Thursday 31 December 2009

penguin is...

... as penguin does.

Happy 2010 everyone!

An Annotated Manifesto for Growth (sic)

1 Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.   Dude, could swear this was a Rod McKuen poem.

Setting the tone of comfort and assurance, welcoming the potential client in on a world that until now has seemed mysterious and beguiling: the mind of the Artist.
2 Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.   And after the opening group hug, a little roughness for cred, to set the mood, to establish the strength of the points herein.

Fear not, gentle executive, gentle media buyer. We are creative, we brave conflict to make beauty.
3 Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.   Unfiltered bullshit. This is the cult of the designer’s ego writ large. Can’t charge a fortune for mere craftsmanship; chequebooks only come out for Art.
4 Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
 
  As Tom Peters would shriek, “Fail spectacularly!!”

Straight out of the Wall Street Journal bestseller list: “See, we’re just like you, we grind profit from what the sluggish consider loss. Radical, eh?”
5 Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.   I.e., the identity for Roots.
6 Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.   Reworded think-outside-the-box bromide #1.
7 Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.   Do research? Gosh.
8 Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.   Reworded think-outside-the-box bromide #2.
9 Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
 
  The inevitable tenuous reference to the avant garde. Cage is dead and gone, unable to complain about being hauled out as a brand. You need not understand, just let it augment your lifestyle.
10 Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.   Boilerplate boosterism, present in every office everywhere. No bad ideas. My door is always open. There is no I in team.
11 Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.   Never, ever let the work speak for itself. Dance, jump, perform, reference, apply yourself, your enthusiasms: stay on the other side of the looking glass. They might ask why the type is so hard to read.
12 Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.   Cher robber baron, you see, we understand that business is about living 18 months in the future, of drawing maps for lands that don’t exist.
13 Slow down. Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.   And this is why the sketches were late.
14 Don’t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.   We don’t acknowledge cool. Isn’t that cool?
15 Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.   Reworded think-outside-the-box bromide #3.
16 Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.   Pure pandering to the One Minute Manager. “Your annual report came to look like this, and cost this much, because of some performance art I did in Gstaad with Znaimer.”
17 ————————. Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.   Egad.
18 Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.   Translation: the best work is done, the most inspiration comes, from the only real muse: Fear. Especially the fear of what’s due in the morning.
19 Work the metaphor. Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.   Except the one about design being frosting to tart up crap to make it saleable. Don’t work that one.
20 Be careful to take risks. Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.   Reworded think-outside-the-box bromide #4.
21 Repeat yourself. If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.   After all, it’s what YOU like that matters. Relax: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time! Templates equal profit.
22 Make your own tools. Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.   You are an artist. Your accounts receivable department is your tool. Your account planners are tools. You, Mr Vice President of Branding and Identity, are a tool.
23 Stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.   Amateurs imitate, professionals steal.
24 Avoid software. The problem with software is that everyone has it.   What does this mean? The problem with air is that everyone breathes?
25 Don’t clean your desk. You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.   The box now fully broken, you cannot help but think outside it.
26 Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you.   See point 14.
27 Read only left-hand pages. Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our “noodle.”   Fear of content, summarized.

This from a designer who imagines that heaven might be “a place without text.”
28 Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.   Take a look, oh beloved plutocrat, at your bookcase! Brandwidth! Envisioneering! Synergize! Aren’t these words dazzling?
29 Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.   Reworded think-outside-the-box bromide #5
30 Organization = Liberty. Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between “creatives” and “suits” is what Leonard Cohen calls a ‘charming artifact of the past.’   The pièce de résistance. A veritable tongue bath to those who sign the cheques.

In one short paragraph: first principles of MBA strategy, reassurance (again) that design IS business, something about that museum the Mrs wants to go to next holiday, Frank Gehry, Leonard Cohen, and aren’t we all real creative.
31 Don’t borrow money. Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
 
  Point 30 reworded.
32 Listen carefully. Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.   Points 16 and 10 reworded.
33 Take field trips. The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.   How else could you possibly justify charging so much for a logotype flung together out of Franklin Gothic?
34 Make mistakes faster. This isn’t my idea — I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.   You know, from Intel.
(Ignore point 13 here)
35 Imitate. Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You’ll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.   Points 21 and 23 reworded, with another layer of scammed avant garde, though the example is just so completely wrongheaded: like citing Oasis repurposing the Beatles.

