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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I thought it was illegal to import plant material across continents...
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
No. not necessarily! If the seeds are commercially produced, there is no law against it.
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Oh well. I expect some places are more strict than others. For example Australia is very strict on the import of plants and seeds.
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Well so is the UK. There is a detailed and comprehensive register of plants and seeds available on a Government website, detailing those which are permitted to enter, either through commerce or privately; Prohibited plants: some are invasive, some are toxic, some are endangered. Others are gathered from the wild and may be sick or diseased. But those plants which do not fall in any of the above categories, are not prohibited.
@federica there's nobody on the island that sells Kawakawa seeds, however you can purchase packets of seeds from here ...an online company, they ship worldwide...
It's quite a common plant/tree and grows all over the place ...
On my walk today I came across this graffiti on the front of an old boat shed at the beach...
From a distance it looked like writing but as I got closer, it appears to be three people , the person in the middle is either coughing,sneezing or speaking and the two on either side are freaking out aka crona-mania...but I could be wrong...
Perhaps I've got a very vivid imagination and being carried away by it
Out at 6.30am for some legal corona walking exercise with my donated surgical mask. Unfortunately I was unaware that you have to pinch the nose part. Soon my glasses, which I thought might offer extra protection steamed up. It was a bright morning but it seemed like a foggy day. Nearly walked into one person ... so much for social distancing ...
What adventures this corona virus is providing. Tried to buzz my hair, nun style for Buddhas birthday. Did not seem to want any cutting. Ah well.
Hope you are all doing well?
3
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Hair cuts are difficult... my head is starting to look unkempt, am considering emergency adjustments made with my beard trimmer.
Ah yes, one more benefit to being follicly challenged
I hope you're all going ok - I must admit yesterday is the first day I did start to get a little stir crazy. Given it could be some months before we're allowed out, it's a bit of a worry!
It can be @Bunks ..
However I think it's fortunate in a sense, that we humans are creature of habit and have the ability to change our habits to suit our environment ...not saying it will be easy to do, no doubt some will find it hard, whilst others will adapt more readily ...I guess with what is at stake, "life over death", will for many be a strong motivator to go with the flow of the changes to come...
@lobster said:
Out at 6.30am for some legal corona walking exercise with my donated surgical mask. Unfortunately I was unaware that you have to pinch the nose part. Soon my glasses, which I thought might offer extra protection steamed up. It was a bright morning but it seemed like a foggy day. Nearly walked into one person ... so much for social distancing ...
What adventures this corona virus is providing. Tried to buzz my hair, nun style for Buddhas birthday. Did not seem to want any cutting. Ah well.
Hope you are all doing well?
I heard that the UK will be in total lockdown as of Thursday ie, no one (apart for essential workers) to leave their homes...no exercising outside, no going outside full stop, for a period of time...
@lobster said:
Out at 6.30am for some legal corona walking exercise with my donated surgical mask. Unfortunately I was unaware that you have to pinch the nose part. Soon my glasses, which I thought might offer extra protection steamed up. It was a bright morning but it seemed like a foggy day. Nearly walked into one person ... so much for social distancing ...
What adventures this corona virus is providing. Tried to buzz my hair, nun style for Buddhas birthday. Did not seem to want any cutting. Ah well.
Hope you are all doing well?
I heard that the UK will be in total lockdown as of Thursday ie, no one (apart for essential workers) to leave their homes...no exercising outside, no going outside full stop, for a period of time...
Surely people can still go food shopping.....surely!
I heard that the UK will be in total lockdown as of Thursday ie, no one (apart for essential workers) to leave their homes...no exercising outside, no going outside full stop, for a period of time...
Who knows? At the moment people are on the whole following guidelines. I went out with gloves yesterday. I did not like the NHS mask and will be using an alternative.
Was not keen walking on paths behind runners who are breathing out potential carrier droplets. I have to be very careful as I am advocating 'shielding', which is the most extreme form of lockdown.
