<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" version="2.0"><channel><title>Personal @ valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com</title><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/</link><description>(Personal) </description><copyright>Copyright 2009 valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com</copyright><generator></generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:39:00 GMT</lastBuildDate><image><title>Personal @ valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com</title><url>http://server1.blog-city.com/images/bc_v5_logo_small.gif</url><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/</link></image><ttl>360</ttl><docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss</docs><item><title>The comeback kid</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_comeback_kid.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_comeback_kid.htm</link><pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 2005 07:28:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=the%5Fcomeback%5Fkid</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Well, hardly a kid I suppose.Just a short note.I've spent the last week in hospital undergoing chemical bowel surgery - all very pleasant stuff! Glad to say I'm on the mend now and out of hospital, though still feeling somewhat weak and fragile. Turn]]></description></item><item><title>Of wandering</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/of_wandering.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/of_wandering.htm</link><pubDate>Sun, 05 Jun 2005 05:01:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=of%5Fwandering</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA['India has two aspects - in one she is the householder, in the other a wandering ascetic. The former refuses to budge from the cozy nook, the latter has no home at all, I find both of these within me. I want to rroam about and see all the wide world,]]></description></item><item><title>A lament</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/a_lament.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/a_lament.htm</link><pubDate>Sat, 29 Jan 2005 04:41:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=a%5Flament</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Why, what is It that you see father? 'I see Ships, mighty ships, that come here so very hungry, so full of greed, and they feed upon my flesh, ships full of blackness moored to dark, blood soaked docks. And when they have sucked and fed their fill th]]></description></item><item><title>WW2 - some notes</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/ww2__some_notes.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/ww2__some_notes.htm</link><pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2004 12:59:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=ww2%5F%5Fsome%5Fnotes</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[The US was complicit in aiding the construction of Nazi Germany, with companies like General Motors, Exxon, Du Pont and Standard Oil all pouring millions into building and supplying the Nazi war machine.The US itself did not 'join in' the war but sto]]></description></item><item><title>Sasha - in requiem</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/sasha__in_requiem.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/sasha__in_requiem.htm</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=sasha%5F%5Fin%5Frequiem</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Sasha's dream'There are things that I think that I try to remember there are roads that I've trod that I've tried for forever there are lips I have kissed that I've kissed for forever there are dreams I dreamt though I never thought I ever saw a smil]]></description></item><item><title>Scribbles from the Edge - a ponder about everything</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/scribbles_from_the_edge__a_ponder_about_everything.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/scribbles_from_the_edge__a_ponder_about_everything.htm</link><pubDate>Thu, 23 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=scribbles%5Ffrom%5Fthe%5Fedge%5F%5Fa%5Fponder%5Fabout%5Feverything</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[The universe seems to be made out of nothing, and yet somehow it manages to exist. Why does the uiniverse go to the bother of existing at all? (Hawking)'A recognition of the unkowable is the only way to reconcile science and religeon' (spencer, first]]></description></item><item><title>Letter from Rome - La Dolce Vita</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/letter_from_rome__la_dolce_vita.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/letter_from_rome__la_dolce_vita.htm</link><pubDate>Sun, 19 Sep 2004 08:51:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=letter%5Ffrom%5Frome%5F%5Fla%5Fdolce%5Fvita</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[The Piazza Navona, Roma. It's the morning after the night before.I stop in one of the many street cafes that line the&nbsp;Piazza and pause, to take stock, rest my weary feet and reflect on the week gone past. The hubub of the milling crowds flocking]]></description></item><item><title>The Goblin Market</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_goblin_market.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_goblin_market.htm</link><pubDate>Sun, 19 Sep 2004 08:42:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=the%5Fgoblin%5Fmarket</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[I know this doesn't really belong here but on a long journey I happened across a wonderful poem that I've never heard before and thought I'd share it. Look, you don't have to read it! But if you do, it may be worth printing it out and curling up with]]></description></item><item><title>The Legend of Yoshil, Patagonia</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_legend_of_yoshil_patagonia.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_legend_of_yoshil_patagonia.htm</link><pubDate>Sat, 04 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=the%5Flegend%5Fof%5Fyoshil%5Fpatagonia</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Patagonia, in South America,Â is a place where many Welsh people fled in order that they could speak their ownÂ  tongue and celebrate their ancient culture without fear or assault from the English.It is a vast area straddling the lands of southern]]></description></item><item><title>The storyteller at the edge of the Sahara</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_storyteller_at_the_edge_of_the_sahara.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_storyteller_at_the_edge_of_the_sahara.htm</link><pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2004 06:46:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=the%5Fstoryteller%5Fat%5Fthe%5Fedge%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fsahara</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Whatever did happen to the old bardic tradition?I remember some years ago seeing a story teller at the edge of the Sahara.Just outside the souk, he set himself up with a waterskin and a dozen or so small glass tumblers scratched opaque by the sands.H]]></description></item><item><title>Valleyboyabroad - a brief update</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/valleyboyabroad__a_brief_update.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/valleyboyabroad__a_brief_update.htm</link><pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2004 05:24:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=valleyboyabroad%5F%5Fa%5Fbrief%5Fupdate</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Dear all,

In case you were wondering I am still very much alive and kicking despite being incommunicado for the last ten days or so.