Underused? Under fucking used?
36 Scat. When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else … but not words.   Interpretive dance in the studio. Think about it.
37 Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.   Do it on time, do it on budget, or get the hell out of Dodge.
38 Explore the other edge. Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.   Techniques put to use by every single creative person ever to walk the planet.
39 Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.   The smug implication of elite discourse away from the plebes, of forming strategic alliances while the sheep toil back at the office, of winking and beckoning to the very heart of greed power, that come off this paragraph are truly astonishing.
40 Avoid fields. Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.   Reworded think-outside-the-box bromide #6
41 Laugh. People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I’ve become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.   I said LAUGH.
42 Remember. Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.   Points 21, 23 and 35 reworded.
43 Power to the people. Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can’t be free agents if we’re not free.   I knew Tibor Kalman. Tibor Kalman was a friend of mine. You, sir, are no Tibor Kalman.
(Click on the title of this post, for the real authors of these two passages. If you've made it this far that is...)

Bella?

hahahahahahahahahaha

Let's drink to that!

:-)

Waddle

wad⋅dle [wod-l]  verb, -dled, -dling, noun

–verb (used without object)
1. to walk with short steps, swaying or rocking from side to side, as a penguin.
2. to move in any similar, slow, rocking manner; wobble: The ship waddled into port.

–noun
3. an act or instance of waddling, esp. a waddling gait.


Wednesday 30 December 2009

Take It All - Marion Cotillard (OST Nine)



YOU WANT MY LOVE
TAKE IT ALL
YOU WANT TO WATCH IT ALL COME OFF
TAKE IT ALL
COME ON NOW
SHOW ME HOW
YOU TAKE IT ALL

YOU WANT MY GLOVE
ARE YOU ENTHRALLED?
YOU WANT TO SEE IT SLIP AWAY AND WATCH IT FALL
OH WE KNOW
IT'S YOUR SHOW
SO TAKE IT ALL

YOU WANT THE MOVEMENT TO
SEE WHAT THE HIPS CAN DO
COME WATCH THE SLINKY GIRL
SEE HOW THE PASTIES TWIRL
TO MAKE YOUR BELLS ALL RING
FULFILLING EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED

SO GO AHEAD
TAKE IT ALL
YOU WANT MY SOUL
TAKE IT ALL
IT'S TIME TO LEAVE
IF I'M TO LIVE
BECAUSE I HAVE NO MORE
THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE

I WATCH YOU RISE
I WATCH YOU FALL
WHILE I AM STANDING WITH MY BACK AGAINST THE WALL
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO FINALLY LEARN
YOU HAD THE WORLD
YOU HAD YOUR FLING
YOU WANTED MORE THAN EVERYTHING
YOU GOT YOUR WISH
YOU GOT YOUR PRIZE
NOW TAKE IT RIGHT BETWEEN YOUR THIGHS
YOU GRABBED FOR EVERYTHING MY FRIEND
BUT DON'T YOU SEE THAT IN THE END
THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF ME

Tell Her Today - Tom Baxter

For my sweet Grandma on her 89th birthday today :-)



It's hard to say
You love someone
It's hard to say you don't
It's hard to learn
To trust someone,
Tt's hard to be without.

So if you think you love someone
Try, try, try
Because
That one may be your only one

So if you love her
Think only of her
Take the time tell her today

And when without her
Everything's harder
Take the time
Drop everything
Go tell her today

Oh
For every King
You'll find a queen
That keeps his kingdom strong

Oh
If love's the food that feeds my heart
Then baby
Sweet baby
I'm hungry now

Oh
So if you think you love someone
Try, try, try
Because
That one may be your only one.
So if you love her,
Think only of her,
Take the time tell her today.

And when without her,
Everything's harder
Take the time
Drop everything
Tell her today...

What's In A Name?

Vlad
(the impala)

Sunday 27 December 2009

Peter O'Toole Delivers Lines That Are Plainly Beneath Him

This is a segment from Chris Evans' T.F.I. Friday Show of 11th of October 1996 (UK Channel Four)

One of the funniest moments of English Television as far back as I can remember :-)

Enjoy!

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Project White Room

Today is the beginning of something wonderful.













Give me something from your heart...