The important thing for most people in the UK is using our official medical guidelines. I must admit I am finding it a lot of fun.
My family are crisis mode ready. As a Buddhist practitioner my devotion has increased. Death is an olde friend, always welcome. Change is to be expected. The Pureland is always present.
This is Sparta!
Yeah baby! 😷🤪💗🙏🏽🦞
3
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I know there are good reasons for the lockdowns, but I have to say it kind of resembles a giant global communal madness for keeping control of a virus which is going to have to run its course and which will be with us for a long time to come.
We can see the human mind’s tendencies clearly expressed in all the things that are happening. The good thing is the communal spirit which people are feeling. We are all practicing social distancing together.
Have a Happy Easter or as some would say Spring festival, the festival of the Pagan goddess Eostre either way I hope you have/are having a peaceful day
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
All the usual festivities are coronavirussed, there would usually be all kinds of performances of the Matthaus Passion, televised and so on. I saw some recordings being broadcast from events back in 2012, it’s just not the same.
I’m missing my football games, too (soccer to the Americans).
I’m missing my football games, too (soccer to the Americans).
I'm torn....I miss the Aussie Rules but my team are no good so happy not to see them lost most weeks
3
Fosdickin its eye are mirrored far off mountainsAlaska, USAVeteran
Today, Good Friday no less, the Snowshoe Hare who has been coming here for the last 2 years - ever since she was born, essentially - fed herself to a passing Goshawk. I hope she accumulated much merit for this, and that her essence will shortly be reborn to bliss in the Pure Lands. She will be sorely missed, but it was cool to see the Goshawk - they are around here, but we have never actually seen one before.
Thanks @Shoshin
I love Easter. The bunnies that @Fosdick mentions. The death of gods envoy. Churches closed. Chocolate. Chicken and eggs and first nation debates. Buddhists road crossing jokes eg.
Q: Why did Jesus cross the road?
A: To bring back the chicken.
@Fosdick said:
Today, Good Friday no less, the Snowshoe Hare who has been coming here for the last 2 years - ever since she was born, essentially - fed herself to a passing Goshawk. I hope she accumulated much merit for this, and that her essence will shortly be reborn to bliss in the Pure Lands. She will be sorely missed, but it was cool to see the Goshawk - they are around here, but we have never actually seen one before.
Coronavirus or no Coronavirus, life goes on.
Nice photos of the Easter bunny and (Oh my gosh ) the Goshawk who wants the bunny for dinner...It looks bloody cold @Fordick, it makes me shiver just looking at all that snow...
0
Fosdickin its eye are mirrored far off mountainsAlaska, USAVeteran
Mr. Goshawk is actually perched atop the dead rabbit, which is mercifully out of sight in the photo. Bird came back today and finished off yesterday's leftovers.
Weather is a little strange this year - autumn and early winter were incredibly warm, now things are a little colder than normal - but the sun has returned and the heating bill has become more manageable.
When Bunrab first appeared at the house, she was accompanied by a brother. We are now hoping that Bunrab's brother will appear with his begging bowl, if not his robe.
The summer sun is gradually making its way to your part of the world @Fosdick ...
The temperature is starting cool down some here, especially first thing of a morning then again in the evening, but for the most part during the day it's still quite warm and mostly sunny....We are meant to be in for some rainy weather later today...and for those locals on tank water.... hopefully some heavy rain...
It's slowly staring to warm up here. Looks like daytime highs on the positive side of zero C for next week (Yay!). Our backyard (on the north side of the house) still has huge piles of snow.
Well on my walk this morning I came across a giant Easter egg by somebody's letterbox 😱😎
Unfortunately it was made of cardboard😭
However I did pick up a free red capsicum on a roadside stall next to my property....😎
Washed it in soapy dishwashing liquid and water when I got home...
3
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Washed it in soapy dishwashing liquid and water when I got home...
Well that's an odd thing to do...
When a washing machine will do the job more thoroughly...
