Haunted York

York is said to be the most haunted city in the world with a total of 504 recorded hauntings according to the Ghost Research Foundation International. I have lived 17 years in this historical wonderful city and I have never seen a ghost myself. So Last Monday I decided to go on a ghost guided tour for the first. To be honest, I wanted to know more about the ghosts of
York but I also wanted to escape the never-ending knocks at the door for the usual Halloween "trick or treat"!

Unfortunately I was not the only one to have this idea on Halloween night as the many ghost tours, walks and trails of York seemed to be fully booked! York has around four million visitors a year, and there are plenty of people competing to show them the ghosts of the city. One of the best and oldest is the Original Ghost Walk, where you will hear some of the most famous tales of ancient betrayal and persecution. Here are just a few…

York is apparently still haunted by 2,000 year-old ghosts: the lost Roman Legion. An apprentice plumber installing a heating system in the cellars of the Treasurer's House, spotted the ghosts in 1953. He heard a horn in the distance, and then a disheveled Roman soldier on a horse emerged from the brick wall. This soldier was followed by others, all looking dejected, carrying swords and spears. They appeared to be walking on their knees, but really an old Roman road is located fifteen inches below the cellar, so the ghosts could have been walking on their own familiar road, on their way to the Minster.

Near Treasurer’s House and in a building attached to St William’s College, a ghostly child, who starved to death after her parents died from the plague, appears to haunt the upper parts of the house and is said to scream and bang against this small windows in search of help.

The story goes that several orphans died in the nearby Industrial Ragged School during the 1800's, due to the negligence of the alcoholic schoolmaster; now, on cold nights, people have reported walking by the arch only to feel a small child take them by the hand... Childish giggling and terrible screaming has also been reported.

Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was executed for treason in York: as a staunch Catholic he had plotted against the Protestant Elizabeth I. He was beheaded in 1572, and his head stuck on a large spike on Micklegate Bar as a warning to anyone else with similar ideas. There it remained for many years until eventually recovered and buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity church in Goodramgate. The body of the Earl has been seen on many a night staggering through The Shambles, where his body was buried, searching for his mislaid head.

A load of horror tales or do phantoms and ghouls really lurk in the city of York? Just come and visit York to find out for yourself...

Silent Sunday

(Like mother like daughter!)

Curtain down on Spooks

So that’s it. BBC1's long running spy drama has come to a close and it is hard to believe it is almost ten years since it all began; so many characters have come and gone; many in less than pleasant ways. Surprisingly the departure of the lead character hasn't led to a drastic change in the feel of the programme, although over the years the centre of attention has drifted towards MI5 Chief Harry Pearce and slightly away from a front line officer; although they were always important enough for the viewer to care about… when an MI5 character was killed off it was almost always somebody the viewer had got to know well for many episodes. The creators made it clear from very early on that nobody was safe when one of the two apparently major characters was brutally murdered in the second ever episode… usually fomenting several complaints. Over the years the team has taken on a variety of threats including Islamic terrorists, fascists, Russians, Chinese and even supposedly friendly Americans! Whoever the team took on in a given episode, you knew things would get exciting and the threat wouldn't be stopped till the last minute… cliché I know but it works! It wasn’t all action though; there was plenty of politicking and back-room work to keep the viewer thinking.

And now it’s all over. Yesterday’s last episode drew a curtain over the series in the most dramatic way. Heart-broken about the final scenes, I am somehow relieved that I’ve sobbed over Spooks for the last time. With Harry Pierce back at his desk, top button fastened, emotions contained, Britain is safe now. For a moment it all looked like it might be so different. That Harry and Ruth might run off to their cottage by the sea and live simply and happily ever after. And like many Spooks fans, I almost wanted it to finish on that note – except really, that wouldn't have been right, it wouldn’t have been Spooks. The Tom Quinn’s cameo was the cherry on the cake but that was not enough to cheer me up. I will really miss the programme. I will even miss my predicted sobbing over the years. And I still hope that the BBC will change their minds at some point and make more episodes.

Silent Sunday ...late again!

Steve Jobs. R.I.P. Already a legend.

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

People vs. Banks

Unbelievable, they're doing it again. Our governments are giving even more taxpayer money to banks!

Absolutely, we need to bailout Greece to save Greece, and save Europe. But the current bailout makes us the taxpayers pay back banks for 90% of their foolish investments. Greek people don't get a cent, and we give a ton of money to rich bankers. And even worse: about 30% of our money will go to speculators who will make a massive profit from gambling on a bailout!

How on earth did our governments write a bailout plan that floods banks and speculators with our money and leaves Greece with nothing? The answer: they actually asked bankers to write the agreement. Our finance ministers are deciding on this plan in days -- let's send them and our parliaments a massive call to go back to the drawing board, and bailout Greece, not the banks:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_people_vs_banks/?vl

Silent Sunday