Finish

I seldom get a response to my Blogs but a couple of day ago I received a lengthy letter, 5 full length typed pages taking me to task for my antireligious diatribes to which I can only plead guilty. The writer says he does not know whether I am atheist, agnostic, humanist or any other  ‘non-believer’ and he doesn’t really care but I seem to delight in taking every opportunity to ridicule the notion of a superior, omniscient omnipotent being as the first cause and creator of everything that exists  and the catholic church in particular. Sometimes he believes it could be a case of ‘the lady protesteth too much.’  I would have thought it pretty obvious that I am an athiest and, I hope, a humanist. For me there are only two reasons to believe in a god (1) Pain and the possible alleviation thereof and (2) the mystery and consequent fear of death. Against these two I could put twenty arguments or more. Do you believe that Mohammad flew up to paradise on a snow-white horse? If not, why not? Is the story of the resurrection not on a par when the graves opened to reveal the dead and nobody made much comment on so unusual and frightening a phenomenon?

I am glad I received your letter because this is going to be my last Blog. You have no idea how long it has taken me to get this far with decrepit fingers and every second word yet another mistake.

There are reputedly 1400 Christian denominations not one of which as far as I know has been able tell where I come from, why should I trust any one of them to tell me where I am going? So I close on another Glyn Jones quote, this time from ‘The Muses Darling’ Christopher Marlowe (He would be called Christopher wouldn’t he?)

NASHE: Take care, Kit. Take care. You break all the conventions.

MARLOWE: So I do, so I do. They are there to be broken or what can be new? I believe in the emancipation of reason, I do not believe in superstition, massacres, cruel torture and hideous deaths, men’s bodies broken and the wars we have lived with for so long, all in the name of religion. I believe in the liberation of the spirit so I break conventions. I count religion but a childish toy and hold there is no sin but ignorance. Religion hides many mischiefs from suspicion.

FLETCHER: Go to. Maybe you suffer from the delusion that you are god.

Marlowe said the beginning of religion was but to keep men in order. That man’s soul ends, vanishes and perishes with his body. We remember nothing before we are born and we shall remember nothing after we are dead. That the sacrament would be better served in a tobacco pipe.

Marias

Marias, a perfectly healthy giraffe born in a Danish zoo, despite his being offered a home in a park and another zoo has been put down by humane killer. The reason given was that the zoo has its full compliment of male giraffes and poor Marius’ DNA was of no use to them. Had he been born female he would still be swanning around gazing at the world with those enormous eyes, looking as pretty as a young giraffe can look. It was his misfortune to be born a male. It is the misfortune of many humans to be born, as they feel it, in the wrong sex and, although they don’t meet a fate as drastic and as final as Marius’, life can be pretty sickening at the hands of those ‘normal’ folk who don’t understand or sympathise. The same applies to the animal kingdom, both domesticated and wild. I have been regarding on You-tube the wonderful work of various animal protection societies, mainly in America: New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Miami, and on Face-book in South Africa and the images of treatment inflicted on defensive animals is sickening, sometimes cruelly deliberate, sometimes through sheer neglect and indifference, sometime through ignorance. The pictures and videos may show an animal from its rescue to a successful finale, sometimes not and there are those that in particular stay in the mind so vividly you wonder if you will ever forget them.

For example there was a photograph of fairly large nondescript dog being led on a leash down a corridor. He is looking up at his keeper in such a way that you just know his heart must be fluttering with hope. There are only two reasons as far as he knows that he has been let out of his cage; some kindly folk had finally adopted him or they are going for a run. He just does not know as he bounces along, tail wagging, gazing up at the man who has come to fetch him, that the corridor is for this moment his own death row. A video shows a girl kneeling on a sidewalk, making a fuss of a dog so skeletal you could literally see every bone. It could hardly take a step as it pathetically tried to wag its tail. “They have every right to hate us,” the girl said, but the fact is they don’t. Dogs that hate are like humans who hate –they are taught. Of course they can be as vicious as hell. You only have to watch a police dog in training to realise how fearsome they can be, and what damage they can cause. But it is still completely loyal to its trainer. On the other and you have sniffer dogs, dogs for the blind, dogs simply for sympathetic companionship. It all depends on how they are brought up.

So what has happened to the Sochi dogs? First story, a lady gathered together 146 dogs and penned them in order to protect them. Second story, a Russian billionaire joined in saying he remembered the puppy he had got from Sochi when he was a boy. Third story: the government has paid a large sum of money to a private firm to get rid of the dogs. They are being shot with poisoned darts and it takes an agonising hour to die. How many dogs are there? A figure of 7000 is mooted. CEO of the firm hired said,

“The dog is biological trash.” I think rather he should have said, “The dog is money in the bank.”

