Cleopatra VII Philopator. (This blog accompanies my gallery "Queen of the Nile" and is a brief summary of the story of Queen Cleopatra. I hope it will enhance the viewers enjoyment of the depictions of this great historical figure.) In the First century B.C., for a few turbulent and romantic years, one of the oldest civilisations on the planet was ruled by one of history's most compelling figures. Holding sway along the banks of a river regarded as the longest in the world, that stretched 4258 miles from its source to the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, this ruler carried a na… 阅读更多内容

The Oriental Gardens (note: This is a chapter from my novel "Slaves of the Amethyst of which there are several other extracts among my blog. I post this chapter in response to a discussion regarding beautiful and famous gardens with a friend as this chapter is set in an imaginary garden of my own creation and is lushly descriptive of that garden.) Chapter Seventy. Rebecca woke first in the cellars and gazed in total satisfaction at the sleeping Jennifer, face down, at her side. She was beautiful with her auburn tresses lying in a great sheath on the pillow. Fondly Rebecca str… 阅读更多内容

Helen of Troy. (This is a blog to accompany my latest gallery “Helen of Troy”, a woman whose story has fascinated artists for centuries. The gallery shows a number of examples of key pictures taken from assorted media and artistic representations of the key elements of Helen's tale from a wide range of historical ages. I hope this blog helps the viewer to enjoy the gallery and the lush details of this most famous of all Greek myths.) Of all the stories of Greek mythology that are part of our cultural heritage the story of Helen and her role in the Trojan War is probably t… 阅读更多内容

Reflections on Christmas (A few things you might not know about Christmas) As we repose contentedly full of food, and possibly too much drink, on Christmas Day, it might amuse us to consider some of the origins and roots of the festival we call “Christmas” and reflect that Christmas ain't what it used to be; not by a long margin. In fact our Christmas today is the culmination of many centuries of myth making, fairy stories, astrological gobbly-de-gook, theological tinkering and argument, political manipulation and popular culture. In essence, the meaning of Christmas has always be… 阅读更多内容

The Trial of Julie. This story is not an erotic story I'm afraid so if you are looking for sexual stimulation I'm sorry. Instead it is simply an extract from the second volume of my novel "Slaves of the Amethyst" It recounts the story of the character Julie who faces a crisis in her life and becomes suicidal. In desperation she runs to the extraordinary Oriental gardens in the parklands of Mathom Hall to take counsel of their mistress Shiro-san. This is the trial though which that lady puts her. I post this story for two dear friends, Steph and Michael and in memory of Snowy the Hunt… 阅读更多内容

Sarah Attar at the 2012 Olympic Games The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. First of all I apologise for borrowing the title of Alan Sillitoe's short story to head this essay. In point of fact it is not even particularly accurate since the runner in question here was not a long distance runner but an athlete competing in the shortest middle distance track event, the 800 metres. Nor was the athlete particularly lonely, for ov… 阅读更多内容

Just Desserts!… 阅读更多内容

In Memorium Sadly Missed http://xhamster.com/user/billy69boy/posts/175481.html (thanks to Billy69boy) Michaela… 阅读更多内容

The Light in the East. My country is known for the emergent light in the east; rising from the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The people of the mainland in China knew our country as that which lay in the east beyond the horizon where the ball of light would lift from the sea and they called it “the land of the rising sun”. We adopted it as symbolic of our country and our flag depicted the rising sun. Perhaps in our mythology we fancied that somehow we were blessed above other peoples for we were the rising sun. B… 阅读更多内容

Invitations Currently I receive a large number of invitations to friendship every week. It's not quite as bad as some of my friends who seem to receive hundreds of them and essentially appear to be swamped with people wanting to get to know them. Nevertheless I have my fair share of them and to be truthful I reject the vast majority of them. Now I don't actually like doing this. I am tormented by the fact that I may have summarily dismissed the possibility of friendship with some genuinely wonderful people. I am also concerned that my rejection might appear close to arrogance and a… 阅读更多内容