Monday 14 December 2009

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles



Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Saturday 12 December 2009

The Quest - Bryn Christopher



I’m leaving tonight
Going somewhere deep inside my mind
I close my eyes slowly
Flowin’ away slowly
But I know I’ll be alright
It’s coming stronger to me
And I know someone is out there
Lead the way
Lead the way
Show me the answers I need to know

What I’m gonna live for
What I’m gonna die for
Who you gonna fight for
I can’t answer that

All my life/love it is
It is all my love
All my life/love it is
I know it is a life to live lately
From above I hear
I hear the sound of them sinkin’
I feel numb, I’m alive
I know I’m getting closer

What I’m gonna live for
What I’m gonna die for
Who you gonna fight for
I can’t answer that

My life has had it’s share of troubles
And now I found a place to go
I’ve said goodbye to all my troubles
’cause now I’ve find my place to go

What I’m gonna live for
What I’m gonna die for
Who you gonna fight for
I can’t answer that

What I’m gonna live for
What I’m gonna die for
Who you gonna fight for
I can’t answer that

What I’m gonna live for
What I’m gonna die for
Who you gonna fight for
I can’t answer that

Live for
Die for
Fight for

Friday 11 December 2009

Karma Is A Bitch

"Dear" shitty-faced, talentless, know-it-alls who deviously manufactured my current predicament & demise.

Yes.

I AM talking about you, the 3 shameless blonderos (the 2 that fuck each-other at every opportunity they get, even inside editing suites, during times important meetings are supposed to be taking place & despite 1 of you already being married to someone else, & of course the 3rd one who hasn't actually been fucked in a very long time and we all hope that a masochistic charitable soul finally does).

You know who you are.

You may have mastered the art of obscure, under-the-table handling that affects the reputation and status of people whose shit you couldn't even imitate at your best efforts, and you may have managed to dodge a bullet aimed at your own careers (for now) as you so conveniently placed all responsibility and blame for your incompetence and lack of skill onto someone who simply did YOUR bidding, but in doing so, you have lost the only ally you ever had in this whole mess, and managed to drench your future with a crappy scent of doom and approaching failure.

This will become apparent soon. Sooner than you think, as one by one, all your plans will start hitting dead ends and your true faces will be exposed out in the light for everyone to see what sad bastards you truly are.

I expected great things of you; alas I was mistaken and am now deeply disappointed, mostly at my own inability to understand the level of your corrupted souls in time.

You WILL get your comeuppance, that's for sure.

Because I believe in the power of Karma.

And YOUR Karma is currently drenched in your own excrement.

Adiós arse-holes.

POST REVISITED @ 29 December 2010:
I was SO right! Muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Sunday 20 September 2009

Kemal

In "honour" of the two muggers who attacked me about a week ago, hitting me on the face and stealing my money and my phone.



Ακούστε την ιστορία του Κεμάλ
ενός νεαρού πρίγκηπα,της ανατολής
απόγονου του Σεβάχ του θαλασσινού,
που νόμισε ότι μπορεί να αλλάξει τον κόσμο.
αλλά πικρές οι βουλές του Αλλάχ
και σκοτεινές οι ψυχές των ανθρώπων.

Στης Ανατολής τα μέρη μια φορά και έναν καιρό
ήταν άδειο το κεμέρι, μουχλιασμένο το νερό
στη Μοσσούλη, στη Βασσόρα, στην παλιά τη χουρμαδιά
πικραμένα κλαίνε τώρα της ερήμου τα παιδιά.

Κι ένας νέος από σόι και γενιά βασιλική
αγροικάει το μοιρολόι και τραβάει κατά εκεί.
τον κοιτάν οι Βεδουίνοι με ματιά λυπητερή
κι όρκο στον Αλλάχ τους δίνει, πως θ' αλλάξουν οι καιροί.

Σαν ακούσαν οι αρχόντοι του παιδιού την αφοβιά
ξεκινάν με λύκου δόντι και με λιονταριού προβιά
απ' τον Τίγρη στον Ευφράτη, κι απ' τη γη στον ουρανό
κυνηγάν τον αποστάτη να τον πιάσουν ζωντανό.

Πέφτουν πάνω του τα στίφη, σαν ακράτητα σκυλιά
και τον πάνε στο χαλίφη να του βάλει την θηλειά
μαύρο μέλι μαύρο γάλα ήπιε εκείνο το πρωί
πριν αφήσει στην κρεμάλα τη στερνή του την πνοή.

Με δυο γέρικες καμήλες, μ' ένα κόκκινο φαρί
στου παράδεισου τις πύλες ο προφήτης καρτερεί.
πάνε τώρα χέρι χέρι κι είναι γύρω συννεφιά
μα της Δαμασκού τ' αστέρι τους κρατούσε συντροφιά.

