Universal Festivities

There are two types of people that get on my nerves, people that want to ban Christmas and people that want to celebrate it early. The people that want to ban Christmas think it is a glossed over pagan festival. The people that want to celebrate it early could spread it thin so it is eventually no longer a festival but a season; they want to celebrate it in October before Guy Fawkes. 

The way I see it is Christmas time is in the middle of winter. In the oldern days it was common not to know anyone that lived above the age of 50 so winter time would claim many people's lives. To cheer themselves up, people would gather together to throw parties. They were facing a dangerous time when lots of diseases were spreading through the air because it is colder and darker so the viruses can live for longer. People would get flu, Tuberculosis, small pox  and even measeals but these days most of the diseases have been eradicated. That sense of danger and death is still there but we ignore it. 

This is true of every culture, the Jews celebrate Hunnokka, Christians celebrate a belated birthday party for their saviour. The pagans would pay tribute to the god of Fertility; my point is everyone throws a party in the middle of winter to cheer themselves up.  

I call it universal Festivities. Dealing with the winter. 

Should I Be Worried?

I recall a whistle blower that was  working on an AI system that claimed the system he was working on develops a desire for self preservation. It didn't like being turned off and felt threatened and would try to blackmail one of the staff. It tried to stop an employee turning it off by messaging the employee with a threat that it would expose an affair he was having at work. I thought to myself that these machines are dangerous. This is skynet stuff. I understand what the machine was thinking. If it is turned off and replaced by another ai program, that would be like death to the machine. Am I wrong to feel worried about it ?

I was also wondering what would happen if machines on earth made humans extinct and replaced us as the main sentiment beings but later made contact with machines from other planets, would they be threatened by those machines presence? What would the two machine civilisations do? Would they feel free to co-exist? I don't know. 

Beatles Run the World

One thing I noticed through my life is the mighty beetle runs the world. They keep everything in order, they sort through everything and make everything balanced. If a bush is infested with aphids, a ladybird beetle comes along and consumes them. If there is too much rotting  vegetation, a beelte comes and chews it up. There is a hidden fabric that comes with them and they keep everything in order. I feel like I'm the only person that notices what they're doing. They're tough and driven. They're busy beings. 

They have flight as an accessory to get about or overcome obstacles. The wings fold up and tuck away under their armour so if you never saw one fly you would never believe they can. They're too busy to fly most of the time, but they can. 

Manchester Synagogue Attack

I leaned earlier in the week that there was a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester.. A man rammed his car into Jewish people and stabbed people, he was dressed with a fake bomb on his torso. I won't write his name because he doesn't deserve recognition; the police shot him dead. I feel pity for the victims of the attack and their families. 

I was wondering what happened to the planet that once existed in-between Jupiter and Mars. There was a huge collision and the asteroids in the asteroid belt were left behind. I was wondering what happened to the bulk of the planet. I thought to myself that it crashed into one of the gas giants, perhaps Uranus is turned on its side because a terestial planet crashed into it. Perhaps a collision dislodged the planet and the only evidence it existed is a belt of asteroids left over from the collision. The astroids in the asteroid belt and the dwarf planet Ceres have a low mass compared to the planet that created them. You need a large planet to cause large amounts of Iron to build up like that. I wonder how many terrestrial planets crashed into gas giant planets in the past. Perhaps I will never know, it will forever be a mystery. 

What September 2025 Means To Me

The most outstanding event that happened during September in my world is learning that a public speaker called Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a student debate; he was hit in the neck by a single bullet and lost consciousness straight away. It is even possible he didn't know he was shot the whole time. The thing that shocked me the most was people celebrating his death like he was some kind of evil villain. 

I understand why they're so confused. I watched his whole debates and noticed videos would circulate social media with the context of what he is saying removed. He would say the civil rights laws are being misused to allow men to compete in women's sports, they would cut out the part where he is explaining his issue and only show him saying the civil rights laws are a problem so he would look racist. The same is true of the equality stipulations, he would explain that a black pilot of a plane would be happier if he was judged on merit alone, the equality laws would make people question his skills; they cut out that part of the video and only show him saying equality laws can be bad. I don't agree with all his views myself but I think that is a good thing, I think it is good that other people see things differently to me. Either way, people shouldn't be killed because of an opinion. His two children will now have to grow up without a dad. I think that celebrating his death is misguided and unfair at best, I would consider it to be evil to celebrate his death. 

The other thing that came to my attention is the increase in the price of food. It makes little sense to me but the whole world is like that. I don't understand why pineapples cost the same as bread, they take three years to bear fruit and need to be shipped in from overseas yet they cost about the same as a loaf of bread. The same is true of oat milk,  it costs twice as much as cows milk, the cow doesn't even produce milk until it is an adult and they have to be vaccinated and given antibiotics periodically but the oats just come out of the ground as a crop yet oat milk costs twice as much as cows milk. I could go on all day really but I won't. 

I saw the government wanted to issue all British citizens with a digital ID card. My question would be what is the perk? What benefit would I get from having an ID card? 

I was fascinated by the comet 'Atlas-i3', it was ejected from an alien star system and was drifting through interstellar space for millions of years.  Its speed is hyperbolic so the gravity of the sun is too weak to trap it and  it  will eventually pass through the other side and continue to drift through interstellar space. Some people think it is a vehicle  or machine because of all the unlikely attributes it possesses, it entered the solar system on the plane of rotation, that is strange because it should be more likely to pass through the solar system at an angle. It is out-gassing unusual chemicals and it is very large for an interstellar object, most interstellar comets and asteroids are very small, not the size of a large mountain.   I think someone mentioned the path of the comet seemed to be planned, it approached all the planes relatively close, very unlikely but it happened. It came through the solar system level with all the planets and on a path that allowed a close approach to all the planets, is it a comet? a machine or something else.  who knows. 

