The Journey – Pt. 21 – Let’s Hang at Penang – Photos

Posted on by Opher

The Journey

Penang was another example of a city of decaying colonial buildings and amazing temples. It would appear that the only things that are properly maintained and painted are the odd colonial building (kept for tourist potential) and the religious temples, mosques and churches. Everything is left to slowly rot in the humid heat.

The first choice we had was how to get around. We opted for the hop on hop off bus, which took us past the clock tower and other well-kept colonial buildings.   It is incredible to look back at the amazing reach of the British Empire and to appreciate the scale. All of these Asian/Indonesian sites had an array of buildings to house the ruling British Governors and associated military, bureaucratic and business people. They were all there in their little enclaves, ruling, exploiting and systematically stripping assets with their mansions, servants, polo clubs and cricket grounds. One can imagine the public schools, in the 18th century, churning out a stream of these people destined to live the life of Riley. Now the remains of their hegemony are preserved as part of the tourist attraction.

We hopped on and hopped off at the first temple.                                                                                             

The Burmese temple was probably the most garish yet, and the sister temple was a near match. We saw huge reclining Buddhas, gold Buddhas, standing Buddhas, white Buddhas, black Buddhas, blue and green Buddhas, fierce warriors, dragons, golden stupas and fair dancing maidens. All with gold, blue, red, yellow, orange and scaley glitter, bunting and adornment. All with sparkly splendour. All intended to create an impression.

Back on the bus to the next stop and off up the steepest funicular railway in the world to the incredible views and coconut ice-cream. The restaurant at the top was exorbitantly priced so it was back to the bottom and lunch with the locals. We observed where the taxi drivers and locals ate and jumped in. As we could not speak the language we are not quite sure what it was but it was spicy chicken with rice, with a mug of sweet coffee, and tasted excellent, and all for thirty pence.

Back on the bus we were dropped off at the biggest temple complex ever. Temples are great aren’t they? So much human energy, endeavour, creativity and hope poured into proving that there is a foundation to choosing this one over all the others. The drive to bigger, brighter and more elaborate (coupled with various attire, rituals and prayers) is like an arms race! If only they put as much energy into the city infrastructure!

We climbed up through covered markets with the sweat dripping down our backs. We inspected temples, Buddha’s, fountains, chanting, retail opportunities (what religious site is without them) and new building sites before making the final ascent through a lift in a shop to the biggest Buddha of all on top of the hill.

Back waiting for the bus we tasted the local pastry delicacies – both savoury and sweet – and both delicious, before hopping back to the boat.

Still – many stops to make –     

Much to see and wonder at. Thailand next!

Share this:

The Journey – Pt. 20 – A Lump of Kuala Lumpur – photos

Posted on by Opher

The Journey

Kuala Lumpur was rather a halfway house between moped madness and car craziness. My main lingering thoughts are of pot-holes, huge gold statues and the Petronas Towers. We (four of us) procured a taxi. The driver used carriageway, road signs and traffic lights as only a passing guide and enthusiastically illustrated what he was talking about with both hands coupled with turning around to grin at us while travelling at high speed. His taxi was the grimiest we had encountered and appeared to have no suspension and little left of the silencer so the cab filled with noxious fumes. He was very cheap though! We hurtled along, dodging around pot-holes, ducking in and out of traffic and driving, seeming suicidially straight at trucks. Somehow we managed to negotiate the twenty miles without separating our spirits from our body.

We visited the Batu Caves and marvelled at the massive gold statue that loomed above us as we drew near. We trudged up the thousands of steep steps past the massive carved figure and into the caves. Some devotees carried bricks or buckets of sand up the steps to demonstrate their sincere devotion (the ancient shrine was still being constructed).

The caves were an ancient site of worship. It was an impressive huge cavern with a collapsed roof allowing light to flood in. We fed the monkeys and photo’d the hundreds of shrines.

We climbed back down to check out the many temples around the base. Then I went in this cave that was like a Hindu version of Disneyland – very strange.

People and babies were painted up with yellow paint and were all in their best duds. It was a hive of activity! Throngs of people were milling about with women in bright coloured saris and the men with bright clothes and robes.

Clambering back in the death-mobile we headed off for Kuala Pumpur and parked up right by the central square.

The Petronas Towers were remarkable and very picturesque but we couldn’t go up because there was too long a queue – you have to book in advance. So we contented ourselves with staring up at it.

Diving in and out of traffic we somehow arrived at Independence Square, where we jigged about, stood in the middle of the large grass area and wondered at the array of different architecture then visited a museum which featured a model of the city.    

Time was running out so our manic driver thundered off to the war memorial. We then had a brief glimpse of the Palace before thundering back to the ship.

For some reason we had sore backs, sore throats, stinging eyes, were pumped with adrenaline, had developed a cough and were deaf. But it had been another great day.

More Futile Gestures – Now available in kindle version

Posted on by Opher

My latest book of ‘poems’ is available in Kindle version.

