Camping Is In Tents.
James Acaster, the new British PM, Trump, Julia Donaldson and a canine psychic.
Camping Is In Tents
Apologies for this rather short newsletter but I have just returned from my weekend camping trip with my Scouts and I am exhausted - but happy. There is nothing that gladdens my heart more than to go camping with young people and see the astonishing good that it does them. Every year our Scout group organises a Family camp where our Beavers, Scouts and Explorers can bring their parents along for a weekend of camping. This year we had around 60 young people come along and about 30 parents came along too. Our theme this year was The Olympics so we organised some mini-Olympic style events throughout the weekend.
We were delighted with the positive response from parents and the youngsters. I have been a scout leader for over 20 years and have witnessed first-hand the positive impact Scouting has on young people.
Scouting has a huge effect on Personal Development, Social Skills, Physical and Mental Well-being and community engagement and I have had the pleasure of watching many of my young scouts become well-adjusted adults and return to Scouting to become young leader’s themselves.
A Funny Thing Almost Happened To Me At The Forum
James Acaster is a British comedian of stage, TV and podcasts. My partner had bought us tickets to go and see him live at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town. I have only seen him a couple of times on TV prior to the show so I had an open mind.
It turns out that we were an audience of guinea pigs to test his new format of the audience sitting there for close to two and half hours without an interval while he rambled on, lost his thread of thought and tried to involve the audience. The show was titled ‘Hecklers Welcome’ and as he told us, it was because he’s been heckled a lot in previous shows. There were a couple of half-hearted heckles but nothing that Acaster took real advantage of. His party trick, when the audience wasn’t laughing, was to bring out someone in a giant party-gator suit, throw plastic balls around, and then run off stage. His show wasn’t helped by poor audio that was not very clear where he spent a lot of time mumbling into the microphone. The seating was bench-style with no seat backs and unbelievably uncomfortable. I know that on TV he can be genuinely funny – but the live performance has a lot to be desired. On the other hand, there were plenty of younger audience members who thought he was hilarious. I won’t be going again.
Julia Donaldson
I have started an online BBC course on how to write children’s picture books by the UK’s Children’s Laureate, Julia Donaldson. Ms Donaldson has sold over 100 million books and may have a thing or two to teach about the craft. I am on lesson 2 of 26. I am hoping that the lessons will enable me to look at writing children’s picture books from a different angle.
Starmer-Trump
The new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has now taken up residence at No10. Time will tell if he can make a difference. I won’t hold my breath. I’m of an age now where I have been able to witness that all politicians on all sides are the same. Many promises are made but virtually none are delivered. People have been voting for empty promises for decades and now we will watch and see what Starmer can bring to the table. Meanwhile in the US, Trump has been shot at. Tragically someone died because they missed Trump, only nicking his ear. Apparently, according to Trump, “God has chosen him to lead the American people.”
Canine Psychic
As promised, here is a brief rundown of how our hired canine psychic tried to calm our anxious and highly-strung dog, Koda from a remote location. Koda is nervous about loud noises, especially fireworks, motorbikes and loud cars and my partner, C thought it was worth a try. It was a Zoom call. The psychic asked a few questions about the dog (meanwhile Koda was in the room with us and her sister, Echo)
She explained that she was going to be a proxy to release fear and trapped emotions of anxiety, fear and love un-received. She also included a list of other emotions that included; abandonment at a young age which was being taken from their mother, loss, sadness, grief and panic. Insecurity at 8 or 9 months, feeling overwhelmed at 27 months. Koda has feelings of being forlorn, helplessness, confusion and heartache. All these emotions were trapped in her internal organs. During the call, the psychic had a magnet that she swung over the top of her head from the front to the back. This was to release the trapped emotions. There was a reset alignment and communication of energy, physical presence, spirit, brain and body. She realigned Koda’s chakra and governing meridian and reset her aura. She said it would take about 9 days to process and if it didn’t work we could contact her and pay for her to try again at £82 (for 2 dogs, even though the other one is fine)
We are Day 4 into the 9 days and not much has changed. Here are some pictures of the anxious dogs during the Zoom call.
As always my friends, stay safe and stay happy. Until next time, Ciao!
Simon JJ Green