Formado em 1999, o Evergreen Terrace, quinteto de Jacksonville/Florida, mostra que é possível misturar hardcore melódico com metal sem causar estranhamento.

Para comprovar, é só dar um play no vídeo abaixo, Sending Signals, presente em seu mais recente álbum Almost Home, que saiu em setembro pela Metal Blade Records e que traz 11 faixas e participação de Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying).

Vale dizer que em breve eles entram em turnê pela Europa ao lado de Ignite, Biohazard, Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo, Walls Of Jericho e No Turning Back; e que o guitarrista que divide os vocais do ET com Andrew Carey é Josh James, que também é vocalista da banda straight edge Casey Jones.

Quem quiser ouvir um pouco mais do Evergreen Terrace — que provavelmente tirou seu nome da vizinhança dos Simpsons — é só clicar aqui!

E aí, Simpsonscore ou Karate Kidcore?

‘Heaven’ by WorldInMyAndYourEyes

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My favourite tracks in October 2009. All links go to HypeMachine where you can listen to the selected track.

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♫ Higher Than Stars – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart ♥ ♥ ♥

♫ Higher Than Stars (Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank Mix) – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart ♥ ♥ ♥

♫ Feel.Love.Thinking.Of – Faunts

♫ I Think I’ll Start A Fire – Faunts

♫ It Hurts Me All The Time – Faunts

♫ When The Sun Hits – Slowdive

♫ The Worst Taste in Music – The Radio Dept.

♫ Under The Sheets – Ellie Goulding ♥ ♥ ♥

♫ Animal – Miike Snow

♫ Animal (Peter Bjorn & John Remix) – Miike Snow

♫ Animal (Fred Falke Remix) – Miike Snow

♫ Into The Clouds (Fear of Tigers Remix) – The Sound of Arrows

♫ Panic – Xuman

♫ Extra Special – Animalistics

♫ Fader – The Temper Trap

♫ Sweet Disposition (Alan Wilkis Remix) – The Temper Trap

♫ In Search of Main – Miike Snow

♫ The Human Touch (Sidechains Remix) – Heads We Dance

♫ Follow Me ft. Annie (Lifelike Remix) – Ercola

♫ Collect Call (Tom Wrecks Remix) – Metric

♫ Your Tiny Mind (Lifelike Remix) – Relation ♥ ♥ ♥

♫ Your Tiny Mind (Diogenes Club Remix) – Relation

♫ Mowgli’s Road (Mille Remix) – Marina & The Diamonds

♫ Don’t Stop (Lifelike Remix) – Heartache

♫ Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension

♫ The XX – Heart Skipped a Beat

♫ Love is Gone – (Fred Rister & Joachim Garraud Radio Edit Remix) – David Guetta & Chris Willis

♫ Gui Boratto – No Turning Back

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us” (Phil 3:12-15 Message).

I remember well the 5K Cross Country meets of high school — the anticipation, the starting gun, the 3.1 miles of agony, self-discipline, pain, sickness, competition, endurance, sense of accomplishment, victory or defeat. CC runners have always prided themselves on the confused looks and baffled comments of fellow classmates who cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to subject their bodies to such a seemingly miserable kind of sport. Still, those who’ve experienced some of the rewards — usually intangible — that come with this sort of personal challenge and physical test know that there is something special, something powerfully meaningful in starting, enduring and finishing a race.

The apostle Paul seems to be drawing from the imagery of an athletic race of sorts. The Christian life is a test of spiritual endurance as we fix our eyes upon the goal ahead. Paul makes it very clear that he’s still got a lot of road ahead of him. He’s well out of the gate and has plenty of miles already under his belt. The Christian race is not a 5K but marathon for sure. It’s a long, arduous challenge with many chances to throw in the towel and call it quits. But Paul is no quitter and his attitude provides a great example for us to follow in our own race towards that finish line that awaits us.

What can we learn from this passage about the race and how to run it?

1. First, we are told some extremely encouraging news: We are not running it alone. This is a relay of sorts. Paul makes clear that the Christian life of discipleship is not just exerting all of our own efforts, flexing our spiritual muscles in order to finish on our own power. No, just when we’re about to collapse we find ourselves reaching out with the baton towards Christ who’s reaching back towards us in order to take the baton and run the next few laps for us while we catch our breath. “But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me.” Christ is with us in this race, reaching out toward us in our weakness and picking up the slack on our behalf. And it’s a good thing, too.

2. Second, Paul shows us the importance of being a coachable disciple. Even the great apostle Paul doesn’t claim to be an expert on how to run this entire race.  Paul says, “By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this.” He’s open to his trainer’s advice. He’s listening to his coaches on the sidelines, obeying their instructions so as to finish strong and well. He goes on, “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus.” Yes, God is in the bleachers, on the sidelines, at the finish line, directing our way and cheering us on.  Our job is to listen to God’s beckoning voice.

