Wheelchairs, brothels and community spirit!

OK, it seems like forever since I last wrote. I stopped blogging during the election, and it has proved hard to start up again, but I suppose I will slowly get back in to it. Part of the reason is I have been so incredibly busy with the old lady down my street who I have long been friends with; we now go for an hour long walk every evening, and her cup of tea every night takes another hour, with frequent visits during the day eating up  my spare time.  She’s lovely but the endless phone calls as she has become forgetful do drive me mad! Still I guess this is part of the “big community” we hear so much about — I’m lucky enough to live in a street where people are very friendly, (yes, that includes very much the really nice folks from the brothel that used to be down the road till the big police raid a couple of years back — not that I ever twigged it was a brothel till the police kicked the door in, and I lived next door to it!), and spend a lot of time talking to one another and helping one another out.

Actually thinking of the brothel, or massage parlour or whatever it was in reality reminds me of the one night I nearly realised what was going on, or should have done. A chap in a wheelchair knocked on my door, and when I answered appeared to try to be asking me to sleep with him. He had a mild speech impairment that made communication difficult, and I was very polite, simply assuring him “I was not that kind of girl.” (I’m not any kind of girl actually, I’m a bloke.)  He remained quite insistent, and then I realised he wanted sexual favours from someone else, not me. I became rather confused and a little embarrassed, till he suddenly realised he had the wrong house  number. That was a relief! I should have referred him to the woman at Lloyds Pharmacy who covered Lisa and others holiday or sickness when she was a Dispenser there — she was unfortunately entitled a “Relief Dispenser”, and that was what this chap claimed to want!  Anyway the brothel is long gone, and life here has returned to what passes for normal in this ironically named street.

The whole brothel affair was brought to mind a few minutes ago when I was walking Chris in her wheelchair down the road. We parked in the shade of the garages to talk to Tina, and then a lady from a letting firm drove up, a pretty blonde girl.  So naturally I had to wander over to chat to her a minute, as the residents of the street interrogate any one we see walking past (more on this soon). I asked her if the house was still for rent, and she said no, it had just been let — “to a lovely couple of working girls”. I must have looked shocked, because she blushed and said “I mean professional women”… That did not make it any better, and we both burst out laughing, and then she said I knew what she meant — “women professionals”, and laughed more and apologised and said she knew all about the brothel raid! Nice lass, very friendly, as letting agents tend to be.  She assured us if we had any problems with the new people in the street we could complain to her — and I was mildly amused, and said “why on earth would we do that?”   To which she replied – it’s that kind of street!  Er, OK.

Life in the street progresses at the usual slow pace; we have all been worried about one of my neighbours cats, a beautiful fluffy black Persian that looks like a walking bush with two glowing orange eyes when she sees my cats and fluffs up. She was fitting on Friday, and it was touch and go, but after veterinary intervention, some shots and a considerable bill she is now seemingly fine – let’s hope she stays that way, she is a lovely beastie.  Yet I wonder how many people in the UK would know about the current state of health of their next door neighbour but sixes cat???

So let me get back to what started all this. I’m busy with work, Becky, and lots of other things — but I have to stop and think about the “Big Community” idea that is currently so fashionable in Cameron’s rhetoric. Obviously I like living like this — or I would not do it — but would you??? It’s an honest question. I like it, but it drives me mad. In a sense I have spent much of my life “growing up in public” — I never valued my privacy much, and much of what I do (though not all) is well known to many people. I’m a chatty, outgoing, open kind of guy. I think a lot of you think you know me and what goes on in my life pretty well for that reason (though I think I could still surprise even those closest to me at times!).   I know what “big communities” are like — and I know the pitfalls.

Firstly, I’m an amateur. What I do for Chris can not replace the dedicated health professionals — doctors, nurses, opticians, pharmacists, and the lovely NHS carers who come round four times a day to look after her. I can’t heal my neighbours cat — she needs a vet for that. I can’t look after the street lights, make sure the water supply is clean, or mend a broken boiler or chimney. Community activism and volunteering supplements but does not replace the need for dedicated professional services, and never will, unless we return to a very small economy and near subsistence living.  Even medieval villagers were not as self-sufficient and isolated as people often think.   A “big community” can do something to make life better, but it does not replace the need for social services and properly trained professionals.  Secondly, while the voluntary sector with superbly run organisations – we all know the Red Cross, Age Concern, The Samaritans, the RSPCA, NSPCC, etc, etc, which perform such incredibly valuable work in our society — can take up some public services and perform them very well, these organisations still need funding. More importantly, they need committed, hard working volunteers. And sure, twenty years ago I knew loads of people who did this kind of work — but in fact that is getting harder and harder to achieve. People on JSA or HB are seriously penalised if they spend too much time working in the voluntary sector – because they are limited to working less than is it ten or sixteen hours now, or face losing their benefits? The Benefits people look askance at volunteers – if you can work for the PDSA or British Heart Foundation shop, why are you not getting a proper paid job they ask?  So many volunteers are those who own their own homes, have an income from another source, or have well paid partners.  When I was an undergrad Student Community Action was a popular way to help others and get some stuff on your CV – nowadays its muh harder, and as Student Grants were replaced by Student Loans the number of volunteers diminished as students who previously were leading tea dances or doing gardens in run down parts of town were suddenly forced to do a MacJob to pay their way. Not necessarily a bad thing — but we saw a contraction of the voluntary sector, as economic realities hit home.

Next up, it might sound idyllic living with great neighbours who look out for you and always stop to talk or ask you in, but is it really?  Everyone in the street knows who Becky is, who Lisa is, and what my latest situation is at any given time. I can do almost NOTHING without becoming the centre of gossip for a week! I don’t mind, but you can absolutely forget privacy – DC, Kevin, Tom and Dave Sivier are all known by name and reputation and what they are up to equally to many of my neighbours, but they are just casual visitors to my home. In how many streets are passers by stopped and chatted to and quizzed about heir business? (the Brothel customers used to often walk round the block several times before ringing the door bell, because they were too embarrassed to walk up to the door while half the street was outside chatting, drinking tea and coffee on door steps or playing with cats or whatever…)  In how many streets would a letting agent come to do something at a house be interrogated by people from the street, and feel she had to offer assurances?

