Friday, December 31, 2010



I been in a cave
For forty days
Only a spark
To light my way
I wanna give out
I wanna give in
This is our crime
This is our sin

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the pain
And the grief
Through the lives
Through the storms
Through the cries
And through the wars
Oh, I still believe

Flat on my back
Out at sea
Hopin' these waves
Don't cover me
I'm turned and tossed
Upon the waves
When the darkness comes
I feel the grave

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the cold
And through heat
Through the rain
And through the tears
Through the crowds
And through the cheers
Oh, I still believe

I'll march this road
I'll climb this hill
Upon on my knees if I have to
I'll take my place
Up on this stage
I'll wait 'til the end of time
for you like everybody else

I'm out on my own
Walkin' the streets
Look at the faces
That I meet
I feel like I Like I want to go home
What do I feel
What do I know

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the shame
And through the grief
Through the heartache
Through the tears
Through the waiting
Through the years

For people like us
In places like this
We need all the hope
That we can get
Oh, I still believe


One of my favouritw tracks
EVER
I still believe
by The Call

Teenagers killed in London in 2010

The death of a 17-year-old on a Peckham housing estate has brought the toll of teenagers killed in the capital in 2010 to 19


Wednesday, December 29, 2010

..... great Blog here/great great Lyric wow

Lyric Of The Day 28.12.10 from All My Favourite People by Over the Rhine

Linford and Karin 2

“All my friends are part saint and part sinner

We lean on each other

Try to rise above

We’re not afraid to admit that we’re all still beginners

We’re all late bloomers

When it comes to love

All my favourite people are broken

Believe me

My heart should know

Orphaned believers, sceptical dreamers

Step forward

You can stay right here

You don’t have to go.”

From All My Favourite People by Over The Rhine

Thank you Stocki
http://stocki.typepad.com/soulsurmise/2010/12/lyric-of-the-day-281210-from-all-my-favourite-people-by-over-the-rhine.html

Synopsis of the Radio Programme I quote from here/churns my soul.

Episode image for Mandela in His Own Words

Nelson Mandela wrote a letter every day of his life. He also wrote diaries, kept notebooks, scratched out ideas for speeches and doodled his thoughts and meditations on scraps of paper.

In this programme Fergal Keane takes a journey through this special archive, which was bequeathed to the Nelson Mandela Foundation in 2009 and published by Macmillan in the book 'Conversations With Myself' in October 2010.

The archive reveals surprises, painful reminders and unanswered questions and offers insight into the experiences which led to Mandela's daily disciplines, life lessons and to the moral and political vision which inspired and continues to inspire so many.

We hear the voice of someone who is communicating not necessarily to a particular audience but who is laying out his personal thoughts. We are also given snatches of audio archive - conversations between Mr Mandela and one of his closest friends and colleagues, Ahmed Kathrada speaking on a range of subjects from lessons on how to fire a rifle, to Tracy Chapman.

We hear Mandela's reflections as an activist with the ANC in the 1960s. We hear his voice at the moment he is told he will be sent to Robben Island, and in more personal moments, recalling dreams about his wife Winnie and his children, during his years apart from his family. We hear diary excerpts written on the night of his release from Pollsmoor in February 1990, and drafts of his very early speeches as leader of the ANC. And we hear extracts from letters and diaries written during his years in retirement, as he observes the ongoing political struggles of his country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wr4j3

I am excited.
This book
a collection of doodles
speaking drafts
thoughts
experiences
meditations.

I thought - I do that
I am always scribbling
always exploring interior self.

I am excited about
about reading this
for the coming months
it will take me on a journey
towards my interior.
Discovery
journey

I will let you know how I get on
on my Blog
and drips
on
Twitter
Facebook
too ...........

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

So so so
what do you do now?
Pip Wisdom ‎*
"Your problem
is how you are going to spend
this one and precious life
you have been issued.

Christmas is over
the family gone home
the nation is on holiday?

What do I do?
When I am not gigging
I am working at home
I disappear into my office
always things to catch up on
or - more important than that!