This is just a short note to fill people in on the continuing odyssey.

I left Georgetown, Penang in Malaysia]]></description></item><item><title>Images that haunt - the Afghan girl</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/images_that_haunt__the_afghan_girl.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/images_that_haunt__the_afghan_girl.htm</link><pubDate>Sun, 15 Aug 2004 06:24:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=images%5Fthat%5Fhaunt%5F%5Fthe%5Fafghan%5Fgirl</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Every now and then there are images that come to haunt you.The picture of the hooded man with elctrodes attached at Al Ghraib prison will sadly be rembered for generations.This picture has always haunted me for entirely different reasons:The Afghan g]]></description></item><item><title>The Ambitious Violet - By Kahlil Gibran</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_ambitious_violet__by_kahlil_gibran.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/the_ambitious_violet__by_kahlil_gibran.htm</link><pubDate>Sat, 03 Jul 2004 23:59:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=the%5Fambitious%5Fviolet%5F%5Fby%5Fkahlil%5Fgibran</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[There was a beautiful and fragrant violet that lived placidly among her friends, the other flowers, in a solitary garden. One morning, as her crown was embellished with beads of dew, she lifted her head and looked about; she saw a tall and handsome r]]></description></item><item><title>Kahlil Gibran - Satan</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/kahlil_gibran__satan.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/kahlil_gibran__satan.htm</link><pubDate>Sat, 26 Jun 2004 23:59:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=kahlil%5Fgibran%5F%5Fsatan</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[The people looked upon Father Samaan as their guide in the field of spiritual and theological matters, for he was an authority and a source of deep information on venial and mortal sins, well versed in the secrets of paradise, hell, and purgatory. Fa]]></description></item><item><title>From a letter to Token - The Welsh and music</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/from_a_letter_to_token__the_welsh_and_music.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/from_a_letter_to_token__the_welsh_and_music.htm</link><pubDate>Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:05:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=from%5Fa%5Fletter%5Fto%5Ftoken%5F%5Fthe%5Fwelsh%5Fand%5Fmusic</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Token,You wrote,'I seem to pick up some important cultural vibe regarding singing. What's the deal with that? Am I tripping or is there something about the Welsh and singing.'The Welsh have always been a race along the bardic tradition.In the sense t]]></description></item><item><title>Letter to Ferabo concerning Empires</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/letter_to_ferabo_concerning_empires.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/letter_to_ferabo_concerning_empires.htm</link><pubDate>Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:42:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=letter%5Fto%5Fferabo%5Fconcerning%5Fempires</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[Ferabo,'We need the Ottomans back.&#63728; They knew how to deal with these pesky dissidents...Kurds...Armenians...'At least they had the sense to keep 'Iraq' in three seperate provinces.There's a popular theory that following the Gulf War 1 the West]]></description></item><item><title>A Strange Scribbling from the Edge</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/a_strange_scribbling_from_the_edge.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/a_strange_scribbling_from_the_edge.htm</link><pubDate>Fri, 04 Jun 2004 12:56:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=a%5Fstrange%5Fscribbling%5Ffrom%5Fthe%5Fedge</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[The earth is many thousands ofÂ miles deep and the realm that we occupy is simply a thin sliver on the surface that we dwell within most perilously.Between the harsh vacuum of space and the violent plasmas of the fiery deeps we dwell between, we exi]]></description></item><item><title>Valleyboyabroad - a Welcome</title><guid isPermaLink="true">http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/valleyboyabroad__a_welcome.htm</guid><link>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/valleyboyabroad__a_welcome.htm</link><pubDate>Sun, 23 May 2004 23:59:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>http://valleyboyabroad.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=valleyboyabroad%5F%5Fa%5Fwelcome</comments><dc:creator>john mchugh</dc:creator><description><![CDATA[It all started in early October 2003. A friend of mine, Bertie Bollocks, rang me up and said,'Hey! I've got tickets for the finals of the Rugby World Cup final in Australia! Do you fancy coming to the land of Oz for ten days?'I said, sure, why not? A]]></description></item></channel></rss>