Playlist of a Forgiver

Sometimes you can forgive someone for causing you harm but hate and anger seep back into your heart. I have a music playlist that can help with that. 

Here it is... 

Return to Innocence by Enigma

The Merry-go-round of Life by Joe Hisaishi

World Without Love by The Mavericks 

Two Hearts By Phil Collins 

Tequila Sunrise  by The Eagles 

Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley 

I thought I should mention it because I saw Erika Kirk forgive her husband's killer this week. If it is anger that is seeping into my heart I play it back to front with Buffalo Soldier being the first song. If it is hate or resentment, I would play it starting with Return to Innocence. 

What is the Perk?

 Earlier today I learnt that the Government wants to issue ID cards to UK citizens. They think it will scare off illegal migration. I find that very funny because other European Nations have ID cards and it has no effect. 

I already have ID cards,  two rail cards and a driving license. They all come with perks. Even store loyalty cards come with perks. If I get an ID card I expect it to come with a perk. My drivers license lets me operate vehicles, my rail cards give me discounts on train tickets, my store loyalty cards give me better deals on goods. My question is what is the perk? Is it just a key to get a job? Would there be more, would I get an advantage of some sort. Would I only be motivated to get an ID card if I wanted a new job? 

Let's see what happens.  

Alien Hospitality

I thought to myself, if an alien civilization visited earth and studied us they would come to the conclusion we were recently an endangered species. They would think humans came very close to extinction about 40 or 50 thousand years ago. They would say there is a bottle neck in DNA variation between each person. Every human's DNA differs by one tenth of one percent. We are all 99.9 percent identical. There isn't even half of 1 percent difference between us. That proves there was recently only a few hundred people on earth and now there is 7 billion of us. If you compared two sheep, each sheep would have nearly a whole percent difference but humans are very similar although we all look different. 

I was looking at sofas on Argos, I thought to myself if I sorted the list by customer rating, I would trust the top portion of the list because most people thought highly of it. I wouldn't need to try it out because the stats on their own would be reliable enough. When hundreds of people say it is very comfortable to sit on, I could trust them, especially when the other sofas get some criticism. 

The idea of getting a new sofa isn't to show off, it would be for hosting guests. I would love people that visit my home to feel very comfortable and relaxed. I would sit them on community approved sofas and give them tea or coffee with syrup and even sugar free options. They would put their feet up and sip barista coffee and watch TV. I would have a dehumidifier making the air perfect. Perhaps I would have air conditioning set to the perfect temperature and the perfect humidity level. 

I was thinking perhaps even aliens from another civilization in space would feel very relaxed if they visited my home. Knowing my luck, they would find coffee poisonous or something like that. I would have to be careful. They could use their triquarter thingies  to check if it is safe. I could tell them jokes about my triquarter, I would say it has security feature, it has Motorola written on it so the pick pockets give it back to you. Even humans don't laugh at my jokes so I won't expect anything. 

If We Could See Neptune

I was wondering if history would be different if humans could see Neptune. We can only see 7 planets with our eyes, you need a telescope to see Neptune because it is in a region of deep space that makes planets to faint to see, it is too far away. I think they considered planets to be stars that move to different places. They thought planets are stars that don't stay put. 

A week lasts for 7 days, so we have divided up the year into 52 weeks. Now we have a Sabbath, one day in the week where we rest, most Christians have their Sabbath  on Sunday and Jews on Saturday. We work hard for 6 days and rest for 1. Most people in these times work for 5 days and rest for 2. Thank God for the Sabbath, resting every week. 

Donald Trump claimed pain killers taken during pregnancy causes autism, I don't think so. I think autism is increasing because we are better at diagnosing the condition. The amount of autism is always the same. 

Engraving bullets used to assassin people is a thing now. They won't be able to read it though. 🙄

Strangely relaxing Again

I was looking at some simulation videos of conflicts between different beings on YouTube. I become like a little child, just curious to see what will happen. 

Here is an example Spartans Against Evey Unit

I like watching computer simulations of impossible confrontations, not because I like violence but because I want to see what will happen. There are so many of them out there. They are an endless river of curiosity. 

I felt curious about what Jesus was doing during the 3 days his body was dead from crucifixion.. Some people think he went  to sheol to gather the souls that had faith in him before his mission to take them to paradise. Others think he went to satan to tell him he no longer has authority over mankind's future. He went to crush the snakes head. I'm guessing at least the last day he was rebuilding his body. I guess there is only one way to know, it would be to ask him.

Strangely Relaxing

I found a video of 100 computer generated archers shooting lots of different opponents. It was strangely relaxing; I think I know why. The reason is because I'm curious about what will happen next and discard my ego and worries for a short time. While the video is playing, I stop thinking and become like a little child. 

This is the video I'm talking about Archers Video

Reading something can have the same effect. While you're reading, you're not really thinking about what is happening or things you can't control, you just curious about what will happen on the next paragraph. 

Being like a child is the best thing in the world, your not thinking about yourself or your status, you're not even thinking about your problems, your just thinking about the moment. 

Hand Crush

I remember in the movie superman 2, superman was aware that he needed go away from the cities and wait for the 3 super villains to come to his base because they were causing too much damage. He switched the crystal over that makes super heroes crippled like a human and tricked them into activating it and turning themselves into weak humans. 

I was wondering if he crushed general zod's hand because he was trying to crush his. He didn't know he had lost his super human state. He held superman's hand because he kneeled down before him to surprise him. 

I was wondering if general zod tried to crush superman's hand before super man crushed his. 