The pro brexit UK PM BoJo is out of hospital (which is good news) and singing special praise to the two nurses that assisted in his recovery...One's a Kiwi and the other is Portuguese, well that's irony for ya...
@Shoshin said:
The pro brexit UK PM BoJo is out of hospital (which is good news) and singing special praise to the two nurses that assisted in his recovery...One's a Kiwi and the other is Portuguese, well that's irony for ya...
Nice article......good to see NZ suffering from the little brother syndrome just like my fellow Australians......irrelevance does that to you
My son who lives in London just told me, he knew the nurse who BoJo mentioned, he went to uni with her...they both studied at Dunedin university South island...
It's a small world...which reminds me.....
In NZ or outside NZ, it is often the case that when you meet another Kiwi , the chances are you will both have a mutual friend or know the same person eg a friend of a friend...
I remember when a Kiwi friend and I were travelling overland from Oz to the UK back in the early 80s... We were staying in a small town/village in a remote part of northern India, 'Rajasthan state"... where we met some other young Kiwis, we got talking and the topic of where we lived in Oz came up, we mentioned Randwick Sydney...and one of them said "Ah I helped my sister move into a flat in Randwick a couple of months ago" we asked where, and they told us the street and the number,..this blew us away, the person's sister had moved into the flat across the hall from our old flat and we had met them when they were moving in...
Then another time in another remote place in Asia (I think still in India again) we met more Kiwis, but this time it turned out, one of them went to school with my friend's brother...Bloody Kiwis, just like their Aussie cousins are everywhere... ...
So true @Shoshin - when I lived in Auckland with my ex it was rare to meet another person of similar age to her that she didn’t share some kind of mutual friend or acquaintance
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
@Bunks said:
So true @Shoshin - when I lived in Auckland with my ex it was rare to meet another person of similar age to her that she didn’t share some kind of mutual friend or acquaintance
It's funny though, whenever I go to Italy, and someone discovers I live in the UK, they invariably comment that they came to the UK once and met 'someone or other'... do I know them?
Yes, because of course, the UK only has 10 inhabitants, including me...
This morning it was quite cold stormy, strong winds and rain, the sea was rough...Since the lockdown began the government has been warning people not to put rescue service volunteers at risk by going out on boats...Sadly some people have been ignoring this and going out on boats sailing around the islands...
Like this crazy ....Putting themselves and others at risk....I avoided going right up to the lookout spot for fear of being blown off the edge...the wind was very strong....
Easter always proves, life goes on. Now the valley is full of these mini sheep. Why can’t they stay so young and playful?
4
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited April 2020
I have just discovered that a behavioural pattern I manifest actually has a name. "Non-Conditional Pseudobulbar Effect."
Damn, it's annoying, but apparently it's psychologically designed to keep me sane...
It's a reflex triggered by a stimulus which your brain responds to with an apparently irrational or inappropriate response. But this response shelters your brain and psyche from the "assault" the original stimulus is "attacking" you with.
So for example, laughter, when the actual response should be anger, is a way of the subconscious protecting a person from a confrontational or explosive situation, where to actually manifest anger would be a threat or danger to them.
Most Pseudobulbar Effects are as a result of a psychological/psychiatric disorders. Non-Conditional Pseudobulbar Effect has no medical basis, and is purely a subconscious reflex, from someone who has probably learnt to hide or disguise their emotions as a self-preservational method of behaviour.
We have a lot to gain from laughing! Laughter has the following effects on our overall mental health:
Releases endorphins: Natural chemicals in the body, endorphins promote a sense of well-being and relieve stress.
Decreases anger: When we’re in a difficult situation or in a disagreement with another person, seeing the humor in it can help. Specifically, laughter defuses anger, conflict, and self-blame.
Eases distressing emotions: Laughter counteracts feelings of anxiety and sadness. Moreover, it helps us release other intense emotions, such as grief.
Relaxes and revitalizes: Along with reducing stress, laughter also increases our energy levels. Therefore, we can stay focused more easily.
