telegraph - The dilapidated, whitewashed Italian villa, set amid the hills of Sicily, was owned in the 1920s by Aleister Crowley, whose outrageous drug-taking, keen sexual appetite and interest in mysticism later made him a cult figure for the Beatles, David Bowie, Ozzie Osbourne and Iron Maiden.The cottage, near the town of Cefalu in Sicily, contains explicit, erotic frescoes of men and women entwined together, painted by Cambridge-educated Crowley when he lived there in the early 1920s.
The frescoes, inspired by the work of Gauguin, also include naked devils, satyrs and serpents.
The estate agents that are selling the property, which has been abandoned for years and is overrun with bushes and long grass, have suggested that it should be turned into a museum devoted to Crowley's extraordinary life.
He called the house the Abbey of Thelema and turned it into a kind of commune, where daily life revolved around yoga, adoration of the Sun and the study of his own mystical philosophical writings.
Eventually his libertine tastes so offended Mussolini's fascists that they expelled him and his lovers from the country in April 1923.
Local people believe that the villa, which hosted orgies and experiments in free love that predated the hippy movement by decades, is cursed and refuse to go near it.
Crowley, who called himself The Great Beast, created a religious philosophy known as Thelema and is known for his mystical writings, including The Book of the Law, in which he set out the main tenets of Thelema.
He was also a keen chess player and mountaineer, taking part in the first British attempt to climb K2 in the Himalaya, in 1902.
He travelled widely in Europe, Asia and the Americas and was thought to have been a spy for British intelligence.
He died in a Sussex boarding house in 1947 at the age of 72.
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Ghost Hunters to Investigate 'London Dungeon' on Friday 13th
pinkpaper - The London Paranormal Society, the UK’s premier public ghost-busters, will investigate London Dungeon next week – to coincide with Friday the thirteenth.The group, led by openly-gay medium Ian Shillito, will spend six hours in the reportedly-haunted location looking for some of its supernatural inhabitants.
And, as usual, the public are invited to attend – being given the chance to investigate one of the capital's most scary locations.
Shillito told PinkPaper.com: “Beyond the mutilated exhibits, torture equipment and dark corridors, we find multiple reports of ghostly children, silent figure’s appearing in the mortuary or gliding around the Great Fire exhibit.
"General poltergeist activity is encountered when doors rattle, open and close whilst knocks and raps are heard, especially in the Jack the Ripper area.
"Previous investigations have uncovered much auditory phenomena, and many of the investigators were spooked in the world’s largest mirror maze as strange mists, dragging footsteps and clanking of chains have been experienced. Sightings are regularly witnessed fuelling the stories further."
In 1212, a hospital dedicated to Thomas Becket stood on the site of the dungeons. The Hospital of St Thomas the Martyr was run by Augustinian monks and nuns who provided treatment for the poor, sick and homeless.
By the 17th century the area had become a popular place for alternative entertainment. Dog, bear and cock fighting, binge drinking were all to be found in the many local taverns. Tooley Street (originally called St Olaves Street) and gained a reputation for being an infamous red light district. In 1838, London Bridge station was built therefore creating a series of arches. During the WWII, the arches were used as air raid shelters by many of the residents of the nearby tenements.
On Feburary 17 1941, the arches received a direct hit by a bombing raid killing 68 local people who were spending the night It is believed that many of the bodies were never recovered and still remain entombed to this very day.
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Corpse Gets Parking Ticket in Seattle
seattlepi - A Seattle parking enforcement officer ticketed a man Tuesday who authorities say was likely dead hours before the ticket was issued.
About 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the parking enforcement officer marked the man's car in a 2-hour parking zone. The woman returned a few minutes after noon and found the car hadn't moved.
"The PEO rapped on the window twice in an attempt to wake the man," police spokeswoman Renee Witt said in a statement. "When she was unsuccessful she concluded that the individual was simply a sound sleeper. The PEO left the ticket on the windshield and continued her patrol."
She later learned he was dead.
About 40 minutes after the man was fined $42 for parking too long in the 2-hour spot, his girlfriend found the car with a GPS device.
Medics were dispatched at 12:47 p.m., but the man was unconscious and unresponsive when they arrived, Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said.
The driver was Derek Michael Eldridge, 36, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office. The office is waiting for tests before releasing his cause and manner of death, though police say there was no sign of homicidal violence. Eldridge's exact time of death was not released Wednesday.
Parking enforcement officers have radios and a reasonable expectation to call for help in an emergency.
But police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said it's not uncommon for parking enforcement officers to find people asleep in their cars. The woman, a 29-year parking enforcement veteran, did nothing wrong in the circumstances, he said.
The ticket issued was Eldrige's first parking ticket in Seattle Municipal Court, records show. The ticket was voided about an hour and a half after he was pronounced dead.
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Chinese Protesters Cut Off Fingertips and Swallow
AFP - Four protesters in Beijing cut off their fingertips and swallowed them in a desperate bid to bring attention to their cause, state media reported Thursday.
The men, from the central province of Hunan, travelled to the capital to seek resolution of a dispute with their former employer, who they claim sacked them on trumped-up charges, the official Global Times newspaper said.
They gathered at Tsinghua University, one of the nation's most highly regarded, on Sunday and rested their hands on books on the pavement, the report said.
Then, in front of hundreds of bystanders, each in turn held a cleaver and brought it down, cutting the tops off their little fingers and swallowing the severed tips, it added.
"I felt so calm doing that, as we have been driven from pillar to post," Li Bo, one of the men, was quoted as saying.
The four have since been seized by police and forced out of Beijing, the report said.
The case highlights the desperate measures some people in China will take to bring attention to grievances that have been ignored by local governments or courts.
Over the past year, some protesters have even set themselves on fire and died to prevent their houses or businesses from being demolished, in cases that have shocked the nation.
According to Li, the electric power bureau in Hunan's Yongzhou city fired the four in December 2008 on charges of absenteeism, which he says were wrong.
They tried to have their case heard at the city's committee for labour disputes, which rebuffed them, claiming they had never worked for the electricity bureau.
Last month they filed a lawsuit against their former employer but a court in Hunan rejected it, the report said.
Li alleged the four had also received death threats from local government officials in Hunan, and after all legal avenues were exhausted, they decided to come to Beijing as a last resort, it added.
Under a system dating from imperial times, Chinese people can petition government authorities in Beijing over injustices or unresolved disputes.
However, many such petitioners complain of official unresponsiveness to their concerns, while others report being detained by authorities and kicked out of the capital to be sent home.
As Well...Ukranian Man Eats Grandmother Alive
skynews - A 26-year-old Ukranian man has allegedly eaten his grandmother alive.
Computer programmer, Sergei Zhmaryov, has been accused of gouging out 60-year-old Lydia's eyeballs before eating her.
He allegedly used a shard of broken mirror to carve the grandmother's face while she was still conscious.
It is believed Zhmaryov cut her tongue out to stop her screams for help, and then ate it.
He also allegedly cut off her lips and ears. The woman died at the scene.
Ukranian authorities believe it may have been a ritualistic killing.
Zhmaryov was found in his underpants, holding a cross and chanting prayers.
He could face up to 20 years in prison on murder charges.
Fortean / Oddball News - 8/6/2010