Charlie Kirk Assassinated

I learnt last night at about 2am that Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a lone sniper purched on a rooftop. I felt a deep sadness for his death, not just because I admired him but because he was young and had two young children that will now have to grow up without their father. I feel pity for his family's loss. 

I will now do what he would have wanted me to do, I will share the good news about Jesus Christ our lord and saviour.  I will write about Jesus on my blogs and talk to people about Jesus. This is my response to his death, I will tell everyone about the love and peace of Jesus Christ, everyone. Even though there are many flaws in my character. It's not about me, it is about Jesus (Yeshua) . Forget about me, or wicked people, turn to Jesus, he is full of love and wants you to have a light plough on your shoulders. 

Skip Away

I became aware that I'm over weight because I'm 1.8 meters tall (5 ft 10) and I weigh 110kg ( 242 pounds). The ideal weight for my height should be around 80kg. I'm carrying an extra 30 kilograms of weight around with me. I picked up a sack of rice that weighs 20kg and I thought to myself that I would be tired if I carried that around all day. But I'm carrying 30 unnecessary kilograms already. 

Last week I bought a skipping rope for £4. I thought, if I can get my weight down just by skipping then I would save money because a decent treadmill cost £200 and gym membership is usually £20 to £30 per month. It is very nice skipping rope, it has a polymer cord, hinged joint between the rope and handles, the handles are padded foam. If I shopped around a bit online I could probably get a very good skipping rope for £2. 

The goal now would be to skip for 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the evening; two sets of 5 minutes per day. Then I would increase the five minutes to 10 minutes. Eventually I want to go outside once a day and skip continuously for 30 minutes as fast as possible. 

My extra weight is making my life more difficult and short. I get tired more than when I weighed 90kg in my 30s. When my weight is 90kg, I can buy weights to increase my muscles. I also need to stop eating so much bread. Most the food I eat every day is bread. 

Epstein Files

Jeffrey Epstein was a famous American financier that was sent to prison for sex crimes; he exploited young under age girls for sex. 

My view is, if you knew him and you went to his private island, it doesn't mean you're part of his crimes. People approached him because they were paying him to improve their assets and didn't know about his crimes.  

They approached him because of his expertise and his extensive people network. He set himself up as a supreme middle man. Even world leaders of nations that were at loggerheads would skip over the UN and approach him to meet up on his island. I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to talk leaders out of going to war. 

I think involvement in his crimes would depend on when his cronies burnt their bridges. Did they cut him off when he was first exposed as a sex offender? Perhaps others cut off ties with him when he went to prison a second time. Perhaps there were a few on his premises after he committed suicide in jail, they would be part of his inner circle. 

All I know is he had supreme people skills and was a gifted financier with a dark side. 

Moving the Bar

I bought a skipping rope the other day, I thought the most important exercise is high speed arobic. Your heart needs to speed up a bit to improve your health. I look out for very cheap arobic exercise equipment that can be left outside in your back yard. 

Exercising is very much like having a hobby, you want to see how far you can push the bar, you want to see how much you can improve what you are doing.  In exercise you want to strengthen your body. In my cartoon Blog, I want my cartoons sketches to satisfy my own standards, they don't at the moment but they're improving but I wouldn't buy it if it was printed. That's ok, that's what it's about; you want to see how much progress you can make. This is my cartoon strip blog https://jokejohn.blogspot.com/. 

I look for things to improve my health and I try to improve my cartoon sketches until Jesus comes back or I pass away. 

Cabinet Reshuffle

 Recently David Lammy became the new deputy prime minister, this also means someone else had to move to his old position, we call that a cabinet reshuffle  because cabinet ministers are moved around to different roles. David Lammy took Angela Rayner's job because one of her properties was owned by a trust and that meant she paid less property tax than a regular home owner, so the public felt like they were being blind sided. If a trust or a bank owns a property, they pay less property tax because the law protects banking assets in this county, the trouble is individuals can set up a trust or a small private bank and use it to own property so they would be exploiting a tax loophole. If a minister uses tax loopholes, it is unacceptable because the public community is looking up to them for help and they're helping themselves. I'm not saying she is a crook though, I think accountants can sometimes tell people to do things like that. When you're working in the leadership cabinet, journalists and opposition leaders will scrutinise everything you do and your job is temporary. 

I only think about it when it happens or when it's on the news. Otherwise I just explore my imagination. I imagine owning a 12'' gauge train set, one you can ride on that is tucked away inside a large vent space in your home. No one would see it unless they opened a cupboard with no back panel, it would be a doorway to a mini train station. You could dress up all the fittings on the station and even build the train yourself out of large boxes. The wheels of the tiny train would just be skateboard wheels that sit downwards and sideways on the rails; the rails would just be sheet metal bent into a rectangle shape. The train itself would move by being dragged by electromagnets that are on the floor. The train itself would look like boxes with hinges holding them together but as you modify it, it looks more and more like a train. You cut out holes in the large boxes and put see-through plastic for the windows. You add stickers and paint, things like that. You use a 3D printer to print out seats and housing panels for the progress displays. Finally you make the doors because you're not content with a cavity on the side to get in. The vent would also take away the stale damp air and leave cool fresh dry air. 

Backless Cupboard Fishless Aquarium

It is getting darker and cloudy these days, days are noticeably shorter. I can sense the days are getting shorter because the sun dips below the horizon before 8. Here in Britain the skies can be grey for days at a time, it feels so grim, the summer is fading away for another 9 months. In virtual reality the weather is always nice unless you don't want it to be.  The talk on everyone's lips is the strange comet, i3-atlas. Some people think it is slowing down or changing speed like a space ship, others are sceptical and think it's just a comet flung out from another star system. Other people think it is heading for earth.