Changes your perspective: Laughter helps us access another point of view. Moreover, we begin to see something in a new, less scary way when we can laugh about it. In addition, humor helps us take things less seriously.
Reduces stress: When we laugh and smile, cortisol levels decrease. Cortisol is also known as the stress hormone, so lower levels are better for our mental health. Therefore, laughter increases our stress resilience.
Brings more joy and fun into our life: This one is self-explanatory!
My ex told me she was in Bali years ago and was chatting to someone from another part of the world. When she mentioned she was from NZ the person said that they knew so and so from Auckland. Sure enough, she knew her.....
As my old cockney mate used to say “it’s a small world but you wouldn’t want to paint it”
Well here in Aotearoa (NZ) we will be staying on level four lockdown restrictions for another week, and going to level three next Monday night April 27th at 11.59pm..
@Bunks said:
What’s the difference @Shoshin ? We’ve stayed on Level 3 and so far so good. Virtually no community transmissions in Victoria the last few days.
Comments
send me some seeds, @Shoshin - !!
I thought it was illegal to import plant material across continents...
No. not necessarily! If the seeds are commercially produced, there is no law against it.
Oh well. I expect some places are more strict than others. For example Australia is very strict on the import of plants and seeds.
Well so is the UK. There is a detailed and comprehensive register of plants and seeds available on a Government website, detailing those which are permitted to enter, either through commerce or privately; Prohibited plants: some are invasive, some are toxic, some are endangered. Others are gathered from the wild and may be sick or diseased. But those plants which do not fall in any of the above categories, are not prohibited.
@federica there's nobody on the island that sells Kawakawa seeds, however you can purchase packets of seeds from here ...an online company, they ship worldwide...
It's quite a common plant/tree and grows all over the place ...
Kawakawa
On my walk today I came across this graffiti on the front of an old boat shed at the beach...
From a distance it looked like writing but as I got closer, it appears to be three people , the person in the middle is either coughing,sneezing or speaking and the two on either side are freaking out aka crona-mania...but I could be wrong...
Perhaps I've got a very vivid imagination and being carried away by it
What do you reckon it is/says ?
Sick
Same thing
Out at 6.30am for some legal corona walking exercise with my donated surgical mask. Unfortunately I was unaware that you have to pinch the nose part. Soon my glasses, which I thought might offer extra protection steamed up. It was a bright morning but it seemed like a foggy day. Nearly walked into one person ... so much for social distancing ...
What adventures this corona virus is providing. Tried to buzz my hair, nun style for Buddhas birthday. Did not seem to want any cutting. Ah well.
Hope you are all doing well?
Hair cuts are difficult... my head is starting to look unkempt, am considering emergency adjustments made with my beard trimmer.
Ah yes, one more benefit to being follicly challenged
I hope you're all going ok - I must admit yesterday is the first day I did start to get a little stir crazy. Given it could be some months before we're allowed out, it's a bit of a worry!
It can be @Bunks ..
However I think it's fortunate in a sense, that we humans are creature of habit and have the ability to change our habits to suit our environment ...not saying it will be easy to do, no doubt some will find it hard, whilst others will adapt more readily ...I guess with what is at stake, "life over death", will for many be a strong motivator to go with the flow of the changes to come...
I heard that the UK will be in total lockdown as of Thursday ie, no one (apart for essential workers) to leave their homes...no exercising outside, no going outside full stop, for a period of time...
Surely people can still go food shopping.....surely!
Yes, I just had a look. According to UK media it's the same as Australia as far as people leaving home goes. Can only do for one of four reasons:
Yes @Bunks ...I think it's more so for those who are more vulnerable
Who knows? At the moment people are on the whole following guidelines. I went out with gloves yesterday. I did not like the NHS mask and will be using an alternative.
Was not keen walking on paths behind runners who are breathing out potential carrier droplets. I have to be very careful as I am advocating 'shielding', which is the most extreme form of lockdown.
