The Trouble with Sex & Marriage

13-7-8

When the Eliot Spitzer scandal broke in March, I had only sympathy for him: another middle-aged married guy tormented by his sexual needs. I’m 52 and have always struggled with the desire for sexual variety. Everyone gets an issue, and that’s mine; it’s given me pleasure and pain, and jolted my marriage. I’d only talked about my issue with any honesty over the years with about six or seven people, and when you leave out my wife and a therapist, they are all men.

Go here

an artiste's palette

Blessings,

Le Rev Dr

Condom Arsonist

10/7/8

It is time, Parishioners, to come clean.

Here is the story of “Pete Best” - the Legendary Xth Beatle - *MY* story

Best Wishes la!

Born November 23, 1941, in Madras, India (I’m a Saggitarius, Scorpio cusp)

Ma, Mona Best (1924-1988, bless her) started The Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the our house in Liverpool, which became very popular—the membership list grew to over a thousand—and where The Beatles (then known as The Quarrymen) played some of their first concerts.

Da, John Best, came from a family of sports promoters in Liverpool, who once owned and ran the Liverpool Bathroom. All the rooms were painted dark green or brown, and the garden was totally overgrown.

The Beatles first played at the Indra club in Hamburg, but slept in the Bambi Kino in small, dirty rooms, which were noisy, cold, and directly behind the screen. After the closure of the Indra because of complaints about the noise, The Beatles played in the Kaiserkeller.

I later discovered that the audition was not needed, as The Beatles hadn’t found any other drummer with My Magnificent Thighs or who was willing to travel to Hamburg, but the bastards didn’t tell me in case I asked for more money.

As a snub to Koschmider, I found a condom in my luggage, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of the room, and set fire to it. There was no real damage done, but Koschmider reported us both for attempted arson. Me and Macca spent three hours in a local jail and were deported—as was George, for working under the legal age limit on 30 November 1960.

Back in Liverpool, no-one contacted each other for two weeks.

that's Stu, isn't it?

During one of Da’s extended business trips, “Filthy” became romantically involved with Mona, who was 18 years his senior. He fathered a child by her- Vincent “Roag” Best, her third son - my retarded half-brother.

I became a “steady’ drummer, meaning that I played the bass drum on all four beats in the bar, which pushed the rhythm. I forced all my emotions into my gigantic right foot. No-one else had the balls to try this, let alone make it rawk!

I was invited to sing a “speciality” number called “Peppermint Twist” while McCartney played the drums, but I always felt uncomfortable being at the front of the stage; the hail of panties was frightening!

Hank & the Shadows

In June 1962, I was fired by The Beatles because George Martin was jealous of my drumming. I also was reluctant to adopt that stoopid mop-top haircut and was *far* more popular with the chicks than the others; so everyone was pretty much jealous & pissed off..

The group was good enough to be signed to a contract (even though they had *already* signed a contract with Brian Epstein) but with one exception; Martin and his engineers did not like my outstanding playing.

The lads don’t want you in the group anymore.

Ringo is delighted, tremendously excited

The Beatles had to suffer jeers and heckling in the street and on stage for weeks afterwards, with fans shouting, “Ringo never, Pete Best forever!”

“What ever happenned to that guy?”

I first joined Lee Curtis & the All Stars, which then broke off from Curtis and became Pete Best & the All Stars. We then signed to Decca Records - who had previously rejected The Beatles - and released the single “I’m Gonna Knock On Your Door, which was not a hit.

I did shift work loading bread into the back of delivery vans, earning £8 a week, and married a girl named Kathy who worked behind the biscuit counter at a Woolworth’s store, then became a civil servant for 20 years. I tried to commit suicide, but was somehow talked out of it by Mona, and my brother, Rory.

I then bailed to the United States along with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. As The Pete Best Four, and later as The Pete Best Combo (now five guys), toured America with a combination of 1950’s songs and original tunes, recording for small labels, but had fucking little success.

I am currently touring the U.S. with The Pete Best Band, sharing the drumming with fucking Roag. In July 2007, I was inducted into the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame as the debut Charter Member, whatever that means…

I am not in frequent contact with the lads, but they know where to find me..

regard my Mighty Thighs!