And that is what it’s like. Forget privacy, forget coming home after a long day and just watching the telly. I have a constant stream of visitors and telephone calls, a hundred demands upon my time.  Most of today has been spent on talking to neighbours, taking the wheelchair out, talking to Tom who popped round and making calls for people or just chatting on the street. I had a day fairly free – and while I had some work to do, and have spent more time on this post, I can promise you it can be a little tiring. I think a lot of people who bemoan the loss of community forget how claustrophobic the world I live in, a world that really is best represented by EastEnders or Coronation Street where everyone knows everyone’s business and everything becomes a cause for public discussion, is.  Fall out with someone here, and thank heavens I never have, and your life could soon become almost intolerable. I think it’s really quite intimidating for people like my new Polish neighbours, who are talked at whenever they walk to their house, and find themselves the subjects of intense scrutiny, or for the young married couples down the street who don’t know the history of the various households, or unwritten “customary law” and “traditions” of the road I have spent the last five years learning.   You park in the wrong place, like the poor actress who rented a house the Christmas before last for a few weeks while she worked the panto season, and face the consequences. She was unloading her baggage to move in  the house, and had a group of neighbours asking who she was, why her car was there, and shouting at her because she had parked in a spot outside their window. I went out and tried to help her, and managed to find out she was becoming a resident, but then I became the subject of some of the hostility – she only managed a few days before she moved on I think.  God help those who try and park their cars down here to go shopping: the roads nature pretty much precludes that though, as it is so narrow. Parking your car an inch too far across and impeding others access and you immediately incur a lynch mob…

Still it’s a wonderful place to live, and I want to reiterate that. If you are a private person like Lisa, or are used to the anonymity of a suburban semi, I’m sure it could be hell on earth. Communities are people, and big communities mean you have a lot more people in your life. I think Andrew Oakley would enjoy it here — I certainly do — but for those whose lives are shaped by privacy, neighbours who may nod in passing, and a comfortable retreat in to their own homes, this could be a future vision of Britain they are not keen to see come to fruition…

cj x

Grand Tribunal 2010 – Ars Magica convention in Cheltenham UK! (August 20th to 22nd)

Well it’s been a long time in the planning, but I can finally confirm that Grand Tribunal 2010 will be going ahead this year in Cheltenham. This will be the fourth Grand Tribunal, a mini-convention dedicated to ATLAS GAMES products and in particular the tabletop roleplaying game of magic in 13th century Europe, Ars Magica.  Anyone signed up to the yahoogroup should have already received an update with details of pricing, accommodation options and the first events planned.  It’s all still in the early stages though.

So far I have not been overwhelmed by the rush of bookings – in fact Kevin Sides is the only person to confirm he is coming! Becky is going to run the boardgames room, and its safe to say I will be there, but it would be nice to see a few more people

I would also love to see some of my friends who don’t normally play games coming along just to see what it’s all about, but quite understand it is not everyone’s cup of tea.  If my neighbour stops phoning me very thirty seconds (despite me spending most of the morning with her –sorry it’s driving me nuts a little!) I hope to update the wiki/webpage in the next few minutes, with full details of accommodation options, pricing etc.  For now I will merely say the event runs from Friday evening to Sunday lunch time, you have to sort out your own accommodation, and tickets are currently for next week or so priced at £12 for the whole event.

If you have any interest, or any questions regarding the event, please feel free to email me on chrisjensenromer@hotmail.com

And coincidentally, it’s my birthday that week, so delegates should come bearing precious gifts — I’m a bit short on vis actually! Full details available shortly (if I cruelly turn my phone off and can concentrate for ten minutes) at  http://www.grandtribunal.org/

cj x

Grand Tribunal is held by kind permission of Atlas Games.
“Grand Tribunal” and the “Grand Tribunal” logo are trademarks of Trident, Inc. 
d/b/a Atlas Games, used with permission.

The End of an Era: Richard Dawkins forum to close

I was going to write a brief piece tonight on my new board game “Earth: Our Home” I created for the the Richard Dawkins Science Writing Contest. I test played it with Luke, Kev and Tom tonight, and we had a wonderful time slaughtering each other species and fighting for control of this pale blue dot.  500 million years passed in two hours, and at the end it was incredibly close, but I won.

Unfortunately I popped over to RD.net to see what was going on, and found that an announcement had been made that the forum is to close. It will remain live for 30 days to allow us to retrieve anything we want to save: given I had written over 10,000 posts (7,000+ remain after an earlier purge)  and I guess many million words as I am not known for my brevity, that will prove immensely difficult. Given that the search has not worked for months, in order to protect other parts of the website and keep the bandwidth manageable, well it will be next to impossible. I have tried waybackmachine: no good.

My RD.net avatar designed by Thwoth to mark my Science Writing victory...

I had a hilarious exchange on this blog once before with someone who had a rather bizarre view of the history of RD.net: the details don’t matter, but I will briefly now discuss the matter. A few years ago the great man Dawkins0 became aware that there were forum posts which were rather er, colourful (“What does sperm taste like? was the infamous example always cited) and suddenly over night a large part of the forum was just deleted.  The bit which went comprised the chatty silly areas -  I lost about 20% of my posts, as i tended ot post mainly in the Faith & Religion and General Science areas anyway. This led to a major row, with a  number of atheist who saw this as censorship buggering off to create their own communities: it was not really the imposition of community standards which did it, but the clunky way it was handled. We lost the original admins (OBC, Kevin Ronayne)  about that point, and by 2009 a new set of mods had taken over. It was still a great site though, though I miss the early days – but nostalgia ain’t what it used to be…

Tonight the proverbial has really hit the fan. Again the closure of the forum may NOT be all it seems: a new kind of heavily moderated discussion area will exist, and approved topic can be discussed. What it does mean is the death of the forum community, and like the end of the Living TV Most Haunted forum dozens of new forums will spring up, but I’lll lose touch with most of the friends I made in my years over there since December 2006.  We can’t even talk about iot now – I tried to log back in and found a message telling me “Sorry but this board is currently unavailable.”

It is such a blasted shame: to try and name them all would be impossible, but my thoughts really go out to all those who worked so hard to make it a success – firstly Sciwoman, so long a mod, then an admin, and a good friend. We shared a lot of laughs and a lot of misery, and she has been a good friend to me. Then there is the excellent CJ – no not me, CJ was an admin or possibly just a mod I think and was one of the best, and used to welcome every new poster. In the great purge he was demoted to ordinary member status for something that had nothing to do with his work as a mod: the backstairs politics of the forum was always machiavellian, but CJ happened ot have publicly discussed things which were considered verboten from his own personal life – ironically things this CJ discusses just as openly.  Who else? The Old Farts were all great, and much missed – they were a loose collective of posters who had a great time. JimC was always one of my faves, a wonderful Australian biologist with a sharp sense of humour.

