Monday, July 31, 2017

Gutter Feelings in the Backstreets of Heaven




#GUTTERFEELINGS
#Youth-Work Inner City
My 1st #book
VIEW / BUY HERE

The Backstreets of Heaven
about my work/mission #BOOK
View preview here





BHP

Suck and Blow Game - one amongst many crazy messy games of mine - AND the one called 'Making LOVE' is very popular

'Teach pupils to avoid gangs' - children's commissioner ........ or/and I say put some effort into preventative work - Youth Workers on the STREETS!!






'Teach pupils to avoid gangs' - children's commissioner


IN THE NEWS TODAY
Pupils should be taught in school how to avoid being sucked into gangs or exploited by older criminals, the children's commissioner has said.
Anne Longfield said personal, social, health and economics education (PSHE) lessons should help children spot when they are being targeted by gangs.
It follows reports children are being used by criminals as "money mules".
She said children looking for "a sense of belonging, fast money" or "glamour" were at risk.
Ms Longfield's research has found 46,000 children in England are involved in gangs.

As a #YouthWorker I have seen the #YouthService #savaged by the current #UK #government 
£387m has been taken from Youth work in the last 6 years 
603 Youth Centres GONE !!!
when we see the #needs of Young People in the headlines because of their increasing 
#MentalHealth needs and poor prospects #financially as well as massive increase in knife crime & gang activities.
#Teens & Gangs get to consume more  #Police time than other age groups - why not do more #preventative work with them?

Only so much can be achieved in #formal#education whilst  #Youth Workers work as #Informal #Educators 
and not bound by time & #curriculum #restrictions because they are about being in helping #relationships 
for the benefit of the #wholeperson. 

#Teachers (BLESS THEM) tell me that they can’t say to a Teen  
#YouAreBeautiful - 
or share their own #vulnerabilities - 
both which help establish a secure #relationship 
& thereby #growth & #development.
= Able to make own decisions 
i.e. NOT to join a Gang!

Let's get workers on the streets



BHP
#YouAreBeautiful

Saturday, July 29, 2017

U2 perform new song in Amsterdam for video shoot




U2 perform new song in Amsterdam for video shoot

U2 are about to play two concerts at the Amsterdam Arena, but it turns out that is not their only business in town. At the Westerunie nightclub of the Westergasfabriek, the band filmed a video clip in front of a small audience on Friday night including Gavin Friday and some lucky fans who responded to U2.com's call for attendees earlier this week. Some estimates state there were no more than 150 people in the crowd; others place the number at around 200–300. Attendees gathered first in another building at the same complex, the Gashouder, where they were informed about the evening's purpose; they were then moved to the smaller Westerunie.
The video clip is for U2's next single. Multiple anonymous attendees have confirmed to us that the song is titled The Blackout—possibly formatted as "The Black Out". U2 performed it live for the assembled audience five times, though with some pre-recorded vocals as well. The audience picked up the catchy chorus quickly, and on the fourth take Bono asked jokingly if it had leaked on the "Interwebs". He let the audience sing it on the fifth take. Bono also crowdsurfed during one take of the song.
Edge had to tune his guitar for the third take of The Blackout, so Bono told some jokes to fill the time. They were quintessential "dad joke" material, including "four Irishmen walk out of a bar... wait, that's not possible" and "a dyslexic walks into a bra".
After the performances of The Blackout, a second new song was played over the PA, entitled either The Lights of Home or Lights to Home. We can confirm that U2 did not play The Best Thing (or, if they insist on another long title that will be abbreviated by all and sundry, You're the Best Thing About Me), a song that leaked online last year.
Both songs are described as groovy and nineties-sounding, with heavy bass and guitar. The general vibe of The Blackout is Vertigo meets Achtung Baby, with the deep bass possessing a vibe that somewhat recalls Love and Peace or Else. It has a prominent lyric about "when the lights go out" that got the audience jumping, reportedly to Edge's visible delight, and our sources all believe it will be a popular live track.
The Blackout begins with Edge playing a very distorted guitar; this intro has been compared to Zoo Station or Magnificent. There is also a slow interlude that then erupts back into the chorus, somewhat like the "love, lift me up out of these blues" part of Elevation.
The Lights of Home is described as slower and more atmospheric, perhaps a "grower". It has an acoustic slide guitar riff with a memorable chorus that includes the line "hey now, what's your name?", and there is a little bit of chanting at the end. One source describes the drumming in this song as "amazing".
The hot rumour is that U2 will release The Blackout in early September, in time for the third leg of the Joshua Tree Tour 2017.
Our database entry for this performance is here. For the present we are listing The Blackout—and Little Things—as unreleased songs. We will do so until the release of Songs of Experience is confirmed and their presence on the album is noted, e.g. in a tracklist. This is U2, after all, and we've seen enough last-minute changes before!



