The classic fantasy A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin was first published in 1968 and this book Fantasy deserves the praise it has often received. The fantasy world, Earthsea, created by the author is rich in detail. The smell of fish on the dock every village and Tang salt from the sea, literally floated off the pages. The magic system revealed by Le Guin is real both convincingly, and how the wizards, witches and wizards integrate into thesociety seemed natural and logical to me as a reader.

A Wizard of Earthsea tells the story of Ged from his childhood to his maturity as a magician. The son of a blacksmith, Ged was born with a natural talent for magic, the witch and the village is his first teacher. When his village is attacked by marauders, it helps to defend his village with a vague mist that gives villagers the upper hand.

With its power so evident, Ged is proud to a fault. He wants to show his power andimpress people. When a wizard named Ogion Ged has taken on as an apprentice, the union did not last long because Ged is eager to learn. With the blessing of Ogion's, Ged enters a school of witchcraft in the enchanted island of Roke. While in this school, Ged is still excited to show because the students attending higher-born Ged constantly feel inadequate. Ged foolishly accepts a dare to summon the dead, resulting in him releasing a dangerous shade of hell. Thisshadow will be the bane of Ged in the rest of the story.

The strengths of this book Fantasy:

1. The narrative has a tone of graceful antique-style makes you feel like you're sitting by a fire listening to a wise old sorcerer telling the story.

2. This short novel packs plenty of action on each page. Something always happens and the story never drags.

3. The character development of Ged is cleverly done. At first I did not like Ged, but I wasnot supposed to because he was too proud. But after Ged is horribly injured by the shadow he summons his regret for his foolish pride is genuine, and I have related. Most someone made a mistake because of the desire to shine, and, in serious situations, lessons learned from these incidents that changes lives like Ged, who has become wiser after his error.

4. The whole frame of A Wizard of Earthsea is tightly woven texture and the environment throughevery sentence in the book fantastic. You can almost feel the wind shelter and the smells of cooking and admiration of the common people whenever they see a wizard is palpable.

Le Guin also includes clever and creative twists throughout the story. For a time, Ged has a pet called Otak, and affection between the wizard and allow the animal to the reader to feel part of character because many people can relate to the comfort of a fur loved pet. In another episode,Ged meets two strange elderly thrown on a small island where they lived for many years. Their pitiful existence on their prison island is shocking to contemplate and their punishment so profound that they can accept even offering GED to take the land because they were separated from the company too long to go back .

The weaknesses of this book Fantasy:

Only minor problems appear in this novel. In my opinion, despite the fact that the world is calledEarthsea, history descriptions were more boats on the open sea than was necessary. The end of history is a bit disappointing, and although significant in how it relates to the character of Ged.

Overall, A Wizard of Earthsea is a wonderful fantasy book. It may not satisfy readers of fantasy books, like many characters and subplots because it's very much a story centered on a single character, but still, all readers of fantasy will love battle with Gedthe Dragon Pendor. My rating review for this book is a fantastic five enthusiastic staffs of the wizard.

…To my younger daughter Ursula, who turns 21 today (!!!!!)

Ursi, my brilliant and beautiful little jewel, it’s difficult for me to imagine being any prouder of you.  Since very early in your life you’ve consistently demonstrated a level of empathy and compassion unequalled by your peers.  Watching a tiny You speaking Truth to Power, demanding justice for classmates unfairly punished, facing consequences because you just wouldn’t “let it go,” filled me with such awe-struck pride…

Did I ever tell you that before?  To some degree I’m sure I felt like I shouldn’t encourage you in directions which would get you in trouble with your teachers, but on a higher level I was just so damned proud that I could have popped my buttons!

And as you’ve grown into an adult, I’ve frequently been misty-eyed at watching you transform this passion for justice into a search for a life-path which will allow you to make the world a better place, be it as an advocate for our fragile environment or for people around the world whose stories need to be told to be understood and valued.

Thank you, my beautiful Daughter, for becoming who you are.  I have no doubt that the world is a better place for having you in it.

Great expectations, best wishes, and all my love,

Your Proud Dad.

P.S.,  Good luck on tomorrow’s exam, and I’ll see you afterward. 

Everyone remembers the Ariel, from The Little Mermaid right? Teenager mermaid princess who fell in love with a a human on the surface of which she was forbidden to go near by her father, but she goes anyway and falls in love with Prince Eric. One way or another she meets Ursula, who only wants her father’s position on the throne, because she was exiled, who convinces Ariel to give up her voice and family so she can have legs and meet her Prince Eric….if you don’t know the rest of the movie its okay because that’s basically all you need to know for the sake of this blog

Soooo in the movie:

Ursula takes Ariel’s voice and assures her that she can still snag her man “You have your looks, your pretty face and don’t underestimate the importance of body language…” Translation, it doesn’t matter what women say, their personality, or their level of intelligence, because men are just attracted to them because of their body and looks…Really?

But it doesn’t stop there Ursula continues in a song (which is classic for Disney to embed their ideas in catchy songs…that kids love to learn), educating girls that “the men up there [the surface] don’t like a lot of blabber, they think the girl that gossips is a bore, yet on land it is much preferred for ladies not to say a word…she who hold her tongue who gets a man”

What the hell? What happen to a free mind? Equality? Disney tisk tisk to you!

