Thursday, July 27, 2006

'yappo yappo'

After reading about the Dogon people in Mali... They have low ceilings in their meeting places, the theory being that you can't get angry if you're sitting down...

I always write far too quickly...this was a creative lunch break!?

A poem...a thought...some words...

Yappo yappo

Lower the roof
Keep bends in our knees
The rising, rasping voice
Stopped in its rut
Its black bowler bent out of shape
Like an egg tapped
With the smallest of spoons

It sits back down
Licking the spit from its lips
Laying the hat on its lap
(Having popped the curve back)
Face not so flushed
Less blood

Lower the roof

Keep bends in our knees

Sunday, July 23, 2006

CARE-less


The day before yesterday was my first CARE-less Friday and although I did feel a hole where my Jelly should have been I had a wonderful day featuring African dance, deep theological/philosophical/stoner conversation and my dear friend Travis.

Thursday night had seen the last Thursday Date with Travis, Chris and I hanging out in a London pub till closing and then at Chris’s flat until the wee hours. The conversation meandered as all the best conversations do and I left thinking about how much I would miss those times. The reason I start to talk about the day before yesterday by mentioning the day before the day before yesterday is because over the course of the evening Travis suggested that I join him on a visit to his favourite place in London, Borough Market. We had a great morning there, drinking coffee and wandering around the stalls, sitting in the sun by the Cathedral and having a little lunch. I was to join him later for his little London farewell so we said a ‘see you later’ and he headed home for some much needed packing and I headed off for a wander around.

Round the corner from the market there sat a working replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, The Golden Hind and I sat and marvelled at it for a moment…a vessel which was, at one fleeting time in history, the height of technology… Then I headed to have a wander amongst the crowds at the Tower of London and then across Tower Bridge to The Scoop by the Mayor’s Office. This would be the destination for the first part of Trav’s farewell, a mini amphitheatre of a venue beside the river. There was an African dance group strutting their stuff so I sat and enjoyed that and then continued my wander down the South Bank, something I love to do, enjoying the street performers and the sun and the surroundings. Later that evening I was back Scoop way where I joined some of Travis’ friends from church and work and his house and listened to a DJ and some sax and trumpet players for what was a warm evening, eating nibbles and drinking wine …it was really nice.

The night went from nice to great as we headed to a bar round the corner and I had a really interesting chat with Trav’s screenwriting housemate and then started chatting to one of the guy’s from Trav’s church. This was one of those conversations about music and politics which keep digging deeper until you reach theology and faith and the unquestionables of religion are suddenly not just being questioned but interrogated… Danny pitched in an idea or two when he wasn’t fighting it out about fox hunting at the other end of the table…and the guy I was talking to, Joe, summed it all up well when he commented to one of the others, “We’ve basically done a degree over here…”

Quality.

Travis will be missed. I admire a great deal about the man. He is someone of real warmth and talent who loves to engage with the questions of politics and faith and culture which so fascinate me…and the guy is banter. The most striking thing about him for me is his real enthusiasm for life…it’s infectious. We’ll be seeing him again certainly…

He has a blog if you wanna check him out…

http://travisrandall.blogspot.com/

Calm down ladies…

“We were all children once…or have you forgotten?”

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Afritude

I was at a meeting recently of different organizations who are seeking to either commemorate next year's bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade and/or use the events of next year to highlight both the legacy of that evil and the modern forms of slavery that people currently face…

There are more slaves today than there ever were in the past…check out stopthetraffik.org for more details…

What I was shown that day, in no uncertain terms, was that the scars of the transatlantic slave trade run deeper than I ever imagined. I studied the trade with Martin Lynn (The man, the legend) during my degree and it was so interesting to hear about the legacy…and of course very sad too…

It was a bizarre meeting with people almost randomly shouting out things like ‘institutional racism’ and ‘reparations’…

The Church of England recently apologized for its role in the slave trade. Christians have such a strange relationship to these things…Christians (I don’t know whether I should use inverted commas or not…I think probably not actually…) have played such active roles in both justifying and carrying out slavery, apartheid, the troubles in Northern Ireland…BUT, and often at exactly the same time, Christians have been instrumental in helping to heal these wounds and put an end to these injustices and evils.

I read this quote in the newsletter of a Hindu extremist organization. There was some other crazy things in there (Jesus was a Buddhist who died and is buried in India…that kinda thing…) and some stuff that really got my blood a-boiling but this struck me as an interesting lil quote. The context it was used in…being applied to India…was a bit up the left, but taken on its own I fear that it is tragic in its accuracy…for both sides I should say…

Jomo Kenyatta, African leader – When the Europeans came, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said this is the book of God and asked us to meditate. When we opened our eyes they had the land and we had the Bible.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

I fought the law and the law won...


Well...I didn't really fight...

Spent a very nice afternoon with friends in Regents Park sunning ourselves and enjoying one anothers company...

