Onedayiwillbedead

Livims Radio is 10!

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:55:00 +0000

Well, the radio show is anyhow. The latest one is up and ready for your perusal, featuring all manner of bleeps, bloops, chuggahs, YEOWS!, nings, weeE's and other such noises arranged in such a fashion as to be pleasing to the ear.

Click on over to the livims home page (its in the links), and hit the bit near the top of the screen wot says 'Radio'. Simple, eh?

Happy hunger...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:39:00 +0000

Fasting for spiritual reasons seems to be almost a taboo subject in Scotland and this vexes me. Im sure that there are a few folk who are up to it, hidden away in secret nooks and paranoid crannies. But why are we so scared of talking about giving up food or some creature comfort for short periods of time? Is it some thing to do with an inherent fear of boasting? Perhaps we're worried about inadvertently encouraging eating disorders. Perhaps we're just worried people will see us as freaks.

In this spirit I would like to officially out myself right here and now: I was fortunate to have been introduced to fasting very early in my Christian life and have found it to be of unfathomable usefulness. I recommend it to anyone who is healthy and wants to know God better.

I quite agree that there are aspects of fasting that are inherently private but Im not advocating that we just go about spilling our guts about everything to any punter that happens to be passing. And obviously we have to be careful about the possible dangers and put a bit of thought into it, but thats no reason to write it off completely.

If you do have a go Id recommend taking medical advice , avoiding hard physical labour while your actually at it and making sure you drink plenty of water. And much like tripping on LSD, I find it helpful to tell one person what you're doing just in case.

Praying every time you would usually be eating is not only amazing for yer relationship with God, but it makes us realise just how much unnecessary crap we really can cram down our throats in a day. Fasting also forces you to slow down. It forces us to think things out and gives us time for new perspectives.

Self discipline, dignity, compassion. Fasting offers a window on all these and more. And lets not forget the mysterious way it seems to convert our prayer into heavenly, incorporeal molotov-cocktails.

I reckon theres allot at stake, and we, in our polite silence, are missing out. So lets not make a big deal of it, but lets at least be ok with talking about it.

Thus Spake Mandy...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:05:00 +0000

"Id rather be a bollock in a community of other bollocks rather than a lone bollock just wandering about by itself".

Dear Rab...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 14:28:00 +0000

Hi man - it was cool to see you and get a chance to natter at the 3 Steps Back show in Craigsfarm the other day. Its good to get perspective from people who've been about and know the score.

However, I think I owe you an apology. In fact, I think I owe all of Livi an apology. The night wasnt as well attended as Id hoped and I was tired and all that kind of stuff, so in a hissy fit I accussed Livi of having no soul.

Basically, I want to publicly take that back. Livi so does have a soul! Its wee and fragile and tempramental, but it is there. There is so little of any artistic expression in Livi and its spread so thinly between the faceless rows of dormatory 'first time buyer' housing and ignored green space that it can be really easy to miss, but it is there and we - me and you - are part of it.

Every time we're involved with a show, either going, playing or putting it on we help it grow a wee bit. Every time we keep positive it takes more solid form. I was so wrong to write it off, because by writing it off, I was effectively writing the people off and that was well out of order.

What Livi has now is lightyears further on from what we had back in the day and so much more than I ever expected in such a cultural dust bowl. We have a community (yes its cliqish but thats human beings for you, eh? We're old enough to see through that crap anyhow). We have some small busineses like Live Rehearsal that are run as a genuine service. There are people with real tallent in amongst it all - like Martin Wow! the artist and Brucey Stepda. The skatepark is still an Oasis of alternative sometimes, despite being the Mos Eisley of West Lothian at others. And we still have some pretty chuffing good music. In short: theres some real life expressing itself roond here. How much more might appear as the barrat homes continue to sprawl?

Im convinced that Livis alternative underbelly can and will survive despite looking sickly when compared to cities. Its existence is an ongoing protest against the battery life that people choose by moving here and Im convinced that for their kids, its an essential avenue of escape from it.

And when we're not part of it any more - it'll still be there. I havent meant it to be all preachy and in truth its really aimed at me more than anything else anyway. Im just trying to say that Im sorry for being so cynical the other night. I didnt want to drag anybody down so I thought Id explain why I now think I was wrong. Please - next time you see me talking like that, remind me of this stuff that Im on about here.

Respect & shalom as ever - Doogs

Dancing Skeletons...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:33:00 +0000

All you skeletons,
rise up! Dance now!
Fleshless framework,
shake your thing now!
Rattle rhythm, bone drum,
stomp feet! clack hands!
Corpus animated,
curse sleep! Stand!

Bone point pirouette,
sun bleached skulls grin!
Celebrate the coming of the
un-rot (new skin!)
Throbbing through dead meat,
fearful life creeps!
Blood pulse rhythm of the
new found beat!

For those of you wondering what Im on about, this wee poem thingy (its meant to be part story, part exhortation, part hope and part accusation - probably part other things as well), is based on the experience of athis gadge called Ezekiel. You can read about it here.

New Radiophonic Frontiers...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:30:00 +0000

Finally got round to recording another Livims radioshow. As ever, it awaits your perusal at livims - just click the wee button that says 'radio' and yer away.

