This is Punk Rock

This is my understanding of Punk Rock as described by The King Blues. Its not Drinking and drugging just cause its illegal. Its not graffitting that silly "Anarchy" A on walls. Its not fights, cursing, ripped clothe etc. This is punk rock. This song is punk rock.

What If Punk Never Happened

Well on a cold Tuesday morning, I was walking into town,
Had my headphones blaring, didn’t notice what was around,
I crossed the road, a car swerved and nearly ran me down,
Looked in the driver’s seat, I swear to God it was Doc Brown,
He said “Are you Michael J Fox?” I said “No I’m Jonny Fox”,
He said “Close enough, get inside,
I’m taking you with me to see another time,
A place you could only have dreamed in your mind,
An alternative reality situated just outside of Clapham,
So strap yourself in,
Cos where we’re going you don’t need roads,
To get to where punk never happened”

We landed in a concrete desert, rubble as far as the eye could see,
I says to Doc “Where we goin’?”
Doc says he’s following me,
We found the only building in the city that was left standing
It was my local venue,
I know cos I recognised the landing,
And there’s a gig on tonight! This town ain’t so bad,
I got everything I need, right here in this pad,
So I pulled out a bottle and took a heroic swig,
Made myself comfortable and got ready for the gig,

Well an hour after doors and there was still no-one there,
The soundman was on acid, the fucking long hair,
The bands never showed cos they didn’t see the point,
When all the kids are at home still smoking a joint,
They won’t go out and do nothing, not on your nelly,
They’re just watching the telly and then feeding their belly,

Their parents listen to The Beatles, while they listen to Nirvana,
Cos Green Day and The Pistols, well they never heard either
They got long sleeve T-shirts and they never shower,
They still believe in flower power,
The hippy dream’s faded but they got nothing new,
So they wear flares and slippers and burn incense sticks too,
The kids would rather skate than go out and smash the state,
While their parents sit still and meditate,
Action’s at a low when people just don’t care,
They zoned out to their surroundings, the anger’s not there,

And I’m stuck in this hippy, grunge reality,
Where the buildings are crumbling down from apathy,
They grab you at school when you’ve just turned 13,
And show you your brand new, life long routine,
You can sleep and work, and work and sleep,
So you can save up the money to buy a new jeep,
So you can sleep and work, and work and sleep,
Then sleep. Then work. Then work. Then sleep.

I pulled a fanzine out my back pocket, held it in my hands,
And watched the colours slowly fade away,
The words bled right off of the pages til it had nothing left to say,
I banged on the jukebox but it was useless,
It had no good records on,
Not even something weak like ‘The Best Punk Album In The World Ever Volume 1’,
Outside the windows, I saw the excavators coming to tear the place down,
No-one stopped them, for there is no community left in this town,
There’s no-one around to fight Margaret Thatcher,
The power of the flower just couldn’t match her,

Too strong was the will of Parliament to cause damage,
That with no punk rock everything went unchallenged,
Land got knocked down to build more land,
That got knocked down again for a couple more grand,
With no punk the protests were full of throwbacks calling each other comrade,
Of course the young folks’ attendance started to fade,
So it was easy for the police to move in, they were trusted,
And that’s when the whole damn town got busted,
They moved CCTV cameras in everywhere,
But the people were too apathetic to care,
They made them carry ID cards to state where they’re from,
As if by being born they had done something wrong,
They shipped all the poor folk to live out in the edges,
So the rich folk could move in and peer over their hedges,
“But before you leave, you’d better build our homes,
There, we’ve done you a favour, now you’re on your own,
This ain’t your home no more, go find somewhere new,
I know you ain’t got the money, cos it’s me who employs you,
I know everything about you, what you eat, how you dress,
Your hobbies, your turn-ons, your email address,
While I had you working in the dark, you didn’t realise,
That I completely stopped your ability to organise,
I didn’t let you have a reason to communicate,
I banned punk rock knowing you hippies would seal your own fate,
I controlled everything you wrote, everything you created,
I distracted you with advertisements so you forgot what you hated,
I fed your dark side, kept you consuming and competing,
And like a dog that doesn’t know when to stop eating,
You took it all, oh and long was it my intention,
You could have beat me if punk rock was your invention”,
Instead the city will be sold to the highest bids,
If only Sham 69 had of united the kids,