My life will be poorer for not hearing from the splendid Aussie atheist Goldenmane: I’ll miss Hackenslash, Ilovelucy, Durro, MedGen, Mechtheist, MacDoc, FlyingScot, Natselrox, and me and Tim O’ Neil had a wonderful time together fighting Jesus Mythers and the terminally ill informed. Mercer is a thoroughly fine fellow: and my companions in faith Imperiatorium and of course my good mate Grahbudd, plus the really decent Jewish engineering student whose name I  just can;’t for the life of me recollect right now.

There are SO many others – Darren from Canada, whose profanity was always laced with awesome humour; Mazille, who brought me back to the forum with the science writing contest I have invested so much time on, Thwoth the brilliant artist and sharp wit, Hyrax a truly lovely guy and great mod, Campermom who was always great on science,  the simply awesome FedupwithFaith, and one of the sharpest minds of all Spaghettisawus who is a really top bloke.

So I’m sad: rather than carry on with the litany of names, which is so difficult as i’m missing dozens of really great people out (Topmum?- I just can’t recollect user names right now) I’ll make a few general comments… (but not forget Jerome Serpenti, Homo Economicus, Matalnifesto, Dave C, Pdavid…)   The sad thing about the death of an internet forum is in some sense all these people become part of your life, and they touch you. I really got to care about people I only ever knew as words on a screen. Sad? Maybe, but its a part of life in the 21st century – some of our friendships are with people we may never physcialy meet. (I was lucky enough to meet three members – sadly the accounts of our meetings were lsot in the first great purge.)

I enjoyed being Jerome (a contraction of Jensen Romer), the Anglican who always had something controversial to say. I enjoyed my arguments with the great and the good, my ill fated challenge to Richard Dawkins to a debate on the history of Science, my fun debates on the rationality of theism and on life after death.  Most of all though I enjoyed the people, the new ideas, the constant challenge to my beliefs, and the ability to ask others to question theirs.

Apparently the new website to replace the forum will only allow posts clearly in the areas of Reason and Science, and that is in itself interesting. I wonder what that means? Will Atheism cease to be a major plank of the new website? Will religious believers like me now be officially banned? In my more more egotistical twat moments I’d like to think my success at arguing for actual history over myths may have hastened the demise of the old forum, and this is a ridiculous attempt at censorship — but I VERY much doubt it: in fact it’s absurd.  What I doubt will ever happen on the new website is that someone will win the say writing contest with an essay ripping to shreds the nonsense about the conflict of religion and science, or we will have a sensible discussion about parapsychology, or the evidence for the historical Jesus, or any of the things I spent so much time  writing about on the forum.

That’s a damned shame. Reason and Science were furthered by those discussions I think: people came to examine their personal beliefs (I certainly did) and were exposed to opinions sharply divergent from there own. I learned a helluva lot, but above all I learned tolerance and respect for my opponents, even if I still disagreed with them after all the shouting.

So why has it happened?  No one actually knows. The mods have been dismissed, or rather given notice, and the website administrators made a unilateral decision to withdraw the forum for the new website. My utterly cynical guess is simple: it comes down to money. I have no idea how well offf the Richard Dawkins Foundation is, though it’s a registered charity so the accounts are public domain I think: but ultimately the forum must have eaten a hug amount of resources and bandwidth.  I have no idea if the Rational Response Squad is till going after their troubles in 2008 , but running an atheist forum is probbaly a license to lose money. People loved the forum, but did they buy from the shop, read the main pages and support the RDF? I don’t know, but I suspect most forum users went staright to the forum and ignored all that stuff.

And so I appreciate this may have well been a sound commercial decision: to support the RDF,  more traffic needs to be routed through the main site.  Looking at ALEXA the site had continued to grow slowly in popularity, and was ranked 14,799 in the world (top 2000 in New Zealand and South Africa, top 4,000 in the UK, top 9,000 in the USA) – a tremendous success.  Yet the search function had gone, and as always the forum often fell over through sheer weight of numbers. It desperately needed investment in servers and infrastructure: instead it has been decided to kill the forum, and create a new streamlined website.  I can see why — but it does not help those of us who invested so much in making the site what it is.

Ultimately the decision is one man’s: Richard Dawkins.  I never really got to know the bloke in all my time on the forum, as he posted less and less, and when he did it was often after something like this, when he gets the stick. The Great Purge was necessary to protect his reputation and that of the rDF when it was going for charitable status: some of the stuffon the site might have upset the Charity Commissioners, but I think they could differentiate between what the RDF stood for and the opinions voiced on an internet forum – but maybe not.  Still, if he is digging deep in to his own pockets to support the forum, and would rather spend his money on “God probably does not exist” adverts on the side on buses who are we to complain. Ultimately it’s Richard’s site – and Richard calls the shots.

Still, I think a lot of people are as usual not so much upset that it has happened but at the usual complete lack of communication that have left us with thirty days to save what we can and make our escape plans. And that si really not something i can forgive lightly. Oh well, so be it…

I returned to the forum to say my good byes and found I could not actually post any more.  What I found was a hilarious piece of craven cowardice and stupidity. A notice appended to the previous announcement, which reads –

Update: We had intended to leave the forum fully-funtioning (sic) for 30 days, but due to the inappropriate posts by some users and moderators, we have decided to leave the forum in a read-only state. You can still download and archive your posts and private messages, but the ability to enter new posts has been disabled. It’s unfortunate that it had to come to this. We know that change can be difficult and sometimes frightening, but we are all very excited about the direction of the website and the future.

I’m not, and I suspect over 85,000 other forum users will join me in calling on Richard Dawkins to sack those responsible for what has been a lousy piece of absolutely moronic administration, and boycotting the new website entirely. I don’t mean the decision to close the forum – I can understand if that is necessary – I mean the appalling, insensitive and now frankly ridiculous way it has been done. I wait with interest to see what Dawkins himself makes of all this. To be honest it is a particular kick in the teeth for everyone who has worked so hard on their entries for the Science Writing Contest — voting was due to start tomorrow.

If any one from the old forum reads this, please do comment, I want to stay in touch!

