Please note The Green Man is usually accurate however he does tend to drift into the mischievous areas of satire and parody from time to time. Such is the nature of the Green Man. In fact he is not above complete fiction when the fancy takes him.
Some people have pointed to the very low rate of accidents in elderly drivers as an argument for them keeping their drivers licence, however a recent study by University of Alberta shows that, when measured as a ratio to number of kilometers driven, the rate of accidents rises steadily from 70. By the age of 75 elderly drivers accident rates are exceeeding those of 16-24 year old age group.
Combine this with increasing frailty and reduced ability to recover from road trauma and we have a situation where the benefits of continued mobility are outweighed by the risks that driving involve.
Sargamartha - You have lost your pristine wilderness, you have even lost your name! The slopes of this magnificent mountain, known as Everest to most of the world, are now a garbage dump with an estimated 200 tonnes of climbing gear and waste littering the mountain. Philistines cluster at the base camp.
The trail from Jiri, in the lowlands, to the base camp is known as the toilet paper trail because of the appalling habits of the western travellers.
Climbing Sargamartha is now a matter of money and good fitness. The days of Hillary and Bonnington are gone.
Maybe this is not a bad thing, sacrificing this one mountain to the worst of western adventure tourism, in a effort to keep the bulk of these magnificent mountains relatively undesecrated. The Annapurnas have suffered since I first visited 25 years ago but only in a minor way compared to Sargamartha. Others such as Kanchenjunga, Dhaulgiri and The Kingdom of Mustang are still largely untouched. We can partly thank the mixed blessing of the Maoist rebels for this.
These are magnificent mountains. If you feel the need to visit, as I do, then walk with the softest step their ecosystems are incredibly fragile.
Unfortunately, feminism has delivered some pretty negative outcomes, as well as many positive ones.
Over the years the rate of attempted suicides has been approximately equal between males and females. The rate of death from suicide for males is 4-5 times higher than females. Why? Well one reason is the method used. Females have traditionally used "softer" methods when attempting suicide, drug overdose, slit wrists etc, allowing for intervention and remedial counselling. Males on the other hand tend to use more immediate methods, guns, when available, jumping to their death, hanging.
Sadly, along with embracing other things masculine, women are increasingly moving to masculine methods for attempting suicide. Shame they have chosen to take the bad as well as the good.
The British Medical Journal reports that the depiction of smoking in films is a strong motivating factor in encouraging children and adolescents to commence smoking.
We have to seriously question how having a character smoking contributes to establishing or portraying their character in the film. In today's world, where less and less people are smoking, is it realistic that so many prominant characters smoke.
Am I being cynical here, or might the tabacco companies be paying for product placement and that this is what is driving the prevalence of smoking in films.
Can you spot me? I'm the overweight middle aged man!
As part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival American artist Spencer Tunick asked for people to strip off and pose nude on mass for a photo shoot. On a cold and rainy Sunday morning in Melbourne 4,300 people turned up. I was one of them.
Click here to read my story of this remarkable and exhilarating event.
Duke University Medical Centre find that inactivity rapidly increases visceral fat levels (that's fat in your guts folks) and that it is easily reversed with exercise.
Whilst women tend to accumulate fat most easily around their hips, men accumulate fat most easily around their waist. This is bad. Research has shown that a build up of fat around the waste directly contributes to heart disease and several other nasties that I can't be bothered looking up at the moment.
Traditional wisdom is that when you diet you loose body fat evenly across your body not where you need it most, in the waist. This new research indicates that the most damaging fat can be targeted for removal through exercise and the more exercise the better. Moderate exercise is good, vigorous exercise is better. (Just don't give yourself a heart attack if you haven't done any for a while).
So guys, forget the diet. Eat responsibly and exercise heavily. (If only I could motivate myself to do it!)
Ohio State University finds that men estimate the income of the family as, on average 5% higher than their wives. They also estimate that the debts are less than their wives believe they are.
“There’s quite a gap between husbands’ and wives’ reports of their financial status,” Zagorsky said. “These differences may have significant impacts on everything from a couple’s relationship to national reports of economic statistics.”
While couples have very different views about their income, they agree even less about their total net wealth. Among older couples surveyed, half differed in their wealth estimates by more than $14,700, and 10 percent differed by more than $113,000. Among younger couples, who have had less time to save, half differed in their wealth estimates by more than $7,000, and 10 percent differed by more than $31,000.
This is potentially a major area of conflict within a relationship. Interestingly the survey reports those couples that had very similar estimates of their income, expenditure and total wealth were less likely to divorce.