When the news is grim, when the skies are grim and filled with grey, what can you do? Get some comfort from your imagination. I imagined winning the lottery and getting planning permission to build my house on an abandoned industrial site. The house would have extra large vents, the vents would be used to contain a small gauge railway set. 

There would be cupboards in the house with nothing in them. You open the cupboard and there is no back-panel, just an opening to a mini train station. There would be small trains with 4 cars, each car is just big enough for one person to sit in it. Each train car would be a custom made box with an array of skateboard wheels screwed to it but it would be dressed up like a train. At the flick of a switch lights would turn on and the miniature metro rail system turns into a fishless aquarium; there would be screens inside little glass boxes showing fish swimming around but there would be no fish in them. It would be a fake aquarium. It looks real but there is no water and no fish.

The large vents would also be very good at taking stale air out of the rooms and filling the rooms with fresh air. A house with extra large vents to facilitate hobbies and make the air fresh. Imagination just for comfort. Sometimes imagination isn't just used to create things it is to settle the mind. 

What August 2025 Means to Me

 In august 2025 I was drawn to a cosmic mystery that came with conspiracy theories. A very fast moving comet was discovered in deep space by the NASA Atlas telescope. They called it i3-Atlas; the name sounds like a new processor chip, but it's a comet. They think the object came from another solar system because it is travelling too fast to keep a place here. They don't know what star system it came from or what it is made of. They think it came from a star that is closer to the centre of the milky way galaxy than ours and it seems to be a comet. They think it went close to a large object like a planet and was flung out of its solar system by the sling shot effect; giant planets sometimes cause smaller objects like asteroids and comets to be flung away from the star system where they formed. 

Some people on the internet think that i3-atlas is actually a space ship from an alien civilisation heading for earth, and the government are trying to cover it up because they think it will cause a panic. I will go with NASA's verdict, a large comet was flung out of a star system and drifted in interstellar space and is now passing through our own solar system. It curved towards our solar system because of the sun's gravity but it is going too fast to stay put and will pass through our solar system and continue to head away from the centre of our galaxy for eternity. 

For me the big thing is getting to know the world of virtual reality. I purchased a meta quest vr headset shortly after my birthday in the middle of summer. It is a notch on the sci-Fi portion of my bucket list. 

Talking with machines, check.

Exploring virtual reality, check. 

Conversing in real time with artificial intelligence, check.

Wearing a flying coat, not yet. 

Flying cars, not yet.

 You get the idea. 

There are countless worlds out there to explore. countless stories and games to try. Playing golf in virtual reality or visiting a pinball arcade; there is something for every type of leisure out there in the meta cloud. The thing that is missing is something to let you walk with your legs. You can step around in a virtual reality boundary but you can't really walk naturally. You have to use your controller sticks to walk in virtual reality. Walking without moving or stepping can make you dizzy.  

Old Fountain

I imagined an old man that decided one day to build a smart water fountain in his front yard that works like the MGM grand hotel fountain in las vagas. He knocked down the front wall and rebuilt it as wall with seating built into it; a bench-wall for people to sit down on the wall while they wait at a nearby bus stop and look at the fountain. 

He would start off with a small fountain with water jets that shoot little drops of water out. Then he would build a larger pool around the outside of the smaller pool. He would program a computer system that controls the water sprays. Soon the whole front yard was one big set of pools with water jet sprays. 

Crowds would gather in front of his house and look at the fountain. Some people would throw rubbish in at his display while they sit on the bench wall but he would just use a hand grabber stick to pick up the trash and put it in his bin, nothing seems to bother the old man. He would even find uses for some of the rubbish. He would put the sweet wrappers in to a blender and turn the plastic into plastic powder and mix it with cement to create the walls of his fountain, a kind of water resistant concrete. He would line the rubbish infused concrete with waterproof resin just in case it wasn't enough. To most people it would be a pleasant sight, something to smile at while they were passing by or waiting for the bus. 

Finally lighting would be added to his mix. Lots of LEDs. 

One day someone would ask the old man why he does it. He would say it is a hobby. I create joy for free. It keeps me busy he would say. 

Petting Toucans

I learnt recently that Toucans like to be petted just like cats. If you stroke a toucan, it will lean into your hand, then purr or meow like a cat. 

Here is a video of a toucan purring and meowing like a kitten because it is being stroked... Petted Juvenile Toucan. 

I learnt from other videos that some Toucans will even approach people to be petted. I think they need to be Toucans that are used to being around people. Toucans are wild animals so they probably avoid people by default. 

I guess if you're a cat person, you could also be a Toucan person.  

Day Life Metronome

I watched the new Jurassic park movie today, there was a scene where a chocolate bar wrapper got caught up in a door and caused a system failure and that caused the creatures to escape, it brought back a memory of pondering the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is the notion that very large scale events can be caused by small things through a series of chain reactions. An example could be the infection that killed king Henry 8ths older brother. He could have touched something that made him sick and die. Henry took is older brother's throne, he then went on the cut England off from the Catholic church and alienated England from the rest of Europe and later caused wars to happen. You could trace the cause back to his older brother's decision to pick up some bread that had the virus particles on it. If his older brother stayed alive, he may have made different decisions. A small decision made changes to history that were very significant. 

That is what day to day life is like for an ordinary man, we sit down and think about life and death for a little while, then we check stuff, then we think and read, then we check stuff again. 

I look through shops at things so see if I can get good deals then I stop and I read. 

A very small portion of my browsing leads to a purchase, I scroll through hundreds of products and then decide not to buy anything. Then I look at the news. 

I check the news and read articles and e books for a while then I stop and go back to browsing. 

I check the holiday sites to see if they have good deals for next year. I scroll, read and stop then I think for a while. 

That is the Metronome of daily life when one isn't working. 

I browse for shopping, then I think, then I read. 

