Attention Jeff Buckley fans!

You can watch the Live in Chicago concert free online here:

http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/jeff_buckley_live_in_chicago.php

Im so glad I got to see him at Sin-e and St. Anne's back in the day. Strange how at the time you are aware that you are experiencing something special - and have no awareness of just how legendary it will actually be someday. Im actually sitting here smiling as I think about it. It will sound totally bizarre but I remember thinking what an amazingly powerful voice for such a slight guy! One thing that I appreciated was him singing songs by a relative of mine - Lady Day aka Billie Holiday. His repertoire was quite impressive. Most of all he just seemed like a nice guy - not full of himself and very funny and laid back (to me anyway!).

RIP Jefff - you were too good a guy to be taken so young.


Here are a couple of clips:

The early incarnation of what would become "Vancouver"



A song not released or recorded - "What Will You Say"

Friends,

Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

"Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

"Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

"At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

"Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions."

Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to "consult" in the bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.

Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?

It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!

I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's what you can do immediately:

1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.

2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).

3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.

When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.

P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.

You are a Social Liberal (73% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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Well to anyone who even bothers to read my ramblings here: Thank you!

The creativity block is gone and I have been working like a demon.

One of the things I am immersed in is a screenplay that an actress friend has entrusted me to write and do justice to the subject matter. I am quite visual so in my mind I am blocking shots and all sorts.

It may be staged as a play first and if I am brave enough and the opportunity is there it would be very interesting to take on directing duties. She's gotten together some people who are interested, the one thing lacking was a writer to bring the concept to life and a possible director. So we will see. At any rate I am quite enjoying this.

I am also getting to grips with my own creativity in general. I have embraced my habitual solitude and have been quite prolific in my efforts. Story outlines and characterisations, song lyrics and melodies...

If only there were more hours in my day where I could actually devote myself to being the writer/singing/artists rather than be tied down to the frustrating banal insanity that is the 9-6 corporate world. I find myself at work brimming with ideas that need noting; passages that need writing, songs that need composing... and absolutely despising the life I have to lead right now. I am not getting any younger...

NEXT BLOG: I have a famous relative - Billie Holiday. It's time I write something about her. She is probably the biggest inspiration I ever had to indulge my love of performing, her tragic life notwithstanding.

Dont hit me ...

Being the sad lazy sod that Ive been having not been around LJ much - I amassed a HUGE number of messages.

So, here I am this fine dreary Saturday morning in London, killing some time before I head for Arsenal's Emirates Cups matches today at the best stadium in the world (WOOT!). I am patiently going through PAGES AND PAGES AND PAGES of messages - deleting the ones for which I have no comment and leaving the ones which I will get back to this weekend.

So I thought.

Dont know what in hell I did but I JUST MANAGED TO DELETE 600+ MESSAGES!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I need to go through the Friends list - my GOD; how in the hell did I managed to get so many friends when so few comment on my journals ROFL! So I need to go through the list and just start looking the old fashioned way *whimper*.

But I seriously need to comment on the fact that Pennswoods is so damn hot in HP fancy dress 8P

Posted at my SeverinaSnape account on deviantArt



Three good things happened this week...


First:

Payday! Here in dear olde England we get paid once a month - shocking! II'd been gone so bloody long that my sub lapsped and I only just noticed!

So - I am once again subbed and all feels right as rain in my dA world.

Now - I need to learn CSS and do something FABULOUS with this little journal of mine...


Second:

My Muse is back. Not as strong as before but he is back. I am writing and posting (elsewhere) again and it feels good. I also have rearranged my little "studio" here. Gone are the Liturgical and Theological texts and in their places - *drumroll* - my best reference materials on digital art and design, painting and writing. The Wacom Intuos 3 beckons and I am slowly piecing something together.

Ive never been much good illustrating the human form. That is something I will have to work on to be certain. But with other objects and landscapes I might do OK. I have some things to hand that I find inspiring and so Ive decided to try my hand sans people and then work my way up. Of course Im saying that now - knowing what Im like I could sit down next week and voila - ici une personnage....


Third:

Beaudommage blew me a virtual kiss.

All feels right in my little world.

Well its been a very long time indeed since Ive done anything online - DeviantArt and LiveJournal especially.  Forums I don't even bother with unless they are for professional entities or related to the creative arts.

As anyone who has followed me or been a friendly soul knows - in the past I have had some issues here. Time outside of this great space makes me realise that it really is just a microcosm of the world outside it. You can either work with it or rail against it. Whatever you do, its always going to be here along with the people you have problems with.