The important thing for most people in the UK is using our official medical guidelines. I must admit I am finding it a lot of fun.
My family are crisis mode ready. As a Buddhist practitioner my devotion has increased. Death is an olde friend, always welcome. Change is to be expected. The Pureland is always present.
This is Sparta!
Yeah baby! 😷🤪💗🙏🏽🦞
I know there are good reasons for the lockdowns, but I have to say it kind of resembles a giant global communal madness for keeping control of a virus which is going to have to run its course and which will be with us for a long time to come.
We can see the human mind’s tendencies clearly expressed in all the things that are happening. The good thing is the communal spirit which people are feeling. We are all practicing social distancing together.
I passed this graffitied container on my walk before lunch
..I think I post a photo of this a while ago...
That’s awesome! Hurray for colourful walls!
Have a Happy Easter or as some would say Spring festival, the festival of the Pagan goddess Eostre either way I hope you have/are having a peaceful day
All the usual festivities are coronavirussed, there would usually be all kinds of performances of the Matthaus Passion, televised and so on. I saw some recordings being broadcast from events back in 2012, it’s just not the same.
I’m missing my football games, too (soccer to the Americans).
I'm torn....I miss the Aussie Rules but my team are no good so happy not to see them lost most weeks
Today, Good Friday no less, the Snowshoe Hare who has been coming here for the last 2 years - ever since she was born, essentially - fed herself to a passing Goshawk. I hope she accumulated much merit for this, and that her essence will shortly be reborn to bliss in the Pure Lands. She will be sorely missed, but it was cool to see the Goshawk - they are around here, but we have never actually seen one before.
Coronavirus or no Coronavirus, life goes on.
Thanks @Shoshin
I love Easter. The bunnies that @Fosdick mentions. The death of gods envoy. Churches closed. Chocolate. Chicken and eggs and first nation debates. Buddhists road crossing jokes eg.
Q: Why did Jesus cross the road?
A: To bring back the chicken.
meanwhile ... Be safe. Find your piece of Peace.
Nice photos of the Easter bunny and (Oh my gosh ) the Goshawk who wants the bunny for dinner...It looks bloody cold @Fordick, it makes me shiver just looking at all that snow...
Mr. Goshawk is actually perched atop the dead rabbit, which is mercifully out of sight in the photo. Bird came back today and finished off yesterday's leftovers.
Weather is a little strange this year - autumn and early winter were incredibly warm, now things are a little colder than normal - but the sun has returned and the heating bill has become more manageable.
When Bunrab first appeared at the house, she was accompanied by a brother. We are now hoping that Bunrab's brother will appear with his begging bowl, if not his robe.
The summer sun is gradually making its way to your part of the world @Fosdick ...
The temperature is starting cool down some here, especially first thing of a morning then again in the evening, but for the most part during the day it's still quite warm and mostly sunny....We are meant to be in for some rainy weather later today...and for those locals on tank water.... hopefully some heavy rain...
It's slowly staring to warm up here. Looks like daytime highs on the positive side of zero C for next week (Yay!). Our backyard (on the north side of the house) still has huge piles of snow.
Well on my walk this morning I came across a giant Easter egg by somebody's letterbox 😱😎
Unfortunately it was made of cardboard😭
However I did pick up a free red capsicum on a roadside stall next to my property....😎
Washed it in soapy dishwashing liquid and water when I got home...
Well that's an odd thing to do...
When a washing machine will do the job more thoroughly...
I am the washing machine
The pro brexit UK PM BoJo is out of hospital (which is good news) and singing special praise to the two nurses that assisted in his recovery...One's a Kiwi and the other is Portuguese, well that's irony for ya...
Nice article......good to see NZ suffering from the little brother syndrome just like my fellow Australians......irrelevance does that to you
My son who lives in London just told me, he knew the nurse who BoJo mentioned, he went to uni with her...they both studied at Dunedin university South island...
It's a small world...which reminds me.....
