Mood

Chasing Dragons in Moravia

I have just completed a follow up to Chasing the Shaman that I have called Chasing Dragons in Moravia. It’s already out on Kindle and shortly, the paperback will also be available – it includes photographs. It’s not overlong but I hope it is an interesting account of the last 6 months or so in which I took on the forms of Slavic gods Perun and Veles….. and yes, weird things did happen.   The funny thing is that as I pulled this together from blog posts, notes and so on, it all fell into place like a jigsaw. It was an easy write because I suddenly understood all of the connections. And what could the connections be between Moravian stone circles and Churches, Castles guarding the gates of hell

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In Search of Winchester in Hungary – The Last Kingdom Set

I only started watching The Last Kingdom recently and consumed all 4 series just like that! It’s a brilliant show and set during a fascinating part of English history as the Saxons fought off the Vikings and tried to build what would become England out of a number of smaller countries. The show itself is really well done and quite compelling viewing. Recently, watching some videos of cast members ‘a day in the life of’, I discovered it is filmed largely just outside Budapest. Yes, the lockdown is to blame… Anyway, this weekend, I went to Hungary – to Budapest – for the first time since the borders re-opened in central Europe. On Saturday, we set off on a quest to find the Winchester in Hungary…. We travelled first to

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A Little Bowie in There?

I recently read a review of my 2019 album – The Anatomy of Love. It wasn’t the first time someone mentioned Bowie in a passing reference to my music but I have to say, it is a huge honor to ever be likened in any way at all to David Bowie – Rock God. Here is the review… The Anatomy of Love by G. Michael Vasey is a creative project by the Czech singer-songwriter with an ear for catchy melodies and European influences. Enjoyable tracks such as “Girl On The Phone” and “Free” demonstrate G. Michael Vasey’s unique talent and attention to detail through each song. Explosive guitar riffs and clean production values are prevalent through the entirety of The Anatomy of Love to express emotion and personality all its own. Fans of mod

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I Want Just the News

In my day job, I have to look at the news every day and track it. I’m an analyst and trends and events can have huge impacts on my client’s businesses. So, everyday, I read the news and select a few stories to repost on the news section of our website/portal. A few years ago, finding news was relatively easy. CNN, BBC, Bloomberg – all these outlets published the news. Then, slowly but inexorably, I started to see that news was increasingly becoming opinion – often politically-biased opinion to boot. Around that time, the idea of ‘false news’ started to get talked about increasingly. I now think ‘false news’ is opinion masquerading as news. Of course, once the charge of false news was levelled people become keen to defend their

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The Castle at Dusk

In recent weeks, I find that being outdoors in nature is where I want to be. The sound of bird’s singing, the bats flying around, the trees… I find it all so intoxicatingly beautiful. The feeling it gives me is indescribable and yet, I am greedy for more. My favorite time is dusk and so I will slip out and take the 2km walk around the castle. I even have a favorite tree – a huge conker tree – that I will stop, touch and talk with for a while. I ask my tree some questions and tell it my troubles – whatever they are. Trees are such good listeners! Last night, it was truly magnificent timing as the Sun began to set. The sky was streaked with all colors

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Humanity at its Finest…Not!

Now that at least here in Czechia, the lockdown is coming to an end, I’m feeling a little nostalgic for it to be honest. I am for personal freedom and I think the state has acted in a heavy handed manner – one I never want to see repeated. But that is a different topic. This weekend, my fellow human was out and about and frankly, some of us don’t deserve to be let out at all, ever. Yesterday – it was a Saturday, I was treated to a return of the idiot driver. Within minutes of getting on the road in my car, a motorcyclist overtook me and another car on a dual carriageway by blowing between us. He failed to see or simply ignored my right turn signal

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Common Sense Anyone?

I read today a beautiful poem about Baba Yaga at a website written by a slavic woman living in the USA. Her website had a sub heading – Fighting the Patriarchy at every opportunity….. A quick glance around the site and it was obvious to me at any rate that contrary to fighting the Patriarchy, she was perpetuating it. Her website would have made Joseph Stalin proud and that isn’t Matriarchy – its left wing ideology – a belief system that if approached with a critical and logical viewpoint would immediately identify itself as rabidly patriarchical. None the less – the poem was very good. I watch the world with my peculiar viewpoint. I have remarked on many occasions recently that the way my mind works it puts me at

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The Quality of Humanity

I saw a post on a musicians forum today – it was a meme pointing out how many likes a female selfie got versus a song someone spent hours working on. Another person commented maybe it was the quality of the music? I was scrolling through instagram last night and I noticed how some twenty something had posted a selfie of herself more or less naked. 22k likes. A photographer had posted a beautiful picture of a church. 2 likes. Sums up the modern world really doesn’t it. Artistry and talent – 0 Pointless nude selfie – 6 I wondered what that meant about quality, people and their values. I went back to the musicians forum and posted my thoughts – What does it say about the music? Nothing. It

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Is there meaning in chaos?

Just recently, it seems like everywhere I look, people are trying to give meaning to current events. ‘It’s a plague on humanity, punishment for some collective crime’, we are told by some. It’s a plague sent by God to punish us for some other collective sin’, say others. Frankly, I grow weary of all of this. Did anyone stop and think that perhaps we live in a chaotic system and this is what chaotic looks like? Does there have to be a reason for these events? Does there have to be a super power or deity behind them? And, if there was a deity or intelligence behind these events – what meaning would that have? Surely, to us, it would be chaotic and unknowable? Why do we even ask these

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Life is Fun. Live it.

There are times when people make snide remarks to me like who do you think you are? There are others who think that my interest in certain topics is a reason to make fun of me. Some marvel at the range of things I do – ‘how do you find the time?’ they ask. It has been like that all my life and when I was younger, the unkind words hurt and wounded me. Even now, there are times when I realize that whatever it is inside of me that drives me, it often puts me counter to mass thinking, fashion or ideas. But sometime around 20 or so years ago, something clicked. It was this. It is my life. I have one shot. Whatever is going on around me,

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