3.  Third, we must not turn back and take our eyes off the goal ahead. This hardly needs explanation. We have all learned this lesson from preschool on. Whether it’s coloring outside the lines in daycare or taking our eyes off the ball in baseball or changing the radio station in the car, we all know that success comes when we keep our eyes focused on the goal before us. Failure results when our eyes or hearts or minds or desires get distracted and drawn elsewhere. Paul’s advice to all who desire “everything God has for us” is simple: Keep your eyes fixed on the goal.  Don’t look back.

So, what is the goal exactly?  Well, we should know this by now. Repeatedly throughout this letter Paul has told us that Jesus himself is both the goal and source of our faith.  Remember the puzzle’s box cover from Phil 2:5-11?  In the verses leading up to this passage the goal for which Paul runs is to know Christ and have a Christ-defined existence — nothing more, nothing less: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (3:8).

So, let’s keep running — for our race is not in vain!

Reflections on Michael Raiter’s first talk on Luke 9:51 – 10:2 (passage at bottom of entry)

No turning back. Commitment. Dedication.

I have trouble with all the above. I can’t even stay with one job for longer than 9 months (which I’m working on, by the way – 9 months and counting!). The idea of doing the same thing everyday for more than a few years makes me uneasy. What makes me really uneasy is the thought of missing opportunities. The irony is often I’m paralysed by the thought of making the wrong decision and so I make no decision at all, or I make it at the last possible minute. The downside of finding commitment and dedication difficult is that it is often impossible to predict what my future holds. How do I know what I will be doing next year or the next ten years if I don’t even know what I will be doing next month?

This passage in Luke is a travel narrative. It tells of what happens on Jesus’ way to Jerusalem, where he will eventually be crucified and raised again from the dead.

Where are you going?

I don’t know. I feel as though I am at a crossroad, spinning on the spot and looking down a different road every other moment. One day I’m thinking about Bible school, tomorrow I’m thinking about being an academic, the next day I’m thinking about being a make up artist, and the next day after that I’m thinking of going back to Brazil! How do I choose? Where am I going? Where does God want me to go? Missionary? Academic? Teacher? Where am I going?

Where did Jesus ultimately go?

To heaven. To glory. To the Father. As a ‘follower’ of Jesus, what else could it mean besides myself also ultimately going to heaven, to glory, to the Father? In my day to day living I have forgotten about this. I’ve somehow lost sight of that ultimate destination. I have become sidetracked by all these flashy, exciting things by the wayside. God spoke through Michael’s talk and raised my eyes to see that ultimate destination once again. It is like snowboarding – in order for you to go where you want to go, your eyes need to be locked onto that spot; the slightest moment of distraction or looking down and kaput, down you fall.

How did Jesus get to that ultimate destination?

Via the cross. Via Jerusalem.

The cross was primarily about shame, not pain. Jesus hung there stark naked; his weak, beaten and bloody body torturously displayed for the mocking world to see. Even Mel Gibson’s Jesus had a loincloth.

‘I’ll follow you wherever you go.’
Luke 9:57

Did that young man really understand where Jesus was going?

Do I know where Jesus passed through to get to that ultimate destination? I think not. Or at the very least, not as well as I should know. The crucifixion is something I have always shied away from. Not because I think I am above it, but because it is too confronting. The pain, the shame, the agony: I can’t help but avert my gaze. Do I know where I need to also pass through to follow Jesus? Do I think of following Jesus as a path strewn with accolades and praise, or do I think of following Jesus as a path of pain, shame and suffering?

It is so tempting to be amused by that young man’s misunderstanding of Jesus’ path with our understanding of His death, yet it is another matter altogether when I put myself into his shoes and realise that hey, I’m not so different after all.

Luke 9

Samaritan Opposition

⁵¹As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them^[c]?” ⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶and^[d] they went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” ⁶²Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 10

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-two

¹After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ²He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

All Scripture from New International Version

[direktlink]

album: take my breath away
year: 2009

I’m practically done with the Festival, so I guess this playlists thing is gonna be on the low from now on.

Still, yesterday was one of those days you can only get through with some good tunes on your ears, so I leave you with my choice of music:

Shark Attack – Discography – The cover above is from the record Blood in the Water, but I didn’t even choose an album, just pressed “all” on the player and I was on.

No Turning Back – Revenge is a Right (Remastered Version) – One of the greatest things, if not THE greatest, European hardcore has ever witnessed. This is one of those I gotta hear at least once a month, along with the song “Never Give Up” from the second LP.

Trapped Under Ice – Secrets of the World – What can I say? I just love this band. Hasn’t left my winamp, my mp3 player or my record player ever since it came out.

Length Of Time – Approach to the New World – Classic. I put this album on my mp3 when I first bought it, just trying out some tunes while skating…ended up listening to it non-stop in a whole skating afternoon and it’s still there.