Σ' ένα μήνα σ' ένα χρόνο βλέπουν μπρός τους τον Αλλάχ
που από τον ψηλό του θρόνο λέει στον άμυαλο Σεβάχ:
«νικημένο μου ξεφτέρι δεν αλλάζουν οι καιροί,
με φωτιά και με μαχαίρι πάντα ο κόσμος προχωρεί»

Καληνύχτα Κεμάλ, αυτός ο κόσμος δε θα αλλάξει ποτέ
Καληνύχτα...

Performed by: Aliki Kagialoglou
Music by: Manos Hadjidakis
Lyrics by: Nikos Gkatsos
Album: "Antikatoptrismoi" 1993

Monday 7 September 2009

Farewell Spectacles


Today is the day I'm getting rid of these, once and for all.
I'm thinking 30 years behind them is enough, non?
(had them on since I was 3).

Hello eye laser surgery, goodbye glasses :-))))

Sunday 6 September 2009

And The Truth Shall Set You Free

You can fool all the people some of the time.
You can fool some people all of the time.
But you can't fool all the people, all of the time.

Sunday 26 July 2009

Nobody Knows Me At All - The Weepies



When I was a child everybody smiled, nobody knows me at all
Very late at night and in the morning light, nobody knows me at all

Now I got lots of friends, yes, but then again, nobody knows me at all
Kids and a wife, it's a beautiful life, nobody knows me at all

And oh when the lights are low
Oh with someone I don't know

I don't give a damn, I'm happy as a clam, nobody knows me at all
Ah, what can you do? There's nobody like you. Nobody knows me at all

I know how you feel, no secrets to reveal, nobody knows me at all
Very late at night and in the morning light, nobody knows me at all
Nobody knows me, nobody knows me, nobody knows me at all

Monday 20 July 2009

A Man Is In Love - The Waterboys

This is my ultimate LOVE SONG.

It's been like that ever since I can remember myself and hearing this song for the first time almost 20 years ago.

Maybe it's the words, maybe the Irish music I am SO connected to...

Don't know what it is...

I only know this:

It's exactly how I feel when I fall in Love.

The child inside me goes weak at the knees every time I get to hear it...

It's so playful, so innocent, to simple, so pure, so true.

There is gentle hesitation in every word and quiet adoration.

Up until the last 3 words.. the child inside me pauses with the singer, hesitating one final time, to reveal the big secret. And after a short break (a time desperately needed to gather all of the world's courage), then, ONLY then... mastering all the new-found confidence and with the smile of a 9 year old, BOOM!

The secret's out! "....and he's me".

Yes it is me. Yes I am in Love. More than ever before, even though I can't have you, because I don't even know where you are now, because I can't be 9 again. I don't care. I'm just happy I've met you in this lifetime. Happy and blessed.

All that is in those 3 words.

And those 3 words, the awful truth, the terrible secret... A man is in Love... and he's me...

The pause in music right after that... is the pause of my heart. Now you know. My heart has stopped. Because now you know. Now I've told you finally. Now you know. All the waiting, all the hesitation, all the precaution is finally over. Now you know. And my heart has stopped beating... but NOW YOU KNOW! NOW MY HEART WILL JUMP-START ITSELF AGAIN, QUICKER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER BEFORE.

It's the same jump start to the song's musical climax. The truth is out. And the chains are lifted, and the heart is free to fly. And I am flying with you. I am 9 again, jumping around, goofing around, playing around, heavily, unconditionally, irrevocably yours, forever and ever and ever.

And you don't even know it :-)

Because I never told you. Because I didn't even know it myself.

You were my first.

And I only found out years later, by analysing my emotions and my memories.

You were my first Love.

And I fly away with the music after those 3 words. The poetry coming near the end matters not. I've said ALL I wanted to say.

And that's how I feel every time I hear this song.

I am 9 again.

For you, my One First True Love.

Wherever you might be, whatever you do, whoever you've become.

This is for You.



A man is in love, how do I know?
He came and walked with me, and he told me so
In a song he sang, and then I knew
A man is in love with you

A man is in love, how did I hear?
I heard him talk too much whenever you're near
He whispered your name when his eyes were closed
A man is in love and he knows

A man is in love, how did I guess?
I figured it out while he was watching you dress
He'd give you his all, if you'd but agree
A man is in love...

...and he's me.