Perhaps it's time you and your spouse sat down together and worked out exactly what you earn and spend.
The Green Man's a traveller
A reveller, unraveller
Of dreams and of fancies
The first to the last.
Older than old men
Living in all things
Son, father and sage
Long live the Green Man
(Cloudstreet)
The Australian Burea of Statistics report a steady growth in suicide rates in adolescent and young adult males. Between 1988 and 1997 the rate of adolescent suicide rose from 27.9 per 100,000 to 30.6. Even more dramatically the rate for young men (25-34) rose from 28.3 to 37.5. By way of comparison the annual murder rate is 1.8.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the way we are preparing our young men to deal with the world, i.e. we are not doing it. Part of the problem is that there is so little opportunity in our culture for mature men to provide support and training for young men in "How to be a man." Women do not have a comparable problem.
When a young man is having problems coping where can he turn.
Not to his mates: they are probably as inexperienced as he is and besides our "mate culture" does permit this sort of topic.
Not to his father: he probably hardly knows him and he is desparate to prove he is a success not admit that he is not coping.
Not to his wife/girlfriend: they expect him to be the strong one.
If you like to think of yourself as a mature adult male then prove it by engaging with adolescent and young adult males. Build trust, share your own fears and insecurities. This will give them permission to do the same. Then work with them, teach them, support them.
If you suspect they are contemplating suicide, ask them straight out. No euphamisms just "are you considering killing yourself?" This is a really scarry thing to do because there is a good chance they may say "Yes". This is a question that men rarely lie about when they answer.
If they answer "yes" work with them to find alternatives to suicide and above all else be an effective support for them. It may be difficult and demanding and he may end up committing suicide anyway but this is a young mans life we are talking about it's worth the effort and the risk.
Research published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that are two closest animal relatives, the chimpanzee and bonobo, should be reclassified into the genus Homo. This research claims that we share 99.4% of functionally important genes with our near relatives.
Noone would argue that humans do not possess some special traits that set them apart from other animal species, the capacity for communicating complex abstract thought between one another being an obvious example. Not withstanding this, this research reminds us that we are also animals, bound by the rules of nature and by our own biology.
Sadly, we may not be sharing our genus with other living "homo" species for very much longer unless we make significant efforts to protect and support them.
Dr Hollingworth has once again referred to a female student "starting a relationship". Let's take some of the emotion out of this and look at the facts.
When I was a young man I was a post-primary teacher. (I am now neither young nor a teacher). Every young male teacher has girls of the age 14-16 that have a crush on them. I suspect the same is true in the ministry. For a young adult male this is very flattering, it does the ego the world of good.
It is completely natural phenonemon, adolesent girls do this. The important thing is how it is handled by the male teacher. If it is handled correctly it can assist this girl in her transition to a mature, well balanced woman. At the other end of the scale it could emotionally cripple her for life.
The determining factor here is the maturity of the male teacher and how they handle it. Here are the 3 possible ways of handling this:
1. You can tell her she is beautiful and you are immensely flattered by her attention but you are already in a relationship. That she is so nice that you are sure she will find a kind and gentle man to love her. She will probably be disappointed but, her self esteem improved, she will be more empowered to find a good man.
2. You can ignore her, or demean her, and she will be hurt but she will recover and be more cautous next time.
3. If you are very immature, you can pretend to yourself that a healthy relationship is possible and commence to sexually abuse her. In which case she will probably be scarred for life.
Note: Sexual abuse is NEVER started by the victim and relationships between teachers and students are ALWAYS sexual abuse. These are girls learning about relationships and life and we do not want immature men undermining their self-worth and self-confidence. Dr Hollingworth clearly does not understand this.
Update (thanks Dan)
The teacher referred to in the article was a woman initiating a lesbian relationship. Bad assumption on my part but, sadly, my gender is the usual perpetrator of sexual abuse. The comments clearly should be extended to include female teachers You really would have thought they would have had more empathy and compassion having been there themselves.
Women: There is no point in reading any further on in this entry. It has nothing to do with you.
Steve Biddulph writes in his book Manhood "Most men don't have a life." They just pretend, doing things that they think you are supposed to do.
At middle age many men get a suspicion that life might be passing them by, that their life is meaningless and, to a large extent, worthless. The tragic fact is that in most cases they are right. When these men were boys they were vibrant, creative, enthusiastic. What happened? What turned these men into shadows of their real potential, living life vacariously through their wives and children?
In a series of posts over the next few weeks I will be exploring what it means to be a man in todays western culture (particularly Australia, but the same applies to NZ, UK, US etc).