You may have noticed this is an exclusively hardcore playlist. When it comes to the hard times, nothing can replace my need of some good old hardcore music.

In a minute I’ll be back on my grind over here in the blog, with more thoughtful posts, so pay attention in the next few days.

Deore and Shay are 308

Name: Deore and Shay
Band: 308
Genres: Live Urban/Pop, R&B, Soul
City: London
Country: England – U.K.
Web: http://www.308online.com

308 are a singer, songwriter, producer duo from South London, U.K.

The two brothers officially formed 308 in February 2007. They have already co-written their first album mixtape ‘No Turning Back’, which boasts collaborations with Kele Le Roc (My Love), Sadie Ama (Fallin’), Richie Dan (Call It Fate) and Darren Martyn (Sorry Part 2).

… Ras Kwame of BBC 1xtra chose the track to feature on his ‘Homegrown Podcast’ which showcases the best in UK urban talent.

You can hear more of 308 stuff at www.myspace.com/308online.

The Guys still will comes for few Shows to Germany; infos still comes soon.
feel free for enquires ffa@technoagent.de          … read more …

Scripture: “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-68 (NIV)

When I was a child, “Follow the Leader” was one of my favorite games. Have you ever played “Follow the Leader?” Of course you have! “Follow the Leader” is a game that is played and enjoyed by children all over the world.

The rules are very simple. First, you choose a leader. Then you follow him wherever he goes and do whatever he does. You stomp through puddles, climb over fences, or swing from a tree — all to stay in the game because nobody wants to be a quitter.

“Follow the Leader” is a great game, but in our daily lives we play follow the leader too. In school, in Church, in sports, in any activity in which we may participate, there are always leaders. Every day we choose which leader we will follow.

One day Jesus was teaching in the synagogue and he said to the people, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. He who feeds on this bread will live forever.”  That was a difficult teaching for some to understand. When they heard it, they said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Some of them quit following Jesus after that day.

Jesus knew that many people were grumbling and complaining, so he turned to the twelve whom he had chosen to be his disciples and said, “You don’t want to leave too, do you?”

As usual, it was Peter who spoke up. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” The disciples had answered the call to follow Jesus. They were not about to turn back now.

There is a song that some of you may know called “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” It goes like this:

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

Have you decided to follow Jesus? It may not always be easy, but once you have decided to follow him, there is no turning back.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, you have called us to follow you. May we answer, “Yes, Lord, I’ll follow you — no turning back, no turning back.” Amen.

love this music video illustration and the music!

Just got the official word last night that all building permits are in hand and we are “full steam ahead” on Monday!  I am excited and a bit terrified.  I imagine this may be a little like your first hard core labour pains– baby’s in the birth canal and there is no turning back now.  OWWWWWWW!

Yes, it’s small. Yes, it’s girlie. But this is not just another butterfly tattoo.

You see, I love butterflies.  I read this story over ten years ago, and since then butterflies have become a symbol of my faith and my struggles in it.

I would never imagine seeing a butterfly trying to cram her way back into that cocoon. That’s simply ridiculous !

When I look at my butterfly I want to be reminded of the transformation and regeneration Christ has done in my life.

Below are just a few scriptures that I am encouraged by with thoughts of my butterfly.

Do you have any you would like to share?

Revelation 21:5

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new ” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” ( HE makes all things, not somethings, not just improved, NEW)

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ( old things are passed away, a butterfly can never ever go back into the cocoon and regress to be a caterpillar)

Philippians 1:6

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (He began the good work in me, he will perfect it, it’s a process that continues “until the day of Christ Jesus”)

Ephesians 2

Made Alive in Christ

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ²in which you formerly walked according to the course of  this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

³Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up with Him, and  seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Titus 3:3-7

³ For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,  ⁶whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  ⁷so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

“How does one become a butterfly?” she [a caterpillar] asked pensively. [the butterfly replied] “You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar. What looks like you will die, but what’s really you will still live. Life is changed, not taken away.” Trina Paulus, author, “Hope for the Flowers.”

Moving Forward,

Julie

Ohh and also, thanks to Matt over at Ink Link Tattoos, I am sure you could do something more elaborate and artsy, but you did exactly what I wanted.

If you are in the West Palm Beach area, and are interested in getting a tat, call Ink Link! 561.712.9009 !!

In keeping with my tradition of producing hugely lengthy reports of Conferences and events I attend, this is the report of the Compass Conference which took place last month, the week after the depressing European Election results in which the BNP gained two seats, and the turmoil in the Government as ‘Labour rebels’ plotted to oust Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.

I wrote most of it ages ago, but entirely forgot to put it up. Still I think (unlike Caroline Flint’s resignation) the maxim of ‘Better Late than Never’ holds good.

On Saturday 13th June I travelled down to London to attend the Annual Conference of Compass.