Names of characters are;

Walter, Priscilla, Shirley, Frederick, Ursula, Delilah, Henry, Elliot.

“Yay! It’s Harvest Fest Day,” crowed Cali as she greeted Owen with a big hug.  “Down!  Lummox. Down, Loki-Dog. You guys can’t go with us today. No dogs at that Conservancy Trust farm.”
“I always hate to exclude them,” said Owen, “But the elk need to have priority there.”
“Oh, we know it,” said Rhea, coming up with her arms loaded with the baby carrier. “And really, they have plenty of space to roam here on our Trust farm.”
Owen had the RCar Suburu wagon that was stationed in their little valley at the bottom of the Mountain. He’d first driven it back by his house and picked up his potluck apple pie up and the signs he’d done on his computer, as well as a couple of gallon jars for the cider they would be making today at the Fest. He’d already taken most the apples from his own trees over the day before along with some he’d picked from the neighbors’ yards. Neither of his neighbors would be coming to the Fest this year – one was pretty sick and didn’t get out much any more.  The others were away for a few weeks, taking advantage of the good weather to hike along the coast. All were glad the apples weren’t going to waste.
Here at Benden Farm he was collecting Caliente and Carlos, plus Rhea. By the looks of it Carlos was bringing his guitar and djimbe. He hoped that the costume trunks didn’t have to be squeezed in. People didn’t generally dress up for Harvest Fest but you never knew what these kids might have cooked up.
Cali did have a carton of the most recent issue of Squawk! the sporadically  published activist newspaper she helped edit and produce on her laptop. She was always organizing something – a true child of her parents. With her curly reddish hair – what women called “strawberry blonde” – peeking out from under her trademark cap knitted with sparkles, he thought she lived up to her name.
“Who’s bringing the plates and cutlery?” he asked, wondering if he’d need to swing by ReBound and pick up the rental ones. No way they’d fit in with this load.
“Don’t worry, Owen,” Janna’s already got them over there.”
Of course, they each had pies too in their baskets. Carlos had made a savory one by the smell of it. “Is that your sausage I smell?”
“Yup! It’s from the pigs we slaughtered in August. I hope there’s room for this cooler. I’ve got more sausage to sell today. It sold well all summer at the Friday Markets and this is the last of it. Next week we start making it for Angel’s Restaurant. I’m pretty excited about that. She’s very committed to selling local food.”
“Good thing our neighborhood has the station wagon. It’s gonna get filled up pretty fast. Let’s not forget the baby!”
It took some careful packing, including the box on the top, but they were soon all shoehorned into the blue Subaru for the three mile drive to the Conservancy Trust’s Locovore Farm.

“ I guess I needn’t have worried,” thought Owen, listening to the chatter around him.

He was still learning to relax into faith that all the pieces would come together even if he didn’t oversee every detail. Years of Board service and occasional part-time employment for the Conservancy Trust had him accustomed to tracking details and he did like to know that things were in hand. This was a large event with people from out of town and he wanted the Trust to show up well. These young people were enthusiastic help but sometimes they were a little casual for his comfort level and it had taken longer than he wanted to gather things up. Had they gotten off soon enough to get his signs there in a timely manner? He should have come half an hour sooner.

Hopefully, Alex remembered to pick up the tables and chairs from the Nekelew Community Center. This event used more than the Trust had in the barn. Had Molly arranged for the recycle bins to be delivered? Owen’s thoughts were spiraling again. Luckily it was a short ride and he didn’t have time to build up too much of a frenzy. “Breathe!” he told himself.

When they arrived, there was a familiar joyous bustle of making ready. Carlos headed to the performance area in the corner of the barn with the musical instruments. “I’ll come back in a minute to help with Menolly and the coolers,” he said over his shoulder to Cali.
The tables were indeed set up and Rhea hopped to spreading out the colorful cloths that had seen service at many a potluck. The extra recycle bins were lined up and Owen noted there was even a bin to collect for the Food Bank. “What a good idea. That’s new this year.”
Ursula was overseeing the placement of the pies. “Savory on this side and sweet over there,” she was telling people. “And if you could fill out a card with the ingredients.” The multicolored, mismatched plates were piled on one table along with lots of forks. At least now they had facilities to wash the plates unlike in the early years when they’d had to take them all home to be washed before going back to ReBound.
Owen handed her the small signs he’d made for vegan, veggie, carnivore sections.
“Oh, Owen, they’re lovely! That was an unfortunate mix-up last year. People are pretty tolerant of everyone else’s philosophical preferences and dietary restrictions, but some don’t like surprises – like cheese, or worse, meat, when they thought it was tofu. And it’s nice when it’s clear a crust is gluten free for those with allergies.”
Owen was just starting to wonder whether his two would be the only sweet pies, when two more arrived, made from the farm’s own pumpkins.
“Now, Owen don’t worry about the pies,” Ursula told him firmly knowing his tendency to fret. “Go see if you can help with the apple cider press. Johan is busy with a project deadline at the foundry so another hand is needed. “
“I’ll help as soon as I unload the signs I made for the Trust booth. Have the parking volunteers gotten here yet?”
“No, Janna told them to come at 11 o’clock. I’m sure that’s plenty of time for them to get here. The jitney is coming then to bring people over from the church parking lot when the inner field gets full.”
“You don’t think that’s cutting it a little close? What if they’re late?”
“Relax! It’s mostly the same folks who’ve done it for years. Go see about the apple press.”
Owen grinned at her sheepishly and after piling the signs near the non-profit booths (already set up, of course, by Janna), he moved the car to his special spot behind the caretakers’ house. That way he could get to his extra jacket if he needed it and could grab for emergency supplies if they ran out of anything. He knew he’d be here ‘til the very end for the clean-up but he still liked to have the car handy.
Maybe he needed to commune a little more with Cascara sagrada. There certainly was enough of it growing on the Mountain. Medicinally this deciduous tree’s bark helped loosen the bowels, so its essence was about moving gracefully with the current.

