Wine, women, and song.

As noted in my last post, Saturday night saw ram's headed  Lady Gaga in London, extolling Princess Diana while performing her new track, Lady D.I.E., and dedicating it to Amy Winehouse, who died of drink and drug abuse. Something I never mentioned was that in the process she  "instructed the 100,000 strong crowd to flash their boobies", whilst insisting that there should be doses of "singing, dancing, vomiting, and smoking". Some say Gaga has a penis; although perhaps it is prosthetic.

Gaga played a twin gig on the Sunday.

Sunday also saw the closing ceremony of the Paralympic games with Coldplay, Jay Z and Rihanna, which the mail on line compared to a post-apocalyptic Mad Max style invasion. Certainly, it was grim, although perhaps not as bad as Mel Gibson's Scottish accent in Braveheart.

Monday 10th September saw the final 2012 parade in London, nearly a million people turning out to line the route from Mansion House to Buckingham Palace where they were treated to tracks by the Pet Shop Boys and a fly-over by the Red Arrows. (here)

   
Monday 10th also saw Scotsman, Andy Murray, win the US tennis open in New York. Apparently he was inspired by Manchester United (Red Devils) manager, Alex Ferguson, who was shouting encouragement from the stands. The Scottish Sun is calling this Fergietale of New York. In my post from Sunday, Brothers in Arms , I noted how Fergie and 007 Sean Connery had "invaded" the semi-final press conference whilst claiming Scotland "invented the world". Something I missed at the time which has become extremely relevant  is that Andy stated  to his mum, Connery and Ferguson that "you smell of wine". (Note that in terms of the  sun's position in the heavens and the current leap year, 11th Sept is 10th Sept, if you follow that explanation). 

 Tuesday 11th saw Prince William and Kate arrive in Singapore for their Far East tour. First stop was the Botanical Gardens where they saw an white orchid named after Princess Diana. From wiki we note of the  Greek myth behind the  naming of this species of plant, "Orchis, the son of a nymph and a satyr, came upon a festival of Dionysius in the  forest. He drank too much, and attempted to rape a priestess of Dionysios. For his insult, he was torn apart by the Bacchanalians. His father prayed for him to be restored, but the gods instead changed him into a flower". Also from wiki we learn that the name Orchid comes directly from the Greek for "testicle".

After the Botanical Garden visit, Wills and Kate enjoyed a slap-up seven course meal. Wills quaffed his wine, although Kate instead chose water for the twin toasts -  fuelling more media headlines that she may be pregnant. 

In 2010, I  wrote a post called the Braveheart Enigma, detailing the  misfortune of 3 Scottish Bravehearts - an alleged gangster, Mel Gibson, and ex national football captain, Colin Hendry. On Saturday just past, the Scottish Sun told of how Hendry has been forced to sell his medals (thinking  Olympics) to pay off debts accrued through "drinking and gambling heavily".
 

The thread between all the above is the Greek deity, Dionysus, god of "grape harvest, wine, winemaking, ritual madness and ecstacy". That's not to forget the "human followers" of the Dionysian mysteries, who used "intoxicants, and other trance inducing techniques (like dance and music) to remove inhibitions and social restraints". Then there's the parallels between Dionysus and Jesus, with scholars of comparative  mythology noting that both identify with the dying and returning god archetype. (wiki)

It's all a ritual. 

  
cheers

Note : since I posted this morning, Amy Winehouse's former boyfriend, Reg Traviss, has appeared in court charged with rape on 31st December. The alleged victim was drunk  BBC.

Also, Prince William has advised that if he was to have a "super-power", it would be invisibility (here), something he already possesses to a certain extent. Note too that the cult of Dionysus was closely associated with trees, today we saw William and Kate plant a money tree, something that speaks volumes for our future.