Introduction

It’s the beginning of 2023 and things are looking dire. The country has been ravaged by twelve years of heartless Tory rule, robbing the poor to give to the rich. The Ukraine war is rumbling on without an end in sight. The destruction and attrition are appalling.

China, Iran and South Korea are becoming belligerent and threatening.

Global warming is already making itself felt. The future is looking grim. The destruction of habitats and extinction rates are rising fast. Nature is being destroyed.

The buffoons, sex-pests and idle, over-privileged conmenTrump and Johnson are threatening come-backs.

We haven’t gotten over our thirst for populist fools with non-existent solutions. We seem to like the lies and bluster. We vote for over-privileged millionaires despite knowing they are conmen of the nastiest type who are in it for themselves – psychotic narcissists.

The damage done by Brexit is reducing the country to a state of ruin. The people who engineered it are making millions at the expense of the rest of us.

We have widespread strikes across the country because of the Cost of Living Crisis and Energy Crisis leading on from the cuts and austerity.

Baroness Mone goes on a luxury £6,000 a day holiday while hard-working people can’t afford to turn on the heating or put food on the table for their kids.

Nobody from the government is listening. The only answer they can think of is to bring in hard anti-strike legislation and go on with their union bashing.

The Tory propaganda machine is in full throttle.

The country is in a terrible mess.

The world is in a terrible mess.

In the midst of war, poverty and political nastiness a lone voice is heard calling above the clamour.

‘I know exactly what the world needs – It’s a book of futile gestures!’

This is my book of futile gestures.

Opher Goodwin 5.1.2023

PS – I did include some other types of poems towards the end to celebrate our voyage on this wondrous planet as we journey through infinity.

Life is good.

What the world needs now are more futile gestures!!

The Disaster of Brexit portrayed as a Triumph

Posted on by Opher

The Disaster of Brexit portrayed as a Triumph

The true costs are staggering!! Johnson negotiated an appalling deal!!

Posted in UncategorizedTagged BREXIT, Politics, satire, The Disaster of Brexit portrayed as a Triumph, Tory liesLeave a commentEdit

Captain Beefheart On Track: Every Album, Every Song

Posted on by Opher

5* Review

5

Superb Companion Guide For Every Beefheart Nerd

Submitted 4 months ago

By The Inconsistent Jukebox

From UK

Firstly, reader, I’ll tell you what this book is like: You know when you go into an art gallery or museum and have an accompanying guide book explaining a little about the art or artefacts? Well, this is very much like that. A companion piece for every track. The author has lovingly reviewed and described every song and it is also full of little facts and interesting information. If, like me, you are a Beefheart and The Magic Band aficionado (and I’m guessing that you are) then you’ll appreciate this book. We’ve all read John French’s definitive horse’s-mouth and meticulous account, Bill Harkleroad’s equally valid (but not so obsessively detailed) story and we’ve also read Mike Barnes’s fantastic and accurate outsider view. There are a couple of other tomes too but those three are the glorious triumvirate of Beefheartian history. This book isn’t trying to be that. What it does is makes you revisit the albums. Not with a different perspective – we all have our own, as does this, but with another incentive; to listen to the most original, influential, unique music in rock history. It’s a book for Beefheart lovers, nerds and obsessives. If you don’t agree with some of the author’s viewpoints on the music it really doesn’t matter. The purpose of the book is as a companion to this vast and broad decade of sheer creativity, originality and music-as-art from a genius/tyrant/eccentric and the supremely dedicated and unique musicians who helped to realise the vision, even taking a backseat to his ego for the sake of the art. I love it and so will you.

In the UK

In the USA

Poetry – The Death of Democracy

Posted on by Opher

The Death of Democracy

It whimpered.

                It’s tiny cry

                                A beacon of hope.

Strangled at birth

                By greed,

                                Power,

Arrogance,

                And disdain.

Buried

                Under a mound

                                Of lies.

Its ashes

                Spin

                                Spin

                                                Spin

In the machine

                Of power

                                Where the big dogs play.

All that’s left

                Is a game,

                                A hollow farce.

Spin,

                Lie,

                                Spin.

Play up! Play up!

                As the red meat

                                Of unlucky scapegoats

Is fed to the timid runts.

                Only the powerful

                                Count.

We are controlled

                Like mindless

                                Counters

                                                In a game

Of tiddly-winks.

Opher 18.1.2022

They play us for fools.

They think we will believe anything.

Our short attention spans are so limited.

Our forgetfulness makes us easy to manipulate.

We are being played.

They are good at it.

Only occasionally does their arrogance create a misstep.

The trouble is that they are right.

Too many of us are taken in by these smarmy conmen.

The game of power was never going to allow democracy to live.

Power lies in the hands of consummate liars.

Java – Borobudur – ancient carvings – reliefs, wonders. Buddhist art.

Posted on by Opher

Climbing around the immense structure is a delight. Everything is ornate, richly embroidered. The art is stunning.

One of the wonders of the world.