My First List

6/7/8

My First List, Parishioners!

An Old Friend (from small times)
suggested I beat the stress
by making lists
with checkboxes

and ticking them off.

I initially resisted
but caved today -
I have *SO* much to do!

A Very Famous List by Mr Merriweather

SO
here it is,
as I wrote it
except that ’twas in two columns…
(here’s a pretty good facsimile You can also get there via the sidebar)

TO DO Japanese character for Sunday 6/7/8. (!)
————————- (left, Most Important column)

BITCH
Dole
St George
Haircut
Brother T - pink & Fred
Perpetual
Colonial
SUPER! Selina

————————- (right, Things I Gotsta Do Eventually column)

(red pen) CALL @ 12 TechStaff! (in a box)

Defrag
Ditch paper(s) - keep some for dishes
Hunney’s stuff
pictures
FRIDGE! (in a box)

MOVING
GARBAGE

————————– that’s it, Parishioners.

makes Perfect Sense to me.

A List of Very Important Things

A Frenzy of Incapability™

6/7/8

I am *knackered*, Parishioners.

Currently “between Churches”
I am looking for a new position

and DREADING the move…

executed Reverend

I arrived with a suitcase, my black guitar and a backpack.
Now I have an entire Rectory full o stuff -
seven years of accumulated stuff!

How the Hell am I gwan move?

How the Hell am I gwan move the Ponies,
The futon, the wall unit, the glass tables, this leaden slate thang,
the fridge, the washing machine, this trusty box,
my precious bonsai?

It is all too much for me
and I can’t eat, can’t sleep -

dead priest

nothing for it but to bury the head in the sand -
this week ’twas champagne…

I am currently putting on a brave front
but all advice enormously appreciated -
I have worked myself into A Frenzy of Incapability™.

Punished for My Sins

Life, Parishioners,

is currently Hell

Life, indeed, is Hell; ask Tony Curtis...

Lifted from a Smursh of Pete

Blessings,

Le Rev Dr

Published in: on June 24, 2008 at 1:20 pm Comments (0)

Pony Tales - Part the Sixth

31/5/8

You may recall, Parishioners,

that The White Pony had alternator problems…

Wednesday morning the battery wasn’t *dead* flat –
but it wouldn’t turn the engine over.
Alternator is fucked.

I charged the battery overnight
and TWP got me to work on Thursday & Friday.

I charged the battery overnight
and, after ablutions, coffee & muesli,
TWP got me to Brother T’s

by 08:00 on Saturday morning.

Ultimate Luxury Automobile needs vacuuming...

First Things First -
we dropped The White Pony off
with Dave at <plug>Kirrawee Auto Electrics</plug>

then went back & took brother T’s daughter to soccer.
I became a little excited, her team won,
we bought her junk food,
then we went back to service The White Pony.

According to my notes, the last service
was November 2006!

We - and I really mean *we* here!
did the plugs,
decided the air filter was too clean to change,
changed the oil and its complementary filter,
added a charge of engine protector,
changed both fuel filters,
and we would have done the wiper blades as well -
but I bought sixes instead of eights…

We checked the brake pads
and they were fine -
a little fluid tightened them right up!

dondo esta la Hondina?

SO
Little Pony is *purring* (or whatever ponies do)

Yesterday I topped her up,
added a little valve protector,

and Little Pony is *purring* (or whatever ponies do)

Bless you Brother T!

Pony Tales Part the Fifth

27/5/8
A *most* enjoyable weekend, Parishioners!

I’m over the dysentery,
my back is returning to functionality
but I still feel dizzy every time I stand…

Saturday was a “normal” Saturday -
listened to the radio (Radio National), rose late,

had coffee & muesli,
listened to the radio,
went down to see my guys at the barbershop,
returned to The Rectory

and listened to the radio (The Departure Lounge on 2SER) for the rest of the day.

poor sick Pony...

Now, White Pony came out in sympathy while I was ill.

Upon recovering, I jumped in to drive to work
turned the key
and –

the dreaded

nothing

DAMMIT!

Alternator doesn’t work.
Battery doesn’t charge.
Runs flat in *days*

SO I took Red Pony to work for a week
while I healed – a bit.

