A Tale of Magic and Reality

You will forgive me for writing the odd blog about my books as it is probably the only way I have of promoting them. Last August, RoundFire issued my first attempt at a novel – The Last Observer. The book has received mostly great reviews and I am slowly working on a follow up or should it be a ‘before up’ as it is a prequel called the The Lord of the Elements. The Last Observer is a tale of modern magic wrapped up in Quantum Physics and the nature of reality. I believe that we create or co-create our own reality and that a magician trains him/herself to do this extremely efficiently. The story involves a bookworm called Stanley who has very strong and well-honed imaginative faculties. His life

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Sometimes Everything Just Goes Tits Up….

This last few weeks has been pretty interesting. Its not so much that we have a had a run of bad luck but that things just appear to be testing and frustrating us. First off, we have a had a string of unexpected bills. First we got a fine for having no car insurance last year for a few days – it just arrived in the mail saying we notice you had no car insurance and here is your fine, signed the Czech Government. They are correct actually as the car was leased and insurance included and I forgot to get new insurance when the lease ran out (and no one wrote from said insurance company saying would you like to keep your insurance going)… Next, we got a gas

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Is Truth Relative?

The truth. We hear these two little words quite often. Two very important little words they are too. There are all types of truths and many of us spend our lives seeking truth. I once wrote, and indeed use it on my Facebook page, that the older I get the less I think I know about anything. Another way to say this would be that the older I get, the less I am certain of any truth – at least in the absolute sense. I don’t know what I am, nor what my purpose is. I don’t know what the Universe is nor its purpose – if there even is one. If there was, would I comprehend? These are the questions that I ask and the answers I seek in

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Trial by Social Media

There used to be a time when family matters were kept private. Perhaps that wasn’t a healthy attitude – sweeping things under the carpet and keeping it within the family but there were and still are appropriate channels via which people can get assistance and make complaints. Of course, there has always been gossip and gossip newspaper and magazines but by and large, people chose whether they wished to consume this type of frivolous nonsense by actually buying the magazine. Mainstream media, wary of legal action or a slap on the wrist from regulators, also (usually) maintained some element of restraint. Like many things, social media and the internet has changed all of that. Today, we see various ways in which accusations may be made, sides taken and people’s reputations

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People….

You have to wonder sometimes exactly how people think. We own (well the bank does actually but that’s by the by) an apartment in Brno. We will be moving back there in a couple of months. It’s the ground floor flat in a four story building meaning that we have three neighbors above us. Various services are shared between the tenants and accounted for at the end of each year such as common power, water and a cleaning. Really, the building is a microcosm of the world I should think. It’s like a bloody soap opera as well. The people who live at the top of our nice building seem to believe that the common funds are there to pay for their improvements. In the hallway outside of our front

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Taking Responsibility

Last night I saw someone had shared an “Occupy Democrat” post on Facebook. I find it quiet interesting how such political propaganda (from all sides) like this gets air time and even more interesting are the comments. However, these things are lies designed to manipulate, polarize and alienate. I will use the words of someone else to describe what I mean… Lies and Deception are the enemy of the Truth. They are put forward into the minds and hearts of the people of Earth by those who rage against what is. They are spoken, propagated and acted upon by those with a vested interest in keeping the understanding of the Truth from reaching the Consciousness of each individual. Lies and deception are insidious, for once they have been believed and

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Fate, Destiny and Free Will

The Vengeful Fates cackle While spinning their eternal web Objective achieved The plot in place They watch and wait From The Eagle’s Saga – A poem from Weird Tales: Otherworld Poetry by Dr. G. Michael Vasey, 2006 Free will. We all very much like to believe that we have freedom of choice. That we have the power to make the decisions in our lives. Indeed, those decisions are our life as they weave the patterns, twists and turns of our existence. But do we? Hermes, when asked about the nature of ordinary man – that is, of man that had not entered the stream of development that leads to initiation – he said that such a man or woman was merely a ‘procession of fate’. from The Zelator by Mark

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The Biggest Con in History

I have a short temper. I do! I have to work on it at all times. If there is one thing that will invariably get me to blow my top, its the topic of Global warming. I think many who know me also know this. The idea being propagated by well funded propaganda machine is that somehow we are headed to disaster if we keep polluting the planet with CO2 – a greenhouse gas – that has already warmed the planet up and is responsible for any outbreak of bad weather we see and, in a few more years will reach tipping point and we will all fry in a horrible planetary death event…. OK – that last bit is exaggerated but you get my drift. Not only is this

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Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

Since I quit smoking I have gained weight at an alarming rate. A few months ago I decided to try to address it and I quit sugar and cut down heavily on sweets. Since this seemed to have no impact at all, I quit breads and anything wheaty. Still, no impact. I increased my exercise levels a bit with longer and brisker walks….. no impact. I cut out a lot of milk. You guessed it – no impact. I went out and bought an exercise bike and started doing 20 minutes everyday…..yes no weight loss at all…..So after christmas, I cut alcohol. At the same time, I have changed my diet and eat less fats and carbs but focus on proteins. I have eggs for breakfast, a salad at lunch

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The Subtle and The Gross

For all that meets the bodily sense I deem Symbolical, one might alphabet For infant minds: and we in this low world Placed with our backs to bright Reality, That we may learn with young unwounded ken The substance from the shadow. (The Destiny of Nations – Coleridge) I am finding The Zelator by Mark Hedsel a fascinating read. I have, in fact, read it at least twice before and it was one of those books that discovered me many years ago. I recall being in Toronto on a business trip and having a couple of hours to kill. I found a cheap bookstore somewhere in town and there was a pile of books called The Zelator. I picked one up and was sold in an instant. Hedsel discusses at

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