Messages

When I was researching for writing Jikan, I came across an old Samurai method of centering yourself based upon a Buddhist idea concerning the nature of time. Each man's life, the teaching goes, is a succession of moments - one heaped upon another heaped upon another like autumn leaves on the forest floor. No man can ever make sense of such a confusion of scattered and unique moments, to even try, especially in testing times, can lead only to confusion, doubt and weakness. All you have to do is understand this One Single Moment - the last mo.ent is gone forever and the next will never arrive. To understand this One Single Moment is to master all moments. A samurai who understands this, the lesson concluded, has the strength of two. I have found that keeping this lesson at the forefront of my mind has been very helpful to me.

I like that analogy; it's very much in keeping with what Eckhart Tolle teaches.  I've read him fairly extensively and like his stuff a lot.  I've also been training in Bujinkan for about 8 years, which is a martial art derived from the traditions of both ninja and samurai; and it's very nice to know that this idea of living in the present fits in with the samurai tradition too.

When I was on the medication my mind was truly open - but not in a good way. Thoughts and ideas and suggestions and orders, often contradictory, would drift in and out of my head effortlessly and with very littlte, if any, critical analysis. Everything was neutral and nothing mattered. My world was flat.

Hmmm.  Now, me, I've had a very different experience with medication.  I've had about 4 serious episodes of depression through my 39 years on the earth, and found them absolutely crippling; both physically and mentally.  For me, it's the depression that stops me thinking logically - it fills my mind with unrealistically negative and pessimistic thoughts, to the point of blocking out any creativity or insight. 

With medication, along with techniques like meditation and general mindfulness, i find I have a much clearer outlook, and my ambition, enthusiasm and creativity come to the forefront. .  There's also the freedom of having much more control over my thoughts - while I can't exactly choose what to think, I can at least recognise which mental activities are useful and which are just repetitive nonsense.

It's not that i no longer see the problems with the world - it's just that I no longer let them overwhelm me, and also have the energy to make a positive contribution myself, or at least try.  When I was depressed, I no longer saw the point of doing anything positive.

That said, I wouldn't have traded my episodes of depression for 39 years of constant dumb happiness.  Meditation and counselling have led me to see the core of my ego and to stop taking it seriously. 

None of which is to negate or belittle any of YOUR experiences, Sharky.  Different people operate in different ways.  If medication dulls your mental faculties, then you're probably better off without it (but I would recommend mediTation, to you and to everyone reading this). What you're doing now would definitely not be MY way of doing things, but as I said before you have my utmost respect and I hope you win; whatever a victory entails to you.

My sister-in-law, Dawn.

After years of battling brain tumours and cancer she passed away earlier today. My partner popped in to see her at the hospice and she died holding her hand.
My 18 year old niece has lived with her Mums health problems for half of her life and has coped and cared for her admirably. I'm extremely proud of her.

Farewell Dawn.

Aw, man. Sorry to hear that.  At least, I suppose, she died feeling loved and cared for.  Still, though, my thoughts are with you all

Latest: I had a word with our local Bobby, who kindly telephoned the council manager who's been bothering my mother and advised him to stop it.
.
There's a phone call that'll brighten his day...
.

Nice work, fella!  Hopefully it'll be a bit of a wake-up call for the twat when he realises the Old Bill are on the side of, well, not intimidating elderly women.

I never knew Robbie Morrison lifted Raoul Duke's name.  (He was also the Ramone Dexter parody in Dante's The Hunting Party.)  There you go, another Easter egg (sort of).

It's hard to see the point in remaking a good film.  But I suppose it's been done successfully in the past - Scarface and Cape Fear spring to mind - so I'll keep an open mind.

The skinhand does grate though, as does the fact that he looks much more like a man in a metal suit than the original did.

Living a collectively more moderate lifestyle is better for societies for example the population of the UK had very high levels of health during WW2 (rationing etc). As a society we don't need half the crap we pine after, it's almost as if we've become a society of addicts. We pine for things which at most will give only very limited short term gratification. The really sad thing is that this is being pushed at people as a panacea. How the f**k did we let extreme capitalism creep up on us and turn us into consumption units in a grotesque world destroying machine?

'Scuse the double post, but I just noticed this and I fully agree with it.  I don't have anything against making money in an honest and ethical way; this is the system we're stuck in in and we can't just go and live in a field.

