SHUT UP! BE HAPPY!

We interrupt this blog with a special bulletin: America is now under marshall law. All constitutional rights have been suspended. Stay in your homes. Do not attempt to contact love ones, insurance agents or your attorney. Shut up. Do not attempt to think or depression may occur. Stay in your homes. Curfew is at 7pm sharp after work. Anyone caught outside of the gates of their surveillance sectors after curfew will be shot. Remain calm, do not panic. Your neighborhood watch officer will be by to collect urine examples in the morning. Anyone caught interfering with the collection of urine examples will be shot. Stay in your homes, remain calm.

The number one enemy of progress is question.

National security is more important than individual will.

No more than two people may gather anywhere without permission. Use only the drugs described by your boss or supervisor. Shut up. Be Happy. Obey all orders without question. The comfort you demanded is now mandatory. Be happy. At last everything is done for you...

I Saw This and Thought of You

I've said it once and I'll say it again. We got ourselves a new nigger, anyone looking slightly Arab in the capital is in dire trouble ; having said that you don't even have to look like an Arab...Brazilian will more than do.

So what are we going to so about it? Well on Monday I'm going to protest but not at the demonising of Arabs but the exclusion zone around the Houses of Parliament. This is a first step towards dealing with the siege mentality of the New Labour regime, of the infringement upon our human rights.

Full details are here and intelligent discourse on the matter is here. If you can get to London for Monday or are a reader based in LDN then get your arse down to Parliament Square on the 1st August at 2pm.

Urgent Updates

1. The house buying is off due to lack of funds so we'll be renting for the next few years I reckon. Marie and I are disappointed.
2. I have just got another acting job touring a play called Bouncers. Which is nice.
3. I've met my agent and the structures for getting regular acting work are in place. I feel very proper indeed.
4. However, I need to get some more pictures done to show me in my best light.
5. By chance someone I know is now a casting person at the National Theatre. This can only be a good thing.
6. Even though I am poor I went shopping at Harvey Nicks in the sale and got some jolly nice items.
7. Red has stopped blogging. This is a major event and the repercussions could be felt for a while, it's all a bit weird and confusing but Red and I jumped into blogging at the same time and stumbled upon one another early on in our blogging lives. As I said, feels a bit weird to know she'll no longer be there.
8. There is no number eight.

I Love You Marie

Me and you, forever.

House Hunting

Marie and I are very busy at the moment looking for a home in East London, we're trying to buy somewhere out in Leyton or Leytonstone so that Marie can commute to drama school and I'm not stuck out in the sticks.

As you can imagine I've little time for blogging at the moment but will keep you updated on our progress. Put it this way, we've seen some crap for the money being asked but found something nice that I hope we can afford.

Here's another picture of me acting, answers on a postcard as to why I'm in a white suit...

You Will Fail

Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.

I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others – that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.

In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfill their dreams and achieve their potential.

They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don’t want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone 7/7/05

Further information here.

Dead Muslim: Update!

As I'm sure you're all aware, yesterday at approximately 10am a man was shot dead on at Stockwell tube station.

Now in the UK police shooting people is a very rare occurrence but in the media induced froth it was desperately pitched as a potential bomber/a bomber from 7/7 and/or someone in someway involved with the bombings. This rang alarm bells immediately and when the police refused to release any info and eye witnesses described scenes of petrified terror I felt that something had gone horribly wrong.

It had, the man was in no way involved with terror but had 5 rounds blasted into him for good measure. You know what they say about a dead Muslim...

It turns out though (thanks to Big Daddy Merk for the alert) that he wasn't a Muslim but a Brazilian Catholic called Jean Charles de Menezes, an electrician who had been living in London for three years. Why he ended up having 5 bullets shot into him I'll never understand and yes, he spoke English and no, he wasn't a terrorist but I suppose Brazilians do look a bit like Arabs.

I know this was going to happen, indeed I predicted it when on the second spate of attacks I was horrified to see that a man who looked a bit Muslim had made the mistake of going near 10 Downing Street. He was nearly shot but luckily he opened up his shirt and showed he had no weapons.

I strongly advise anyone who looks vaguely like a terrorist to get the hell out of the UK until we go back to victimising black men and all this nonsense has died down.

The latest attacks make as little sense as the first and I still believe that al-Qaeda had nothing to do with it and that it was a false flag operation and that we live in times where little can be trusted and everything challenged.

On a lighter note, below is a mugshot of an Ohio man who was caught by the police sniffing gold spray paint; can you see how they knew he was guilty?

Terror Attacks London Redux

I was in the middle of rehearsals in the Sydenham part of London (well out in the South East of the urban sprawl) and a fellow actor's mobile phone beeped with urgent news (he gets news feeds which is very cool indeed) that reported further bombings in London.

