tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27582069277347742352024-03-21T15:42:19.792-04:00Meady's MusingsCopyright 2006-2013meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-24920198971048353092012-12-26T23:00:00.000-04:002012-12-27T20:01:45.162-04:00Advent Calendar 2012: Day 6 (Boxing Day) of The Christmas Adventures of The Purple Elephant and the little mouse!On Day 6 of the Christmas adventures it was the birthday of the owner of the production house and as a result she invited a few of her guests over from the 'real' world to the production house. Of the persons invited was her nephew who always shared her birthday cake and was a fan of Wallace and Gromit so this is the cake they ate!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLfL8lgiygX55KKqNY2l4BaR8xVhOW-gihAhRYK09EWe8pCa9bwU9Z7zTbQwAsLmchX_36AmnzEFoW7slgueE5uTt7F2EtlF4_oyBp2A5O4D3rfYkyKcNqtUpF0adIAw2LSwNRSCMQDw/s1600/100_3750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="311" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLfL8lgiygX55KKqNY2l4BaR8xVhOW-gihAhRYK09EWe8pCa9bwU9Z7zTbQwAsLmchX_36AmnzEFoW7slgueE5uTt7F2EtlF4_oyBp2A5O4D3rfYkyKcNqtUpF0adIAw2LSwNRSCMQDw/s400/100_3750.JPG" /></a></div><i>Image copyright of Meady's Musings Production House 2012</i><br />
<br />
Every mice got a piece of cake and were thrilled that the theme of the cake was cheese as it depicted a scene from this episode of Wallace and Gromit:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/05vYIFZEhzA" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
The theme of the cake did re-ignite the argument between the little mouse's parents about the age of cheese but it quickly boiled over and all was well again! <br />
<br />
But the cake ceremony was not all that happened that day...earlier in the morning the owner and her nephew sat down with the guys from the UCP desk and others interested to pray and it so happened the prayer they performed was the same prayer that was done on <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com/2008/08/today-i-launch-blog-universal.html">the opening of the UCP desk way back in 2008</a>! <br />
<br />
And so it was Day 6 of the Christmas adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse! :)<br />
meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-34071089768922433172012-12-25T02:01:00.000-04:002012-12-25T02:01:11.426-04:00Advent Calendar 2012: Day 5 (Christmas Day) of The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse<br />
<br />
And when all awoke on Christmas morning after falling asleep to the beautiful prayer said by the little mouse...they sang together in prayer and thanks and most of all Joy!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aBITWrYX_mE" width="459"></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-49983318498896375172012-12-24T20:00:00.000-04:002012-12-27T15:13:01.481-04:00Advent Calendar 2012: Day 4 of The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and little mouse (Christmas Eve)So by Day 4 of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and little mouse it was already Christmas Eve and all the mouse's siblings had by then arrived and his parents had settled into the production house as well. The parents of the little mouse had gotten over their petty squabbling about cheese and was helping the little mouse to keep all his siblings at peace. However the little mouse was still counting on the owner of the production house to weave her magic or for some Christmas miracle to get all the mice now temporarily residing in the production house to agree and be at peace. <br />
<br />
So the owner of the production house tried playing this from her favourite Christmas album: John Denver and the Mumpets- A Christmas Together:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iP5MwVdu3c0" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
And although it seemed to stir some place inside most of the mice...soon after the carol was done the bickering continued! <br />
<br />
And it was only until several cheese plates were served and the mice sat down to watch this mouse in a starring role did peace seem to begin to kick in fully and the Christmas spirit seemed to be there as not a mouse stirred as they all were glued to the TV screen to look at this show!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a46lTHxc1bo" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
Then when it ended one of the London mice (working to stop use of mice in laboratories) just spontaneously got up and sang Jingle Bells like so:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Su7An-o0C3o" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
And when he was done the little mouse reminded everyone that it was almost midnight at the production house on Christmas Eve and so it was time for all to join in prayer...and this was the prayer that the little mouse said:<br />
<br />
<b>THE LITTLE MOUSE'S CHRISTMAS EVE PRAYER</b><br />
<br />
<i>"Dear Lord, <br />
It's been a long year<br />
One in which I almost faded away<br />
Imagine I was almost not here<br />
But thank goodness I was saved<br />
<br />
It all made me realize<br />
How much I still have to do<br />
And to remember all those<br />
To whom I must say a big thank you<br />
<br />
The owner of the production house<br />
For coming back to me<br />
And for saying sorry for not being around<br />
<br />
To the best friend ever to this mouse<br />
We all know who he is and what's in a name<br />
But today I must officially say<br />
I thank you dear God<br />
For that Purple Elephant<br />
With whom I share this house<br />
<br />
And thank you dear Lord<br />
For all my mice family<br />
Who this year for Christmas<br />
Are all with me<br />
<br />
And finally dear Father <br />
But certainly not least<br />
I thank you for giving to us<br />
This night a star<br />
A star which we all followed<br />
That led us to thee!" <b></b></i><br />
<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good night! :)<br />
meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-47446101865533634962012-12-23T00:12:00.000-04:002012-12-27T15:16:02.036-04:00Advent Calendar 2012: Day 3 of The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and little mouse.On the Third Day of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse the little mouse's family started arriving...<br />
<br />
First to get there were his parents...both arrived arguing about who was right or wrong about the age of the cheese they were eating and the little mouse's mother kept going on about since when the little mouse's father was an expert on cheese seeing as cheese wasn't Indian and this was not paneer!<br />
<br />
Next through the door were the church mice from the US followed by the Canadian church mice and as they met in the foyer another big argument ensued about which version of the bible they should read from for the Christmas prayer!<br />
<br />
The little mouse started to feel embarrassed as he overheard those monkeys still residing (unfortunately) in the game room squealing about how the little mouse's family was always arguing!<br />
<br />
Now it really was unlike our little mouse...as you all must know by now...he is such a quiet, shy and peaceful mouse...and he started to get even more flustered than normal when soon after the North American mice siblings arrived the Indian temple mice came into the yard of the production house and went to the trees to pray and the North American church mice stood in the foyer claws in uproar as to what those Indian mice were doing?!<br />
<br />
The little mouse went to the owner of the production house and The Purple Elephant and begged for help as he hang his little head in shame...he explained it was kinda why he had never asked his family to visit before as for this same reason and more...<br />
<br />
However he had thought it only right to have them come as they were so worried about him after he almost disappeared! But some way to show their worry and care!<br />
<br />
But then the Purple Elephant trumpeted and the owner of the production house went over to the little mouse and assured him that she would make things right...she for sure had a plan!<br />
<br />
<br />
So the little mouse went over to the foyer and continued to welcome his many siblings...<br />
<br />
And so ended the third day of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and little mouse!meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-8763279067163183302012-12-22T10:00:00.000-04:002012-12-27T15:19:46.175-04:00Advent Calendar 2012: the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse- Day 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.indiais.org/competition_photos/panPhoto_996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="337" width="500" src="http://www.indiais.org/competition_photos/panPhoto_996.jpg" /></a></div><i><b>The little mouse's father came from a long line of Indian Temple mice!</b></i><br />
<br />
<i>Image burrowed from this <a href="http://www.indiais.org/explore.php?tags[]=bangalore">site</a></i><br />
<br />
After the world of the owner of the production house did not end and the little mouse had grown almost back to full size again the Christmas adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse continued...<br />
<br />
The owner of the production house had now moved fully into the house again and would be with the animals all Christmas long until the Epiphany.<br />
<br />
The production house was all abuzz as for the first time ever the family of the little mouse would be visiting! Of course over the years monkeys had taken over the production house, bears from all over the world had visited and the Purple Elephant's herd had visited but never the little mouse's family. So everyone was excited to meet them and learn more! <br />
<br />
Everyone kept asking the little mouse when and from where his family would be arriving and whether they would be mice, gerbil or hamster?!<br />
<br />
The little mouse tediously explained that while by marriage and otherwise he was related to some gerbils and hamsters that he was of mice and mice alone! A little mouse he was and mice were mice...hamsters were hamsters and gerbils were gerbils! <br />
<br />
<br />
So upon further prodding the little mouse related the list of his relatives and so it went:<br />
<br />
<b>The little mouse's father</b> had descended from a long line of temple mice in India. But one day he grew curious and left his abode of adoration and jumped on a ship! He was then rudely awakened when he arrived in London to find a set of caged mice in a pet shop meant to be fed to snakes....<i>alive</i>! So he hatched a plan and saved them and fell in love with one of the mice he saved...<b>the little mouse's mother</b>. <br />
<br />
Together they helped save many a lab rat and mice and also gave birth to the mice that accounts for the little mouse and his siblings. Of the sixteen mice that they gave birth to here is where they each went:<br />
<br />
1. Two became church mice in churches under the Church of England.<br />
2. Three went back to India to be temple mice following in their father's lineage<br />
3. Three went to Hollywood to audition for the role of the three blind mice in the <br />
Shrek movies<br />
4. Four became activist mice and are instrumental in laws passed to stop the use of <br />
live mice for feeding other animals in the UK and Germany.<br />
5. Four went to become church mice in various parts of North America but one of them <br />
changed his mind and ended up in Trinidad as the little mouse himself!:) Living in the <br />
production house with the Purple Elephant and practicing UCP-Universal Collective <br />
Prayer!<br />
<br />
<br />
And so the entire production house waited for the arrival of all these mice! As the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse continued!meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-37388576896178309322012-12-20T05:18:00.000-04:002012-12-20T20:41:48.175-04:00Advent Calendar 2012- Very Late Opening! <br />
The little mouse has been going to the Purple Elephant every day for the past few weeks and climbing up to his big, purple ears to whisper into either of them to let him know...<br />
<br />
<i>"Where did all the blog posts at the Meady's Musings Production House go?!"<br />
<b></b></i><br />
<br />
You see if the owner of the production house does not blog...well then eventually the production house and all its inhabitants will fade away...they will be no more...and the Purple Elephant being so large in size was not realising it as much...he thought his skin was just too dry and bits were flaking off...but when he finally looked through the corners of his left eye at the little mouse sitting upon his left ear what did the Purple Elephant behold?<br />
<br />
<b>Well my friends the little mouse was just but skin and bone! <i></i></b><br />
<br />
The Purple Elephant upon this shocking revelation took to all fours and jumped over into the real world and landed outside the owner of the production house's office door! When she did not come out he stomped and when she still did not come out he stomped some more and then when she still did not emerge he stomped again but trumpeted with that!<br />
<br />
Eventually the owner of the production house emerged with crude oil coming out of one ear, produced water out another and bits of paper stuck all over her body!<br />
<br />
Regardless of her appearance the Purple Elephant scooped her up with his trunk and put her onto his back and jumped right into the imaginary world before the owner of the production house could even blink! <br />
<br />
He dropped her right onto the middle of the floor and pointed with his trunk to the little mouse and then trumpeted!<br />
<br />
OMG! When the owner of the production house saw her poor little mouse she immediately realized what she had done...she had rarely blogged all year long and...and...to top it off from the first time since she had built the production house in her imagination and created the blogs-Meady's Musings and UCP-Universal Collective Prayer...oh dear she had not opened...<br />
<br />
THE ADVENT CALENDAR!<br />
<br />
And Dec 20th was already here!<br />
<br />
She immediately went to the imaginary fridge and got some cheese for the mouse...but when she brought it back for the poor little mouse in a weak, gasping breath the noble being explained that no cheese in this here imaginary world could save him! The owner had to go right away back with the Purple Elephant to the real world and grab keyboard, smart phone or tablet and type away...then to the internet connect and post!<br />
<br />
For every word she posted online...the little mouse would heal and re-gain a fat cell for every byte put online!<br />
<br />
So here you have it...the owner has typed and now all of us here at the Meady's Musings Production House declare the Advent calender 2012 open!<br />
<br />
Given its late start we will stay with you until the epiphany this year...6 Jan 2013 is when we shall close! <br />
<br />
It is important to also note that the owner of the production house made a trip to Chichen Itza this year which seems to be at the center of this whole world will end tomorrow business. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoG4XUcdCiCis-iF842Tlen759KNsvPzlWpngcq2737-uYFIj6Q-QAt-vUpMm_i3_aagGhvuEbxlAXQZilhRe1i1_N0alHmjm4_FwGBZxXGPuotZCDeiaryV8tYNuBxUsk88Y_av8bNw/s1600/DSCN5507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoG4XUcdCiCis-iF842Tlen759KNsvPzlWpngcq2737-uYFIj6Q-QAt-vUpMm_i3_aagGhvuEbxlAXQZilhRe1i1_N0alHmjm4_FwGBZxXGPuotZCDeiaryV8tYNuBxUsk88Y_av8bNw/s400/DSCN5507.JPG" /></a></div><i>Photo copyright of Meady's Musings Production House 2012</i><br />
<br />
And she was discussing it with the Purple Elephant and little mouse and since their world almost ended...they know how it feels and so the little mouse still frail but getting better went to his little prayer corner and decided to share this lovely little Christmas prayer with all beings in the Universe real and imaginary on the eve of the 21st December 2012 i.e. the start of the Winter Solstice and quite possibly (anything is possible you know) the end of the world!<br />
<br />
"I'm just a little mouse<br />
Some consider me imaginary<br />
Others say it is contrary<br />
And it is my world that is real<br />
While the world of the Production House owner is unreal<br />
<br />
To be honest this little mouse does not know<br />
What is real or unreal<br />
What is the truth or untruth<br />
And it is with this knowledge I pray<br />
This little mouse kneels in his corner<br />
And surrenders onto the Divine<br />
Let your will be done!<br />
<br />
Some say there may not even be a Divine one.<br />
But I say what is in a word.<br />
You see whether it be or not...<br />
It would not change my lot!<br />
<br />
But I've learnt from the owner of the production house<br />
To pray...as I feel at peace when I do...<br />
So I recall how she in the past has surrendered onto the Divine in this blog:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-surrender-onto-divine-mother.html">I Surrender onto the Divine Mother!<br />
</a><br />
<br />
And sing this song with her...<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Op-WIiAqiEs" width="459"></iframe><br />