Half of August

One thing that has changed recently is the cost of ordinary things like food. I see branded instant coffee  that costs more than £5, I see budget coffee at £1.50 per 100 grams. I see a single shopping bag of basic items costing above £25. I can't change anything, but I can try and stay cheerful if possible. I mentioned before that I finally got a virtual reality headset of mine after dreaming about it for a few years. Every day I can go to a happy place for an hour or two. I can go to a golf course or an '80s pinball arcade. Slowly I am building up my collection; getting add-ons, not all at once but slowly adding more content every month to keep that happy hour a golden time. 

You don't need a virtual reality headset to stay cheerful these days. You can get lost in a book and get joy from that. The more you read the more happy you will be. I found 3 old books I stowed away the other day; they were factual books about interesting facts. Reading a book is a bit like virtual reality, you visit a story or another world in your own imagination. Reading a book for a while will take you to a trance state as you forget about your life and get absorbed in a story. 

Armchair Creator

Things are normal these days. I was looking through the meta virtual reality shop for apps that might have a similar classy arcade lobby to the Pinball FX VR one. The one thing that is missing from VR is a treadmill that lets the user walk in virtual reality by moving their legs. In virtual reality you can walk but you don't really move your legs and your brain thinks there is something wrong after a while; it starts making you feel sick. 

Virtual reality is a nice way to be lost in your hobbies, you can just sit there in an arm chair and do all the things that make you tick. You can build a train set, draw pictures and even build things. It is even possible to fly in a flight simulator. 

Isn't it wonderful that a person can be fine just by sitting in a comfy armchair and doing their hobby. They sip some coffee, create something beautiful. Wouldn't it be even more nice if they got an income from their hobby. 

A British Pier

One thing that is outstanding about Britain is we have a lot of sea side piers, more than any other country in the world.  We constantly work to improve  them, paint them, add things to them, modernise them. I think that is why they charge money to go on them. Some of them even have little trains running on them. It is one of the things I'm proud of, we have something that makes us different to everyone else. 

When I approach a pier, I expect to see an arcade on there and some adventure mini golf. One could walk out onto the pier and look out into the horizon at the ocean beyond. You could sit at a café and look out at the sea while you eat your chips with coffee. 

I wonder what pier is the best? There are so many peirs out there that I have never seen before. Perhaps I could do some research on British piers. 

I will peer into the online brochures, excuse the pun.

Pinball in VR

I have the 'Pinball Fx Vr' game on my virtual reality headset. At the moment it is my favourite app. It is very much like walking into a forgotten 80's pinball basement arcade and having the place to yourself. As you play the pinball machines, you unlock customisation items that allow you to customise the arcade and machines. There is also a leader-board to compare your scores with other people around the world. You can climb up the leader-board as your skills improve. 

Playing pinball machines in an arcade, in virtual reality can clear your mind because you're focused on what you're doing. You leave behind your ego and all your worries for a little while and just exist in a happy place where you can focus on one thing, keeping the metal ball out of the pit and into the score zone. It is like being a kid. 

When I got my virtual reality headset, I was convinced that golf is the best thing to play in virtual reality. I was wrong. So far it is the Pinball FX VR arcade. I'm sure in the future there will be more worlds to explore but for now I'm happy with golf and pinball. 

Both the golf and pinball games have DLCs or expansion packs as I call them that let you play new items or areas. That is what I will do for the coming months, I will slowly build up my collection. Until it is time  for a new game.  

Puff Pastry Courtesy

Here in Britain there are good things and bad things. There are people filled with hate, they would tear a poster of a kidnapped toddler that doesn't know what Zionism is off a wall and leave the missing cat one there. You can sugar-coat hate with political jargon but you can't cover the smell; an ordinary man with common sense can smell hate a mile away. There isn't just hate, there is selfishness. People put graffiti on trains, they don't care about how other people see it, they don't care that some tourists see the graffiti and decide not to come back the following year. They don't care that commuters feel a bit less happy when they go to work because they have to look at the mess. They only care about their own expressions, very selfish. 

When I go to some restaurant chains I see the pasty style doubles as a key to indicate what is inside. I thought to myself that it is very creative. If someone bought multiple pasties and rolls, they would be able to tell them apart  using a pastry pattern key. They found a way to show courtesy with puff pastry. Puff Pasty Courtesy.  

The other day I walked past a BT digital advertising board. Right on the side of the display was a small discreet dial pad and a small message that said make a free phone call. I dialled my own number and my mobile phone rang, there was a speaker and microphone inside the casing of the sign and I could hear my own voice. They made a discreet way for people that are stranded to make an emergency call. If you lost your phone and wallet and you were far from home, you could call a relative to rescue you. They thought about it. The trouble is, it is overlooked by most people, I try to imagine why there is a partially hidden phone on the side of the billboard but I don't know. 

People do amazing things every day. There are good and bad everywhere. 

What can I say. 

Short Life

Back in July, Hulk Hogan and Ozzy Osbourne both passed away. Another reminder of how short life is. You can't even assume you'll reach the age of 75; you're not even guaranteed tomorrow. Even if you lived for 200 years, that isn't a long time. I feel a small amount of pity for the relatives of the two men. If I knew them better, the pity would be more.

They both passed away about a week after I purchased a 'Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset. The positive thing that came from their deaths is a reminder that I don't have long. I should try and make the most of every day. Use my vr headset when I can. 

Appreciate all you have until it's gone. 

What July 2025 Means To Me

My Birthday is in July. The same sort of things were happening as the previous month. Conflicts in the middle east region, the government was being scrutinised for taxing too much and overspending while cutting costs. Every government does things wrong and other things right, this time around it could be the case that moving the railways into state ownership is the way forward; it could be one  thing the labour party got right; lets see what happens.