I joined one of them for church at All Souls and then decided to wander home. I dandered around Oxford Circus, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square...and then took a right thinking I'd walk in behind Horse Guards and back through to Whitehall where I'd get a bus home. This is the kind of sauntering about that I hope to do a lot more of this summer...

At the top of the Mall there is a memorial to commemorate police officers who have died over the years so I had a look at the list and was unsurprised to see the words "Royal Ulster Constabulary" aplenty... Suddenly a load of police appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and a van pulled up next to me. A police officer came over to me and said hello in that loaded way that can only come from a uniformed mouth... There'd been a report of a man with a weapon in the area into which I had wandered. Its such a funny thing to think that as far as these guys knew I was as likely to be...ahem...packing heat...as the next guy... The word 'suspect' was even used as they frisked me... The funniest part was when the police officer said to me, "I don't think you're who we're looking for". He didn't seem to realise that I was already well aware of that...

So that was all very bizarre and amusing.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

12th...

It is the 12th of July...and I didn't even notice until lunch time...how strange to be in England on this most Protestant of days...

Good to see that the Ardoyne was 'relatively' calm...only one woman got nutted with a golf ball...our definitions of success, although I would not be critical of them, amuse me none the less... I tip my hat to you Jack...

It has been most interesting being in England this year and spending time with interns who are involved in politics so different from the single issue version we have at home...

Then at CSW where my opinions of our politicians are challenged... I find that those who I would generally have less time for due to their seemingly grace-less attitudes and the way they mix their protestant brand of christianity with a crass and arrogant triumphalism are those who are also interested in the human rights issues which christians face all over the world... (Not talkin bout aul Reg specifically you understand...)




Orange and purple balloons...one for every year since 1690...my gosh we are a tragic race...




And of course, we are treated to the finest totty in the NI...decked out in all their fav colours...



I will never quite work out my feelings about the 12th...part of me wants to see it as, at its heart, the fun day out that I remember sharing with my Grandfather as a child...part of me sees it as an innately divisive and sectarian animal that continues to leave orange scars in its wake...one for every year since 1690...

Goin' to the chapel and he's gonna get ma-a-a-rried



One of my best friends from school just got married…

One of my best friends from Uni just got engaged…

A couple from my church just got married…

Two of my friends from my time at DV just got engaged…

One of my American friends is expecting a baby…

I just watched the wedding video of one of my work colleagues…

In about two weeks the guy I work most closely with is getting married…

Is it just me or did the world just go mad and grow up…Neverland just lost its wings…and all the while I keep insisting on being in different countries from my girlfriend…



"All you need is faith and trust... and a little bit of pixie dust!"

Where Is God?

A poem...a thought...some words...

Blood trickles from an open wound
Soon soaked up by sand
A tear trembles on a lash
Sweatshop child sews silk by hand
I cannot feel your breath
Darkness hides your face
Fear refuses vision
Pain second guesses grace
I’ve buried you in my Bible
Now and then unearthed
Overlooked the glaring truth
From the page, love light was birthed
Momentary illuminations
And lasting blasts of bright
Scream real redemption
Offer hope to fight
Though my faith flounders
My eyes don’t always see
You are in the midst of us
You are in the mist of me

It's a movement...

MAKECOVENTRYHISTORY

Today, the gap between the places in the world that are exciting and beautiful locations in which to live and those which are…well…a bit rubbish, is wider than ever. Injustices exist such as a total lack of entertainment facilities, grey-er buildings than you thought were possible, weather that you are positive is colder than weather should be and a tragic lack of options when there is a desire to dine outside the home.

Despite the promises of world leaders, at our present sluggish rate of progress the world will fail dismally to reach internationally agreed targets to halve Coventry by 2015. This is simply not good enough. Coventry is sustained not by chance or nature, but by a combination of factors, each of which are exacerbated by inappropriate economic policies imposed by rich and beautiful cities.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. These factors are determined by human decisions.

2005 offered an exceptional series of opportunities for the UK to take a lead internationally, to start turning things around. By freeing just two young men from their grey Coventry surroundings you did more than just give them a life that could for the first time accommodate art, nightlife, beauty and staying awake all day at Care on a Friday…you sent a message.

Mr. Tony Blair stated recently, “The millions of people who support Make Coventry History should feel very proud of what they have achieved. I know we need to do more, particularly in the areas of intern housing and sustainable job creation, but I believe 2005 will be seen as a turning point in the fight against Coventry, and Make Coventry History will be seen as a decisive force for change. I hope we can work together in 2006 to turn the promises into action."

A sea change is needed. People need to be given hope. People like Joanna, who can’t even imagine a future that doesn’t involve a Coventry council estate and a hatful of children. Let’s bring colour into the lives of thousands…Let’s show Jo that there is more to life…let’s MAKECOVENTRYHISTORY.


MAKECOVENTRYHISTORY, the brainchild of a great man named Bene, is a unique UK alliance of charities, trade unions, campaigning groups and celebrities who are mobilising to drive forward the struggle against Coventry.
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