As well ....
I don't feel like working -
but feelings I say
(you say?)
...... do I give them a holiday too?

Me and Mrs Beautiful
had a meeting this morning
looking at diary
three months ahead
her bits
my bits
but we decided to go out this week
Twice!

Yes out, without a reason
other than getting out.
Bluewater/MallMassive near here - NO
I saw the lines of traffic yesterday
M2 + M25 + A2 = screaming queues !!

We plan to walk
and bus/drive to another.
All seems strange.

Over Christmas - it was great to be with the the family
all together -
busy life prevents that often.
Connie was an extra - first one for her.
Also first for me as a Granddad !

Most of us have memories of Grandparents at Christmas.
Some remember pain/stress/tension/drunkenness ++++
Others remember
good feelings
playing with cousins and relatives from a distance -
geographically or relationally.

Strange thing
we are now those Grandparent.
We have no parents ourselves now
we have been left stranded
in the gray hair zone -
in my case SILVER !

One day we won't be there.
One day we will be remembered.
I would hate to be remembered
as an oppressor.
I know there has been times in my life
when Christmas has come at me
when I have been stressed as hell.
Uncomfortable and not at ease in my skin.

I was always at odds with Christmas.
It was incompatible with my faith.
Glitter superficiality
No room at the Inn for my faith.
I felt compromised by it all.
Pressured to conform.

That spills on others.
As the family CEO especially !

Others I know have had/having tough times NOW !
I would love to click about some of them
but that would break confidentiality.

We had a good time
We supplied a BIG BIG Lancashire Hotpot
for the Christmas Eve - the best you can have!
Joy and PTG hosting with wonderment on 'the Day'
as we did on Boxing Day.

Right now I am avoiding football on TV.
I am clicking
and listening to Kenny Everett captured
from two BBC radio programmes
via Audio Hijack - and keeping forever.
The most entertaining Jock EVER !!

Back in the 70's
and 80's - I captured him
on cassette on
Radio London, Pirate station, BBC Radio
and then Capital Radio in London.
Fantastic funny extreme radio
You can listen now for a few days
via BBC iPlayer see these links::
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wp5hz
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqflj

Another programme,
there is some great radio at the moment,
is Mandela - all about his private thoughts::
"Nelson Mandela wrote a letter every day of his life.
He also wrote diaries, kept notebooks,
scratched out ideas for speeches and doodled his thoughts
and meditations on scraps of paper."
That what I do - so I ordered the Book!
Radio Link here::
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wr4j3
Excited human here .......

(puzzle of the Day for you)
There is only one human
in the world
who knows why I have had
5xDVD of the film 'Annie'
delivered here to Wilson Mansions
(puzzle of the Day for you?)


Christmas Present Highlights
2xUnderpants Black
2xScarves long/short
2xCD's Jay Z/Kanye West.
Hip Hop Happy !





.

Friday, December 24, 2010


The police called at my student hovel early evening,

but I didn't answer

as I thought they'd come to evict me.

I hadn't paid my rent in months.

But then I got to thinking:

my mum hadn't been too good

and what if it was something about her?

READ THIS

CONTINUED .....HERE....


Christmas - a reflection
I observed
young humans behaving.


* He was drunk.
He came up behind the little guy
and smacked him hard,
simultaneously with both palms
around the ears.
He then abused and threatened the other three
as they sat eating and socializing.
He was bigger,
alcohol influenced and
with three non-aggressive young men.
As drunk as he was –
he chose not to project this behaviour
on the big tougher guys only a few yards away.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a………
………place this alongside the TV News
and ask in this context
“who is the Palestinian?
who the Israeli?”

* The big guy shouted loud at everyone around.
Helping self to three desserts seemed right to him.
As his palms opened,
the fingers extended like spikes.
Like his tone of voice – like his loudness,
he is big and strong and tall and
yet his life skills have developed
along a certain limited behavioural line.

“Joy to the World”.
Doesn’t this happen between nations,
races, cultures,
staff teams,
individuals in one-to-one?

