in progress

couple of posts currently in draft.

as in they sing in Oliver! "be back soon".

LB,x

the god delusion: unravelling creed

live collaborative creative liturgical reimagining reclaiming weaving... from the black box, Sunday 20 May, 2007

danielle louise :0)

and so to another beautiful australian ladee.
oh, dani. you are gonna love this. JB has informed the geeks that Michael Anthony Hall has been added to The Dark Knight cast.























(dani was an extra with this guy. possibly on the dead zone. i think they touched butts or something. i heard this story at a dinner party in clonard rise. i was thus rather intoxicated. i wonder if we could get him to play himself in the bio-pic of dani's life, which i am thinking i should write the screenplay for? well, it'd write itself. this gal invites bizarreness like no one else i know.)

moozic update: tori's latest offering is quite brilliant. lyrics of one of my favourites below...

right, time to put some productivity into this day... i move first weekend of june. at what point would starting to think about packing seem sensible?

LB,x

::

Father's Son

Steady girl on your feet
You and your wonderings
Bread can feed a few
So can some cartoons

So it ends so it begins
I'm my father's son
Plant another feed of hate
In a trusting virgin gun

Steady girl for the show
God versus God ringside
Littered with corpses
Neither God can forgive

So the desert blooms
Strawberry cactus
Can you blame nature
If she's had enough of us

So it ends so it begins
I'm my father's son
Plant another seed of hate
In a trusting virgin gun

Stead boy watch them pray
To you I suspect
If you keep my flesh firm
I'll ready those sacraments

So it ends
So it begins
I'm my father's son
So it ends
So it begins

I'm my father's son
Plant another seed of hate
In another father's son

cheryl :0)

bring. it. on.

dark thoughts and feelings kept creeping round the edges of my day and short sharp shocks threatening my general mood of well being. back in the safety of home with the mask off and defences down i felt ghosts haunting and eyes pricking... 3 hours of trawling through my music and nothing would even articulate what i'm feeling... or lift my mood... just couldn't find it... and then your post came in. and i thought of us playing extras in that movie in the cafe and and then i was back at the 'belt, and i found my happy place, and i would have replied immediately but i downloaded starz in their eyes and was shaking ma touche in vest, y-fronts and head fonz at 3 am...
i'm thinking the ikongegration needs to be more organised this year and get a proper post service disco organised. see you most certainly in the organic beer tent... looking forward to catching up, having a pint with you and the ikon gals and pondering our official existential question of 2007:

Men. What's that about?

LB,x

the look for GB07? let's hope not...

and folks think comics is kids' stuff

JB just posted comment which included a line that had me running at high speed to google,

"Have you seen the Joker picture?! Scare-ifying!"

i had not. i have now.

the first pic released of heath ledger as The Joker...

i find this weirdly beautiful...














bring on 25 july 08. now.
thanks JB.

LB,x

not as you know it

Sitting on the back step with a celebratory smirnoff ice, a rollie, and listening on ma fonz to patience by take that for no particular reason other than i love the way gary b sings, "salvation" and it's giving me an unasham-ed warm glow...

not that i need it. warm glow suffusing through the limbs after an awesome ikon monthly gathering, a run at the theme we've chosen for greenbelt 07,

The God Delusion: Where Does Your Faith Lie?

on the basis of tonight we is now very excited... everything tonight just 'clicked', pete called it 'word perfect', the music kicked ass, within 20 secs of the official start the venue was a sea of grinning and somewhat awestruck faces, including my own, someone was moved to tears, newcomers were desperate to know how to contribute some wonderful and bizarre talents to future events, and the crowd were totally up for it and engaged... between pouring pints even the black box bar staff were glued to it... the theosophy is in the bag and we can look forward to having a serious amount of fun over the summer magnifying all the elements to meet the demands of the vastly bigger venue, developing our chosen colour palette and aesthetic and working out how to bring to life, with virtually no budget, some of the delicious quirkiness that has been imagined thick and fast since our weekend in Corrymeela... i am so torn as to what to wear i may have to do a costume change...