If only the 4 Skins had told us ACAB,
If only The Ramones had let us know we were a happy family,
If only The Buzzcocks had shown us how to do it ourself,
If only Crass had shown us there are things more important than wealth,
If only The Vandals had shown us it was OK to smile,
If only The Dead Kennedys had helped us put our government on trial,
If only Rancid had played live, and brought with them that vibe,
If we had Sick Of It All and Madball we could put them all on the frontline,

If we had GG Allin we’d have learned it’s OK to be hated,
If we’d have had The Refused then we could have innovated,
If we’d had Poison Idea then they couldn’t push us over,
If we’d had Minor Threat then we could have done it sober,
If we’d have had Against Me we could have done it all unplugged,
If we’d had Operation Ivy we could have done it then fucked off,
If we had The Blitz, The Clash, Disorder, Propagandhi,
The Exploited, NOFX and anyone that’s handy,

There’s a lesson to be learned, one that I will take home,
When I return to my normal reality zone,
Punk rock has the power to change the world,
It lies in every single punk rock boy and girl,
So don’t let anyone tell you you’re not worth the earth,
These streets are your streets, this turf is your turf,
Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ve got to give in,
Cos you can make a difference, you can change everything,
Just let your dreams be your pilot, your imagination your fuel,
Tear up the book and write your own damn rules,
Use all that heart, hope and soul that you’ve got,
And the love and the rage that you feel in your gut,
And realise that the other world that you’re always looking for,
Lies right here in front of us, just outside this door,
And it’s up to you to go out there and paint the canvas,
After all, you were put on the earth to do this,
So shine your light so bright that all can see,
Take pride in being whoever the fuck you want to be,
Throw your fist in the air in solidarity,
And shout “Viva la punk, just one life, anarchy”.

Happy New Year??

I've been feeling very angry these days. I know this rant ignores many good and indeed great people in the world. But after all it is not directed at them. This message is directed at the people who see the problems we face and don't care unless it effects them.

At this stage everyone is gettin' ready to send their Monotonous, unpersonalised "Happy New Year" text messages to everyone in their phone book, inculding the occassional Associate they no longer speak to, or the people they don't even like. This in itself makes these messages a lie.

This year I will be refraining from texting anyone. I don't care for the new year; and why should I? What has Changed? The problems of 2008 don't disappear? Infact they come with us, and join the growing pile of problems that we will create in 2009, especially as we face almost certian Financial Crisis, worldwide. After the holidays end we go back to the jobs we hate, and the people we no longer wish to date, to Education and exams etc.

After a few weeks we will stop going to the gym and begin smoking again, without even realising that our "resolutions" were just selfish thoughts aimed at bettering ourselves.

44,000 Children here will still live below the Poverty Line
Hundreds will still be dying of Cholera in Zimbabwae
12% of Zambian CHildren will still be orphaned as a result of Aids
Women will still be Raped as a "Tourist Attraction" in Thailand
Civil Rights will still be ignored in Tibet and Burma
Palestinians will still be Opressed and UnFree
Ireland will still be unfree
UK Students will still pay too mych for education
People Will Still Needlessly Destroy the Enviorment
Scientists will still test on animals
33,000 Children will still die of Hunger... every day

and worst off all, People will still not give a fuck.

Yea Happy New Year Folks. 2009 is just going to be another miserable year for "Civilised" people of Planet Earth, where money seems more important than Life. What is Money? Money is Secular, Money is Debt, Money is Corruption.

Until the World wakes up and stops caring only for the size of their bank accounts and realise that people are dying on their doorsteps we won't see a Happy New Year. To quote the title of an Acoutic Revolution song, we have a "21st Century Famine" however I feel it is not a famine off food... it is a famine for Compassion, for caring and for Love.