Compass is an intriguing Organisation, part pressure group, part think-thank, aiming to provide ‘Direction for the Democratic Left’.
Founded in 2003 by Neal Lawson, a one time aide to Gordon Brown, turned political lobbyist, Compass is usually seen as an organisation operating within the Labour Party, although you don’t have to be a member of the Labour Party to join, and this conference included prominent speakers from the Liberal Democrat and Green Parties amongst others.
Political commentators also often compare Compass with rival pro-Labour pressure group, the more Blairite Protractor – sorry Progress.

Anyway, enough background. The Conference beginning at 9.45 and the choice of early morning trains from Sheffield to London not exactly being extensive, I left the house at 5.35, even meeting some friends coming back from a night out on my way down to the Station.

After an uneventful train journey on which I read the Literary Review and pretended to be intellectual, I arrived at St. Pancras. I walked through the still sleepy streets towards the Institute of Education on Bedford Way, where the Conference was being held.
I knew I must be getting close as I saw various trade Union leaders sitting outside cafes, and knew I’d arrived when I saw a Socialist Workers Party stall in the street.

Various friends who I’d tried to persuade to attend the Conference with me had cried off, with their excuses having a sliding scale of validity. However, I wasn’t too concerned as I thought I’d be bound to see people I knew. This hunch was born out when after registering almost the first person I saw was Dannie Grufferty, or ‘The Gruffalo’ as I affectionately (and irritatingly) call her, President of Liverpool Guild of Students.

After a bit of mutual moaning about trains, tiredness, and the state of the world, we did a lap of the stalls which had been set up. There seemed to be rather less stalls than at last year’s Conference (perhaps part of a Compass backlash against free marketeers in the wake of the credit crunch?), but every conceivable Socialist organisation still seemed to be represented – either having a stall (Tribune, the Co-operative Party, the Labour Representation Committee, etc, etc), or standing around flyering or trying to sell their newspapers (The Socialist Party, The Socialist Workers’ Party, The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, Socialist Action, etc, etc).

After chatting with the staff on the NUS stall, and guzzelling some free tea, we ran into Alan Scobbie, veteran Edinburgh and Manchester politico, and former Campaigns and Membership Officer for Labour Students [one of those innocuous sounding jobs which carries importance in the small world of student politics].
Having exchanged greetings and gossip, the three of us made our way into the main hall ready for the start of the first session of the day. Before the session began we were joined by fellow Liverpudlian Sabb Liz Williams. As Liz had a photo of herself in a toga as her facebook profile picture for about six months, it’s always a slight disappointment to see her turn up to things dressed normally, but it was still lovely to see her, and she joined our motley crew.

The first session consisted of keynote speeches from various interesting figures, and was kick-started by Neal Lawson, the Chair of Compass, saying ‘Firstly, I’d just like to say Compass is an organisation that believes in Rocking the Boat.’ There was much laughter at this geeky political in-joke, while Harriet Harman grimaced.

He then introduced Billy Hayes, General Secretary of the Communications Workers’ Union as one of the Union leaders who ‘gets it’ and understands the need for ‘bold government not incremental changes’.

Billy Hayes then made a well received speech, starting by saying ‘If we agree on the failure of neo-liberalism we’ll have a platform for progress’, and drawing loud applause with calls to scrap ID cards and the Trident nuclear deterrent. However he praised the government for introducing a new top-rate of tax, telling us to ‘ignore the squeals of the richest’, and welcome ‘this step towards a more progressive tax system.’
He called for electoral reform and said ‘We need to end the myth that PR is just an issue for the chattering classes’, declaring it a fundamental issue for our democracy as it has to do with holding the political elite to account.
He also spoke about the rise of the B.N.P., connecting it to issues such as the lack of affordable housing and job security, and describing Nick Griffin as ‘the Hannibal Lector of British Politics’.

Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, was next to speak. Billy Hayes had been largely preaching to the converted, and HH was clearly faced with an unenviable task of winning over a fairly demoralised and disillusioned audience.

She acknowledged that there was a ‘deep anger’ amongst Labour activists at the M.P.s expenses scandal, and how it had contributed to Labour councillors and MEPs losing their seats in the elections the week before.
She reassured delegates that the government was taking ‘bold action’ to tackle the crisis (‘bold’ and ‘progressive’ rapidly emerging as buzzwords of the Conference), with all details of expenses claims being published online in future, and being independently assessed. She also said that the Government were considering banning MPs from having second jobs.

This is a tricky one for me, as I rather like the sort of 1950s idea of M.P.s who were in Westminster half the week and spent the rest of their time being doctors or lawyers in their constituencies. However, I imagine the reality is that most M.P.s second jobs are now sitting on the Boards of Tobacco Corporations, or acting as advisors to multinational companies, so perhaps this is no great lost to the body politic.

