micah jones

We are now HOME OWNERS!!

2009-06-24T12:59:00.004+01:00

Today we get the keys to our abode! I never thought it would be possible but recessions are mixed blessings, and here we are! It a class wee place on the Gilnahirk road just as you turn off the Kings road. Loads of shops and stuff near by, cant wait for us to move in!

the Changing Room

2009-02-18T22:09:00.005Z

The Changing room is an event Alyson and Elaine are running in March, its an event about ethical fashion and lifestyle as well as fair trade clothes, second hand clothes, food, workshops on urban gardens, fixing clothes and herbs!

It should be very good, I've been working on all the graphics and the website, so check it out, tickets are available online or via the belfast welcome centre.

Will you marry me?

2009-01-11T03:09:00.006Z

It was snowing and dark, with the anticipation of new year simmering, standing on a bridge over a canal in Milan. The moment had arrived, and it was a glorious moment....

We headed of to Milano for new year for the last few days of 2008, a christmas present from me to Elaine. It was a fun few days, we saw a good bit of the city, went to a crazy ballet in the massive opera house, and wandered on the roof of the Doumo [hugebigmassive cathedral], discovered Milanese people have severe delusions of grandeur, took lots of photographs, but mostly just ate lots of Pizza and drank coffee. Very nice after the craziness of work and Christmas.

So it was the last night, the dying moments of a great year, a year that will be remembered; we headed out to get dinner, traveling along in the underground, the moment was finally arriving...

It had started to snow, and we walked toward the place where the restaurant was on the canal.

We came to a small footbridge bridge over the canal and Elaine started to take Photos of the scene... After making several attempts I caught her in my arms and kissed her, and then dropping on one Knee and taking the ring out, I asked her to marry me... the words came out so fast.... nerves taking control of the arms and legs which were ready to shake, Elaine smiling and laughing said 'Of Course!'.... then after standing up and putting the ring on her finger, an man with a pile of red and white roses appeared beside us, from the deserted street.... unfortunately I didn't have any change so she technically had to buy her self one!

We headed on round to the restaurant, after much photographing [mostly of ourselves!] and celebrated two very happy people. Seeing in the new year with a cafe full of crazy Italians, a great end to a great year, and great hope for the year too come.

A year that has so far be all go... and will probably continue that way for much of it! Looking forward to all that it will bring; challenges, joys, disappointments, surprises and of course glorious moments and weddings!!!

Dereliction

2008-12-17T19:16:00.004Z

I moved to Sydenham in the summer of 2008, having spent the six months previous in Amsterdam working in an Architecture office. I choose Sydenham because it is a great location, only 10 minutes by bus into the city centre and still a walkable distance. Its an area which has been moving forward and has benefited greatly from the economic boom, becoming a very sought after area for first time buyers. It has been slowly leaving behind is name for being a loyalist stronghold and becoming increasingly open and less territorial. The positives for living in this area are mounting.

Though there is a problem which seems to be growing and was encouraged by the economic climate of two years ago and reinforced by the recent down turn. That is Dereliction.

There were two derelict houses on my street when I moved in and subsequently there has been two house fires which rendered a third derelict.

The difference between this sort of dereliction and a typical run down area is that much of Sydenham’s problem is cause by developers. They buy up one, two, three houses in a row or in some cases as much as ten houses, basically half of one of the streets. Now this in itself is not the problem. The buying up of houses for development has its benefits as well as it problems. But where it goes wrong for Sydenham is what happens in the period between the residents moving out and the houses being rebuilt. That period can sometimes be anything from two to five years on average. What effect does that have on these streets. What atmospheres does it create and what social problems are generated?

Question:

2008-11-29T22:41:00.000Z

Its been a while, i think sometimes it just feels like life is too normal to post about. But really its not.. or at least i hope its not. We always look at the events for inspiration. But along the way in the quiet of the morning bus or the oasis that it the bog... many epiphanies occur in our daily cogitation.

