The Sword Unsheathed

Red is the colour,
of the blood,
streaming from beheaded foes.


Red is the colour,
of the warrior's eyes,
before facing the gallows.

Red is the colour
of the evening sky,
as day draws to a close.

Red is the colour,
of his flag,
A symbol of the fight against woe.

A hero arose from a people suppressed,
questioned those who did not forget.
Marked him for sacrifice, an example to make,
of those who questioned the steerage of their fate.

Oh they mocked, with glee they cackled.
And smote his village, with fire that crackled,
and burst and thundered, as it consumed,
the lives of those chained, now lost in fumes.

A black heart was created, with the cindered dust,
that rained on ravaged land, on a fiery dusk.
He howled a last cry, and with an oath,
unsheathed the sword, enemies to smote.

Silent as the night, invisible like sin.
All knowing yet untraceable, like misty wind.
Strong as a storm, fueled by rage,
furiously calm, a warrior sage.

He fought a long battle, won a few wars,
his sword gleamed red, his face earned scars.
Retribution, eye for an eye,
left the kingdom blind, toothless to try.

Try to stop him, they did,
with methods old and new.
Bribe, seduction and other vices,
the jolly motley crew.

Impervious he proved, and the losses kept mounting.
The final battle approached, the hour of reckoning.
And he walked onto the fields, where once flowers bloomed.
The assembled army quivered, awaiting their doom.

What happened at the battle, is a lore we'll never know.
No one returned alive, neither hero nor foe.
The ground had turned red, a stench filled the air,
severed limbs scattered everywhere, in the mad stampede of despair.

They say that when he went down,
he took thirty more with him.
They say when the authority taunted him,
he spat and smiled back at them.

And that was the last that was ever heard,
of the man who never spoke a word.
Who conquered the cowards who hid behind arms,
and never fell prey to their corrupting charms.

The tale of the warrior of the unsheathed blade,
lives on in legend of the truly brave.
We whisper his name, to grant us courage,
while he rests under an unmarked grave.

Make mine UBNR!!

Time for a quick little post. Have booted my beloved Aspire one with a live Ubuntu Netbook Remis distro. Gotta say i am totally impressed. This is my first brush with a live CD and the more i use it, the more i like it.

I mean, yeah, having to save all those passwords each time can be a minor headache, and I have to install adobe flash each time i boot off the USB drive, but still, the idea of running an OS from USB and leaving my poor old SSD alone, holds an irresistable charm at the moment.

The default setup does include Open office, Firefox, Rythmbox, Pidgin, Evolution and a rudimentary movie player that is not a VLC substitute, but still, pretty much covers almost everything that i use my Aspire one for. The right hand SD reader doesn't show up at start, but since i use the left expansion slot permanently, it's a fault that i can live with.

The more Linux i use, the further away i go from MSWindows32.exe. Now, if only there was a decent WINE script to run those Directx and OpenGL wrappers.

Overall first impressions are very favourable. love the redesigned interface, with Maximus being the pick of the lot. Boot times aren't as good as Linpus and i think the battery dies out half an hour quicker, but otherwise, being Ubuntu, everything else works well out of the box.

Will give this baby a live trial for about a month. If I don't ever feel the inclination to get back to Linpus, then UBNR it is, for the aspire one at least. That or Linpus Lite 1.2 which should be released in a couple of weeks.


Make mine TUX 4 eva!!!

Progress

Go on a trip to the museum,
All those chimps, when you see em.
Give yourself a pat on the back,
We've come a long way baby.

Take a look at the ground,
sinking under footsteps all around.
It once was the floor of the jungle,
but We've come a long way baby.

Can you hear the roars of the cars,
the cacaphony of conversations?
The bellow of civilisation, that surely proves,
We've come a long way baby.

See that bird, or that majestic beast,
that adorns the giant TV screens?
Once they roamed the earth, in their multitude,
when our deserts were green.

A time when waters flowed free and clear,
gave rise to life, and which now fear,
the return of her plundering murderous children,
snuffing the life that she holds dear.

Sorry, please excuse that cough,
dust riddled lungs don't do me proud.
A cancer on the planet, clogging our skies,
Death in pollution's disguise.

As we strip our forests bare,
and suck the oceans dry.
Our time may be running short but still,
our ambitions still fly high.

And till the last man draws his last sigh,
each of us will still smile.
Pat ourselves on the back and say
We've come a long way baby.

Temptations

There you are, in front of my eyes.

You linger on in the periphery of my sight.

Your tantalising form, mocks and burns,

the lightest touch, sends shivers through the nights.

/

I know you do me no good, killing me slowly.

A shadow of who i was once, awaiting only,

another interlude, a stay in paradise,

A hunger that grows stronger, approaching its demise.

/

You have no idea, do you? Of what it takes,

To turn my head away, only to hesitate.

Another glimpse stolen, weakening resolve,

Fingers start twitching, tremors cascade from above.

/

I thought that i was strong, I thought I had the steel

to remove you forever, from the kingdom of my dreams.

But the worst part of all of it, is that you just don't care. 

You lie there, mocking, resplendent, shining in my hungry stare.

/

All those sweaty nights, spent trying to rid myself, 

of your lasting effects, the curse of your spell.

I still can't quit chocolate, diet as i might,

a burden heavy on the heart, and yet filled with delight.

/

Some day i will leave your shores forever, 

and hopefully move on another vice.

Meanwhile I'll have another,

filled with nuts and crispies rice.