The ancient Buddhist world lives.

Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Java – Borobudur – ancient carvings – reliefs, reliefs, Sculptures, wonders. Buddhist art.Leave a commentEdit

Borneo The Departure into sunset

Posted on by Opher

Borneo – Kota Kinabalu – The sunset of departure

Posted on  by Opher

As we pulled out of Kota Kinabalu the sun was low in the sky creating a psychedelic glow.We slid along the coast as I looked over at the shrouded mountains and jungle and thought about orangutans.The sun set on Borneo!

In The Wake of Progress

Posted on by Opher

In The Wake of Progress

In the wake of progress

                Who pays the price?

                                Stripping away the delusions

In the pursuit of plenty

                                                                                As we roll the dice

Without any solutions.

Forget the trees,

                The bird and butterfly,

                                As the chainsaws buzz.

Communities all decline.

                                                                                All the creatures die

Let’s not make a fuss.

Opher – 14.12.2022

Progress is a mixed blessing. The word seems to infer improvement. If that is the case then we have to ask the question: is it progress at all?

When were human beings happiest?

As carefree hunter gatherers?

As early farmers?

As Victorian factory workers?

As present-day rat-racers?

We’ve certainly got much more in the way of material wealth and medical care. We can travel. We have the technology – but…

When was nature at its best?

Before the dawn of man?

Before the hunters wiped out all the mega fauna?

Before the forests were cut down for agriculture?

Before the cities and concrete highways?

Before the world population grew to 8 Billion?

When I look around at the slums, depravation, rubbish dumps, urban decay, wars, pollution and smog – where there used to be forests and wildlife – sometimes I wonder.

What is the price of progress?

Journey Pt. 13 – Kota Kinabula – the bounties of Borneo – photo

Posted on by Opher

Posted on  by Opher

Sorry – I can’t seem to get all the other photos to come out.

Our second stop in Borneo was Kota Kinabula. We sailed in from the South China Sea to check out what is a small new city. The original was almost completely flattened during the Second World war.

                        

We were welcomed ashore by two girls in costume and two groups of musicians and dancers.  They certainly wanted our custom. The first was a set of dancers in costume supported by a tradition band with gongs. The second were dancers representing the native Indian population. The guys were dressed in skimpy bare-chested costume with wooden swords, shields and tall feathered headdresses. The girls wore brightly embroidered tunics and dresses with a little fetching headband with a single feather. They did a fearsome dance that was meant to be menacing but I couldn’t help noticing one of the guys vacillating between embarrassment and finding it very amusing.

The irony was that most of the native Indians had been displaced by the incomers.

No buses this time. We walked straight in. We set up the path into the hills to get a view over the city. The path led up through thick jungle with insects, birds and animals trilling and rustling. The views were good.

        

 

We headed back along the promenade to the fishing quay. Across the water we could see an extensive stilted village with a backdrop of jungle. It looked more ramshackle and rough and ready compared with the similar village we had seen in Banda Sera Begawan although it was a lot more extensive.

      

 

We jumped a taxi to take us to the Mosques and other major new buildings. The architecture was unique.

        

Back on the boat we looked at the stilted village a bit more closely and sailed past the other beautiful looking mosque.

   

The frustration with visiting Borneo was that we were skimming the edges, visiting the cities and not getting into the interior. I wanted to be where the wildlife was – in the real Borneo.

After leaving Kota Kinabula we headed up the coast of Borneo with a strong warm breeze in our face and a glass in our hands. On one side of the boat the shore of Borneo slowed edged past with massive volcanoes peeking through the reefs of circling clouds while to the other side the sun was putting on a show as it sank between various islands.

          

  

The frustration with visiting Borneo was that we were skimming the edges, visiting the cities and not getting into the interior. I wanted to be where the wildlife was – in the real Borneo.

After leaving Kota Kinabula we headed up the coast of Borneo with a strong warm breeze in our face and a glass in our hands. On one side of the boat the shore of Borneo slowed edged past with massive volcanoes peeking through the reefs of circling clouds while to the other side the sun was putting on a show as it sank between various islands.

          

  

The frustration with visiting Borneo was that we were skimming the edges, visiting the cities and not getting into the interior. I wanted to be where the wildlife was – in the real Borneo.

After leaving Kota Kinabula we headed up the coast of Borneo with a strong warm breeze in our face and a glass in our hands. On one side of the boat the shore of Borneo slowed edged past with massive volcanoes peeking through the reefs of circling clouds while to the other side the sun was putting on a show as it sank between various islands.

          

  

The frustration with visiting Borneo was that we were skimming the edges, visiting the cities and not getting into the interior. I wanted to be where the wildlife was – in the real Borneo.

After leaving Kota Kinabula we headed up the coast of Borneo with a strong warm breeze in our face and a glass in our hands. On one side of the boat the shore of Borneo slowed edged past with massive volcanoes peeking through the reefs of circling clouds while to the other side the sun was putting on a show as it sank between various islands.