So i feel the need to spue a few......

Every wednesday I arrive into the university foyer to the sudden realisation that i will not get the work done i had hoped but instead, i will spend the next two hours in deep thought. Its a very unreasonable realisation and one that aggravates a man to his core. But this too is unreasonable because I love spending time thinking. The reason for the the suddenness of this realisation and why it occurs in the foyer of the university is simply because the room where the class will be conducted with its door open and summoning its students is opening on to the foyer.

This is a class i have always hated, in fact i was a very frequent sleeper in the second row, alway with the hope of finding some morsel to chew on but always ending in a slumped mass of noisy slumber. But the class never the less has stuck with me like glue for the last 5 years.

I now love the class, despite its interruption to my plans of a good mornings work. I find myself scribbling down thoughts, difficulties and ideas. Recently ive been brought back some of the age old questions of my existence. Questions are great.

Individual. Society. Reality. Choice. Masses.

The question, i think is almost one of the biggest things that make us human. The ability to look, step back, to ponder and wonder. To speculate, to dream and to challenge all that goes before. The ability to question is what gives us the ability to have choices and wander different paths, it gives us freewill and individualism. Philosophy evidently means 'the love of wisdom', i find that interesting, because it is the organisation of questioning. Often i find myself though into a corner, and that is not so easy, it takes a side step and to go back to the start. But that is the nature of the question. For as long as we keep asking questions, we are still alive!

derry walls...

2008-11-19T22:38:00.003Z

I have a decent sized image of the walls 'mapping' HERE [which can be read]

It can be read as a single narrative.

Feel free to leave comments.

Re-activate.... maybe re-build is a better description!

2008-11-16T22:54:00.000Z

September 16th 2008

not sure why this was never posted.... problably because its not amazingly exciting on the grand scheme of things....

Ok so the glorious fiat 126 which I own, has been layed up for since i went to Amsterdam in December last year, spending the first 6 months outside in the cold and the last 3 in a nice warm ... well dry garage. So the plan was to put this glorious piece of Italian/polish engineering back on the road as SOON as i passed my Test.

But sadly reactivation is not as easy as as hoping in and heading down for an MOT. And so last week after passing the Test and obtaining a full UK driving license....

it seems to end there.... not sure where i was going with that.

But the furture of the Fiat has developed... i now own an angle grinder! So the pain staking process of grinding away the rotten rusted metal and welding in new pieces and grinding it down and filler and sanding and all that will follow....

Derry walls...

2008-10-21T19:15:00.006+01:00

standing under the CITY

2008-10-14T19:54:00.004+01:00

In the light of what has passed, the most prodigious morsel of information that I was able to feast upon was in fact the need for cows in the inner city environment. How can a city exist without them....? In this coming age sans wealth where will tomorrows meat come from?

The future of the city depends fundamentally upon the introduction of the ‘Beaasts’ to the wretched and worthless streets. The city cannot go on. The life of the city once finely depicted on the silver screen described a city in disarray. A city besieged by its own wealth, its own greed. Devouring its own children.

As we stand by and watch own society consumes itself, the royal city of death as shown with flashing pink towers lives only to die.

Is it not so that the city itself is the very depiction of that self consuming monster. Driven by the inherent greed of man, creating both the beauty that makes it and the final poison that will slaughter its very existence. A bitter sweet concoction of life, intensity, beauty, escape and the ultimate pit of death.

[project 1 - thoughts]

A glorious day!

2008-08-29T14:08:00.002+01:00

The test has been passed! Amazin... the roads of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht....
Fine roads they are....

The fiat 126 will now be re-activated... and installed upon the roads of Eire once more.
MOT's and the likes will cause a short delay on this action, but with a snag list the length of my right Femur this reactivication may take some time. But never the less work shall be comenced now that the liecence has been obtained!

at the foot of the hill...

