Secrets......‘Love not fear makes us more alive'

A favourite quotation of mine is from John F Kennedy who said

"“The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.”

Another way to look at this is through the words of the song 'Can't Cheat Karma' by Zounds...here's the lyrics, and then the youtube thing, just click, eh....

One - Two - Three - Go
I've got an ego
It won't let me go
What am I gonna do?

A - B - C - D
Paranoia's killing me
I'm dying on my aching feet
What a way to go

Roll up - Roll up
People always stroll up
Say "Why don't you grow up?"
No thank you!

Big cats, small cats
Some cats are fat cats
Those cats are bad cats
What we gonna do?

There's an awful lot of people in the world today
There's an awful lot of trouble in the streets these days
And it doesn't seem to matter what you do or say
If a change is gonna come you've got to help it on its way

A change is gonna come before too long I know
Peace has gotta come, well, I could be wrong I know
But I just don't know what I can do

You don't trust me and I don't trust you
I bet you wish you did and I know I do
Why have you got secrets? Cause I know you have
If you've got something to hide then it must be bad

A change is gonna come before too long I know
Peace has gotta come, well, I could be wrong I know
But I just don't know what I can do

You don't trust me and I don't trust you
I bet you wish you did and I know I do
Why have you got secrets? Cause I know you have
If you've got something to hide then it must be bad

A change is gonna come before too long I know
Peace has gotta come, well, I could be wrong I know
But I just don't know what I can do

https://youtu.be/I-fhllkiubE

says it all, eh.....if you've got something to hide then it must be bad, talking of being free and open...because if you're hiding something, then there's fear and whats to fear if you are being honest?

As Bill Hicks said one time (actually quite a few times, but then its worth repeating)

"It's just a ride and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money, a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one."

live free....not in fear, no more secrets

nineteen....

Back in 1985, there was a song that had the number 1 spot in the UK charts for 5 weeks.... 19 by Paul Hardcastle.....

"In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war
but it wasn't
It was different in many ways, as so were those that did the fighting

In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26
In Vietnam he was 19

In inininininin Vietnam he was 19
In inininininin Vietnam he was 19
In inininininin Vietnam he was 19
n n n n nineteen "

It was dance, with spoken word samples for the lyrics...very catchy

However.... another song about the same topic was released in Australia in March 1983 and was number 1 there for 2 weeks...It was by a band called Redgum. You may have heard of them, or maybe not. They never hit it big here, unlike other australian acts like Midnight Oil etc... It was written by the singer, John Schuman.

I prefer Redgums view of things....

"I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk In The Light Green) - John Schumann

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade
at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets.
The sixth battalion was the next to tour,
and it was me who drew the card.
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched
down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young
and strong and clean.
And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
God help me, I was only nineteen.

From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what's this rash that comes and goes,
can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.

A four week operation when each step could mean your
last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself.
But you wouldn't let your mates down till they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.

Then someone yelled out "Contact!" and the bloke
behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.

I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Till the morphine came and killed the bloody row.

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what's this rash that comes and goes,
can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.

Redgum are no more now, but I still remember listening to them then, and being lucky to see them on a rare visit to the UK. Their songs inspired me, gave me strength and filled my heart with hope at times when I needed it most.



a little time browsing the interweb and I find it....

The sound is Redgum's live version of the song, with the video from a cover of the song by another australian band 'The Herd'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gmgwx77osw

The orginal Redgum video, with the studio version of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urtiyp-G6jY

and now The Herd's version....an interesting lot, hip hop, using traditional instruments as well as the usual beats...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns82tHhJOr0

thats enough for now, I think :D

...get over it...

Passing this on.....just a quickie...

Lobby Stonewall

Bisexual Action have had enough of moaning about Stonewall - Britain's biggest LGB lobbying organisation - publishing reports and recommendations that seek only to change things for lesbians and gay men. As Stonewall believe the way to change minds is through sending postcards, they've produced a postcard to lobby Stonewall to be more bi-inclusive.

The postcard is designed to be printed double-sided - print one side, flip over and print the other side so one side has the "tackling bisexual invisibility" logo and the other has the message to Stonewall.

Over 330 downloads of this resource in the four months from its launch.
Download here, print double-sided onto card, and distribute / mail in.

For those who may be on Facebook...there is a group there too....

....thats all folks!

Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life for me....

....well its been a while now.....avoided the usual new years day list of resolutions and all that stuff

...and I'm no longer a smoker....no longer much of anything right now....
A long term ailment of mine has been getting steadily worse this last year and got to the stage where I am now off work for the time being. The mini pharmacy of painkillers has ceased to have any effect, so I am now pushing the docs to find out just what it actually is. You wont need details, those that know me may have seen it when it erupts, if not....well, its just sudden and intense pain which comes out of the blue.
So, I'm stuck at home a lot, spending a bit of time online.....and even succumbed to the lure of Facebook. We now have a Spectrum Haringey Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3790935651 for those that are also bound the draw of FC, do pop in and visit.
This is probably a bit more of a personal write up compared to ones I've done so far, but bear with me....there will be entertainment :D
.....a long time favourite has finally left us which you can see pictured above.....
The New Piccadilly has now closed. An old school cafe in central london, which we tended to like visiting after a meal at the Won Kei, as they did lovely sponge puddings with custard. The waiters wore old classic uniforms and though a tad shabby in decor, the walls covered with theatrical posters it had a feel that was welcoming and quite homely. Sadly missed.

A few distractions....
"Asking whether machines can think is like asking whether submarines can swim."
"A computer is almost human - except that it does not blame its mistakes on another computer."
"A drunk mans' words are a sober mans' thoughts."
"Hate is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die."

....phew getting meaningful and philisophical there ....
so to change the tone.....
"What would Marilyn Monroe be doing right now if she was alive?
Clawing at the lid of her coffin!"
ahem....better ?

just to add a little sauce......ever wondered if zombies could exist?

I'll leave you with this incredibly well researched investigation....

Zombies...