56.5

Okay just for a bit off fun while I'm setting up this whole new Blogging thing, I have come across a wee activity. Again I know nobody is going to read it but I thought I'd give it ago anyway.

Grab the book closest to you. Go to page 56. Find the 5th sentence and put it in a comment

"Apart from a brief flurry of Republican election successes in the mid-1950's, when four Sinn Fein representatives were elected on abstentionist tickets in the south of Ireland and two in the North(both republican prisioners), there had not been a real Republican electoral options for Nationalists to vote for." - The Hunger Strikes, R.K. Walker

So yea, if you are reading this, give it ago.

God Bless
Peace

Direction and Focus

I'm looking for a direction for my blogs, and a focus point. If you read over my blog, I have alot going on here. It started out as almost a diary about whatever was going on. Then I began to comment on Politics, Social Issues, Design Work, Computing and also continued with my Diary inputs. So I've decided that this doesn't really work. The original title for this Blog was "Whats a Chris?", and thus it made sense to post my Diary inputs. However Social Issues and Politics are a big thing too me. So this is the idea I'm currently jogging along with.

3 Blogs.
1 Account.

If that is possible on Blogger here it is what I plan to do. This blog will return to the title "Whats a Chris?", and I will continue to keep an online Diary effectively. I will continue to use the title "Guerilla Blogging" and that will be for my political opinions, albeit niave opinions, Social Issues and Religious Belief. That title came around as a bit off a joke. I know that some off my friends wouldn't agree with my opinions so I took my name and such off the blog. The third blog I have no title for, but it will be focused on my Design projects.

I'm currently working on the design aspects of the blogs, so it will be a week or so before this project gets off the ground. I've been looking into Blog promotion also, so I'm hoping to get some sort of readers base. We will see how that goes.

God Bless
Peace

Whats it all about...

Well its been too weekends since my last Search retreat. If you have ever read this blog before, which I doubt you have, you will know that Search means a great deal to me. I've mentioned it countless times, and frankly its probably one off the biggest parts off my Life.

The past weekend was great. I think the team worked so well together and I definitely know I bonded with some people. Anyway I decided not to write about the weekend until after our first catch up meeting as this is when you get a real sense off how well it went. By this stage all the hype has died down and you have a chance to sit back and reflect on it. I still think it was great. I've known it to happen before where you feel you have bonded but after the weekend you realise that you haven't bonded at all. I honestly don't feel that is the case this time.

More importantly, you judge how well the candidates enjoyed it, as this is the first time they can come along to weekly meeting. On Tuesday night. nearly all the candidate returned. They all seemed as interested as they did as the weekend came to an end. I wasn't expecting the turn out so obviously I was extatic. But in the end whats it all about...

The mission statement says "Search is a group of young people who enable other young people to explore, experience and share their faith in new ways". I feel it allows you to prioritise your life. It allows us to reflect on what is really important, and what we should put first in life. The main focus of this weekend is then God, however nothing is forced on you. I think this is why it works. We allow you to make your own mind up. I know if I had attended a weekend and it had been all bible and preaching, Id have never returned. The gentle approach allows one to accept God in his or her own time. As a friend once told me, even the Great Man of Galilee whispered.

However to me Search has brought so much more than just a realisation and an acceptance of God. I can honestly say any Holidays, Experiences or Events I have been attended have been as a direct result of Search. I'll tell my story now, its most likely of little interest to many, but I just wanna get it out.

Three years ago, on the 05th of November, 2005, My sister dragged me along to this weekend retreat, run by a group of Young people calling them selves Search. I literally didn't wanna go. I didn't want to sit and have the bible forced on me and be told I was wrong for not being "Christian", to their standards. However upon entering the doors I was met by a really friendly group off people, that seemed to genuinely love eachother. I loved the weekend. I realised it wasn't about being Christian to their standards... It was about being Christian, about accepting that God Loves Me; And So I Did. From here I have achieved so much. I met a group off great people, and though I may not keep them in my life forever I will always have great memories. If you read through my blogs, and find the ones about Friends, and days/night out with my friends you'll note I met most off these people through Search. Due to Search I had a friend in Germany I could rely on, to put me up when I needed a place to stay in Germany.