Bugger.

We found a TV and watched the unfolding madness, finding it difficult to believe that this was happening all over again. When it said that Oval tube station was hit, it all came flooding home, as that's my nearest tube. Then it also said a bus on its way to Hackney (where I was due to appear tonight) had been attacked.

Bugger.

It seems no one was killed and that the situation is stable but London has once again ground to a halt and the gig I had tonight cancelled with the bus blocking the way to Hackney and massive delays all over.

I'm too annoyed to analyse right now and hard facts are scarce but I will say this: although there is a lot of resolve in the city we are quickly heading for a siege mentality which will make for a grim London. Also, this latest attack was badly done indeed and once again smacks of something not being quite right. Enough of that...

Peace.

YEAH!

I've just started the devising process for a new show that'll be touring the UK from September (ish) onwards. It's exciting to be at the beginning of the process but funny to see the flyers already printed off.

Real hard work today, plenty of throwing ourselves around doing a lot of acting exercises dealing with motivation and truth in performance. We spent a lot of time scrapping with each other, real rough house stuff. Acting provides an opportunity as a grown-up to do all the stupid stuff that is forbidden once you enter adulthood.

I even got to touch a girls breast and arse.

Then I got a phone call offering me another acting job, so you're now reading the blog of the presenter/compere of the Hackney Short Cuts Film Competition. How cool is that?

I love being an actor for a living.

We Got Ourselves a New Nigger

AT LAST!

Young black men in the UK can relax (for a few weeks at least) as the British police have at last found a replacement ethnic group to harass with stop and search techniques.

So be warned if you look slightly like an Arab, or are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc and are carrying bags; be prepared to be stopped and asked questions about what the hell you think you're doing walking the streets of the UK.

Swear to God if I see coppers stopping yet another man who looks like a Muslim I may attack the Houses of Parliament myself just to prove white folk can be terrorists too. More stuff to cheer you up...

REJOICE! Commuters in London will sleep easier knowing that 28 dogs will be now sniffing bags at Tube stations across the city. What tosh, this is yet another example of a pure, empty gesture being construed by the media as a step towards defeating terror.

The dogs will do nothing except look good for photo opportunities as their poxy number can in no way, shape or form cover the London underground.

Tomorrow brings some acting, devising a new play that I hope to be touring from September onwards but more on that at a later date. I've got a new phone to play with.

America's Pillion Passenger

That's all Great Britain is according to an excellent report released today by an independent thinktank in the UK, the PDF is here so please go read and digest the full facts but in summary it makes some interesting points that the Blair government is, of course, denying.

• The war in Iraq is increasing the threat of terror rather than decreasing it
• The war in Iraq is acting as an excellent fund raiser for terrorist organisations and a great recruiting tool
• The UK is the weaker partner in the alliance with the US, thus:
• We are compromising our own security by standing with them and letting them drive the agenda and...
• We are more at risk of being targeted due to our allegiance to the US

Blair has been at pains to dress-up the London bombings as another part of the 'evil ideology' rather than a response to policy, making the point that no matter what we do, they will continue to pursue their 'evil' ways. What rubbish! Cause and effect anyone? Or is that out of fashion in these with us or against us times?

The Muslims Did It

Gratefully isolated in France following the bombings in London, I spent a great deal of time musing on what I would come home to. I don't mean more attacks or the altered atmosphere of the city but where the blame had been laid.

I wish I'd put a bet on it being a Muslims fault.

Grainy CCTV pictures of people with dark skin, fabricated stories on what goes on in Mosques, disgusting kiss and tell from people looking to make a quick buck on the back of death about how those involved seemed so normal, that they actually loved their families and that they, shock horror, even had an education.

Tenuous links are being drawn to the Arab world, al-Qaeda and anyone with dark skin and a belief in Islam. The vultures circle, the bad guy has been found, Evil has a physical form after a period of apparition and the long dead form of Osama Bin-Laden hovering over us and the verdict is delivered in media friendly bites of info-fact.

What rubbish. There would be no 'terrorism' if there was no media, the media perpetuates terror by its craving for it and the news opportunities it presents. The media is part of the event, part of the terror, part of creating the illusion.

Remember this, people will win awards for their coverage of the London bombings. This is the world we have built, this is the oxygen that fills the lungs of terror and the demonisation of Muslims will lead to a de-humanisation of Muslims and we know where that leads: Srebrenica.

A Punch in the Arse

Do you want some? Do you? COME ON THEN! I'll take you all on, the lot of you! I'll wrestle you with my bare hands and get you in a serious headlock leaving you gasping for life gas and filling your fashionable slacks with poop.