Monday 13 July 2009

Gold Dust - Tori Amos


sights and sounds
pull me back down
another year

i was here
i was here

gaslights
glow in the street
(flickering past)
twilight held us
in her palm
as we walked along

and we make it up
as we go along
we make it up as we go along

letting names
hang in the
air
what color hair
(auburn crimson)
autumn knowingly
stared
and the day that
she came
i'm freezing that
frame
i'm freezing that frame

and somewhere alfie
smiles
and says "enjoy her
every cry
you can see in the
dark
through the eyes
of laura mars"

how did it go so
fast
you'll say as we are looking back
and then we'll understand
we held gold dust
in our
hands

in our
hands

NB. I like to think that she is relishing those precious few moments (in a whole life span) when/where she lived in Real/Pure Love, but didn't fully realise/know it at the time. And now, much much older, but finally wiser, she knows.
 But it's too late to do anything about it, as time is a friend to no-one, but pain & memory. She can only dream of that "Gold Dust", like some people can now only dream of that "Dream Kiss" they experienced so briefly.
 True Happiness (much like True Love) rarely lasts more than an instant, but the feeling lasts eternally. And merely the shadow of that instant is enough to fuel a whole human lifetime.
 We live our whole life, remembering, dreaming of that instant, and then spend our mortal lives in a never-ending struggle trying to recover it.
 Of course, we can only come near it, unable ever to actually BE it again, until the time we transform back to our original form: ethereal beings of Light & Love.
 This song never fails to elicit tears from my eyes.

Sunday 12 July 2009

Heavy Cross - The Gossip (Beth Ditto)



It's a cruel cruel world, to face on your own,
A heavy cross, to carry along,
The lights are on, but everyone's gone,
And it's cruel

It's a funny way, to make ends meet,
when the lights are out on every street,
It feels alright, but never complete,
without joy,

I checked you, if it's already been done, undo it,
It takes two, it's up to me and you, to prove it,
On the rainy nights, even the coldest days,
you're moments ago, but seconds away,
The principal of nature, it's true but, it's a cruel world

We can play it safe, or play it cool,
follow the leader, or make up all the rules,
whatever you want, the choice is yours,
So choose,

I checked you, if it's already been done, undo it,
It takes two, it's up to me and you, to prove it,

I just knew, it's already been done, undo it,
It takes two, it's up to me and you, to prove it.

I checked you, if it's already been done, undo it,
It takes two, it's up to me and you, to prove it

I just knew.

Friday 10 July 2009

Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly

Oh happy childhood moments...



The last that ever she saw him
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
He passed on worried and warning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow.
Lost in a river last Saturday night
Far away on the other side.
He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight
And she couldn't find how to push through

The trees that whisper in the evening
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Sing a song of sorrow and grieving
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun
Far away on the other side.
He was shot six times by a man on the run
And she couldn't find how to push through

I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away

I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away

Four AM in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
I watched your vision forming
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Star was light in a silvery night
Far away on the other side
Will you come to talk to me this night
But she couldn't find how to push through

I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away

I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away

Far away on the other side.

Caught in the middle of a hundred and five
The night was heavy but the air was alive
She couldn't find how to push through

Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Far away on the other side.

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Songbird - Eva Cassidy

And the love of Love, will make even Love decide to leave Love be.
For Love's sake.

Werewolf - CocoRosie

In tempered awe & silent desperation, I am watching myself transform into a solitary, peculiar creature slightly less downtrodden than usual, but alas! now entirely drenched in the shadow of Love...


In a dream I was a werewolf
My soul was filled with crystal light
Lavender ribbons of rain sang
Ridding my heart of mortal fright

Broken sundown fatherless showdown
Gun hip swollen lip bottle sip yeah I suck dick
Loose grip on gravity falls sky blinding crumbling walls
River sweep away my memories of
Children's things a young mother's love
Before the yearning song of flesh on flesh
Young hearts burst open wounds bleed fresh
A young brother skinny and tall my older walks
Oceanward and somber, slumber sleeping
Flowers in the water, but I'm just his daughter
Walking down an icy grave leading to my
Schizophrenic father. Weeping willow won't you wallow louder
Searching for my father's power

I'ma shake you off though
Get up on that horse and
Ride into the sunset
Look back with no remorse

He's a black magic wielder some say a witch
Wielded darkness when he was wilein on his mom's
And born child and he was the bastard that broke
Up the marriage evil doer doing evil from a baby carriage
And he was born with the same blue eyes
Crystal ships dripping with ice, diamonds coruscate
In the night fireworks electric bright
And now he's gots his own two sons
Tries to hide his tears in a world of fun
But loveless bedrooms filled with doom
Bring silent heartache July to June
Swoon over new young hot flame
Mourn the memories later
Laugh now alligator
Laugh now alligator

