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Latest News and Blog Posts from Wayne “Pendragon” Owens.
My Livejournal is Legally Allowed to Drink in the States
I received an email today informing me that my LiveJournal account, yes, that ancient digital relic, has officially turned 21.
Twenty-one. As in, legally allowed to drink in every jurisdiction that still pretends LiveJournal is a thing.
I had genuinely forgotten I even had one. It’s been lurking in the shadowy corners of the internet like a time capsule filled with questionable poetry, dramatic status updates, and the occasional pixelated GIF of emotional turmoil.
But now that it’s reached the age of majority, I suppose I owe it a celebratory pint. Maybe two. Maybe a full round of shots and a long, cathartic conversation about how we’ve both changed.
So tonight, I raise a glass to my LiveJournal, my moody, melodramatic, HTML‑decorated companion from the early 2000s. May it drink responsibly, avoid posting while tipsy, and never remind me what I wrote in 2005.
For those who may be new around here, my blog has gone through four iterations, with LiveJournal being the second incarnation.
- Version 1: Hand-coded posts on my original website back in the early ’90s — before the word blog even existed. Just raw HTML, questionable colour choices, and the burning need to overshare.
- Version 2: Migrated to LiveJournal, where angst met animated GIFs and every post felt like a diary entry written by candlelight.
- Version 3: Took up residence on the Three-Ninjas site, because clearly what my thoughts needed was a dojo.
- Version 4: (And hopefully final version) is right here — on this very page. Still rambling. Still oversharing. Just with better fonts and fewer sparkly backgrounds.
Happy 20th Masonic Anniversary
Today marks my 20th anniversary of joining Freemasonry.
On the 2nd of February 2006, I arrived at the Masonic Hall in Ruabon at 6pm, suited up and not entirely sure what I was walking into. That evening I was initiated into Llannerch Lodge in the Province of North Wales. I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting, even if I didn’t fully understand what was happening at the time. The pub meal afterwards — the festive board, as I quickly learned — was just as enjoyable. I even had to stand up and thank everyone for welcoming me, after they’d all stood to toast me.
Over the following year, I took my second (Fellowcraft) and third (Master Mason) steps.
The next twenty years have taken me on quite a journey:
Craft
- Took the Master’s Chair of Llannerch Lodge — and stayed there for two years.
- Joined Wrexhamian Lodge, the Maesgwyn Lodge of Installed Masters, and the Provincial Stewards Lodge.
- Took the Master’s Chair of Wrexhamian Lodge.
- Promoted to Active Provincial Steward, then Active Provincial Senior Deacon, and finally Past Deputy DC.
Royal Arch
- Joined Wynnstay Chapter and went through all three chairs.
- Joined Wrexhamian Chapter and am currently in the 2nd Principal’s Chair.
- Promoted to Active Provincial Steward and later Active Provincial Sojourner.
SRIA
- Joined Bishop Wilkins College and, thanks to Covid lockdowns, spent four years in the chair.
- Joined Clwyd College and went through the chair there as well.
- Promoted to Provincial Conductor for five years, and currently serving as Provincial Secretary.
- Advanced to the Third Order.
Rose Croix
- Joined Valle Crucis Chapter and (again, courtesy of Covid) spent four years in the chair.
- Joined Rhodri Fawr Chapter.
- Promoted to the 30th Degree.
Provincial & Other Roles
- Provincial Webmaster & Social Media Officer for five years.
- Assistant Provincial Mentor for five years.
- Member of the Provincial Pathway Team for five years.
- Founder member of the Widows Sons Masonic Bikers Association.
- Committee member of the North Wales Association for Masonic Study for seven years.
Writing & Speaking
- Giving Masonic talks since 2017.
- Published several Masonic books.
- Had papers published in multiple Masonic periodicals.
Not a bad twenty years of Masonic work. I think I’ve earned a drink.
WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED
Ladies, gentlemen, and those still scraping ice off their cars… it is with great reluctance, and absolutely no surprise, that I must announce that Punxsutawney Phil has betrayed us once again.
