Tibetan Monks - Glastonbury - and the Megabus experience

Robin Michael   Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:51 am GMT
I have just come back from my tour of Southern England. Strangely enough, the high light of the trip was Glastonbury - and in particular - the Tibetan monks.

On the way back I caught the Megabus from Edinburgh Airport to Aberdeen. If anyone is thinking of making this trip I would advise you to get the train via 'Trainline' or 'Scotrail'.

The Megabus experience is like going back in time to the fifties. Alternatively you could imagine that you are in a Communist country. The coaches are old and filthy. The journey is made up of various stops in the middle of no-where in which you are not allowed to take any coach that is going in your particular direction, but the one you are authorised to travel on. When this arrives late, the driver explains he works for another company, and the ticket which you also got from another company is not suitable - very Kafkaesque.

Imagine travelling by Megabus to catch a plane!
Imogen   Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:14 am GMT
I just brushed my teeth. I have a fresh tube of Colgate SuperWhitening. It had a nice zingy taste and I almost wanted to swallow it after I was done, but I spat it out instead. Then a lifted the handle of the faucet so water would pour out and wash away the toothpaste in the basin. It was cool watching the foamy water swirl around in the basin and then condense towards the drain. Then there was a sucking sound like a ghoul in a fairytale as the dirtied water was sucked down the drain into the maze of pipes underground. Then, when I was satisfied that everything was as it should be, I lowered the handle and blocked off the flow of water, and activity in the basin gradually died away. Eventually, after about 20 seconds the water had all drained down and the only thing that was left were a few moist areas. I guess those droplets didn't have enough mass for gravity to overcome friction, so they stayed put.

Then I went out of the bathroom, raised my arm in a sweeping motion, extended my index finger and pressed nonchalantly on the light switch, because I thought it would be a good idea to turn off the light before I left the room, because otherwise it would be a waste of electricity. Imagine leaving the light on with no one in the room! Then once I had applied enough pressure on the switch for it to snap into "off" position, and once I was sure the light was off, I lifted my right foot a few centimetres in the air, moved it forward and lowered it again. I repeated the same action with my left foot, and in that way advanced across the room towards the exit.
Damian London E14   Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:49 am GMT
Ah....Glastonbury......Glastonbury is a magical experience in itself.....just being there is enough for you to become totally immersed in the air of mystery the entire area exudes......the Isle of Avalon......it really is a strange sensation and I'm so glad that my mate and I stopped off there on the way down to Cornwall, which is yet another experience of its own. What an amazing country we live in.

Not only is Glastonbury itself a lovely wee town with great people but it seems to perpetuate the image of King Arthur in your mind and the legend that surrounds him, and wandering around the beautiful Abbey and then walking up to the Tor itself on the top of that weird looking hill dominating the Somerset Levels, passing the flowering shrub reputedly planted by Joseph of Arimathaea, you sense the air of the eventful history of the place......like Stonehenge it is breathtakingly spiritual so no wonder it attracts so many so called mystics and adherents of the Spritual Experience all the year round. I loved Glastonbury.

As for the Glastonbury Pop Festival - I've yet to go to that but I can't think of a more suitable location for it.

I'm going to a similar pop Festival later this month - the Big Chill, at Ledbury, Herefordshire - apparently a powerful experience in itself, too.....apparently the Big Chill attracts a somewhat different type of "clientele" than does Glastonbury.....there's only one way to find out...go there....set in the grounds of Eastnor Castle famous for its herds of deer....should be fun, and my grandparents live just four miles away....how convenient is that!

PS: Scotrail...always very highly recommended! A great way to see Scotland at its most magnificent! Suddenly I feel a pang of homesickness........
.   Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:47 am GMT
Hello Imogen

I had a discussion with my father about Glastonbury. He said that it was the subject of William Blake's poem, 'Jerusalem'. That the dark satanic mills refered to Bradford on Avon and not Bradford or Manchester.

On the way home from Edinburgh on Megabus, I passed Kinross and the remnants of 'T' in the park. I am sure there was a strong smell of beer. Glastonbury of course is close to Pilton where they have the Festival. I cycled from Bristol and I always managed to get in for free. One year I had to cross a stream and go through a gypsy caravan encampment.

Jerusalem

Blake's poem

And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen !

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills ?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills ?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire !

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.