And I've also learnt from her that there is not only one way to pray...<br />
<br />
So in the spirit of Universal Collective Prayer and in keeping with the time of Advent I also offer this form of prayer in this our first Christmas carol on our Advent calendar 2012!<br />
May there be many more to come! :)<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KtuPCPGaJHQ" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
Let the Christmas fun begin! :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-92092248469025027052012-09-03T00:30:00.000-04:002012-09-04T20:29:57.435-04:00Maniac Mondays: Work Life Balance...Caught in the Time Trap! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fBXnV6LtfHzappD4SZs6fLYmFadukCygmdCWa-YCCa6enRTTqsow3DQSMRU3JYJW5teDjPTzgt__5HXB54cXv6687jBUvAdV9yhDyIp8AcspmmvZYAnr20mdRSL6O8n7Y6ibjB6doQ8/s1600/set+up+for+tea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="274" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fBXnV6LtfHzappD4SZs6fLYmFadukCygmdCWa-YCCa6enRTTqsow3DQSMRU3JYJW5teDjPTzgt__5HXB54cXv6687jBUvAdV9yhDyIp8AcspmmvZYAnr20mdRSL6O8n7Y6ibjB6doQ8/s400/set+up+for+tea.JPG" /></a></div><i>Image copyright of Meady's Musings Production 2008.</i><br />
<br />
Today on Maniac Mondays we've been wondering about time...how little of it there often is and how to make the most of it...and if we don't will it all run out? Or more so are we caught in the time trap of life daily repeating routine cyclic tasks to a bitter end?! We started to get really maniacal about it and was about to let out the laugh when we decided to restrain ourselves less we become like the March Hare and Mad Hatter and become true maniacs! So we then began to contemplate the March Hare and his obsession with time. And was he obsessed with it alone or was it the Mad Hatter or was it both of them? So we went to the web of things to research it and came up with another blog to befriend this week...so along with our new and blossoming friendship with the Aussies over on <a href="http://www.boygirlmodernworld.com/">Boy Girl Modern World </a>as they contemplate work/life balance...we met this Texan based (we think) chick over on Write Right! She seems to have the full scoop on this whole <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CCYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.writerightwords.com%2Fmurdering-the-time%2F&ei=UmdFUOaBI6q70AGH8oDIDQ&usg=AFQjCNGBSEmhi4eznd9Bh6KXbICYffGXEw">'Murdering the Time'</a> business. <br />
<br />
According to Write Right's blog post which we think hits the nail on the head and so we quote her:<br />
<br />
<b><i>"If the Hatter and the March Hare seem mad, perhaps it’s because we forget how relatable they are. How often do we get stuck in a routine, doing the same thing and writing the same words day after day after day? We become tired of that routine. We complain about it. Sometimes, we do something about it. We find a way to make our routine fun again. We make changes, sometimes drastic ones, to it. We add a new activity to our lives to balance the tedium. We ask for input regarding our writing. Other times, we don’t do anything. We decide to drink the same tea, to eat the same desserts, to use the same serving ware, and to have the same, pointless conversations. Isn’t that mad? Isn’t that “murdering the time”?"</i></b><br />
<br />
Well and yes <b>Write Right</b> it's exactly what we think even though we ourselves must hardly <i>'write right'</i>...what with our over use of the '...' and our generally unpunctuated rambling roving rants we have to say 'write not right' as we may we have struck a common point of view with you here! And now because we are just as mad as the Hatter and arguably then madder than the March Hare we will pause for a moment for this jig with them as we have done in the past on this blog:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-ZmktVFsCXE?fs=1" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
Now continuing...<br />
<br />
You see if we get stuck in this time trap of sorts just repeating and doing the same things over and over well even if we follow the Zen like practice of living in the moment and being fully present in every second of it...well wouldn't we still be stuck? Well unless we had some sort of overall plan or map of some sorts?<br />
<br />
So even if you don't want to see it as being stuck in tea time all the time...if you see it as you go to work every day and do this and that can't you still of course be stuck?<br />
<br />
You see...and we came to thinking about it in work itself just last Friday really...now yes if we are all Zen like and focus on the moment and be present fully in it we are bound to do our best...our very utmost best at whatever task at hand! So we're not knocking the very Zeness of it yet! But if we keep doing things the same way and doing the same things aren't we perhaps possibly not moving forward in a way too? I mean if we don't climb up and look at the top of trees to see the whole forest from time to time...how are we to know where we are going? Or how the overall plan looks? Or how our best trys shape things overall? Indeed what our best looks like? And who decides where we are to be going in the first place?<br />
<br />
Our boss? The manager? The CEO?<br />
<br />
And in our personal life...ourselves? our parents? our children? our spouse? our friends? our pets even?<br />
<br />
And how do we know? And do we know where we must go?<br />
<br />
Should we join the guys over on the <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP </a>desk who've not blogged since Easter and say <i><b>God!?</b></i><br />
<br />
But the thing is...we need to know...we need to have a bigger plan...and as much we've always hated the famous question:<br />
<br />
<b>"Where do you see yourself in the next five years?"<br />
</b><br />
<br />
We have to admit it...you have to have a general plan!<br />
<br />
You see you can't control the outcomes in life...indeed as the <a href="http://www.fleurdelis.com/desiderata.htm">Desiderata</a> states:<br />
<br />
<i>"And whether or not it is clear to you, <br />
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."</i><br />
<br />
However we still have to have some kind of general plan...then work in the Zen like way...focussing on every little daily task and caught up in the very moment of it...but at the end of every day or at least every week or every quarter or every year even we have to review...climb up at the top of the trees and see how our forest has grown...based on us doing the best we can in every moment...this is how the forest looks. It may not be how we want it to look like and so then we have to decide how we want to go from there...do we want to try to re-shape it again to how we wanted it to look originally or now based on our experiences do we have a different idea of how our forest should look?<br />
<br />
Or do we want to step out of the forest altogether and start over in a new forest?<br />
<br />
And can we even do that? Maybe yes or maybe no but that time is when you have to access this.<br />
<br />
And the thing is we have to do it in our careers or work life as well as our personal life and in the work/life balance scheme of things as a whole. For in the end of it really...career or work is just one part of our overall life! <br />
<br />
It's kinda tough...isn't it? This whole work/life balance thing and more so this whole life thing! <br />
<br />
There are several work plan maps out there and ways to structure it and no doubt things like meditation, creative visualization and yep even joining the guys over on the <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP</a> desk to engage in prayer that can help us come up with the overall master plan of this thing call life! <br />
<br />
But in the end of it all it always comes back to what we were saying in agreement with Daniel Pink on our mid August Maniac Mondays posting- <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2012/08/maniac-mondays-choosing-few-things.html">Choosing a Few Things</a>:<br />
<br />
It's all about what is our Drive?!<br />
<br />
And according to Daniel Pink <a href="http://vimeo.com/8480171">the two questions</a> that can change your life:<br />
<br />
"If your life at its end had to be summarised in one sentence what would you want it to be?"<br />
<br />
"Was I better today than yesterday?" <br />
<br />
(so I guess in the case of Daniel Pink he is suggesting a daily climb up to the top of the trees to look at the condition of your forest)<br />
<br />
<br />
But hey it's Maniac Mondays and we're no experts just a bunch of maniacs ourselves so let's go dance a jig with the Mad Hatter and March Hare now because you know what Mr. Daniel Pink? It's oh so much fun!<br />
<br />
And join us later this week as we do two blog posts this week...as we continue to investigate time...in this case in the metaphysical sense and wonder if if it exists at all? Or can we like the Mad Hatter murder time and in this case he never comes back to rule over us? Is Father time really a lie after all? Can we transcend his boundaries? We think we are so into time now that it may even become an upcoming series to give to the <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP </a>desk to work on! So join us then...but for now let's dance! :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ar0ra6ZS3fU?fs=1" width="480"></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-53447038847027443392012-08-30T00:01:00.000-04:002012-08-30T00:01:00.562-04:00Tumultuous Thursdays: Wondering if that Elusive Happy Place Exists in a Parallel World?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqYSSS3S68lsMkzP3kYvA6exIVz6sVbrSRNUnDa9L4tmUVGD7VnpiPtC0e1vhQQIh2UErpv9ZEs9F5CbW2EJoyq3KCSWPGgMokT3SfAYei31a6OHf8IikimA4lTlWIUQEGUvgjT7oPXM/s1600/two+sunflowers+and+a+butterfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqYSSS3S68lsMkzP3kYvA6exIVz6sVbrSRNUnDa9L4tmUVGD7VnpiPtC0e1vhQQIh2UErpv9ZEs9F5CbW2EJoyq3KCSWPGgMokT3SfAYei31a6OHf8IikimA4lTlWIUQEGUvgjT7oPXM/s400/two+sunflowers+and+a+butterfly.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<b><i>"Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder...-Henry David Thoreau"</i></b><br />
<br />
<i>Photo copyright of Meady's Musings Production 2009.<i></i></i><br />
<br />
Since we've started back actively blogging and on our last Maniac Mondays posting we recalled that <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/04/maniac-mondays-finding-that-elusive.html">elusive happy place</a> when we were talking about work/life balance and so we thought that on this Tumultuous Thursday we'd retrieve and complete this blog posting we started to write exactly one year ago but never completed. So let's pick it back up where we left off one year ago...<br />
<br />
<br />
Today on Tumultuous Thursdays we are wondering about Parallel Worlds again! And we think it's all coming together too...you see we can now see the merging between two blogs we wrote in the past one in 2009 and one in 2010. One of the blogs is about parallel worlds/lives and the other is about 'finding that elusive happy place'. <br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />
<a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2009/08/parallel-livesparallel-worlds.html"><br />
-Parallel Lives...Parallel Worlds?</a><br />
<a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/04/maniac-mondays-finding-that-elusive.html">-Finding that Elusive Happy Place!</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
And we have been thinking all day long of the trains of thought colliding i.e. does our elusive happy place exist in a parallel world? Is our longing for that elusive happy place rooted in our need to return to that world? It makes sense really...no wonder the happy place is elusive...it's always escaping from us into a parallel world! And it's why the longing is so real and deep to find it back...go back to it...<br />
<br />
Now the guys over on the <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP</a> desk will no doubt call this parallel world...heaven or the spirit plane and we're not disputing this...indeed one parallel world might indeed be heaven or for that matter hell. But here on Meady's Musings Tumultuous Thursdays we are proporting something else!<br />
<br />
Suppose just like in the TV series 'Sliders' there exists infinite worlds where basically every possible outcome is played out...<br />
<br />
So...if the plate broke in this world you are in now...there is some parallel world where it didn't...and these worlds are infinite so a new world would exist for every little tangentially different thing that happens! But it's not the little differences we pine over...it's the big ones although granted as how the web of the universal space time continuum is everything is connected...and it is little effects that lead a chain of events that create the big ones...well...<br />
<br />
<br />
Hmmm...so in one parallel universe you're married to someone else or attended a different school or you are a world class athlete because you didn't fall and damage your knee like you did in this universe etc. But of course those big events were triggered by little things...like someone knocked down a bottle of water on the floor and you skidded thus damaging your knee...and the reason the person knocked down the water is because a mosquito was buzzing in his ear and he was trying to swat it away when he accidentally knocked the bottle of water over.<br />
<br />
Hmmm...what is funnier is how we are even by all coincidence recalling and thus retrieving this blog post exactly one year to the date and now trying to go into it and complete it and now realizing that to some extent we perhaps even conflict with it one year later...<br />
<br />
I mean because as much as the elusive happy place could exist in another parallel world...so too there must be worlds that are sadder than we would like? And rally wouldn't all the worlds be like this one...dynamic? <br />
<br />
So what we are saying is that one year into the unfolding of the Universe called life is it possible that we here at Meady's Musings Production have also changed in our beliefs? Hopefully we've become more enlightened? But we think now...we really do more believe in the Buddhist or Zen-like 'Power of Now' and so now we think that no matter which parallel world you are in 'that elusive happy place' can be in it and it can be right here and right now! :) And like the it is said by Henry David Thoreau in one of our favourite quotes of all time:<br />
<br />
<b><i>"Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..."</i></b><br />
<br />
But now that kinda of talk is more what you'd expect of us on our Maniac Mondays postings...after all this is Tumultuous Thursdays and you want to hear us talk about parallel worlds not just quote beautiful things...so let's consider the idea again...<br />
<br />
Can that elusive happy place exist in a parallel world? <br />
<br />
And our answer to that would be yes! But if we lived daily in that parallel world...it would not be our elusive happy place anymore...in that if we always wanted to be a movie star and it always eluded us but we have that fame and fortune there in a parallel world...the movie star we are in that parallel might then crave our world...as she might for instance want not to be famous and have a more private life like the one you might have now...<br />
<br />
So you see no matter which part of the Universe you sit in your elusive happy place will always be just that...'elusive'! :)<br />
<br />
Unless you take the wise advice of Henry David Thoreau and not let your happiness be elusive by simply letting things be and not chasing it...<br />
<br />
So immerse yourself into your work like us for instance...like how we put our noses to the grind on a Studious Saturdays and write as we must...the little mouse sharpens all the pencils and the Purple Elephant hoses down the house with his trunk to keep it clean so that we can spend hours writing...and in doing the very thing we love by the end of a few hours of writing we are happy again because while we were doing the thing we love the elusive butterfly of happiness came and sat on our shoulder! And that just makes us smile! :)<br />
<br />
But yes there must be parallel worlds where things we wish for here exist there...and perhaps who knows some of the fluid from there leaks into our world here and vice versa...<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6HFiBb9eGok?fs=1" width="480"></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-27053207249717894992012-08-20T23:30:00.000-04:002012-08-21T02:26:33.972-04:00Maniac Mondays: Work Life Balance in Today's World...Really?!The Purple Elephant recently got a job at a corporate firm of sorts and the little mouse agreed that he would stay at home and tend to the house...but the owner of the production house was then all confused....should she now give up her job and let the Purple Elephant be the sole bread winner of the Meady's Musings Production House?<br />
<br />
While pondering about it on this Maniac Monday she found this blog: <a href="http://www.boygirlmodernworld.com/tag/work-life-balance/">Boy Girl Modern World </a> which seemed to be a very informative blog on the topic by others doing research on the specific topic out of Australia!<br />