Yes. On this sacred Groundhog Day, the furry little meteorological menace emerged from his burrow, took one look around, and declared six more weeks of winter. Six. More. Weeks. As if we haven’t suffered enough.
For those unfamiliar with the ancient lore: Groundhog Day began in the 1800s when people, apparently bored and cold, decided to entrust seasonal forecasting to a rodent. A rodent. Not a druid. Not a wise elder. Not even a slightly drunk farmer with a cloud‑watching hobby. No! a bloody groundhog.
And ever since, this whiskered weather‑wizard has held the Northern Hemisphere hostage with his shadow‑based tyranny.
Well, not this year.
I, do hereby declare WAR on all groundhogs. Phil, his cousins, his agents, his furry little intelligence network, all of them. If winter must continue, then so must the resistance.
- Let it be known: We will not go quietly into another frostbitten morning.
- We will not accept another icy windscreen without complaint.
- We will not bow to the whims of a glorified woodland potato.
Rise up, friends.
Sharpen your snow shovels.
Prepare your thermal socks.
The Great Groundhog Rebellion of 2026 has begun.
Down with Phil. Up with spring.
In Scotland its Burns Night, In Wales Carpet Burns Night
To the Welsh among us: “Happy Santes Dwynwen Day!”
May your love be as enduring as a slate roof in a storm and your pronunciation confuse at least three Englishmen before lunchtime.
To the Scots: “Happy Rabbie Burns Day/Night!”
May your haggis be hearty, your whisky be flowing, and your poetry only slightly slurred by the end of the evening.
And to the rest of you non‑Celts…
Well… tough luck.
Today is for dragons, thistles, ancient saints, questionable folklore, and people who can win an argument using only vowels.
You may observe from a respectful distance and bring snacks
We are doomed as a species
Earlier today I was hurtling along a bypass on an emergency mission to acquire coffee — the kind of crisis that demands swift, decisive action.
There I was on a dual carriageway, approaching the section where the road very helpfully provides an entire forest of signs instructing you to get into the correct lane. Left lane peels off to a roundabout, right lane carries on. Simple. Elegant. Fool‑proof. Or so one would hope.
In the left lane: a van, indicating right. In the right lane: an estate car, indicating left. No traffic ahead of them. Plenty of space behind them (courtesy of me, being a considerate and patient soul). A straightforward manoeuvre. One speeds up, the other slows down, they swap, everyone goes home happy.
But no.
The van accelerated to get in front of the estate. The estate, apparently offended by this audacity, accelerated to get in front of the van. The van, equally unwilling to be bested, accelerated again. And so began the Great Lane‑Swap Duel of 2026, two vehicles locked in a petty, pointless drag race toward the point of no return.
And then — the inevitable. Both of them missed their turnings.
The van, realising its folly, had to peel off, loop around the roundabout, and rejoin the road. Mild inconvenience. A lesson learned, perhaps.
The estate, however, sailed majestically past its exit and was condemned to travel many, many miles before the next junction where it could finally turn around and contemplate its life choices.
So, Dear Reader, I put the question to you: Are we, as a species, getting dumber… or have we simply perfected the art of being ridiculous?
I am Hysterical, err I mean Historical!
I’ve been haunting the digital wilds since about ’94, back when the web crackled, hummed, and occasionally threatened to set your modem on fire just for looking at it funny. A personal website here, a blog there, sometimes both held together with duct tape, HTML guesswork, and sheer optimism. Realising that I’ve been online for more than three decades is… equal parts impressive and mildly horrifying. At this point I’m basically qualified for a seat on the Internet Druids’ Council.
So yes, by the ancient laws of cyberspace, I am fully authorised to shake my metaphorical walking stick at the TikTok generation. All you hyper‑edited, dance‑looping, algorithm‑summoned sprites may kindly vacate my virtual lawn with your chaotic jingles masquerading as music. I was here when “You’ve Got Mail” was a cultural event, when websites proudly displayed hit counters, when we all wanted to FREE KEVIN, and when animated GIFs were considered the height of sophistication. (That last bit is, of course, a filthy lie. Animated GIFs have never been acceptable. And it’s Gif, not Jif. Do not make me fetch my stick.)
