Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Friends' Gazette September Edition
Friends' Gazette September Edition
ISSN: 2053-4426
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
FRIENDS
GAZETTE
Y O U R V I T A L A L T E R N A T I V E
Chinese classic gets a fresh look as artist called to give hexagrams a facelift
THE BOOK of Changes, or I-Ching, has undergone a major revamp after an author and artist felt it was time to widen its visual appeal.
The ancient oracle which is used by many to foretell the future as well as giving much-needed guidance for living in the 21-st century and beyond was a hippy favourite in the 60s. It is referred to by many writers and singers of that era, including the iconic Joni Mitchell when she croons It was the hexagram of the heavens in Amelia. Now Shen Chokyi, 44, has come up with a whole new way of looking at the texts with a set of cards, visual images and writings. Chokyi, who lives in Eskdalemuir in Scotland, feels she has been called by the I Ching itself to undertake the task which took, in all, 13 years to complete. In an exclusive interview with the FG she said: I feel I was called [by the I Ching] to do it. I came up with a sequence which starts with earth and ends with heaven. Its a very geometric sequence. It follows the same pattern through each line so you can track it all very easily. Then I found out thats actually the same way that the Mayans do their calendar. It starts with the pure feminine and ends with the pure masculine. The I Ching or Y Jng is one of the oldest of Chinese classic texts. The book contains a divination system accessed by the throwing of coins, yarrow stalks or, more recently, by pressing a button on-line. The answers to questions, which could be life-changing or trivial, are read using a coded system of hexagrams - six short lines written from the bottom up. Combinations of broken (feminine/yin) or solid (masculine/yang) lines make up the books 64 hexagrams which claim to interpret most states of the human condition on a global as well as an individual level. I do really revere where it comes from. The roots. And thats what Im trying to connect with, Chokyi said. Chokyis highly idiocyncratic work is called Zhouyi Zuvuya, a mixture of the name for the I-Ching itself and a Mayan term for the way in which all things come back to themselves. I started doing illustrations of what I feel to be the image of the individual hexagrams and Ive given them titles. Some of the titles show the way through. The I-Ching is all about that, she explained.
Whats a butchers granddaughter doing in a vegetarian restaurant in Londons west end? - Find out on page six
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
20%
off
for FG readers
Indian Zing - the only restaurant in Hammersmith and Chiswick to be listed with 2 couverts - The Michelin Guide 2008.
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
gives the impression of a field raked by a farmer. Some of the pits are so wide and deep that they look like gaping craters and are enough to break the bones and vehicles of unsuspecting drivers. Those using light vehicles like cars and scooters jerk, wobble and vibrate as if they were pebbles on a crusher-belt. Ludhiana Tribune reader
3
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
FRIENDLY FEEDBACK
friendsgazette@gmail.com
FRIENDLY COMMENT
Pacifism - the real superiority!
Key to my enjoyment I think is that the majority of stories come directly from real people's experience - the humanity jumps off the page. You can quote me on that! Warm wishes, Jonathan Barnett, Bristol
SUPERIORITY is attractive. We love to pull rank; in the workplace, socially, educationally, racially, politically, you-name-it. But diet? Yes, superiority in all its egotisticial nakedness is here too! Take the frankenburger made from meat grown in a lab; the answer to ethical carnivore-ism? But oh, no! Matthew Paris in The Times says: Knowing Im eating another creature sharpens the attraction. Astute writer that he is Im sure he chose the word sharpen purposely. And Jay Rayner in The Observer, egoistically claims: It was the increased volume of animal protein in the hominid diet . . . that fuelled the development of the brain. What complete and utter tosh! A devout vegetarian and pacifist Mahatma Gandhi was arguably one of the most intellectual and courageous humans ever born. His clever and brave pacifism movement used brain over brawn to succeed in getting shot of the overweaning, powerhungry and rampantly carniverous British from Indian soil for good-and-all! How much more victorious or intellectually superior do you want?
Frankenburger? No thanks!
Hi Stephen, Thank you for the magazine. (FG August). I passed it on to our [vegetarian] sales manager to have a look at! With regards to the burger made in a laboratory, it does not appeal to me at all! Lara LaMonte, Keatons Hackney, London
Hi Steve, I'm on a train into south Somerset for some gardening work and I've just read half of [the] August edition of FG. Another uplifting combination of articles on food, history, spirituality and friendship. I love Friends Gazette and look forward to reading the new edition each month. Its combination of wellresearched articles about alternative subjects reported in a grounded, humerous and light tone provide the perfect tonic to the anxiety-driven mainstream media.
Its official! . . .
FRIENDS Gazette now meets international publishing standards and has gained an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). This 8-digit number, registered with the British Librarys Metadata Service, appears on our front page and below as stipulated. The system is co-ordinated in Paris.
. . . and on-line!
IN response to reader feedback and as part of the rules for registration with the British Library FG can now be found on-line. To download the latest issue direct from the web go to Scribd.com and search Friends Gazette in the newspaper and magazine section. Were second-from-the-top - last time we checked!
Published by Stephen Ward Publications, London, England. ISSN: 2053-4426
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
MARTIN Luther King Jrs dream of a just and racially equal society has yet to be fulfilled, a top Baptist preacher has said.