<br />
Now apart from her muse-'the manicou at her gate at midnight' having a few marsupial cousins out down under the owner of the production house has very few friends out in Australia well in fact none apart from the guys she met <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2009/06/have-redgreen-world-environment-day-my.html">here when she volunteered at the Red Earth Festival!</a> So anyway it was quite a hemispherical shift but really worth the time difference to have a read! And of course in all good sense the blogosphere is one flat place where all is one! So seriously you should have a read of that blog!<br />
<br />
However back to the owner of the production house's dilemma. A dilemma that is perhaps shared by many a reader....if you don't need money...would you work? And if so why? In fact this question overlaps with many other questions...it money did not matter and you could do anything you wanted what would you do and why? And of course it's about work life balance too because if it wasn't about money would you work less? Or would you choose to work for less money so you could have more free time I don't know for hobbies, family or simply to sleep more?<br />
<br />
Or would you just want to use your free time and the money you had with the free time to help you find <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/04/maniac-mondays-finding-that-elusive.html">that elusive happy place?<br />
</a><br />
<br />
I guess since the 1940s people would have been saying too that it all boils down to this...<b>Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (please not image is re-published from this site-<a href="http://intuitiontellsmeso.wordpress.com/">http://intuitiontellsmeso.wordpress.com/</a> which seems to be a very indepth blog on the human way of thinking and interacting and is perhaps worth a read:<br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://intuitiontellsmeso.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/maslows-hierarchy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="386" width="441" src="http://intuitiontellsmeso.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/maslows-hierarchy.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So I guess in the case of the owner of the production house if the Purple Elephant was now the breadwinner and so helped with most of the lower levels of the pyramid. As none of the members of the production house can help the other with the sexual love bits unless they well used part of their wages to sign each other up on dating services for each of their species or matching making sites or put flyers out. Well or set each other up with friendly blind dates or meet ups. But they could at least show platonic love for each other and in that sense they do all belong to the Meady's Musings Production House. So then really the driver to work would be what comes at the top of the pyramid:<br />
<b><br />
-Self Actualization:</b> Vitality, Creativity, Self-Sufficiency, Authenticity, Playfulness and Meaningfulness<br />
<br />
Now we have to agree however with some of Maslow's critics that it's probably not really a hierarchy of needs at all or for sure not a pyramid. But more a dynamic soup of things...interacting hot and bubbling with the other. Really a loss of one of the needs can have profound effects on the other causing a collapse or an expansion.<br />
<br />
For instance history is ripe with cases where unrequited love has led to big works of art and also ripe with cases of persons jumping off a cliff when rejected! (Yikes!)<br />
<br />
So who knows some might argue that the human needs really revolves around love or some might say freedom? And also some might say that it we are self actualized that all the other needs can somehow magically be filled by the laws of attraction, the Universe or even miracles! Many say if you follow your true calling the success and money will follow to provide for all the other material needs...<br />
<br />
But then let's again ask what would be the drive (as Daniel Pink's new book is titled)for the owner of the production house to work if the Purple Elephant now had a corporate job that could take care of the running of the production house?<br />
<br />
Well apart from maybe her going to work would mean she might find a mate? <br />
<br />
Hmmm....what would be her drive as Daniel Pink's book asks? And as we discussed on last week's Maniac Mondays' post. What would be her true purpose? What job would she do not for the money but for the love of it...what job or purpose would she have such that it would be such a joy that it would be like not working a minute at all? <br />
<br />
To be honest even after one week of thinking (since <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2012/08/maniac-mondays-choosing-few-things.html">last week's post</a>) like Winnie the Pooh the owner of the Meady's Musings Production House is going to have to think some more!<br />
<br />
But speaking of things being centered around love and freedom we thought we'd queue up this favourite old tune on the blog and this one we were reminded of during the recently concluded Olympic games!<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/diYAc7gB-0A?fs=1" width="459"></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-17361125820569955122012-08-13T23:52:00.000-04:002012-08-27T00:11:41.924-04:00Maniac Mondays: Choosing a Few Things!All year long we have not blogged anything fresh on Meady's Musings although back in April we did review some past discussions by sharing with readers on Facebook. But now in the midst of the middle of August we have come to a realization on this Maniac Monday that we should put first things first and so choose a few things and re-align the blog to some extent in the hope of keeping it active. <br />
<br />
The whole re-think became an even more clear and present decision to be made when last night the Purple Elephant came back from South Africa where he had gone to visit his African Elephant cousins and they had made quite some fun of him! They had declared that now he could not claim any fame to make up for his smaller size (he being an Asian Elephant) as there was no longer anything purple and magical about him at all. So now he was just a smaller version of the bigger them for you see the lady from the Meady's Musings Production House had not for the year a single blog post up here! And to that the little mouse just said "Oh dear!"<br />
<br />
But seriously before we continue our first Meady's Musings blog post for the year we would like to note the yesterday was 12 August 2012 was marked as the World Wild Life Fund's Elephant Day! And poaching for ivory has caused a 50% decline in the African elephants found in Central Africa during the period 1995 to 2007. To learn more about this and what you can do to help visit the world wildlife fund's page at this link: <a href="http://www.worldwildlifefund.org">World Wildlife Fund</a><br />
<br />
Now back to Choosing a Few Things! Well apart from being spurred on by the Purple Elephant's shame we at the little mouse was cleaning out some things at the Meady's Musings Production House when he found this old posting about <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2008/12/our-facesmomentary-pearls-of-universe.html">'Our faces...momentary pearls of the Universe'</a> in which we also wrote about 'that scribblings guy-Aaron Ross' that is best summarized by these <br />
two diagrams:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://pebblestorm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/pebblestorm-unique-genius-sketch-small-300x222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="222" width="300" src="http://pebblestorm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/pebblestorm-unique-genius-sketch-small-300x222.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0k6Ote1wzxq4o0A7LnUWQ29mPSM-MI8QPIs25rzcLdacQgImM4zDeweKJu_-YJAKN542tVpSpDUFJktN_AK9e0YhqstlS1biyNyLkYNC4m3HCMQLxotCywSggB-q9cXRsBz-3eP2w74U/s400/complete+faces+like+pearls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0k6Ote1wzxq4o0A7LnUWQ29mPSM-MI8QPIs25rzcLdacQgImM4zDeweKJu_-YJAKN542tVpSpDUFJktN_AK9e0YhqstlS1biyNyLkYNC4m3HCMQLxotCywSggB-q9cXRsBz-3eP2w74U/s400/complete+faces+like+pearls.jpg" /></a></div><br />
And the lady of the production house also saw the clip for Daniel Pink's book-Drive on a blog post at <a href="http://www.intent.com">Intent</a>:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/8480171">Two Simple Questions That Can Change Your Life</a><br />
<br />
<br />
And it all got everyone at the production house to thinking again as to what our purpose was and if the Meady's Musings Production House could release a one sentence press release what would it be? To be honest we are still mulling on this...<br />
<br />
But we can tell you this much as to what we have been up to...<br />
<br />
-We haven't be trying the vegan or raw thing these days as we've been trying to instead keep up with the gym but we do eat lots of apples still! So no need to post about that currently on a Mon although we can still be maniacal!<br />
<br />
-We have been writing on Saturday so Studious Saturdays are in! <br />
<br />
-We can never not be musing metaphysically so we can always shoot up a Tumultuous Thursday thought even if it does not always make it to the blog! <br />
<br />
-We haven't been having as much fun as we should be having but for now we shall let it slide...<br />
<br />
So what you can expect is as such...we will leave all the different days i.e. Maniac Mondays, Tumultuous Thursdays, Funtastic Fridays and Studious (not slumbering) Saturdays.<br />
<br />
But instead of trying to post on all those days and surely rarely do any! We shall instead post weekly on one of the areas! If we feel energetic or really have something to say we shall post on more than one day too! <br />
<br />
It is not that the Meady's Musings Production House was ever closed though...we are always open in heart and mind! <br />
<br />
Anyway you will see the changes reflected in our blog header and be patient with us and keep us in your hearts and minds as we continue to write on Studious Saturdays about metaphysical meanderings for a fantasy novel we are working on every Saturday! We will keep you up to date on how that is going whenever we check in with you on our Studious Saturdays blogs. <br />
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Also we will (as we have as we have had every year since this blog was born in 2008) our Advent calendar this year so please look for it! :)<br />
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And seeing as it is a Manic Monday and everyone is still getting over the London Olympics 2012 we thought it wouldn't be a Meady's Musings blog if we didn't share some music or the other...and although everyone might be singing..."Always look on the bright side of life" since last night's closing ceremony! We thought it would be fitting to remind ourselves of these two favs that we've shared in the past as our theme songs that fit well with sharing our uniqueness and need to find life purpose!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6zpYFAzhAZY?fs=1" width="459"></iframe><br />
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meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-4381122455485309272011-12-27T00:00:00.000-04:002011-12-31T19:46:55.731-04:00Advent Calendar 2011: Christmas and Boxing Day of The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8G_PeheIAFuUjYAU3y5Gc7iAawEviU-QEmREY9Kru-ohL-RMtzvUFkWl-LQx_pfFwuvPSFoBiW6IbGCA7B7kCQVORBYM8obMcqWO0op04T9HRaOkQbFpdrllnc1pJwF1fqLo9FhIJ1oQ/s1600/DSCN1214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8G_PeheIAFuUjYAU3y5Gc7iAawEviU-QEmREY9Kru-ohL-RMtzvUFkWl-LQx_pfFwuvPSFoBiW6IbGCA7B7kCQVORBYM8obMcqWO0op04T9HRaOkQbFpdrllnc1pJwF1fqLo9FhIJ1oQ/s400/DSCN1214.JPG" /></a></div><i>copyright of The Meady's Musings Production House 2010.</i><br />
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<b>Day 25-Christmas Day</b><br />
<br />
It was already the wee hours of the morning by the time all the guests had settled in at the Meady's Musings Production House but really it was very hard to sleep with all the excitement and awe! But humans need to rest as do animals and all other living earthly beings. <br />
<br />
The herd of elephants were the first ones up! And the Purple Elephant went outdoors to be with them. And they were the first ones to notice that by 6 AM there was a long line of people outside the production house who had come to see the babe in the manger. So when they showed this to the Purple Elephant he went inside to wake up the little mouse to the news and to begin preparations to first of all deal with the line of people and then to prepare for the Christmas day meal! <br />
<br />
As might be expected the little mouse did not take the news well and start to get very nervous again...went to the corner to pray for guidance and then told the Purple Elephant to convene a meeting of all the animals that were currently living inside the production house itself. That means that the meeting was to exclude the herd of elephants grazing outdoors and the animals in the manager and other living quarters outside the main production house. When the meeting was then convened it included the Purple Elephant, the little mouse, the bears, the monkeys and yes not to be forgotten the owner of the production house. <br />
<br />
At the meeting a plan was hatched as to how to deal with the queue outdoors and how to prepare breakfast for all and the other Christmas meals! The duties were divided and plans devised as follows:<br />
<br />
1. The Purple Elephant would go outside and rustle up the herd of elephants to inquire from the long queue of folks outside the house what exactly were their needs and wants.<br />
<br />
(While doing this they would also collect and distribute water to all in the queue and one or two elephants would <br />
go down to the orchard and also pick some fruit with their trunks to distribute to those in the long line <br />
waiting to see the babe.)<br />
<br />
2. A few monkeys were also assigned to work outside with the herd of elephants. One of the monkeys assigned was a very smart chimp called Chompy who would question each of the persons in the queue on their needs and wants and take notes. Some of them would be asked to step aside if decided by the monkeys. These persons would be taken into the production house for further questioning and evaluation if it was felt that they needed counseling as their need to see the babe was driven by some deep seethed unfulfilled desires instead of pure joy!<br />
<br />
3. The rest of the animals would help with the Christmas meals. Which with the number of mouths to feed was no easy task indeed especially with mostly monkeys and bears involved! And with a much maligned mouse stirring the pot! Luckily the only human who would be eating was the owner of the production house who by now had known that the little mouse could do no harm! And after all he (the little mouse) was born out of her very own head! <br />
<br />
By 10 AM everyone including the persons in the queue had been fed. But the production house was all abuzz as the number of persons who needed to be taken aside for counseling was proving to be the vast majority of persons in the line. Then the little mouse took the decision that was seconded and agreed to unanimously that the babe in the manger should be the one to decide who should be fit to see him or not and no one else. So all were allowed to visit him and lo and behold as more persons came time seemed to stand still! And by lunch everyone had seen the babe and were all content!<br />
<br />
Then everyone sat down on tables indoors and outdoors and had the Christmas lunch! Before the meal was eaten the following prayer was said by the little mouse:<br />
<i><br />
<b>Oh Universal spirit from whom all things come<br />
Animals, humans and all of us who are one<br />
Bless our humble meal<br />
Make it that we eat in peace<br />
Let us know the unreal from the real<br />
And let all the Universe's beings feel<br />
The nourishment of body, mind and soul<br />
That you infuse into this our Christmas meal!</b></i><br />
<br />
With peace, love and light from all of us at the Meadys' Musings Production House!<br />
<br />
And really that was the main events on the Christmas day as dinner also went by with not a thing to complain about! <br />
<br />
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<b>Day 26-Boxing Day</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX8mBnmyWVBt-9xLKJAZPFLW0J7dJkOuiJH5jNzdbU2ajggIB1-qqQzFKSlsJqtTHiE-3Q85L-uXoR-yUsPIGm2nOQuUuz4ywAC_Zv_Bd05Qa3Qf-kiEsqC6fbi-e8Ai2KnlKxfozyZo/s1600/DSCN2976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX8mBnmyWVBt-9xLKJAZPFLW0J7dJkOuiJH5jNzdbU2ajggIB1-qqQzFKSlsJqtTHiE-3Q85L-uXoR-yUsPIGm2nOQuUuz4ywAC_Zv_Bd05Qa3Qf-kiEsqC6fbi-e8Ai2KnlKxfozyZo/s400/DSCN2976.JPG" /></a></div><i>Copyright of The Meady's Musings Production House 2011</i><br />
