, he bewitched and beguiled Ariadne into showing him the way through the Labyrinth, and she was powerless to resist his importunities. Thus it was, that in the dead of night, when all slept, Ariadne wound her way among the serpent-like coils of the passages, unspooling a fine silken thread as she went to the very portal of that grisly, gruesome, fearsome, awesome, loathsome, danksome chamber wherein the beast lay couched in restless slumber. Taking care not to arouse... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

THE TRAGEDY OF ARIADNE

We have our eldest son and his two children staying with us for a few days, so I shan't have time to write a lot about what's happening in our lives right now; what excellent adventures I have to recount. So... here's a little 2 part story for you. I hope you like it. Ariadne stood on Naxos isle, the last of Summer’s flowers dying about her feet. She stood in a gentle zephyr breeze, which wafted her short Phrygian purple gown about her voluptuous form. Ariadne’s face was passing fair, with eyes... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, October 24, 2005

LADY ARIELA'S AND ARIEL'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE OF THE HORMIGONERA PART TWO

While Carmencita’s father locked the door of the basement, I began to wheel the hormigonera up the slope, not looking behind me, and suddenly there came a hellacious crash, and there, on its side, lay the hormigonera. One of its wheels had come off, and listing too far to starboard it had toppled over. I told you didn’t I, that the street was very steep? I turned around, just in time to see the wheel gathering speed, trundling down the slope. It was then that I first promulgated Flower’s Law Of... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, October 23, 2005

WHY ARE CHRISTIAN BLOGGERS SUCH APPALLINGLY BAD WRITERS AND OTHER STUFF

Not all of them of course, for obviously some of them are highly literate. But I must say that the very worst examples of appalling writing that I encounter while surfing the blogs is perpetrated by Christians. One often have to wade through a great mass of dense text, with few or no paragraphs, indents or line breaks of any kind; which in itself is enough to turn one right off. I left school at the age of 14, with no qualifications, but all my life I have been a compulsive reader, and have had... Sign in to see full entry.

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LADY ARIELA'S AND ARIEL'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE OF THE HORMIGONERA PART ONE

This story is based upon a true incident, that occurred soon after we moved to Spain, in those day when – two innocents abroad – we had no idea of just how … well, interesting life in Spain could be. And was to become! Her gorgeous lips pursed, Lady Ariela ran her finger down the page, and she said “ Ah! Here it is... yes, a cement mixer’s called an hormigonera.” “It’s hormigonera, isn’t it? ” I said, pronouncing the ‘h’. Looking very girls’ public school, my lady said “ No. Do try to remember... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, October 22, 2005

A SCRUMMY CAKE RECIPE AND A PIECE CALLED GOING NATIVE

You all know by now that I don’t do them there Gordon Blue recipes, ‘cos I like to keep things simple if I can. And my recipes generally aren’t for those people on a diet, or trying to slim; although none of them are exactly going to make you fat either. We all succumb – go on, admit it, you do too – to the need for an occasional piece, slab, hunk or, as the say in Spain, a monton of cake. I guess that word explains itself, doesn’t it? As one of its main ingredients is bran, we can indulge... Sign in to see full entry.

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GOING NATIVE a repost

I still can't sit at my computer for long, although I am working on new posts, so I thought I'd repost this piece to keep the pot boiling. Hope you like it! One of the most appealing things for me about living in Spain is the Spanish attitude to health and safety, and rules and regulations in general. We Britons have developed – or rather have had instilled in us – a slavish adherence to rules, however absurd they may be. If we don’t obey implicitly all those sensible rules laid down for us by... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, October 21, 2005

A SINCERE THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS FOR THEIR GOOD WISHES& OTHER THINGS

This is the Andalucian Parliament building in Seville, which I forgot to mention we visited in that elegant horse-drawn carriage. Of course, the camera hasn't caught it all; there's quite a bit more of it around to the right. In that colonnade, or cloister behind the pillars on the ground floor are 90 something inset tiled panels, each with the emblem of a province. We couldn't get to see the outside properly of course, but next time we go back, we'll have a good look at it. It's a hell of a lot... Sign in to see full entry.

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About this Blog

Fiction, poetry, articles and a whole lot of other Ariel's stuff ; musings and ponderings ; they're all here, and i hope you'll find something here that you like. But I have a deeper purpose in mind. See, reading the papers and watching TV, it's so easy to think that the whole world's motivated by racial and religious hatreds of various kinds. Well most of us aren't, are we? We ordinary people are moved by love and compassion for our fellow humans ; and respect and tolerance for their differences. It's true that all that it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing, so we who are motivated by love have a duty speak out against the evils of the world ; not to be ashamed of our histories, nor embarrassed about being and saying clearly what we are and what we believe. If we don't learn to love each other, we'll perish. Although I am an atheist, my guiding principle is, and always has been, Christ's adjuration to " Love thy neighbour as thyself"

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