2008-08-13T13:50:00.002+01:00

I am now happily ensconced in a fine abode on hillfoot street, sydenham!! There are a few minor blemishes, the roof at the back leaks abit and the door is abit wick.... but it has character. Thats the main thing. Its a happy sort of place if alittle rough around the edges.
It brings the nomadic days of wandering around sydenham to an end. All are welcome to darken our doors and enjoy some fine food, and glorious concourse. Its nice to be back.... and have a spot to just be.

the bonfires...

2008-07-16T19:48:00.004+01:00

I had never been at an eleventh night bonfire before, though i have seen them from a distance. I was quite keen to check out, what i have generally seen as the more harmless part of the twelfth 'celebrations', but mostly because i wanted some good photos!

more photos on webgallery

We live in such a ridiculously sane country!!

2008-07-16T19:20:00.005+01:00

A friend sent me some links to some glorious Japanese-ness.

Point to note is that these are not any old platform attendants! These my dear fellows, are 'Oshiyas' translating as 'Pushers'. Employed, indeed to push. I love it! Cant wait to go to Japan some time!

You may need to let it stream before you play it, it seems to go quite slowly!

its not about the trousers....

2008-06-30T13:01:00.003+01:00

the following is in reasponse to comments from Roy on 'All or nothing'

All taken in good humour, and yes... the thoroughly disopointed was an over statment!! But to me [and this my differ from your own feelings] though i agree with you in some levels, i dont agree entirely....

I am at a 'gathering' stage of life, im soaking and experiencing and developing ideas and values, learning how to impiment those values but over all that is the gathering, learning and discovering. I am not claiming to been acting that out in any great way. I dont have a plan, I just have a hope. And that hope is to gather enough to get started, to make change and to create. You have to soak, you have to breathe in before you can breathe out.
We have different aproahes, as im sure you well aware! Im studying architecture for a reason, and to be honest that reason isnt to create beatifull buildings, that may happen along the way, hopefully it will but ultimatly its not my vission. I told you before about how much of a contradiction it was to me to be living in the lucas building, something i struggled with the whole time i was there, but thats just how it was, thats were petes folks had decided to buy. And so too now, i dont nesscaryilly want to go back to uni, and do more study, but i need to to get to the places i need to go.

But id like to just make a point about the value of talking about stuff, and the danger [not a great word for this context, choose your own] or difficulty of pointing at someone 'just' talking. And that is that you have to wait, wait and see. Alot of what i was trying to say was that post was that this is possible we CAN do this we CAN make change in the lives of not hundreds but millions of people.... i what to dream big, I have to. What we are planning to do with Estudio Architecten is talk.... create disscusion, is that not the plan? because in doing that you and i believe that it might create something....we dont even know what! but as far as i know, we dont have any plans in the pipeline for anything more than facilitated disscussion... talk. i think i could paraphase you i saying that you wanted to 'create a space for people to discus'? The context for that is Architecture, in Belfast, in Ireland and in the world....

Its much more than the trousers, thats not really what its about! and by the way my jeans are about two weeks off being done, so the trousers will hopefully comence soon [using them as a pattern], and you know what, it will probably fail, trousers are bloddy hard to make! but i want to try.
I am fully aware of how much my life contradicts itself, i am as human as they come. Im under no dilusions about that, but i am im not ashamed of my life either. And i that was definitely not my intension in that writting. I discovered something in cambodia nearly three years ago now, and that is that it is so dam possible....that project was dead on, but i have always felt the main purpose of me being on that trip was to discover that simple thing.
What i did and what we did was nothing very big, but it taught me a serious lesson. And why i hear you cry are you not doing more of that micah? And the simple answer is that am gathering, and not producing yet. You cant gather full time and produce, at least im not ready to produce i dont have the sense, expertise, the status, reasorces, but they will all come.
And you see if in 10 years i havnt produced wether in Belfast city or the southern trip of molgolia, may be on my head.