Drawing unashamedly on current thinking in the mens movement (Steve Biddulph and others) and on my experiences as a counseller of men in crisis I will be looking at who we are and how we can rediscover those aspects of our maleness that we have been taught to ignore/suppress.
I am starting a journey into the dark forest and I am asking you to join me on this adventure. Like any adventure, things will often not be comfortable, there will be demons and challenges to face, but we will be doing it together. A band of men venturing into a lost world where there are jewels to discover. When we get back we will have been changed by the experience. We will have grown, our horizons broader. We will know each other better. We will have learned to talk to one another about things that really matter to us. We will be more complete as men!
Welcome aboard.
American Academy of Neurology reports that certain creative functions may actually interfered with by high cognitive functions. They report that the onset of dementia may release untapped creative ability in sufferers.
Studies of a elderly art teacher found that her art improved with the onset of dementia and, importantly, that the practice of art appeared to improve her quality life. This may be an important step forward in understanding the needs of some of our most vulnerable older people.
The challenge for our nursing homes is to provide some quality of life for their occupants. Art may become a new and valuable tool in their toolbox.
In writing The Lord of The Rings Tolkien drew extensively on the old mythology of western Europe for his characters and the Green Man was no exception. After the fellowship, at this stage consisting only of the hobbits, leave Buckland they enter the old forest. This is dangerous because many old and malevolent things exist in there. Merry is caught by a wicked old willow tree and is only saved when Tom Bombadil wanders by and commands the willow to free him. They accompany Tom back to his home and question both Tom and his wife, Goldberry, as to who Tom is. Goldberry answers "He is master of wood, water and hill. ... all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves. Tom is the Master."
Later Frodo asks "Who are you master?"
Tom answers "Don't you know my name yet? That is the only answer. ... But you are young and I am old. Eldest that's what I am. ... Tom was here before the river and trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. .... When the Elves passed westward Tom was already here, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the starts when it was fearless."
Tom has no concern of the comings and goings of men and the ring of power has no power over him. It does not make him invisible. He is the one person in the realm that is not affected by it. His concern is the old forest, this is his world and he never ventures from it.
Discovery channel last night screened a documentary on the emerging practice of "harvesting" sperm from recently deceased males for the purpose of allowing their partner, or in one case his mother via a surrogate and egg donor, to produce his offspring. In all cases the deaths were unexpected and the men had not previously requested this procedure.
Is this the ultimate violation of a man's rights.
Clearly there have been women who have deliberately fallen pregnant against their partners wishes, which is a serious violation in itself. These cases take this violation to a new level. Not only is a child produced without consent of the father but it is done in circumstances where the child is guaranteed not to know or benefit from it's biological father in it's life.
The underlying selfishness of the actions on behalf of these women is staggering in it's magnitude and demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the important role a father should play in the development of his children.
Let us just hope that the use of reproductive science in this macarbe manner does not gain mainstream credibility.
With little or no fanfare the green man commences his journey through the blogosphere. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the green man he is a mythic creature that appears across most of Western Europe and similar iconic figures have been found in many other cultures. The origins of the Green Man are lost in the depths of antiquity, he predates Christianity and is thought to be symbolic of the triumph of life over death by personifying the triumph of summer over autumn and winter. As with many pagan beliefs, he was incorporated by early Christians in their pantheon. His image stares down from the roofs, pillars and doorways of great cathedrals and churches throughout England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Italy and Holland. He appears in second century Roman columns in Turkey and in temples in Rajasthan.
The Green Man is typically depicted as a face formed from leaves of the ancient woodland trees, with either leaves, roots or fruit emerging from his mouth. Although the full meaning of the Green Man is lost, he is a window into an extremely ancient part of ourselves. He is at once both strangely compelling and slightly disturbing and gives the sense that he represents something old and strong and tremendously important.
The Green Man's is thought to be the origin of many myths that we know today. He appears as Robin Hood, the Lord of the Merry Greenwood. This Robin Hood had nothing to do with the bows and arrows and Sheriff of Nottingham stories. He was an older and more powerful figure and the Robin of Loxley figure was added much later. Robin Hood was a lord of Misrule as well as the King of the Wood. As well as the Morris dances of Old England, he is believed to be the origin of Jack in the Green who precedes Maypole dancers, Old Man of the Woods and the Green Knight whose tale is told in one of the earliest English epic poems "Gawain and the Green Knight".
In the modern context the Green Man serves as a symbol of our unavoidable involvement with nature. Whether we like it or not we are all part of nature and tied to the cycles of nature. By ignoring the ancient part of ourselves that the Green Man represents we reduce our completeness as people.