Damien Mulley

Its a Voltaire quote. Sometimes letting others speak is good.

John Perry Barlow makes a post on his blog here about Spalding Grays Suicide. In his post he has put in words that I have been thinking about for a while but was unable to condense it down into something readable by others.

Heres an exerpt:

“Among the beliefs that he and I shared was a conviction that making public the intimately personal is a revolutionary act in an atomized society where many feel compelled to play so close to the chest that they can’t read their own cards. Being emotionally naked before strangers extends to them a permission for self-revelation they badly need if they are to loosen the shackles of their own quiet desperations. It is a blow against the pursuit of loneliness. ”

One word.: Wow.

Yet another weekend away from home. Away this weekend up the country, then Glasgow the next weekend. Thank god Friday is payday.

I really need to keep my finances in check though. I have 30 unread books and around 25 unwatched dvds at home from going mad with the creditcard. I think I have enough to get me through the next year at least. I just need to organise the time to do this.

I also have a pile pf printouts on some good stuff like Online Identity, the Power of Weblogs, Emergent Democracy and I have a friends final paper for college to go through.

Was also thinking that an Irish Version of BoingBoing might be workable. Will start making calls to people that I think would be good contributors soon.

Ribs today for lunch. Mmmmmmmm.

I want:

1) A press complaints commission like they have in the UK. So that when some “journalist” on the radio is either kissing some companies ass ir is totally biased whatever reason they can be brought to task.

2) A consumer affairs group that has balls. Take IrelandOffline and give it fangs and a deeper growl. Someone to abuse the shit out of those wankers in Comreg and Eircom. There are good people in Comreg that want change I would guess but right now the fuckwits are ruling the roost.

3) Some Gay Rights Group. Not something like Outrage in the UK but a group that will back you up if you are being discriminated against. The Equality Authority does good granted but its nice to have someone in your corner to give you support.

Its amazing how some people believe their own lies and suddenly history is rewritten. Some people really don’t like their own lives do they ?

London once again impressed me. The last time I was over there was 2 years ago and I saw a bit more of it this time. I’ll be going back again soon I think.

The city or Metropolis as Kevin called it is full of beautiful buildings and the people are actually quite friendly for a city of its size. Theres a massive amount of culture in London and England itself seems to care about it. Maybe the average joe soap doesn’t give too much thought but governments and organisations such as the BBC do. Moreso I think than Ireland. Nothing in comparison to the Icelanders who all seem to care about culture.

Went to the Tate Modern and the Saatchi Gallery. The Weather Project was pretty cool. Set inside the giant turbine hall you can lie on the ground and stare up at the “sky” which is a ceiling with mirrors that seem to move slightly.

The Tate is huge and has a fuckload of contemporary art, some good, some utter shit and some fantastic. However for me I enjoyed the Saatchi Gallery more. Some good Damien Hirst stuff and theres this picture of Myra Hindley by Marcus Harvey thats unnerving. Its her famous black and shite police photo and its made up of black and white kids handprints. Theres also fab lifelike works by Ron Muek

The London Eye is also impressive and the Millenium Bridge. All in all its a lovely place and their transport system is so efficient and so easy. If Dublin had decided back in the 60s to build an underground like London it would be a different city today. It would be more internationally known and respected.

Off to London for a few days. Go me.

Hurrah.

Figured out some stuff over the past few days. Things I need to do and all that. Some stuff I need to do is embarassing, others are going to involve emotional pain and some things are going to be plain nasty. I’m very comfortable right now with my life but I think I may be too comfortable.

The western world is too pampered. The drive for a lot of us is gone, or it never occured. Jesus this sounds like fight club but its true, we are lost in the new world. But as well as that television tells us we can be joe millionaire and to strive to be a statistic beater and be a movie star or a popstar, but then if we fail they don’t want to know about it. Its all or nothing and when 99% of us nothings realise we won’t be the 1% what happens ?

We as a group can probably change the world by each doing something small in combination with everyone else if we were motivated, but we are too comfortable and we are too used to being allowed to not push ourselves. I think society is slowing down and I wonder will it stop and die under its own fat lazy weight.

So, maybe I should leave this society or react against it ? No wonder so many people escape using drinks and drugs.

Come on Humanity. Fight, stop being so apathetic. The ugent need to improve oneself and life and discover so much has gone. Why is that ?

Powerless by Miz Furtado has been in my head a lot recently. I have her last album and I love it. Theres a song called “On the Radio” thats a kind of “Fuck you, I’m doing my shit without you, and staying true to myself. And you said I wouldn’t do it without you. Well I’ve done it”

Its a great song, and her new album I hope will be as good. I think someone might have purchased this album for me so I’ll wait before buying. Shes dad sexy too. Anyway, heres powerless:

Powerless (Say What You Want)”

Paint my face in your magazines
Make it look whiter than it seems
Paint me over with your dreams
Shove away my ethnicity
Burn every notion that I may have a flame inside to fight
And say just what is on my mind
Without offending your might

Cuz this life is too short to live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless what are you gonna do
So say what you want
Say what you want

I saw her face outside today
Weatherworn, looking all the rage
They took her passion and her gaze and made a poster
Now it’s moccasins we sport
We take the culture and contort
Perhaps only to distort what we are hiding

Cuz this life is too short to live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless what are you gonna do
But say what you want
Say what you want

Hey you, the one outside, are you ever gonna get in, get in
Hey you, the one that don’t fit in, how ya, how ya gonna get in
Hey you, the one outside, are you ever gonna get in with your
Broken teeth, broken jaw, broken mojo
Yeah, this life is too short to live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless, what are you gonna do

Cuz this life is too short to live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless, what are you gonna do