Another Island addition.........

He we are, the weather is getting better, the trees are shooting, maybe summer is really on the way now............

This entry is only short, I promise!!!

Here we are sitting on our wonderful island in the sun. We can listen to our 8 records, we can read our book. Maybe we want to indulge with our luxury......

But I am all heart, our Island, by chance, and only just discovered, has a cinema!!!! It has a popcorn machine, a hot dog maker and a huge set of drink fountains. If this isn't enough there is a pick and mix aisle and a varity of other snacks!!!

All that is missing right now are some films to show, shame that!!

So i thought about the issue and made a decision.........................

Now it was suggested we only had 1 film, but what fun is that, then it was suggested that the film choice should be unlimited, now that is pointless!!!

I think we should have a limit, the question was "how many?!"

I think we should choose 8 films to have in the cinema to watch whenever. The only stipulation I make is that for each film, like the records, a reason is given for each choice. The other stipulation is that having chosen the 8 films, we then just choose 1 of these and why.

I shall choose my films over the next few days, I look forward to everyone elses choice as well......

A thought to make us think

I was thinking earlier about what it really means to die and is this actually the end??

Now I know this is a morbid thought, and I know that potentially this is a subject that we really don't want to face or think about. However I have been thinking about it, especially today my late Grandmothers birthday, and I wonder is it an end or merely the start of journey, or the continuation of a longer one..........

The actual act of dying is really only as long as 1 breath. We breathe in, we breathe out, we breathe in.....we don't breathe out and we are dead. So despite the suffering up to the end, be it swift or a long drawn out illness, the actual death of the physical presence part is only 1 breath long.

The question is whether or not this is the actual end and why we fear it so much.

Fear is born from our lack of knowledge. We do not know what "the end" actually is and despite near death experiences, as no dead person has come back to life recently, the knowledge of what actually happens has bred fear of the situation.

There is a school of thought that would suggest that as the body dies, so does the soul and that is the end. The final closing of the book and final. There is no "afterlife", no heaven, hell or hinterland to be passed through. Death is the end of that persons life story. A very simple outlook. A beginning at birth, a middle as we live and an end when we die.

The only fear here is the actual act of dying and how that result is come by. However there cannot be a fear of the unknown as there is no unknown.

The other school of thought is a little more involved.

When a body dies this is the end of a physical presence on earth, the soul ascends (or descends) to heaven (or hell) and carries on through all eternity in paradise. What more could we ask for?..

But what is the next stage, if there is one, really. It could be felt that having spent a number of years on earth paradise now gives the chance to sit on the beach for ever enjoying all around. Not for a week, or a month but for all eternity. So would this paradise actually become very far from it??

When we die our fear is of the unknown and also for the people we leave behind, not only how will they cope with their loss but also our regret at losing them, or do we lose them.......

Often it is felt that EVERYBODY has a "guardian angel" asigned to them. Some say they see their angels and that angels always help them when asked or needed. Others suggest that an angel will leave a sign of their prescence. Sometimes a white feather appears from nowhere, sometimes a missing item suddenly reappears with no rhyme or reason. Often a guardian angel can be joined or can bring a visitor to contact us.

As we don't know we are always asking for a sign from the dead, or our angels. If a person believes in the afterlife then occurences that we may miss otherwise suddenly become these signs. A strange smell, an odd incident or meeting. All of these (and more) are possible contacts.

So why do we fear death so much? If actually all it sees is the demise of our bodies but not our soul then what is there to fear? In fact should we rejoice. We are ridding ourelves of the burden of a body that all too often we don't like anyway!!! Everyone has bits of their body they don't like. I dislike the way my weight yo-yo's and I am not to keen on what I see as my pot belly. Some people dislike their stick legs, hair on their back or mishaped toes. Whatever, is death not the solution? No more body issues!!!

I would say I am on the fence. I am normally, but for this I am not sure, or I don't want to be sure.

I have thought about this issue, and I have many views. I guess my current belief is based on what I want (or need) to believe.

