Billy Connolly’s Route 66 Meeting with Wolves

Image via Wikipedia

Hi, it’s Green.  Here at the Greenygrey, one of our favourite activities is trying to defend wolves, which are of course half of what us werewolves are made of. Of course, the average human has more care and compassion than the average wolf, but wolves can be very loving and playful too, showing many of the same characteristics that make us and our pet dogs feel empathetic towards each other.  And comparing the human and wolf as species, there is no doubt which has been the most destructive.

Billy Connolly meets Wolves on Route 66

It was therefore nice to see Billy Connolly, who previously followed Grey and I’s original epic Rambles across Canada for a documentary series, seeing the softer and more timid side of wolves when he visited a wolf reserve in Missouri in his current rambling documentary Billy Connolly’s Route 66.

Connolly was shocked that the wolves were so wary of humans even within their enclosures, and said that all horror stories about them are rubbish. The wolf feature starts about 12:30 into the programme.

The video is available until mid-October in the UK; don’t know if it’s available elsewhere.

Thanks to Connolly and the programme makers for the wolf time.

New Poem of Life, City and Season from KJP Garcia

Image by Guillaume Capron via Flickr

Today we have an impressive and intriguing Folding Mirror poem from a new FM poet: KJP Garcia.  The poem was first published in the Straight to Screen section of Kenyatta’s website, and there have been a couple more since, which will hopefully also appear here soon.  But if you want to read them now, please head over to KJP’s website from the above link.  Here’s the poem, enjoy!

it was july

out for summer

the smells took seat in hair, skin

as the wandering began

past yesterday’s rain, junk

heading down to

*

main street

*

winding up on

this block – this place

empty glasses – full seats

another round, before the leaves turn

back to classroom echoes

and their fall.

Trust Cliff Richard To Go Too Far! Celebrity Greenygreying Controversy

Hi, it’s Harry Silhouetteof-Wolfhowlingonthehill, media analyst at the Greenygrey.

Cliff Richard Takes Greenygreying to New Extreme

While we’re normally happy to see people greenygreying, we think Cliff Richard has taken the newest and best social media craze too far, as shown in the above photo from his Summer Holiday.

While the palm trees are acceptable, we do not endorse using live dolphins to create the greenygrey effect.

Please Stop Cliff Richard

If anybody sees Cliff doing this again, please try and stop him.  Thanks.

Jubilee Woods Project and World Forests Graph and Article

Hi, it’s Tony Loboinson, pre-website expert at the Greenygrey.  I’ve just unearthed a fascinating piece of Greenygrey literature about forests and deforestation.

Convincing Evidence of Early Greenygrey

As you can see from the above links and the image included here, it has some beautiful greenygrey combinations in the graphs, which suggests a date of 3 PW (pre-website).  The date on the report seems to confirm this.

Moreover, the topic of forests fits in with Greenygrey life, providing another compelling reason to accept this as a genuine Greenygrey artefact.

P.S. Marc Latham has also included this information in a new article for Suite 101 on the Jubilee Woods Project, which will see millions of trees planted in the UK to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee in 2012.

Poem of Aerodynamic Samaras in Autumn Skies

Image via Wikipedia

The seeds of Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem have been spinning around in his mind since last autumn, when he saw what he knew as a ‘helicopter’ flying down from tree to Earth.

Autumn Skies Provide Inspiration for Poetry

It was on a nice sunny day walking on Otley Ridge funnily enough, where J.M.W. Turner is thought to have found the inspiration to paint Hannibal Crossing the Alps during very different weather; a thunder storm.

After a little research (mostly on wikipedia) for the poem, Marc learnt that the ‘helicopters’ are seed carrying fruits more scientifically known as samaras, and other ‘nicknames’ include whirlybird, spinning jenny and polynose.  These helped form the lower half of the poem.  Here it is:

Autumn Air Spins Summer Samaras to Equinox Earth

in spring we emerged up high
branches provided home and shelter
all summer we drew strength from the sun
seeds of elm and hoptree in the centre
maple and ash to one side
hidden away amongst leaves
mostly unnoticed
until the time arrives to release and fly
sad to leave, but we carry future growth

from  the canopy we are freed for one flight

spin for distance, more wind means greater range
each of us flying to provide future trees
delighting humanity
whirlybird on strong wind
helicopter rotates in a dizzy state
spinning jenny dances in tune with the season
polynose dives down en masse seeming to race
to Earth’s cradle we fall
and rest hoping our seed survives

Irton Beech Tree Fight Highlights Greenygrey Plight

Image via Wikipedia

Hi, it’s Harry Silhouetteof-Wolfhowlingonthehill, media analyst at the Greenygrey.