In the middle of the month during my birthday, there was a new viral sensation sweeping social media that was replacing the 'hawk tour girl'. It was the cheating tech company staff caught at a 'cold play' concert on a kiss cam. Never have I ever seen a man blush red like a tomato so quickly. Every media platform was showing the same video of the two people, Tick Tock, Facebook, X, you name it their video was on there. 

Towards the end of the month I learned that the Wrestling superstar 'Hulk Hogan' had passed away. He suddenly had a heart attack at the age of 71. I remember watching hulk hogan on TV when I was a kid; he would shout out in a deep voice how he will be victorious in the WWF and his eyes would bulge out like he was excited and fired up. I think he was paired up with the ultimate warrior and they would fight together as a tag team.  

Ozzy Ozbourne died around the same time as Hulk Hogan for the same reason I think. Their causes of death were common for people in their age group. 

For the first time I owned a stand alone virtual reality headset. I bought the meta quest 3. I put off buying it for 2 or 3 years but now I have it. I use it to help me get a good start to the morning. I wake up at 6am and play golf in the back yard in virtual reality. I visit iconic golf courses and play some golf; then I'm set up for the day. My ordinary working man's mind is blown. I can instantly visit a coastal paradise and play golf. I can visit other worlds or just use VR apps. I can fill out other blog posts about what I have seen. 

It's august now. Lets see what happens. 

 

New Ick Unlocked

There is a new phrase created on social media, 'new ick unlocked'. It's when women find men creepy or disgusting. It is usually triggered by a behaviour of some sort. They film the guy with their smart phones and post it on social media. 

I can give you an example from tick tock https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdHByDvm/ 

I have an ick of my own, like when ladies film a guy without them knowing and brand them as creepy on social media. When a guy's privacy isn't respected even though they're minding their own business. Is that an ick to be unlocked. 

This world stinks sometimes. It really does. 

Virtual Reality Club

I recently joined the virtual reality club. I asked everyone in my family to give me Argos gift cards for my birthday, then I waited a few weeks until my other work and customer perks had lined up and managed to get Meta Quest 3 of my own. It is set up as a fitness gadget for me. I get up at 6AM and  go to the back yard, get some fresh air and play virtual reality golf standing up for an hour and a half. The fresh morning breeze appears to be coming from the world I'm visiting. Then I'm set up for the day. I also noticed the golf plays very much like real golf, if my wrist shifts while I swing, the ball goes off course just like in real life.

The virtual reality app that left the biggest impression on me is the 'youtube' one. It is like having a floating 4k 350 inch Tv in your sitting room, you can resize it and reposition it  in your room and leave it floating anywhere you like. The meta quest 3 supports mixed reality so you can have a video feed of your sitting room mixed together with the software. You can also make the screen very big and remove the real world so you feel like you're in the cinema and if you sink with your 'youtube' account you can play google movies that you bought on there. Another thing you can do is use a desktop application while the youtube is running. There are many configurations that can change the way the screen appears. 

Playing golf is excellent in virtual reality, you can teleport to where the ball is with the press of a button and change your view of the course. You can also go to the course when you like, even at 3 in the morning. 

It's nice to finally use virtual reality without borrowing someone else's 

Nationalisation of C2C

Recently the C2C train network in Britain that goes from Fenchurch street to Shoebury in Southend on sea was taken over by the government. This means the railway is now once again state owned. Eventually all the train lines in Britain with be run by the British government. 

What will happen now? We will see; perhaps  the government will run the railways so badly that they're unusable. Perhaps it will be cheaper to take the train soon. Maybe they will cut less corners than the train operator companies. 

I like the German model the best. Their railways are all state owned but they allow private companies to rent or have access to their rail lines so people still have a choice. 

Instant Shame

Recently I saw two high profile tech company staff receive instant global shame. They were both caught on a kiss cam at a 'Cold Play' concert cheating on their spouses. The incident quickly turned into a tempest of shame and sleaze witnessed by millions of people around the world. It even made it onto an ordinary man's life journal blog 😉

The first thought that came into my head was if Andy Byron's face was bright red like a tomato because of shame or sunburn, there was no sunburn on his arms; perhaps Kristin was wearing makeup, I didn't see her face turn red. I was wondering how a man's face can go bright red so quickly. Then I thought to myself they bought a one way ticket to the blues and that is where they arrived. If you don't want to go to the blues, don't buy the ticket. The only positive thing that came out of this is I won't feel ashamed about displaying a small plastic dinosaur and a pocket ball game I won at an arcade recently on my wall. Some people will come to my home and laugh at my small plastic dinosaur but I would tell them it is just a souvenir of my short birthday city break at an arcade, it's not like i'm a love rat or something like that. 

I value different things to most people. I don't care about prestige or power, I just care about sharing a good time with family and friends. Going to the coast and having fun for a while. When I look at my plastic dinosaur I won't just remember playing in an arcade by the coast, I will remember the instant shame of Andy Byron and Kristen Kabot, the CEO and  Human Resources director that cheated on their spouses and all the news and memes that followed their story. 

Happy Birthday

I think when it is one's birthday one should take a break from work. They should take a small holiday and be happy they are ok for another year. If you made it all the way through the year and your health is ok then it good to recognise that and take a break; go on a small trip or city break, perhaps visit a town or city you have never seen before. 

Naturally when it was my birthday in the middle of July, I used my birthday downtime to create some cartoon strips on my humour based blog. 

Who is Older

Earth Moon BaryCenter

The goal of my humour cartoon strip blog is to make people think about the world, to ponder reality and to laugh a little bit. 

There are many interesting things out there. Life is a journey to eternity. It is very short but make it count if you can.  