“Go with the flow, right, August and Anise?” he said as he passed the little ones playing in the mud puddle. “Worry is praying for what you don’t want,” he reminded himself.

En todas las pelis hay algún malo; o al menos así es cuando se trata del cine de animación encabezado por Walt Disney. Y es que, no hay un buen final felíz sin un malo de por medio que intente impedirlo. Pues bien, en esta semana en “Wall-e y los siete enanitos” qué mejor análisis que el exhaustivo de cada uno de estos malhechores que nos han hecho temblar una y otra vez en nuestra infancia. Historias aptas para todos. Unas más tétricas; otras más malvadas y algunas con un toque de cinismo o incluso humor. Pero todas con un punto en común: los finales felices que dejan en el aterrado subconsciente esos malos, malísmos de la infancia.

Lady Tremain (La Cenicienta)

Personaje mundialmente conocido por todos nosotros como la “madrastra mala” de Cenicienta.  Mujer de alta clase, rica, poderosa y  viuda del padre de Cenicienta. Un papel de mala, malísima  en  el que obligaba a limpiar a la pobre y  dulce cenicienta, la encerraba con su llave, e  intentaba  impedir el felíz noviazgo entre la pequeña  y el príncipe del reino. Todo, para  intentar favorecer a  sus hijas Anastasia y Drizella, que se  morían de envidia ante la dulce,  amable y hermosa  Cenicienta. Oportunista, hábil e inteligente, utiliza sus propias palabras  como castigo para la pobre Cenicienta, que ingenua, siempre cree en lo positivo de sus palabras, sin importar, la dureza de éstas. Un clásico que representa el temido papel de madrastra en las vidas de todos los niños.

Cruella de Vil (101 dálmatas)

Cruella de Vil es un personaje de ficción y el principal villano en la novela de Dodie Smith “The One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, y en las adaptaciones cinematográficas y de televisión de Disney. En todas sus versiones Cruella es una mujer obsesionada por los abrigos de piel, con la mitad izquierda de su cabello blanco y la mitad derecha de color negro, que intenta secuestrar a unos dálmatas cachorros para quitarles la piel, para lo que suele usar a sus sirvientes Horacio y Gaspar. En algunas películas, también se muestra que es la dueña de una fábrica de costura de piel, para la cual Anita es diseñadora. A lo largo de su papel en las sagas de 101 dálmatas se revela que la obsesión de Cruella por la piel de animales jóvenes es que, al envejecer, su piel se vuelve gruesa, y no se vende como las suaves pieles de cachorro.

Capitán Garfio (Peter Pan)

El Capitán James Garfio es el principal malechor de la película de Disney Peter Pan. Su lucha  constante contra el joven niño que no quería crecer se debe a que, antaño, el joven le cortó la  mano izquierda al pirata, dándosela en bandeja a un hambriento cocodrilo que lleva un “tic  tac” de un reloj en la tripa. Las peleas, persecuciones y tramas violentas se repiten en la  película de animación con un tono cómico y risueño. El vencedor, siempre, Peter Pan, por su habilidad, conocimientos y su ingeniosa juventud. Risotadas y demás chistes no faltan en sus constantes encuentros.

La Malvada Reina Grimhilde o “La Reina” (Blancanieves y los siete enanitos)

Es uno de los personajes principales de la película de Blancanieves. Es la vanidosa y malvada madrastra de Blancanieves, y no soporta que haya otra más hermosa que ella dentro del reino, sobre todo, cuando descubre que su hijastra es más bella cada día que pasa. Obsesionada con su espejo mágico, cada día le pregunta ansiosa; “Espejo Mágico: ¿quién es en el reino la más hermosa?”, de tal forma que el espejo siempre respondía: “Tú mi señora”. Hasta que llegó el momento en que le respondió que la más bella era Blancanieves, así que, decidió ordenarle a un cazador que la matara. Al no funcionar su mandato, decidió convertirse en una anciana horripilante, y habiendo renunciado a su belleza, sólo consiguió dormir a la joven eternamente con una manzana.