And yet here I remain, still typing, still tinkering, still refusing to log off, and now deeply amused to discover that the Internet Archive has been quietly preserving my online ramblings since the late ’90s. Which means there are, quite literally, thousands upon thousands of historical documents chronicling the last thirty‑ish years of my life, preserved for all eternity. Or at least until World War Three wipes out all technology.
I always assumed I was hysterical. I never expected to be historical.
Have we, as a nation, genuinely become this fragile?
I genuinely don’t know whether the UK’s infrastructure has quietly regressed, whether people have collectively gone soft, or whether Health & Safety has simply been allowed to run wild across the country.
As I write this, I’m looking out at a light dusting of snow, barely enough to justify calling it “weather,” let alone a national incident. Yet this week we’ve had YELLOW WEATHER WARNINGS on Monday and Tuesday (to be fair, we did get around seven inches), followed by a day of drizzle on Wednesday that melted most of it away… just in time for Thursday’s AMBER WEATHER WARNING. Even today we’re still under another YELLOW warning, as if the sky itself is issuing polite reminders to panic.
And panic people have. The moment a snowflake lands, the supermarkets are stripped bare like locusts have passed through. Ever since the lockdowns of the early ’20s, it seems the slightest disruption sends everyone into full‑scale apocalypse mode. Bread? Gone. Milk? Gone. Common sense? Long gone.
Meanwhile, schools, libraries, public transport, all closed “due to the bad weather.” The schools nearest me, less than a mile away, shut their doors because “no one can get there.” This, despite the fact that the snow is barely an inch deep at its worst and the roads are completely clear.
It’s made me reflect on winters past. I remember years where the snow was several feet deep and nobody batted an eyelid. Growing up, a foot or two of snow was normal. We often had to dig our way out of the house, and the schools still opened as if nothing unusual had happened.
One year in junior school, the snow was well past my knees. I walked a mile through it, and yes, it really was uphill both ways, thanks to my house and the school being on opposite hills. I arrived frozen, clinging to a radiator for dear life, only for the headteacher to tell me my mother had phoned to say it was still snowing heavily and I should come home in case it got worse. Several feet of snow, and the school was open, staffed, and functioning.
Now? Four snowflakes fall in a car park and the entire education system collapses because “no teacher can make it in.”
So I find myself wondering: Have we, as a nation, genuinely become this fragile? Or have we simply surrendered to an army of clipboard‑wielding jobsworths who see danger in every snowflake and liability in every footstep?
Either way, something has changed, and not for the better!
40 Years on and still Relevant!
The Hacker Manifesto
by
+++The Mentor+++
Written January 8, 1986
Another one got caught today, it’s all over the papers. “Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal”, “Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering”…
Damn kids. They’re all alike.
But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950’s technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
I am a hacker, enter my world…
Mine is a world that begins with school… I’m smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me…
Damn underachiever. They’re all alike.
I’m in junior high or high school. I’ve listened to teachers explain for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. “No, Ms. Smith, I didn’t show my work. I did it in my head…”
Damn kid. Probably copied it. They’re all alike.
I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it’s because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn’t like me… Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I’m a smart ass.. Or doesn’t like teaching and shouldn’t be here…
Damn kid. All he does is play games. They’re all alike.
And then it happened… a door opened to a world… rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict’s veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought… a board is found. “This is it… this is where I belong…” I know everyone here… even if I’ve never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again… I know you all…
Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They’re all alike…
You bet your ass we’re all alike… we’ve been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak… the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We’ve been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.
This is our world now… the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore… and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge… and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias… and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the criminals.
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.
I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can’t stop us all… after all, we’re all alike.
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
As we step across the threshold into 2026, I want to send each of you my heartfelt thanks and my fiercest good wishes. Another year has turned its page, and here we stand, wiser, a little more battle‑tested, and still carrying that spark that refuses to go out.