Let's shake some dust, people...
LB,x

we call this a blink

newly discovered blog. a prolific one for the geeks in da house, including those with a dash of chic. recommended for those wanting to keep up to date on the dark knight.
lots of movie and tv reviews and news with a definate eye on the kingdom of comic book geekdom.

here's the blink:

john bierly

LB,x

Mixed with girl not so peaceful, angel and animal*

competing for winner of the stunning CD packaging award of the year, are the latest offerings from bjork, volta and tori amos, american doll posse.

musically, both are concept albums, but very different with it.
have only had a first listen to volta, having heard nothing about this pre-release, bar one personal recommendation, which featured the word challenging. definately in the avant garde bracket, there's a duet with anthony hegarty that's quite beautiful. i admire bjork so much, but i find it hard not to long for her earlier work. this is gonna take several listens to work out in what setting this will be best listened to. she's pushing boundaries still but i can't help but think the challenging nature of the arrangements competes with the sheer beauty of her vocals.

tori on the other hand, has given a much more accessible and rather brilliant 23 track album featuring songs by tori and 4 alter egos, (roll your mouse across that page for names and there's at least 2 great tracks to hear just by leaving the page open), each of whom will perform on her upcoming tour. i spent an extra quid and got the special edition with a dvd. she is exquisitely beautiful, like porcelain. well worth hearing is her interview with jonathon ross yesterday. you can listen again at the bbc 2 website. it's quirky and funny, and restores my faith in the institution of marriage. or her's anyway.

that interview featured a live performance of father's son, which is a gorgeous gorgeous track...with 23 tracks there's a lot of lyrics to get a handle on, and i'm yet to distinguish the identifying characteristics of the different members of the posse by sound alone. this is a multi media project (tori's words) and this is an album that's gonna give hours of discovery and playful interaction.

her vocals and piano playing are, as ever, perfection. in response to a remark by ross that her playing was incredible, she said, "but it's all i can do. i [can't] cook and clean. husband says, 'i didn't marry you to cook and clean so, please, don't'."

this makes me want to go get the albums in her back catalogue i've missed.

so, if you have to make a choice, go for tori. JMHO.

right ikon is tonight. much to do.

LB,x

* from Secret Spell by t. amos

the long delicious tease

i could show you my in-progress screensaver featuring the "also laminated" christian bale, who has been much on my mind this week, but i'd rather show you this - the reason...

the dark knight,

which now finally does something... not much, but whoo-boy!

i'm all tingly with sweet anticipation...

(all signs online are so far that this is gonna be a good 'un)

LB,x

you don't have to say you love me

friday's don't come much better than this.

had my first coffee of the day and much laughter with ma priest, Pádraig, my love, in clements on the square. played with some photos and caught up on the blogosphere, and enjoyed a :: cary special:: in the process.
i'm about to head to an art workshop where i will be working on one of three pieces i'm making for exhibition at the Vagina Monologues (a painting, a collage (of sorts) and a photograph). this workshop runs every friday in the donegall pass community centre from 12.30 - 4. every week has a different theme. this week and next is an opportunity for women to work on ::Vagina:: art.

::

last night saw us at the first workshop rehearsal for TVM. got to read my monologue for the first time and hear some of the cast read theirs. i am SO looking forward to this. this play comes to life with such vigour when it's given voice. and boy, or should i say, woman, did we give it voice! :0)

i woke this morning wearing the kind of grin that comes with relishing that i am getting to do something i love. the words are dripping off my tongue as i savour every moment of this gift of an opportunity...

::

song of the day:

baby, i don't care by transvision vamp. we are perilously close to a public act of rocking out...

time to get a take away special and a sandwich and get down to some art making...

[throwing metal with a serious shimmy]

LB,x

you wear it well...

in recent months my heart and funny bone's been devoted to Colbert... this reminded me why Stewart stays a strong contender in the Top 5 imaginary boyfriend league... and that's laminated, people.

warning: "adult" humour contained herein



LB,x

for Jude...

so i'm shimmying to becoming more like alfie by divine comedy...

jayne let a dirty dancing t-shirt slip through her fingers while shopping for me in texas, so i said i'd hunt one down online...

soon i shall be owning the dance floor, rehearsing for TVM, driving, doing the dishes, and drinking cocktails in this.*

important news of the week.

i've taken a lease on a ground floor apartment in an old rambling mansion. with an outdoor pool.

everybody knows that i love you.