TRex says Dinosaurs taste just like Chicken.... I can't think why!… 阅读更多内容

Echoes of the Deep Blue Sea. note: This story is a spin off sequel from my four part story "Delilah and the Deep Blue Sea" which I posted on xhamster. Although this tale can be read in isolation it would help for a greater understanding of it to read the earlier story. A map of Clipperton Island in the Pacific Ocean. The events described here take place at the south western corner near the feature marked as Clipperton Rock. A short description of the geography, history and ecology of Clippe… 阅读更多内容

An Ancient Love Story. Let me tell you a story! Once upon a time in a land far away there lived a woman. Well there's nothing special about that and to tell the truth there is little about the early life of this woman to mark her out as any different from any other woman of her day. It was what she did later in her life that marks her out as someone extraordinary. I won't tell you the name of the woman just yet because that would spoil the story but her name means pleasant or beautiful so, for the sake of the story, let's call her “Beauty”. Now we don't really know what she l… 阅读更多内容

Have You Ever? Have you ever danced naked by the light of the moon? Danced to the rhythm but forgotten the tune? Have you ever kissed a lover at Scarborough Fair, With the waves on the foreshore and the wind in you hair? Have you ever climbed a mountain because it was fun And lay in the flowers in the afternoon sun? Have you ever seen an eagle high on the wing, Or sat in the dark while the nightingales sing, Have you ever made love by a camp fire light, And whispered of love in the quiet of the night? Healing the wounds and forgetting the scars, Have you ever lai… 阅读更多内容

With Love from Bavaria (Thank you Egi.) There are some things that are both sad to write and yet are things to take pleasure and in and celebrate. One of those things occurs this week. It is a milestone of sorts, a chance to say farewell and a chance to say thank you. It is something which we will all sadly miss yet can nevertheless be grateful that it occurred at all. It is the time to say goodbye to the beautiful posts of Egi and to express our appreciation of his long and often thankless effort. Egi, as we all know, hales from the southern German state of Bavaria. In case an… 阅读更多内容

Erin's Lament. The last of the two steam tenders pulled clear of the ship lying at anchor off Roches Point, the outer anchorage of the port of Queenstown. The tenders exchanged a chorus of whistles with the ship as they gave her wide berth and sea room; the tender crews admiring the great elegant bulk of her in her livery of red, white and black. There'd been another one hundred and twenty three passengers to join her on this last port of call before the great ocean beyond; three for first class, seven for second and, inevitably, the rest for steerage. The steerage passengers had… 阅读更多内容

Michaela and the Dead Fish sister Maria is very definitely annoyed. In fact the term “annoyance” doesn't even come close to describing her current humour. To be more precise she is livid and I fear that I am more than a little concerned about her ill mood. Divinity classes are among the dullest of periods at St Margaret Clitheroe's Finishing School for Young Ladies and, under normal circumstances, the spectacle of our dull witted Divinity teacher throwing a tantrum would be a welcome diversion. There are, however, rather personal reasons why I would have reason to wish that sister… 阅读更多内容

Academy Bridge. Many people have asked me about the girl on the Academy Bridge. Many others have speculated; woven stories and tales about her. Some say she was my lover, even my wife. Some say she was the wife or a lover of a rich patron of mine. There was even a story that she was the mistress of royalty whose identity was covered up. They wonder what became of her. Some have believed her dead or to have disappeared into exile and reclusion. Some say that perhaps she never existed at a… 阅读更多内容

My Second One Hundred Galleries. It seems as if it was only yesterday that I celebrated posting my first one hundred picture galleries on XRMXX. On that occasion I compiled a special commemorative gallery of the viewers’ favourites from each of the hundred galleries. Now, incredibly, I find that I have reached the milestone of two hundred galleries and thus it seems incumbent on me to follow my self imposed tradition and repeat the exercise. It also seems a good time to look back over my postings and reflect. The amount of visual material I have posted on the… 阅读更多内容