Lazy day album cover

Taken at West End, I thought this would make a good album cover!

The Truth About Merlin!

I have always been fascinated by magicians, especially one of the oldest, Merlin. So I started doing some research on him. Turns out that most people think Merlin is a made up person, a cross between a ‘wild man’ and a wizard. Merlin is so woven into folklore, British history and legends, that it is hard to separate truth from fiction, so I decided to do a little more investigating of my own. 

I was in the UK visiting some relatives who live near Stonehenge. The story goes around there that Merlin is responsible for the building of Stonehenge and arranged for the stones to be brought in from Wales. Now that’s a long way, not difficult for a magician though! Merlin also has several nominated grave sites and birthplaces, not bad for a guy who was ‘made-up’. I headed off for the possible grave sites and did a little ‘digging around’. I thought I would look up the church birth records in a couple of these places.

The first place I went, the Rector, wasn’t very helpful, but a few miles away I stopped in a little village near the church, and I got chatting to a man in the bakery when I was buying some scones. He told me of a man in a nearby town who claims to be a descendant of Merlin!

I was very excited.

So off I went to the next town, on a hunt for the truth about Merlin. I was nervous with excitement as I neared the man’s house. To my surprise, a young man in his 30’s answered the door. “Where’s the beard and the long pointy hat” I thought to myself. He asked me what I wanted, and I said “they say you’re a descendant of Merlin.” The man chuckled. “Yes, the locals around here seem to think that. Come inside for a pot of tea.”
He told me his name was Mike and he was an architect. While we sipped our tea, he retrieved his family tree.

The family tree looked rather old. One of the names towards the top of the tree appeared to have rubbed off over time. I inquired about this.

In response, Mike pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked a chest that was lying under some old rags in the back corner of the room.

From the chest, he pulled out something that looked like a contraption from Star Wars. When he turned it on, everything in the house that was white began to glow; it was an ultra violet light. Even the wall paper was glowing. 

When Mike waved the ultra violet light over the family tree, an M showed up, followed by an E, then an R, then an L, then an I and finally an N.

In my excitement I began asking question after question. “Woo, slow down!” said Mike, “One question at a time.”

I asked Mike the question that I thought was the most important “Why keep it a secret that you are the descendant of Merlin, when you could help people by using the magic that you inherited?” 

Mike told me that even though he was the descendant of Merlin, he didn’t have any magic powers. It makes his life much more difficult when people are always asking him about his ancestor. 

Mike explained that he doesn’t mind having no powers, however sometimes he wishes that he did. This is the reason that he disguised the fact that he is Merlins descendant.

I said “Thank you for your time.” He said “That’s alright, I’m glad I could help.”

So I bid him good day, and set off to travel and see the sights of England, pleased that I had found out that Merlin really did exist.

By Robert Walmsley-Evans

Book Review - Life Without Limits

Life Without Limits

A Review by Robert Walmsley-Evans

This book titled Life Without Limits – how to live a ridiculously good life; is written by Nick Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-Chich).  Nick was born in Victoria, has lived much of his life in Brisbane and now lives mostly in the USA.

Nick was born with no limbs, but does not let that interfere with his life, which is based on a strong personal faith, a powerful sense of hope and optimism, and an infectious humour.  Given everything that has happened throughout his life, he is a remarkable person.

With this book, Nick is trying to help people to believe that they are not alone in the world no matter what difficulties they may face. He is also clearly saying to his readers that while they will have dark times, they should try not to let life’s pressures get on top of them.  In the book there are many examples of times where Nick uses humour to help people feel more comfortable with him and with themselves. 

The time when Nick was in Indonesia and placed himself in the overhead luggage compartment on a plane to surprise other passengers, is a good example of his humour drawing people to him and breaking down barriers.

Nick is heavily guided by his faith, and clearly relies on this in his charitable activities, which include public speaking and fund raising. 

The book gives many examples of Nick refusing to allow concerns of others to stop him from taking risks.  For example, Nick has mastered scuba diving and surfing, which he did with a young woman who had her arm taken by a tiger shark but still surfs and travels the world.

One of the things, which I think is most memorable from the book, is a Korean Proverb, which says ‘If you are knocked down seven times, get up eight times’. 

I enjoyed this book because he lets you into his life and encourages everyone to be positive and focus on their abilities, not their limitations.

Robert Walmsley –Evans

April 28 2011