“Sorrow and love flow mingled down”
This was said of the real Founder of
my life
as he was crucified –
the horrible necessity
and purpose of all
that was to follow
his Christmas birth.

I have heard that between birth and five years of age,
the average child receives 431 negative messages
every day.

* get down
* don’t do that
* be quiet
* no
* look at the state of you
* …………….off you little……………
* you have got dirt on our………….
* don’t touch

So………..we repress our feelings because
‘We feel’ they are unacceptable to others
and the mask comes in handy in the staff meeting.
We can pretend we have it ‘all together’
behind the mask!
The mask helps to protect us
from the negatives in daily life.
Yes – in your places
- as you know.

Seeing behind the behaviour,
the mask,
the army uniform-----------------
-----------------------I see a beautiful human
who Jesus was born for and…………
………… (fill in yourself bit)


“ We are sick as we are secret”
- John Berryman


As the violence and the loudness,
the oppression,
the killing at home or abroad – happens
I have decided to make my life an act of love.

Let us join the vulnerable babe this
Christmas.
Maskless vulnerability.

So love can get in.
So love can get out.


Thursday, December 23, 2010

.


.
In the Face of Christmas

let us ask God for a good Christmas:
that no powerful nation
should tax the poor
or uproot them;
---------------------
that no unmarried mother
should be put away in disgrace;
--------------------
that no door will be shut
on those that need to find it open;
-------------------
that shepherds and sheep and all of nature
need not be afraid;
-------------------
that walls, barbed wire and angry soldiers
may not be found in Bethlehem;
------------------
that wise men and wise women
might appear in Wales, in Scotland, in Ireland, in England,
in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in your street;
-----------------
that children may be preserved
from those who would abuse them;
-----------------
that this Christmas,
you may become a manger
and your home a stable
and the rumour become a reality
that Christ has come among us.



.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Applause

They clap when you finish a prayer or sermon in Cambodia
So what’s next? Marks out of 10?

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to X-Factor
The Very Rev Simon Cowell will now give feedback:

‘Good prayer, but at 27 minutes a tad too long for me’

‘A powerful sermon on social media; I particularly liked the way
You stayed in bed and spoke via a 3D hologram’

‘In your prayer you used the word ‘just’ 39 times in three minutes’

‘I recommend next time you pray in tongues.
It’s more intelligible than your Belfast accent’

I think God applauds us just for trying.
The best prayers are usually
Inarticulate groans of the heart.
The best sermons are the ones you live out.

So when things are getting tough
Listen hard and imagine:

The angels whoopin’ and hollerin’
The saints shouting out encouragement from the sidelines
And Jesus, giving you the big thumbs up,
With a card in his hand
That simply says ’10.’
by my friend Peter Barratt on a trip to Cambodia
.



.
★Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Christmas★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門| ˚And a happy new year.
.


.
.


.James Blake LIVE in Norway::



60+ tracks in 2 hours
This is the peak of the year in terms of my music.
I love it love it.

Gilles Peterson
UK based humans can listen to it for 7 days from now
BBC iPlayer hey hey

Gilles celebrates a year of great music with his All Winners 2010, playing the best tunes from the last 12 months.

It was a busy show with Gilles getting through over 60 tracks in two hours - watch out for heavy tunes from Mala, Mount Kimbie, John Legend, Flying Lotus, Scuba, Ramadanman, Mosca, Jay Electronica, SBTRKT, James Blake, Janelle Monae and, of course, Cee Lo's I Want You.