LB,x
*along with hong knog phooey tee, flash gordon tee and wonder woman hoodie. i'm in a retro distressed mood.

for Anonymous... and Another

scraps from today...

simple thoughts, to occupy my mind, and made me feel gratitudinal...


::

"Often a sweetness comes
as if on loan, stays just long enough
to make sense of what it means to be alive,"

from Sweetness by Stephen Dunn

::

"i'm pleased to say we can offer you a lease on the apartment...
it's yours from June 1st."

(i'm moving)

::

all life is grace

-Buechner

::

i wonder if the birds are insecure
they talk like they know which way is down

- sarah masen

::

why waste your time?
there's nothing left
voices in your head
tell you to do it
no one will care
no one will know
everyone just looks out for themselves

it's so hard letting go
letting go of love
it might cause some pain, i know
but pain is all we've got

why waste more time?
time is all you have
careful what you say
they'll hold you to it
no one will care
no one will know
everyone feels sorry for themselves

it's so hard letting go
letting go of love
it might cause some pain, i know
but pain is all you've got

and it may be the only way
if you can get yourself back up

- rosie thomas

::

who the hell is Love anyway?

- Pádraig

::

maybe all life is chance...

- Chris

::

we still have a choice. however we found ourselves on these paths,
we get to choose how we walk...

::

we are a checkered people - with love and malice in the marrow of our bones.

- Pádraig

::

"There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!" - chris stevens, northern exposure

- Mark

::

all the while you were in discipline
listening on the inside
making sense of the tendrils
running between mind
and body
making claim to your limbs
learning to stand
with feeling

all the while you were eyeing stars
watching constellations
making best guesses of the choices
caught between fear
and desire
staking territory for control
learning to survive
with instinct

all the while you were evading
diving deep
making peace with the past
buried between your heart
and soul
breaking to fall together
learning to journey
with compassion

all the while you were missing
seeing your beauty
giving joy to the child
hidden between walls
and fathers
embracing your spirit
learning to live
with loving

::

Perhaps we need to think in a different way about our truest self...
to attend deeply to the quiet voice of the way things are. without censoring. and to address our voice and heart to the Essence of Love from there.

- Pádraig

::

if there's a divine voice, it's saying,

"when you gonna love you as much as i do?"

::

keep on keeping on,

howl the eternal yes...

LB,x

where scooch meets hooch

white russians
singapore slings
cosmopolitans
mohitos
sex on the beach
kir royales
black hawks

the list goes on... and it can only mean one thing.

hei helsinki, this is belfast calling!

it's Eurovision 2007 and tonight we will be getting campastically drunk, as always under the essential guidance of Sir Terry of Wogan.

"the father" is hosting and in the shape of beth we have an american eurovision virgin in our midst. nothing adds to the proceedings like a sweet lamb to the CULTural slaughter.

all irony to be left at home. scorecards are printed and good to go.
off to buy a smorgasbord of european delicacies...

oh, one final thing... separated at birth?





















(that's dmitry kuldon for belarus on the right)

LB,x

behind the scenes

having trouble with my new profile photo. excuse me while i fiddle with my tool box...LB

gggggrrrrrrr!!!! stamps feet in frustration. there's a glitch in the matrix.

unplugged in toronto

message from my LB's l'il bro with some great live footage...

"saw the frames a couple of weeks ago - an early show which was a bit crap (they only got an hour and a half) but it was magic nonetheless... the cool thing was that i got a pass for an advance screening of ONCE and there was a q&a with the director and an acoustic set from glen hansard afterwards - it was in a word AMAZING...
here are some youtube links to some fan footage of the night:
falling slowly
all the way down
say it to me now "

thanks bro, hoping QFT will include this in their summer screenings...

LB,x

a life goal in the making...