I have a passion, but that dosent mean i have it together, that i have a plan or that i even have done a thing. All i claim to be is my self. Unashamed but yet disturbed by what ui see.

I hope this clarifies me alittle, and please understand that its not remotly about same or guilt. This is about wanting stuff to happen because whats going on in so many places home and away is wrong, no matter who you are and what you believe its still not right.

The very best of regards,

your faithfull friend

Micah

Good to be back...

2008-06-24T23:23:00.002+01:00

Its been a good week, a week of Belfast. Started my new job in Twenty two over seven yesterday which seems to be a great spot and its nice to be working in the city centre [above Ormeau baths gallery]. Its refreshing to be back, to be back in peoples lives and to have 'normal' relationships again. Its hard to slip back out of the 'only going to be here for a week' mentality and feel permanent [well for the foreseeable future!] again.
At the minute Im kind of hot desking only with houses... so am a bit here there, I look forward to life settling down a little bit again, in then sense of relaxed rhythm, with which life and roll smoothly over the bumps. Life rhythm is sometimes hard to slip into, hard to feel the beats and relax into, but its great to lose yourself in it when it does happen.... when for some moments you feel the groove.
Life is good, Im very happy and the present morphing into future looks good.

One more time for the last time....

2008-06-12T18:00:00.000+01:00

And the end of an era. Shutting down my mac for the last time at Dok Architecten.

After work we will have a borrel [food+drink] to mark the occasion. Myself and several others will be heading on in the next 2 weeks or so. Its been good, the Netherlands have also been superb.... Amsterdam, beautiful!

Looking forward to spending the next five days enjoying Amsterdam and the rest of the place with Elaine before heading back to Belfast on Tuesday, and start a new job in the city soon after.

Good times...[apologies for the contextless hardcore rant in the previous post... was feeling slightly frustrated with a few things].

All or nothing....

2008-06-10T08:52:00.003+01:00

I have come to a point.... a point of tiredness of the inspiration-less challenges to create change.

We lack challenge, we expect little, and believe even less is possible. Recently I've been having a little difficulty with the dull and mediocre expectations of people and their challenge to the world. It is so long since I've herd someone with single minded conviction lay it down. Somehow when challenged we need to be challenged with something beyond our own capabilities, beyond what we believe is possible. Something that we have to take hold of and run, and hope and pray that you will make it!

Its got to be all or nothing....

Do people simply not realise the potential? There is a world out their lying in a heap. An absolute mess, there's spots of untouched beauty and tranquillity, but there's also hells of pain and suffering and desolation, fear and hunger.

Its time we, in our lovely western society woke up to the fact that our footprint is casting more of a shadow over the rest of the world than we like to think. That when we buy our nice new clothes for 3 quid and eat our cheap food and our cheap shoes we are not innocent. It may not cost us much...

There's a a food crisis at the minute across the globe.... but funnily enough it isnt affecting us! Why do we feel that we should have the right to live in this way. What right do we have to sit and enjoy when the rest of these guys are in pain and fearing for their lives. We have become so wrapped up in our own happiness and our own comfort that we fail to see that it is at the expense of the rest of the world.

We have the power and the means, the expertise and the clout to change the world.... but not the WILL.

We want to do 'our bit' but we also want to have EVERYTHING. To have all that we 'deserve'. Its disgusting. Its time to give up on this shit, and change the world..... not the world in you.... forget yourself, and just make stuff happen. Everyone already knows the statistics, everyone knows the situation but is seduced by the hope of comfort, and drunk with the the pursuit of personal happiness.

Which is the GREATER evil?

to commit the evil,

or to STAND BY AND WATCH?

Strong words maybe, but Im sick of mediocre challenges to be nice people and be loving. We are hating the rest of the world right now. We have no love for them. Will we watch as they die, in their thousands. While we enjoy all the dreams we've ever had.... Its not about doing our bit.... its about giving up dreams, making sacrifices, not getting what you want....gaining the world.

