Large Fierce Mammal

Early on the morning of Wednesday, 23 October 2013, the remains of 62 year old Harley Lawrence were discovered inside a burning bus shelter in Berwick, Nova Scotia; a small town located in the primarily agricultural Annapolis Valley. Harley Lawrence was its only homeless resident, sleeping nightly in the town’s sole bus shelter. Emotionally troubled, he eschewed offers of more secure accommodations, but accepted contributions of food and bedding.

While the extreme state of immolation of his body continues to make a definitive cause of death difficult to state with accuracy, the horror of the events surrounding his death have, not surprisingly, led to widespread speculation; particularly in light of witness statements that two young males were observed filling a jug with gasoline approximately 20 minutes before the fire.

Last Friday, 25 April 2014, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced the arrest and laying of 1st degree murder charges in the death of Harley Lawrence against 26 year old Daniel Wayne Surette and 25 year old Kyle James Fredericks.

News coverage in the wake of this announcement speaks to a trend in both Canada and the United States of assaults and murders perpetrated predominantly by males under 30 years of age against homeless people in a practice referred to as “bum hunting”.

“‘These crimes are believed to be motivated by the perpetrators’ bias against homeless individuals or their ability to target homeless people with relative ease (LFM emphasis added),’ the report said.

“The documented violence includes everything from murder to beatings, rapes, and setting people on fire.” ~ Harley Lawrence killing points to troubling trend

Targeting people with relative ease. There it is dear Readers. Attacking those perceived as weak and defenseless in the face of your youthful vigour and superior numbers in case youth can’t cut it. This is no “hate crime”, this is an opportunistic expression of the most bottom feeding evil. The same motivation that leads to home invasions aimed at senior citizens, “swarmings”, gang rapes, and sucker punching the inattentive in the so called “knockout game”.

There’s a lot of reading embedded in the links within this article, and I invite you to absorb it all before my next installment. I’ll leave you today with this, from a previous LFM utterance that you should read if you haven’t already, and invite you to read again even if you have:

I’ve said many times before that for creatures in Nature, getting through a day is very much an exercise in energy management. Investment measured against return. The Way of the Wild doesn’t hold it up as a good idea to expend valuable energy and expose the self to risk of injury or immediate death by attacking and killing out of such base sentiments as boredom or sheer malice, and defensive measures offered by the presumed “prey” are what hold potential attackers in check. Nothing in Nature meekly submits. It’s flight or fight, all the way! ~ In Ferro Veritas – Chapter the Third

We’re happy to report that today, our Esteemed Friend Hanshi Stephen F. Kaufman has simultaneously delighted his Friends and dismayed his enemies by becoming 75 years of age! (S. F. Kaufman photo)

Today’s title is taken from the vast body of sage advice that flows from the mind, pen, and lips of Hanshi Stephen F. Kaufman; a treasured Friend to whom I have referred here on many occasions, and will again. I invite you to peruse and reflect on these representative pieces from the LFM Archives that you can revel in by clicking on the titles:

• What You Don’t Know …;
• Art, Science, Life, and Reality – Certified Organic;
• Welcome to the Jungle;
• Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – A Return to First Principles; and
• Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – Death and the Modern Warrior.

Steve Kaufman and I first came to be connected by my (seemingly, but we all know better) serendipitous discovery in a Nova Scotia book store of his The Martial Artist’s Book of Five Rings – The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi’s Classic Book of Strategy back in the mid 1990’s. I loved it, and have continued a tradition of re-reading it annually since then. The Kaufman bibliography is extensive and growing. His work carries the LFM stamp of approval.

Social networking has proven at times to be a blighted and thrice accursed thing in society, but yet, my relationship with many of the people I value most in my life has been buoyed up; even engendered; by the accessibility intelligent use of such services as facebook provides. It was by this means that we of the LFM Clan first came to know not only his Professional expression of himself, but the Man, and going forward from there, to name it a delight to have to come to know Steve Kaufman to such a personal degree is the mother of understatements.

It grieves us to say that we will be unable to attend your celebratory festivities this time around my Esteemed Friend, but we live in hope for the future because we’re all still young yet! So be it known to all ye presents, and throughout all the lands that today is Steve Kaufman’s 75th birthday, and falling on the 22nd day of April, this auspicious natal day falls on the day before my own. Please join us in wishing him the happiest of days, and multitudes more to follow.

Live forever, or die in the effort!

Source: S. F. Kaufman

If you seek to understand steel and its role in primal living, study ALL blades goode Scholar. (Click the picture to enbiggen, and let’s play “Spot the Bowie”.) Mrs. LFM photo.