Scar (El rey León)

Como hermano de Mufasa, Scar era el siguiente en la línea de sucesión al trono, hasta el  nacimiento de Simba, sobrino suyo e hijo de su hermano Mufasa. Obsesionado por convertirse  en rey y gobernar todo el territorio en compañía de sus amigas las hienas, se ve forzado a  realizar todo tipo de atrocidades para lograr sus objetivos. Aunque Scar esconde su plan bajo  una falsa preocupación por la seguridad de Simba, este nefasto, astuto y traicionero león, es realmente un peligroso enemigo de Mufasa y Simba. Una verdad de la que el gran Mufasa se da cuenta cuando ya es demasiado tarde. Scar está convencido de que el trono de “La Roca del Rey” es suyo y siempre está confabulando y pensando como conseguirlo, aunque no esta preparado para ello y es poco consciente de cómo llevar un buen manejo y gobierno de las praderas, pero esto no le impide llevar a cabo el plan que en su juventud había hecho con las tres hienas de asesinar a su hermano y a su sobrino para ocupar él el trono.

Úrsula, la bruja del mar (La Sirenita)

En ésta película, Úrsula es el personaje malvado que hace todo lo posible por evitar que la historia de amor entre Ariel y Eric tenga un final felíz, aunque como todos sabemos, no lo consigue, como suele pasar con todo el cine de Disney. El papel que desempeña la bruja del mar en este film es alentar a Ariel a salir a la superficie, en contra de las indicaciones de su padre, el rey Tritón. Para conseguir su objetivo, la bruja y la sirena negocian un intercambio: ella le daría su voz a la bruja a cambio de obtener un par de piernas y tres días para conquistar al príncipe Eric. Lo que la joven Ariel desconocía era que la bruja, con su voz y una apariencia diferente, iba a intentar robarle el amor del joven príncipe. Sin embargo, como todo final felíz que se precie, sus amigos Flounder y Sebastián consiguen evitar la boda equivocada arrastrando a Ariel al descubrimeinto de la verdad.

Maléfica (La Bella Durmiente)

I agree with Meg, we do see a lot of reinforcement of gender roles through Disney movies– not just masculinity, but obvious femininity as well. Whether or not these roles, enforced on mainstream culture at a very young age, affect us as we get older is a huge concept to tackle– so I’m going to look at specific instances of masculinity and specific instances of femininity within Disney Movies.

Masculinity: stereotypically male characters are broad shouldered, deep voiced, handsome, strong, reliable (unless they are evil), heterosexual, and loyal. Those males who do not exhibit these characteristics are usually given the role of the sidekick or are cast as the bad guy. Let’s look at The Little Mermaid. Prince Eric is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. Why do you think Ariel falls in love with him and not Grimsby?

Prince Eric

Grimsby

Femininity: stereotypical female characteristics are narrow-waisted, high-voiced, beautiful (unless she is evil, or evil is an extreme beauty), semi-weak (she needs her man), submissable, heterosexual, and loyal. Like in masculinity, those females who do not fit these characteristics are usually given the role as enemy or sidekick. Again looking at The Little Mermaid; Aerial is one of the original Disney Princesses. She has a waist about as narrow as her neck, a beautiful voice, and she is submissive to the will of Eric and her father. Ursula on the other hand is obese, ugly, and has a rotten voice– therefore she steals Aerial’s.

Ariel

Ariel and Ursula

August, Edward, Dominic, Henry, Julian, George, Broderick, Dashiell, Quinn, Rowan, Atticus, Barnaby, Benedict, Cato, Darwin, Emerson, Fergus, Harvey, Lucian, Lewis, Malachy, Micah, Maxwell, Oakley, Orlando, Phineas, Rupert, Rex, Sullivan, Solomon, Steven, Willoughby, Winston & West.

Carmen, Daisy, Aurelia, Daphne, Delphi, Eurielle, Flora, Geneva, Hazel, Hermione, Ivy, Linnea, Maddalen, Mirabelle, Nola, Olympia, Olive, Polly, Romilly, Ramona, Rosemary, Sally, Simona, Ursula, Valentina, Violet, Clara, Eulalie, Seraphia, Seraphina, Silvana, Adele, Amabel & Leora.

Inspired and refreshed by her rememberings as well as the beauty of the morning, Ursula knew it was time for the prosaic tasks of what an early spiritual teacher of hers had called “earth plane reality,” starting with a search through her closet. “Hmmm. Wheat color, I think, is calling.”