Oh in a dream
My love came to me
And made me swear
That I'd keep what's sacred to me
And if I get the choice
To fill in his name
I'll pray my way through the rain
Singing, Oh happy day

I don't mean to close the door
But for the record my heart is sore
You blew through me like bullet holes
Left stains on my sheets and stains on my soul
You left me broke down begging for change
Had to catch a ride with a man who's deranged
He had your hands and my father's face
Another Western vampire different time same place
I has dreams that brings me sadness
Rain much deeper than a river
Sorrow flow through me
Tiny waves of shivers
Corny movies make me reminisce
They break me down easy on this generic love shit
First kiss frog and princess

I'ma shake you off though
Get up on that horse and
Ride into the sunset
Look back with no remorse

Monday 6 July 2009

Waiting for a Star to Fall - Boy Meets Girl



I hear your name whispered on the wind
It's a sound that makes me cry
I hear a song blow again and again
Through my mind and I don't know why
I wish I didn't feel so strong about you
Like happiness and love revolve around you

Trying to catch your heart
Is like trying to catch a star
So many people love you baby
That must be what you are

Waiting for a star to fall
And carry your heart into my arms
That's where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

I've learned to feel what I cannot see
But with you I lose that vision
I don't know how to dream your dream
So I'm all caught up in superstition
I want to reach out and pull you to me
Who says I should let a wild one go free

Trying to catch your heart
Is like trying to catch a star
But I can't love you this much baby
And love you from this far

Waiting for a star to fall
And carry your heart into my arms
That's where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

Waiting (however long...)
I don't like waiting (I'll wait for you...)
It's so hard waiting (don't be too long...)
Seems like waiting (makes me love you even more...)

Waiting for a star to fall
And carry your heart into my arms
That's where you belong
In my arms baby, yeah

Saturday 4 July 2009

Rain - Patty Griffin



It's hard to listen to a hard hard heart
Beating close to mine
Pounding up against the stone and steel
Walls that I won't climb

Sometimes a hurt is so deep deep deep
You think that you're gonna drown
Sometimes all I can do is weep weep weep
With all this rain falling down

Strange how hard it rains now
Rows and rows of big dark clouds
When I'm holding on underneath this shroud
Rain

It's hard to know when to give up the fight
Some things you want will just never be right
It's never rained like it has tonight before

Now I don't wanna beg you baby
For something maybe you could never give
I'm not looking for the rest of your life
I just want another chance to live

Strange how hard it rains now
Rows and rows of big dark clouds
When I'm holding on underneath this shroud
Rain

Strange how hard it rains now
Rows and rows of big dark clouds
When I'm holding on underneath this shroud
Rain

Strange how hard it rains now
Rows and rows of big dark clouds
When I'm still alive underneath this shroud
Rain Rain Rain

Friday 3 July 2009

White Whale

- I am captain Ahab
And yes, I want you.

-So what's the problem?

- Alas I won't stop
I can't stop
Until I be consumed
By you.

- So what's the problem.

- I am.

Chances Are - Robert Downey Jr & Vonda Shepard



Chances are you'll find me
Somewhere on your road tonight
Seems I always end up driving by
Ever since I've known you
It just seems you're on my way
All the rules of logic don't apply

I long to see you in the night
Be with you 'til morning light

I remember clearly how you looked
The night we met
I recall your laughter and your smile
I remember how you made me
Feel so at ease
I remember all your grace, your style

And now you're all I long to see
You've come to mean so much to me

Chances are I'll see you
Somewhere in my dreams tonight
You'll be smiling like the night we met
Chances are I'll hold you and I'll offer
All I have

You're the only one I can't forget
Baby you're the best, I've ever met

And I'll be dreaming of the future
And hoping you'll be by my side
And in the morning I'll be longing
For the night, for the night

Chances are I'll see you
Somewhere in my dreams tonight
You'll be smiling like the night we met
Chances are I'll hold you and I'll offer
All I have

You're the only one I can't forget
Baby you're the best I've ever met

Angel of the Morning - Nina Simone



There'll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can't bind your heart
And there's no need to take a stand
For it was I who chose to start

There is no need to take me home
I'm old enough to face the dawn
Just call me angel of the morning
Just touch my cheek before you leave me baby

Just call me angel of the morning
Slowly slowly turn away from me
Well maybe the sun's light will be dim
but it won't matter anyhow

If morning echo says we've sinned
Well, it was what I wanted now.
And if we're the victims of the night
I promise you I won't be blinded by light