May 2026 bring you courage in the face of uncertainty, laughter in unexpected places, and moments of quiet triumph that remind you who you are. May your path be lit by good people, good purpose, and the occasional bit of Welsh magic when you need it most.
Here’s to resilience, to community, and to the stories we’ve yet to write.
Raise a glass, steady your stride, and step boldly into the year ahead.
Onward into 2026 – stronger, stranger, and absolutely unstoppable.
The Year That Was – 2025
Its that time of year again.
Where I look back over the previous year and answer the same 40 questions.
1. What did you do in 2025 that you’d never done before?
OK, New things :-
- Became a member of the Third Order of the S.R.I.A.
- Was asked to professionally edit an authors books.
- Got a none-active Provincial promotion.
- Organised a Provincial AGM.
- Decided to step back from Craft & Royal Arch Masonry in North Wales.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I just went back to last years “The Year That Was” post to double check, and it seems I did not pick either a challenge or resolutions for 2025.
I did continue 2024’s challenge and continued updating my website and I published the second NWAMS book.
For 2026, I would like to get another of my website projects completed, and a few more things published.
My overall plans for 2026 are to get healthier and be a lot more productive.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My youngest nephew had his first child this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Alas my good friends father passed to the Grand Lodge above. Mr Maguire was an excellent person and will be missed by many.
A cousin of mine died this year, the poor bloke was found dead after neighbours had realised no one had seen him in a while.
Also a very old Internet Friend/Spod passed away way to young. Laz was the first “Internet Friend” I went away to go visit, and those adventures led to the RLF, and many great times.
5. What countries did you visit?
The normal, mainland UK ones.
I did pop over to Anglesey, which I count as its own country.
6. What would you like to have in 2026 that you lacked in 2025?
I would like to have hope and a plan! And for the rot in Freemasonry to start to heal.
Oh, and an end of this Labour government!
7. What dates from 2025 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- May 16th – Being advanced to the 3rd Order of the SRIA.
- May – When Freemasonry died in North Wales.
- December – Organising a Provincial Convocation
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being advanced into the Third order of the SRIA. It was a great honour, the Province of Western Counties and North Wales only had one person they could put forward in 2025 for advancement. I was greatly honoured to be that person.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Letting the corruption and general decline in Masonry affect me as much as it did.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing!
I managed to survive the whole year with nothing worse than a cold.
I did get a small papercut at one point, but that does not really count as it was nowhere bad.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I spent the whole year without getting myself anything cool, and then saved the year in the last minute by getting a mini computer for Online meetings, writing, and video editing, you know general stuff.
My main machine is getting very old now, and I need to start moving the tasks off it to the new one.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
- Me, Myself & I. Because I am just so Awesome.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Our current government.
And the people who stabbed me in the back this year after the new Provincial Grand Master for North Wales was selected.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Books, More Books, Possibly a few more Books.
I may have a problem, at least I can admit it.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
It has to be going to the High Council meeting to get my Grade 8 and being advanced into the third order of the SRIA.
16. What song will always remind you of 2025?
There is only one possible answer to this question.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
- a) happier or sadder? Sadder
- b) thinner or fatter? fatter
- c) richer or poorer? Richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
- Writing.
- Following my Dreams.
- Conquering the World.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? .
- Eating 🙂
- I could do with losing some weight.
- Procrastinating.
- I really need to be much more productive with my projects.
- Getting annoyed.
- I need to try and stop getting so angry about the destruction of an institution that meant so much to me.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Eating too much, drinking too much, and doing a TV marathon I normally pick a film series to binge over Christmas, like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel, etc.
This year, I am thinking of doing the Lord of the Rings.
I also plan to play a load of video games.
21. What was your favourite month of 2025?
May: Being admitted into the Third Order of the SRIA was a very special and awesome event, even more so than getting my 30th is Rose Croix..
22. Did you fall in love in 2025?
Only more in love with the legendary Ashley Johnson!
23. How many one-night stands?
I do not believe in one-night stands. How can you tell if you realy like something unless you try it at least a couple of times?
