The Dancing Rope

 

The Box

The box of course is Pandora's box from Greek mythology which wasn't Pandora's box at all but her husband's which she opened (think 'reading your lover's diary') in his absence thus releasing all manner of emotional and physical curses upon the Earth. Today, the 'box' takes many forms: smartphone, car, office, apartment, the room... but it could also be your toilet...

So, next time you go to the toilet, be careful, because Brad or indeed Kevin may be hiding in there.

Science & Nature

Usually science opposes nature, tears it apart, treats it like some sort of expendable resource. So, when the refurb. job at the local science museum finished boy was I surprised to see Nature being embraced.

Who would have thunk it, eh, the devil reaching out for God's hand...

Graffiti Removal: How to Make a Dog's Dinner of Someone Else's Art

Graffiti, in whatever format it takes, is a valid form of expression, perhaps the most original, since it is never compromised by another before 'publication'. Young people especially need their voice to be heard, and graffiti, often, is the only way for them to do it. It can be done in a messy manner to be sure but even that mess is a valid form of expression, perhaps the most original, because, yes, it reflects the mess that you have made of the Earth and your Self. Yet, time and again, I see the council 'whitewashing' (chance would be a fine thing) this stuff as soon as it goes up, and making an absolute dog's dinner of it. I mean, are these words so potent and true, that they simply have to erase them by hook or by crook? Are my half inch letters so on the button that the council simply can't take it? That those who work for the council have their knickers in such a twist that they're almost tearing their hair out. And all this when advertisers just around the corner are advertising the crass and the crude in billboards four storeys tall.

Has graffiti removal had its day in other words? Should we not leave the graffiti alone as an accurate reflection of our society? We have all been de-faced and dis-figured (removed from our original configuration and face) under progress and capitalism. So what's the deal then with not being able to return the favour in kind?

I mean, what's the point? Here I am trying to share a little wisdom and a little levity, and then this happens by some morbidly obese brain-dead meat-head whose job title might as well be Nazi. Because that ain't 'clean'. That's just a fkn mess.

Warrior

The supreme art of war writes Sun Tzu is to subdue the enemy without fighting. This was how my Tae Kwon Do teacher approached the martial arts: you're here to learn how not to fight, and how to not fight. This is one of the warrior's attributes: intelligence, and awareness. Which is why I'm going to title my next stencil project - Warrior. 

Because this world is sorely lacking in intelligence and awareness. And people need re-minding.

The Wall of Wisdom

As I'm spraying the first stencil I hear girls' voices behind me. They watch as I peel off the paper and the words 'Ah the bells... the bells!' appear. They ask me what it means. I do my mime - staring at my hand, waddling in a stoop - but they don't  get it. I silently put my hand up to my ear... and suddenly I feel as if I'm back in the classroom again eliciting the target language from my non-English speaking students. And I am, in a way, without being behind four walls and a projector. This is the real classroom, surely, the one that isn't a classroom. And in this classroom wisdom is the order of the day. Wisdom always works better when it is digested with a gulp of fresh air. 

Does God Hate Nature?

Certainly, this would have been your reaction had you passed the butchered little garden in front of the Gospel Chapel in Cessnock the other day, that God hates Nature. But God doesn't hate Nature. Some might even say that Nature is God, or that Nature is the art of God, but whatever the case Nature is God's creation and as such it is true and good and beautiful. So, what on earth is happening here, when trees are butchered and plants bludgeoned? It certainly isn't happening in the name of God. Which is why I wrote a little letter to these butchers giving them a piece of my mind. And I know these plants weren't diseased in case that's their reply. How do I know that? Because just the previous week, call it a coincidence, I wrote a piece on my hood entitled Ecology of a Neighbourhood and had a good look at said plants and tree which may have been a tad overgrown but nothing that would justify such heavy-handedness. God had a gentle touch last time I looked. It is the devil who bludgeons and butchers and destroys.

BEFORE

AFTER

LETTER LEFT IN LETTERBOX AND ANOTHER NAILED TO THE DOOR

What you did to those  plants and tree in your chapel grounds (and in your care) amounts to nothing short of butchery. It saddens me to see such heavy-handed ignorance especially coming from those who profess faith in the Almighty. Nature is God's creation. It is an absolute disgrace that you should call yourselves believers when you behave like this. 

May God forgive you.

Post Script:

Three days after posting above missive I saw the butcher-priest painting his windows. I asked him what happened to the plants and the tree. He said that the tree was leaning to one side (no it wasn't, and even if it was...) which is why he had it chopped down. I told him in no uncertain terms that if he did that to a child (in my eyes there is little difference beteen a tree and a child) he would be put in prison for the rest of his sorry life. I left him speechless with a paint brush in his hand.