Perhaps the peasanty skirt and the goldy jersey top. That would work well with her dark green hooded sweater. Layers. Who knew what the weather would bring. No bra, of course. She’d given up on that third chakra energy constriction for all but the most formal occasions when she felt a need to hide her looseness or conversely wanted a little sexy pushup. If she couldn’t afford to risk other people’s judgment, who would? She did her part daily to help change that paradigm of binding up what Nature had given her. She huffed indignantly as she always did when the subject came up. And truth be told, she sometimes even let her three or four chin hairs grow too. She assumed people noticed but nobody ever commented on either unconventional practice.
Long socks? The brown ones she’d just gotten from the thrift store looked comfy and were in keeping with her earthy mood. She found her spider web earrings after a few minutes of digging in her little box. “Might as well carry that energy into the day.” The amber pendant called out to her as she moved her hands over the various necklace strands hanging from the hooks Charley had put on the wall over her bureau. Amber would help keep her spontaneous, yet calm and give energy to any manifesting she might do this day. Running the brush through her gray curls, she smiled back at her reflection with a twinkle at her wrinkles. She liked looking her age and enjoyed thinking about the fact that next year she would be turning sixty.
Glancing next at her calendar to be sure nothing had slipped off her radar screen for the day, she gathered up the things she would need at the store – an extra load of papers from the proposal draft Molly had given her to review (maybe she’d have time this afternoon to look at it), the new books she’d had at home to read, and her trusty laptop named Stella.
She usually rode her bike down to Mahonia from her perch on the Mountain when Charley had their little car, but she had decided to walk the half mile to the River Valley CarShare lot on the road to borrow the pick-up. She could then drive back up to get the recycling. The bins under the kitchen sink were overflowing so a trip to ReBound couldn’t be put off much longer and it would be nice to get a hug from Molly and see if she wanted to help lead an upcoming Women’s Medicine Circle. Communing with Demeter this morning had given Ursula an idea about a ritual.
She’d checked the night before on her computer – her RCar membership was current and the pickup was available for the whole day. She usually borrowed the truck every couple of weeks. “’Borrowed?’ Probably the proper term is ‘rented’ but it never seems like a financial transaction somehow,” especially since they’d been part of starting the arrangement as a neighborhood cooperative with a couple of people’s second vehicles. Now there was a newish Prius in their lot for longer drives and at the main lot in town one could get a van or a bigger pick-up, among other things. The little pickup in their neighborhood was old and funky but it served well for just this sort of thing. Charley had used it last week for a couple of hours to haul firewood and just yesterday she’d seen it loaded to the gills with stuff Brady’s were clearing out before their move.
“Drat them for leaving the community!” She understood why the elderly couple were going back to the city but it always hurt her heart to lose the interesting ones. “Couldn’t they see how important the work was here and how much they were needed?” Sometimes she wondered why she trusted the local medical resources as much as she did. But she just did. She sighed as she closed the door.
That little dip in her energy didn’t last long. She dodged most of the spider webs across the path to the road, noticing them all over the huge Sitka too. Goldfinches still chittered happily while the white butt of a flicker flashed away from her into the woods. A couple of jays squawked at her in their distinctive voices so she hollered back.
“It’s an interesting neighborhood,” Ursula thought for the umpteenth time as she walked on down the hill. There were still a few houses not actually lived in, some of which were used regularly, either as second homes by those still able to afford such things, or as short-term rentals. Some were B & B’s. There had been a fuss early on about the latter practices, but she had always maintained that it was more neighborhood-friendly to have the houses used and certainly better than a lot of motels in town.
She waved to the elderly Crowes out on their deck, who, like many, had divided up their large home, converting it into what was officially an “accessory dwelling unit,” taking advantage of the Utility District’s grant program as well as state tax credits to do energy conservation retrofits. They now rented affordably to a young couple who could keep an eye on them. Ursula wondered when it would be time for her and Charley to downsize in some way from the space they’d needed with a big family.
As she walked past the spring she realized there was another reason to use the car this morning. She needed to remember to pick up the empty gallon jars for refill. She and Charley had been using the spring for a long time but it was only in the last couple of years that it had gotten more general use after it had been decorated into a community shrine. There was often a car at the pull-off as more and more people realized that the federally mandated chemicals weren’t good for their bodies. There was nothing like the lively chi in the water coming right out of the Mountain. Charley and Owen had piled stones in a cairn up around the copper pipe streaming water. Someone had added a green water sprite figure and tucked a few crystals into little niches. Watercress grew in the run off. She might as well pick some for tonight’s salad while she was there.