Irton Villagers Try to Save a Greenygrey Beech

The villagers of Irton, near Scarborough in north-east Yorkshire, are trying to save a beloved beech tree that has been condemned by the council.

As the video on the Scarborough Evening News shows (after a little while) the beech tree is a most greenygreyish of trees.

Thanks to the Irton Villagers and Supporters

We think this shows humanity at its best; making an effort to save something very different from themselves.

The beech tree can give no thanks, but we here at the Greenygrey can give thanks for the greenygrey aspect.

No More Grey Areas: Upgraded to Greenygrey

Image via Wikipedia

Hi, it’s Susie Dentinfang, word expert at the Greenygrey.

I’ve been thinking more about defining the greenygrey,
for future posterity,
and it’s place in the human dictionary.

It seems to me as if greenygrey, as a word, is somewhere between a grey area and a two-sided argument.

The Grey half of the Greenygrey is most definitely a Grey area, while combined with Green it is two-sided.

In this blog I will be analysing and discussing the ‘grey area’; and putting forward a hypothesis that the grey area should have its status upgraded to a ‘greenygrey area’.

This is indeed a paradigm shift in the ‘grey area’ field, so I do not expect my theory to be accepted straight away.  Further research may be needed.

Grey Area Definition

The Free Online Dictionary, available from the latter two links above, defines a grey area as:

1. (Sociology) (in Britain) a region in which unemployment is relatively high.

2. an area or part of something existing between two extremes and having mixed characteristics of both.
3. an area, situation, etc., lacking clearly defined characteristics.

Grey Area Relevance

It seems to me that the second definition is the most relevant for our work at the Greenygrey, with the Greenygrey made up of two colours, if not extremes.

Considering that a grey area is between ‘two extremes’, would it not be more realistic to think that some of them survived into the middle, and swirled around like a greenygrey fog.

I certainly do!

Romantics Nature, New Green and Grey Bits Video

Image via Wikipedia

Hi, it’s Green.  Exciting news for all the Greenygreyologists out there; and not literary nonsense at all.  We’ve captured the 27 best greenygrey moments from the BBC’s Romantics: Nature documentary, and turned it into a youtube film for our Greenygrey3 channel.

New Green (and Grey) Video: Romantic Nature

The video is also below, for your utmost convenience, because we think you are very busy peoples (sorry for that Orlovism, but meerkatish is quite addictive).

Romantics clips: Green and Grey Nature

The video starts with ten wholly nature clips:

• 3 combine green fields and trees with grey cloud above the horizon
• 2 combine green fields and hills with grey river and cloud
• 2 have green forests amongst grey mountains
• 1 has the sea, which looked green and grey in the programme
• 1 has a grey lake with grey stones under a green landscape
• 1 has a waterfall falling down a grey mountain with green foliage

Then there are seventeen clips combining nature and humanity.  Nine combine actual humans with nature:

• 2 of William Wordsworth in the grey Alps with green trees
• 1 of John Clare wearing grey trousers lying in green grass
• 1 of Peter Ackroyd in front of green and grey rocks
• 1 of Ackroyd in a grey street with green leaves above
• 1 of Wordsworth depicted in a boat on a grey lake with green trees
• 1 of Ackroyd on grey mountains with green trees behind
• 1 of Ackroyd in front of green and grey house, with green vegetation
• 1 of Ackroyd in grey Tintern Abbey with green vegetation

Eight combine human constructions with nature:

• 2 of grey looking Tintern Abbey among green fields and trees
• 1 of grey walls dividing green fields after the Enclosure Act
• 1 of a grey church in a green grass and tree leaves churchyard
• 1 of a grey monument to John Clare amongst green vegetation
• 1 of a grey road through the village of Helpston with green grass
• 1 of a grey factory amongst green fields
• 1 of a grey office block alongside green leaves

Whew, hope that enhances your enjoyment of the video, and all things greenygrey!

181 Poems on Folding Mirror Poetry

Hi, I just updated the poems on site list, and there are now 181 poems on the site.

Thanks to all those who have contributed and read poems.

If anybody would like to add poems to the site, which is now two and a half years old, please let me know.  Thanks.

Romantic Nature BBC Documentary in Green and Grey

Image by meg_williams via Flickr

Hi, it’s Green.

Big news for the increasingly popular field (and stone) of greenygreyology.

Our ol’ acquaintance, Marc Latham, a doctor of philosophy specialising in the arts of greenygrey, has written an article highlighting the greenygreyness of the Romantics: Nature documentary, which you have a day left to watch if you have access to the BBC iplayer.

He also captured lots of greenygrey
stills from the documentary
which were just wonderful to see
especially if you’re Green like me
and have a spare pot of organic set honey.

He wrote it after first writing a summary of the documentary.

They are both available on Marc Latham’s Suite 101 page.

Enjoy!