I remember listening to a psychology-based podcast, where it was posited (after a lot of research) that money can indeed make people happy; as long as it's spent on experiences rather than things.  Really, we don't need half the shite we have.  The same podcast also offered the theory that giving away money makes us happier than keeping it; and I've seen it supported in other sources since.

I think the best we can do is to try our best to see extreme commercialism as the insidious brainworm that it is and extract ourselves from it. 

A 'loud' of idiot(s) - if that's not the official collective term, then it should be.

I endorse this product and/or service.

Capitalist pig.

Hmmm, superheroes... not really my thing.  While a few of the classic runs of the last 30 years stand out (Miracleman, DKR, Watchmen, Animal Man), generally speaking whenever I try to follow a superhero series, even by good writers, I get bored very fast.  Give me Tharg's morally questionable anti-heroes any day.

Many would cite Somalia as an example of the evils of anarchy, but there is a difference between the greed-based anarchy that Mogadishu has sunk into, and a co-operative anarchy based on respect for the Common Law that Sharky mentioned earlier.

I never heard anyone mention Anarchism and Somalia mentioned together...as far I understood Anarchist political ideology has nothing to the situation there. Correct me if I'm wrong (I usually am).

I'm even wronger.  A quick look at Wikipedia tells me Mogadishu was until 2011 a lawless zone under fluctuating control of rival militias until government troops began to take control of it.   

I'm going to take the positive view here and say it was a real buzz to see a movie-fied version of the Brit Cit uniform.  Nice to see the zip has been preserved too!

You could ask my mate Colin at brightreddesign.ie.   He's only started up recently so I'm not sure how much time he can afford to give you, but you never know.  He definitely knows his stuff though

I think my main concern with law abiding anarchy is the main reason why capitalism is currently inescapable, it's a key point I bring up frequently. There are just to many people to allow a superior system to be imposed. 7 billion people, with cultures and political ideologies many of us wont even have heard of.  For a more socialist system to be introduced the world population would have to be much lower, and who here has the right to say who lives and die's?

Fair point; as I said though for me anarchism is an ideal to strive towards even if it never happens.  I just find it impossible to support any political system that upholds the current economic status quo, which supports (or even consists of) a mad dash to strip the world of resources at any costs, until there's nothing left.  Which ultimately is an unworkable system in itself, in that it might well kill us all before too long.

In my younger, more idealistic days, I would have shared your anarchist beliefs and ethics. Alas, increasing age and experience of humanity has long since withered those rosy views.

Oddly enough, I've gone the opposite way.  Though from a fairly lefty background, I felt myself swinging slightly to the right (ahem) during my twenties, but then began to see the global horrors of rampant Capitalism; and how it's almost without question going to destroy humanity as we know it.

I don't really think Anarchism is workable on an international or even national scale, at least not within my lifetime, because of the usual reason:  People are too greedy.  However, in my book at least, it's an ideal to strive towards while working within the shitty framework I was born into.  People can change; and while I'm far from free of the ego and greed that necessitates politics and law, I try my best. And if I can eventually influence even one or two people to put co-operation and harmony above greed then I'll be happy, but of course i have to work on myself first.

Many would cite Somalia as an example of the evils of anarchy, but there is a difference between the greed-based anarchy that Mogadishu has sunk into, and a co-operative anarchy based on respect for the Common Law that Sharky mentioned earlier.

There you go; call me a naive hippy if you like.  You're probably right, but I still prefer punk and techno to the Grateful Dead 

Should we ever get around to crowd-sourcing our own constitution in the UK (the "Mega Carta" or the "Magna Data" or something) as soon as it's finished we bypass parliament altogether and get to the Palace with a pen and a big stick...

I really like the fact that Alan Moore's Guy-Fawkes-faced anarchist has leaked out of the comic and into reality.  (The film probably played a large part in it, and though it kind of missed the point, feck it - the job is being done.)  Here's Noam Chomsky once again on Anarchism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB9rp_SAp2U

Also, sorry to hear about the harassment of your mother, Mark.  Nasty.  The good professor has the right idea - turn it back on them; even get onto the local papers about it.  The right to expose such unpleasant tactics by authorities still exists even if it hangs by a thread.