In the end the poor and the starving will never go away..... they are with us to the end, making poverty history is impossible. But that doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the bottom line. They are our brothers.....

the time has come...

2008-06-08T15:20:00.004+01:00

The time here in the Dam is drawing to a close, ill be finishing work this week and heading back to Belfast. Its going to be an interesting time. I've really loved my time here, but from the beginning it was always going to be a time, [as originally i had talked of going for only 3 months].

Its a point of real looking ahead right now, Im very excited about the coming months an what they will bring. Being here has been a real soaking up time, and time of exploration and development, in work and in all other parts of life too.

And so I'm really looking forward to coming back to belfast, and all that will mean. Ive been working a bit recently on a website. At the minute its only semi operational [the micah jones and the photography part] but the rest will be up and running soon.

www.micahtjones.com

2008-05-31T01:37:00.000+01:00

the Dijk

2008-05-27T22:26:00.009+01:00

.

Headed up north on Saturday to check out the big dijk that was built to cut off the sea and make the big bit of water in the middle of the Netherlands fresh water.....

Only snag was i was on an ancient specimen of a bike on which only top gear worked. We got the train up to Anna something and then bombed on up to the dijk.... though as it turned out we didn't really bomb so much, more we fought our way up to the dijk.... with heavy wind and a bike that weighed something similar to a small cow, going was tough! but alas we were heading directly into the wind to the dijk but after that point we were always turning with it until the last 12km down to Hoorn was going with it.... very nice!

Its quite glorious when you go somewhere where you have no idea what to expect... in the end the dijk [being the big long 25km one over the sea, as we where never more than 50m from a dijk all day!] was quite rubbish but all the places along the way turned out to be amazing.But after 70km it was nice to get back in the train and head back to Amsterdam for a few biers in Nieuwmarkt and laugh at the tourists in the falling evening light.........

More photos on my Web Gallery

.

Well it was like this....

2008-05-21T22:28:00.016+01:00

A lot has happened since i last made a post on this site, and so i will not even consider the idea of writing about it all.

About a month ago i was back in Belfast and had a very splendid time, i also managed to do most of the things i wanted to and a few that i didn't [mostly breaking things]. One of the main [after to see lovely people] reasons i went back was to Belfast was to see if i could get a job lined up for when i come home in june..... and to this joy is found, and i will comence work in twenty two over seven a week after i get back from the dam. This was a real God send as i wasnt sure how easy it would be to get many interviews squeezed into one week and as it turned out i only really got two, but i had my updated portfolio for uni full of stuff from the last 5 months and it went very well so im looking forward to that.

A few weeks after i had book that trip home i discovered that i would be required to give an interview at UUB for the masters course only a week after i was going to be back, so anyway i left my portfolio with them and agreed to do the yoke over Skype, with a video link...... which was pretty good craic to be fair though maybe a little unsatisfactory.... you find yourself wanting to point at things!

On returning to the Dam we soon found ourselves in the crazyness of queens day..... and before anyone steps in with a howler its not "Our Queen"!! [too be said with a very posh Edinburgh ascent] this is Holland..... they dont care about Elizabeth.... and she dosnt give them a tax free day...... but Beatrix does.
But basically the day in entails a severe amount of beer and alot of people smelling bad and in boats with very large speakers booming hardcore techno...... hmmm sounds great really???

It was quite amazing though to see thousands and thousands of people on the normaly very quiet and reserved streets and canals...

Afew days later i had a quite glorious experience which was my first top flight football match in a stadium, well to be honest my first in the flesh football match ever really apart from maybe Saintfield united... Ajax v sc Heerenveen in the play offs for the last champions league spot....
was good craic and very cool to be in a big stadium with 50,000 people giving it stacks....

