Friday, May 20, 2011
The QUESTions
I will follow the poet's advice
and love the questions that
dwell in the darkness of
which I was born and to
which I shall pass.
I will love the questions
and the shadows they
cast on my path
in spite of the resulting
sadness that settles in my heart.
I will follow the questions more
than the halogen light whose
limiting beam shines on the walls of
rooms of our own making
falling short of the mystery beyond.
The questions, I trust,
will lead me though the
door in the wall of certainty
into the limitless darkness;
a darkness that embraces all.
Terry Chapman
Thursday, May 19, 2011
| 19 May 2011 |
To mark the occasion of President Barack Obama's historic visit to Ireland, the new issue of Hot Press contains an exclusive Bono On Obama cover story.
No Irishman has had greater access to successive US Presidents than the U2 frontman, who’s in a unique position to assess the President’s term to date. “A lot of politicians need to control their smile, it’s like you can see the wires (laughs), but there’s absolutely nothing fake about this man,” insists the U2 singer who first met Obama during the build-up to the 2004 Presidential election. Bono recalls performing at the Presidential inauguration, the President's views on Africa, meeting him in The White House, his sense of humour and inviting Obama and Condoleezza Rice to dinner. “I remember the first half of the dinner the two of them kind of talking politely through me, and then the second half of the dinner, it was like I wasn’t there (laughs). They were just kind of sharing and swapping ideas.” In assessing the Presidency, Bono emphasizes the fact that Obama is a master of modern technology – also pointing out its importance to Ireland. “He’s the BlackBerry President and he gets technology,” Bono says. “I hope that they’re going to spend some time introducing him to the representatives of the wealth of technological geniuses – genii – that we have here... He's on Facebook. He's on Google. I worked personally quite hard to get Google to choose Ireland as their headquarters outside of America and I’m very proud of it being here – and Facebook now.” Also on the homefront, striking a note which is certain to resonate with people all over Ireland, the singer supports the call for a referendum on the bank bailout. “That is an affront; that is an injustice to the Irish people,” he says of the socialisation of private debt. “It would be a very sophisticated thing indeed should the Irish people demand a chance to debate and argue, and finally decide themselves, on what will in the end be a decision that will affect their children and grandchildren.” In what is a far-reaching interview with Olaf Tyaransen, he also talks about the recent killing in Pakistan of Osama Bin Laden. “The lives of the women and children were, under Obama’s leadership, a critical part of the calculation,” Bono proffers. “I don’t believe it was an execution, as some have suggested. The safety of the Navy SEALs was and should be pre-eminent. Part of me would have liked to have seen a trial..." Then there are the production difficulties which have befallen the Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark musical, which he still believes can be a huge Broadway success. “It’s fraught with danger and then we had one very serious accident that was a real freak, the rest were just kind of the sort of accidents that happen on Broadway. But the combination made it look like we were being very lackadaisical about safety, when in fact the guy from Cirque du Soleil, who was the world’s expert, was working with us and we had really gone to every length for safety." To buy this issue go here...Bono on Obama is featured in our special Hot Press "Heads of State" issue, out now. The issue also features Morrissey on the Queen – plus, among other treats, an in depth face to face with leading Leinster and Irish rugby star Jamie Heaslip and, to celebrate 30 years of the Slane Castle Festival, the Hot Press Interview with the man behind the event, Lord Henry Mountcharles.
Home is where the heart is.
Watched a TV programme tonight
about homeless humans.
Four of them
placed in 'celebrity' homes!
Not the best way of helping
especially when a camera is following you.
It was programme 2 of 3.
Three male, one female.
The young woman was from a YMCA
supporting housing project and
she returned there after the 'living away' experience.
It ends next week.
I could say lots about it.
Ghandi comes to mind -
when he was asked about his tough life
'What was the hardest thing you experienced?'
and he said
'The hard heartedness of the educated.'
Not that all the celebs were hard
bu there was one particular man,
ex bassist in the band Blur,
who was particularly insensitive
and hardhearted it seems to me.
Some others did really well.
Others struggled.
Others loved.Stumbled.
Wept.
felt ...............
I identify with the latter.
I felt deeply about the struggle with alcohol
the empty faces of one lost in life -
no anchor.
Carrying weights
from those who had not loved them
others who had failed to love
and
those unable to love them.
I feel so much with them.
I have been there with them
over many years
striving and struggling
weeping and fearing
(as I do now)
for those who are on the edge.
I feel it now as I click.
The desperation of not coping
leaning on chemical or legal can of liquid.
No energy
from a life of let-downs.
I am not angry at those who were hard at times.
I am in pain for the wounded.
Their struggle.
It triggers me about the alcohol -
a young man in my life
unable to stay off the juice
and then he walked in front of a bus.
The loss of a life.
We spoke regularly
he joked all the time
to cover his pain
to cover his life in a cull de sac.
The YMCA came out well in the TV prograamme.
Thank you Sutton Coldfield YMCA
you did us proud.
So many such places
daily ................. DAILY
dealing with humans like this
loving humans like these.
It is hard for any neglected
or abused child
to grow as a balanced adult.
The rest of us struggle
(some are better at pretending)
Others need much consistent love
and
need a village/community to grow a child.
'Life is difficult'
says M Scott Peck
(the first 3 words in his book
'The Road Less Travelled'.)
Watch the programme on the ITV Player
if you can.
Allow it to tear your guts out.
http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=239830
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Why I'm Excited 2011
We're 100 days from Greenbelt 2011: Dreams Of Home, and so this seems as good a moment as any to take a look forward and see what the great and good of Greenbelt are excited about seeing around the festival site. We ran the Why I'm Excited series on the blog last year, and we're [...]
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