BHP

Blob Tree School Collection Number 2 (Second book with more Blob tools)






DETAILS PREVIEW HERE


Product Details

Edition
First
Published
13 February 2017
Language
English
Pages
104
File Format
PDF
File Size
49.91 MB

Formats for this Ebook

PDF
Required Software Any PDF Reader, Apple Preview
Supported Devices Windows PC/PocketPC, Mac OS, Linux OS, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch... (See More)
# of Devices Unlimited 
Flowing Text / Pages Pages
Printable? Yes 

I believe we can learn to manage our feelings/actions. Just like riding a bike - we need practice .......




Feelings are not right or wrong.
Feelings are signals NOT instructions.

Bad feeling do not mean you are BAD.

Behaviour tho
CAN BE right & wrong
and that's the challenge
for our brain to take over from our feelings and
Think
Act
Not feelings act.

(FEELINGS travel to the brain 4 times faster than THOUGHTS.)

I believe we can learn to manage our feelings/actions.
Just like riding a bike - we need practice .......



StayBeautiful



BHP

Friday, July 28, 2017

BIG JOHN - John Noble my great friend writes for the U2 website a small sample of his Joshua Tree Tour experiences - I am very jealous






John Noble, who looks after the boards of Zootopia, has been bumping around the continent in his trusty camper van Dorty Oileen to many of the European shows. None has been as good as Dublin on Saturday. Below his review of the 'Gathering of the Tribes'.
 

And some of the first press reviews of the night.




Gathering of the tribes. 
Elders. Shamans. Warriors. Worriers. Mothers. Brothers. Crude boys. Rude girls.  Lovers.. lovers of song… lovers IN song… warmed up by the songs they knew with Noel & his High Flying Birds, in front of Willie  William's Wonderwall sci-fi backdrop. 

'Enjoy the local band who are on next'

The gathering of the tribes on the historic battleground of Croke Park. Home. The boys (and girls) are back in town. Clans from across the world come together as One to sing our hearts out, to banish some ghosts and to set some other spirits free. In the name of love. What more? (In the name in love).

I began this pilgrimage last September, not knowing then it was gonna be a double-header journey - back then was the #U240 fan thing, which I blogged about in Zootopia, but never got around to completing… A friend nudged me the other day and asked, 'hey, big man, when are you gonna finish that story about the Dublin journey'? 
I think the definition of 'pilgrimage' is a kind of spiritual / physical journey combo. I have found myself clinging recently to a couple of books, (I am not a great reader of books, to my own discredit I know), one of them written by an Irish man, someone I met o' too briefly one time, the celebrated author, poet, and beautiful human John O'Donohue. On this leg of my pilgrimage, travelling with my trusty mare Dorty Oileen (canny auld little camper van!) I turned to a page in that book and came upon these words as the Emerald Isle came into view on the horizon from the ferry:

I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.

My interpretation of that is to be open to what could be. What can be. More than that of course, but be ready... be ready. Live. Love. Be ready for what's next.

It's one thing following this U2 thing online, its a great thing, the community (which the singer mentioned at the show), It is a very real thing, sometimes dysfunctional, like a family can be. A wondrous, wide, open, sometimes crazy, often mysterious thing. When you come out to the live shows, then the community manifests itself in the flesh and you come face to face with people who might just change your life with the touch of a fingertip.