I have always had wonderlust, and my First holiday outside of Ireland came from being part off Search. I visited Medjugorje, in Bosnia Herzegovina. It was at the time one off the Best weeks of my life. I'll never forget how the Sun sparkled off the Diamond waters of the Adriatic Ocean as the bus rumbled along the Coastal Cliffs of Croatia, down into the green valleys of Bosnia. The following year I attended the Redemptrist European Youth Congress in Limerick. I met some amazing people, and I had a great time. This year I went to Lourde as part off the Clonard Youth Team. Again I met amazing people, and had a great time.

Although I never got the chance to visit the developing world, to do charity work, I got involved with Serve through Search. I was accepted to fly to Thailand as a worker. Although this never came to be, I have great memories, such as Flip Flop Friday. More Info here...

Although most off my first gigging band had met before Search I feel it was through the group we cemented our bonds at the time, strong enough to forge a band. Since then sadly the cement has cracked, and the bonds seem to have split. I picked up my Acoustic Guitar, after years of neglection due to Search.

I could go on and on and on... But I doubt you read all this so I'll leave it here

God Bless
Peace

Ireland, Yes You Can

Last Sunday the Ministry of Defence, MOD, had organised a Parade through Belfast for the RIR returning from the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. My first point to bring here is that the MOD should have known better. This Parade was quite controversial in Ireland. The RIR have rose from the remnant of the UDR, much the way the PSNI where the remnant of the RUC. A rose by another name would smell so Sweet.

I did support the Republican view, that no British Army regiment should be paraded victoriously through our Non-British city. The Parade was a slap in the face off any Republican that has supported the unarmed advancement towards Peace. It was completely ignorant to the struggle and beliefs of 50% of this part of the Island. As a result I support the Republican demonstrations. However I was fairly disappointed with the only Legal demonstrations, as I felt it folded to way too many demands. It changed its route, its time and its final gathering point. To paraphrase the words of Eírígís Chairman, Brian Leeson, "Did Martin Luther ask Permission to march?". I'm very much against appeasement if it is to the detriment of ones beliefs. This Parade was merely to remind the People of the Occupied territory those they where just that... Occupied.

Brian Leeson however calmed my disappointment to the legal Republican march. He raises the point that we had a victory. The British Army paraded without music, without Arms and without RAF fly over as was planned. However I also had problems with the Protest Parades. Sinn Fein allowed the British Media to portray this Protest as a Republican, when this Parade should have been a Community wide protest for Peace, against the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However this along with a previous post of mine about Amnesty International, has made me think. Many Humanitarian groups, Charities and Pressure groups along with the UN and the EU, have internationally recognised the Struggle in, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, DR Congo, Darfur and the list goes on. However Ireland do not have International recognition of their Struggle for Freedom.

I believe the Republican movement needs to Campaign for this International recognition. The EU rules state, or stated, that no Country that lays claim to another can become a member, and yet the British, who lay claim to Scotland, Wales and Ireland have been members since the beginning. The UN have not officially recognised the Struggle, and recognised British Crowned Forces as being an occupying force.

Amnesty International is holding the "Un-Subscribe Me" campaign against torture in Guantanamo Bay Prison. They are one of many Humanitarian groups with this stance, yet none spoke out when the Irish people where being tortured in British run Prisons in their own country. The video in my Amnesty International post is specifically to highlight the "Stress Position" for of torture, however this technique has been used time and time again in Ireland. The have not called for the British to be called up for War crimes in Ireland, yet they call for America to be trialled over Iraq.