I would say I come across white feathers at odd places and times. I know it could be said a bird was nearby and dropped a feather, but I choose not to believe this. I would say that I experience odd occurences, sights or smells at strange times. I appreciate that they probably could be explained, but I don't wan't them to.

And it is this that gives comfort to the living, I believe in all sorts of strange theories.

I think we do have angels, or guides as I call them, helping us through life. I believe that after death our bodies die and then we are offered some choices - do we want to be reborn, do we need to be an animal now, would we like to be a people guide, would we like to stay in the hinterland as a form of ghost. If we do would we like to be mischievious or just good. Do we need to stay near our families or should we just visit them and do other things.

This comfort helps us the living, it may help us be more prepared for death, and it may allow us to accept loosing those we love, however short this period may last for.

Does it remove the fear of death? Probably not, although it may shift the fear from the unknown to merely one of regret over what we cannot share as a living being.

I accept that this is a strange blog entry and morbid with it. I am not contemplating an end to life (do not worry) I guess my odd mental state right now has allowed me to think of things that I may not have even thought of a few years ago. My qustion now is what do others think? Do you have a theory to offer alongside mine.

10th April, It took a few hours...

I apologise it took a lot of hours, but here we go, my answers.............

Choosing friends is hard, i know lots of people, but who do I class as true friends. Who can I ring or can take calls from at 3am and not question or be questioned as to why. This is a true friend, we may have more than 5 but I believe it will be below 10. Either way choosing these 5 has been hard, but I know it is "from the heart"

5 Friends -

1) NxxI Xlvxxxx - This person has been "with me" since we were about 6 years old, we went to the same school and often shared the same friends. For a while (12-15) we lost touch because of schools, however, and in a bizarre sliding doors happening, when I became friends with her then boyfriend, he said "meet my girlfriend" and guess what it was my friend and mentor!!
I am lucky we may not talk everyday and we may only see each other even less frequently. But we converse online all the time and she remains my friend, my mentor and in many cases my rock. That is a true friend.

2) Sxxox Wxxtx - I met this person when we were 15. He reintroduced me to Nxxx, we have been best friends ever since. I was his best man, he is my middle childs godfather. We speak nearly daily and share a lot between us. In business we have worked together and I have been his account manager. Our paths are woven together. Even his wife I introduced as my marketing "bird"!!!! The honest friendship goes between us. That is a true friend

3) Txxi Xuxxh - I have known Txxi since we worked together in 2000. We have been through a lot together, we have been ill, we have had ups and downs, but still I know most things in her life and she knows most in mine. I know her partner and children as well as she knows mine. I also realise that there is a lot of business and day to day stuff I could not do without her. I value her spin on things and I value being told to "be real" by her. As we talk almost hourly at the moment I know I can totally trust and rely on her. That is a true friend.

4) Ilxxx Txtxx - I have known Ilxxx since we were around 11. We went through barmitvah together and taught each other. As we grew up we lived at each others houses, shared girlfriends, cigarettes, drink and nights out. We were so inseperable our parents knew if we weren't at once house we were at the other. As we have reached adulthood work has meant we do not see each other as we should. However when we do it is as if no time has passed. I still view him as a brother and his family as mine. That is a true friend.

5) Jxxix Gxexx - I met this person through my circle of friends including choice 1 and 2. For many years he used to sleep outside my mother's flat if he couldn't get in at home. Even now she is known to check the lobby for him. I met my wife when we were 18, this person was there, when I was too shy to ask her out, he did it for me in his usual abrupt style. Always and to everyone he is known with his surname and first name, and no one actually knows his age. My middle child thinks he lives in Moo-Moo land and I am not going to shatter this illusion!!!
Jxxix Gxexx has told me when I am being stupid and told me to get on with things. His singer wife has an amazing voice and I am honoured to class her as well as him as my friend. One thing is sure though, and irresepective of the Marmite and Cheese sandwiches my wife makes him, I can rely on this person as I can be relied on by him. That is a true friend.