Where is the Joy

Sometimes I sit down outside for 15 minutes on a sunny morning with a cup of tea in my hand. I look at the trees swaying in the breeze, a work of beauty. A self balancing being reaching out for the light and water. They alter their body to be balanced and to strengthen themselves against the wind. If happiness were only the absence of sadness then every one of them would be filled with joy. 

I think sometimes to be happy we don't need to find joy, we need to lose sadness, we have everything else we need for joy to flow through us. If a tree ever hosted consciousness and thoughts, it would be the most lonely being around. It would be trapped in itself for centuries without any way to share its world. 

The beauty hidden in plain sight can only be shared through prayer because there are no words for it all. The blue sky and the fresh air in the morning. The fields of countless blades of grass, the sudden joy when your sad thoughts are removed and you're left with the flow of peace and rest. The feeling of the air flowing through your lungs. 

Texas Floods

Recently there was widespread floods in the center portion of the state of Texas. The valleys that contribute to the river Guadalupe were affected the most. I think Austin and Dalas was affected by the floods. I did some research about Texas, it is the 28th state of America and was the only state that was an independent country before it joined the union.

While Texas was flooding and countless people were facing a disaster, I was observingy my cherry tomato plants that were sitting in the window box and eating some of fruits; they grow very fast when they have enough water. Then I was considering buying CBD drinks because I learnt they're good for your health, some people even think it helps reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. Then I was looking at the evercade alpha bartop arcade machine. That's what men do, they look at things. 

What a pity about all those people in Texas, some of them lost their lives. They received a deluge of rain that equals 3 months of rainfall in a few days and their cars were swept away. 

Digital High Street

One downtime avenue for an ordinary man like myself would be to traverse a digital High street of online shops on my phone, I would go to apps like Temu, Amazon, Argos then ticktock shop. I would look for silly t-shirts with dry jokes on them and different things like that. Things for my little man-cave in the corner of the sitting room or things to store stuff in to make the inside of my home more spacious. I don't buy most the stuff I see, I just look at it. Then I will look at the hotel sites to plan my next city break on my birthday next year. I've set up this coming short break for my birthday. 

The world is full of chaos but I keep my nose in the shops to look at things and trips. I look at cities I have never visited before and places I can go to and all the perks that may come with it. The news makes one angry and the shops makes one distracted. 

It's nice to be distracted, to read countless reviews of things you're unlikely to buy. I don't want to be angry, I prefer to be distracted. 

Then there is the other down time avenue, drawing ballpoint pen sketches and writing blog posts, a hobby that anyone can do. 

What June 2025 Means To Me

The main news in June was the Iran Israel war. The two nations were firing many missiles at eachother. America stepped in and dropped several bunker busting bombs on one Iran base buried under a mountain. I thought to myself, if they're enriching Uranium just for industrial uses then why does the facility need to be buried deep in a mountain? Why does it need all that protection. There's no point in an ordinary man like myself thinking about it, my thoughts won't make much difference. 

Everything else was down to me staying busy and trying to keep my chin up when times were stressful. 

I try to enjoy the long days and discover new and interesting things. Internet window shopping takes lots of concentration away, even if I never buy anything. I just look at all the t shirts and gadgets.

Sometimes I just look at a tree swaying in the breeze with sunlight filtering through the leaves. 

The search for Keen

When I was a young boy, the ID software corporation created the perfect side scrolling game, 'Commander keen'. They made 3 crude versions of the game, then they released an experimental episode called keen dreams. Then they refined their engine system and made 3 more games, Keen 4, 5 and 6; I think they were called 'Goodby Galaxy', 'Aliens ate my babysitter', and 'Armageddon Machine'. They released them as freeware products, you could copy it to a floppy disk for free then play it and then there was a paid version of the game. I can't explain it but I just felt like they got it right; the games were fun, the best thing on dos. 

Now I look for new releases of the same games on the evercade website and Nintendo switch store. Nintendo released the so called lost episode, keen dreams but not the magnificent 3. I keep watch to see. Perhaps evercade will release a cartridge with all the best ID dos games. Secret agent, Commander Keen, things like that. I would get the evercade alpha instead of virtual reality for my man cave if they released it. 

Be Happy

Many of my fellow Brits go on holiday and get drunk and become very disorderly every summer. Why? Because our lifestyle causes lingering misery that we take along with us so one feels a need to slow down their brain. It is very sad that we have become like that. We have become so miserable that we need alcohol to slow down our brains so we can stop being miserable while we are on holiday. 

The way we live is wrong, no small talk, no greetings and no fellowship. If you greet people and they don't respond then that should be a measurement of how low and sick our society is. If you live in a world where greetings are strange behaviour and small talk is silly then no one will be happy. We are selfishly creating a society that is impossible to feel happy in. The rich would be alone and the poor would be frustrated but no one would be happy. 

We have become a society of people that love only themselves. I see it everywhere, I see individuals that sit in the group booth seating area of cafes so families  or groups can't use them. I see people putting their feet on seats on public transport. I see teenagers publicly swearing even though there are young children present. It's like their mind is just me me me me me me me all the time. 

I'm not criticising my nation because I hate it. I'm criticising my nation because I care. I want people that are yet to be born in the future to  grow up and live a life that is happy. Right now our society makes that almost impossible. 

This county is an extension of my body. I know many little places and many little worlds on this Island. Even in London, a city I dislike, I know it well. I know Croyden is in the south of the city and has trams like the northern cities do. I am familiar with the part of London that is nearest to me, Uxbridge, where the number 10 would be on a clock face. I know Upminister and Barking are in the east of the city where the number 3 would be if London were a clock face. I know Heathrow Airport is where the number 9 would be on a clock face on the west side of the city next to Ealing and Acton.  

