What's Beyond the Reverie?

An excellent poem sent to me by a member of the British Roma Yahoo! Group.

Gypsy romantic mystery,

hiding in the night.

melodic haunted melodies,

and magic witches flight.

Spells and potions, gold and wine

Gypsy women dancing and everything so fine.

Day occurs, the dream is over and Rromani appear to you

The "Gypsy" is gone and the fantasy you long has all but disappeared
from view.

This is not what you desire, to see something you do not wish;

for if you would see the injustice of day, the fantasy can not exist.

Oh how tragic and oh how sad to not be willing to see or truly listen

to the wrong and oh so bad

of the countless deaths,screams and suffering from this fantasy so

very long, this fantasy still presently going on,

this fantasy gone mad.

Oh how tragic and oh how sad, only time and history it seems will reveal

of the children's cries and the media's lies,that you still can not

recognise;

what is fantasy and what is real.

These illusions that steal the truth, of a thousand year old race,

that is just as beautiful and equal to all

and deserves an equal place.

These fantasies and deceiving ways that keeps all humanity blind

from seeing what most Rromani people live each day,a thousand years of

attempted genocide.

Why do you hate us so; you do not even know our name?

And now because they have written it Rromani,the Romanians have found

something else to hate and blame.

No matter where we travel, no matter small group or grand, you think

we are some savage pest,

interfering on "your" land. We tell you where our homeland is, we come

to you to work

but what man do you think will hire us, when they are taught to hate

fear and hide and thus

not even recognise our equal human hands?

You send us to these public schools as children with "special needs"

as though our children do not understand have hearts, good minds or

even bleed.

Bottom of the barrel, garbage of the world, nothing to contribute,

every single man, woman, boy and girl.

How would you feel if you were the one, how would you feel and be,

If out of all the races you were chosen to be Rromani?

To be viewed without the world even knowing that we hold our head up

high,that we know we are not the fantasy

but a humble person of love, peace and equal dignity.

For once, will you open up your hearts and minds to see of the real

truth and history of not the Gypsy fantasy but of the true and

indigenous Rromani.

Tamara Demetro

World's Smallest Cat

I once knew a cat called Gizmo. He was the smallest cat I had ever seen; no bigger than a kitten, though he was quite old when I knew him. He was black, with big green eyes and razor-sharp claws that he seemed to have trouble retracting.

Meet Mr. Peebles, officially the world's smallest cat. I wonder if he is smaller than Gizmo was?

Hurricane Tree

This happened in 2007, but being behind the times, I've only just found out about it. The picture is pretty, and the story almost makes it prettier. In 2007, hurricane Gudrun hit Europe. Forestry machines were driven to a wood in Sweden to clear some of the damage; they took away the fallen trees and cleared things up a bit. Then Jocke Berglund, a Swedish photographer, flew over the area to look at the destruction, and noticed that the pattern carved out of the forest by the trucks' paths and the removal of the felled trees formed the picture of a large tree. The photo taken by Berglund went on to win the Natural History Museum's 'World In Our Hands' prize.

"It's as if the heavens had sent a message to the forest industry reminding them that, in this area, deciduous trees would have withstood the winds much better than pine", commented Berglund. 

Have you seen the Channel Creature?

It was a normal day for Thierry and Sophie, walking along the harbour in Boulogne. Thierry was filming the boats sailing out to sea, when suddenly he caught sight of a large, strange shape that appeared on the horizon. What was it? He zoomed in and saw a huge, dark, rapidly-moving object, which disappeared within seconds. 

Thierry contacted the Association of Maritime Research, a small organisation formed in 1901 to promote awareness of the unusual phenomena that occur in the depths of the oceans and on the sea bed. Their aim is to gather testimonials and question marine scientists in an attempt to scientifically explain the strange goings-on on the sea bed. 

The AMR has now collected a number of testimonials from various areas, all talking about the same gigantic, dark, swift-moving object in the sea. Now they are sending out a call to the general public, asking for witnesses to come forward. 

We are calling for anyone who has caught sight of such a sea monster to contact the AMR via The Channel Creature's Website.

A reward is being offered for evidence leading directly to proof of this creature's existence. 

Banging in the Nails

While we're on a musical theme, have a look at the Tiger Lillies. They're... odd, to say the least. But I like them. 

The Crop Circles Are Talking To Me

Well, I always have said my taste in music was eclectic. This morning, I received my copy of Perfect World by The Rohan Theatre Band. Absolutely genius. Buy it. Now. And listen to the MySpace.

On a totally different note, I also rather like this (which is nothing like Rohan, for the record): 

Mark Thomas wants us all to vote Green

What do you think about that? 

L.O.V.E.

Because we all need girly music sometimes...

Oasis

I do love Amanda Palmer.

The BBC loves us!

Unruly Media's Viral Video Chart got a mention on Webscape's 'Best of the Web' selection. Of course, we knew we were amazing already ;) 

Watch the video here. 

Currently topping the VVC (and rightly so!):

 

Wordle

UFC coming soon!

With Billy Joe Saunders in the ring, the Gypsy community have much to be proud of in sport recently. Despite his recent suspension, the boy has shown a dedication beyond the norm: as my husband pointed out, "the kid needs to be given at least one fight a month, he's so damn determined." Go Caravan Kid, I'd say. 

Ultimate Fighter Championship is coming soon to your screens, via Virgin, whose boss recently lent his support to Brawn's already-successful F1 team. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if they can nab four podium finishes within the first two weeks. I wish them well, even if Massa's disappointed face does break my heart every time I look at it. 

Anyway, take a gander at a bit of what will be happening on Virgin soon: 

Belly-dancing

I almost wish I'd taken up belly-dancing at some stage. I never quite had the guts, and now I don't have the figure. Perhaps I will again though, if I just cut down on the brie and sausage sandwiches...