DAMMIT! I could beat you with power and mental wrath whilst playing air drums you weak assed ugly fuck. And when you're begging for mercy from your sloppy jaw I'll make you tell all your watching mates, maws gaping with horror at the beating you've received, that you want to have man sex with me.

I may even wee on you.

BE WARNED! NEVER LET ME NEAR STEROIDS EVER AGAIN!

*cough*

Normal service may or not be resumed at a later date...

I'M BACK!

Oh yes! Like a raccoon reaching out to you from the void of its cage, he I am, clawing once again at your computer monitors with the sheer brutality of my spiel.

I returned a few hours ago to London after spending some time in France after helping my parents move from this (I could only fit a third of the house on):


To this:


Cool.

The journey home brought a little adventure I'd like to share with you all...

I got the ferry back to England as a foot passenger and couldn't help but notice a large Italian family who were also foot passengers. I smiled at them as they struggled with an ocean of bags and this turned out to be the beginning of a brief but fruitful relationship for my karma and the start to their holiday in the UK.

First I helped them negotiate the bus link from the port of Dover to the train station called Dover Priory. This included speaking to the rude bus driver who, when he realised the family couldn't understand him, proceeded to shout very loudly as if this would help them 'get it'.

I then guided them on the train to London and when they struggled in broken English to seek my help about the Tube I decided to be really helpful and said I'd guide them to where they needed to go...

When we arrived into Victoria station I weaved my trusty Italian followers through the rush hour station, into the Tube, bought their tickets for them (with their money, I'm not that nice) and led them to their subway train to Godspeed them to their hotel.

The bedraggled father of the family embraced me as we parted, clearly grateful for a bit of help. I hope they spread the word about how nice we English people are.

We also sat together as we traveled from Dover to London, conversation was light as neither of us spoke one another's language but in the reflection of the train window I spotted the youngest daughter (about 16) gently crying, tears rolling down her cheeks. She happened to glance in my direction and our eyes met; I had no idea what to do so I smiled weakly and tried to convey some positive vibes in her direction.

I wonder if they'll remember me when they tell their friends about their holiday?

Off to France

I shall be gone until the 15th July.

Keep your heads up until I return.

If you get bored read the archives or visit any of the lovely links to your right. Here is a caption competition that needs doing and here is a picture of me acting:

Take care of yourselves and your hearts and remember...

You made your children what they are. These children that come at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didn't teach them. I just tried to help them stand up.

LONDON! STAND UP TALL!

And so we go on, as if nothing has happened, a little more jumpy, a gentle sullenness perhaps but we go on.

I was at Kings Cross today, one of the stations worst effected by the bombing as I use the Thameslink to get down to London Bridge and then my bus home, and I was stopped by one of the vultures.

And by vulture I mean one of those many media types circling the bomb sites across London so they can feed our never ending craving for news, news, news. The poor young journalist with her TV crew made the mistake of stopping me and asking me what I thought (this was just after I'd nearly vomited at all the camera men trying to get good angles on the flowers that are tied to the railings at the station) about the whole messy episode.

I let her know what I thought. No need to repeat it, you've read it all here. I closed with the request that the vultures fuck off and leave us to our lives without the constant simulacra pouring out from the TV screens: interviews with victims, the families of victims, the footage shot by victims, the desperate please for anyone with first hand footage to send it in. ANYTHING TO BE THERE!

It's verging on the masturbatory.

I have two questions for you about yesterday's events: why did it happen now and whom does it benefit? Does the 7/7 date stamp have any relevance?

I'm having difficulty with the first, the event still does not sit as cosy with me as it should. As for the second, I can't be the first to note that the number 7 plays an important part in the history of the Koran, the seven readers who handed down the seven basic texts. That's just so heavy handed it almost makes me want to adjust my tin-foil hat...

*cough*

I'm linking to a new blog because he's funny and his blogger picture is the best I've ever seen, the man in question is Old Man Rich. Rejoice in his mental health issues!

I've also discovered that you can up load any old picture onto blogger now so without further ado here is my wife to be Marie...

Me in black and white...

And some p0rn...

So fuck you terrorists! Your bombs will not spoil my digital photo fun!

Terror Attacks London Part 2

Went out tonight with my good friend Kirky (who, if we were both gay, we would make a lovely couple) and had time to reflect on the days events over a few beers and some Japanese food at Wagamama.

I have some thoughts on the attacks, they may not be in any correct order and they may be a little random but I think they are worth putting out there.