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On this day the owner of the production house entered the earthly plane and all the animals in the production house had planned and plotted to honour her on this day. The mouse was in charge and the Purple Elephant was running with her at her heels after every stride. By the end of the day the owner was very pleased with the animals who lived under her roof and all hers and their guests! Even the monkeys put in a sterling performance and there was really not much left to say but that indeed it was a very lovely Boxing Day and Happy Birthday for the owner of the production house and all her animal creationsmeadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-74458242772392620322011-12-24T23:55:00.000-04:002011-12-25T02:55:30.985-04:00Advent Calendar 2011: The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse:Christmas Eve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhisnZQnxMAdh-vfg8xzNwzmzN64T6b18TLceEl65Qrt5zSkQmkVmWSV7hyphenhyphen_qBwGGHneGP9wWTeqqto6PVSs5BlZFH-VfyELX_Z5Pe-HoiIMag6nr7LpMm0Y3lw1IqRmrfUjWwLWdHvs/s1600/Christmas+is+coming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhisnZQnxMAdh-vfg8xzNwzmzN64T6b18TLceEl65Qrt5zSkQmkVmWSV7hyphenhyphen_qBwGGHneGP9wWTeqqto6PVSs5BlZFH-VfyELX_Z5Pe-HoiIMag6nr7LpMm0Y3lw1IqRmrfUjWwLWdHvs/s400/Christmas+is+coming.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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By this time all the house guests had arrived safe and sound at the Meady's Musings Production House. In fact the season's plans had gone far more on schedule this year than last's. All the animals had basically arrived without major transportation problems and there was no honey bee strike like last year and so no resulting uprising of bears too. And the monkeys were better behaved since the whole cat wringing incident!<br />
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But there was a strange thing that not only the Purple Elephant and little mouse had realized this year but all the animals did too! The men who had appeared in the square last year in sports utility vehicles aka SUVs were no where to be seen this year although they had explained that they often come to town around Christmas time yearly. At first the Purple Elephant had come home from the square a day to tell the little mouse his fears...that he had not seen the men as yet and it was several days later than when they had appeared last year! But the little mouse had said to him that it was probably just that they were running later. Maybe they needed to repair their SUVs or get new ones all together and the Purple Elephant knew all too well how hard it was to buy a new SUV at times on the island! But now it was Christmas Eve and not only had they not seen the men with the SUVs but they had not seen the lovely couple return this year who gave birth to a baby boy in a manager that the animals had to quickly put together last year as by then the house was overflowing with animals and have fallen to the ground with all the mayhem! So in fact just in case this year the Purple Elephant had built an entirely separate duplex for the couple if they visited perhaps bringing the baby boy and the donkey that was oddly carrying them around...odd as the animals though why not an SUV? But the donkey had explained to them about his special bond with the couple. <br />
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Now it was almost two hours to the midnight hour and not a donkey or SUV was in sight!<br />
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Then Purple Elephant's sensitive ears and feet picked up a far away sound almost as far away as the square...and but surely he realised it was a drum! The sound got closer and closer and for all the good behaviour the animals showed till then...well that just vanished and they all got uneasy till basically all the animals were out in the maidan (field) with the herd of elephants! Then lo and behold coming around the curb they saw as the intensity of the sound was very strong now...well there you have it! A little drummer boy and with him he had a herd of sheep! So the animals let the sheep stay in the old manager that was built last year for the couple. Then were about to invite the little drummer boy to stay indoors but he said he never left the side of his sheep. So then all the animals stayed in the maidan as the little mouse went indoors and returned with a cup of cocoa for the little drummer boy who seemed to be cold. The little drummer boy blinked a while and eyed the little mouse from tail to whiskers but then took the cup of cocoa as he thought if he could so love his sheep why could he not take cocoa made by a mouse! <br />
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And then the little drummer boy played for them! Saying that he was just warming up his drums for now...<br />
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And lo and behold...as the song ended rounding the curb was an SUV and then another and then another and out of the third SUV alighted the donkey and from second one the couple with a just born baby boy! And then the three drivers of the SUVs and the couple, the donkey and the baby all joined the little drummer boy in the manger with his sheep. When asked what happened to that baby from last year...the couple looked up and blinked at animals without saying a word and with a nod of the donkey's snout...all the animals knew what it was...<br />
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And then the little drummer boy played his song!<br />
<iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DiXjbI3kRus?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />
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Merry Christmas from the Meady's Musings Production House!<br />
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<br />meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-33581767598675430732011-12-09T23:44:00.001-04:002011-12-10T10:20:33.061-04:00Advent Calendar 2011:Day 2 & 3 of The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6198qKZ3IZMzVPJm1aAl2_u5XIxOtxNbR5vi6gaHhPhGl8JRxoxJ-MO5Gkm_w9pJ1p7q2vaAcXwrCMPH9SqSdy_AvAlCitWSHAHUki3xJIhMqNUSBkP2-3ljGD5P8Tv4twZuD0PMCgJI/s1600/orangutan+and+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="194" width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6198qKZ3IZMzVPJm1aAl2_u5XIxOtxNbR5vi6gaHhPhGl8JRxoxJ-MO5Gkm_w9pJ1p7q2vaAcXwrCMPH9SqSdy_AvAlCitWSHAHUki3xJIhMqNUSBkP2-3ljGD5P8Tv4twZuD0PMCgJI/s400/orangutan+and+cat.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<i>This picture is not owned by us but was burrowed from this <a href="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/2008/10/the_orangutan_and_the_cat_a_ta.html">site</a>. Please notify us if we have infringed any rights and we will immediately remove. We thought it fair to say too that in the real life story to this pic the cat and orangutan are best of buddies! No Purple Elephant intervention necessary! :)</i><br />
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<b>DAY 2</b><br />
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On Day 2 of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse the day opened with the little mouse quietly in a corner deep in prayer. The guys from the UCP desk couldn't help but notice him and just stood afar quietly themselves observing him and taking notes for their own blog posts! This was the prayer that the little mouse did say:<br />
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<i>"Dear Lord although I may but a little mouse be<br />
You well know that I let little scare me<br />
Apart from those cats of course<br />
And even then I just surrender to your as the divine source<br />
And although the start of this Advent calendar maybe late<br />
It won't affect what will be on any of my guest's Christmas Eve dinner plate<br />
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You know better than I great spirit that in the Universal sense of things we are all one<br />
And so please don't let my Christmas plans be undone<br />
You see the owner of the house was late to open the Advent calendar<br />
But she must not be blamed for such a blunder<br />
As her world I'm told was a bit asunder<br />
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So let's now work together<br />
To make this Christmas the best one ever<br />
Keep the cats at bay<br />
And let all our house guests enjoy their stay<br />
This dear Lord is my Advent calender opening prayer!"</i><br />
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The little mouse thus ended his prayer. And the UCP guys scuttled off to their desks to share it on that blog!<br />
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The little mouse got up from his kneeling position and went off to look for the Purple Elephant. He found the Purple Elephant outdoors clearing soil and planting grass in preparation for his elephant herd that had sent trumpeting signals from place to place until it got to the Purple Elephant this morning via the airwaves outside the house that indeed they would be trekking towards the Meady's Musings Production House this year and in fact given the time it would take for them to get there as a herd they were already on their way!<br />
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And there you had it by the 2nd day of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse two house guests had now confirmed! Well two if you count the herd as one and Fynn the bear as another. But in reality that herd ranged between 40 to 50 odd elephants or so and of every colour you could imagine (if you recall from previous years). They were yellow, brown, blue, grey, white, rainbow mixed and of course many other purple ones too! But you shall hear more about them as the days go because for now that brings Day 2 of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse to a close.<br />
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<b>DAY 3</b><br />
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On Day 3 of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and little mouse the Purple Elephant was still busy at it in the yard planting grass for his relatives to eat when they arrived. It was then he heard a strange sound only to turn around to see one of the monkey's wringing a cat in his hands! The Purple Elephant got so startled at the sight and sound that he jumped all fours up about a half of a metre or so into the air and trumpeted as he fell to the ground. The fall then caused a loud sound no doubt that made the little mouse and the other monkeys in the house run to the doors. When they saw what was going on outside they ducked backed indoors and peeped instead out of windows to see what was about to unfold. Not the little mouse tough...poor thing was so scared he ran to his bedroom and closed all the windows and again went to a corner to in this case nervously pray. With the knowledge that if his end really came he would then just surrender on to the divine this he had learnt well from the UCP guy's blog posts!<br />
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However the monkeys inside the house piled all on top of each other to see what the one monkey outside was about to do as the Purple Elephant glared at him. And this is what happened...<br />
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After the Purple Elephant hit the ground he again trumpeted and then addressed the monkey in a high yet loud shrill!<br />
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"What are you doing monkey>? Is that a cat in your hand I see? If so you should certainly un-wring him! Don't you know that although the cats may not be my friends as they hunt my best friend and co-inhabitant of the house the little mouse. Both of us do not agree that we should subject the cats to such cruelty. No animal should be that cruel to another...even if you cannot live like brothers you should still respect the life in others! Now don't release him as he may try to get at the little mouse but un-wring him and give him to me so I can wrap him in my trunk and take him back to the cats!"<br />
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Strangely the monkey just looked at the Purple Elephant in a puzzled manner twisted his head from side to side a bit and then made a monkey noise un-wrang the cat and put it into the trunk of the Purple Elephant. When he was done with this he scratched one armpit and then the other...made a monkey noise and jumped into a nearby tree for after all he was an orangutan you see!<br />
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At the end of this stint all the monkeys in the window started to make monkey noises and jump up and down and all over each other's heads! But they immediately froze in silence when the Purple Elephant turned their way and with one glare he was on his way to drop the un-wrung cat back to the other cats!<br />
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And folks for day 3 of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse that was that! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-10907133420849076352011-12-07T00:00:00.000-04:002011-12-07T00:04:51.035-04:00Advent Calendar 2011:Day 1 of The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEIBF4D1X40oyw1Fffa_lxW1p_Pg6xYWfEMKyrzMjF8QqhU2Go6g3KWdummtdbpNCIWOeiC5pHo4PMkWVuY9p0kXp8cBaQd7hO0UqObdoSZSgAHqoAv9b51Vojm_6zFbceSK0CB5Z_ZM/s1600/DSCN0740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEIBF4D1X40oyw1Fffa_lxW1p_Pg6xYWfEMKyrzMjF8QqhU2Go6g3KWdummtdbpNCIWOeiC5pHo4PMkWVuY9p0kXp8cBaQd7hO0UqObdoSZSgAHqoAv9b51Vojm_6zFbceSK0CB5Z_ZM/s400/DSCN0740.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<i><b><b>Fynn the Steiff bear who was the first guest to confirm this year!</b></b><br />
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The Purple Elephant and the little mouse had really hoped to start things early this year they really had! But you see it was the owner of the production house that caused everything to go all awry. As you would recall yesterday at the opening of the Advent calendar exactly six days late this year they had to go and bring her into the virtual reality of the blogosphere back into the imaginary house in which they live! To do so they had to cross the lines between virtual and real...cartoon and flesh...driving many a human to the psychiatric chair when they had beheld the glowing cartoony forms of the Purple Elephant and little mouse. But they really had no choice...and now although the Purple Elephant and the little mouse had in their virtual world started planning for the Holidays well in advance in fact as early as November during <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org">nanowrimo</a>! There was no owner present in the production house to write about their adventures and so really all their work just went up in cyberspace without enough HTML to keep it grounded for you readers to see on your computer screen!<br />
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So forgive the Purple Elephant and little mouse this year if they are a bit more scattered and stressed as the Purple Elephant runs about making lots of noise while the little mouse scampers even faster to get things in place for the many house guests that no doubt will again be arriving this year! It really wasn't their fault that things didn't get started earlier it was just that there was simply no writer there! And if anything goes wrong just blame those monkeys! <br />
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So speaking of house guests the Purple Elephant and little mouse have heard the news that has been confirmed early on that the bears will be visiting again this year. In fact a new bear from London will also be arriving this year. They got that news since October really when the owner of the production house was over that way. Now what they understand is that the bear is not really an English bear exactly although he lives in London. In fact he is really German in origin with 'knopf im ohr' translated into English as 'button in ear'. He is indeed a Steiff bear...not the fancy limited edition type nope Fynn lives in his box with a yellow tag pinned down by the button in his ear so he is an unlimited edition bear. Which basically means Fynn has many other Fynn brothers and they sure do get around in their boxes traveling to all parts of the globe! However those Fynn bears seem to be very early birds as yes folks Fynn the Steiff bear was the first confirmed guest to be visiting the Meady's Musings production house this year! He had RSVP-ed to the Purple Elephant since October and had asked that the little mouse try as much as possible to be the one to pick him up at the airport as he had a very special surprise that couldn't wait! <br />
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So this has just been adding to the anxiety of the little mouse as he has been scampering about the house and occasionally going into corners to take perhaps a break and from what his body posture at least looks like...to pray? <br />
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But as we end the story for today on The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant with the little mouse we all have to pray and hope that even though the start is indeed late all will be well that ends well and it will still be a grand holiday! <br />
<iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fx97lWTBahc?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-87267931975373851602011-12-06T00:00:00.000-04:002011-12-06T00:25:21.523-04:00Advent Calendar 2011: The Opening and Happy St. Nicholas Day!We at the Meady's Musings Production House have left many a story untold this year and many a blog post unfinished and unposted! You our readers must realize it really was never our intent! However we were just too taken up with travelling to different lands and putting on real live blog displays on UCP this year but mostly too involved in our day job! Yes as you know we must pay the bills and we have just been putting our shoulder to the wheel all year long this year! <br />
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But we really have just gone and done it now! As we've started our Advent calendar late now too! The Purple Elephant and Little Mouse were just very cross indeed and so they had to make it out of their imaginary house over into our real world to let us know just how they felt! And it wasn't a good sight I will tell you for many a passerby to see a cartoony looking elephant purple at that with a cartoony looking mouse on this back scolding a real life lady on the street! In fact many of the passersby ended up on the psychiatric chair! And for that we at the production house all yell out an 'Oh dear!' But it must have been worth it for here we are to declare the Advent Calendar 2011 open!<br />
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The rules again this year will be that on Meady's Musings we will be telling the story of 'The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant with the little mouse' of course at times we may pause for a little this and that. <br />
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And on UCP-Universal Collective Prayer we will be keeping to the reverence and prayer of the season.<br />
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However there will be days that the two blogs will collide like today as we join to launch the calendar and celebrate St. Nicholas Day! Yes Happy St. Nicholas Day 2011 folks! So although the Advent calendar is declared open late this year it is not that bad as it is on this very special day that celebrates that old saint of giving whom has forever been Americanised as a fat man in a red and white suit!<br />
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As we celebrate the day this year we look back at these times when we asked:<br />
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<a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com/2008/12/do-you-believe-in-santa-claus-saint.html">Do you believe in Santa Claus?</a><br />
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and when we said:<br />
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<a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com/2008/12/advent-calendertue-16-dec-yes-virginia.html">Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus!</a><br />
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And remind you again this year that if you need to learn more about St. Nicholas the <a href="http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/home/">St. Nicholas Center</a> is a pretty good place to start!<br />
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And remind you that we do believe in Santa Claus as we also recall the gift giving that was done for the baby Jesus! <br />
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<iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dZvjPCcHI4g?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-82097535277913281842011-09-26T04:11:00.013-04:002011-09-26T15:58:20.689-04:00Maniac Mondays: Introducing 'The Turtle' and his Yoga Moves!<span style="font-style:italic;">All pictures are copyright of The Meady's Musings Production House 2011.<br /></span><br /><br />We have a new inhabitant at the Meady's Musings Production House and we've been so enthused by him/her (we can't tell but the niece of nepotistic fame over on the UCP desk is the one who brought him to the house and she says he is a she i.e. it's a female of the species but that it may be for us a male he will be and so not a she!) over the last few months that we've begun to observe him so closely that we think it's now madness and so hence the new inhabitant is solely responsible for bringing back the Maniac Mondays blog postings! LOL! <br /><br />The new inhabitant is a red slider turtle seen here. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwKTj_Be5bBcRlZwnBpCbuYbwIhb_0VJhMWE-dFW8qbbs5DxJTfTZ2vcCLwbv6DCnKxBbLrvveSg_fJy790M_H4yq-l5HZdGhUV5PXAwLXPUeMccPZzuIKdERLuj6S2v7V4TN2P7DXeA/s1600/DSCN3202.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwKTj_Be5bBcRlZwnBpCbuYbwIhb_0VJhMWE-dFW8qbbs5DxJTfTZ2vcCLwbv6DCnKxBbLrvveSg_fJy790M_H4yq-l5HZdGhUV5PXAwLXPUeMccPZzuIKdERLuj6S2v7V4TN2P7DXeA/s400/DSCN3202.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656592661249394802" /></a><br /><br />He was living outside the production house for a while now but only a few months ago was he fully adopted into the house as one of the animal inhabitants of the Meady's Musings Production House...along with the Purple Elephant and little mouse themselves and the monkeys, bears and other elephants. Now we have to say we never thought we'd accept a non-mammal into the house this warmly...but indeed we have to admit it is now the case...one of the Meady's Musings Production House's animals is a reptile! OMG! Cold blooded...strange eyes and all! I can tell you it has the little mouse a bit jumpy because he doesn't want the other kind of reptiles around and they will not even be named!<br /><br />But back to the turtle...like the other animals at the house he doesn't have any particular name as humans do and in his case he doesn't even have a colour and size connotation to him like how The Purple Elephant and the little mouse do. Nope he just goes by 'The Turtle'. And sometimes we become so fascinated by his moves in his aquarium we call him 'Our Turtle Love'. Yep for now he lives in an aquarium but we are considering to have The Purple Elephant dig him a pond and fill it with some water soon as he seems to be growing and growing this turtle! <br /><br />However while he continues to in his aquarium live he continues to amuse us with his yoga moves...the ancient yogis already have a pose named after him:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />'Kurmasana (Yoga Turtle Pose) – This pose is marvelous for reducing fat from the hips and belly.'<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />(And we hope he doesn't learn moves from some ninja master mimicking his moves from his aquarium as we don't quite think we'd want a child aged ninja red slider turtle on our hands! Cheesy we know...but then that's pizza...dudes!:P)<br /><br />So here are some of our other pics of him as we admire how he sleeps on a bed of rocks as he basks under his sunlamp and we learn from his yoga moves!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOspqUFH2-LyAfrWYI0nYO5mjobXaVCwODMmQc2qTawEhE0HyZaT9XzDzE9jwWXXmzH-xGe0hotozGphsiykoqwyxW06V4BVjYjmxB0uJO43kBnsjcgVIVsEH4B8HMiIXfZV-dp4ZZSY/s1600/DSCN3322.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOspqUFH2-LyAfrWYI0nYO5mjobXaVCwODMmQc2qTawEhE0HyZaT9XzDzE9jwWXXmzH-xGe0hotozGphsiykoqwyxW06V4BVjYjmxB0uJO43kBnsjcgVIVsEH4B8HMiIXfZV-dp4ZZSY/s400/DSCN3322.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656593424873488370" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh904YJWNAc57xaHCVkLB9InmAH4swE9bBTc9HisIDhf2s9at6pccNPw0V2l5LT8pg0jZe9rz1_Gh2a3_53G8fgBqHtIBgNmeddqWKYjZ-dPV7Vh9bPVGVhGnnhH2lCTnuZsWYkvJ93gw/s1600/DSCN3345.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh904YJWNAc57xaHCVkLB9InmAH4swE9bBTc9HisIDhf2s9at6pccNPw0V2l5LT8pg0jZe9rz1_Gh2a3_53G8fgBqHtIBgNmeddqWKYjZ-dPV7Vh9bPVGVhGnnhH2lCTnuZsWYkvJ93gw/s400/DSCN3345.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656594331994819458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiGfFYBc5GlU016Fp8zga_dpEYT0oDTmlEdjx6Zt44-8agr7IiVs7_Y4S0zN1_UW7FdNSVh0FI6zQV1CONGdtfyToBXNSC6CZWgxOLMUQfERrry21gELzPMGoMzhupnrYRpOdlALa2i8/s1600/DSCN3344.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiGfFYBc5GlU016Fp8zga_dpEYT0oDTmlEdjx6Zt44-8agr7IiVs7_Y4S0zN1_UW7FdNSVh0FI6zQV1CONGdtfyToBXNSC6CZWgxOLMUQfERrry21gELzPMGoMzhupnrYRpOdlALa2i8/s400/DSCN3344.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656594327423312130" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQiGJbNcbBPfDWG6tAa-NrzMFtN9A_JBdMUS9kjaPda-hxureGhx4jmbZ8_Id2XOoJ1eB5oiGXWgd4KO35rYgeksP4ra_MvfmJ1R0OakDW9KbikU2cZvyNL9QXeXF4s9Tn5u6Mx0l_9IA/s1600/DSCN3187.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQiGJbNcbBPfDWG6tAa-NrzMFtN9A_JBdMUS9kjaPda-hxureGhx4jmbZ8_Id2XOoJ1eB5oiGXWgd4KO35rYgeksP4ra_MvfmJ1R0OakDW9KbikU2cZvyNL9QXeXF4s9Tn5u6Mx0l_9IA/s400/DSCN3187.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656594329383210498" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VcyOXtRk_R0xJqTwOGIdqaE_o35uoXldFR2wzXihtzCP32f8-tIhU83xxpqksxnzHKa-CCKh7iwo0t1_iC5HnhpKmne4QDCoZVbOY5deVXwRH2UmITyOeCyvq9Nuprc2u9cOh_Ibp4k/s1600/DSCN3198.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VcyOXtRk_R0xJqTwOGIdqaE_o35uoXldFR2wzXihtzCP32f8-tIhU83xxpqksxnzHKa-CCKh7iwo0t1_iC5HnhpKmne4QDCoZVbOY5deVXwRH2UmITyOeCyvq9Nuprc2u9cOh_Ibp4k/s400/DSCN3198.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656594337064812434" /></a><br /><br />And we now all live 'Happy Together' in the Meady's Musings Production House...as we welcome 'The Turtles'! :)<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OTvhWVTwRnM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-25700174077668227962011-08-18T23:38:00.011-04:002012-04-08T22:40:46.196-04:00Tumultuous Thursdays: Just Where Does All That Energy Go: Are Inanimate Objects Storehouses for the Energy of Animate Beings?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfJexIyc7y_OsTRKmlRlcMhxi_r2kpHYBPKIE3C2Tp5YAV0VdraXGyb4-c2oQNQ_teoUpdONOUac_MylISBvyLX3pzIndtnZHTAlo8c_sDCrtGekwBtTbM8Nl3oT5tzzRtjPsqNKMH1Q/s1600/DSCN1321.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfJexIyc7y_OsTRKmlRlcMhxi_r2kpHYBPKIE3C2Tp5YAV0VdraXGyb4-c2oQNQ_teoUpdONOUac_MylISBvyLX3pzIndtnZHTAlo8c_sDCrtGekwBtTbM8Nl3oT5tzzRtjPsqNKMH1Q/s400/DSCN1321.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642420908707790354" /></a> <br />
<span style="font-style:italic;">Full Moon, Trinidad Feb 2010. Copyright of the Meady's Musings Production House </span> <br />
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We've not blogged in such a long time that we're quite wondering if we've forgotten just how! But we're eager to ask a question here on Tumultuous Thursdays as we jump right back into it hoping that blogging is like riding a bike and you just never forget how! :) So let's get to it and over the weeks we will explain to you where we've been or what we've been up to since we've been away...but now my dear readers of this here blog...on to the question! <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">JUST WHERE OR WHERE DOES ALL THAT ENERGY GO-Are Inanimate Objects Storehouses for the Energy of Animate Beings?</span> <br />
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Now we know what you're immediately thinking...well...no where! As according to the law of conservation of energy matter is neither created nor destroyed and so the energy goes no where it's just circulating all around! But that's not what we mean exactly when we asked the question. What we're wondering about is first of all according to Physics all matter has energy whether it is present in an animate or inanimate being. However according to Metaphysics one might see the types of energy as distinct in an animate object as opposed to an inanimate object...no? I mean what's the difference? <br />
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Well this questioning today on Tumultuous Thursdays began when a friend of the Production House a one Mr. Sharma dropped by and was going on about: <br />
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<span style="font-style:italic;">"can our old house or a car or a school or a tree send out thoughts in the global consciousness field to reach us in altered state of our local consciousness like dream or meditation?"</span> <br />
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Now we had to first of all give Mr. Sharma a cup of tea and a cozy place to sit on our living room sofa, call over some other friends...notify the owner of the Production House and allow the Purple Elephant to trumpet while the little mouse put up another pot of tea before we all got to sitting around the room thinking and talking...and it was a question indeed! <br />
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We postulated that indeed inanimate objects may be storehouses for our energy...and then over time they slowly let it out again...sort of potential energy slowly becoming kinetic energy over time...I dare say at that thought the little mouse got a bit scared and kept staring at the baseball in one corner of the room and the cricket ball on the other....thinking one might just jump out at him! But not a ball in the house moved! <br />
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But surely this must be some of the things that psychokinesis is made up of no? <br />
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Perhaps when us animate objects interact with inanimate objects a bit of our conscious energy stays with them...either stored up to be released again later or reflected right away back at us or into the Universal space time continuum! :) <br />
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But the little mouse got even more scared at the thought of energy being stored up and released later on...he was about to have the Purple Elephant throw out all used items from the house...when we all allayed his fears...with the grandmotherly quote: <br />
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"No harm can come to those who pray!" And the guys from the <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP </a>desk took him away to do just that! <br />
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But then with the little mouse gone we did admit that such stuff was what the creepy horror movies that will remain unnamed are made up of no? But not all energy is bad my readers and there must be good energy too...it just might have been too much of a buzz kill for Hollywood to ever highlight it in film! Although there was Casper the friendly ghost!:) <br />
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But it really is something to think about no? And it's also probably the kind of thing that Feng Shui and Vaastu Shastra considers...the energy present in inanimate objects and it's impact on us animate beings! <br />
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But hey it was just our rambling thoughts today...after all it is a Tumultuous Thursday and things can get a little bumpy! <br />
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So that's it for today folks and we hope to be blogging more again out of the Production House soon...but we dare say we missed sharing those tunes with you guys out there in the blogosphere...so after all the talks were done the Purple Elephant got out his old 45s and we all danced to 'Dream a little dream of me'...after all it was a Tumultous Thursday! :) <br />
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<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ry3G_JpxDco" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <br />
<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LNl7efke1ps" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-52537478926724334242011-02-23T01:09:00.002-04:002015-06-01T09:29:37.432-04:00The Purple Elephant with the Little Mouse Presents Our Guest Blog: 6 Simple Ways to Live a Sustainable Lifestyle!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy0IZq-HC89ZWGflN9emGlRTlDG__iBEvyTXA10gi5i-TmnD0dcNZAbiq6G1pBWOXyJEz-SU0MNHW4BY1xHCO9jFwINUiD7wTMAl77P9fh50-DUiCQQvLsfnoY3ocMBSdJFYBJDlUyRY/s1600/Meady%2527s+Musings+New+Logo+09-Small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 234px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy0IZq-HC89ZWGflN9emGlRTlDG__iBEvyTXA10gi5i-TmnD0dcNZAbiq6G1pBWOXyJEz-SU0MNHW4BY1xHCO9jFwINUiD7wTMAl77P9fh50-DUiCQQvLsfnoY3ocMBSdJFYBJDlUyRY/s400/Meady%2527s+Musings+New+Logo+09-Small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577496296191812290" /></a><br />
Here is the thing…the Purple Elephant with the little mouse hiding behind his ears as usual went to the market to buy some potatoes, corn and ochro (okra) for this soup the owner of the production house was making as all the monkeys had fallen ill with flu. While walking in the market the little mouse squealed and hid perfectly out of sight behind the Purple Elephant’s ear and then he whispered look down there. At that point the Purple Elephant felt a paw crawling up his knee and looked down to see a brown shiny coat dog. It’s just a dog he said to the little mouse…and then the little mouse peeped out from behind his ear again…<br />