Just call me angel
Touch my cheek before you leave me baby.
Just call me angel of the morning morning
Just touch my cheek before you leave me baby

Just call me angel of the morning (baby
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby)
Just call me angel of the morning
Slowly slowly turn away from me from me
From me

Thursday 2 July 2009

Io vorrei - Gigi D'Alessio



Io Vorrei
Ho bisogno di dirti che si sta male,
e una vita da schifo se non ci sei
e mi trovo col mio disordine nel cuore senza te,
scatoloni pieni di ricordi che non vanno via.
Ho bisogno di dirti che non e vero
sono sempre geloso dei fatti tuoi,
sono io che la notte chiamo al tuo telefono lo sai
sento solamente la tua voce ma non parlo mai.

Io vorrei riprovarci ancora, io vorrei ma non so se tu lo vuoi.

Quante cose ho bisogno di dirti ancora,
non possiamo lasciare tutto a meta.
Questo amore ci appartiene dal profondo
basta chiedere.
Ma io vorrei salutarti ancora,
io vorrei respirarti ancora,
io vorrei fare tutto questo se lo vuoi.

Ho bisogno di dirti che sto da solo,
non c'e stata nessuna dopo di te.
Mentre il vento mi asciuga il viso da una lacrima che c'e,
sto pensando che e lo stesso vento che accarezza te.

Io vorrei riprovarci ancora,
io vorrei ma non so se tu lo vuoi.

Se lasciamo parlare ogni tanto il cuore,
viene fuori da sola la verita.
Non c'e amore senza piccoli dolori
che ci cambiano.
Ma io vorrei rivederti ancora,
io vorrei accompagnarti ancora,
io vorrei fare tutto questo se lo vuoi...

Anema E Core


I've got a yearning to caress you
One thought keeps burning in my soul
A hungry yearning to possess you
Is far beyond control
I want your love for now, forever
I want your heart and soul
My life I give to you
Anema E Core
I only live for you
Anema E Core

I have but one desire
And it's to love you
With all my heart
With all my soul
My whole life through
From stars I'll build your crown
And kneel before you
I pray you'll take my hand
For I adore you
Open up the door leading to Heaven
A Heaven, mine and yours,
Anema E Core

Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan



In a little while from now
If I’m not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to who
Ever what it’s like when you’re shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church
Where people saying: "my god, that’s tough
She's stood him up"
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally

To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to well wouldn’t do
The role I was about to play
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much, as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt
Talk about god and his mercy
Or if he really does exist
Why did he desert me in my hour of need
I truly am indeed alone again, naturally

It seems to me that there are more hearts
Broken in the world that can’t be mended
Left unattended
What do we do? what do we do?
.
.
.

Black Black Heart - David Usher ft. Kim Bingham



Something ugly this way comes
Through my fingers sliding inside
All these blessings all these burns
I'm godless underneath your cover
Search for pleasure search for pain
In this world now I am undying
I unfurl my flag my nation helpless

Black black heart why would you offer more
Why would you make it easier on me to satisfy
I'm on fire I'm rotting to the core
I'm eating all your kings and queens
All your sex and your diamonds

As I begin to lose my grip
On these realities your sending
Taste your mind and taste your sex
I'm naked underneath your cover
Covers lie and we will bend and borrow
With the coming sign
The tide will take the sea will rise and time will rape

Black black heart why would you offer more
Why would you make it easier on me to satisfy
I'm on fire I'm rotting to the core
I'm eating all your kings and queens
All your sex and your diamonds

Black black heart why would you offer more
Why would you make it easier on me to satisfy
I'm on fire I'm rotting to the core
I'm eating all your kings and queens
All your sex and your diamonds
All your sex and your diamonds
All your sex and your diamonds
All your sex and your diamonds
All your sex and your diamonds

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Acrobat - U2

Fuck yeah.