The comments come on the 50th anniversary of Kings I have a dream speech, in which he spoke of the problem of racisim in US society. King, a Baptist pastor and icon of the civil rights movement, made the speech before leading a march on Washington where he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. He was assassinated in April 1968, on the balcony of the Lorraine motel in Memphis, Tennessee. In an exclusive interview with FG, the Reverend Stephen Keyworth, faith and society team leader of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, said:
GOVERNMENTS, bankers and other corporate institutions are growing fat on the back of ordinary folk! Thats the message from an idealistic and dedicated British businessman keen to challenge the status quo and clothe the nation. We need to develop a new economy. The new economy is truth. It has to be based on truth, said Matthew Barrett (pictured above), director of Breakout Wear. Referring to the recent financial meltdown he said: We bought into a lie, we personally financed the lie. And his T-shirts carry the message loud and clear. Subversive slogans include: Dont steal: the government hates competition! and Stop Wars in Star Wars-style lettering. Business is going well and his stalls at well-known street markets like Portobello and Brixton are doing a brisk trade. Among his customers are plenty of old hippies who are re-discovering the T-shirt. Sometimes people come up and say: I used to wear T-shirts, he reveals. The corporate model is unsustainable. Its all about local commerce and supporting it, he emphasises. And hes running a competition to find new British designers and copywriters. Buying British-made and Britishdesigned tee shirts from small local businesses is his firms aim.
5
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
after requests from customers. We are getting more and more requests for vegan options, said Magdelana. The restaurant operates as an up-market self-service cafe where items are laid out on a central buffet-style island. Customers are charged by weight of helpings rather than per item.
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
IN BRIEF
Crackdown on illegal sales of fatburner
DIETERS and health fanatics using fat burners to help them reduce could be putting their health in danger, the Food Standards Agency has warned. Users could get fevers, feel sick, vomit and sweat among other symptoms. Their nervous systems and blood could be affected and they could get sores on their skin. The culprit is industrial chemical DNP, which is easily available, particularly over the internet and is supposed to burn off the spare pounds. FSA boss, Rod Ainsworth, said: If people are offered DNP they should not take it.
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
Bit on the thick side? Its probably because you believe in God!
BELIEF in God could be down to a lack of intelligence, a study has claimed.
The study was headed up by Miron Zuckerman for the University of Rochester, New York, US. It analysed 63 previous studies and announced its results last month. Those reports showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity, it said. And it went on: Three possible interpretations were discussed. First, intelligent people are less likely to conform and, thus, are more likely to resist religious dogma. Second, intelligent people tend to adopt an analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking style, which has been shown to undermine religious beliefs. Third, several functions of religiosity, including compensatory control, self-regulation, selfenhancement, and secure attachment, are also conferred by intelligence. Intelligent people may therefore have less need for religious beliefs and practices. What do you think? Are intelligent people non-believers? Do you have to be simple to believe in God? Let Friends Gazette know. Email: friendsgazette@gmail.com
NO MAYO
15% off
Catch us at Portobello Road or Brixton markets or for a full view of our comphrensive range just go to breakoutwear.co.uk - dont forget theres 15% off with this advert. Just use code FG887 when buying!
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
Anne Boleyn
CHUTNEYS
www.chutneyseuston.co.uk
VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT
pure vegetarian south-Indian fare served at your table or from our value-for-money buffet
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
FG!
witness. Henry too is intricately portrayed, laid out for examination with all his insecure caprice and doubts on full display: his body is like an island building itself or eroding itself, and somewhere within are dark mires where only priests should wade, rush lights in their hands. Mantels observations are razor-sharp; her narrative is at once muscular and economical. Hilary Mantel was Writing in a fluent, yet pungent style, her prose the first woman to is punctuated with win the prestigous startling originality, and Mann Booker prize weaves a rich tapestry of twice with her Tudor life. She holds up the crisp historical novels light of language to Woolf Hall (2009) illuminate the past for and Bring up the her audience; they are like travellers being Bodies (2012). welcomed into the capable hands of a guide from the turbulent storms of court in 1535 and 1536. She even addresses her reader as we, thus heightening the intimacy. Nonetheless, Mantel is both involved and concealed from her readers. At times, phrases seem to verge on Eliotic in their ambiguity and mystery; at other moments, the repulsion or affection she entertains for her characters is evident. So intensely immersed is she in her writing that she confessed in a Radio 4 interview to feeling in danger myself. I felt a kind of moral contamination creeping over me. In addition to the protagonist and those close to him, the sprawling, glittering array of dramatic personae into which she breathes life cannot be overlooked, for they jostle for attention, as though at a courtly masque.
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
Mantel presents a veritable feast for the senses: the reader is shown the world envisioned by the author, but is then able to select the finest descriptive morsels to nourish their own imagination, in this second instalment of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Bring Up The Bodies is so sumptuous with tantalising historical trimmings that the reader more often than not succumbs to the platter of delectable delights on offer. The novel is suffused with quotidian minutiae, and Mantel embellishes the most mundane details with exquisite language to enhance their tangibility: from Anne Boleyns famous pearls wrapped around her neck like little beads of fat to a glance that slides away like a piece of silk over grass. Mantel thus captures the zeitgeist of 1536, and distills it into words, and in so doing, brings the Tudor world closer to the minds of readers than it has ever been before.
stop press stop press stop press stop press stop press stop press stop
advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial advertorial
of two spacious bedrooms bedecked with spreads and hangings harking back to the best of hippy living. Downstairs theres a comfortable lounge with DVD player and shelves all along one wall crammed with books. Beyond
RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND - BARAK OBAMA"
10