Nursie:  “You’re so clever today, you’d better be careful your foot doesn’t fall off!”
Queenie: “Is that what happens to people when they have brilliant ideas?”
Nursie:  “Oh yes!  My brother had this brilliant idea of cutting his toenails with a scythe, and his foot fell off!”

~ Blackadder the Second ~

If you follow us here, you’ll know my love for the scythe. You’ll also know I have an equal appreciation for pretty much any implement with a blade, and why I persist in honing my skills with any such that come to hand.

Strange to tell though that, of all the sharp and pointy tools at my disposal, and with which I can lay claim to at least some passing proficiency, many folk look upon the ever so peaceful scythe as being particularly fearsome and dangerous. Knowing this, I suppose that I shouldn’t have been surprised to read the headlines from a 9 April 2014 article posted by BBC News titled Sword and scythe found during Ipswich drugs raids.

In that piece, Chief Constable Douglas Paxton was quoted as saying that the “weapons” were “… the sort of thing that comes with that marketplace”. Well, the sword notwithstanding, I suppose harvest time comes around in every agricultural endeavour sooner or later.

Now with typically perfect timing having absolutely nothing to do with the aforesaid, the ever informative Lindybeige has provided his own entertaining observations – this time on the weapon potential of the scythe – but before I turn you over to him, let’s pause to take a quick look at a historical precedent.

As it turns out, in the real world, the mounting of a scythe blade on a sword hilt (for whatever reason) isn’t exactly unknown and, at least in German, such “scythe swords” even have a name: Sensenschwert. The one pictured at left, engraved with a runic calendar, allegedly belonged to Thomas Müntzer whose role in the German Peasants’ War led to his capture, torture, and execution.

My own feelings on this item are that it’s symbolic and/or ceremonial in nature; possibly even whimsical; and never crafted for use as a weapon in spite of appearances. Knowing what I know about the structural geometry of a scythe blade and what happens when sharp steel meets flesh at speed, in a fight requiring an equalizer, I’d rather pick up a rock or a stout stick.

So now, over to Lindybeige.

But wait! There’s more!

Without the ability to read Cursive, much of even recent history might as well be written in code.

Literacy is a set of skills based upon three legs; one passive, and the other two active.

The passive one is Reading. It requires no output on the part of the participant, necessitating only the ability to comprehend the written word. The two active legs of the Literacy tripod are:

• Writing; and
• Speaking.

Now, when I refer to these three vital components of Literacy, I mean something very specific, for to represent True Literacy demands that each of the three components be expressed in strict accordance with the rules of the Tool called Language. In this, for example, there is a world of difference between Speaking and simply talking.

Never mind that hand written letter from your Grandmother. If your Literate girlfriend gives you this and you can’t read it, it’ll be just you and your hand tonight, and a long list of nights thereafter.

True Literacy is no longer reliably taught in public schools for reasons that parallel the rest of society. Look at the evolution of the computer industry, in its move away from full size desk top machines toward a focus on portable devices. Even lap top computers are being supplanted in the lives of many by smart phones and tablets – devices crafted to facilitate consumption rather than creation of content – and in that, dear Reader, there is a problem.

There is currently debate among those who “craft” education policy over whether or not schools should continue to teach the use of cursive script at all. Grounds generally cited by proponents of this misguided move focus on how most people do their writing exclusively on keyboards or touch sensitive electronic equivalents. And so, we have a 19 year old witness at the George Zimmerman trial who was outed on the stand as having lied in her testimony when she was unable to read aloud a letter she claimed to have written. The reason, in her own words: “I don’t read cursive.” As it turned out, the only part of the letter she could interpret was her own name.

When I was a child, learning to print letters, words, and ultimately entire sentences was what was mastered in elementary school. Cursive – Penmanship – was what grown up people did. At university, my first year English Professor actually forbade anything but properly penned pages, executed to his very high standards of legibility, in all written assignments submitted to him. Keyboarding skills have been essential to Writers since the typewriter was invented, but until very recently, all significant documents were hand written. Not to read cursive is to shut yourself off from pretty much all of the heritage you are heir to.

A segment of the CBC Radio show The 180 that aired on 28 March 2014 dealt with this very matter, and I welcome you to listen to it now by clicking here. You know where my own sentiments lie.

Some additional and related mind fodder can be found at the websites of Handwriting Without Tears, and The Bow Valley Calligraphy Guild.

A Strange Turn of Phrase

By LFM

If one goes through peril and comes out alive,
It seems fair to refer to one’s state as “survived”,
But a curious thing is the turning of phrase
That equates every death to the Ending of Days.

