February 2008 Archives

Sweden: Archæologists have discovered there might be some truth behind the Wagnerian stereotype of a Viking woman in a metal bra:

Cloth samples with fasteners and round pieces of metal were found in the mud near the Swedish capital, Stockholm...

But comparing them with figurines found at the site, they seem to have been worn as a metal bra.

The research at Birka also suggests that Viking women held bra fashion shows, but these were banned by prudish Christians.

Viking Women Had Bra Fashion Shows—The Daily Record, 28th February 2008.

Scotland: As previously reported, a tiny Catholic extremist organisation has taken aim at HIV/AIDS activists, the Order of Perpetual Indulgence. As part of their vendetta, they published the e-mail address of one of the Sisters and, not surprisingly, that individual has been receiving hate mail. Which she forwarded to me. I expect there's more that got eaten by the spam trap, she notes, but I'm not going to bother looking for it. So, what do members of Catholic Truth have to say in the name of their imaginary friend?

Brazil: God has apparently smitten His own son in the traditional manner.

Amazing moment the world's biggest Christ was struck by lightning—Daily Mail, 13th February 2008.

Scotland: The organisation Catholic Truth is one of those one-person organisations, a bit like Christian Voice, which exists to get outraged at perceived slights to its imaginary friend. In the case of Patricia McKeever, what upsets her is pooves, and especially pooves in frocks. She's best known for her threat to blackmail and witch-hunt gay Roman Catholic clergy. Fortunately, the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland could see that she's a bampot, though not the MPD:

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Glasgow accused Ms McKeever of perpetrating a medieval witch-hunt. He said: Catholic Truth is a tiny group on the fringe of the Church, utterly unrepresentative of mainstream Catholicism. They are a self-appointed team of heresy hunters, who have made a habit of bombarding the Vatican with ludicrous letters.

So, who to attack next? Why not the Order of Perpetual Indulgence? After all, they've only been active in Scotland since the early 1980s. So she fired off a series of missives to the contact address for the Sisters in her home city of Edinburgh. While all purporting to come from different people, the time-stamps show that it's unsophisticated spamming, with enough time between the messages to switch accounts. The messages were all written in the same voice too, and show plenty of evidence of her not having even looked at the site beyond the contact page. Fortunately for us, the Sister concerned has made use of the Forward feature of her e-mail client.

A while back, I linked to a crochet rune set over at Llewellyn. Well, it seems they've gone one better, and now have a pattern for a Cosmic Energy Rune Set:

The tools that can be made in this pattern are runes of the cosmic energies. While these crocheted runes bear twelve of the most observed and documented energies, you are not limited to the confines of these chosen symbols or to the listed messages that I’ve associated with each of the energies. As you work with each symbol, you blend your conscious (studied) and subconscious (inherent) attributes with the traits of each rune. This blending creates (depending on your intention) a living magical essence that is attuned to you and your intent and / or a divinatory oracle that speaks the language of your unique heart and soul.

To make these runes, you will need; a size 7 steel crochet hook, size 10 crochet thread in the main color and in a complimentary color, large eye needle, cotton balls and optional fabric glue to further secure the thread ends. You can refine the materials list to include choices in thread colors and in herbs, oils and gemstones (that you can mix with or include with the cotton ball batting) to enhance your desired purposes or the traits of the particular cosmic energies.

The difference seems to be that these "runes" aren't runes at all, but astrological symbols.

If you like to crochet, but runes are really not your thing, maybe the Swirls of Stars Tarot Spread Cloth is more up your street?

The denizens of Prattle Towers prefer the patterns at the AntiCraft and are more likely to be found crocheting this Elder God.

England: The UK's biggest planetarium is due to be opened in Winchester soon, and Terry Pratchett will be doing the honours. But I don't think that a Hampshire Chronicle journalist really meant it when they said the centre will feature a variety of astrology shows, including presenter-led displays for schools, licensed pre-recorded films and movies on topical space events.

Pratchett to open planetarium—Hampshire Chronicle, 5th February 2008.