The Hymn: "Jerusalem"

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
.   Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:55 am GMT
{A long time ago, on a cold and misty autumn morning, a farmer from Mobberley was crossing the Edge in order to sell his beautiful milk-white mare at Macclesfield market. Upon reaching the Thieves' Hole the horse stopped and refused to move forward for, out of nowhere it seemed, appeared an old man dressed in a dark flowing gown and with long hair and beard. The old man offered to buy the horse but the farmer rudely refused believing he would receive a better price at the market. "Go then" said the old man "but mark my words, although your horse will be much admired, no buyer will come forth and I will await your return and buy the animal".}

http://www.alderleyedge.org/Wizard.htm

I was watching 'The Gathering Storm' last night, a film about Churchill. In the film Churchill compares himself to King Arthur - waiting for the moment to rescue England from her enemies.

I believe at the time Volvo were selling engines for tanks.


The Gathering Storm (2002) (TV)
Directed by Richard Loncraine. With Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent. A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston ...
www.imdb.com/title/tt0314097/ - Cached - Similar
Federer   Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:19 am GMT
Is this the thread where we post random stuff that's got nothing to do with languages?

Ok, my turn:

I am sitting on a black leather chair. The chair has four supports. The seat and the back are merged into one smooth leather piece. The chair is very comfortable however recently I have noted that is has become quite worn down on the seat, and the cushions have become pressed down a lot. So now when I sit on it for a long period of time the hard parts seem to press into my legs, which causes me an unpleasant sensations. Once I had even been sitting for about two hours when I realised one of my feet had gone numb. It felt like a thousands ants were crawling all over my toes and even the ankle. Then I thought the best thing to do would be to stand up and shake my foot and maybe do a couple of squats to loosen up the tense muscle that had been cramped up against a hard object for such a long period of time. So I stood up and started shaking my leg vigorously, and after about thirty seconds I decided that it was enough, so I sat back down. However, as it turns out it seems it wasn't enough because about ten minutes later I felt that the unpleasant sensation was returning to torture me. This time, I was feeling rather irritable due to the last unpleasant encounter and I stood up in a flash and said a swearword which I will not repeat here. This time I paced around the room for about forty-five seconds, and then was about to sit down again when I thought that it would be pointless to repeat the same scene again. I was sure that my leg would get numb again rather quickly. Thus I decided to go out onto the terrace and walk around for a while, which I did. About seven minutes later I came back down and sat down on the chair again. I didn't have any more problems in the half hour that I spent on it after my last outburst. Anyway, back to the chair. There is something rather curious about the bottom of this chair. The fabric which covers the bottom is very scragly and big chunks of fur or something tend to get unstuck if I brush my hand across it. It isn't really a problem but more of a curious fact that you might find interesting. It certainly interests me. Another nice thing about this chair is that the back is quite high, so if I want to, for example if I am suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion or fatigue I can lean back all the way and rest my head on the support. A lot of chairs I've come across in the past had a backrest that only went up to the shoulders or around there. Those chairs were really not good if I wanted to lean back because my head would kind of hang over the back in an uncomfortable position. It would be really hard to rest like that! I'd be more likely to get a sore neck than any rest. But this chair is great because it facilitates rest. I even once fell asleep while I was taking a break. Now that may not seem such a great thing but a little sleep can be of great importance and can even make one work in a much more productive manner. So I recommend all of you to consider buying a chair with a tall backrest the next time you find you're in need of one. I really do prefer this chair over those annoying twirling chairs which seem to be so popular these days. I don't see what the big fuss is about being able to spin around like a child on the chair. How many people actually need that feature anyway, I've never seen my boss go whizzing around his office instead of actually getting off the chair and walking to wherever it is that he needs to go. When I was a child though, I thought those chairs were really wonderful because I felt like I was a rascal zipping around like that! You know how it is! Anyway, even now I occasionally get the chance to sit on such chairs and they don't really inspire my inner child any more at all but rather they just seem like ordinary chairs but with the disadvantage that they tend to be less stable and they can often make annoying screeching sounds. Another disadvantage with these chairs is that if they are in public use then different people will adjust the chair to whatever height is most comfortable to them. So occasionally I will sit down on such a chair, adjust it to my ideal height (which takes quite a bit of work to get it just right) and then sit there for a while. Then a few days later I will come back to the same place and sit down on the same chair. Only this time much to my dismay the chair will be at a different height to when I left it and I'll have to go through the whole process of adjusting it to my ideal height all over again right from the start. Now if it were a normal chair with a fixed height, I wouldn't have the luxury of adjusting it to my ideal height now would I? That's what you're thinking isn't it? Well, that's true I wouldn't have that luxury. Although experience has proven to me that when the option of adjusting the height of the chair seat is not available then the thought doesn't even cross my mind, nor does any discomfort caused by the height of the chair. So it turns out it must be some kind of psychological issue, that it only turns into a problem when there is actually a choice to be made. When the height is fixed I just accept it as a given and get on with whatever I'm doing without paying any attention to it at all. It's funny the way the mind works isn't it. Well, now I have been sitting on my chair for about ten minutes writing my addition to the 'train of mind' thread and my legs are starting to feel not yet cramped but rather in the process of getting uncomfortable, hence I'd better end this post and have a stretch and maybe a couple of squats to loosen up thsoe muscles and get the blood pumping again.
.   Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:27 am GMT
On the way 'down south', an expression that covers a multitude of evils in the North of Scotland, we came across the Settle to Carlisle railway. I had heard about this railway with its famous viaducts. Unfortunately we were tired and stressed and we still had a long way to go, and the weather was awful - so we did not stop.