Music and featured items

  1. The Rongetz Foundation Broken Doll Beat

    Heavenly Sweetness
  2. Nick RosenAncestral Echoes

    Porter
  3. John Blake JrMotherless Child

    Arc
  4. Quest Smooth Skin

    Deep Medi
  5. Grace Jones Grace Jones Love You To Life (Digital Mystikz Remix)

    Wall Of Sound
  6. MalaEyez

    DMZ
  7. Koreless4 D

    CDR
  8. Ramadanman Glut

    Hemlock
  9. Mount Kimbie Mount Kimbie Blind Night Errand

    Hotflush
  10. Bonobo & Andreya Triana Eyes Down (Floating Points Remix)

    Ninja Tune
  11. Joy Orbison Joy Orbison The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow

    Aus Music
  12. Sepalcure Love Pressure

    Hotflush
  13. Scuba You Got Me

    Hotflush
  14. MJ Cole & WileyFrom The Drop

    Prolific
  15. Girl Unit Wut

    Night Slugs
  16. Dark Sky Dark Sky Reflex

    Pictures Music
  17. Gonjasufi Gonjasufi Ancestors

    Warp
  18. Jyoti First Stitches

    SomeOthaShip
  19. Bilal Bilal Move On

    Plug Research
  20. Taylor McFerrinA Place In My Heart

    White
  21. John Legend John Legend Hang On In There

    GOOD Music
  22. Rick Ross Rick Ross Maybach Music III feat. T.I., Jadakiss & Erykah Badu

    Def Jam
  23. John Legend feat. Kanye WestBlame Game

    Roc-A-Fella
  24. Erykah Badu Erykah Badu Window Seat

    Universal Motown
  25. Homeboy Sandman Parallel Perpendicular

    2 Hungry Brothers Records
  26. The Roots feat. Blu, Phonte & Patty CrashThe Day

    Def Jam Recordings|
  27. Shad Yaa I Get It (Oddisee Remix)

    Black Box Recordings
  28. Aloe Blacc Aloe Blacc Dollar

    Stones Throw
  29. Big Boi Big Boi Shutterbug

    Def Jam
  30. Jai Paul Jai Paul Btstu

    XL
  31. Baths Lovely Bloodflow

    Anticon
  32. MdCL & RahelHope

    Alala Records
  33. Raashan Ahmad Pain On Black

    Om
  34. Gil Scott-Heron Gil Scott-Heron New York Is Killing Me feat. Mos Def

    XL
  35. Theophilus London Theophilus London Calypso Blues

    White
  36. Nas & Damian Marley Nas & Damian Marley As We Enter

    Universal Republic
  37. BrasstrnaughtGood Times

    White
  38. Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Locked Inside

    Bad Boy Entertainment
  39. Great WeekendLet’s Do It Again

    Do-Over
  40. Cerrone Cerrone Hooked On You (Kon Re-Edit)

    White
  41. Scuba So You Think You’re Special (Joe Remix)

    Hessle
  42. Gold Panda Gold Panda Snow & Taxis

    Ghostly International|
  43. Gilles Peterson's Havana Cultura Band Rezando (Michel Cleis

  44. Untitled

    Remix) (Brownswood)

  45. Ogris Debris Miezekatze

    Estrela
  46. WbeezaHe So Crazy

    Third Ear Recordings
  47. Kode9 Kode9 Don't Wash Dub (Actress Remix)

    !K7
  48. Doc Daneeka Hold On

    Ramp
  49. SBTRKT & Sampha Look At Stars

    Young Turks
  50. Flying Lotus Flying Lotus Mmm Hmm

    Warp
  51. James Blake James Blake Cmyk

    R&S
  52. Jamie Woon Jamie Woon Night Air (Ramadanman Remix)

    Candent Songs
  53. Caribou Caribou Sun

    Midland Edit
  54. Roska I Need Love

    Rinse
  55. Four Tet Four Tet Sing (Mosca Remix)

    XL
  56. The 2 Bears Be Strong

    Southern Fried
  57. Ramadanman & Midland Your Words Matter

    Aus Music
  58. T Williams feat. Terri WalkerHeartbeat

    Mosca Remix
  59. Kink E79

    Ovum Recordings
  60. Lone Once In A While

    Werk Discs
  61. Cee Lo Green Cee Lo Green I Want You (Demo Version)

    White
  62. Jay Electronica Jay Electronica Exhibit C

    Decon
  63. Shuya Okino Still In Love

    White
  64. Ezel In my Lifetime

    Deetron Remix

Tuesday, December 21, 2010






I have decided that I don't agree with WikY leakY.
If any leaks are about injustice
That's OK then
I believe that light needs shining in the dark corners.