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“Ooh...that’s nice…for a second I thought it was a giant rat and you know how rats like to bully us mice and I really wasn’t in the mood for such an altercation!” said the little mouse.<br />
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“Oh India and Thailand…these mouse and rat games…sometimes I think they are more bothersome than cat and mouse ones!" said the Purple Elephant as he scooped up the tiny brown dog with his long purple trunk! It was then he noticed the dog have a pendant around his chain and wait...lo and behold it wasn't a pendant really but a USB drive and the dog kept licking it...sometimes lapping it entirely into his mouth! <br />
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The Purple Elephant whisked the USB drive from the dog and threw it up to the little mouse who immediatley pushed the drive into his notebook to see on it was a blog...this blog from the good people at no other site but...<b>THE DOG ATE MY BLOG </b>(blog no longer exists)! The little mouse read it and felt it would have a home here at the Meady's Musings Production House and so he called up the owner when she gave it a yes well the Purple Elephant waved his giant purple trunk and here it is for you to read! Enjoy it!:)<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">6 Simple Ways to Live a Sustainable Lifestyle</span><br />
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Joy Paley is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog (blog no longer exists) and a writer on the Guide to Online Schools (blog no longer exists).<br />
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These days, everywhere you look someone is giving tips to live a “greener” lifestyle. While it makes sense to keep the earth in mind, a lot of these tips aren’t that easily implemented by people who are on a budget or lack certain skills. Sure, I’d love to install solar panels on my roof or a low-flow plumbing system, but right now what I really need are sustainable tips that help the earth and my pocketbook. So I did some research to bring you these six tips that you can put into practice at home—without expert skills or a lot of money.<br />
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Start a Home Compost</span><br />
Home composts aren’t just for tree huggers and eccentrics anymore. They’re a simple way to considerably green up your home, by reducing the amount of waste you send to the landfill. Instead of putting those food scraps in the garbage, just throw them into a small outdoor bin. Composting takes little effort: Sprinkle some water on your bin of old food, stir it up, and nature will take its course, turning your waste into free yard fertilizer. And, you’ll be saving money by reducing your garbage bill. Here’s a quick guide to getting started. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Collect Rainwater </span><br />
Why waste money paying for water when you can get it for free? Just set a barrel or old garbage bin under your gutters when you’re expecting a rain shower, and you’ll be doing mother nature a favor. Instead of leaving your sprinklers on all throughout the year, you’ll be able to water your yard with the barrels you collect. This water is a lot easier on the earth because unlike tap water, it’s not being diverted away from streams and natural reservoirs to get your house. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Join a CSA<br />
</span>CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, a type of organization that lets the local community support nearby growers who practice sustainable farming. When you join a CSA you’re essentially buying into a farmer’s harvest—helping fund the costs of getting the crop into the ground and tending it. In return, you get a share of their harvest in the form of a weekly produce delivery to your home or a distribution point near you. Use this page to find a list of CSAs in your region.<br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Use DIY Home Cleaners</span><br />
Many home cleaners contain noxious chemicals that are harmful to manufacture and pollute our water supplies when they run down the drain. For most daily cleaning jobs you don’t even need those harsh chemicals; you can actually make cheap, nontoxic solutions from ingredients you already have at home. Vinegar, baking soda, and lemons are some examples. National Geographic has a roundup of the essential DIY household cleaners. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Eat Less Meat</span><br />
Did you know that if you cut out one meal of chicken every week for a year and replaced it with vegetarian food, it would be equivalent to taking half a million cars off the road? Even if you can’t imagine yourself going vegetarian, removing just one meal of meat a week can drastically cut down the greenhouse gases that result from raising livestock. These simple veggie recipes can get you started. <br />
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<span style="font-weight:bold;">Buy a Power Strip</span><br />
Some electronics are real energy suckers—they keep drawing energy from the wall, even whey are turned completely off! Plugging all your electronics into a handy power strip is a simple way to ensure that they’re cut off from the power source and won’t be wasting energy when you’re not using them. It’s a handy way to be frugal and save energy.meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-38267525463022482942011-02-17T23:29:00.003-04:002011-02-21T01:16:33.107-04:00Tumultuous Thursdays: Kundalini Yoga, the Shiv and Shakti and Shiv as Potential Energy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://thisworldnow.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/kundalini-yoga.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 343px; height: 404px;" src="http://thisworldnow.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/kundalini-yoga.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">UCP/Meady's Musings Production does not own the rights for this image.</span><br /><br />A friend came over to the Meady's Musings Production House and the Purple Elephant quickly threw his long purple trunk forward to open the door. The friend entered and said hello and then quickly went over to the guys at the UCP desk and asked them if they were interested in a course in kundalini yoga. It was quite an interesting course but seeing as the owner of the Production House hardly ever pays the guys at the UCP desk a single penny even...no one unfortunately could afford the fees! :( But it got the guys at the UCP desk who are currently writing about this Festival of Shiv 2011 to thinking and they went over to the guys who write the Tumultuous Thursdays blog posts on Meady's Musings and well...this joint blog that is both about religion and metaphysics was born and today appears on both UCP's Festival of Shiv and Meady's Musings' Tumultuous Thursdays! :)<br /><br />Now kundalini yoga and yoga as a whole is often associated with Baba Shiv as he is seen as the mahayogi and in the image at the start of the post you can see where Shiv's iconography itself can be used to describe the elements of Kundalini yoga and as a whole the key body/energy points in yoga. And this website titled <a href="http://www.swamij.com/kundalini-awakening.htm">Kundalini Awakening</a> appears to be a very good research source for anyone wanting to know more about the theories behind kundalini yoga.<br /><br />However the rest of the blog post will delve more into the shiv/shakti relationship that comes out of the study of kundalini yoga and more so the concept that shiv is potential energy and shakti kinetic energy.<br /><br />Let's define the two terms in Physics as defined by <a href="http://thefreedictionary.com">the Free Dictionary</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">POTENTIAL ENERGY:</span> (noun)The energy of a particle or system of particles derived from position, or condition, rather than motion. A raised weight, coiled spring, or charged battery has potential energy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">KINETIC ENERGY:</span>(noun)The energy possessed by a body because of its motion, equal to one half the mass of the body times the square of its speed.<br /><br />Now in Hinduism it is not only seen that Shiv is like potential energy and Shakti like kinetic energy...it is also seen that both Shiv and Shakti are one...so really it is one being that is at one point potential energy and then at another point kinetic energy. <br /><br />So let's see it as if Shiv is sitting there in meditative post and then while in meditation he thinks up Shakti as this moving dancing female being...then after she manifests from his thoughts as dancing kinetic energy before him he eventually is also aroused and starts to dance with her...his potential energy is converted to kinetic energy!<br /><br />Seen in the dance of Shiv and Shakti it would look something like this:<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/drBaFEMt0H4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Seen in the metaphysical sense as it's impact on the creation and/or destruction it would be something like this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.informationontopic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Hubble2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.informationontopic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Hubble2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Think about it is all the potential energy is eventually converted to kinetic energy ...it you have a coil of string and it has this potential energy in it as it is all coiled up but then begins to unravel as its potential energy converts to kinetic energy...what happens when all the string is unraveled? Well you no longer have a ball of string?<br /><br />Hey but this is no doom's day blogpost or anything...after all this is a joint blogpost on Tumultuous Thrusdays and UCP i.e. Universal Collective Prayer...but we are just analysing some of the aspects of Shiv here and realising more so now how he might be seen as the God of destruction and how his cosmic dance of destruction...or the Nataraj dance has become so world famous...as he gets up from his coiled potential energy position and dances uncoiling as kinetic energy flows! But remember that energy is neither created nor destroyed so the kinetic energy again can become potential as another ball of string or the cosmos is reformed....Jai Bholenath! :)<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kv04dFleZfQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-26501639250901868322011-02-05T23:05:00.002-04:002011-02-06T00:34:26.346-04:00Slumbering Saturdays....ahmm...Studious Saturdays: Here We Write!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hastamilan.com/toons/created/aa39b937-7357-4e70-9956-ad94fe02fc3e.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 770px; height: 412px;" src="http://www.hastamilan.com/toons/created/aa39b937-7357-4e70-9956-ad94fe02fc3e.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />OK so today is the day that Slumbering Saturdays was suppose to have become Studious Saturdays...but it didn't go as well as planned and after a hard week of full time work and a late Friday night...well most of Saturday was spent Slumbering and then Erranding...but as we get to the end of what was suppose to be a Studious Saturday...we are filled with little reproach!<br /><br />You see we still plan to fill the last hours of the night with some writing and continue to have a strong visualization for next Saturday...us getting up in the wee hours of the morning...sitting at our writing desk...writing away...a few thousand words even before the sun comes up! :)<br /><br />But for tonight we still did a little bit write...so we will call it a truce and say it is still the launch of Studious Saturdays if you like! <br /><br />Look forward to blogs on other days of the week as normally themed i.e. Maniac Mondays, Tumultuous Thursdays and even Funtastic Fridays if we might!<br /><br />And on our sister blog UCP we shall be launching this year's festival of Shiv! So look for that this Monday! <br /><br />So until then...to all a good night! <br /><br />And hope you all enjoyed the cartoon above and the associated movie clip below! :)<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nH5dt2o_q3Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-33304979510028083232011-01-31T23:26:00.001-04:002011-02-01T00:19:21.784-04:00Maniac Mondays: Announcements and Starting Over!First of all Happy New Year! We know it's late in the announcing but we've just not been up to the blogging until now...but here we are again so there! We also want to apologize for abruptly ending <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-calendar-2010-23456-and-7-dec.html">the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse</a> and not completeing it but it seems we had our own monkeys to deal with! But we plan to complete it for completeness of story sake and leave it up...so if you want to finish reading the stories even though Christmas has past look for it soon! And hey it's never too early to start planning for the next Christmas! :)<br /><br />So here we are about to get into February 2011 already and as time passes by on the wheel as it goes spinning...we are wondering...we thought about making some changes to the blog's format but for now it will probably remiain the same as will <a http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhref="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP</a> our sister blog. Well except for one major thing...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Slumbering Saturdays</span> will now be active more often except it won't be Slumbering Saturdays anymore but will become <span style="font-weight:bold;">Studious Saturdays!</span> As every Saturday we plan to be <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org">nanowrimo</a> like all year round and keep those words to novels yet to be written coming! :)<br /><br />So join us as we contemplate our <span style="font-weight:bold;">HCM-Heart Clutching Moments</span> as we churn out a hopefully most marvelous plot! :)<br /><br /><br />But all this talk about wheels and time flying by makes us recall one of our favourite Journey tunes as seen here! :)<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lftcCDTwmw4" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-52582918852547109692010-12-11T01:20:00.001-04:002010-12-24T15:43:58.694-04:00Advent Calendar 2010: The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse-Days 10 to 11<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2009/06/15/tessa-death-090615.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 220px;" src="http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2009/06/15/tessa-death-090615.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In loving memory of Tessa and taken from this CBC <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/06/15/torontozoo-elephant.html">article</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 10:10 DEC 2010</span><br /><br />As we come to Day 10 of the Advent calendar and the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse we find the animals busy fixing up the house for the arrival of the Purple Elephant's herd. As the Purple Elephant explained again this year although most of us were at the Production House last year and had seen them and heard this explanation already...not all the elephants in the Purple Elephant's herd were purple! Well some were blue...some grey like your typical elephant known to man and some were even red...others brown and yes the elephants explained to us...some were even white! And no not just albinos but actually white for you see it was not just a fable...indeed the legend of the Maharaja's white Indian elephant was true! The Purple Elephant's herd also transcended geographical borders and species and so the herd consisted of Asian elephants as well as African ones and they both learned traits from each other! However the greatest kept secret of the herd that we are about to reveal only on this year's Advent calendar since he did not visit the Production House last year...is this!:<br /><br />One of the members of the Purple Elephant's herd is not even an elephant at all! He is actually a wooly mammoth! Yes indeed! And no your ears aren't playing tricks on ya! The elephant herd found him one day when he had wandered down from Alaska where he had remained frozen but then thawed due to global warming in 2008 and had roamed down to Canada where the elephant herd had gone to the Toronto zoo to visit a relative there. The wooly mammoth then asked since he had learnt from the other elephants that he was the last of his kind...if he could join their herd? The leader of the herd a blue elephant called Akash said then that yes indeed he could join them and the wooly mammoth was very excited and grateful and has been with the herd since then! He was particularly aggrieved when he learnt of the passing of <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/06/15/torontozoo-elephant.html">Tessa </a>at the Toronto zoo the following year! As she was the first elephant he had spoken to when he had gotten to the Toronto zoo! We at the Production House had heard of her passing through the Purple Elephant who had left for Toronto when he heard the news together with the Little Mouse! And we had sent our condolences to all at the zoo but in particular to the relative of the Purple Elephant's herd who lived there.