Marias, a perfectly healthy giraffe born in a Danish zoo, despite his being offered a home in a park and another zoo has been put down by humane killer. The reason given was that the zoo has its full compliment of male giraffes and poor Marius’ DNA was of no use to them. Had he been born female he would still be swanning around gazing at the world with those enormous eyes, looking as pretty as a young giraffe can look. It was his misfortune to be born a male. It is the misfortune of many humans to be born, as they feel it, in the wrong sex and, although they don’t meet a fate as drastic and as final as Marius’, life can be pretty sickening at the hands of those ‘normal’ folk who don’t understand or sympathise. The same applies to the animal kingdom, both domesticate and wild. I have been regarding on You-tube the wonderful work of various animal protection societies, mainly in America: New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Miami, and on Face-book in South Africa and the images of treatment inflicted on defensive animals is sickening, sometimes cruelly deliberate, sometimes through sheer neglect and indifference, sometime through ignorance. The pictures and videos may show an animal from its rescue to a successful finale, sometimes not and there are those that in particular stay in the mind so vividly you wonder if you will ever forget them.

For example there was a photograph of fairly large nondescript dog being led on a leash down a corridor. He is looking up at his keeper in such a way that you just know his heart must be fluttering with hope. There are only two reasons as far as he knows that he has been let out of his cage; some kindly folk had finally adopted him or they are going for a run. He just does not know as he bounces along, tail wagging, gazing up at the man who has come to fetch him, that the corridor is for this moment his own death row. A video shows a girl kneeling on a sidewalk, making a fuss of a dog so skeletal you could literally see every bone. It could hardly take a step as it pathetically tried to wag its tail. “They have every right to hate us,” the girl said, but the fact is they don’t. Dogs that hate are like humans who hate –they are taught.

Pussy riot etc.

In my previous Blog I wrote details from “The Death of South Africa,” by Alistair Sparks. I have now discovered the piece is fraudulent though the author has not been traced. Alistair Sparks is adamant the writing is not his.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has refused to approve a controversial bill to toughen punishments for homosexuals. He has written to the parliamentary speaker criticising her for passing it in December without a quorum. The bill provides for life imprisonment for homosexual acts and also makes it a crime not to report gay people. How many false accusations could this invoke? The bill provides for life imprisonment for homosexual acts and also makes it a crime not to report gay people.

The promotion of homosexuality - even talking about it without condemning the lifestyle - would also be punishable by a prison term.

How many false accusations could this produce? I see an opening here for blackmail.

The promotion of homosexuality - even talking about it without condemning the lifestyle - would also be punishable by a prison term.

Good for Museveni, but then he goes on to give his opinion on something of which he is completely ignorant.

Homosexuals were "abnormal" or were so for "mercenary reasons" (!) could be "rescued", a local paper quotes his letter as saying. As for lesbians they are women who can’t find husbands (!) Isn’t it wonderful? If you don’t know what you are talking about just make up your own theories.

In December a gay rights campaigner spoke of her fears about the legislation.

Her spokesman told the AFP news agency that Mr Museveni believes that gay people are sick but this does not mean they should be killed or jailed for life.

"What the president has being saying is that we shall not persecute these homosexuals and lesbians. That is the point," said Tamale Mirudi. Then what is all the fuss about? And where does the church stand? Well in Nigeria where such a law as been passed they are being heartedly congratulated by Roman Catholic priests while in Uganda the Church of England’s stand is exactly the opposite – well for the most part.

Anyone who has followed my Blogs will know I hold no brief for religion. The one thing the communists got right was to say “religion is the opium of the people.” But, despite my antipathy and despite the horrors religion is capable of there are certain standards of behaviour recently that are totally beyond the pale. I refer of course to the pussy riot behaviour in Moscow and, as far as I am concerned the girls deserved their punishment. Recently my cousin Bert in Perth sent me a long article from “The West Australian.” It is headed “A tolerant society relies on equity and freedom,” and I pass on the sordid details of what happened shortly before Christmas at The Madeleine in Paris. A young woman entered the church while the choir were practicing, stripped off her top and performed a mock abortion at the altar using pieces of bloody calves’ liver to represent the foetus. She was photographed, apparently by arrangement, doing so. On her back were written the words “Christmas is cancelled.” It was written in English for maximum internet pick-up. Then she left. It is interesting how little this revolting sacrilege was reported.”