Finally, when I thought I was up to it
I called Brother T.

Waal;
he arrived unannounced on Sunday morning
and by the time I was outta the shower
he had the battery changed & White Pony was purring (or whatever ponies do)

We dropped White Pony off at his place,
put two batteries on to charge,
then out to change the mags on his mum’s car.

The new ones didn’t fit
but he arranged fixing up a few little thangs on the VR the next day.

Back to Brother T’s – getting outta bed at 8:30 on a Sunday really gives one a *lotta* time in one’s day!

    We
    put new locks in all ’round (NONE of the previous ones worked)
    greased the window winders
    taped up the inside of the doors
    fixed the rear window-wiper water supply
    fixed the internal airflow distributor (or whatever it’s called)
    put in a radio/CD player (YAY!)
    checked all the fuses
    replaced the headlight globes (highbeams – YAY!)
    and put in a reasonably charged battery.

driving happy White Pony in the woods, listening to Dave Graney

That was Sunday – Wednesday morning the battery wasn’t *dead* flat –
but it wouldn’t turn the engine over.
Alternator is fucked.

That’s the job for *this* Saturday.

Here’s me with no job
throwing all this money at The Ponies…

Ah, I trust that
if I am true to my heart
The Gods shall provide.

Bless you Brother T!

Man’s Inhumanity to Man

4/5/8

Top 10 Evil Human Experiments

[WARNING] This list contains descriptions and images of human experimentation which may cause offense to some readers. Human experimentation and research ethics evolved over time. On occasion, the subjects of human experimentation have been prisoners, slaves, or even family members.

This is a list of the 10 most evil and unethical experiments carried out on humans.

Wounds inflicted on the subjects were infected with bacteria such as Streptococcus, gas gangrene, and tetanus. Circulation of blood was interrupted by tying off blood vessels at both ends of the wound to create a condition similar to that of a battlefield wound. Infection was aggravated by forcing wood shavings and ground glass into the wounds.

jeff Goldblum went to Stanford

Our Dark Hearts: The Stanford Prison Experiment

The idea was simple: to see how ordinary men, chosen to be the most healthy and ‘normal’ would respond to a radical change to their normal roles in life. Half were to become prison guards, the other half their prisoners. In this experiment there were no half-measures, for it to be effective it had to closely approximate the real experience of prisoners and guards. These participants were in for the ride of their lives.

‘Prisoners’ were ‘arrested’ by a police car with sirens wailing while they were out going about their everyday business. Then they were fingerprinted, blindfolded and put in a cell, then stripped naked, searched, deloused, heads shaved, given a uniform, a number and had a chain placed around one foot.

The other participants were made into guards who wore uniforms and were given clubs. A prison was mocked up in the basement of a Stanford University building.

And so the experiment began.

Prisoner #8612 began suffering from acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying, and rage

Prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited “genuine” sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early.

Prisoners coped with their feelings of frustration and powerlessness in a variety of ways. At first, some prisoners rebelled or fought with the guards. Four prisoners reacted by breaking down emotionally as a way to escape the situation. One prisoner developed a psychosomatic rash over his entire body when he learned that his parole request had been turned down. Others tried to cope by being good prisoners, doing everything the guards wanted them to do.

By the end of the study, the prisoners were disintegrated, both as a group and as individuals. There was no longer any group unity; just a bunch of isolated individuals hanging on, much like prisoners of war or hospitalized mental patients. The guards had won total control of the prison, and they commanded the blind obedience

There is a slideshow on the homepage

many more pictures avaliable on the homepage

I am also quite fond of the Milgram Experiment!

The “teacher” was given a 45-volt electric shock from the electro-shock generator as a sample of the shock that the “learner” would supposedly receive during the experiment. The teacher was then given a list of word pairs which he was to teach the learner. The teacher began by reading the list of word pairs to the learner. The teacher would then read the first word of each pair and read four possible answers. If the answer was incorrect, the teacher would administer a shock to the learner, with the voltage increasing for each wrong answer.