....... and then there was the balloning....... with work we went hot air balloning and ended up with grass and champagne on our heads ....... hmmmm a sybolic tradition i believe, the story was in dutch ........ something about barons and escaping to Versaille.....

there was quite alot of other stuff too like hoisting a rediculously heavy washing machine up and into a fourth story window..... actually that one was worth telling.....

As you may or may not know washing machines are full of concrete.... anyone who has had the pleasure of moving one will know this in the very core of his inner most being.... branded across his vision forever more..... a friend of mine from work, an Italian character was moving and it would seem wanted to take the washing machine with him.... so we did....

The coming down part was fine.... all dutch houses have a hook above the top floor window to which you can attach a pulley and a large rope with which you can lower away..... so we lowered away.... with two of us on the rope it was hairy to say the least but do-able.... so we got her down and while still on the rope swung over into the back of the van.....

So round at the new place, which was an extra storey high the stuff was fired up and the washing machine was left to last.... bad plan to begin with, always best doing the mad stuff first... anyway we divised a plan that would allow three characters pulling on the rope and one recieving the fine goods at the window..... the character [roy] was to direct the washing machine as we pulled until it was safely clear of the cars as it would swing out and hit one as soon as it was of the ground... we began to haul and all was well.... though roy had not yet made it up the stair or even appeared at the window.... but we hauled on..... and as we hauled cries from below were heard from a weakening Italian claiming that his power was gone.... this mixed with the already worrying feeling i harboured in my own heart regarding the heavily building lactic acid sapping the life from my already tired arms..... we were about 2m from the window by this point and Roy popped his head out... crapped himself.... and set too....

At the other end of the rope men were dying left right and centre... especially Italian ones and the cries of the dying were heard by a passing American who EVENTUALLY gave a hand..... but we had her up and Roy was hauling her in.....

But the point of the scenario is that washing machines were not made to be put in fourth storey windows...... especially not on one of the main tourist streets leading down to Nieuwmarkt...... we appeared in atleast 87 tourists Amsterdam snaps as token Amsterdamers moving house.

The lads [Pen & Merve] were here over the weekend which was very good craic and relaxed, is always interesting when people come to visit because you always see the city in a new way as you show people the city you live in you always discover new places..... and it would seem possibly the best coffee Merve has ever had.... now that is something!

I have made a web gallery with some more photo's.

2008-04-15T19:45:00.003+01:00

So heading back to Belfast tomorrow, for 10 days....

Its been about 2 months since i was back... it will be very nice to be back.

Hopefully during the time im back, i will; Find a job for June when i come back, get my very damp and unhappy but yet very lovely car fixed and stowed in a nice dry garage [thankyou!], book a long over due car test for some time in the summer, meet up with a lot of friends i havn't seen in a good while, and most importantly, eat and talk and laugh until the early hours....

Ive been having enjoying some pretty flippin decent weather recently [which means really not being beaten violently with ice, its still very cold!] and so needless to say over a thousand photographs have been taken in the last two weeks!

Here's some new photos on the photoblog

2008-04-14T10:02:00.008+01:00

In response Mr Knox's post...

aye... its good to see belfast starting to shake its 'road bloc' ambience off and moving forward, but one thing that really holds it back is the way it looks to other cities.... it is constantly wanting to be like dublin, or glasgow or anywhere.... That will not make the unique and inspired city we need, but sometimes any progress is progress! but that mentality will need to morph, and grow into something else as it gets to its feet... because great as those cities are there not belfast, belfast is a great place and has its own culture, which should be encouraged...

Places like victoria square no harm to them, can be found in every city over 400,000 in the uk..... they all have the same shops and add barely anything to the place...

And sadly from what ive seen of the master plan of the titanic quarter a massive opportunity was missed... but thats got more to do with money than anything else. Its a great spot, but just because of we have little choice dosn't mean we should accept any crap that comes along...