Picking 5 websites is also difficult. We don't need to buy and sell so that rules out eBay and we have chosen our songs so that negates downloading. So what are the 5 sites -

1) www.poeticexpressions.co.uk - A site full of poems, sometimes we all need a chance to step off the roundabout. I know that on the Island this is not an issue as such, but, the site is great and the poetry is wonderful.
2) www.dontsweat.com - Richard and Kris Carlsson now how to put things into perspective. Richards untimely death was a shock, but the ideaology lives on. In the latest book "an hour to live, an hour to love" an exploration takes place of what if. It is also a phenominal love story. It is this never ending hope from the site that will alsways be there on the Island.
3) www.firework-review.org.uk - For the sheer blowing things up. I own Ultimate Fireworks and looking at this site just shows me what we can do. I might not have fireworks with me on the Island but this is just fun!!
4) www.youtube.com - For the pure fun of what is available!!
5) www.bbc.co.uk - A site just to keep up with what is going on.......

Now the hard part, who are the 6 vists from..........

1) My immediate family because despite all else I will miss my wife and children so much.
2) Nxxx Axxxxx - She is a special friend, but seeing her for a sanity check is a necessity.
3) My Father - I know he is dead, but the Island is magical. I often fantasise about having a few hours extra with my Dad. I don't know what we would talk about, but maybe we would just sit on the beach, fish a little or fly a kite together. I thought I knew best when we didn't talk, in latter years I saw sense. I miss our time together and our laughs and jokes about alsorts. I would like to bring this to the Island
4) My Grandmother - She is also dead and died only weeks after my father. We spent a lot of time together and went to Israel a lot together. We shared a lot, although telling the guards in Jerusalem we had a bomb was somewhat silly and it was not surprising we got arrested!!! It is the togetherness we had I miss and I would love to rekindle this.
5) Philip Pullman - I know this may seem like a cliche choice - the author to my book - but the whole Darkness thing continues to dazzle me and continues to offer endless thoughts. I want a follow-up trilogy to the original one. I need to know if Lyra and Will survive and find a way "through" the original book breaks my heart, it is the how and what that I would love to discuss.
6) Santa Claus - Is he real or not? I believe!! I also believe there is a Santa for everyone, they might not be in the red suit but they are still "our Santa" and why shouldn't there be a real man living in secret at the North Pole, in a secret land of magic, elves, flying reindeer and beautiful scenes. For that I would love to see Santa and to thank him. I would love to see Santa just to resassure him that some people still care, still believe and still want.

And so I have now completed my answers, now it is everyone elses turn..............

7th April

I had begun answering my additional questions to "desert island discs"here. I was asked to do so and agree I should.

By accident I opened another webpage, I went back and my post was gone!!!!

I will now have to redo it, however it may take another few hours so bear with me!!!!!

3rd of April - Additions to consider.........

Today is the 3rd April, as someone said yesterday, "the year is flying past!!" and they are correct, four months in already. Soon it will be summer again when we can enjoy BBQ's and long days and then we are back into the run up to Christmas.............

But enough scary thoughts, I am going to add some caveats to the Desert Island Discs question. The thoughts so far have been great and so, so, special now I think we should add to these....

Our desert island is one of magic and no hassles. Let us assume we have a beautiful dwelling, all the food and drink we need, and that alcohol is just a drink no alcoholism occurs. So what I am really saying is that is pretty idylic and perfect.

We can email our family once a week (if we want!!) and 5 friends can be placed on the list to mail once a month.

We can browse the net for 1 hour a day and again only to 5 approved sites. We CANNOT set up any businesses or buy and sell anything, but who would want to the island provides for us!!

So my question now is, how would we pick our friends, names can be "XXX" if necessary(!!) but a reason for each should be stated

How would we pick our websites, and why?

If we could have a visit for a day once a quarter from anyone - without fear of retribution - who would we choose for the first 6 visits, and again why?

The visit could be from family, friends, famous people or just a "lady of the night!!" the only restriction is if it is family no more than 5 people are allowed at any time and once a person(s) have visted they cannot return for 12 months (4 visits).

These will do for now, but be warned I may yet add more................

Think away!!!