The wise person chooses their battles carefully if at all. Burning bridges is never a good thing, not even in the internet.

So here I am once again.

Things really died down with me not because of dA or LJ as such - but because life got me down. So much nonsense with work and survival outside this box that I couldnt be bothered with any craziness in it. I have no doubt that I could have made things a lot better for myself. Hindsight is 20/20 - but I knew it even as it all unfolded. Some relationships are beyond repair, and for that I have many regrets.

Ive been ignoring the fact that I have been very blocked creatively. I am fortunate that I have a wide range of interests creatively. I just havent had the inspiration or energy...

So I find myself with ideas about jewelry design, mask making, writing and digital art. I just havent had the impetus to get going once again. My "get-up-and-go" has got up and went. I have lost what glimmer of self-belief and confidence I used to have.

Im looking at my wacom tablet (Intuos 3) - gathering dust since I unpacked it. I have so many tools at my disposal having invested in everything I thought I needed as a decent start. And yet here I sit feeling rather empty but still awed by the amazing work that fellow creatives produce.

I really want that to be me... in the worst possible way.

Things that make you go Hmmmm (especially when most of it just isnt me)...





What the House Test Says About You You consider yourself important, but no more important than anyone else. You love attention, but you don't feel like you deserve more of it than anyone else.

You can't stand community oriented people and annoying "buy local" campaigns. You prefer to live the best life possible, and that doesn't really involve many other people.

You are a calm, contemplative, and smart person. You take ideas very seriously.

You take good care of your physical appearance. You dress well, stay in shape, and do your best to look great.

You are moved by romance and love. You are optimistic about people, and you love hearing about happy endings.



http://www.blogthings.com/thehousetest/

A very good article that nicely sums up just how messed-up it is to be Native American and try and own your identity in the 21st century...

And people wonder why NDNs dont manage to come together as a unified body against their oppressors... We are our own worst enemies as much as they are...

I'm back and with a loud Bang...

I've found myself infuriated at the continued insistence (on the part of many who should know better) that to be Native American is entirely dependant on blood quantum. In my case - my family has always identified as Nanticoke Indian. It is on birth and death records for a start. We even have a book written about us and our tribe. We openly identifed even when it wasnt in our best interest to do so.

But this means nothing to the Feds - and more importantly to so-called "federally recognised" indians. Our own can be so much worse - I am not native because I dont come from or live on a rez, because my language is a dead language, because I dont live in Delaware, Maryland, Virgina, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. Because I dont fit the stereotype of what is purported to be the way I should "look". "Close Enough" isnt good enough.

Its not enough that I love my people and our traditions. I know who I am and embrace all of the sweet and bitter that comes with that identity.

I've had enough of out-dated institutional racism.

We Natives are becoming our own worst enemy with this purist nonsense that was forced on us by the very people we continue to claim to be fighting against.

I found the petition below and frankly dont expect much to come of it. But I am at least glad that I have a voice somewhere and that others see the logic.

2007 has barely begun and already a load of BS.

I waited a long time before going this route, but my journal is now 'Friends Only'.

Comments are screened here.

If posting you accept the possibility that I may either miss your comment and it doenst become unscreened until a later date (or I unfortunately miss it altogether which has happened since LJ no longer sends me email notices) or it is deleted, whatever the rationale may be.

I very rarely delete comments, even when it's about some of the prickly political subjects I often post about. and people aren't in agreement.

In all the time that I have been here, I have only deleted a handful of comments. All made by the same person who just had to have the last word, and to stop something that had spiralled out of control.  Two were on one post and said the same thing both times.  I've only ever had one person go postively mental over not have a five-word comment allowed that said absolutely nothing. They have subsequently threatened to report me to LJ for not allowing their comments and then posted Anonymously (which was of course deleted). That told me all I needed to know. That person has been banned from commenting because it wasnt the first time I had to deal with a load of extremely hypocrital hysterionics from them. In both cases, it's the same person. Enough is enough.

Why ban? Because unlike public forums, I can do it with my own space if I feel it's warranted.

I am just not going to put up with any more madness online especially from people I have never met.

Life is too short..

It is sad to have to do this, but LJ allows these features and I won't hesitate to use  them  if I see fit now unlike years past.

TO ANYONE ADDING ME AS A FRIEND GOING FORWARD:

If I dont know of you in some capacity, I am going to take my time adding you back. For a change I will err on the side of caution and get to know people first.