I’ll end with a public service announcement

Atheist forums you might want to try

http://www.rationalskepticism.org/

(a forum specifically set by poster Life up for ex-RD.net folks, where I also happen to be a mod)

http://rationalia.com/forum/

http://forum.herd-of-cats.com/

http://freethought-forum.com/

http://thinkingaloudforum.com/

http://www.thinkatheist.com/

and forums that are intelligent fun and atheists may enjoy, but which are NOT atheist forums

http://www.ukskeptics.com/forum.php

http://forums.randi.org/

have fun guys, and may your gods go with you… 

UPDATE: Former mod Darkchilde’s blog offers inside perspective  on this extraordinary mess:  http://tenebra98.blogspot.com/2010/02/death-of-forum-death-of-rdnet-forum.html

UPDATE: Hackenslash rallys the refugees! – Good on you man… (YouTube link) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyLnxu19DM8&feature=player_embedded

UPDATE: Several mods deleted, along with all their posts.. Mazille, CJ (the other one), Valden, kiki and Darwinsbulldog — about a 30.000 posts gone in this most peculiar purge.

http://rationalia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=8864

UPDATE: Former mod  Peter Harrison blogs on events at the forum -

http://realityismyreligion.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/locked-entry-will-open-soon/

Update: Richard Dawkins responds

http://forum.richarddawkins.net/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=110356

As I have engaged in no such vitriolic attacks i will not be apologizing: they are ridiculously over the top, and i’d love to know where they were posted and take the idiots who said it to task.  I will apologise I personally villified Richard Dawkins in anyway. Yet I stand by EVERY WORD I wrote: this whol ematter was dealt with dreadfully, and the deletion of the mods posts was shameful.

J x  (who is an Anglican: prejudice declared!)

Boardgame Review: Settlers of Catan

I like boardgames, as many readers of this blog will know, and recently I reviewed the excellent Ticket to Ride: Europe, a game which has been taking up far too much of my time recently. On Saturday night I dug out an old favourite of mine to show Becky, one of the few games I would compare with Ticket to Ride in quality - Settlers of Catan.  I picked up the game back in 1996: Polly and I played it for months, and most of my friends have played it a few times. I bought it in a little game shop in Cambridge now sadly closed, and it is a testimony to how good it is that the Bury St. Edmunds lads made their own sort of copy to play till the they got the one they ordered! (Trust me – that’s a lot of work, you are much better off buying it!) Tonight I played tow games against Kevin and Luke – and despite not playing for over ten years now, I won both. I’m looking forward to teaching Becky the game when she comes down on Friday, she will love it I think.

I noticed before Christmas that my local W.H.Smiths stock it in their game section, so it’s a game anyone can pick up. There is also a travel edition, but to be honest I’d buy the full size version – expect to pay anything between £25 and £35 for it (more in W.H.Sniths as  I recall) but if you like games, and are bored with Monopoly, Risk, and Cluedo (I’m not a great fan) this is a fun and fairly simple game playable in an hour to an hour and a half. And it is a really good one, a real classic. Five out of five as far as I’m concerned! In fact I would say even if boardgames are not your thing, then like Ticket to Ride this is a game well worth buying anyway.

So what’s it about and how does it work?

Well I guess the back story is some settlers have arrived on the island of Catan, and are building little empires. No fighting in this game – you can build little towns, roads and cities, and trade with each other. The clever bit is how the game works – the island of Catan is made up of a number of hexagonal tiles, which bear one of six types of terrain (not counting the surrounding sea), and each (bar ) produce a resource.  There are plains which produce grain, mountains which produce rock, forests which produce timber, hills that produce brick, and  pastures which produce wool. There is also a single desert – that does not produce anything.

Each time you play you shuffle these tiles face down and lay them in a random order, so the map changes. Then you place counters on top, that bear the numbers 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 11, and 12. On your go each turn you roll two six sided dice, and the hexes with the corresponding numbers produce resources, assuming anyone has a city or town next to them.  Yes anyone. So if I roll an 8 and Luke and Kev have a town each adjacent to a hex numbered 8, and that hex produces say wool, they both pick up a wool card and add it to their hands.

It’s really VERY simple; but an ingenious bit of game design. You don’t have to wait till your next go to get cards, and s the player whose turn it is can initiate trading at any time, well you have to be constantly involved – no time to dash off and check your email before your next go as with some games.  The capacity to trade freely with other players and swap cards makes for a really interactive game.

Settlers of Catan 4th edition: I play 3rd, but the rules are the same.

So what do you do with the cards?

You build stuff. New towns, new roads, upgrade existing towns to cities, or buy Settlers of Catan special event cards which might give you a Monopoly on a resource for a turn, a Knight (explained later), Road building (add two bits of raod immediately) or a Breakthrough – a palace, tower, or some other architectural item which gives you a free Victory Point. The players with the most Knights (but at least three)  gets two points for having the largest army, the player with the longest road gets 2 points, and each town is worth one point and city two points.  As the game goes on and people build cities the rate at which resources are acquired speeds up (a city lets you draw two resources when a hex it is adjacent to is activated) and to my mind the game always seems to end suddenly, in an exciting last turn or two as suddenly a player gets to eight victory points and everyone tries to stop them.

Settlers of Catan in play

Knights & Robbers

The observant will have noticed that when I listed the numbers above I missed out 7. That’s because when 7 comes up, the most frequent roll on 2 six sided dice summed (or 2d6 as gamers would say), the palyer who rolled it gets to move a big wooden token called The Robber. That player places the Robber in a hex adjacent to a nother player’s settlement, and steals one of their cards. More importantly that hex now does not produce ANY resources until the robber is moved – and that will only happen when someone rolls a seven again, or draws a Knight card from the Settlers of Catan cards, which allows them to move the robber.  The robber is a real pain!  While each settlement adjoins three hexes (settlements are built on hex junctions, roads along edges) and you can block each other by building raods and cities to stop your opponent getting a valuable resource, using the rober against them is a really effective tactic.

The problem with board games: and a solution – play Catan free now?

The problem with board games is simple; they are a social activity. That is of course also a huge strength – playing Settlers will require three to four of you with at leat an hour an a half free to sit around a table.  It’s much easier to fire up the X-box and play some game, or even to play a game on the web. Of course I play Ticket to Ride on-line (see the review I wrote for details of how; but I did not think it was possible to play Settlers like this. I was wrong! If what you have read so far sounds interesting, why not give the game a go now? You will need to register, and download some software, but I have given it a go – and there is aversion you can play against robot opponents which is ideal for learning the game. However multicatan is very complicated even to an old hand like me, and i find the on-line version (which includes element sof the Seafarers of Catan expansion I have never played) quite confusing! Also unlike Ticket to Ride online, the online Settlers of Catan take place over a week, with you recieving email offers of trades from other playes.  Well I have signed up fr a game (as cj.23 as normal) – and i’ll let you know how I fare!

Settlers of Catan: the video

Amazon offer this rather jolly little video that will teach you how to play the boardgame -have a look (includes sound!)