Who was this girl and what sort of mind does she have that she felt she could or should do this kind of thing? Was she nervous? Was her heart thumping? Did she feel proud of herself? Brave little thing. Has she boasted about it to all her friends? What was it in aid of? We get the so-called subtlety of the imagery with the help of the written message but I can’t help thinking that Jesus true or Jesus untrue, the sacrilege committed was a revolting obscenity, nothing more, nothing less. Read the headline once more with her in mind

New Play

Dear Glyn, 

Thank you very much for sending The Muse's Darling to us and many apologies that it has taken us so long to get back to you about it. Whilst we enjoyed the play a great deal I'm afraid we're not going to be able to offer it a home here which we hope will not be too disappointing. 

Thank you for sharing your work with us, I wish you the very best of luck with The Muse's Darling and with all your writing projects.

Very best wishes,

Associate Director. 

When I was but two bricks and a pisspot high as we used to say, aged eight, I was trundled off to boarding school on doctor’s orders in an effort to ease an asthmatic condition and the contents of my suitcase all carefully labelled were also itemised, for example: Blazer black 1, Shirts white 4, Shirts khaki 6, Shorts khaki 6, Shorts grey 2, Socks black 8, etcetera.

Having given some thought to the e-mail above I decided, as I approach my 83^rd birthday,  I would open my lifetime suitcase and itemise it’s contents, at least as far as writing is concerned. It might not be totally accurate. There are half finished works I haven’t included, projects started but not pursued, and stuff I am bound to have forgotten or that doesn’t fit into any particular category: for example “Alice In Winterland” a two part television ice spectacular with original songs; but anyway, here we go:

Plays, stage 24.

Musicals, Book and lyrics 8.

Libretti, opera 2.

Plays television 9.

Plays screen  8

Documentaries 5

Series television 3 “Doctor Who” 4 scripts. “The Magnificent 6½” 6 scripts plus ghosting for the second series. “The Double Deckers” 9 scripts and script editor for the 13 part series.

Pilots 5

Autobiography “No Official Umbrella” 1.

Novels 4

The Thornton King series - Comedy thrillers 6

Zeta Magazine - Issues 1 to 6

Blogs  ‘No Official Umbrella’ 892

Not a bad output when you take into account how many hours have been spent in other directions; acting, directing, teaching and jobs away from the theatre.

But back to the e-mail that started all this. I am very glad that those who read it in this particular theatre “enjoyed the play a great deal.” So, if it was enjoyed a great deal I have to ask the question why does it stop there? Did they believe an audience would not enjoy it a great deal? Or was there some other reason? In all the many rejections’ I have had in my lifetime I cannot remember a single instance in which I have been given a REASON for the rejection, only a phrase such as “thank you but not for us,” the standard sort of notice, sometimes curt, sometimes, as with this one, with more courtesy. In the old days of hard-copy only the script (SAE for its return if you were lucky to have it returned at all) would land with a thud on the mat, now it is all done electronically which at least saves a lot of money. The nearest I ever got to some sort of reasoning if it was a theatre play was, “Have you thought of trying it for television?” or a television play, “Have you thought of trying it for Theatre?” which gets the recipient nicely off the hook. I am fully aware of theatre managements drowning under an avalanche of plays, that’s the way it has always been and as it has always been it takes an act of God to get something accepted. An original musical takes an act of God in convocation with all his angels, archangels, seraphim, and cherubim which is probably why my version of “Peter Pan” is the only one to be produced. A miracle is required here but unfortunately I do not believe in miracles.

So why was “The Muses Darling” turned down? I‘ve read it and reread it and, after receiving this rejection I read it again. Has my treatment conjuring up England of the period not been exemplary? Are there hilarious anachronisms I haven’t spotted? I don’t see any. With all honesty I can only boast my scholarship and my research if not exemplary come close to it. Does the dialogue sound false? I have tried and I believe succeeded, using just a few words, the occasional ‘prithee’ or ‘God’s blood’ for example in bridging the gap been modern and Elizabethan English and no actor should have any difficulty with it – I speak from 50 years experience as an actor. Are the characters cardboard or two dimensional? I think not. If I were the right age I would give my eye teeth to play a part like Marlowe. Is there no humour in the play? If you believe that reread the post mortem scene. Is there something desperately wrong with plot and dramatic balance? Nothing that couldn‘t be put right in rehearsal. Is the play considered too expensive with a large cast (even with doubling and tripling) and period costume but if this is what has put the cat among the pigeons (cliché but apt) let me finally ask you this. How often does a provincial theatre, even a prestigious one, get the opportunity of presenting a world premiere of what is, I have no doubt about it, a major work? And if it is considered a major work how difficult would it be to get sponsorship?

