The blood is on the wall.

We have done what we have done.

And become what we’ve become

Now we stand up.

Face the music.

And dance.

Peace in not so far away, it’s here in our next moment of grace.

whatever you are, whatever you look like

whatever you are, whatever you look like

please keep the fire raging in our belly's 

save us from the constraints of the polished finish, the outwardly acceptable

capture us in mystery so that we can't think too much

throw us into chaos so that we lean on and rub up against each other

move us deeper into our hearts, until we find that shared heart beat that fuels an irrational and unconditional love.

stir up a yearning for a bigger, deeper way that is so powerful it stops us in the midst of our well-intentioned doings

give us eyes that see through the veil, and minds that dare to embrace a 

fullness we will never understand.

oh god, help me let the crap go and live.

First step

While I was in London earlier this year, David (Turley) and I decided to play around with some recording ideas for a couple of songs I've written. Here's a link to idea number one.
I'm also currently in a gentle process of recording more tracks in a lovely studio up in the hills of Adelaide. I've not hit on 'my sound' yet, so the playing and exploring continues. x
P.S Click the title 'First step' for the song!!

Remembering

I want to remember to live every day beyond the limited rhetoric of my mind. I want to be reminded to live in the vastness of all of this, of all that lies between the lines, that stretches beyond the horizon and which surges beneath our feet.

I've just searched my e-mail archives for old e-mails from our friend Ali who died four years ago today. The wonders of google mail rustle up loving words that remind me of her big-ness, and draw me out, once again, into the exhilarating - more.

Light and darkness, hand in hand, dance on still.

Letter to the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom re Julian Assange

 (Photos and details about the accompanying action in previous post.)

13 December 2010
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Australia House
Strand,
London WC2B 4LA


Dear Mr Dauth,

We Australians, here in London and from further afield, ask you to convey to our urgent and emphatic request to the Gillard Government to do its utmost to defend Julian Assange’s human rights and the free and lawful operation of Wikileaks.

Australians around the world watch with grave concern as an Australian citizen is vilified by his own Prime Minister and Attorney-General, experienced lawyers whose words display a shocking disregard for the human right to presumption of innocence, and risk prejudicing any legal proceedings Mr Assange may face.

We welcome the Government’s subsequent assurance that Mr Assange’s passport will not be cancelled and that your embassy will afford him “all appropriate consular assistance.”

We learn from an Australian Government website  that the High Commission has a duty to ensure Mr Assange “is treated no less favourably than local citizens detained for similar offences.”  UK citizens, of course, enjoy the protection of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantee their right to freedom of expression, presumption of innocence and fair trial.  That is, UK citizens enjoy a significantly higher degree of legal protection than do Australians, and the Australian High Commission must ensure Mr Assange’s treatment by UK authorities accords with those more stringent standards.

May we remind all consular staff and the Australian Government that Mr Assange “has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”  and to do so “without interference by public authority.”

Further, Mr Assange has a human and legal right to be “presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law” and to be given a fair trial.

As you must know well, it is unlawful under s104 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 for anyone intentionally or recklessly to cause death or serious harm  to an Australian citizen outside Australia.  And yet the Australian Government has voiced no objection to the death threats levelled against Mr Assange by high-profile US citizens and others.

In light of the above, we, the undersigned:

1.    Ask that Ms Gillard publicly and unequivocally withdraw her statement alleging illegal conduct on Mr Assange’s part, explain to the public why it was wrong for her to say that, and to apologise to Mr Assange.

2.    Call on the Gillard Government robustly to defend Mr Assange both at home and abroad and to respect and defend his right to receive information and impart information freely, without interference by any public authority.

3.    Ask the Attorney-General to initiate investigations into threats of violence against Mr Assange by persons in the United States and Canada, including Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, in violation of Australian law.

4.    Urge the Gillard Government to oppose strenuously any application to have Mr Assange extradited to the United States, because it is unlikely he would receive a fair trial there.

We thank you for your attention to these matters of fundamental importance to a free and democratic society.


Sincerely, your compatriots,

John Pilger (from Sydney) www.johnpilger.com
Peter Tatchell (from Melbourne) London-based human rights activist www.petertatchell.net
Michael Dutton (from Brisbane) Professor of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London
Deborah Kessler (from Brisbane) concerned citizen
Ciaron O’Reilly (from Brisbane) London Catholic Worker/Ploughshares
    www.londoncatholicworker.org
Eden Boucher (from Adelaide) musician ‘Lovers Electric’     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovers_Electric
David Turley (Adelaide) musician ‘Lovers Electric’
Sharon Turley (from Adelaide) classical musician
David Warburton (from Adelaide) Coffee Brewster
Saul Newman, teaches political theory at Goldsmiths, University of London.
John Hutnyk (from Melbourne) Prof. of Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths University of London
Peter Thomas (from Rockhampton, Queensland)
    teaches History of Political Thought at Brunel University, London
Maria Albrecht (from Melbourne) Catholic Worker Farmhouse
    www.thecatholicworkerfarm.org
Olivia Ball (Melbourne) http://rightsbase.org
Eric Snowball (from Sydney) social worker
Rik Lydon (from Sydney) sound engineer
Errol O’Neill (from Brisbane) actor
Mary Kelly (Brisbane) trade unionist

A bit of protesting and occupying in London re Wikileaks

Yesterday a few of us attempted to deliver a letter to the High Commissioner at the Australian Embassy in London. Below are more details.