Something's not quite right about all of this and I don't mean Prime Minister Blair emoting at the news cameras, or the insipid coverage were news casters with too much make-up on ask people who've nearly died what it was like, or President Bush looking utterly uncomfortable at Blair's side as the Prime Minister gave his second speech about the day's events. The Texan nearly made me laugh out loud as he stood, gnomic and shifted from foot to foot as Blair emoted some more.

Did anyone see Bush's first speech following the bombing? Man, I wish that whenever we get attacked in the future he gets to speak because the crazy bastard just cheers me up. He said 'folks' about twenty times and was virtually in coherent. Cool.

Speaking of speech's, London's Mayor Ken Livingstone also said some good words:

This is not an attack against the rich and powerful. It is not an attack on the politicians, but on the common working people of London. We have seen that you [the terrorists] are not afraid to take your own lives but what you did is just mass murder. I can tell you now that you will fail in your long-term objectives to destroy our free society. In the days that follow, look at our airports and seaports, and even after your cowardly attacks, you will still see people from around the world coming to London to achieve their dreams.

Back to what isn't right about all of this and for further thoughts along these lines head to the good Col. Dr who seems to be on to something.

I don't think al-Qaeda are responsible. Why? Well for one thing the claim of ownership was phony as hell and featured an error in the text related to the Koran. These people do not make false quotes from the holy book they are willing to die for. The language was also utterly unlike al-Qaeda.

Also the scope of the assault was too small, if they really wanted to bring London to its knees then they could've. It's virtually back to normal already and yes, that's a wonderful reflection of the spirit of the people and the hard work and bravery of the emergency staff but al-Qaeda don't do small, they do 9/11.

Ken Livingstone hit it on the head when he talked of who they had targeted, al-Qaeda go for epic targets, targets with a message not a selection of stations and a bus.

I think this is a splinter cell and that doesn't make it any better but it leads on nicely to my next thought.

Going round the British blogs out there I'm picking up some saber rattling and some laying of blame. Understandable but we've got to be careful, otherwise the UK people will suddenly be lining up behind the vacuous WAR ON TERROR and you know how I feel about that.

Terror Attacks London

Speak of the devil...

Details are unclear at the moment but it seems that London has been struck with numerous terrorist attacks, including the blowing up of a bus carrying commuters and also underground trains across central London have been targeted.

Reports say that victims are being operated on at station platforms and that human remains are scattered in the streets from the explosions on the buses.

For those of you attempting to keep up to date with the news as it rolls in, excellent trustworthy sources are here and here.

The blame is already being laid at the door of al-Qaeda and it will be interesting to see who takes responsibility for the attacks, if at all. At this moment, I'm not placing any bets on who did this as we have many foes but please do look out for aggressive finger pointing on very little evidence.

My thoughts go to the victims and their families.

I hope all my dear friends are safe and well.

Peace.

UPDATE: Texts are rolling in from friends but I fear that someone I know and love in London will not return my call. Some thoughts: typically wonderful terrorist timing in the attack, both the time; the very peak of rush hour human traffic and the day, in the aftermath of the Olympic celebrations.

In my web search I also discovered this sobering fact, on this day in history Heinrich Himmler made the decision to begin experiemting on Jewish prisoners.

God Is My Judge

That of course is what Daniel means. Although it can also mean judge of God...

Daniel (or Daniyel) is a Jewish name and the most famous Daniel is the prophet who rose to prominence by interpreting a king's dreams. Daniel is one of the stars of the old testament becasue he lays it on the line about the coming of Armageddon, the rejection of Christ, the rise of the Anti-Christ and the end of the world.

How cool is that?

However, I wasn't named after him but the Elton John song of the same name. Thanks mum.

I must also add that at this juncture that I don't believe in God but I do believe in Elton John and I felt like drawing upon my name for some inspiration in the face of a recent withering blizzard of ignorance on this blog. People seem embittered by the Bush 'you're either with us or against us' doctrine and confuse lively debate on political matters as being anti-American. If you think I'm anti-American you should come over the "pond" and feel the love...

Sad news: Jodi preferred it when I talked about myself rather than my impassioned posts on global politics so she has stopped linking to me. I think she thinks I hate America (she is not alone) which is daft, I love it and that's why I care when it's being sold short by its political parties. She also didn't like it when I called Ariel Sharon a sweaty Zionist war criminal. You call it preaching Jodi and I call it speaking from the heart on what matters to me. I hope our paths cross again.

Red does have a point though about politics causing trouble but I'm a political person (aren't we all?) so it goes on.

Peace to you all...even the conservative flag waving maniacs!

Not On My Watch

As I anticipated the last post drew some responses from the blog globe. I'm glad.