The Vagina Monologues
Black Box
Waring Street
Cathedral Quarter, Belfast
25, 26, 27 June 2007
in aid of Belfast Rape Crisis Centre.

yours truly is in the cast.

Bring. It. On.

LB,x

it's not a day for soundbites...

but i feel the hand of history on our shoulder...

this has been something of a historic week.
i've bought my dream car, and am exploring moving into a place of my own after a fabulous year with keli and stu. it feels time. i think i'm ready to live by myself. and i couldn't be here in this emotional space without them and trying to find work after 4 months of intentional 'me' time to find out where my real passions and dreams lie.

but, in all seriousness, while keli and i took a day trip to dublin to attend the opening of jonny's exhibition at the hallward gallery on merrion square, for which i am so proud, history was unfolding north of the border. i'll admit that the events at stormont passed me by on the day but to hear the radio yesterday and hear paisley and maguinness speaking to the press at a multicultural event was a shockingly moving experience. both spoke in terms that left me reeling. of cooperation despite difference, the tones of their voices softened, friendly. they spoke of each other as colleagues not enemies. and i realised what a relief it was to hear it. my default position in the past six years is to stab off the radio - to spit invectives in frustration. the same party lines over and over and over, every statement to the press sounding just like the last. until this week. sworn enemies, laughing together, proving finally what we always suspected, that despite all public utterances to the contrary, behind closed doors the batttle lines have been blurring for a long time over cups of tea.i have no doubt that these men will never be best friends, but i cannot begin to express what it means to hear such a change. let's hope they really mean it.

and now today tony blair is making his official announcment that after a decade he's going to leave no 10.
jeremy vine on radio 2 just said, "tony blair's last day as prime minister will be the 27th of june 2007" and segues into the opening bars of the werewolves of london. i know i have a twisted sense of humour, but that seems quite apt on such an important day in british politics.

and so to shane meadow's latest offering, this is england.
superb film making. low budget, character driven, moving, frightening, hilarious, delightful, provocative, beautifully layered. the central character is 12. it is 1983. i was 10 then. and i was moved by the history being replayed before me on the screen. i had presumed i would find little resonance with skin heads in northern england, some of them violent neo-fascists. i was so much more fortunate in my childhood than many, growing up in the wealthiest corner of the nation buffered from the depressed north by the capital, surrounded by natural beauty that felt like the hand of god holding it all together. but i had not reckoned on the power of seeing images of the falklands war and their grainy reminder of childhood in thatcherite britain. of strikes, violent frustration, economic deprivation, unemployment, cold war politics...a reminder that the world i saw on the news and on the front page of the newspaper was a dark threatening place of depression and tension... of my back turned to the television, of thatcher and reagan whose voices terrified me, and made my grandfather spit invectives. it is perhaps not since reading douglas coupland in my early twenties that i have been so struck by an artistic voice articulating the fears of my childhood. there it was the fear of nuclear holocaust, nightmare mushroom clouds, warheads like gargantuan bullets... the search for a G-D bigger than an atom bomb. to be reminded what a different context we now live in. better? worse? undoubtedly changed. transformed. what we fear has altered. the battle lines are further away. this is unquestionably a different world. although the fashion of the female skinheads would not look out of place on the streets of 2007.

in post film chat with new and familiar faces, on the steps of qft, a young smiling woman, i'm guessing in her mid twenties, laughed as she said she could have done without the war footage set to music, with the words "no thanks, i've seen it on bbc news 24." and with that, struggling to smile in response i tugged stu's sleeve, made brief goodbyes and walked away. the images of young men lining up the dismembered bodies of their friends on a battle field should never make us laugh or bore us...
this is england. masculinity. racism. deprivation. war. political idealism. scapegoating. violence. family. the lack of it. bereavement. expression through style. friendship. loyalty. all of these explored stunningly well. go see it. it is well worth your time and money.

this'll be in the top 5 of the year.

LB,x

i now drive this...

after a year without a car, today i got this: a 1975 MGBgt.

requisite info...
for the lads: 1.8 litre engine.
for the ladeez: harvest gold.

not a bad way to start the week. colour me doing a little celebratory shimmy.

more soon,

LB,x