the world of momus

S1. Ep3. The Legend of the Loch Ness Monster

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Did you know references to Loch Ness Monster or Nessie, date back to 500 AD, just over one and a half thousand years ago?

Did you know it is believed in some circles, that Nessie could be last surviving creature from a dinosaur species, similar to plesiosaurs?

Did you know that over the years there has been over a thousand claimed sighting of the Loch Ness Monster?

For these and many more facts, listen on The World of Momus on Spotify, Anchor & Google Podcasts.

Here are some interesting facts about the Loch Ness and its Monster:

  1. Rain around Loch Ness carries peat or turf from the surrounding hills down into the water. These little particles mean that visibility under the water is poor, with the darkest of depths and perfect condition for a mythological creative it hide.
  2. Loch Ness is one of the four lochs on the Great Glen; which is a valley carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Underneath the valley is the Great Fault Line, formed 390-430 million years ago and it can be seen from space.
  3. The Loch Ness Monster has featured in Doctor Who twice, once in 1975’s Terror of the Zygons, when Tom Baker’s Doctor met the creature and was revealed to be Skarasen, an alien creature which was the pet of the Zygons, a shape changing race and second in 1985 Timelash, when Colin Baker’s Doctor showed how the cruel alien Borad, ruler of the planet Karfel, escaped into the loch.
  4. Several songs over the years have been made about or with reference to Loch Ness Monster in the popular culture, with my favourite being Lochness by Judas Priest in their 2005 album Angel of Retribution.
  5. Files from the Natural History Museum suggest that the now late Prince Philip was so interested in the Loch Ness Monster, he proposed the Royal Navy be enlisted to help him search for the elusive creature.
  6. Part of a 2005 triathlon included a swim through Loch Ness. Each participant was insured £1 million against bites from the monster.
  7. In 1979, a pair of bottlenose dolphins were outfitted with vests holding lights and small cameras in order to help search for Nessie. The plan was called off after one of the dolphins died on a stopover at Hull Aquarium.

Sources:

The Scotsman, Live Science, Sky History, BBC, Britannica and among many other numerous media and internet sources

Weekend Thoughts – Mornings

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Mornings, are a glorious time of the day. It is the start of everything. A chance to restart.

I know, there are some people who do not like mornings. Personally, for me, I love them. I might not like doing much in the morning. But I just like being in this time of the day. Being present for it, just to observe it. Even if doing nothing.

The chirping of the birds. The busyness of it all. And the calmness of mother nature.

Just relax and sit in your balcony, veranda, garden, or by an open window – admire and wonder.

How many of these mornings have happened, before I started to admire them. How many. It is hard to comprehend.

Our world is filled with so much beauty. Even in destruction, there is a form of majesty. Now imagine, that it is not totally unique. It might be unique in holding us. But it is not that unique on its own. It is part of something much much bigger. There are so many planets out there, so many similar to ours. Even those that are not similar to ours – what would be the mornings on those like, how wondrous they are. We are lucky, to understand what we can, about the vastness of its reality.

Yet we may be small, we still are capable of great many things. Just take this for an example. This. Me talking with you. Through the wonders of radio-wave transmission or whatever. Recording it at one end and sending all the way across to you no matter where you are, wireless, bouncing off across the world. And imagine this is not the finished article, what it will be in few years to come – how much more advancements there will be. These are also wonders. Because they are the accomplishments of a small species in the vastness of universe.

And who knows, maybe one day we will be sat with our morning coffee or tea, just about waking up. And admiring the mornings on a completely different planet, in a completely different solar system, in a different galaxy, far far away, still feeling small but content.

We have come so far, and there is still so much further to go. But it will be a lot better, if we go, wherever we have to go, together. And it will be a lot easier to achieve that, if we lead with love. See, it might sound sappy, me saying that all the time, lead with love. But it is the best thing I can tell you to do.

Even when you put necessary aggression, in the leading with love category, it gives it purpose and a reason. And when that reason is accomplished, and it no longer necessary, that aggression dwindles away.

Whatever it might be, just take some time and meditate on this thought. We all have very little time on this planet. Some of us might think there is something after this life of ours. In religious context or otherwise. Or some of us might think there is nothing after this. But, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that, here, right now, we have a very short time. And we should not waste this short time, doing too many unnecessary things.

There is no time for pointless hatred. Even if you subjugate everyone, with your will. You will eventually be subjugated by death. And in the meantime, you would have wasted your time not admiring the beauty of the morning, or feeling the calmness and love, of the many wonders on our most wondrous planet.

Leave the hate, people, and lead your life with love. Good morning to all of you.

S1. Ep2. The Story of Sandwich

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From one slice of bread to the other with a whole lot in between.

Did you know that Americans eat more than 300 million sandwiches, a day?

And here in the UK we spent £557.31 million on sandwiches, rolls & baguette in 2019?

For more interesting facts like that and to dive into the origins of the humble sandwich, tune into my episode on Anchor, Spotify & Google Podcast, ‘The World of Momus’.

Or just listen it on here:

S1. Ep.1 Early Britain

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I love reading history and finding out about little quirky facts from the past. It gives a great perspective to our lives today, a sort of sense check if you like. I myself was born in Kuwait of a Pakistani family, I got to live in Karachi later on in life for almost a decade, and now for the past decade I have been living in Britain with my Polish wife. So it would be fair to say, I have influences from various cultures and traditions in my life. But even when I was younger, I had always been fascinated by Britain, and I have always loved its long and highly influential history.

For example, did you know that before the last Ice Age, Britain was actually a peninsula and not an island – it was connected with mainland Europe by a somewhat land bridge?

Or that in 55 BC Julius Caesar tried to invade Britain but failed?

Or that the first farmers came to UK some 6000 years ago?

Find out more, as I go through the brief summation of Early history of Britain on my podcast.

‘The World of Momus’ – Podcast

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So using Anchor’s amazing automated text to audio voice over services, I have created my podcast ‘The World of Momus’ and made it available on both Anchor and Spotify.

For now I am currently converting some of my random posts to audio and publishing them as podcasts. There will be several of these 1 or 2 minute short audio clips. And later on I will start making purpose filled episodes to feed into the podcast. Its only early days, so lets see how we get on with this, I hope you enjoy the journey. And please do feedback on how you find it to be and what more you might like from it.

Check here for Spotify and here for Anchor.