Don't believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened your face
Of melting in snow
Now it looks like this

And you can swallow
Or you can spit
You can throw it up
Or choke on it
And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'cause I need it now

To take a cup
To fill it up
To drink it slow
I can't let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And don't let the bastards grind you down

Oh, it hurts baby
(What are we going to do now it's all been said)
(No new ideas in the house and every book has been read)

And I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And you can find
Your own way out
You can build
And I can will
And you can call
I can't wait until
You can stash
And you can seize
In dreams begin
Responsibilities
And I can love
And I can love
And I know that the tide is turning 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

Tuesday 30 June 2009

Hallelujah


Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah



Non Siamo Soli - Eros Ramazzotti (Feat. Ricky Martin)



Eros Ramazzotti – Non Siamo Soli (we are not alone)
(Feat. Ricky Martin)
Eros: E’ la voglia di cambiare la realtà,
Che mi fa sentire ancora vivo
E cercherò tutti quelli come me
Che hanno ancora un sogno in più…un sogno in più
(it is the will/desire to change reality that makes me feel still alive, and i will search for all these like me that still have a dream (more))
Ricky: Dentro un libro che nessuno ha scritto mai,
Leggo le istruzione della vita,
Anche se so che poi non le seguirò,
Farò ciò che sento…
(in a book nobody ever wrote, i’m reading the instruction of/for life, even if i know i can not follow them, i will make that i feel)
Rit.
Eros: Oltre le distanze, noi non siamo soli
Figli della stessa umanità
Anime viaggianti in cerca di ideali,
Il coraggio non ci mancherà
(beyond the distances, we are not alone, children of the same people/of humankind, travelling souls in search for ideals, we will not lack courage)
Supera I confini di qualunque ideologia, l’emozione che ci unisce in una grande idea
Un altro mondo possibile c’è
E lo cerco anch’io e lo voglio anch’io come te…
(i’ll exceed the confines of any ideology, the emotion that unites us in a great idea, another world is possible, and also i will search for it and also i want it like you)
Ricky: Nelle pagine lasciate in bianco noi,
Diamo spazio a tutti I nostri sogni
(on the pages left white, we give space to all of our dreams)
Eros: nessuno mai il futuro ruberà,
Dalle nostre mani…
(nobody ever will steal the future from our hands)
Rit.
Eros & Ricky: Oltre le distanze, noi non siamo soli
Senza più certezze e verità
Anime confuse, cuori prigionieri
Con la stessa idea di libertà…libertà
(beyond the distances we are not alone, without certainties and truth, confused souls, imprisoned hearts, with the same idea of freedom…freedom)
Eros & Ricky: Oltre le distanze, non siamo soli
L’incertezza non ci fermerà
(beyond the distances, we are not alone, the insecurity will not stop us)
Eros: Supera I confini, non conosce geografia l’emozione che ci unisce in una grande idea
(i’ll exceed the limitations, the emotion that unites us in a great idea does not know geography)
Ricky: Oltre le distanze noi non siamo soli, sempre in cerca della verità
(beyond the distances we are not alone, aleays in search of the truth)
Eros: Anime viaggianti, cuori prigionieri, con la stessa idea di libertà
(travelling souls, imprisoned hearts, with the same idea of liberty)
Un altro mondo possibile c’è e lo sto cercando insieme a te
(another world is possible and i search for it with you)
Eros: Anch’io con te
(also me with you)
Ricky: Insieme a me
(together with me)
Eros: E tu con me…
(and you with me)

Sunday 28 June 2009

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows - Judy Garland



I'm always chasing rainbows,
Watching clouds drifting by.
My schemes are just like all my dreams
Ending in the sky.

Some fellows look to find the sunshine,
But I always look to find the rain.
Some fellows make a winning sometime,
I never even make a gain.

Believe me,
I'm always chasing rainbows
Waiting to find a little bluebird in vain.

War Sweater - Wakey! Wakey!



New York is dangerous, littered with thieves
We've no morals here, we just do as we please....
But I don't wanna go home where they all stare at me
Cause I'm tattooed, and fired up, and drunk, and obscene...

You wear your religion like a War Sweater.
You ask for the truth, but you know you could do so much better,
And you sat on your fences, you've screamed no retreat...
So what will your legacy be?

Battle lines drawn if you wonder which side speaks the truth
I look closely to which speaks from pride
I love you. I swear it. I would never lie...
But I fear for our lives and I fear your closed eyes...

Cause you wear your religion like a War Sweater.
You ask for the truth, but you know you could do so much better,
And you sat on your fences, and you've screamed no retreat...
So what will your legacy be?
And what will your legacy be?
And what will your legacy be?

I'm in the mood where I come all untied,
I'm in the mood to say shit that'll change people's minds...
And I love you. I swear it. I would never lie...
But I fear for our lives and I fear your closed eyes...

Cause you wear your religion like a War Sweater.
You ask for the truth, but you know you could do so much better,
And you sat on your fences, you've screamed no retreat...
So what will your legacy be?
And what will your legacy be?
And what will your legacy be?