http://www.visitcumbria.com/carlset/ribvia.htm

But going up, on the return trip with the car, we will spend a night near to the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales so we might have a more interesting and enjoyable trip. (Travelodge).
.   Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:46 am GMT
Dear Roger

This is a forum for the English language. When I got my ticket from the Park and Ride Coach office near the Forth Bridge, the ticket said "2 Pax". You can study English as long as you like, but you are unlike to come across a word like 'Pax' being used on a bus ticket. I should hasten to add that "2 Pax" was hand written.

How is a foreigner supposed to naviagate Megabus land with its incomprehensible language?

I asked the author of "2 Pax", what 'Pax' referred too. He replied, as if it was obvious, 'Passengers'. Oh, of course! why didn't I think that - Pax is short for Passengers.

"WHY WE HATE MEGABUS?"

Megabus is a subsiduary of Stagecoach. They hit on a great idea to raise money. Why not introduce 'Yellow Buses' for school children in the UK? This seems like a ground breaking idea. It rather ignores the fact that children have been travelling to school on coaches for years. So around Aberdeen there are one or two specially imported 'Yellow Buses' as seen in 'The Simpsons'.

Yellow bus for schools 'could cut roads chaos' - Education News ...

www.independent.co.uk/.../yellow-bus-for-schools-could-cut-roads-chaos-928703.html -
blue mountain man   Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:36 pm GMT
<<Imagine travelling by Megabus to catch a plane! >>

I like the name "megabus". In Mexico, they seem to have small busses called 'microbus'. Are these Megabusses very large busses?

BTW -- when I read the name Glastonbury, I immediately thought of Glastenbury Mountain, in the very heart of the southern Green Mountains of Vermont. When Damian makes his grand tour of the U.S., he mustn't miss out on Glastenbury Mountain.
Damian Amersham, Bucks.   Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:34 pm GMT
***Are these Megabusses very large buses? ***

Judge for yourself....apparently this film was shot some years back but it shows a megabus setting out from Aberdeen city bus terminal (that's in Scotland of course) on an overnight run down to London (that's England, of course).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdN6fmPAIw0&feature=related

No, it's definitely GlastOnbury - among the green hills of Somerset, in south west England, a very long way from the Green Mountains of Vermont and your very own GlastEnbury Mountain......which I wouldn't mind adding to my itinerary when I eventually get round to that Grand Tour of the USA in the not too far distant future Vermont sounds really nice....a bit like Green UK but with a wee bit more sunshine I suspect.

I checked my program and the Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire is next month, August....I can't wait.
blue mountain man   Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:41 pm GMT
<<a bit like Green UK but with a wee bit more sunshine I suspect.
>>

I wouldn't count on a whole lot of sunshine anywhere in the Northeast US, especially in the uplands away from the coast. It might not be quite as cloudy as here in the Catskills (sometimes called the "Blue Mountains"), especially in the winter, since the Green Mountains are farther from the messy Lake Ontario snow belt.
soon departing Bovina   Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:47 pm GMT
<<***Are these Megabusses very large buses? ***

Judge for yourself>>

That's one heck of a bus -- it looks like it's a double-decker. You don't see many busses like that around here. In fact, you don't see many busses at all around here.
Damian London SW15   Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:01 pm GMT
Of course it's a double decker - wasn't it obvious? Most buses in urban areas are DDs, as are all of them in London and back home in Edinburgh, as well as some long distance runners such as the one shown driving off from the Granite City.

I'm really, really looking forward to my first ever Big Chill Festival next month - in beautiful surroundings in the grounds of Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, where they hold all kinds of fun events throughout the year...having grandparents who live four miles away from the site, on the other side of Ledbury town, is one sound deal for me! I'm going to try and make it an annual thing, and the train station at Ledbury has direct trains to and from London which is useful if you don't fancy driving the 110 miles by way of a change if nothing else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyvleRc5hbU&feature=fvw
back from Bovina   Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:47 am GMT
<<I'm really, really looking forward to my first ever Big Chill Festival next month >>

Sort of looks like the Woodstock festival, which fortunately was not anywhere near Woodstock, NY (at least the 1969 one).
.   Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:44 am GMT
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