From Ricall to York: Our New Ars Magica Saga Starts

A few days ago Tom and I were chatting about how much fun it would be to start a new Ars Magica roleplaying game saga.  So there being a CJ involved, this happened, and quickly. Tom, Ed and I discussed the setting and decided on the Stonehenge Tribunal (roughly speaking England & Wales) and as I have long wanted to do a game which covers the Angevin/Plantagenets from Henry II through Richard, John and Henry III we decided on a start date of 1160, and a fast saga with a few years between stories. The changing of the seasons and usurpation seemed appropriate themes, and we therefore decided to go for the players as new magi arriving at a Winter covenant that had declined in to a crumbling wreck. Tom wanted to set the saga in York, and so the stage was set.

The first real issue was whether to use the setting published already in David Chart’s excellent 4th edition Tribunal book, Heirs to Merlin. We decided not to, but instead created our own covenants, simply because the players were all so familair with Blackthorn, Voluntas, etc, etc and therefore we thought it would be fun to do something different. We created a number of covennats – the actual method used I shall not discuss just yet, in case the players (or their characters) work it out in the course of the saga.

The players covenant was named Domus Alba Rosa, hopefully close to the Latin for the House of the White Rose, and attached to St. Peter’s school in York, a real urban school founded back in the Dark Ages and still going strong today.  The physical setting was two townhouses over a set of Roman catacombs in Micklegate, with a near by hostelry the Blue Boar as a hang-out for grogs and consortes and the schoolroom across the river near th Minster. As Tom and I will both be running adventures, we spent a lot of time discussing the details  – a statue of Mithras was found near here, so we decided there must be a Mithraeum, and then the Legion of Mithras I had detailed in The Mysteries Revised Edition seemed a sensible theme for the covenant (though we had other themes we wanted to include as well form our covenant design ideas).

I created the covenant using 600 build points and Covenants: medium power as long in decline. Tom did a splendid job on sorting out what the vis sources are, so I concentrated on books, and the mechanics, before creating the personalities. Here are my notes –

Magi Domus Rosa Alba

The Magi of the House of the White Rose, York

The once great covenant has now fallen in to ruin and dilapidation. While the townhouses remain structurally sound, warm and comfortable and the catacombs habitable, age has wreathed the corridors in cobwebs, and smoke has long since darkened the diamond pains of glass. Across the river the School hall is maintained better, but even there the dust of centuries has gathered on the wooden benches of the schoolroom high above the shops, and the wooden steps up creak ominously under the weight of the masters.

The Library high in a well tarred and isolated attic of Crosskeys House has the books piled on tables, but they are few compared with days past. Every year visitors borrow books to aid them in some heroic quest, and every year they take vis and disappear off to fight terrible foes of the Order surely it would be churlish to ask them to replace it? Most of the resources appear to have vanished to other Covenants, even other Tribunals. Meanwhile the magi have forgotten about glory: their grogs no longer have weaponry, or armour, and are little more than the best brawlers in the Blue Boar Tavern, and the school is utterly neglected, save by Thomas, who dreams of a day when the Covenant will again be a force to be reckoned with.

There are currently (1160) three magi at the Covenant – Henri the Quaesitor, the long term visitor Leona of Bjornaer, and the Jerbiton Archmagus Helena Mavrocatalon, a Byzantine nobleman/woman who has lived in the Tribunal for over 80 years, and speaks fluent English when the mood takes him/her.

Her Eminence Helena Mavrocatalon Constantinopolis, Imperatrix Rosa Alba, Archmaga Jerbiton, Poetess, Warrior, Hoplite, Heroine, and Defender of the Order.

Helena as we shall call her for short (but NEVER make this error) is a 138 year old Byzantine nobleman, of an illustrious family, closely related to the current Emperor of the Romans, Manuel I Kommenos –  these are the Byzantine Greeks in Constantinople in case anyone is confused! As such she adopts imperial affectations, and is incredibly vain, effete, and always heavily made up with a ridiculous wig and vast amounts of jewellery. Despite all these things, she is still quite clearly male, and following a Twilight episode decades ago can never change her gender, or have it changed, by magic.

Eight decades ago she arrived in York, and made quite a splash at her first Tribunal, soon becoming deeply involved in Tribunal politics. Her exquisite manners, fawning catamites and eunuchs and incredible arrogance soon made an impact: everyone in the Tribunal knows he is a super-bitch beyond compare, but a bitch who throws the most incredible orgies, and whose decadence is far beyond anything the Catholic Church could ever stomach. Several Archbishops of York condemned her from the Minster pulpit: she laughed at them, and her fabulous wealth and insatiable desire for trinkets and luxuries soon swung the citizens behind this astonishing creature. Even today the Masters of every Guild would come to her immediately if she called upon them – but as he has not been twenty years dead as far as they know, they are unlikely to do so.

Her “death” was nothing to do with hiding her longevity from the mundanes, or mortals as she disparagingly calls them, of York.  Whatever her reason, her seclusion has been long, but not uneventful. A skilled political player, a terrible foe, and a sworn defender of the Order of Hermes,  her anger is terrible, her vengeance burns, and those she classes as enemies rarely live to the next Tribunal. Many regard her as a vain arrogant transvestite  maniac, but any brave enough to say so will die in a Wizard’s War pursued with incredible energy. She has slain eight magi in justly declared Wizard Wars: the furthest was in the Rhine Tribunal, and mocked her in a drunken after dinner conversation in his home covenant.

Yet there is not a Hoplite in the Tribunal who would not spring instantly to her defence, or unquestioningly follow her orders. Only Flavius, the Exarch of Tremere at Mons Castrum may have more influence over the loyal Hoplites. She is the Persian of Mithras, Commander of the Legion in the Tribunal, and a legend among them. She always affects silver robes or dresses prominently displaying the sign of Taurus, and her influence stretches even beyond the Tribunal borders – wherever there are Hoplites, she has friends. It is rumoured her own House, Jerbiton, are far less enamoured of her though, and the dislike extends to her loathing for the covenant of Aedis Rex, even redcaps from that covenant being received with scorn and treated with the very barest of courtesies required by the Order.

She knows many secrets though, and uses them well, her network of spies and agents rival those of any Tytalus.

Leona of Bjornaer, Aged 59.

If anyone rivals Helena (but don’t call her that) in regal arrogance, pride and deadly contempt for fools, it is Leona of Bjornaer.  She is a Captain of Mithras, and does not care who knows it – and she has been here four years on her Mystery Cult’s business, guarding the Mithraeum, and  seeking mysteries of Constantine. She originates from the Levant, and is half-Arab, half crusader but unlike Helena does not respond well to questions about her parentage – it is popularly rumoured she is the daughter of a King though. No one can upstage her, talk down to her, or try to control her – except Helena. Everyone thought the two maga would hate each other – instead they have become incredible friends.