When you go to places like Krakow and dublin and berlin, you know where you are... it they have very strong identities and really make feel like you are in a place where they like themselves! and maybe thats what belfast still lacks... the love of its self. It maybe still thinks that everyones else can do it better... the sooner northern ireland gets back to the innovative and inspired place it once was the better... it is a nation of people who can think for themselves. A culture that when it believes in itself has shook the world... in technology... in literature... in art... in sport ... in everything, when we can summon enough belief in our place... this 1.5 million nation is an amazing place. I love it! but i want to see it go in its own identity and its own thought... and see individuals start to take control of there own future... the time for waiting has past and the future lies in our own hands... the work has been done to free us, and now we must make the move ourselves.

There is no doubt that that the troubles have had an institutionalizing effect on Northern Ireland... but the time to move has come... and we must... this time comes and goes again.

Fear and loathing.....

2008-04-09T11:21:00.002+01:00

Its with slight sadness and concern that i look about today at the state of some aspects of our society....

About a month ago, i was back in Belfast for a very short visit home.... i was in the airport preparing to leave and going through security.... which was fine.... to a point. I only had hand luggage and so had one small backpack well packed... and a camera bag....

It went through and they asked to open it...... ok yeah sure open away..... and then they proceeded to dismantle it and place everything in a tray while 'swabbing it'..... to i believe check for traces of explosives...... so fine its abit annoying as i was very tight for time but ok..... the point at which it became flippin pesky and caused me grievous annoyance was when they appeared back with the try and dumped it before me to replace in its various positions.... now with a bag which is well packed this can be quite peeving, and to make matters worse the 'security' woman was now taking a stand against my hair gel.... a small tub of texturizing substance, which though half finished and only about 50ml in its original state..... it still caused great offense to the general safety and well being of the world...... a long and awakard existence then incurred with long silences as she tried to take the thing off me, and i asked her why..... and she said because ....."thats what we are here for, to take things off you" [those may not be her exact words but... you know...].... it would seem that i would require a small plastic bag to put it in..... [i knew all this before hand as do you]..... these things cost a £1 and i had no
pounds on me as i was going to a place where they don't like them..... so she had to take it from me.....

Why! What good on earth will it do to have my goods in a plastic bag? Its not the hair gel that i care about its why they want me to put my stuff in a bag that will do absolutely no good what so ever should i actually be carrying a small tube of Semtex or a home chemistry set.... so why? The only thing it does is that it reminds me ever time i fly anywhere, that one time somewhere, with something, someone tried to blow something up.
That is the only reason..... its not in the name of safety, its in the name of fear and fear only! A 'constant' reminder of the supposed 'constant' threat of attack......

It really would make you question the truth in it all.... what really goes on. Its bizarre even in my short lifetime there has been huge change in the UK and Ireland.... trust has become discouraged, the societies have become more and more segregated and fractured.... and parents lie awake at night for fear of their children's safety..... has the place really got that dangerous? is it really as imminent as we are told? Schools have been fortified and surrounded with high fences, the city is covered in CCTV cameras, they scan your underpants when your taking a flight, they have chips in your passport, they can still say anything on TV and some parts of society will believe it.... because its TV...... and they cant lie..... can they? oh no...... someone would stop them! yeah right!!!
Its all fun and games until some stops you from living in the name of safety..... its mad how vulnerable the western world has become in the last ten years..... and with the current economic climate of Europe and America who knows where it will end up...... i think often people forget it was only 15 years ago since the last full scale war in Europe..... and it was only 50 years since the one before that, and 20 years before that, and all through history.......

The stable, comfortable, unbreakable, safe and peaceful state that we now live in, has never been the norm for very long...... theres been 36 conflicts in Europe alone in the 20th century. It concerns me greatly the distrust and fear that is dividing communities of varying ethnic background it Europe today, every where you look nationalism and national identity is being pushed, while multinational integration is being feared.... just look at the change of the portrayal of the Islamic world in films over the last 30 years.... the stereotype has moved from the jolly fat man eating food constantly with 30 half naked belly dancers around him, to the extremist who wants to kill anyone and everyone in the west...... do you believe either of those?
Fear is being poured into our daily lives, and if we choose to accept or believe it we will become very dangerous people..... the sort of people who justify wars[though maybe don't take part, but don't disagree with it].....