PRESS RELEASE December 14th. 2010

Armed Police Called to Australian Embassy in London as Australian Protesters Occupy Foyer Demanding the Release of Julian Assange


On Monday 13th December at 5 pm, concerned Australian academics, artists, activists and expats occupied the foyer of the Australian Embassy on The Strand, London. They refused instruction by embassy security to vacate the building reading aloud a letter of demands addressed to the Australian High Commissioner.

The letter calls for the Embassy to be proactive in securing the immediate release from custody of fellow Australian citizen and founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange. The letter has been signed by celebrated journalist John Pilger, Australian born human rights activist Peter Tatchell, veteran Australian anti-war activist Ciaron O'Reilly and a growing number of British based Australians outraged with the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder. Assange is presently held in London's Wandsworth Prison having been denied bail at an intial hearing at Westminister Court last week. Mr. Assange's next bail appearance, which will take place on Tuesday 14th December.

Armed members of the Metropolitan Police’s Diplomatic Protection Unit were first to arrive on the scene, followed by three vans of riot police deployed in the vicinity for unrelated student protests and finally a more relaxed member of the local Charring Cross police station arrived on foot Following the exit of the five protestors, the closure of the embassy and the departure of the police the protestors commenced a vigil outside the embassy

The front steps of the embassy were employed as a makeshift stage as the vigil was addressed by Australian academics Proffesor Michael Dutton, university lecturer Saul Newman, Australian activist Ciaron O'Reilly and entertained by Australian band "Lovers Electric".

A makeshift shrine was constructed in front of the embassy consisting of candles, images of civilian victims of the war on Afghanistan and framed photographs of Julian Assange presently jailed at London's Wandsworth Prison, defendant in the initial U.S. military case against WikiLeaks Corporal Manning presently jailed at a U.S. marine base at Quantico, Virginia, USA and London resident Shaker Aamer who enters his eight year of detention in Guantanamo Bay


"Australians for the Immediate Release of Julian Assange" believes that the refusal to grant bail to Mr. Assange is unjust and unwarranted'. 'They argue that this denial of bail and present imprisonment of the WikiLeaks founder are politically driven by forces with which the Australian government are in connivance. They believe the actions of the Australian government and embassy in relation to Mr Assange, an Australian citizen, amount to a dereliction of duty. They are also demanding that the Australian government immediately cease co-operation in the persecution of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

A spokesperson for the group, veteran Australain anti-war activist Ciaron O'Reilly, stated:

"Many of us share Julian's background of being raised in the authoritarian state of Queensland where civil liberties were denied as matter of course. This formative experience shaped Julian in terms of his passion for free speech as it shaped us before him. Others of us are dismayed that, like Vietnam and Iraq, the present Australian government has followed the United States into another immoral, illegal and unwinnable war in Afghanistan. Julian's work with WikiLeaks has been courageous and revelatory. He's in that jail for us and we're out on the streets for him! We need to free him and bring this war and invasion of Afghanistan to an end!"


ENDS
For more info contact:
Ciaron O'Reilly Mobile 079 392 905 76
(outside the UK) +44 79 392 905 76

Note to editor:

Photographs available of the incident from Marcin Ph. 0797 191 0257
(outside UK) + 44 797 191 0257

- Video footage of the incident available from David 07985 027 049
(putside UK) +44 7985 027 049

* Present signatories of the (attached) Letter to the High Commisioner
Letter from "Australians for the Immediate Release of Julian Assange" to the Australian High Commissioner attached to this press release.


John Pilger (from Sydney, Australia) http://www.johnpilger.com/
Peter Tatchell, (from Melbourne, Australia) London based, Human Rights Activist
http://www.petertatchell.net/
Michael Dutton, (from Brisbane, Australia) Professor of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London.
Deborah Kessler, (from Brisbane, Australia) Concerned Citizen.
Ciaron O'Reilly, (from Brisbane, Australian), London Catholic Worker/ Ploughshares.
http://www.londoncatholicworker.org/
Eden Boucher, (from Adelaide, Australia) Musician "Lovers Electric".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovers_Electric
David Turley, (from Adelaide, Australia), Musician "Lovers Electric".
Sharon Turley, (from Adelaide, Australia) Classical Musician.
David Warburton (from Adelaide, Australia), Coffee Brewster
Saul Newman, teaches Political Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London.
John Hutnyk, (from Melbourne, Australia) Professor of Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths University of London.
Peter Thomas (from Rockhampton, Queensland) teaches History of Political Thought at Brunel University, London.
Maria Albrecht, (from Melbourne, Australia) Catholic Worker Farmhouse
http://www.thecatholicworkerfarm.org/
Olivia Ball (from Melbourne, Australia) Author
Eric Snowball (from Sydney, Australia) Social Worker.
Errol O'Neill (from Brisbane, Australia) Actor.
Mary Kelly (from Brisbane,Australia) Trade Unionist.
Dan O'Neill (from Brisbane, Australia) Scholar.
Dr Linnell Secomb (from Melbourne, Australia) Head of Department of Social, Political and Cultural Studies, University of Greenwich
Errin Collins, (from Lithgow, Australia) Occupational Therapist
Eric Snowball (from Sydney, Australia) Social Worker.
Rik (from Sydney, Australia), Sound Engineer.
Nick Gill (from Perth, Australia) Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bristol

