Fun News

Typically when the news is on I am rather uninterested and tend to only care for the weather at most. Yesterday from watching the news there was mention of the Pope’s butler gaining charges for leaking information on the Catholic Church. Apparently there have been a few problems within the Church such as corruption that got leaked, which lead to quite a bit of embarrassment and eventually the butler being charged.

There is only one thing I have been curious about. If there is a problem or problems, why not be public about it to save future and a likely worse embarrassment? It can be used to possibly gain some help or at least offers of it. On top of this, it will only give sour views of the Catholic Church and give people reason to turn away from Catholicism, even Christianity as a whole. Certainly not what many people wish to happen.

As lovely as it is to talk of the Pope and the Catholic Church, this morning on the news a mention of Justin Bieber possibly gaining charges of battery took me by surprise. It is one of those stories that probably shouldn’t take my interest considering I take little regard for news relating with celebrities. As much as Bieber is both loved and hated, the amusement from the fact that he attacked a photographer is there. As annoying as the photographer apparently was to Bieber, there are probably many hoping for Bieber to get punished by law for what he did to the man he assaulted.

With the Catholic Church and Justin Bieber somehow catching my attention, drama is the winner for grabbing the attention of someone. Now it is likely me going back to wondering when the weather is to be reported once the news is back on.

Gods And Goddesses: Musubi-no-kami

Musubi-no-kami is considered the god of love and marriage who sometimes appears as female and hence seen as a goddess by some. He often takes the shape of a handsome young man when he appears to girls, leaping forth from the cherry tree he lives within. Musubi-no-kami is said to offer the girls he appears to a bough of cherry blossom and promises future love.

Musubi-no-kami is said to assist bringing unification of individuals with the gods and to be the guardian of forestry, agriculture and fishing.

Totem: Buffalo

Buffalos are powerful bovines and their wild counterparts are considered aggressive and ill tempered.  There are several species of buffalo which overall can be found a number of places across the globe.

The buffalo has been referred as the totem of abundance, where it teaches to know if there currently abundance. The buffalo teaches to give gratitude for whatever belonging there is and to give of praise for gifts that are received, but to be especially thankful for whatever abundance there is.

To not be pushing or forceful is a lesson the buffalo focuses on, where it tells to follow the easiest path. One does not need to push or use force, simply to go at one’s own pace.

Common Hearth

Epacris impressa is a shrub known commonly as Common Hearth. It has flowers that grow throughout the year, especially within spring. Birds are attracted to these tubular and light pink flowers. The leaves are small and spear shaped.

The common hearth grows in full sun with well drained and acidic soil. It can grow in sand, loam and clay. There is some adaptability with common hearths but it can be difficult to grow. Transplanting is sadly difficult with this plant.

Grammar

One of the lovely aspects of the internet is the access to news of other countries. TYT is something I keep my eyes upon, and with the above video I cannot help but think of how common it is to come across people with poor grammar and spelling. This is something that can be both amusing and saddening.

The whole point of grammar is to be able to communicate effectively, and when you do not do this there is chance that there will be confusion of what the meaning of the message is. All the more hilarity for the world to see for every poorly structured comment posted.

Looking at the grammar of people, and perhaps it is just me, but it seems people are just lazy. This easily could be the biggest problem when it comes to using proper grammar, even the lack of punctuation can be quite problematic as it can change the meaning of a sentence greatly.

The shown Facebook comment on this post is an example of a comment I saw recently with horrid mistakes within it, and I honestly had to think for a second. Hopefully what this Katherine was trying to state was, “And that’s why you never post off your phone. Hahaha.” Yet if I simply put in the needed proper spelling and punctuation the message becomes, “And that’s why you never do post off. You’re phone. Hahaha.” Lovely.

With the internet, the longer one spends on it the more likely an argument is to be noticed. The argument? “This is the internet, I can use whatever spelling/grammar/punctuation I want.” From what I have seen, people who make this argument tend to forget that others have the right to criticize mistakes, especially if numerous. Butchering a language, especially a first language, shouldn’t be acceptable when the language is understood.