Arriving at ReBound, Ursula eased the battered RCar pickup into one of the parking spaces in front of the green bins lined up under the signs for various recycling categories. It wasn’t always easy to get a spot this close but she’d lucked out today. As usual, before she attended to the overflowing cardboard boxes she’d brought with her, she did a quick scan of the yard to see what was going on.
A volunteer whose name she couldn’t remember was busy explaining the difference between gray board and corrugated cardboard to a well-dressed woman who had obviously never been there before, while a young boy of seven or eight was showing his grandmother where to put the egg cartons so families with chickens could pick them up. Must be a day off from school. She waved to two friends who were having a heated conversation in front of the aluminum bins and smiled at Jake who was getting ready to empty the plastics milk jug tote.
Looking further down the recycle line she caught sight of Molly with her arm around the shoulders of an older woman looking together at a photo or clipping of some sort. As she watched, the woman was enfolded in Molly’s arms for a long minute and then beaming went inside the resale store while Molly picked up speed and headed the opposite direction towards the trash dumpster. On the way there she gave a thumbs up to a man loading a pile of folding chairs into a pick-up and patted the shoulder of another who was tinkering with a mysterious metal contraption as if it might be made to take off any moment.
Ursula chuckled as she saw that the purpose of Molly’s beeline was to greet Pia who had just finished tipping her trashcan into the dumpster. Molly’s short, round figure in plaid shirt and dirty jeans, enveloped the taller, thinner Pia with her unruly mop of dark curls, purple velour harem pants and swirling orange poncho. It was delightful – actually made her full of light – to watch the connection of the two, and of course Ursula couldn’t resist joining them.
“Hey, let me in on this!” she chimed.
“Look who the bear dragged in,” teased Pia as Molly laughed and they both opened their arms to include Ursula in their embrace.
Pia ducked a little so their boobs and bellies lined up and they swayed together feeling the energy swirling sweetly between them. Long years of tears and triumphs in various organizational endeavors, agonies over children’s troubles, laughter over mates’ foibles, they’d seen each other through a lot. They’d had some awful fights among themselves too and it all added up to a very special intimacy that tingled between their bodies now.
Ursula was the first to break the spell, the story of her morning bursting within her. Pulling back a little, though still entwined, she told the others about the spiders’ magic and her connection with Demeter.
“So I was thinking that maybe we could do the Women’s Medicine Circle next Friday evening on the mothering of adult children. In honor of Demeter.”
“Goddess knows we all need help with that one,” agreed Molly.
“It might give the young ones some perspective on our dilemmas of the boundaries between parental involvement and non-involvement…” Ursula’s voice tailed off as images of her kids flashed in her head.
“Send money or not,” said Pia.
“Butt in or not,” added Molly.
“I was thinking we could have us older women be Demeter and the younger ones Persephone.”
“Cool – maybe line up in two rows facing each other and each call out our fears and joys about separations past and future.”
“And about the losses of the season.”
“I’ve got grasses for the Demeters to hold,” said Pia.
“Good, cause I don’t really want to cut mine. Could we get pomegranates for the Persephones?” said Ursula. “I’m not quite sure how we’d use them but I’m remembering that in the Greek story, Persephone was fated to return to the Underworld every year because she had eaten one pomegranate seed.”
“I wonder how we could adapt that so the return each year was less a consequence of that and more because of Persephone’s love of the dark lord and his realm. And to help all us mom’s deal with that her responding to a call we don’t quite understand.”
“I’ll bring my flute,” said Pia. “Maybe pipe the young ones off?”
They were still scheming when a voice called out from across the way, “Molllllleeee.” They looked up to see a figure wagging thumb to mouth and little finger to the ear in the universal telephone symbol.
“Looks like I’ve got a phone call,” said Molly. “Gotta run. I’ll provide the pomegranates and think of how we might use them in a new way. Can one of you put out an email?”
“Sure thing, sweetie,” said Ursula. “We’ll cover what we think of and the rest can be improvised.”
“I’m glad serendipity and our brainstorming skills are working as usual today,” said Pia. “This will be good for all of us.”
“Oops, I forgot all about my recycling and I’ve left the RCar pickup in front of the bins, said Ursula. “I’d better unload and head back to town to open Bear Essentials.”
“But where shall we meet?” asked Pia.
“Didn’t we say last time it was my turn to do it? I’ll check with Charley and be sure the men are meeting somewhere else.”
“I just saw a cool cornucopia basket inside. I’ll go get it and send out the email announcing our theme. Let me know if you think of anything else we need. Seems like it’s time for another energy cleansing here. I’m feeling some sticky goop around the various drop off bins especially for the resale store. I’ll ask Molly if she’s ready to have us up again.” The two gave each other another quick hug as they parted.

Once parked in town, Ursula shlepped her stuff into the store, the smell of sage and lavender enveloping her as she opened the back door. Cindy’s new sachets and eye pillows seemed especially potent this year. The sage had come from some folks passing through.
Bear Essentials was Ursula’s storefront in Mahonia, started as a resource for the area’s burgeoning spiritual community. She stocked an assortment of spiritually oriented books and included a book rental service as well to encourage exploration of genres and authors they might not have been willing to try otherwise. Until recently the local library didn’t have as many woo woo books as some of them had wished and she and Charley had gotten tired of the space their own extensive collection took up in the house. Bringing them down where they were more available and where loans could be tracked and replaced if lost had worked out nicely. She also rented spiritual videos and dvd’s. She rounded out the inventory with magical paraphernalia – crystals and stones, figurines, tarot and other card decks, smudge sticks, a little ceremonial clothing and some pretty gee gaws. She rarely bought stuff new unless it was locally made, preferring to rely on things others wanted to sell. ReBound had done such a great job of accustoming locals to passing on things they no longer wanted. Now they just brought this New Age sort of stuff to her to sell – often on consignment.
The store had a south facing back room looking out on a little fenced in garden where she could do her tarot readings and which she rented out from time to time on an hourly basis to others wanting to give psychic readings or do healings of various sorts. Several successful locals had gotten their start in her backroom and then moved on to storefronts of their own. She and others in the Healers Guild had worked hard so that the town had become rather a Mecca for city folk wanting to re-treat, re-group, re-generate and re-create here by the Pacific.
She settled her armloads of stuff and opened the front door. The shrine just outside between the building and the sidewalk was an eclectic collection of little things around the three foot high carved wooden bear that she had commissioned from Arlo. People were always adding or taking away stones, sand dollars, feathers and the like. She smiled to see the bouquet of lilies and a plastic leprechaun someone had left since yesterday afternoon. Rubbing Bear’s head affectionately, she placed the wild grasses behind him and said a sympathetic prayer for Demeter, soon to be childless again until Spring’s return, and sent a plea that the upcoming ritual would ease her own motherly pangs – and perhaps Demeter’s as well. Of course, in a tourist town they all lost something to the year’s turn towards coming Autumnal season, though if one was going to thrive here they had to also, like Ursula, enjoy to the intense rains that called for cozy indoors time.
Turning to go back in she flipped her open sign outward. It sported the Charles Schultz cartoon of Lucy at her consulting booth with the sign, “The Witch is in.” Indeed.