she's hear again.

restlessness.

she creeps up slowly at first, quietly circling, stirring the air around me and gently swaying my thoughts and soul. moment by moment she increases her speed until before i know it, i'm in the middle of a whirl-wind.
with her comes a sweet but persistent rain, each drop dissolving a little more that glossy protector i've carefully built up around myself. she's pulling me onwards, inwards and im scared, and alone. her breath feels like a wild fire, threatening to raze all that is unnecessary to the ground. she's bold in her purpose and simple in her trusting; out of ashes will rise beauty.

the fire, the wind, the rain moves me to clear out the cupboards, slow down the pace, be gentle in my striving,
to let go of false realities that weigh down the spirit and for heavens sake, stop looking in the mirror as if it has the power to validate my existence.

but as the constructs melt away, my raw inner-workings are exposed to the elements and i'm as vulnerable as f***k.
all that is left is what lies within this vast border-less soul.
a kind of dread mixed with nervous excitement saturates me...for here is where the work must be done.
you can drive out the demons, but if you've nothing to fill the void...

so where are you courage?
you are the gutsy companion i must employ for this journey, to tackle those mountains and those oft mentioned valleys and navigate the roaring wild seas.
strength of will, i need you too, will you stand at the door and force the old habits to turn away? while creativity, you untamed child, could you summon vibrant and vast moments to fill the void those habits leave gaping? and wisdom, will you listen to the realities of the world, and guide my willing hands?
while hope...could you just promise the stick around?
i have a hunch that there is more to be found. x

Perform in a musical: DONE

ok. so, that was intense.

it's the morning after closing night. the tea is very strong, the make-up is very dark under the eyes and the head is fragile.

the show was sondheim's 'into the woods' - a musical full of weird and wonderful characters all searching for something more.

my character, jack's mother is a frumpy, old, fiercely protective mother who battles her way through what life has dealt her (mainly an incredibly stupid son who sells their cow for beans and such things) with duster in hand and a rather in-your-face disposition.

and she dies, protecting her son.
in her final moments she sees a vision of him and reaches out to touch her beloved son 'Jack....Jack....' and just like that, the life drops from her face and she is left standing, rigid, to be carried off-stage, mouth gaping open. job done.

yup, my first proper theatre role was that glamorous. brilliant, loved it!

performing with others from the Con was a delight. each person brought their own intelligence and unique understanding to their character - and those voices! beautiful voices! but it was the many beautiful off-stage moments that really got me. the nearly peeing myself with stifled laughter in the wings just before going on, the constant hugs and encouragement when i was nearly dead with the flu on opening night, the dancing, the rallying together, the sharing of make-up tips, the flowers, the cue reminders (only once!). the love and encouragement and care that everyone gave to each other during this whole process has been so uplifting and motivating...these are truly an incredible bunch of kind, caring, creative people.

oh and this was fun - because opening night clearly isn't dramatic enough in itself, i thought i needed to up the diva anti and faint. yeah. for the second time ever in my life, i fainted, two hours before curtains went up, in the shower, on my own, at home. hmmm, that was interesting, and not at all glamorous, and, it hurt like hell (had bruises and everything, yep, was pretty proud)! the flu which had settled in the day before became my nerve-busting buddy, i had no energy to think about nerves, i just had to rely on the work already done (during the previous 17 days straight of rehearsals...hmm) and get out there, drugged up on tablets and much love and prayers from the many angels who pulled me through those couple of days. i love remembering all the little moments of love and care from my dear dear people! From Dib answering my call on that first delirious day, to Aly sharing health wisdom on facebook, to Mum brewing up a magical chicken soup, to Dad flying in from Darwin just at the right time to taxi it over and drag me into the car on opening night, swollen eye and bruised knees and all! to Guila coming to my dressing room and dressing me and doing my make-up just before the show while i sat in a daze of fever, to Fi giving me hugs of encouragement all night.
for something that isn't deadly here, the flu certainly does a pretty good job of making you feel like death warmed up. Thank you everyone for everything!

and now this show must go on. next it's french, german and italian songs for exams, and back into the studio to work on the album before hopefully hopping over to blighty for some hugs and perhaps a slinky show or two.
and the sun is shining.
xx