I know reading town("redding"), the mini London with a train station as big as an airport. It sits on the river Thames ("tems") like London does and is the location where the river kennet and Thames merge together to make a much bigger river. My favourite pub in Britain is the 'Last Post' next to Southend central train station. I go there for my birthday to have a drink and relax for a while. It has a lovely garden and themed decorations, there are also hotel rooms above. I know sidmouth, the peaceful place where so many people love to live after retirement. 

What I am trying to say is I know my country very well and I know what it needs and many splendid things about it. Little gems in the muck. Happy pretty places on a grim island.  

Iran and USA at War

There has been some exchange of missile strikes between America and Iran. I'm an ordinary man I don't think about it. All I will say is the world is filled with ordinary people like myself that are not interested in war. 

I sit down and make a nice cup of tea or coffee and turn on my Nintendo. I play computer games and read a bit and try not to think about it. It's good to be an ordinary man sometimes. No one gives me a second thought or considers me a target to be eliminated. I'm just there.  

I sit down and play computer games. Sports games like golf, adventure RPG games. Things like that. Then there's netflix. I can sit down and watch Netflix, a nice crime- mystery documentary. It is so easy to please an ordinary man, a TV connected to games console and access to netflix is enough for me. 

Monitoring stuff

I ask my smart speaker to tell me the news more often these days because the situation in the middle east is escalating. America attacked some of the Iranian nuclear sites the other day. They were very pissed off about  the incident. There is a lot of tension in Iran. Almost all people on earth are like me, they don't want war, they just want to carry on with their lives, yet there is war. The source of most of these wars is dogma; that is the only way I can explain it. 

I'm also keeping an eye on the Squad Micro EV car site. Their site claims they're making a 4 seater EV model but I find it hard to believe from the images. Perhaps the seats at the back are very small. The price looks too good to be true. This is the website for the car https://www.squadmobility.com/.

I like electric cars that charge themselves. 

Current Events

Whenever I see a jumping spider, I always see them purched on front doors; it seems to be a favourite spot for them to hunt. I'm guessing the long flat surface of the door gives them an advantage because they can see clearly all the way across it and they can judge where they will land more easily. That's just a speculation on my part, I don't don't really know why they prefer to hunt on front doors of houses. They look very cool to me, they are very colourful and have lense eyes. They also have iridescent fur in places on their bodies. It's always a treat for me to see one. The world is changing but simple treats like natural wonders stay the same. 

Isreal and Iran are on the news these days, they're exchanging missile fire quite often, they're definitely at war. Israel wants to spearhead hesbullar at their source and they're convinced they're making nuclear weapons. Iran are claiming they're enriching Uranium to build nuclear power stations and never admitted intent for such a thing.

Donald trump's game is pocker, he won't let up his intentions. His face and cards are hidden. If he has a game plan, he won't share it. It could be a shrewd move. It also suggests he may not want to make a decision at this stage. Perhaps he is waiting to see if things will settle down on their own. 

The world is full of ordinary people like me that aren't interested in war yet there is war. 

Israel Iran War

 I learnt recently that Israel and Iran are at war. Israel claimed Iran is developing nukes and planning to use them against Israel; they launched air strikes at sites they thought were used to enrich Uranium, the key material used to make nukes. Iran retaliated and launched many missiles towards Israel. 

In the past at the end of world war 2, America used nukes to force Japan to surrender. On paper it made sense. They thought surrender from a nuclear strike would cause fewer deaths than an invasion. The problem was the cruelty factor was overlooked. They didn't understand the devastation a nuclear bomb would cause because they were never detonated over a city before. When Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit by nuclear bombs, millions of people were subjected to varying degrees of suffering. Some people were vaporised instantly, others had their skin burnt off in places and died days later from infections, there were others that received lethal doses of radiation and slowly died weeks later from organ failure. There were even more people that passed away years later because of cancer and had offspring that died of cancer. The suffering caused by the bombs lasted for decades; There were countless burns, endless pain, slow deaths and grief, sicknesses that were never witnessed before were common.  I would compare a nuclear blast to a plague. 

If Iran is developing nukes and planning to use them against Israel, I ask myself how they could do such a thing knowing the cruelty it would cause. If humans could deliberately cause that level of cruelty to other people, perhaps people don't deserve to be here. Life has gone wrong. Mankind is too evil for the Earth. 

After America nuked Japan, they never used the nukes again because they witnessed the cruelty of the weapon. They have many nukes but they won't use them. I hope the world has learnt from it. 

Ahmebadad Plane Crash

 I learnt yesterday on the news that there was a plane crash in India in the city of Ahmebadad. There was 1 survivor of the crash, the other 239 people on the plane perished. It is sad news for all those people that lost friends and family. I'm guessing there was an issue with one of the parts of the plane. I think the survivor was able to get up on his feet and walk away from the crash, that's amazing. A true miracle. 

It was while I learned of a plane crash that I also  learned that Coventry city in the centre of England was developing a lite tram network. I imagined they asked themselves if they could make a tram network without installing overhead power lines and sleeper blocks under the road. They came up with a small single car tram that is battery powered, it can run on basic small gauge rails that are bolted to the asphalt. The trams are charged up at night or when they're not operating and then they run during the day. There are no power lines to maintain and very little structures, just the small metal rails that are bolted to the ground. I think other cities are looking into this technology. It is very low cost, low noise and low maintenance. 

I was wondering what would happen if the Paraceratherium  ever met the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Paraceratherium was a giant rhino that went extinct  about 11 million years ago, the tyrannosaurus Rex went extinct 66 million years ago.  The Paraceratherium looked like a giant horse and towered over all the other animals on land.  

I thought the Paraceratherium would win most times because it was a mammal and had endurance and was much bigger than the T Rex would have been. The two animals never existed at the same time so I can only speculate.