Harman also said that although some M.P.s had clearly abused the system, she believed most M.P.s were still hard-working, decent people. This drew gleeful applause from a couple of M.P.s sat in front of us.
She also discussed wider politics, saying ‘we need to remember the imperative of those we represent who depend on Labour, and who need Labour to be in power’, and argued that Labour ‘needs to fight the next election not as an election for a fourth term, but as for a first term after the global recession.’

Focusing (briefly) on the European elections, she reiterated that Labour wanted to place Britain ‘at the heart of Europe – granted it has taken a tad longer than we’d hoped…’

She finished by talking about the Equality Bill being introduced, which will make in compulsory for public institutions to work to promote social equality, and narrow the gap between rich and poor, and as a side effect will make in illegal for the BNP to Black and Asian people from membership. (I’m sure Black and Asian people will be delighted at this new opportunity…)

The next speaker was John Healey, the Director of the charity War on Want.

Although praising Harriet Harman’s contribution, he then proceeded to make an impassioned speech taking issue with almost everything she’d said.
He spoke of his discomfort that despite War on Want being founded by a Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson (cheers from some of the older people in the room), the organisation had found itself in opposition to ‘nearly everything’ this government has done.

He argued that although it appreciated the depth of public anger, the government did not realise the depth of desire for radical change, saying ‘We can’t paper over the cracks with bailouts for banks, we need to completely change our economic structure’, and that while ‘the Labour government continues to push for privatisation’ what we need are ‘public services in public hands’.

He stressed the importance of internationalist values, saying that rather than the rhetoric of ‘British jobs for British workers’ the Labour movement needed to stand for ‘decent jobs for all workers.’
He also argued that ‘On Palestine, the key injustice in the world, Labour sided with the oppressor against the oppressed.’ This drew loud applause, but also some murmurs of disagreement, the Israel-Palestine conflict living up to its reputation of inflaming and dividing opinion like no other issue.

He echoed previous speakers in calling for progressives to ‘redouble efforts to defeat the BNP and everything they stand for’. He said that he hoped that the BNP are now ‘like Napoleon before Moscow’, in that they look triumphant but they’re dangerously exposed. (Now I’m a big fan of historic parallels but I hope we can beat the BNP without burning down our capital city…)

After John Healey, the leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas MEP took to the stage. She began her speech by thanking Compass for inviting her to speak saying it was quite a brave decision. ‘I didn’t realise quite how brave until I read some of the reaction from the blogosphere.’ To illustrate her point she then read out this extract from the blog of a ‘prominent Labour councillor in Hackney’ [Luke Akehurst]:

‘Bonkers soft left factionalists Compass have just announced that the latest keynote speaker at their annual rally is Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP.
Why not go the whole hog and invite Nick Clegg and David Cameron as well?
In my borough and in Oxford, Norwich and Brighton, the Labour Party is engaged in a strategic electoral battle with the Greens. We don’t need a dialogue with these single-issue clowns and their anti-working class policies, we need to attack and destroy them.’

This was received with much supportive laughter, but a few growls of agreement.

‘Did Alan write that blog?’ whispered Dannie.

‘No. I think it was one of his predecessors.’ I replied.

This issue, of whether Compass should be giving a platform and engaging with dialogue with parties which challenge Labour electorally, rumbled on in a subterranean manner throughout the day. I think it’s fair to say that must people who spoke on the day itself agreed with the Lucas-Lawson view that dialogue is important, and that Labour activists should engage constructively with allies on the left. However, this view is far from universal, with Luke Akehurst, in typically unbending form, commenting further on the issue here.

Lucas went on to give one of the most interesting, and well received speeches of the day. She reiterated many of the points raised by previous speakers, focusing particularly on the need to challenge privatisation, saying ‘We need an economy that puts people first, not big business’, and calling for the introduction of a living wage.

She declared ‘New Labour has lost its way. One of the most damning statistics for this government is the continued and widening gap between the rich and the poor.’ [Harriet Harman adamantly shook her head at this.]

She pointed out that in the previous week’s European elections Labour came fifth in the South East, the ‘heartlands of New Labour’, and that this meant ‘the era of Tony Blair’s big tent is well and truly over’, adding ‘Now we need a campsite of lots of smaller tents’. This broad canvass vision (groan) was picked up on by John Harris in his Guardian article about the Conference.

She argued that the progressive parties of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens have much more in common than they have in dividing them, and that they should co-operate much more, but ‘you have to recognise our right to exist’, making it clear that the Greens have no intention of operating inside the Labour Party, or as anything other than an independent party.

Returning to the issue of electoral reform she said ‘We need a political system that encourages this type of co-operation, so we should have a referendum on Proportional Representation, and the result should be binding.’

However before finishing she departed somewhat from the spirit of co-operation, stating, to the agreement of some, and the consternation of many others in the room, ‘Under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Labour has become the Party of War, Privatisation and attacks on Civil Liberties!’