Her religion remains a mystery, and yet she is known to have a sympathy for the Jews of York, leading some to wonder if she may be a secret Heathen. No one has ever seen her in church, but no one has ever been foolish enough to comment (Helena does not go either, being of the Orthodox Christian rite).

Whatever Leona’s business in the Tribunal, she is very discreet, but has on several occasions been spotted padding silently around the alleys in the moonlight. The Archbishop of York has heard stories of a lion in the city, and they have been so persistent he has offered a reward t anyone who can capture the beast for his planned menagerie – something which Leona derives much amusement from.

A silent, merciless killer who speaks no English, she has little time for the covenfolk and less for the farmers whose sheep she preys upon… Don’t mess with her, or you might perish.

Henri the Quaesitor, aged 63

Henri has been at the covenant since his childhood, and was the apprentice of Green Stephen, a Bonisagus with a research interest in faerie matters who died mysteriously on a Christmas night some fifty winters ago. Henri himself was adopted by Petros the Just, a Guernicus Quaesitor, and served his final two seasons of apprenticeship with Petros before Gauntleting in that House. He has a bad reputation as poorly trained throughout House Guernicus, and is widely believed to be incompetent. Selected as an emissary to the Loch Leglean Tribunal he was effectively banished there for three terms of seven years, and on his return he became something of a recluse, fearing being sent abroad once again as an embarrassment to his House. No one asks him to defend their case, and no one seeks his counsel on legal matters.  His sole duty is approving Hoplites adventures, and dealing with te administration and paperwork for the Legion on behalf of Helena who treats him like an unpaid skivvy. He is well known as an incompetent yes-man, and even within the Legion of Mithras has never advanced beyond the second rank – a Bride, he wears the Green cloak and silver lantern broach to display his status as an investigator of the Legion.

Those who know him well know that the Covevant’s school and Scriptorium would never run without his careful attention, and that really he is the effective working member of the covenant, though he would never dare says so It was he who invited the magi to come to Domus Rosa Alba, presumably on behalf of Helena and Leona, as he would never presume to do anything without their command.

Next up we needed the other covenants, so I wrote them up based on Ed and Tom’s notes.

Covenants of the Stonehenge Tribunal

Stonehenge has a fairly isolationist tradition, and some of the Covenants are not overly sociable, Many do not welcome visitors, and even trade in magical resources is relatively uncommon. The more civilised (read Southern English and Yorkshire) covenants often look to the Normandy Tribunal for support and visitors.  This insular aspect to life in the Tribunal is reflected in the Tradition that only two magi from each Covenant are invited to attend each Tribunal, but they of course carry the sigils of the others. Any magi may attend f they so wish, against this tradition, but it is considered rude and unnecessary. Politics revolve around maintaining the status quo, and  are positively sleepy by other Tribunal’s standards, with “minding your own business” being considered a high virtue here.

Aedis Rex: Bury St Edmunds –  in the shadow of the Great Abbey, visitors should enquire at the Prior’s House, and make the sign of Intellego. Home to three Jerbiton Magi, a Quaesitor and two Redcaps.. Non-Gentle Gifted magi should take lodgings outside the town and send a messenger instead. Said to have the greatest library in the Tribunal of books on Abilities, and known to be a centre for the Pythagorean mysteries, which welcomes students who can pass the examinations. Rufus of Nantwich leads the magi here, and is a master of Disputatio, that is public debates. He engages in lengthy correspondence with magi all over the Tribunal, and is always willing to assist young magi working on research projects.

Atrium Mercatus – Londinium – With a Gifted Mercere, four Redcaps, a Quaesitor, two Jerbiton, two Bonisagus, two Ex Miscellanea and three Verditius, this is the site of the Mercer House for the area. Said to offer excellent hospitality, good opportunities for visiting the fleshpots of London and yet a strangely warm and familial welcome to members of the Order. Vis and potent magic items can be purchased or be exchanged here at better rates than the rest of the Tribunal offers. Tribunal Meetings are held here, deep within the Dominion aura of the city, rather than as in other Tribunal’s at the Praeco’s home.The actual Mercer House is a rambling house in the centre of the city, filled with young apprentices: it is said that Atrium Mercatus takes more apprentices than anywhere else, perhaps because of the Orphanage they run which proves a useful source of Gifted kids.

Cad Gadu, Domus Magna of House Ex Miscellanea, on Lake Bala, North Wales. Home to many Ex Miscellanea magi, and two redcaps. No one not invited can find the magical glass island upon which the covenant stands, which must be situated in a regio? Non Ex Miscellanea are not welcomed here, though Redcaps may visit freely, and many Merinita and Bjornaer have been invited to attend specific meetings. By tradition any visitor who has genuine business with the Primus Ex Miscellanea (currently Immanola)  may  travel to Pont Mwnwgl-y- llyn and blow the horn suspended from the hazel tree there to summon Immanola to a meeting in London at Atrium Mercatus that same day! The secrecy of the covenant breeds suspicion, as does the many deaths reported among its members.

Sagittarii: West Wales – Criamon clutch set in Egryn, West Wales. If you are not a Criamon you don’t know any more about this place. If you are you might. The clutch has five members, and is one of the largest Criamon centres in Northern Europe.  No one messes with them, as they have a reputation for extremely lethal defence of their vis sources and privacy, and a House Criamon Quaesitor (who may be unique in the whole Order in that capacity) is one of the five inhabitants: he is known to be extremely good at Hermetic Law. Three decades ago Mons Castrum believing they may have Diedne links declared Wizards War against the inhabitants, and lost three magi without coming close to the valley where they dwell. The surviving attackers were invited in, shown around, and left their wounds tended and their fears of Diedne influence dispelled, but word spread their were worse horrors defending this place. Many believe they have tamed a dragon, but the magi of Mons Castrum never broke their oath of silence about what they saw there that they swore to be allowed to concede the Wizard’s War and depart in peace..

The Wild Woods – Forest of Dean – home to an exiled Rhine Ex Miscellanea and several natives of that tradition, as well as two Merinita, Joanna Silvae a young maga is the person visitors usually deal with. Uninterested in politics, they welcome vis trade and are said to have some curious spells and magic items they will trade lab texts for; but the focus on Herbam magic leaves many magi not willing to make the effort. They are said to have shaped the very woods to serve their needs, and live lives of idle pleasure, but they politely resist any attempt to make them participate in the Tribunal, and les politely throw out any who attempt to reduce their hard won independence. Recently it was rumoured they approached the Tribunal of Novgorod asking to be accepted as a covenant of that Tribunal, but the truth of the rumour is unknown.