The struggle for Irish Freedom seems relatively low on peoples interest lists theses days. Appeasement and striving to obtain Political correctness, has almost killed the struggle. It’s no longer okay to say "I'm an Irish Republican", because it may annoy. To be Republican is not something to shy away from, it is not a bad thing and it is only offensive to people who are too close minded to accept the political views off other people.

Just recently, as stated in my last blog, the American people elected Barack Obama. The American people voted for change, and despite the odds, a voice said "Yes You Can", and they did. Well my message to those who feel a United Irish Nation is no longer achievable I say this:

Yes You Can.

Can you achieve the Goal, off a free United Ireland, separate from any foreign Governing body? Yes You Can!

The Proclamation of Independence, as read on the steps of the GPO in 1916 and accepted by Dáil Éireann, already states that we are a free independent country when it says "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible".

Ireland don't give up on your Country. You can be Free... Yes You Can.

God Bless
Peace

America, Yes You Can

Well, it seems I will be keeping my Political expectations to myself for now on. As with my prediction of the Lisbon Treaty, I was also incorrect about the results for the American Presidential Election.

America Proved Me Wrong.

I really thought they would vote Republican. My faith in America has been restored recently anyway, but I still didn't feel the Population would elect a Black President. I Was Wrong. I woke up this morning to view History. A little of me wishes I was part off that History. I Love being Irish, but today it would appeal to me to be American, for the first time in many years.

JFK made the American population proud to be American. I believe that Obama has done the same thing for Americans today, after popular opinion hasn't been too friendly in recent years. The wars and the failing economy seem to have dampened America's view of itself. However this election has seemingly changed that.

This election has been slated as being "Historic", and I feel it has been, but maybe for different reasons than most. I've never seen an election in any country where, though I don't agree with everything both sides are saying, I do actually like both candidates. If I had to pick any Politician to be my Grandad, it would have been McCain. Both Candidates seemed to be genuinely nice people, which is a rare quality in Politics. The campaigns where not "dirty" to the level Politics usually gets too. The candidates seem to have a genuine respect for each other; Even in McCains closing speech, after accepting defeat, he defended Obama against a booing crowd.

I was backing Obama, purely because I'm slightly more Left Wing, and I feel he was too. I didn't completely agree with Obama however, and on some things I agreed with McCain.

I think the reason for Obama's win was 'cause he seemed to offer a way out of the past Eight years of failed Government. Although McCain was a Maverick, and no one can actually deny that, I feel he was to closely tied to Bush.

I think either candidate would have been good for America; Both Candidates would have brought Welcome Change. However more so with the Obama camp.

However tomorrow America will wake up, and George W. Bush will still be President; Their Husbands, wives, sons and daughters will still be in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Economy will still be close to Recession, and so maybe the celebrations should be held off for just a while, at least until January 20th 2009. Obama has a lot of work to do, and so Does America but today may have proved one thing...

America, Yes You Can

God Bless,
Peace

Waiting for the Guards

An impressive video as part of the campaign for Amnesty Internationals "UnSubscribe" Campaign. In recent years I have chose not to follow Amnesty over their refusal to accept a ProLife stance, however I strongly believe in this campaign.

Going Green?

Well, again its been a while. I just can't get myself into blogging since my return from Europe. I've wrote blogs, but deemed them uninteresting, and didn't post them. Up until now that hasn't bothered me, but now these days it does. I haven't been able to find inspiration. However this one is a rant in reference to a conversation I had recently.

I am quite enviormental. I would be an advocate for "going green". My discussion here is how non enviormentals tend to make a bigger thing out of it than Enviormentalists do. What do I mean by this? Well simply when you talk to people about "Going Green", their immediate reaction seems to be "Oh thats too much hassle". Well really its not that hard at all. Simple things can make a big difference, however people undermine them. For example, if your not in a room then turn the light out. Not watching TV; Turn it off. Going to a nearby store, walk don't drive. Many people think that its a whole other life being an "Enviormentalist", so much so that I'm not sure I want to relate myself to the word anymore.