The final speaker of the first session was the Chair of Compass, Neal Lawson. He didn’t pull any punches in criticising the political direction of the Government, saying that New Labour had been ‘a massive wasted opportunity’ which had reached ‘the end of the road’. We now needed to understand why it went wrong.

He talked of the events of recent weeks, the plots against Gordon Brown’s leadership, and the predicament Compass had been in, being faced with an ‘impossible choice’ over whether to call for a new leader or stick with the Devil we know (‘Harriet, that’s just a figurative term…’).

However, Compass had not called for Brown to resign, as their still seemed to be an absence of an alternative, with it not being clear what other potential leaders ‘wanted to lead the party for’. Lawson saying to applause ‘It’s not our job to decode, interpret, second guess what these people stand for. It’s for them to show us what they stand for. If they want to lead they should show us leadership!’

He elaborated that ‘It’s not the personality of the Prime Minister which has lead to the rise of the BNP, and the rise of inequality’, but the ‘wrong politics’ and that fact that ‘we’re heading in the wrong direction.’
He argued that Labour had stopped being the party of social democracy (Maybe mourning for this was the reason he was dressed entirely in black?), as the point of ‘social democracy can only be to regulate markets in the interest of people and not for profit’ which Labour had largely stopped doing.
He declared ‘The worship of money and wealth deforms our culture and society. Now we’re not anti-business. But we are pro-society.’

He then talked about the sort of Politics he wanted to see, placing the need for a powerful civil society at the centre of it. In a bit of political gossip he mentioned that before the 1997 General Election Tony Blair wanted to get rid of the pledge to create a Scottish Parliament, worrying that it was a vote loser. But because of the powerful civil society movement in Scotland, in the shape of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, including Trade Unions and faith groups, there was so much pressure for devolution that Blair couldn’t backtrack.

Similarly, Boris Johnson has similarly introduced a living wage for many workers in London, not because he wanted to, but because the London Citizens organisation, created such a powerful lobby of different forces that he had no choice.

At about this point, a rather dishevelled aggressive gentlemen wandered into the hall, and shouted ‘You’ve got black people in here! That’s not representative of Britain!’ [A very strange thing to say at any time, but a bizarre thing to say in London!]

There was a moment of confusion, as the heckler was quickly ejected by Gavin Hayes, playing the role of guard dog, and Neil Lawson asked ‘Is that David Miliband, regretting something else?’

Lawson spoke of the need to recognise that the ‘Post war welfare state was not jut built on the ideas of Labour people. Keynes was a liberal. Beveridge was a Liberal. Butler was a Tory’, and that ideas come from all sources, and we have to listen and talk, and come together to ‘end the old tribes’ of ‘steam age politics’.
Like many speakers he believed ‘This politics can only be built under Proportional Representation’ as the First Past the Post system ‘tells New Labour to ignore its core vote in favour of a few swing votes in a few swing seats’.

doodeenvoudig, rustig, schattig animatieclipje:

The second single off Sarah Blasko’s forthcoming album As Day Follows Night is No Turning Back.

With its jazz stylings, stomping beat throughout and ghostly backing vocals there really is No Turning Back for Sarah Blasko. This song is simple yet epic and I can’t help but stomp/sing along. You can download No Turning Back here.

Watch the video below:

Directed by Celeste Potter at Carbon By Carbon.

The new record is out at the end of the week (July 10)……exciting! Oh and it’s this week’s feature album on Triple J.

If you pre-order the deluxe edition not only will it be signed by Sarah herself but you get a bonus disc of show tunes and pretty cards you bring to life by water painting! Needless to say I have ordered mine already x

Pre-order here.

Sarah Blasko - As Day Follows Night tracklisting
Down On Love
All I Want
Bird On A Wire
Hold On My Heart
We Won’t Run
Is My Baby Yours?
Sleeper Awake
No Turning Back
Lost & Defeated
Over & Over
I Never Knew
Night & Day

Cinema Blasko disc
Seems Like Old Times (from Annie Hall)
Something Good (from The Sound Of Music)
Maybe This Time (from Cabaret)
Out Here On My Own (from Fame)
Xanadu (from Xanadu)

Sweden, in the last decade, has become somewhat known for off-kilter pop music. From indie-electro-pop darlings The Knife through to the current day stylings of Robyn and Lykke Li, the Swedes have a talent for taking the standard, swirling it around a little and popping it out a little left of its original centre. Into that mix you could perhaps also throw indie-rock trio (and occasional NME favourites) Peter, Bjorn and John – and it is with bass and keyboardist Bjorn Yttling that Sarah Blasko’s latest story begins, with Blasko enlisting Yttling as producer for her latest solo effort, leaving behind Sydney’s sunny shores for a multiple-month stay in the depths of a snow-laden Swedish winter.