<br /><br />So anyway as the Purple Elephant continued to talk about his relatives and the elephant herd approached all the animals (Purple Elephant included since he talked but also worked)scrubbed and cleaned and casted reinforcements to the Production Houses' foundation. <br /><br />And so Day 10 of the Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse came to an end with the animals scrubbing and cementing well into dusk...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 11:11 DEC 2010</span><br /><br />The elephant herd was almost upon the Production House oh dear me! Loud and large orchestras of animal trumpeting could be heard in the nearby with the accompaniment of heavy 'footsteps' thumping forward! The owner of the Production House looked at bit nervous but the Little Mouse reassured her that the foundations were strong this year....the monkeys had really given their all in that respect and she needn't worry! :) And the noises got closer and closer until finally!...<br /><br />The elephants arrived!<br /><br />A bigger portion of the herd had come to visit the Purple Elephant this year but you could see the owner of the Production House relax as the foundations seem to hold up! In fact after she relaxed a bit more she grabbed one of the monkeys and kissed them on the head! For really it couldn't have been done without the full corporation of the monkeys!<br /><br />But enough of the monkeys everyone wanted to hear about the elephants! There were really in all the different colours, shapes and sizes! The wooly mammoth was indeed with them but was very, very hard to recognise as he stood there next to Akash at the head of the herd...you see they had shaved his fur off because he was coming to the tropics and so my friends the wooly mammoth had succeeded where the Canadian bears had failed! In fact you could see the Canadian bears mumbling and whispering under their breaths about you see how they had wanted to do the same thing and they were stopped by the Winnie the Pooh related bears! But then the Purple Elephant explained to the Canadian bears that it was a different case. You see elephants have non-hairy skins...and so because the wooly mammoth is suppose to be officially extinct he had to adapt significantly to continue to remain alive now that he thawed. So he had to try to be like the other elephants in this case. Also his wooly fur was much thicker and longer originally than their bear coats were! <br /><br />So in the end all were happy...humans, monkeys, bears, elephants and well the little mouse but of course there still remained the matter of the cats...but at least for a while as Day 11 of the Christmas tales of the Purple Elephant and Little Mouse came to an end all of the Production House was at peace for a while as they gathered around and sang along to this john denver song...that they felt suited them all!:)<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KlmjtASMZjc?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KlmjtASMZjc?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-8201724543490903052010-12-09T20:53:00.001-04:002010-12-14T09:02:35.007-04:00Advent Calendar 2010:Maria's Pastelles!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaGA7Bkr0UNLUm5n69ooRHpXUboFhw_jU_k-XmYIpLlqCIBosUuY-tvA5M13fBtxjsy7HWpYdy22R3UyvsjAuSQDB2kmNg5dYc3l88VC4_krgX-KHNmrJkkOSHlOgsPB2ijd7bB8ACDA/s1600/41796_166533776692628_5758493_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaGA7Bkr0UNLUm5n69ooRHpXUboFhw_jU_k-XmYIpLlqCIBosUuY-tvA5M13fBtxjsy7HWpYdy22R3UyvsjAuSQDB2kmNg5dYc3l88VC4_krgX-KHNmrJkkOSHlOgsPB2ijd7bB8ACDA/s400/41796_166533776692628_5758493_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550167992421641218" /></a><em>One of Maria's lovely and delicious pastelles. You can like Maria's Pastelles on Facebook by clicking <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Marias-Pastelles/166533776692628">here</a>.</em><br /><br />As promised during the Advent calendar this year in between <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-calendar-2010-23456-and-7-dec.html">The Christmas Adventures of The Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse</a> we will be breaking for a treat or two or well sometimes three! :) So keeping to our promise today the Purple Elephant minus the little mouse talks about a recent visit to a friend of the Production House...Maria! The visit was to hear all about her lovely and delicious pastelles. Why minus the little mouse? Well...you see...the Purple Elephant had to explain to the little mouse at length about the stigma society continues to have about little mice and their presence near food...in terms of the health of humans etc. But the little mouse argued he thought such a stigma was cleared up by now...he knew Mickey Mouse did little for mice everywhere in this regard but of recently there was Ratatouille and in particular the <a href="http://www.thetaleofdespereauxmovie.com/">Tale of Despereaux</a> would no doubt have done wonders for removing this stigma! But the Purple Elephant said no...despite there being many clean, well behaved, disease free mice like the little mouse humans still didn't like them near their food. And so it was...so it was...and so the Purple Elephant journeyed off on his own to interview Maria about her lovely and delicious pastelles and here is how it all unfolded!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUUplSPMnSYrhVXQeo089L7U70UvyLAYVNBjirutYcGkblhYPD9bjPqzPVH0QH3n8CUloAJRgM6Y6w03mcMEtsi9wbraANMYLAhIjndRQvoLPtb2NLIalEzQq2qynR4ha_1vvGFakoSc/s1600/21558_250192424427_544804427_4363336_2741773_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUUplSPMnSYrhVXQeo089L7U70UvyLAYVNBjirutYcGkblhYPD9bjPqzPVH0QH3n8CUloAJRgM6Y6w03mcMEtsi9wbraANMYLAhIjndRQvoLPtb2NLIalEzQq2qynR4ha_1vvGFakoSc/s400/21558_250192424427_544804427_4363336_2741773_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550168388509399074" /></a><em>The beautiful Maria of pastelles fame! </em><br /><br />The Purple Elephant did his own version of Q&A on Maria and so from here on in we refer to the Purple Elephant as PE and Maria as well Maria! Also writing in brackets () under Maria's answers are things the Purple Elehant jotted in for explanation or just his thoughts:<br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong> So when was the first time you made pastelles?<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong>I've been cooking with my mother and grandmother since I was allowed to use a knife at age 6...pastelle making is a tradition in our family...we made pastelles at our home and my grandmother's home every November and December. My first memory of making pastelles was probably around age 6. When I moved to my own home in 1995 we moved the pastelle making to my home. The entire family would come over and help to make the two household's pastelles for the season. <br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong>And did they come out perfect then or is the product you have today...tried, tested and honed over the years?<br /><strong><br />Maria:</strong> My grandmother's and mother's pastelles were always perfect...the recipe has been handed down and tweaked by myself but I've never had a bad pastelle making experience. <br /><strong><br />PE:</strong> When did you first realise you had something here that was great...like was it you just knew it from your own taste and smell of it...or was it from the response you got from friends and relatives on their tasting it? And when you realised your pastelles were a hit what was your first reaction to this? Or do you remember say the first Christmas when you realised perhaps..."Hmmm...Maria you can really make a mean pastelle girl! :)"<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong>Friends came to our home our first Christmas in 1995 (in our own house i.e. my husband's and I). And I'd have to send pastelles home with them(as they liked them so much). I also took my pastelles to my husband's family in New York in 1995 and they loved them...they all agreed they were the best they had ever had. They shared them with others there...who said the same. I love pastelles...my family love my pastelles...and if I can say so...they are pretty darn good. I love to cook and feeding people makes me happy so I was so happy that people enjoyed the pastelles. We make pastelles maybe twice a year when the supply runs low...not just for Christmas.<br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong> Do you have a secret ingredient?<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong> It wouldn't be secret anymore if I told you! I believe in using Promasa cornmeal, good fresh seasoning, prime meat (the Purple Elephant does not eat meat and so for that there is soya) and a lot of love! (that the Purple Elephant can handle!)<br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong> OK...OK...but then is there one thing that makes your pastelles special...that would make them bear your signature? For example the way you wrap them?<br /><strong><br />Maria:</strong> I've been told by restaurant owners , chefs and family members that my corn is absolutely superb...the texture and flavour is unique and amazing! My husband is the wrapper here...he does a great job of folding them and sealing them.<br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong> What was the thing that finally inspired you to take your pastelle making to the next level i.e. move from making it for family and friends into a made to order business-<strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/meady#!/pages/Marias-Pastelles/166533776692628">Maria's Pastelles</a></strong>?<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong> My dream is to own and operate my own restaurant/diner. I have been told so many times that I should market my best skill...cooking! I decided to get into the business of selling my pastelles because I knew we could make a superior product at a very good price and to start building my experience toward my dream. I wanted to share a good thing with others who don't have the time to make them also. <br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong> And is Maria's Pastelles just pastelles or do you bake other holiday treats for order? Or can you see yourself doing so in the future?<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong> Right now I'm just doing the pastelles but I hope to add to my products in the very near future.<br /><br /><strong>PE:</strong> Do you have any special kinks in making your pastelles...like one particular place where you get your ingredients...or like their must always be this way or that?<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong> It's a very exact process for making them and we never deviate from that. Locally grown pimentos are a necessary ingredient...they make a huge difference. And they must be wrapped in banana leaves...the flavour that comes from the leaf and the moisture it keeps in...very necessary.<br /><strong><br />PE:</strong>And before I leave you Maria...other than pastelle making what makes the Christmas holidays or Advent special for you?<br /><br /><strong>Maria:</strong> Christmas has always been for us a time for family and enjoying each other. My family business never closed for any period of time other than Christmas...it became a time for us to be together and enjoy the holidays...the food, the decorations, the gifts and just being together. We are also Roman Catholic so for us...the celebration of the birth of Jesus is extremely important to us...reminds us of new beginnings and the importance of the family.<br /><br /><br />And then the Purple Elephant thanked Maria for giving him such a detailed Q&A session on the thoughts behind the making of her tasty treats! He explained to her about how sad he was to have had to leave behind the little mouse and she was very empathetic about it but explained about how it was with the regulatory bodies and all of that!<br /><br />The Purple Elephant then tasted a bit of her soya pastelle and trumpeted for they were that good! And they he wished Maria the best of sales for the rest of the year and for many years to come. And again trumpeted as he then proceeded to sing this parang tune by way of trumpets and wished her and her family and friends a Merry Christmas and Bright and Prosperous New Year from all at the Production House but in particular on behalf of the little mouse! <br /><br />If you need to find out how you can order Maria's tasty pastelles go to her <a href="http://www.facebook.com/meady#!/pages/Marias-Pastelles/166533776692628">Facebook page</a> and be sure to order before <strong>Wed 15 Dec 2010 </strong>if you need them for Christmas this year! <br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O8D2lAoIFOU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O8D2lAoIFOU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-60843087218919027732010-12-09T19:08:00.011-04:002010-12-19T20:20:07.295-04:00Advent Calendar 2010: The Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse- Days 8 &9<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gameproducer.net/images/speak_hear_say_no_evil.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://www.gameproducer.net/images/speak_hear_say_no_evil.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Darn...we really need to get those monkeys off our backs! LOL! As much as we promised to keep updating here daily we keep slip sliding away! But today you are indeed in for a special treat as we will have two blog posts! One will cover day 8 and day 9 in terms of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse. And there will be an entirely separate one talking about <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-calendar-2010marias-pastelles.html">a special Trini Christmas treat!:)</a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURES OF THE PURPLE ELEPHANT AND THE LITTLE MOUSE</span><br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 8:8 DEC 2010<br /><br />Now as our story left off on <a href="http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-calendar-2010-23456-and-7-dec.html">Day 7</a> we were telling you about the intention of the animals and humans at the Production House to use Satyagraha on the cats who were after the little mouse...<br /><br />Now the Purple Elephant had pulled down books from the top shelves with his trunk while the little mouse scurried below trying to catch them all. And the owner of the Production House went online pulling down and saving to file relevant documents on Satyagraha. Until some of the books before the animals and humans were as follows :<br /><br />-The Bhagavad Gita<br />-The Holy Ramayan<br />-The Holy Bible: Old and New Testaments<br />-Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet<br />-The Upanishads<br />-The Kalpa Sutras of the Jains<br /><br />And among some of the websites the owner of the Production House had bookmarked were these:<br /><br /> o <a href="http://www.quietspaces.com/satyagraha.html">http://www.quietspaces.com/satyagraha.html</a><br /> o <a href="http://www.satyagraha.org.za/current/">http://www.satyagraha.org.za/current/</a><br /><br />However the animals and humans refrained from using Wikipedia in their research because they got fed up of seeing the image of its founder Jimmy Wales begging for donations and really no one in the house earned cash except for the owner of the Production House and the guy who worked the UCP desk but then he was paid by the owner. So really only one bread winner and so many mouths to feed and they felt it wrong to just go to the site too you know especially when researching such a topic like satyagraha as it made them feel so guilty somehow…and Jimmy Wales looked even cuter in a begging sort of way than the Winnie the Pooh related bears when begging for his pennies so…they refrained.<br /><br />Now as the animals explored Satyagraha and how to use it on the cats they realised it was indeed going to be a lot of work and for sure they would need all the animals in the house to pull together...so they first needed to contrive how to enlist the help and support of the twenty odd monkeys of the house! They knew they'd be unruly and perhaps they'd even have to use Satyagraha on the monkeys first to get them to cooperate let alone use it on the cats!