Whenever I read details as to what a theatre wants to-day in choosing a play it has usually to be the work of a young lion showing promise and relevant to to-day’s problems. Well this is a scraggly old lion and not all can relate to contemporary issues.

There is nothing new in the Marlowe/Shakespeare theory. It’s been going on for ages. It has fascinated me for a long time and I just wanted to write it in my own way; a way I hope that will intrigue, entertain, say just little bit of England at the time. (Did you know that to masturbate was referred to as ‘pulling the pope?’) And be appreciated by both academe and a wider public.

Bearing all this is mind naturally I am disappointed and I would dearly love to know why the play did not find favour.

Yours sincerely,

Glyn.

The ruin of South Africa

So what is wrong or going wrong with South Africa? Well, from what I have been told and what I have read the answer is as obvious as the nose on your face – The ANC is what is wrong with South Africa and in particular the buffoon that is the party’s head. Allister Sparks, a well-known and respected journalist has written a piece “The death South Africa. Read this and weep.” The article is much too detailed to go into here but it concerns the mining industry and some pertinent facts from Mr. Sparks article` will illustrate all. Nicky Oppenheimer, current chairman of Oppenheimer who has just sold all the family shares for $5.2 billion, says it was a tough decision. The death of South Africa's mines is the death of South Africa...
There are many microcosms of decay that one can use as examples of the decay
of the macrocosm of South Africa. In many respects the booming of  SouthAfrica's mining industry and its current decay under the ANC's Black Economic Empowerment system is a microcosm of the booming of the Republic of South Africa under Apartheid and its decay under the ANC.
Money was flowing, salaries were high. By the 1970s Anglo Gold was operating six massive mines, with 22
deep level shafts, in which 122,000 people worked. The mines of Welkom were
producing 35% of the gold in South Africa, which in turn was producing 75%
of the world's gold.
Times were good for blue-collar whites. Even in the nearby black township of Thabong and the township of Bronville, the living standards were very high. But then the ANC took over in 1994, mostly with the help of the Oppenheimers and J.P. Morgan, who founded Anglo American Corporation in 1917. Hardly had the
ANC communists taken over, than they wanted not only a slice of the pie from the mining industry, but the whole pie.
Black Economic Empowerment was introduced and mines had to give away half of
their assets to black ANC members. For Anglo American Corporation, the
writing was on the wall and before they could lose everything, they merged
with Minorco in 1999 and moved their assets to London. In the last 10-15
years, more than 100,000 jobs have been lost in Welkom industry. Today, the mines are being plundered for scrap metal. The municipality of Matjabeng (nee Welkom) is run by the ANC. In June 2011 it came into prominence as one of the worst examples of ANC corruption and misrule. How a small town blew R2bn. on dodgy deals. The Aurora mine at Grootvlei, which is owned by the Zuma and Mandela families and at one stage employed 5000 workers, now have less than 200. Aurora is now a ghost town.
On the 8th of May 2011, in a Carte Blanche TV show, it was revealed that
Cosatu (Council of SA Trade Unions) calls the owners of Aurora (Zuma and
Mandela family members) -- Super Exploiters!!
If there is an abyss of desperation, these men abandoned at the mineworker
hostels are in it. At Grootvlei, near Springs, the water and electricity has
been cut, the toilets are a sanitary shock. On good days, they may have hot
food. Two hours drive to the west, is the Orkney mine in Klerksdorp. There
is an inescapable feeling of sadness here. Cooking pots are empty here too.
Ntsani Mohapi has been on the mine since the mid '70s; he should be in line
for a pension, but that is all gone now. "There are people who are crying,
there are people who are dying, because we deal with people who are lying".
As things stand hundreds of miners are still in limbo; millions of Rands are
outstanding in salaries. Wives have left husbands, children have dropped out
of school, people have been blacklisted. They can't even claim Unemployment
Insurance Funds.
The allegations against Aurora's directors are damning: since they took over
the Pamodzi mines in 2009, which were fully operational at the time, they
have been accused of not paying salaries, making endless broken promises,
misappropriating UIF and pension fund money and stripping assets of mines
they haven't paid for. (Source: Carte Blanche TV programme). The BBC has
extensively reported on how the Zuma (Jacob Zuma's nephew) and Mandela
(Nelson Mandela's grandson) families exploit their workers and treat them
worse than dogs. While the Zuma and Mandela family members grow rich and
fat, they do not pay their starving workers, which effectively makes them
slave owners. Is this the 'Freedom' Mandela and Zuma spoke about and fought
for? They were not Freedom Fighters... They were not fighting for the
Freedom of the people, rather for the enslavement of the people under a
communist yoke.