As Day Follows Night, the resulting album, is Blasko’s first since the Bernard Zuel-acclaimed (and ARIA award winning) What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have – an epic modern masterpiece in itself – and first without longtime collaborator Robert F. Cranny. Since the release of What The Sea, Blasko also dabbled in writing music for musical theatre, being nominated for a Green Room award for her work on Bell Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is perhaps this influence that is immediately evident on As Day Follows Night, with album opener “Down On Love” containing a sprightly keyboard pixie that is part Wizard of Oz and part Tourism Victoria (if perhaps Joanna Newsom had a keyboard).

As the album moves onto first single, “All I Want”, it becomes abundantly clear that those hoping for a semla-fuelled “Konichiwa Bitches”-type outburst will be bitterly disappointed – this is a Blasko album through and through. While the track’s synth-like sounds hint at some of the more pulsating moments of What The Sea Wants (“Hammer”) it is the lyrical themes that instantly create synergy: Blasko has always been a highly literate, self-analytical composer and that theme is immediately evident. “I don’t even understand me, so don’t think that you can help” and “all I want is to one day come to know myself” she ruminates. While staying well clear of a Tori Amos cryptopia, it is nonetheless the start of a stream of self-questioning (including the “I wonder what I’ve done to end up this way?” pondering of album standout “Is My Baby Yours?”).

The influence of producer Bjorn Yttling becomes fully evident on the album’s third track, “Bird on a Wire”. Gone are the piano and guitar driven pulses of Blasko’s earlier work – and indeed, absent they remain for a large majority of the album’s remainder. In their place is the insistent pounding of a various drum beats and percussion – an occasionally arrhythmic heartbeat pounding loudly under Blasko’s musical skin (“keeping in time don’t matter as much as the feeling” she utters on “Over and Over). While much of her earlier was vocally and lyrically driven, the organic, percussive nature of As Day Follow Night takes centre stage – with Blasko’s usually languid vocals taking new haste on on “Bird on a Wire” and taking command on “Lost and Defeated” (“the emotional tide has turned and I see red”).

Despite its beat-centric schema, As Day Follow Night keeps things musically diverse with a few unexpected touches – the Copacabana-carnival keyboard introduction to “Over and Over”; the slight flamenco tinges of “Is My Baby Yours?”; the vocally-lead waltz of “I Never Knew” and the hints of film noir on album closer “Night and Day” (a track that, admittedly, would not have sounded out of place on What the Sea Wants, with shades of “Woman by the Well” and “I Could Never Belong To You”).

Ultimately, As Day Follows Night may divide Blasko fans, most noticeably for its stripped-back lyrical approach. The poetic twists and spirals of the Blasko literary vine are trimmed back and straightforward prose blooms in their place – more accessible for some, yet slightly disappointing for others. As an album it is much less challenging than What the Sea Wants, albeit never quite as jangly-guitar-pop-rock-easy as album debut Overture and the Underscore – and yet, doesn’t entirely sit comfortably between them either. Like all her work, it is worthy of repeated listens and, while never quite reaching some of the the dizzying heights What the Sea Wants, should help Sarah Blasko reclaim her coronet as Australia’s foremost* female singer-songwriter.

In summary: she is still good.

Standout track: Is My Baby Yours?, All I Want

You can read Sarah’s blog here, check out her Myspace and preorder the album.

As Day Follows Night is released in Australia on July 10.

*With apologies to Sally Seltmann. You are also excellent.

Another really quick, insignificant post… just watched Pan’s Labyrinth (I totally rewatched ‘Hellboy 2: The Golden Army’ the other night, and got into a Guillermo Del Toro mood 8D) and it was really, really good. Loved it. A great night’s viewing.

But I won’t go on or talk about it any further right now. Maybe another time. Things are too busy at the moment. Must… supress… urge… to rant! -splutter-

Anyway, I thought Sarah Blasko’s new music video for her song ‘No Turning Back‘ was particularly nice, so I thought I’d share:

Visually, it’s pretty beautiful. Also, I love that wolf thing. I would totally hitch a ride to school on one of those.

Apologies for my recent small, dodgy posts, I’ll put in some more effort at a later date!

It’s today. Support, not just by showing up but by partying among the crowd.

DEATH THREAT MYSPACE

NO TURNING BACK MYSPACE

FOR THE GLORY MYSPACE

REALITY SLAP MYSPACE

]]> http://loft965.com/2009/06/18/video-no-turning-back-by-sarah-blasko/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:04:11 +0000 loft965 http://loft965.com/2009/06/18/video-no-turning-back-by-sarah-blasko/

You know how we loves us some fluffy little folk ditties here. This is our latest craving Sarah Blasko, who has had a three album career but only recently came to our attention. The Australian chanteuse is releasing her album As Day Follows Night in the ides of July.

At the Compass ‘no turning back conference’ yesterday. A wide range of speakers from across the broad left, including Labour, Green, Respect, Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrats.

Electoral reform given prominence, which as an advocate I was pleased about.