Heremus: Cumbria – somewhere in the wasteland, a mixed covenant.  Home to several Ex Miscellanea, a Flambeau and four Bjornaer magi, but governed by a Tytalus, Hugh, who is said to be utterly mad. The Loch Leglean Tribunal occasionally accuses them of raiding across the borders, but they have plenty of vis so it is hard to see why they would bother. They are on excellent terms with the Chapel of the Green Knight (see next entry). The actual position of the covenant seems to be elusive, and finding them is a problem to all but the most experienced redcaps. They have some long term plan which is little known to outsiders but involves heroic effort.

Basilicola Equites Viridis: Wirral – Covenant of the Chapel of the Green Knight – a legendary location, home to many members of House Tytalus, Jerbiton, Merinita and  Flambeau. The Knights loathe the Tremere of Mons Castrum with a passion, but are rumoured to have upset Sagittarii recently by adopting a Criamon exiled from there in to their fellowship. Many have wondered what the Criamon maga did to get herself expelled: to get chucked out of House Criamon you must be REALLY weird.

Eruditio Palus – Somerset Marshes, near Glastonbury – a few level-headed mages try to gather vis and cut through the mysticism surrounding Glastonbury. Home to the legendary monk and cartographer Egbert, known for his lewd dancing which led to his expulsion form his monastery. Several Bjornaer and Bonisagi make their home here, and they are said to have many excellent books on the Arts and welcome visitors who are willing to risk catching swamp ague. There are always a Quaesitor based here, though why no one can say, as it is little involved in politics, mundane or Hermetic.

Mons Castrum Shropshire, Bridgnorth – in the caves underneath Bridgnorth’s table mountain, a warren of wizards keep their fortress ready. Home to the Tremere Exarch Flavius and five followers (this is a highly defensible position) plus a couple of martial-minded Flambeau associates. Flavius is Praeco by virtue of being the oldest magi in the Tribunal – he is 136 years of age in 1160, and still capable of riding his magical steed which is said to be able to run upon the winds, and a fearsome warrior and an even more fearsome master of Rego magics.

Alba Rosa – Your covenant. The name means White Rose.

Woodpecker covenant, on the North Yorkshire Moors so-called as they started off “guests” of Walter l’Espec aka “Walter the Woodpecker”, founder of Helmsley castle in 1120, Rievaulx abbey (2 miles away, a major Cistercian place with a fine wool produce and a forge) and Kirkham Priory (Augustinian). This wealthy and ambitious builder and generous philanthropist is clearly too good for mages to pass up. He was raised up by Henry I, controlled Northern England for a few years with Eustace FitzJohn At this point the castle is made of wood (and the town is called “Hamlake”) and owned by Walter’s sister, Adelina and her husband Peter de Roos..

Medicata Insula: Lindisfarne – Holy Island covenant, a mixed group of mages who live in a high Dominion aura, yet somehow cope. Physically isolated by both tide and distance, they rarely turn up to Tribunal meetings. A Bonisagus maga called Isabella who lives here is known to be an expert on Hedge Magic traditions of the Order, and little liked by the rest of the covenant. Why she stays no one knows.

Well we only had four days from deciding to play the game, to actually starting the first session, so we have been working very fast, but I think we have a fair start here which should give us a few months play potential at least.So far Luke has designed his Mythic Companion, a Faerie Doctor called Sam, Kev played Colt the Smith his Verditius magi and Lloyd’s 22 year old Magister in Artibus has turned his back on Oxford University to become a school master at St. Peter’s York.  Lloyd has said he will write the first session up, so I will doubtless put that on my blog as well, but so far it’s been a lot of fun and they have only just arrived at the covenant! I’ll update from time to time with notes on how the game is going – gaming si an important part of my life, and I rarely talk about my rpg games here, but I guess a few of my fellow gamers might be amused or find something useful.

Oh I did a player handout – as the game opened on Christmas Day 1160 with the character’s trudging through the snow, I gave them a quick historical introduction to major events of that year…

The Year 1160

The Royal Family

The year just ending has been a peaceful one in Stonehenge. King Henry II is married to the former wife of his greatest enemy, Louis of France.  The beautiful Eleanor of Aquitaine is now 38 years old, but eight years ago to everyone’s amazement following the annulment to of her former marriage she ran away with King Henry. Their first child William died a few years ago, aged three, but they have three healthy sons – Henry aged seven, Richard aged three and Geoffrey aged two, as well as a four year old daughter, Matilda.

This year King Louis of France’s second wife (the one who replaced Eleanor) Constance of Castille died in October, giving birth to a daughter, Alys. She already had a child with Louis, the three year old Margaret of France, and that child is in the care of King Henry and Queen Eleanor, who promptly declare her engagement to their eldest living son, Henry. King Louis is furious, and marries Adele of Champagne almost as soon as his former wife is buried, still desperately hoping for a male heir. At the moment Young Henry of England (the four year old) may inherit France if King Louis dies!

War with France

In November the three year old Margaret f France was married to Young Henry (aged seven), with the Papal Legates Cardinal Willaim of Pavia and Cardinal Henry of Pisa speaking their vows for them, at a castle in Germany. Immediately the Templar held castle of Gisors which was due to be a wedding present had to be surrendered by France to the English King, and Count Theobald of Champagne (Louis’ new father in law) and King Louis of France started to strengthen their castles and prepare for war at Castle Chaumont.  King Henry then arrived with his army and the French nobles fled, so that castle too falls to the English. Further war between the Angevin Empire and France is now inevitable, despite, indeed because, of the royal marriage of the infants which may one day unite the two thrones.

Two Popes?

The death of Pope Adrian (an Englishman) leads to a strange situation: the English and French cardinals elect Alexander as Pope, but the German Cardinals claim their candidate Octavian won. There are now two Popes, both of whom claim to rule the Church. In England and Wales Alexander is considered the legitimate Pope, buit in Rome cardinals ort ricval factions still fight on the streets.

Another School Founded

Derby, England sees a new school founded, yet another  rival to St Peters, York by Walkelin of Derby. There are just too many schools these days, where will all the school children be found to fill them?

Raynald of Chatillion captured by Saracens

The Crusader Lord, Prince of Antioch by marriage to Constance of Antioch has been captured by the Saracens. Few mourn: four years ago he raided Cyprus, and when the Patriarch of Antioch (a leader of the Orthodox Church and great holy man) condem3ned this attack on the Christian island, Raynald had him seized, stripped naked, covered in honey, and left in the burning sun on top of the citadel. When the Patriarch was released, he collapsed in exhaustion and agreed to finance Raynald’s expedition against Cyprus. It was during a raid against the Saracens that Raynald was caught – they are said to be holding him prisoner in a  dungeon,

War in Italy

Holy Roman Emperor (& King of the Germans) Frederick Barbarossa takes Crema ,Italy, following a cruel siege, as part of his campaign against the independent Italian city-states.