Gods And Goddesses: Izanami

Izanami is the goddess who was the wife of the god Izanagi, while also referred to as Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-kami. Her name means “she who invites”. Izanmai is the goddess of creation and death.

When Izanami and Izanagi decided to marry and to bring upon new generations upon the earth, they created a ritual to celebrate. Their first child was deformed and appeared in a shape like a leech, with this child associated with the deity Hiruko on occasion. This deformity was supposedly caused by Izanami crying out in delight when seeing Izanagi during their marriage ceremony. So the marriage ceremony was attempted again with Izanami keeping quiet, allowing for their next act of love to create the largest islands of Japan. The bubbles which arose in the ocean further allowed smaller islands. Izanagi and Izanami created other deities later on, of the sea, wind, mountains, rivers, trees and rice.

Izanami eventually gave birth to a fire god, Kagutsuchi, causing the death of Izanami. Izanami’s death put forth more deities from Izanagi’s tears and Kagutuchi’s blood. When Izanagi went to the underworld Yomi for Izanami, Izanami refused to return to the world of the living as she had eaten the food of Yomi and could not return.

As Izanagi lit a torch, he saw Izanami’s rotting body, this shocked Izanagi and he tried to leave Yomi. Izanami tried to keep Izanagi in Yomi, but Izanagi announced that he shall divorce with Izanami. Izanami protested by stating that she will take the lives of one thousand each day, Izanagi replied he would give life to one thousand five hundred each day. 

Totem: Finch

Finches are a variety of birds that can be quite easy to recognize and beautiful in appearance. Due to their variety, some types of finches may have differing lessons to teach, but tend to have some similarities in what they teach.

The finch gives help in recognition of the spiritual and physical aspects of all regardless of what it may be. In recognition of the spiritual and physical, new experiences can be gained which the finch also teaches to not be afraid of and even to seek out.

As the finch teaches to not be afraid of new experiences and even to seek it out, the finch is not afraid of teaching to become more active. This extra activity can create an amplification of personal energies, to become even stronger physically and mentally.

Mountain Ash

Eucalytpus regnans is the botanical name of the commonly called Mountain Ash, a tall evergreen tree which grows up to 90m in height and 18m in width. Its trunk is straight and with a small crown, with bark almost white. Its flowers are small, white and clustered, which is rarely seen.

In growth it requires full or partial sun. Mountain ash is a hardy plant that is tolerant of frost and is able to grow in sandy to clay soils. 

Gods And Goddesses: Susanoo

Susanoo, also called Susanowo, is the god of the ocean and storms, born from Izanagi like his siblings Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.

Susanoo has a fierce temper which once caused Amaterasu to hide in a cave of Heaven. This lead to darkness filling the world, with Amaterasu eventually being tricked into coming out. Susanoo was banished to the province of Izumo to help prevent another similar incident to occur again, with Susanoo’s belongings also being taken away.

After this Susanoo had journeys, where he found the sword Kusanagi, and fought and slayed the multiple headed and tailed beast called Yamata no Orochi. Once his adventures had taken place he went to live with his mother Izanami in the underworld.

Totem: Seal

Seals are creatures that can vary in size and are able to deal with both land and sea. On land they can be awkward, but in water they are graceful in movement.

Balancing opposites can be tricky at times and can be chaotic, yet it the seal sees the power of doing so. It may not seem worthwhile when first attempting to do so, yet in the long run will be.

Going from land to sea, the seal sees the joys of going underneath the tops of water to see what is beneath. The seal tells to set aside whatever fears or problems there may be with going into water and to enjoy it.

A part of fun is imagination, the seal teaches how to develop imagination and even focus it. The seal also teaches the power of play, something that is to be enjoyed even if for the self over others.

Spiny-Headed Mat-Rush

The Spiny-Headed Mat-Rush is a plant that can grow 50-100cm in height and 75-90 in width. It is botanically called Lomandra longifolia. It grows in large tussocks and its flowers in clusters. The flowers are small and with a creamy-yellow colour, growing during spring and early summer. Leaves are stiff, flat and with several points at each tip.