In NZ or outside NZ, it is often the case that when you meet another Kiwi , the chances are you will both have a mutual friend or know the same person eg a friend of a friend...
I remember when a Kiwi friend and I were travelling overland from Oz to the UK back in the early 80s... We were staying in a small town/village in a remote part of northern India, 'Rajasthan state"... where we met some other young Kiwis, we got talking and the topic of where we lived in Oz came up, we mentioned Randwick Sydney...and one of them said "Ah I helped my sister move into a flat in Randwick a couple of months ago" we asked where, and they told us the street and the number,..this blew us away, the person's sister had moved into the flat across the hall from our old flat and we had met them when they were moving in...
Then another time in another remote place in Asia (I think still in India again) we met more Kiwis, but this time it turned out, one of them went to school with my friend's brother...Bloody Kiwis, just like their Aussie cousins are everywhere... ...
I don't know about six degrees of separations...it's more like two degrees for Kiwis...
It a small world after all 🐪🐍
Hmm...Who do you know who I know....
I guess dependent origination has something to do with it...we are all connected in some way... 👱🏻♀️👩🏼👩🏽👩🏾👩🏿
So true @Shoshin - when I lived in Auckland with my ex it was rare to meet another person of similar age to her that she didn’t share some kind of mutual friend or acquaintance
It's funny though, whenever I go to Italy, and someone discovers I live in the UK, they invariably comment that they came to the UK once and met 'someone or other'... do I know them?
Yes, because of course, the UK only has 10 inhabitants, including me...
This morning it was quite cold stormy, strong winds and rain, the sea was rough...Since the lockdown began the government has been warning people not to put rescue service volunteers at risk by going out on boats...Sadly some people have been ignoring this and going out on boats sailing around the islands...
Like this crazy ....Putting themselves and others at risk....I avoided going right up to the lookout spot for fear of being blown off the edge...the wind was very strong....
The pixies in the garden have made a hat out of a covid-19 mask for the Buddha ... They iz so naughty ...
The skies don’t care about coronavirus, they are still playing in their magnificence with great shafts of light...
Easter always proves, life goes on. Now the valley is full of these mini sheep. Why can’t they stay so young and playful?
I have just discovered that a behavioural pattern I manifest actually has a name. "Non-Conditional Pseudobulbar Effect."
Damn, it's annoying, but apparently it's psychologically designed to keep me sane...
It's a reflex triggered by a stimulus which your brain responds to with an apparently irrational or inappropriate response. But this response shelters your brain and psyche from the "assault" the original stimulus is "attacking" you with.
So for example, laughter, when the actual response should be anger, is a way of the subconscious protecting a person from a confrontational or explosive situation, where to actually manifest anger would be a threat or danger to them.
Most Pseudobulbar Effects are as a result of a psychological/psychiatric disorders.
Non-Conditional Pseudobulbar Effect has no medical basis, and is purely a subconscious reflex, from someone who has probably learnt to hide or disguise their emotions as a self-preservational method of behaviour.
Interesting.
"An' that's awl I haveta say 'bout that."
https://tenor.com/view/forrest-gump-thats-all-ihave-to-say-tom-hanks-gif-13962423
The Mental Health Benefits of Laughter
...and that's no joke
I tend to laugh a lot of things off...I put this down to the Dharma...
This corona virus is worse than I thought 🤭
My ex told me she was in Bali years ago and was chatting to someone from another part of the world. When she mentioned she was from NZ the person said that they knew so and so from Auckland. Sure enough, she knew her.....
As my old cockney mate used to say “it’s a small world but you wouldn’t want to paint it”
Well here in Aotearoa (NZ) we will be staying on level four lockdown restrictions for another week, and going to level three next Monday night April 27th at 11.59pm..
I'm happy with that...
What’s the difference @Shoshin ? We’ve stayed on Level 3 and so far so good. Virtually no community transmissions in Victoria the last few days.
What’s the difference
I guess in Oz it differs from state to state...