The “teachers” believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks. After the confederate was separated from the subject, the confederate set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level. After a number of voltage level increases, the actor started to bang on the wall that separated him from the subject. After several times banging on the wall and complaining about his heart condition, all responses by the learner would cease.

Some test subjects paused at 135 volts and began to question the purpose of the experiment. Most continued after being assured that they would not be held responsible. A few subjects began to laugh nervously or exhibit other signs of extreme stress once they heard the screams of pain coming from the learner.

If at any time the subject indicated his desire to halt the experiment, he was given a succession of verbal prods by the experimenter, in this order:

    1. Please continue.

    2. The experiment requires that you continue.

    3. It is absolutely essential that you continue.

    4. You have no other choice, you must go on.

If the subject still wished to stop after all four successive verbal prods, the experiment was halted. Otherwise, it was halted after the subject had given the maximum 450-volt shock three times in succession

hook me up!

THIS, however, is absolutely sickening!

A Hoax Most Cruel - October 9, 2005

(more…)

Vale John Cagher

28/3/8

Another Good Soul has left this earth, Parishioners. John Cargher, the power behind the remarkable Singers of Renown, passed away at his home in Melbourne on Wednesday on April 30th, four days after the broadcast of the final edition of Singers of Renown.

I must apologise for my tardiness - however, sadly, it doesn’t seem that much fuss was made at all…

in opera, operetta & song

His retirement was noted here: So long John Cargher, Sunday, April 20, 2008

I’m not an opera buff, but for many years I’ve had Singers of Renown on in the background on Saturdays at 4 pm as I’ve worked, and doing so has improved my understanding of that rather arcane art form. The presenter is a mine of information on the genre, and he can make even a philistine such as I appreciate it.

Gravel-voiced John Cargher, who has presented the radio program each week for 42 years, is retiring this week but was too ill to record the show. Good luck to him in his retirement, and I dips me lid for what he’s given many people for so long. So long.

He has notched up records for the longest-running radio program by a single presenter, and on December 10 (this was 2005!) he will reach another milestone, when he broadcasts for the 2000th time.

His passion for music began when he was a teenager, earning 15 shillings a week and living on ham rolls. They cost threepence if he went without butter. With the little left over he went to the cinema, paying ninepence to sit in the front stalls. Someone told him that he could get in to see the Sadler’s Wells Opera for sixpence. He did, and was transfixed.

the hair withstood the test of time

Pinchas Cargher AM, known professionally as John Cargher (24 January 1919 - 30 April 2008), was a British-born Australian music and ballet journalist and radio broadcaster. He was born in the Cockney area of London to a Jewish rabbinical family.

His many occupations included: aircraftman, art dealer, art exhibition organiser, assistant cameraman (films), author, ballet administrator, broadcaster, building designer, comedy writer, compere, concert promoter and manager, critic, diamond merchant, impresario, intimate revue pioneer, journalist, lecturer, mechanical engineer, opera producer, photographer, radio programmer, record producer, record retailer, recorded books reader, schools administrator, television presenter, theatre manager, theatrical agent, toolmaker and turner-fitter.

John Cargher has presented Singers of Renown on ABC Radio National since 1966. The program began on 17 April 1966 as a 13-week series on 774 ABC Melbourne (formerly 3LO), but such was its popularity that the program was transferred to the national network ten weeks later. Currently broadcast Saturdays at 4pm, repeated Sundays at 6am. Cargher also broadcast a general classical music program “Music for Pleasure” on ABC Radio between 1967 and 1996.

I can see a Go Betweens CD!

The program’s opening and closing theme is ‘Ho sognato una cassetta‘from Puccini’s one-act opera Il tabarro. It features Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco

He was our very own Karl Haas

The Fourth Reich

This, Parishioners, is quite bizarre:

Zimbabwe rolls out $500 million bill

With no apparent sense of their own absurdity, Zimbabwe’s central bank has issued a new bill worth 500 million Zimbabwe dollars to ease cash shortages. This follows the Z$250 million bill (pictured) that they issued last week. Prices for goods now double every week as the country braces for a runoff in what has already been a bloody and controversial presidential election.

Here’s the previous contender:

two hundred and fifty million - and counting!

Published in: on May 19, 2008 at 11:54 am Comments (2)