Sometimes the words come quickly, sometimes the words take longer to pen... years, decades. 3 of them even..
Time is not linear. This is U2. Dublin. The Joshua Tree. From sapling to maturity.

The show had best sound I have been to this tour, perhaps the one-end open nature of Croke Park helped with that, less echo than normal stadiums to deal with, Adam's chest popping bass in WOWY and exquisite riffs in Red Hill Mining Town pulsing through. Edge's chops and bell-ringing guitar chimes and beautiful deft springy piano work throughout the show came across with such clarity.

The grand theatre of Exit hit home last night, thrilling is an often overused word. This is a thriller. Shadowman is a beast.

'How amazing was that?' said the singer as he paused at the end of the show to take it all in, to gaze at the beauty made in front of his eyes. As Larry had done at the beginning of the show, appearing on the b stage, a wee pause, a gaze around, a slap of his thighs. The Larry Haka, before walking, marching to his position on the JT mini stage, then, after again a deliberate micro-moment of composure, he belted into the Sunday Bloody Sunday drum break. Knocking at the gates of Heaven itself. Thunderous. Splendorous. Glorious. War drums, of peace. Can you hear us coming, Lord?

'Oh my god!' a fan said on my left as this show drew to a close. As if Bono had heard him, the singer echoed the same words back in a heartbeat. 'Oh my God.'

I asked some fellow pilgrims who I have met along this road to 'Home' (aka Larry's t-shirt), Dublin, to sum up their thoughts & feelings :

Dave from the English clan : 'Finally 36 years after my first U2 gig I made it to the Dublin show. The place was rammed and it was as though each member of the audience was attached to the next. From the 3 stands to those on the pitch - jumping, clapping, singing in unison. Bono sang "It's a beautiful day". It was a beautiful night'.

Ross from the American clan : 'On fire. Terrific show. Crowd and band totally committed.'

AJ from the Canadian clan : 'Highlight for the show for me was Running to Stand Still. In 2005 I found out they were playing it and made my first trip to Dublin to see it. Last night was special though. Bono is incredible at focusing on the crowd and making you think he's looking just at you. Last night standing there listening to my favourite u2 song, in Dublin, Bono sent his gaze my way and I got to look right into his eyes while I got lost in the song'.

Scott from the Scottish clan (and part of the @tilldecember U2-inspired band who are playing shows at the packed fan-held city centre U2-themed parties this tour) :
'Bono said before Bad that to play Croke Park is a very big deal indeed… (tonight included) …an invocation to look again for America. 
A fly-by in green and gold that made us catch our breath and look up in every sense. A celebration of the women of the U2 community and of world history. We had to head back just before One to be sure we made our (own) show at midnight. But then on our walk… people were singing in the streets...it made us stop our tracks. 'Hear us coming Lord.' There was a group of Spanish fans gathered in a circle, probably wanted tickets but couldn't get them. Bitter? Cynical? No. Singing their hearts out. One love. We get to carry each other. Our singer Ails and I wept. We will never forget it'.

'Let it go'... The mantra of bad. I do try… I can't. I am lost in it. I exist in it. I can dream it all up in it. So can you. My dreams, your dreams… hey, one day they might meet and get wed. Lets book U2 as the wedding band and invite the tribe.
 
Dublin #U2TheJoshuaTree2017 was a one-off. A celebration. Birthdays, anniversaries, jet plane flyovers, communal singing, dancing, partying. We were all left wanting more. 
Thats the sign of an exceptional evening. One I also, will never forget.'

And if you were at Croke Park, tell us all about it. Add your own review and photos on our tour pages.





BHP

#YMCA TOOLBOX BOOK - Blob Tree Tools for Body*Mind*Spirit




This is part of the BLOB YMCA Tree - one of the many tools to use with Young People
BUT all people of any age - to get them talking thinking developing ......