Spiny-headed mat-rush has male and female plants, with the male flowers producing pollen while the female flowers are scented and typically larger.

It is a plant that enjoys its full sun and is very hardy, being able to grow also in shade. It has tolerance to frost and drought. It is not fussy of soil, being able to grow in soils both waterlogged and dry

Joyous Brooding

The teenage years can be described as a rollercoaster due to its ups and downs. For some, this stage of life is easier while others certainly more difficult. Being generally negative and brooding is just going to make things more difficult, especially if around those who do not want to deal with it.

One problem for teenagers is dealing with a variety of people at school. It can be annoying as other students are those who they wish to distance themselves from and teachers who are bothersome to deal with. This can be useful in the long run as learning how to deal with a variety of people is gained. Whining about a certain teacher, who is alike to that boss who was painful to deal with, is not going to help.

A girl in particular decided to take up whining about a teacher who she has little success in dealing with during her spare time, rather learning how to deal with this teacher for the time she has him as a teacher. Being negative and simply insulting her own intellect, later to only claim she is more intelligent than the teacher without evidence of it being true, is apparently the best course of action.

Looking at it, being negative about ones intellect not is exactly the best position to take. People generally are going to have some if not extensive knowledge in a particular subject or two, even more. While a person may be knowledgeable in certain subjects, there are many more subjects any person could learn. In this context, people will remain unenlightened about majority of what there is and has been. While this is the case, there is no need to whine about self-stupidity. Some are going to have higher intelligence and others going the opposite direction. Such is life. One way or another, everyone can be considered an idiot.

On the other hand, if a claim is going to be made be prepared to back it up with some sort of evidence. There is always that particular person who is going to ask for a claim to be backed up. As lovely as it can be to make claims, there is going to be that one person who is going to be asking for evidence whenever a claim is made.  Whatever said can also be told to others and easily cause unneeded attention and trouble.

It is a matter of thinking before speaking or acting. Solutions or better ways around a problem tend to exist in some shape of form and typically better to take over complaining about it.

Gods And Goddesses: Chimatano

Chimatano, also called Chimata-no-kami or simply Chimata-no, is the deity of signposts, crossroads, highways and footpaths. Chimatano is said to be responsible for anything that happens at the places he rules over. His symbol is the phallus, which is supposed to be stroked for luck.

Chimatano is said to be born when the god Izanagi took off his trousers to wash himself after returning from the land of the dead known as Yomi.

Totem: Squid

Squids are a variety of species from the oceans depths, with the giant squid being the best known species of squid. The squid is also connected to the octopus.

The squid is the aquatic creature teaching to look into the body languages of others, to ‘read’ others. Looking at the body language of others, it can give information on the person at that current situation such as their mood.

Parental Stupidity

The joyous news often reports despairing stories, it can be easily of any tragic event that may have happened and should be expected. A lovely case of apparent child endangerment by a woman called Patricia Krentcil was reported on the news last night.

I didn’t think much of it as the mug shot of the mother was shown, which only showed a rather unflattering black line around her lower lips. I simply wondered what Patricia was thinking as she took her daughter to a tanning booth when she shouldn’t have in the first place, at least until this morning. Again, it was the news reporting on the same case but with different photos of the same woman. What made it different? A very dark tan that makes that black line seen in the mug shot seem flattering. This made me think no thought was made by Patricia as she went tanning that day.

I sadly cannot help feeling sorry for her child. Good luck for the little girl, as she probably done absolutely nothing wrong. As far as I can tell, it is likely a case of parental stupidity.

And a small congratulations to Patricia in particular, as she has probably brought the world one step closer to people requiring licences to be able to have children.

Mexican Bush Sage

Mexican Bush Sage is a spreading shrub botanically named Salvia leucantha. It typically reaches the height and width of 0.9m. It is a fast growing plant with soft, narrow flowers which is felted beneath and dull green in colour. The flowers will be white or purple and in spikes.

It can be grown in full sun or partial shade, but it is best suited for full sun.  This species needs moist and well-drained soil, but can tolerate some drought. There is also some tolerance to frost.