The Grootvlei mine now stands in ruins. What could not be stolen and sold
for scrap, is cut up and sold to the Chinese state-owned mining company,
Shandong Gold. The white foreman at Aurora can only stand and watch as the
looting of the mine continues. This is the same ANC who wants to nationalize
the mines, the banks and the farms. Can you even imagine the utter
enslavement of blacks, the dilapidation and ruin of South Africa that will
follow? that The Aurora mine at
Grootvlei, which is owned by the Zuma and Mandela families and at one stage
employed 5000 workers, now have less than 200. Aurora is now a ghost town.
On the 8th of May 2011, in a Carte Blanche TV show, it was revealed that
Cosatu (Council of SA Trade Unions) calls the owners of Aurora (Zuma and
Mandela family members) -- Super Exploiters!!
If there is an abyss of desperation, these men abandoned at the mineworker
hostels are in it. At Grootvlei, near Springs, the water and electricity has
been cut, the toilets are a sanitary shock. On good days, they may have hot
food. Two hours drive to the west, is the Orkney mine in Klerksdorp. There
is an inescapable feeling of sadness here. Cooking pots are empty here too.
Ntsani Mohapi has been on the mine since the mid '70s; he should be in line
for a pension, but that is all gone now. "There are people who are crying,
there are people who are dying, because we deal with people who are lying".
As things stand hundreds of miners are still in limbo; millions of Rands are
outstanding in salaries. Wives have left husbands, children have dropped out
of school, people have been blacklisted. They can't even claim Unemployment
Insurance Funds.
The allegations against Aurora's directors are damning: since they took over
the Pamodzi mines in 2009, which were fully operational at the time, they
have been accused of not paying salaries, making endless broken promises,
misappropriating UIF and pension fund money and stripping assets of mines
they haven't paid for. (Source: Carte Blanche TV programme). The BBC has
extensively reported on how the Zuma (Jacob Zuma's nephew) and Mandela
(Nelson Mandela's grandson) families exploit their workers and treat them
worse than dogs. While the Zuma and Mandela family members grow rich and
fat, they do not pay their starving workers, which effectively makes them
slave owners. Is this the 'Freedom' Mandela and Zuma spoke about and fought
for? They were not Freedom Fighters... They were not fighting for the
Freedom of the people, rather for the enslavement of the people under a
communist yoke.

The Grootvlei mine now stands in ruins. What could not be stolen and sold
for scrap, is cut up and sold to the Chinese state-owned mining company,
Shandong Gold. The white foreman at Aurora can only stand and watch as the
looting of the mine continues. This is the same ANC who wants to nationalize
the mines, the banks and the farms. Can you even imagine the utter
enslavement of blacks, the dilapidation and ruin of South Africa that will
follow?
SEEN IN PARKING LOT AT THE MANGAUNG ANC ELECTIVE CONFERENCE IN DECEMBER 2013:

 ~  106 BMW X5's,  

~  28 RANGE ROVER SPORTS,    j

~  211 BMW 5 or 7 series sedans,  

~  11 MASERATI's,  

~  103 MERCEDES BENZ sedans (C & E Class),  

~  6 HUMMERS,  

~  9 FERRARI's.                         

Apart from the fact that the tax payer is paying to get all these cars to the conference, paying for the luxury accommodation, decadently luxurious and excessive food and drinks (all free!!), wives, spouses, lovers, friends and family - all catered for - all at tax payers’ expense.

And then we wonder why the government says they don't have money for RDP housing, a proper education system, proper healthcare facilities, a properly trained and corrupt-free police force and crime control - and all the other things they promised and haven't honoured !!!!

 And then this ................

                   

Apart from the fact that the tax payer is paying to get all these cars to the conference, paying for the luxury accommodation, decadently luxurious and excessive food and drinks (all free!!), wives, spouses, lovers, friends and family - all catered for - all at tax payers’ expense.

And then we wonder why the government says they don't have money for RDP housing, a proper education system, proper healthcare facilities, a properly trained and corrupt-free police force and crime control - and all the other things they promised and haven't honoured !

As for the buffoon, he of the multiple wives, also supported by the tax-payer, and who believes AIDS can be avoided by taking a shower, how do you describe the insensitive mentality of someone who builds his multi-billion new kraal with a humble mud hut practically against the perimeter wall? If that is not going to blow the ANC out of the water nothing will ever shift them. They will make sure they are there for keeps and Africa will have another Zimbabwe.