#YMCA TOOLBOX BOOK - Blob Tree Tools for Body*Mind*Spirit please  see HERE 
https://www.blobtree.com/collections/a-blob-ymca-toolbox … 





BHP

YMCA Europe - back in the day - Framlingham 1994

Met up with Jim Jenkinson in London yesterday - a four year gap - and we loved it !



Jim & me.

Yesterday we met up in London town - in my London home 'Coffee House' - Timberyard in Covent Garden.
We have not met up for four years since Jim left his YMCA Region/National role to train as a Teacher. That one year done & dusted, he has served in a school for the remaining three years & here we go - undressing souls together.

Jim must be the easiest human in the world to spend three hours with.
Conversation flowed - we know so much about each other  even with a 4 year pause button.

Jim uses the Blob Tree Materials in his teacher role. Lots of stories about young humans growing with the help of Blobs and a great bunch of teachers. www.blobtree.com 

In the past Jim & myself spent many days in different parts of the nation , and Malta he reminded me, organising developmental experiences for late teens/early 20's who all living in YMCA Hostels around the nation.
All lives lived in multi coloured ways.

Jim was the planner - the pulling together of the young guns and venues etc..
I was the sessional facilitator and designer of the wondrous experiences together.

If you get people together with huge characters like these - create a climate of trust & WOW - it becomes a massive memorable 'living in the soul experience' -  NEVER FORGOTTEN!

Some of these personalities I am still in contact with through social media and/or meeting up physically to continue our journey together. Incredible humans.
All with colourful childhoods - teen years and all willing to give out to others and self-disclose like you wouldn't believe.
These days/week-ends mostly, have been some of the most vivid experiences in my life.

Many times we gathered the young guns together for a couple of days training in a hotel and then joined by their CEO & Chair of large YMCA communities in large cities and towns around the nation.
They, the Teens, then facilitated group work with their elders. 
They, the Teens were engaging with these mighty women & men leaders in most powerful & helpful ways to build up their sense of belonging by full participation TOGETHER.
The learning for all of us was massive.

Jim was responsible for all this leadership experience & accountable to each autonomous YMCA in regional/national role.

The memories. The stories exchanged yesterday - just flowed ...............

A few Pipturesques to end with.
















BHP

I am strong on the surface but .......





Research shows that regular mental practice 
of positive thoughts 
toward other people 
actually grows the circuitry 
for caring and concern.
Daniel Goleman 






BHP

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

At every U2 show TheJoshuaTree2017 a 15 year old refugee from Syria takes centre stage to tell her story to 70,000 other humans

JR artiste & photographer in Paris with U2

A post shared by JR (@jr) on

The day The Joshua Tree Albumbs landed on my desk. U2 #TheJoshuaTreeTour2017 - music lifts my soul.

My old YMCA in Romford - great news for humans in need - £6 million worth.

Romford charity secures £6million of GLA funding for new homes in Havering, Barking and Dagenham and Thamesmead

PUBLISHED: 11:30 24 July 2017
YMCA Thames Gateway. Picture: Google Maps
YMCA Thames Gateway. Picture: Google Maps

A youth charity which has been serving the community for more than 100 years has secured funding to build 100 new affordable homes.

YMCA Thames Gateway, Rush Green Road, Romford, has had success in gaining a £6million grant from the Greater London Authority (GLA), for new homes as part of the mayor of London’s affordable housing programme.