Da freut sich nicht nur Rammstein, die jetzt mit dem Abverkauf ihrer neuen Scheibe “Liebe ist für alle da” bestimmt viel mehr Geld machen können, schließlich ist auf Geheiss des Familienministeriums damit morgen Schluß, und für Ausverkaufstimmung ist gesorgt.

Nein, es kann sich auch unsere Familienministerin Ursula von der Leyen medienwirksam auf die Schulter klopfen, hat sie doch durch diesen einmaligen Einsatz Deutschlands Jugendliche vor sexuellen Verirrungen und ungeschützten Verkehr geschützt.

So sind alle zufrieden. Ich hab doch noch was zu meckern: Was ist das eigentlich für eine Schlamperei im Bundesfamilienministerium? Warum wird so eine Zensur erst Wochen nach Veröffentlichung ausgesprochen, nachdem der Verkauf des neuen Album eigentlich schon durch ist? Das Album ist seit 16.10. da, hat das Familienministerium so lange die Texte analysiert? Nicht mal das zensieren kriegen wir noch pünktlich-deutsch hin.

Jetzt werde ich mich meiner eigenen Bananenrepublik zuwenden, und den Rest des Abends die knifflige Kampanie von Tropico3 spielen. Da haben solche Patzer Konsequenzen, hierzulande regt sich ja keiner mehr drüber auf.

Moinsen,

ich dachte nach der damaligen Indizierung des Ärzte Albums “Debil” was so schöne Songs wie Geschwisterliebe oder Claudia hat nen Schäferhund beeinhaltet, wird sich nach dem damaligen politischen Eklat keiner der Politiker mehr an solchen Kindergarten Themen ranwagen.

Aber doch weit gefehlt, Frau Zensursula Ursula von der Leyen höchstpersönlich hat ein neues Hobby für sich entdeckt. Nach Stoppschildern im Internet zur staatlichen Zensur, möchte unser Drachen nun auch noch anscheinend Stoppschilder an Plattenläden anbringen.

Vielleicht ein geheimer Vertriebsweg der nicht existenten Kinderpornoindustrie, der nun auch geschlossen werden muß. Es geht ja um unsere Kinder…

Denn sie hat nun auf ihrem Antrag hin bei der Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährende Medien die Indizierung des Albums “Liebe ist für Alle da” erwirkt.

Im Einzelnen wurde der Track “Ich Tu Dir Weh” sowie ein Artwork-Foto, das Gitarrist Richard Kruspe mit einer auf seinen Knien liegenden Frau darstellt, beanstandet: dies seien jugendgefährdete Darstellungen von S/M-Praktiken. Außerdem befand die Bundesprüfstelle, dass der Titel “Pussy” zu ungeschütztem Geschlechtsverkehr in Zeiten von Aids animiere.

Erinnert mich wirklich sehr an die damalige Geschichte der Ärzte….ach und ich denke Rammstein wird sich auch noch zusätzlich für den ungewollten PR Effekt bedanken

Und indirekt bekommt dies dem Staat ja auch noch gut, denn die Platten die Verkauft werden sind ja auch mit Mehrwertsteuer belegt Eine neue Idee zur Tilgung der Steuerschulden, in dem man gute Sachen für Minderjährige verbietet, und so sie zum Kult macht.

Man weiss ja, alles Verbotene ist interessant oder?

Gruß Dennis

O nosso Top 10 do mês de outubro ficou assim (posição/nome):

01 – Aki Hoshino – ほしの あき

02 – Florencia Tesouro – Outubro
03 – Stephanie Ly
04 – Joanna Krupa #2
05 – Juju Panicat – Juliana Salimeni
06 – Tila Tequila Nguyen #2
07 – Reon Kadena – かでなれおん
08 – Renata Fukumura
09 – Grace Park #3
10 – Ursula Mayes

(Originally written on August 12, 2009)

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Right now, I’m at the orthodontist waiting to get new retainers.  (I had braces from fourth to ninth grade that Beast paid a pretty penny for – so you’re damn right I still sleep in my retainers!  Ursula never wore hers and ended up having to get braces for a second time as a result.  And I definitely don’t want to go through having braces again, especially now that I’m older.  Well, I’ve outgrown my retainers since I was last fitted for them five years ago and I wanted to be sure that I got new ones before moving 800 miles away.)  Good god, they take their sweet time making those things – I have been sitting here for forever (okay, a little over an hour – but they told me it would only take 20 minutes).  I mean, the process of taking the molds is torture enough.  And there’s this mother in the waiting room who keeps popping her flip-flops to the beat of every single song that plays.  Come on, she’s a grown woman!  It’s driving me crazy!

Starting this week research group URSULA, part of the second tier of the EPSRC’s SUE programme,  has just got bigger.

A new researcher, Laurence Pattacini, has joined Task 4 – ‘Urban Forms Design’, bringing her expertise in landscape planning to the project. As part of her work, Laurence will be working with other members of Task 4 to draw up new, distinctive and high quality designs for urban river corridors that maximise economic, social and environmental benefits. These designs will be visionary, drawing on the innovative river corridor interventions being studied by the URSULA team at the forefront of the latest cross-disciplinary research.