"Going Green" can be simple changes to the way you do things, and just a little more extra thought. One thing that came up in our discussion was how they thought going green meant cutting out luxuries such as Air Travel. Where as some enviormentalists do choose not to use Air Travel, it is not an essential change. I for example have travelled three times by plane this summer. Infact we do not need to cut any of the luxuries out of our life; We don;t need to watch less tv, reduce Computing time, travel less etc etc. Just try the simple things.

1. Don't leave the Lights on if your not in the room
2. Turn of the TV at the mains, when your done watching
3. Turn of your PC at the mains
4. Don't drive unless you have too
5. Wash at Forty
6. Recycle

Recycling is the only change, that really takes more hassle. It does invovle sorting your waste, and may involve travelling to recycling bins or bays. Though for most of the North of Ireland, recycling bins are available from the councils, and will be collected in the same way as your waste bins.

So yeah thats all I wanted to say really. It may not seem that interesting to anyone, but trying the little things will help the enviorment, if we all start doing so. What other benifits are there? Well, you will save money, and in the time where the Worlds economy seems to be heading towards crisis, many countries already there, then we could all do with saving a few pennies. You'll spend less on electricity and less on gas. It benifits you and the Enviorment.

So yeah try the Green option for a while, and see what you think about it.

Sorry about the Self righteous Enviormentalist talk

God Bless
Peace

Im Sorry

Well its been a long time sine I made the effort to get a Blog up. I have yet to Blog about my trip to Europe and I have yet to have put up a Blog about my Week in Lourde. So I'm gonna throw quite alot in to this one.

Basically Europe was amazing. The indepth blog that I kept will never surface, by now its irrelevant. I flew into Paris, then visited Brest on the North West Coast of France. Its a lovely Maritime villiage. From here we returned to Paris. The City is beautiful, and is rife with Art, History and as much as I'd like to avoid the Cliché, it really is the City of Love. If your staying in Paris I would suggest the Montmartré area. It translates to the Mount of Martyrs. My reasoning is for the close proximity to the Sacré-Couer. It was my favourite Parisian site. If in Paris use their Metro. Its fantastic.

From here we crossed borders into Belgium to visit Brugge. Another beautiful place. The Camp sote we stayed in was beautiful, and was less than a half hour from the Square. We attended mass at the Chapel of the Precious Blood, and venerated the relic. It was all very overwellming. Before leaving Belgium we made the obvious stop in the Capital, Brussels. I don't want to talk ad about someones city, but I didn't get Brussels at all. Another border Crossing brought us to Germany, to the city that hosted the World Youth Day, previous to Sydney. Koln. It was a very nice city, and has a fascinating Cathedral and a great Zoo. From here we visisted a friend in birth place of Beethoven, Bonn. Then crossed borders again to the Beautiful city of Luxembourg. It really was a stunning place. Back into France this time to visit Strasbourg, before heading into Germany again for to ee Freiburg. We travelled back home through Paris, London, Holy head and Dublin.

Okay, I guess I'll talk about Lourde now. Lourde was amazing, and I have made memories that will last a life time. I met some amazing people, whom I hope to also have in my life forever. The whole place was amazing. The actual Sanctuary had me in awe. However the most special place in my eyes would have to be the Grotto. I stood in an area, that just 150 years ago, the Mother of Christ, and our Mother in Heaven stood. I was in absolute Peace the whole time I was there; Pray was easier than it has been in a long while. The Papal mass that I attended at 6am in the morning was great. The atmophere was fantastic. On top of the fact my Faith was given the boost I was looking for, the Craic was mighty also. Heres to the Jeanne D'Arc. Also it provided me with my first visit to the Basque region. It was a Beautiful Day.

In other not so great news, I'm not very happy in my current Job. I feel like I am no more than a glorified Technician or Secetary. Now I have no problems with said jobs; but after two years in a Industry specific course, this is not what I feel I should be doing. I know however I should not complian as many others have no jobs, and struggle with Cash flow. I pray for the strengthn to accept the work year ahead.

I believe that is all.
I won't be a stranger.

God Bless
Peace