I refer to the way a death notice is written,
And how it names those left behind by the smitten.
You’d think they had lived with the sum of all fears
Instead of someone worth the shedding of tears.

I’m a dangerous Man with a pen or a sword,
Have a darkness of soul so you’ll never get bored.
I’m no small Force of Nature, I’ll freely admit,
But you’d think I’m the Devil to read my obit.

Names of loved ones who live when I draw my last breath,
And the newspapers carry the word of my death,
Will appear at the end of a piece that describes me,
And grant them the status of having “survived” me.

Although he may appear here to be the epitome of innocence, our SFM Viktor is an experienced and unrepentant masticator. (Mrs. LFM photo)

A Startling Discovery

By LFM

On the path to self-relation,
The child discovers mastication.
What starts out firm he’ll learn to soften,
And from that day, he’ll do it often.

Happy birthday lad. You’re still just a wee calf.

On this day, Peter Ashley Thompson has succeeded in turning 58 years of age – a thing so singularly amazing that it’s unlikely he’ll ever manage to do it again. To commemorate this occasion, we’re offering this.

Ode to Thompson

by LFM

Peter Thompson’s fifty-eight,
Above the sod, don’t call him late,
He’s white of beard, not bald of pate,
No scotch is made the man will hate.

We wish him life that’s long and good,
And coffin made of Oaken wood
That sports a hundred rings of growth
I’ll plant next week – my solemn oath.

One evolution of Celtic Woman. (Source: http://celticwoman.com/)

It’s another St. Patrick’s Day, and before too much time has elapsed, all the Public Houses in the land will be decanting an assortment of green libations, if they haven’t started already. Whether you imbibe or no, here are a couple of spirited performances from Celtic Woman that you will find hard to put down. A group of hot Irish Women, one of whom (the one on the right of the photo above) is a fiddle player possessed of nothing short of “other worldly” talents.

First up is a house favourite that never fails to get the SFM kicking and squealing with delight. Even at only slightly more than 6 months of age, he appreciates feminine pulchritude.  Níl Sé’n Lá is about partying all night. Literally “Not Yet Day”, the group sees the intention more as “Seize the Day”, and we’d never argue with that.

Téir Abhaile Riú, usually translated as “Go home with you!“, is the tale of a free spirited young thing who is off to cavort with the sailors in Galway. What’s not to love?

In my 17 years overseeing operations at Central Dispatch – the emergency communications centre that I established and operated from 1984 to 2001 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – I had regular cause to call in to the RCMP communications centre in Halifax (call sign 416), and speak to the (mostly female) dispatchers there. I have been, and continue to be, accused of having a “radio voice”, and I came to learn that the ladies at 416 had bestowed upon me the title of “The Voice” – I called in one day, and immediately upon hearing me speak, the one answering only thought she had muted her headset when immediately upon hearing my voice she whispered to her colleagues, “It’s The Voice!” Well now, what a giveaway.

I speak of this because I was reminded today of a Leonard Cohen poem I first heard on a day now lost in the mists of time, and that makes reference to a man with a most wondrous voice indeed. “The Voice” or no, speaking for myself, I lay no claim to such power, and in tests I conducted many years ago after I first heard “The Hypnotist”, only recorded success rates no better than 60/40 on a good day.Still, not bad, but I seem to have improved with age. I’m now at 100%. It works on Mrs. LFM every time, and who could ask for more?

So here, read to you by another Great Voice, is the Esteemed and Treasured Mr. Cohen himself, who even at the age of 80 is not permitted to speak to my Wife without supervision.

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The Wood Brothers. Click to enlarge. (Source: http://www.thewoodbros.com/)

As I sit on the edge of this never made bed,
Old guitar in my lap, a new tune in my head,
There she stands in the doorway just brushing her hair.
It’s my beautiful muse in her underwear.

~ The Muse ~

My Esteemed Friend Gary Carbone brought this wondrous ditty to my attention. Nashville band The Wood Brothers released their latest album, The Muse, in the autumn of last year, and today we’re featuring the title track.

Courtesy of Metrolyrics, “The album’s first single, also titled “The Muse”, is all about, well, muses and how they inspire songwriters in times of love, lust, and regret.”

Not just songwriters my friends. As you know, I married my Muse, and can assure you my Love and Lust for her leaves no room for regret.

Metrolyrics kindly supplied a handwritten set of lyrics they received directly from The Wood Brothers, and I’m posting them here so you can sing along with the official video at the end of this page. You might want to have more than one listen, and add it to both your driving and shower repertoire. You should also subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Click to enlarge. (Source: http://netstorage.metrolyrics.com/editorials/88848/TheMuseHandwritten.jpg)