Of course to get a feeling for the practicalities of these designs they need to be grounded in the real world. And what better place then Sheffield, one of the UK’s largest cities, which has large areas of urban river corridor awaiting redevelopment.  One such site chosen by URSULA to create designs for is Wicker Riverside in central Sheffield, a rundown and underused area of the city adjacent to the River Don. Ample brownfield land and derelict buildings means there is plenty of scope at the site to apply radical urban design, though within the realistic constraints of an urban setting.

For more information click on the link to URSULA’s homepage in the Blogroll

Find out more about SUE

There is some really cool saints names If I time before the book goes back I will do some postings on individual ones

Genevieve, Elizabeth Ann, Raphaela, Genovea, Zdislava, Leonie, Marguerite, Ita, Roseline, Margaret, Eustochia, Agnes, Dwynwen, Verdiana, Eusebia, Bathildis, Hyacintha, Marcella, Brigid, Anna, Claudine, Maria, Agatha, Dorothy, Colette, Josephine, Apollonia, Scholastica, Jeanne, Catherine, Gertrude, Walburga, Paula, Anne, Katharine, Teresa, Felicity, Perpetua, Cunegunda, Frances, Fina, Matilda, Louise, Benedetta, Rafqa, Lucy, Gladys, Catalina, Crescentia, Julie, Mary, Gemma, Lydwina, Bernadette, Casilda, Fara, Zita, Gianna, Panacea, Wiborada, Maura, Rosa, Magdalene, Dymphna, Rita, Mariana, Ursula, Ubaldesca, Bona, Joan, Blandina, Clotilda, Melania, Florida, Germaine, Aleydis. (more to come)

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “little she-bear; she-cub; little female bear.”
Eng (ERS-uh-LAH)

The name is of Latin origin but is suggested that is may be a latinization of the old Germanic female name Yrsa meaning “bear” and was popularized by a medieval Christian saint said to be martyred in Cologne. Not much is known about the saint, other that she was martyred under Huns along with 11,000 other virgins, which is now believed to be a misprint from the written source of the legend. What is known for sure is that there was a basilica built in honour of a virgin Christian martyr in Cologne and from this arose several different legends referring to a St. Ursula and St. Cordula. According to the legend, St. Ursula was a British princess who was sent by her father to Germany to marry a prince, along with her, were sent 11,000 maidens, however,  her ship was taken off course due to a storm and instead ended up in France where she then decided to do a pan-European Christian pilgramage before meeting her future husband. She made a pilgramage to Rome where she tried to pursuade the pope to do a pilgramage with her and her 11,ooo companions. When she reached cologne she and her companions were massacred by the Huns.

The legend is based off of a 4th century inscription written in the Basilica which was built in the saint’s honour. It is believed that the 11,ooo handmaidens was confused with a female martyr named Undecimilia, Undecimila or Xemilia and that the abbreviation XI.M.V was misread as a number. The same saint has also been referred to under the names Pinnosa or Vinnosa. The name was quite prevalent in Great Britain before the Reformation and went out of usage afterwards. The name is also borne by Swiss actress Ursula Andress (b. 1936). It has also appeared in popular culture as the name of the evil sea-witch in Disney’s the Little Mermaid and as the name of the wife of Nigellus Phineas Black in the Harry Potter Series.

In Poland, the name is associated with a great piece of Polish Literature written by Jan Kochanowski. Known as Laments (Treny) 1580, they are a series of 19 elegies which talk about the author’s grief after the death of his two and half year old daughter Orszola (Urzula) which he refers to as the Slavic Sappho.

Other forms of the name are (divided alphabetically by nationality):

• Orsula (Corsican)
• Uršula (Croatian/Czech/Slovakian/Slovenian)
• Yrsa (Danish/Faroese/Icelandic/Norwegian/Swedish)
• Orsel (Dutch)
• Ursule/Ursuline (French)
• Ursula/Ursel (German/Dutch/Estonian/Finnish/Spanish: German diminutive forms are Ulla, Uli and Uschi)
• Orsolya (Hungarian: or-SHOH-lah was the 56th most popular female name in Hungary in 2006)
• Úrsúla (Icelandic)
• Orsina/Orsola/Orsolina (Italian)
• Ursa (Latin)
• Urzula (Latvian)
• Uršulė (Lithuanian)
• Urszula/Orszola/Warszula (Polish: Latter two forms are older forms and are rarely used. Diminutive form is Ula and Urszulka. Older diminutive forms are Ulicha and Ulita)
• Úrsula (Portuguese)
• Ursetta/Ursina/Urschla (Romansch)
• Urška (Slovenian: originally a diminutive now used as an independent given name, it was the 51st most popular female name in Slovenia in 2005)
• Orscheli (Swiss-German: ORSH-lee)

There are a few male equivalents which include:

• Orso/Orsino/Ursio/Ursino (Italian)
• Urs (German)
• Ursinus/Ursus (Latin)
• Ursyn/Ursycjusz (Polish: very rare)
• Ursin/Urosin (Romansch)