24. What was your favourite TV programme?
Way too many to mention, As well as all the excellent ongoing TV shows, There was the new finds of :-
- Shifting Gears.
- 2 Broke Girls.
- Alien Earth.
- The Mighty Nein.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
The last few years I have answered along the lines of “You know what? NO! I do not believe I hate anyone this year that I did not hate previously. Maybe I am growing as a person, becoming more enlightened? Or is everyone already on THE LIST”.
Well this year thanks to several knives sticking out of my back, there are actually some new names on the LIST!
26. What was the best book you read?
This is always a very hard question. According to Goodreads I have read about 100 books this year. Trying to pick the best of that lot is not going to be easy.
But if you are going to hold a gun to my head and force me to answer, I will say “Look! a Squirrel!!” and drop a smoke bomb and vanish like a ninja. there were just too many good books this year to pick a favourite.
Ok. I admit it, I may have a book problem.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
2025 has been a year without music, not on purpose it has just been one of those years where I’ve not really listened to any music.
In fact., sitting here trying to think of any new musical discoveries, I realise most the music I have heard this year are songs by Scanlan Shorthalt.
28. What did you want and get?
This has been a very odd year. I do not think there was anything I really wanted to have, that I actually got.
Don’t get me wrong, there was many things I got this year that were fantastic, but they were unexpected, or out of the blue. There was nothing that I really wanted, and just got.
29. What did you want and not get?
Freemasonry in North Wales not to go down the route of corruption, and toadyism . There is a rot, that started when the Maesgwyn was forced out of the Masons hands and damaged local Masonry, and it is now spreading across the Province. And all from the same source.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
- Companion.
- The Family Plan.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I am still not having birthdays.
I have decided to stop having them so that I can live forever.
It is SCIENCE!!!!
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less corruption in Freemasonry. It is ruining a institution that had stood the test of ages, but is now looking very tarnished.
Oh, and warmth! It has been a very wet and cold year here in Wales. I have forgotten what warmth and sun is like.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2025?
My personal fashion does not change much, especially since the days of Covid when we moved to work from home. This means during the workday I am at home and can dress for comfort since I am not out in public.
Therefore as in previous years, I have mostly been wearing Cargo Pants (I like the extra pockets) and Jumpers (Thick jumpers due to the lack of warmth in Wales).
Oh and suits, because suits are awesome…… True story
34. What kept you sane?
Sane? Sane? “You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means”.
I think the Sunday Night Beer Chat has done a lot to keep me sane, and save lives!
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I recently started watching the TV show “Shifting Gears”, and since I am enjoying the comedy of Kat Dennings, I figured I needed to watch “2 Broke Girls”.
I ended up binge watching the whole series. And since I have always had a weak spot for tough, sarcastic ladies, how could I not end up fancying Max Black!
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The state of the UK.
We have a party in power that had a very low percentage of the UK vote for them, and they are opening the borders to mass illegal immigration. They are upping taxes, banning free refills, business are closing down down, They are looking to make our roads thinner to prevent cars overtaking cyclists. All this while every one of the main people are constantly apologising for breaking the law. Dangerous criminals are being let out of prison (sometimes they just walk out) to make room for all the people being jailed for posting things online that the Party does not approve of.
Not to mention blocking the internet to everything unless you hand your personal details (passport, bank details, etc) to foreign countries to prove you are over 13 (UK passport details have already been leaked online). They are bringing in mandatory Digital ID cards. You can get visits from the thought police in the middle of the night to talk about mean tweets or comments you make online.
Every weekend there are protests and riots from one group or another, I believe the UK is being led into a civil war. If not we will head into a party led dictatorship worse than North Korea.
37. Who did you miss?
No one.
“ high functioning Sociopath” Remember?
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I do not think I met any new person who exceptionally stood out.
The question is… Does that say a lot about me as a person, or people in general?
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2025?.
Corruption is everywhere.
Also, if you are not willing to arse-lick and worship at the heel of those who think they are superior, then you are on your own and need to watch your back.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sitting at the table
There’ll be time enough for counting
When the dealing’s done