The homes, which will be built in Havering, Barking and Dagenham and Thamesmead, will increase YMCA Thames Gateway’s offer to house young people at risk of homelessness in their key boroughs.
Director of housing Tracy White said: “This grant is great news for us and for the young people we work with in the area. 
“This funding will help us to pilot a new and exciting housing model called YAspire. 
“It is an exciting model which has been developed by YMCATG [YMCA Thames Gateway], which seeks to provide homeless young people with accommodation alongside space to develop their entrepreneurial skills.”
The charity - which has been transforming lives in the borough since 1906 - gives not only 500 young people a year a safe, warm place to stay, but life skills training, counselling as well as childcare to help support those in need.
With the help of the GLA funding, a total of 40 units will be provided in Havering, 30 units in Barking and Dagenham and another 30 in Greenwich.
The mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “I want to see everyone playing their part in tackling the housing crisis in London, because it is simply unacceptable that Londoners continue to be priced out of a city they call home.
“We know that solving the housing crisis is not going to happen overnight, but I very much welcome so many housing associations and councils matching my ambition by committing to build the new and genuinely affordable homes Londoners so desperately need.
“I am delighted that we have set a City Hall record for the number of homes allocated funding - but I am clear that we have got much more to do to secure the land we need to build homes and ensure we have sufficient capacity in the construction industry.” 
BHP

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

I get emails from parents struggling with their own teenage children .........





hi pip my wife came to a course u was holding, she told me u was brill do u help with kids that have anger problems my child is out of control we have had problems with her for over 10 years with no help we dont no where to go for help


Hi - sorry you didn’t give your name
BUT Thank you for making contact.

I really feel with you and know anger very much - being full of it in my youth and also dealing with mainly teenagers since.

You didn’t give the age of your child but teenagers are often outpouring anger.
There are no easy answers for this but it must be of extreme pain to you and your wife & family.


I can only be of help to the people I work with by building a helping relationship and through that being able to ask questions and dig deep with them to enable to release themselves.

I tell people ‘youarebeautiful’.
'We can see a persons behaviour but we can’t see their inner life, their journey, their experiences.’
Even though this is your child you can’t see what goes on in their life unless they share - and parents are ‘old’ ‘out of touch’ however loving and concerned you are !

Try saying positives all the time and not criticisms - ignore the negative behaviour and love the person and say so.
Maybe there is only 1% but concentrate on that - look for the positives. You may see new things rather than see/feel the anger.
She/he needs to know they are loved despite behaviour.

I have read a book called ‘The Teenage Brain’ twice.
I think it is good whatever the age of the child/teen/adult.

There are people in Mental Health services - who maybe your partner knows?
These people maybe able to help you and your child?
Maybe counselling?

If your child won’t agree to seeking help at the moment - maybe you can seek the help?

Please feel free to come back at me if you need to.

AND stay beautiful yourself/s - the stress you live with is vital for your well being and your child.

Thank you for you openness and passion to work through this  - with this special beautiful child of yours.


Pip BHP

thanks for getting back to me Pip - she is 20 she just hangs around with people that dont want to work and r lazy she is very lazy and does things to wind us up damage things steals from us in r face all the time she as lost 3 jobs we just cant see her changing how can u love some one who treats us like rubbish as long as we say yes to everything she is fine as soon as we say no she kicks off
`
At 20 years old her brain is still developing - it’s all there but all the connections are not in place.
It is like the trying to use the remote on the TV for her and all the buttons don’t work.
The last parts to connect in the brain are the social & emotional understanding & communication.

I know a man who has dementia.
His behaviour can be nasty and he can do odd things - behave insensitively.
Since I found out about his condition - UNDERSTANDING helps me 
to be forgiving of him and sensitive to him 
Whatever the behaviour.
If you understand what she is going through - it will help in a big way.

Regarding LOVE.
We rightly don’t like her behaviour but it is vital to see beyond the behaviour to see the hurting person inside.
She must be rally hurting and her brashness and being ‘lazy’ are just masks to hide her true feelings.

LIKE has an on/off switch 

Love has no OFF switch 

AS hard as it is for you - why not try to love her in words and actions.
Give her something she loves - a little gift - a treat.
Maybe once a week.
Unconditional LOVE 
Give her something/a treat - not so she will behave better - use only with loving words ……

"I am giving you this because I love you ……"

She will see it in your face because 50% of communication is in your face.
Why not try it ……….
You have nothing to lose ……...
Try it

Below - your daughter is in the middle section - her biggest influences are her peers/mates - she will grow through this


We can never change someone’s behaviour - only they can do that.
We can change our own.




BHP