I don't think people realize the danger of fear, and of coropate fear..... and some how look at the events of the 20th century and say..... phuuufff .....that will never happen again! Its fear that enabled the governments to attack Iraq, to start the 45 minutes thing which someone died over, and its fear that causes the sort of hatred and anger that allows the events of the 20th century in Europe..... it starts with fear.....

... the mad man out in the street killing people is only a mad man if no one believes in his cause, then he becomes a solider....

We always have a choice, but some how we rarely make it, to stand up, to question, and to trust instead of fear......

please feel free to comment, disagree, add to, denounce, challenge, contradict, eat a sandwich or discuss!

Artic conditions + Rain + Coffee + Bicycle + Magnum + food + Girl + Boy = Happy times

2008-03-31T11:24:00.038+01:00

For about a month it was warm and sunny and times were good, the flowers were blooming and lambs were flocking the streets.....

But then we tried to get a tax code and the environment fought back with vicious intent... throwing first shards of ice upon our cold and wearisome faces as we battled to to survive against the high winds and slight hills of the canal bridges.....

and then someone left the lid off and the place dropped to ridiculous temperatures.... but the thing that really threw the cat in my face was that it hadn't snowed since i arrived and then it dumped its wet self upon us in a few days.... but not a button of the stuff actually lay..... it froooze us, beat us, slapped us, wet us, threw itself in our face but yet..... BUT YET! it did not lie!

But this was by no means doom upon the land for it was indeed a mere backdrop to a great long weekend..... so it was pretty good craic bombing around on the bicycle with Elaine on the back [sitting rather uncomfortably but warmly on the rack] down the narrow streets of the Dam and dodging various items such as cars, trams and other assorted large objects as i got beaten with ice and snow storms which were coming on and off like a 2 year old with a light switch... it was great fun despite how it sounds! Though it was required to visit a lot of establishments along the way for warm beverages.

One of the best things that we braved the climatic beatings for was a Magnum exhibition at the stedelijk museum, it was really good highly recommended if you ever hear of it anywhere, Magnum is a pretty amazing group, its basically a photographic cooperative, which is owned by its members, set up by a bunch of amazing photographers in the 40's.... but it is astounding how many of the worlds most influential photographs were taken by such a small bunch of people, and totally changed the world of photography, people who understood the power of photography.

It was extremely inspiring but at the same time decidedly sobering, there ethos is to tell the story of the real world.... and that they do. Robert Cappa, one of the founding members is famously quoted "If your photographs arn't good enough, your not close enough", he landed on in the first wave of omaha beach on D-day, armed with only a couple of cameras.... thats pretty close.... in the end he got too
close in Indo-china, when he was covering the war there when he stood on a landmine.

The exhibition really does show the single minded determination of the photographers to tell the world what the world is really like.... war, and desolation in all of its rawness.... in some ways you may leave the exhibition feeling heavy, and many people have ask the question of how necessary it is to take photographs like these, do we need to see them? ....i suppose it is up to the viewer, ignorance is bliss, but somehow you cannot choose ignorance...

The photographs are not all so confrontational only a few... most of the photographers have spent their careers study aspects of life, in different places.... with amazing insights into the human... it really is an amazing example of the power of photography as a modern media...

I was amazing to experience something like that, absolute dedication and emersement of people...

Strong coffees were required afterwards!

After so food and afew more coffees we headed down to the Paridiso for DJ Shadow and Cut chemist... which was great and very cool. Was very good to relax for a few days and talk alot... and wander alot , eat alot and generally have a really great time...

We headed down to the coast one day which was interesting, and on easter sunday we had the crossroads [church] experience... which was ... eh also interesting!