Caroline Lucas read from this blog post (Compass gives platform to Green leader) and this was also referred to by Neal Lawson.

I think the occasional foray into big tent politics is a good thing, although the first past the post system means that tribalism must win out. Roll on reform ….

Please listen to the song and read my comments below!

I remember when we were exiting the religious cult, Jehovah’s Witnesses, my husband at the time would ask me, “Do you just want to go back?” He had asked me a couple of times that question, and it would always puzzle me. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to return to the cult himself, but it was just that we were going through so much pain and agony as we were losing friends and family members who cut us off, because we exposed the lie for the truth. We also endured the pain of our friends whose family members and friends had cut them off completely.

I can’t help but think of the scripture in Philippians 3:7-12, 14 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death , in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus…………..vs. 14 – “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I have that same goal set before me and I am not one that easily gives up. As I aim towards that goal I am aware that I may trip, stumble, and fall, but at the same time my eyes are fixed .

Just the other morning our son approached me and asked, “have you ever had an itch that you scratched until it was raw, and then wished you could go back because you were in such pain?” Hmmmmm let me see, does that make me reflect on that question posed to me earlier by my ex-husband? Especially going back because of the pain? Is it worth it? Let me reiterate as the apostle Paul said “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” What things are rubbish to me that I have lost? It is what man thought and thinks of me, as opposed to what God thinks of me. Man judges by the mear appearance to the eyes and all decisions are fleshly based on earthly desires, where as God judges by what is in the heart and wants us to seek the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:2-11 says, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobediance, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him, a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Before I set my site on the heavenly, and before I set my eyes on the goal that was set before me, I was a sinner deserving of death, with immoral thoughts, impure, had evil desires, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things (what Colossians speaks about) that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobediance, and in them I once walked, when I was living in them. But I, though being weak, lean on the Holy Spirit that lives within me, to put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from my mouth. I have accepted Jesus as my personal Savior, admitted that I am a sinner, have repented (go opposite direction), and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created me. Jesus died for my sins and wiped my slate clean and for that very reason, I can NEVER EVER go back to what I once was. I was created in His likeness and image (as we all are) and therefore will strive for holiness for the rest of my life here on earth.

God is a loving God which that makes Him a just and righteous God also. Because of His love, His wrath will soon come on the sons of disobediance. Please decide now if you want to be the recipient of His LOVE (Heaven) or His WRATH (Hell). Our God has given us ALL a choice. And once you choose LOVE, NEVER GO BACK!

No turning back

I can’t comprehen the void
I thought graduation was the finish line
or is it the dead end?
I can’t explain what went wrong
replaying in my head
I knew where it came from
I can’t unwrite or rewrite
the past is an unwanted present
that I receive daily?
I can’t deny the truth
neither can I accept it
I left it hanging like a noose
I can’t fall or look back
giving up now
no,
I came too far on this track
I can’t walk into this trap
look ahead
it’s the start of another lap
I can’t?
I fucking can!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Matthew 8:18-22

[A] – ACCEPT / RECEIVE GOD’S WORD: I will direct my heart and mind to meditate on today’s Word. I will first pray that today’s Word of God is able to change my life.

Matthew 8:18-22 >>

18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

21Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

22But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

[C] – CONTEMPLATE / MEDITATE ON: I will meditate on the questions below and do self-reflection.

1. Self evaluation: In facing day-to-day pressures, what is my attitude and commitment towards the Lord? Do I give up easily? Do I lose faith easily? Do I start saying negative words? Do I let things affect my mood?
2. From the verses above, take time to meditate on this: What can I improve upon, to make myself have a firmer commitment in Christ?

[T] – TAKE ACTION / APPLY: I will learn to ask for the Lord’s wisdom whenever I face problems.

[S] – SHARE / STRENGTHEN: I will share the commitment I have made today with someone I meet.

LESSON:
The Roman army had once attacked the British from sea. When their ships landed, the commander gave shocking orders to burn every ship that had brought them to England! The soldiers were surprised and protested, “How are we supposed to escape, if we are put in danger?” The commander replied, “That is why those ships must be burned. There should not be any backing out, or escaping. We need to move forward and win!”

The following commander expected true commitment from his troops. A price had to be paid. The Lord expects the same type of commitment from each and every one of His followers. A commitment that drives us to serve, evangelize, and continue to be faithful in completing tasks given to us, no matter what; a commitment that is not dependent on the situation. This type of commitment is what produces children of God who are hardworking, militant, radical, and motivated, not weak and lazy. A commitment such as this is what will produce victory!

How serious are we in following Jesus? To be like Christ, it is not enough for us to just go to church every Sunday, and/or be active in church. In order to be like Christ, we need to change our priorities and our lifestyle, and make Jesus first. Making a true commitment will mean, “He must become greater; I must become less.” We no longer live for ourselves, but for the Lord. Make sure that Jesus is glorified in your life today.