I feel journalists love all this
it feeds the monster.
I don't think they would be happy
if their dirty washing was hung in public.
Do they have rights?
Does the private musings of governments?

In the process of being strategic
we consider all options
expand/stretch the the thinking
before deciding action.
I don't want all that leaked
but
Injustice is oppression.
Injustice needs to be opened
but not all the tittle tattle.


I don't warm to the key figure in all this
he has a massive PR machine in process
it is all one sided.
We are constantly bombarded
by his image+Lawer
mounting PR pre trial.

He is required to face justice in Sweden
Guilty/innocent?
Justice is about dealing with that.
He feeds off publicity.


Some opinions above
I normally do feelings.

Strange goings on
big picture under scrutiny
hmmmmmm
Here is a story that inspires me ........

Dear pip,
We inspire millions to faith in action.
I want to share this inspiring story with you. I hope it will have the same effect on you as it has on me.

A few weeks ago, I called Steve Stone, pastor of Heartsong Church in Tennessee and a Sojourners reader, to thank him for his courageous witness of loving his neighbor.

He welcomed an Islamic community center to his neighborhood. The story of his church’s hospitality was aired on CNN. Shortly afterward, he received a call from a group of Muslims in Kashmir who’d seen the segment. They shared with him that after watching it, one of the community’s leaders said to those who were gathered: “God just spoke to us through this man.” One man went straight to the local Christian church and proceeded to clean it, inside and out, because of his desire to be a good neighbor too. They told Pastor Stone that “we’re going to keep taking care of this little church for the rest of our lives.”

When I told Steve how he made me proud to be a Christian, he turned the tables. He wanted to thank Sojourners for all the inspiration we’ve provided for him and his church.

“What do you think has kept us going?” he asked me.

Steve’s affirmation of Sojourners’ work has reminded me of what encourages me most:

It’s not just the work Sojourners does – it’s the work we inspire.

If we have inspired, encouraged, or informed you this year, we need you to make a gift to Sojourners today!

I am convinced that our voice is needed now more than ever. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Without a vision the people perish.” Without a vision, the people who feel like they are perishing are angry and afraid, which we saw reflected in November’s election results.

Sojourners’ role is to offer up a vision for the faith community and for the nation. It’s a vision that neither the right nor the left, Republicans nor Democrats can offer. Only a social movement with a prophetic voice compelled by a biblical call to social justice can offer that vision.

Our work inspires a variety of people on a spectrum of social justice issues – from alleviating poverty to finding solutions for a responsible withdrawal from Afghanistan to advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.

Individual Christians tell me how that inspiration has guided their vocation, ministry, life choices, and family values.
Churches tell me how that inspiration has led them into their communities to do acts of compassion and social justice in Jesus' name.
National church leaders and local pastors have told me for three decades that Sojourners helps teach them how to fulfill the biblical mandate to be "prophetic" in their society. They tell me we have given them the courage to "stand up."
Political leaders call when they want support for “doing the right thing,” and the most courageous young elected officials tell me they want to be a part of a “conviction caucus.”
And now, it’s a whole generation of young people who want their faith and their lives to make a difference, and say they now look to us for mentoring. We have the opportunity to help shape the faith of the next generation.

Your support is critical to the work that we inspire, and we really depend on you. A generous friend of Sojourners has offered to match your donation – up to $50,000! Make your gift have double impact – give today!

Blessings,


Jim Wallis
President and CEO, Sojourners

P.S. 2010 has been a critical year for our prophetic call for moral recovery in this economic crisis. I want to share my most recent book, Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street. Send in a gift of $100 or more, and we’ll send this book to you as a special gift.







Sojourners, 3333 14th St NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20010
Copyright 2010 Sojourners All Rights Reserved.







-- Post From My iPhone
Family whispers
secret presents
from lists provided
secret parcels from Amazon.