<br /><br />So they called in the monkeys one by one or in pairs if they had coupled monkeys...and asked them if they were willing to cooperate and be part of the Satyagraha on the cats...they explained how the Satyagrahi should behave...and really it all went something like this...as the Purple Elephant and other animals and humans in the room took turns talking to each monkey or pair of monkeys:<br /><br />"As a satyagrahi monkey/s we will expect you to stand for the truth...infact follow your <a href="http://searchwarp.com/swa2800.htm">famous Buddhist monkey friends </a>and say no evil, see no evil and speak no evil! Then monkeys you must commit to the satyagraha such that if you are not happy with the Purple Elephant, the little mouse or any of the animals or humans here whose mission you follow you will bring it to this sangam (confluence/meeting) and it should be honestly and openly addressed here. We must our monkey friends commit to the same cause. We must first be satyagrahi(s) onto ourselves before we try to apply the principles of satyagraha with the cats..." And so the speeches went on and on...till one or two monkeys fell asleep but they quickly pulled themselves out of it and apologised for their nodding off with immediate effect!<br /><br />And stories aside on this Day 8 of our calendar of stories we recall this famous speech given by the apostle and inventor of Satyagraha himself...Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka Gandhi Ji aka the Mahatma or simply the Great One!<br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dcn6OmGF5Rk?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dcn6OmGF5Rk?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 9:9 DEC 2010<br /><br />The speeches and briefing of the monkeys continued for two days such that on Day 9 of the Advent Calendar it was still going on. Then finally the Purple Elephant got up from his desk and said:<br /><br />"Hey guys it's almost been two days enough of these peanuts I need some fresh grass and air! Besides I think I hear steps of an elephant herd on the move and so I suspect some of my elephant relatives must again be visiting us this year!"<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lIbkiyJJ2Gk?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lIbkiyJJ2Gk?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />The little mouse looked a bit scared and the owner of the Production House started to pull a bit on her head of hair...because they both recalled what happened last year to the house when the elephants came! OMG! <br /><br />The Purple Elephant seemed to sense this and gave the little mouse a glaring look and then rushed outside to graze in the cool tropical December fresh air. He always likes it this time of year as it's not cold but not hot...just cool...<br /><br />Whilst the Purple Elephant was out ....the others in the room quickly convened and whispered to themselves that the plan of using satyagraha on the cats would have to be on a hold for a while. Since if the elephants were coming there would be much work to do...much! As last year the house's foundation started to crack when they neared...never mind they stayed outside the house and grazed as the house is only retrofitted enough to allow for one Purple Elephant and not a herd of elephants! But all the same their stampeding still rocked the house...literally! <br /><br />So they quickly hatched a plan of how to:<br /><br />1. Prepare for the arrival of the elephant herd.<br />2. Tell the Purple Elephant what they were up to without hurting his feelings whilst at the same time not being bad satyagrahi(s) themselves...i.e. they could not violate the rule of 'sat' truth!<br /><br />Anyway the little mouse said he'd handle the Purple Elephant's feelings...and so it was planned that for the next two days while the elephant herd was on the move and nearing the Production House everyone would help plaster additional building blocks and erect certain strategic props such that the house would not shake on their arrival!<br /><br />And so it was the ninth day of the Christmas Adventures of the Purple Elephant and the Little Mouse ended...meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758206927734774235.post-63637061081397762962010-12-07T00:02:00.002-04:002010-12-09T19:59:53.707-04:00Advent Calendar 2010: 2,3,4,5,6 and 7 Dec 2010We're sorry for not updating our Advent Calendar on time after unveiling it but we plan to keep it daily from here on in and to make up for the lost days today by doing a post today that has six stories one for each day!<br /><br />As we promised at the unveiling...yes from time to time we will talk about something we like to eat or some extra special treat...but generally inspired by our nanowrimo experience and the fun we had at the Production House last year with all the animals staying over and the three wise men and the birth of a baby boy...this year we will mostly post stories about the Christmas adventures of the Purple Elephant and the little mouse as daily installations on our Advent Calendar 2010! So let's begin our six stories for today-one for today and one for each day we've missed!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"> THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURES OF THE PURPLE ELEPHANT AND THE LITTLE MOUSE!</span><br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 2: 2 DEC 2010 <br /><br />The Purple Elephant was a bit anxious today as he hadn't a clue where the little mouse had disappeared to and he was for some reason worried. You see this Christmas there seems to be quite a proliferation of cats in town...some say they were caught and let loose from another town. So the Purple Elephant has been warning the little mouse not to go out to town alone because in addition to all the people who get scared when they see the little mouse in the market so much so that he has to hide behind the Purple Elephant's big ears well now there are cats! But does the little mouse ever listen to his big purple friend? Well if he does it's less times than more! And so the Purple Elephant had been searching far and wide for the little mouse. He even went in to ask the monkeys who same as last Christmas were watching DVDs in the entertainment room all piled in a hoard of them...twenty odd or so...and guess what DVD they had on? Well no wonder the Purple Elephant's big ears began to flap and his little tail twitch because it was 'Tom and Jerry Special-The Night Before Christmas'! OMG! The Purple Elephant just ran out of there making the whole house shake until he got to the front door and was about to trumpet when he saw the little mouse walking with a bunch of bananas for the monkeys followed by the owner of the Production House with two bags of things from the market in her hands!<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2HLlNRBflbM?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2HLlNRBflbM?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />The Purple Elephant was never happier to see his little friend than then! He didn't scold him as after all he didn't go out alone but with the owner and lady of the house and he couldn't meddle there! But he was so glad to see him, he started to tickle him with his trunk and the little mouse then slid up his trunk and perched where he normally is… behind his ears. <br /><br />Then the Purple Elephant complained about those monkeys for being so riot filled in the house...piled up in there all day watching DVDs...but then the little mouse slid down from his ears down his trunk on to the floor before him and gave a long soliloquy about the spirit of Christmas that made him sound a bit like Linus out of the Charlie Brown Christmas special. The speech went something like this:<br /><br />"My Purple Elephant listen to this message from the little mouse. It is the spirit of Christmas to be giving to all. The monkeys are our friends and part of the animal kingdom. Monkeys will monkeys be and you see as part of the Christmas spirit of giving and sharing we've even gone out to the market to buy them bananas you see. But my purple elephantine friend we've not forgotten you either! For here a bag of peanuts for thee!" the little mouse tossed the peanuts up for the Purple Elephant to catch in his trunk and then he curtsied!<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pn10FF-FQfs?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pn10FF-FQfs?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />And the owner of the Production House applauded and to that the Purple Elephant then trumpeted and the monkeys actually lo and behold came out to see! They apologized for scaring the Purple Elephant by putting 'The Tom and Jerry Christmas Special-The Night Before Christmas' into the DVD player when he came in. And all forgave them for they said monkeys will be monkeys you see!<br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 3: 3 DEC 2010<br /><br />The cats continued to be in town and the Purple Elephant continued to be worry about the little mouse. So much so that he took to dialing up a dog security firm to protect the little mouse. The monkeys couldn't help but be cheeky and although they had promised not to taunt and tease the Purple Elephant again they went and cue up this Tom and Jerry episode where Jerry gets a dog to protect him from Tom if only for a little while! :)<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rb_822KVYxE?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rb_822KVYxE?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />It was then and there that the Purple Elephant said Christmas or not the monkeys needed to earn their keep around the house and so it would from now on be up to them to protect the little mouse...no dog security firm necessary! Also he reminded the monkeys of how they had reformed for Christmas last year and should recall this and try to again be on best behaviour. Additionally as it was quite a hoard of them not all were needed to guard the little mouse and the others should start building extensions to the production house. After all going from last year's expectancy three not so wise men might show up and that lady could very well be back with her male companion to a baby make. But for sure the bears would be coming they had already sent word via e-mail! <br /><br />So ten monkeys were put to work on construction and ten were put to take shifts guarding the little mouse. The remaining odd few were to help with odds and ends around the house like cleaning up after all the monkeys and buying bananas for them. Now monkeys… the Purple Elephant explained to them are said to be very smart among the animals in the animal kingdom and if they were to hone their talents and try not to engage in delinquent ways they could for sure devise brilliant ways to protect the little mouse even if the monkeys could not physically fight off the cats. Also they could develop monitoring and tracking devices to keep up with where the little mouse was. After all monkeys were smarter than the average bear! <br /><br />So the monkeys all lined up with bent heads and listened and amazingly went to work right away obeying the Purple Elephant...well at least for now...<br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 4: 4 DEC 2010<br /><br />As we said yesterday the monkeys were listening to the Purple Elephant but...yep as you might expect the monkeys being monkeys by nature started a set of mayhem as soon as the Purple Elephant had gone to the airport to pick up two bears from the Ashdown Forest in Sussex, England. These bears were distant relatives of the famous Winnie the Pooh and often like Pooh did not know what to do. So the Purple Elephant had a hard time tracking them down in the airport but finally got them on his back and brought them to the Production House. But when the poor Purple Elephant thought he was about to see the new extension completed for the two bears to sleep well... oh bother! What you think? The ten monkeys working on construction for the extension to the house had all gotten into a big gigantic pillow fight with each other! There were down feathers everywhere! And where were the one or two odd monkeys who were there to clean up after all the monkeys? Well oh well...what again do you think? They had felt that there wasn't enough work for them earlier (when all the monkeys were on best behaviour) and so had made some banana splits for themselves and had locked themselves back up in the entertainment room and were looking at this DVD of one of the classic and favourite Christmas movies of all times where a house was being up heaved as well but for other reasons...‘Home Alone’:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KuwK8kVfi1Y?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KuwK8kVfi1Y?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />And having seen that DVD on the Purple Elephant realized it was best he from now on never leave the monkeys home alone!<br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 5:5 DEC 2010<br /><br />Now the Purple Elephant made the monkeys clean up things and get back to work...he even had the other ten who were in charge of guarding the little mouse come and help since the little mouse was safe at home. This way the extensions were eventually completed such that the two bears could have their own room. However it left another dilemma...none of the pillows in the Production House had any down in them now! So the poor Purple Elephant had to set off to get some from the birds. The birds gave them some but not enough for all the pillows and when the Purple Elephant inquired as to why this was the case he was told because the ducks were on strike and so the volume of down being produced was reduced. From there he went to the bees to get some honey for the bears and luckily so far this year they weren't on strike!<br /><br />When the Purple Elephant came back to the house the monkeys again had a dawning of enlightenment and were heads bent low. They came up to the Purple Elephant fidgeting and said that they had heard of the duck strike and figured as much… that the Purple Elephant would not get enough down for all the pillows so that the monkeys would be willing to first of all re-stuff all the pillows...well as much as they could with the down that was got. And they would then forfeit sleeping with pillows since monkeys didn't need them as such anyway as they slept in all sorts of contortionist's positions hanging from a tail here and there!<br /><br />The Purple Elephant was very proud of the monkeys of the house and for their regret, gratitude, seva (service to fellow man or animal as you have it) well he just trumpeted and he and the little mouse made every monkey in the house a banana split while the bears had some honey and said cheerio!<br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 6: 6 DEC 2010<br /><br />The monkeys were really earning their keep now and the house extensions were all complete. And they had moved on to building a crèche outside in case the lady were to show up again this year although really if she did there would be plenty of room inside but then if she came with a donkey he might wish to stay out in the crèche and feed on some hay. Two other bears had also arrived …Canadian Black Bears. They kept complaining about the tropical heat and one started to wonder if they were about to replace the monkeys with mischievous behaviour when they tried to shave all their fur off to beat the heat! The Winnie the Pooh related bears had to stop them and said that they too were from a place not this warm and they weren't complaining or looking to shave off all their fur! Luckily after that talking to between all four bears…good sense prevailed and the Canadian Black Bears began to acclimatize. <br /><br />But as is known the Production House always has some drama or the other and it normally peaks at Christmas time so if it's not one thing it's the other! The monkeys set up to guard the little mouse had invented a contraption that would send off an alarm if the cats had come within a two metres perimeter of the little mouse however it blew up! And sadly two of the monkeys got injured! Now all the animals were very, very sad and as such they all took turns taking care of these little two injured monkeys. It was surprising here to see how caring the Canadian Black Bears turned out as neither left the side of the monkeys and they used their Canadian health care plan to have medicines shipped to administer to the monkeys. <br /><br />Luckily the monkeys were on the mend...<br /><br />ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 7: 7 DEC 2010<br /><br />After the incident with the two monkeys being injured the Purple Elephant, the little mouse, the owner of the Production House and a few of the guys in the Production House who write from the desk of <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com">UCP</a>…Meady's Musings sister blog agreed and hatched a plan that instead of trying to ward off or combat the cats from attacking the little mouse...i.e. fighting violence with violence or counter violence...they'd try out the Gandhian principle of <a href="http://universalcollectiveprayer.blogspot.com/2009/01/satya-graha.html">satyagraha</a> on the cats!<br /><br />So off they went to the library to study and research the principles and then the ten monkeys were called in to see how this satyagraha business could be strategized and implemented in the battle of the cats against the little mouse! <br /><br />Stay tuned for Day 8 of the Advent calendar...tomorrow Wed 8 Dec 2010 when you will find out how this plan of satyagraha fared!meadysmusingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08435841761664537980noreply@blogger.com0