Please note: I was not sticking my dick out and waving it at old people just to garner a response. I was writing some thoughts from the heart and before we move on, I feel a few things need clarification.

We have a bad habit of only seeing the small picture, of becoming bogged down in the detail and understandably getting all subjective and putting our heart ("what if your mum was killed in that act of terror you bastard?") into matters. This is bigger than heart, bigger than your mum and certainly bigger than Zionism or Muslim rage or capitalism. There is no need to break it down that small and no, this is not about dumbing it down but fully taking in the big picture.

As Ernie Flapps wrote: Ask all the big questions. Your reality is a fragile affair. Life is a desperate search for stimulation. Live to die. That is all.

When anything becomes too powerful it will be struck by an epic attack.
When anything becomes to powerful it can no longer engage in an actual conflict where it can fully express its power because in doing so it would destroy itself.

*cough* *change train of thought*

Yesterday was the day that American's celebrate becoming a Nation. This is the declaration of independence, a document of utter genius both in its succientness and its profound sense of human rights.

Read it if you don't know off by heart already.

UPDATE: I'm a sucker for a good caption competition and the good Col. Dr once won it so it must be good. Have a stab in a wet paper bag why don't ya?

Terror's War Against The War On Terror

11/9 (please note correct formatting of the date) was an inevitable act of grotesque violence against a world power so far in advance of it's peers that one must question whether it was an act of terror at all, or rather a much needed stab in a wet paper bag against the uber-power that bestrides our globe like an irate toddler.

When some thing becomes as powerful and as all consuming as the US, some thing else must raise up and strike the ascendant power as hard as it can and in the most desperate form possible.

You can not have total power without some force moving to dent that power. It is the natural order of things, so whatever the total power is...let's say chicken, or perhaps Wal-Mart, whenever the subject matter in question reaches a certain level of domination it is then struck hard from another source and no, that source isn't always Muslims.

In chicken's case it was salmonella and the rise in popularity of turkeys (no, not Turkey, you guys are obsessed with Muslims being to blame); Wal-Mart's 11/9 is yet to come but it will come...

What is important to acknowledge is that whatever form the futile attempt to topple the total power takes, it must be on a grand and previously unheard of scale. It must be as vulgar and media friendly in its generation of simulacrum as the total power in question.

And thus the ultimate act of making neutered the total power provokes a response that enables the US to re-assert the size of it's power/phallus and the promise of the mother of all wars and we end up with one of the most wonderful bits of pumped-up nonsense: THE WAR ON TERROR!

This is a fake war. It does not exist. It exists only in the third-person of the media and the minds of people and that does not make it real. It is not being fought, it has no battleground and no form. It is a simulated response to an act that managed to out-aggrandise the US and so in response they belched out a fakery (all they were capable of with no tangible foe to strike) to mask the voluminous of the event that had enveloped them.

Events for a brief time became so real that the total power was struck for any actual means of reposte. And so eventually it creates a fake war that it can win, because the opponent only deals in actuality rather than posturing; it has no care for a war with the total power but rather epic strikes to reduce the mass of it's reach.

One can't help but feel that the US is not only fighting a fictional war but it is losing this war (which is in essence a battle with itself) such is the dilemma faced by the total power. For in truely showing the full force of its power it would destroy itself and all other Nations that by there very existence denotes that they have total power in the first place.

You Gets Me?

And so Thick as Thieves is laid to rest at long last like a crippled old dog with bad eyes and a weak bladder that is laying on the concrete half-dead, in his own wee, after drinking his final sips from his favourite water bowl. That might be a bit harsh on Thick as Thieves but you get the point.

I also got a bit tipsy on Mexican lager beer.

As an actor, the only problem with finishing a show is that everyone asks you what's next and unless you have a quick fire answer you feel a little bit inadequate. To be honest, I have no idea what's next. There are quite a few maybe's and a large number of possible opportunities but nothings written in stone.

Some things I do know now are:

• I'm going to France on the 9th July to help my parents move house
• Marie is going to the Meisner acting school in Hollywood for a 5 week intensive course, so if anyone lives in LA and is willing to put my girlfriend up I'd be very grateful
• I'm hungry
• Kano's new album is a winner so go buy it
• Anger is a gift
• I will miss Marie so much I may bleed to death
• Marie's bedroom is so messy I can't walk in there without feeling nauseous

Be warned! Tomorrow I might be getting philosophical on your ass with some hard up Baudrillard facts as I digest his latest work on terrorism. I shall leave you with this marvellous quote from the New York Times Book Review:

It takes a rare, demonic genius to brush off the slaughter of thousands on the grounds that they were suffering from severe ennui brought about by boring modern architecture.