Big build up
Tescos started it.
Fou days left
Then it slides away
so quickly into Christmas Day.

New
jumpers
slippers
shirts
socks
and
(underclothes)
in brackets.

I wish we could get toys again.
I guess gadgets fix the men.
What do women get?
All the hard work I guess!

Christmas fills all space
busy with family humans*
busy with tinsel*
busy with food*
busy with alcohol
busy with TV*
busy with no time to think/reflect
busy with presents*
busy with NO TIME

* and then I think
*of the beautiful humans
*who live in homeless hostels
*who are dysfunctional in relationships
*who are in conflict with family
*who are rejected by family
*who are without a loved one
*who have dependancy issues
*who are with humans they don't want to be with
*who stop me in the street
and boast about their
new place to sleep
because it is under a stairwell
with an air-con extract
= warmth
= for Christmas ...............

*I am dwelling on those who are facing Christmas in fear.
Little children who are in the way.
Teenagers pregnant without a shed to sleep in.
Teenagers who have complex violent relationships.
Humans who will not chose to be - alone.
@Christmas

I feel .........


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Reading Mary's #Magnificat again.
Like discovering favourite auntie
is member of revolutionary socialist party.





Graciousness is a quality of mind that does not separate truth and beauty.
Talk of truth always makes it sound as if truth were the cardinal virtue.
yet without beauty,
truth becomes blind and can be turned into a blunt and heartless imperative.

When we hold beauty and truth together,

truth will always have a sense of compassion and gentleness.


Sometimes the so-called facts of a situation actually tell us little or nothing about the heart of an experience.

Only in the light of beauty
can we come to see what is really present.



This is true also of the way in which we view our own life.
If we were to describe our life strictly in terms of its factual truth,
most of its interesting, complex, and surprising dimensions would remain unmentioned.
The gracious eye
can find the corners
where growth
and healing are at work

even when we feel weak and limited.

It is no wonder that Jesus said;

the gentle shall inherit the earth.

From Divine Beauty, The Invisible Embrace, by John O’Donohue.
From the BLOg below

scott in brief 11/12/2010 22:43 Scott P advent 2010



Richard phoned today
from Seattle US.
45 beautiful minutes.
We have not talked for ages.

Sorting through papers today
writing letters
setting up for Monday
dealing with the deceased.

Met mR Singh for a Curry
Thursday Brick Lane.
A great man of wisdom.

Met up with Andy T
stink, it has been so long.

Spoke Albanian
to a man in Koha Cafe.
Rushes of Kosovan memories.

Travelled on a Train
The first time since Cape Town
when I travelled in.
(Caught a cab returning from LHR
- re
returning with my Gout)

Must go to the Docs
just not had time.

Bobby didn't show.
Concerned.

I am concerned about a few humans.
Some really on the edge.
No home/money/family/hope.
Christmas is dread.
I want to feel it.
Not ignore it.

We are surrounded by snow.
Joan committed to going to London
tomorrow to look after Conniepops.
She will have to go early
daylight travel
trains disrupted
dangerous under foot.

Conniepops is a star.
I am looking forward
to enjoying her first Christmas.

I need a break.
Feel - yes feelings again,
that I have not relaxed/stopped.
No working OUT this year
but rammo with jobs to do
and must crack my TAX
before the new year grabs me
and I dive into the things I love to do.
It is where I become ......................

I made it known that my Christmas list
was headed by
Three Apples!

Visiting Tomek and Anita
last week-end,
Anita presented me with all three Apples
;-)

The current weather restricts
walking
biking
social life
life full stop.

I am not used to being restricted.

I am feeling reflective.
Not deep,
meaning of life stuff,
but late night pondering.

I feel
I also want to understand them
and take the signals
learn from them
action the results
become .......................

I would love to know how you
really feel?
Like 5 words would help?

How about 5 Words from you
to summarise you life
at the moment?

Me::
Concerned
Refreshment needed
Space
Loved
Music.



.. and you?






¸.•*¨*•♪you♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸.•*¨*•♪are♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸.•*¨*•♪beautiful♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