I might write one of these for the 1220′s sometime as well, as that could be handy for a lot of Ars Magica sagas. Sadly Tom who was the creator of a good half of this could not make the first session, owing to snow, but he will be at next week’s game, when the character’s really get to know their new home

Just in case anyone wondered…

I’m still alive! I had an enjoyable board games evening last Friday night, and DC, Tom Nowell and Richard Lay came over for an hour and a half while we played a quick game of Condottierre, a fun card/board eurogame of Italian Renaissance empire building. Unfortunately DC then went down next day with the dreaded lurgy piggy flu, and so after a fairly depressing weekend in which I did not seem to achieve much (apart from being spaced out completely by some pills my doctor gave me) I spent much of Monday trekking about Cheltenham in the rain trying to get him his Tamiflu. Monday night Kevin  and Luke came over for Geist, the rpg of the unquiet dead, and last night I slept much of the evening. I’m glad to say it sounds like he is on the mend. Yesterday was taken up largely in running errands for people, and my failing to get my PIN number right so my bank account locked – I never made it to the bank today, but I will tomorrow. So after many hours of walking all over the place in the rain, and aching dreadfully and feeling run down, I have been sleeping most of today, and am glad to report I’m feeling much better and am pretty certain now I don’t have the dreaded lurgy. Anyway that’s my excuse for not having written anything here for a week!

Hope everyone well, cj x

The Cats of Normal Terrace: mourning Ziggy

Nowadays my blog is filled with me talking about ghosts and stuff, and it’s probably easy for people to forget that I have a life outside of work, psychical research and religion.  This post is about the street where I live, Normal Terrace, and the most important residents – the rulers in fact of our lane, the cats.

This morning my neighbour Chris called to tell me the sad but not unexpected news that Ziggy, aged 17, a lovely black and white puss had finally died.  He had been ill for months, and in sharp decline the last few days, but so often had he recovered from the point where all seemed lost  that his passing still came as a shock to me. In some senses I think it was a relief to us all – poor old boy, none of us wanted him to suffer, but the death of a beloved member of the community always hits home.

Ziggy lived seventeen happy years, with his sister Zag and the elegant Suki. Chris loves them all so much, and serves their imperious demands with a devotion many a cat owner will understand.  I know we don’t have favourites, but in a sense Ziggy was her favourite.

My acquaintance with Ziggy began when I moved in to the street, maybe four years ago now. He and Zag were not the friendliest of cats – unlike  the white lady who basks at the bottom of the street, or the beautiful but highly strung black fluffball Tina owns, Zig and Zag always kept thre distance. Attempts to pet them were rebuffed — and my cats never achieved more than a nodding relationship with those two. I really thought they were unfriendly, aloof little kitties, but I was always pleased to see them basking in the sun outside Chris’ house.

Then came that terrible day 18 months ago, when after a frantic struggle to save him, and a trip to Swindon it still hurts to think of, we lost Lisa’s beloved cat Marmalade. Some of you know the vents that followed, and how we have another fluffball now called Marmalade, but we will pass over that – the important thing is that among all the condolences, and the incredibly kind efforts of David Curtin who drove us on that last terrible journey, and brought us back in tears, the support from Tina, Lynn and all our friends in the street – well that was the day I cam to know Ziggy.

I was sitting on my doorstep, crying my eyes out. I rarely cry; I had not cried since 1992 until that day, but the dashing of our hopes just when we thought we had saved him had left me distraught. The sight of a grown man crying on his doorstep is not one many people care for, and I was therefore surprised when I felt a nudge. It was Ziggy – he came, climbed on to my lap, and nuzzled my nose. For the first time, and I had sat in the doorstep many times before while he regarded me warily, he had approached me, and now he purred and rubbed himself against me. I don[t know if he understood I was distressed or not, but I do recall the comfort he brought me. There were other cats, and always would be - Marmalade had gone, but all over the world new kittens were being born, who would live, play, hunt and wail as kitties everywhere do.

Ziggy and I became friends from that day onwards. I came to regard him as a good friend, and as Chris was unwell and I came to pop round more and more, for our little trips to the shops or afternoon chats, I came to befriend Zag and Suki as well, and when they were ill, I took them to the vets for Chris when they needed attention.  Stephen Crickmore of Albion Lodge (by the Tesco on the edge of forever) is a wonderful, compassionate and highly skilled vet - and he always did Ziggy proud. Chris nursed him, with special diets, endless love and affection, and cared fro him as i cared for my beloved Crowley who left me on a dark December morning last year. I know the sting of loss - but also I know that there is comfort in friends, in the happy memories, and in the moggies who remain and make their demands of us. Zig will be yowling for his supper in a better place now, but it's hard to imagine a better home than that Chris gave him - his Paradise must look alot like that little house in Normal Terrace!

One day in February I was convinced our journey together, Ziggy and I. would be our last. I walked to Stephen with heavy heart - I did not so much lift Ziggy in to the box as pour him in to it, and he had not eaten for days. I was trembling as I walked down the road, and yet as I approached I heard a loud indignant yowl and the old boy sprang up, and started purring. Stephen gave him some shots, and he was able to live another happy six months. Yet Stephen knew his days were numbered, and we all knew one day he would move on, leaving us to go play with the other kitties who have gone before.

Ziggy and Chris

That day has finally come, and I recieved the call from Chris this morning. I cried — I’m sad and sentimental at the moment anyway– but I have a happy thought. Yesterday the sun beat down on Normal Terrace, and Ziggy went outside, walked over to the fence, up and down a bit, and then lay down on his favourite spot. Last night he sat on Chirs’ lap till minutes before the end when he leapt down, lay down in front of the fire where he often basked, and went to sleep one last time.

Tonight we are taking him to Gareth’s to bury him, and pay our last respects. I’m hoping to be strong for Chris’ sake: I know how good it was to have Kevin Sides there for me when Crowley died, and am still thankful to Malcolm for his help that day. So I’m crying, but not for Ziggy – I’m crying for us — for Zag and Suki, for Chris, and for all of his friends he las left behind – but I’m not crying for Ziggy. He lived a wonderful life, and died content and peacefully at a great age, surrounded by those who love him.

I just hope, when the times comes, we can all manage to be as lucky as Ziggy.  Till we meet again Ziggy, love

cj  xx