Easter...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:49:00 +0000

An old saying: The King is dead... Long live the King!

Alive again...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:56:00 +0000

I missed the last bus home from work this evening - what a gift. I walked for an hour along back roads, past fields ready for new seed. Underneath the ugly motorway and deeper into the woods. Birds sang, the earth smelled good and the sky blazed apocalypse red as the sun went down. Everything is good this evening... it feels like ever the stones are crying out praise. I'm remembering, along with the rest of creation, that I'm alive

Life Without Cars...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:53:00 +0000

The main road between East and Mid Calder - a busy link from Livingston to Edinburgh - has been closed. Life without cars is quiet. Tranquil. Its so peacfull without them. Every now and then wee gifts like this just kind of pop up. Im thankfull.

30...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:21:00 +0000

3 decades on... Am I the only one who feels that I haven used the time well?

Regarding Chisels And Mallets...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:47:00 +0000

More and more I'm thinking the secret is to let life chip the edges off you, without letting it knock lumps out.

Week of the year, already...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:29:00 +0000

I scored a new guitar this week and its a total peach. It looks horrible, sounds horrible and has a horribly gaudy green light on it - perfect really. A steal for twenty quid, I have dubbed her 'Thunderbird 1'.

Then I saw Norma Jean in the 'Weeg. My first big hXc gig no less! It was so much fun to see large scale jagging going on in such close proximity. Jagging is a bit like Capoeira sped up to rediculous velocities and set into spinning motion (sometimes even perpetrated by reeling drunks). This all conspires to make for fantastic entertainment when witnessed up close. I realised I was really having fun when - from behind - a body sailed over my head and belly flopped into the action right in front of me. Amazing.

And finally, If I may be allowed to boast a little, I got perfect marks on the New Testament module of my course. I'm officially chuffed to smithereens.

More music?

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:23:00 +0000

There is so much amazing music in the world I find it hard to take in its grand canyon-esque breadth and splendor. Even in my parochial wee locality its amazing what grandiose sound can loom into being. I take pride in taking time to listen. I often wonder why more people dont.

Would a band of the month entry be helpful for all you post modernist bewild-o-nauts floating through the ether of choice?

Blobs...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:20:00 +0000

Douglas Entrepreneur now has a blog. He's got opinions aplenty and thinks hard about stuff. Pay him a visit or forever fail to achieve your life's full potential...

On Substance...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:57:00 +0000

If Im being honest, I have to say that I'm not impressed with myself: a thin man with very little depth. I struggle to maintain even basic relationship for the fear that the veneer may be sussed and I get 'found out' (I confess Im hoping this will be a 'me too' moment from you readers - dont let me down folks). Like many of my contemporaries, I hide behind an assumed identity. Mine happens to take a form slightly to the left, rather than assuming that anonymous facade the rest of our society comforts itself with. It would appear that theres safety in numbers.

I grew up aware the lack of substance inherent in our lives. We seem to live a semi-skimmed existence (thanx Douglas ;) ), fundamentally weak and unsatisfying. After looking for something with real depths, and through various adventures, I found something in Jesus. Resonant, pithy, satisfying, He teaches me wholeness...

I'm not wanting to preach though. I'm just trying to get over the fact that this uncommon, precious idea of matter really seems to matter lots. Its rare stuff.

A great victim/perpetrator is music: so much is tripe (both the secular and sacred! Im bored of the 'Christian music = crap' position though). But gems are like peanuts if you ask me - plentiful if your willing to sift through the poo. Heres a belated Christmas present of something with real integrity - Wovenhand. Meaty stuff (suitable for veggies like me), thats innovative rather than generic and honestly expressive instead of cowardly preaching. Something with a bit or real about it.

What say ye?

Iron Maiden...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 05:22:00 +0000

Yas! Keith from YakNak gave me a ticket to see Iron Maiden at the SECC last week and it was AMAAAAZING! I completely regressed to a 14 tear old, giggling when they brought Steve Harris' bass oot tae sound check.

Was I stuck in the seating area? Yes. Where they old men? Yes. Did I not recognise most of the songs? Yes. Was it a contender for gig of the year anyway? Too chuffing right!

Id vowed never to return to the SECC after a particularly ropey Smashing Pumpkins show 10 years ago, but was really chuffe dto see the place has really got its chops together. It actually sounded half decent in there fer a change. But most impressive was to see that the Irons where still still kicking large amounts of prime rump steak.

Maiden where getting a bit long in the tooth when I was a young man (about the '7th Son' era), but never deviated from what they loved. I left them to explore other avenues for a while - Im so very glad that they did'nt follow my lead. Viva their integrity! I could easily paraphrase Jesus' story of the prodigal son here, but you get the picture !m sure.

Its comforting to know that there are constants in the universe other than comets and maths.

Tagged...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 05:06:00 +0000

Lurch has tagged me in some bizzare internet game of tig, and the code of the playground demands that I pass on the mantle. The challenge is to share 5 things that most people wont know about me... this is hard.

The first is that I have just cut my mohichan off, leaving naught but a 14" long tin tin quiff, comminly reffered to as a 'Devil Lock'. Most people wont know this because I only did it 12 hours ago.

Next is that Im not a big fan of the last song on the VOTM album. We started with an amazing drumbeat that sounded like nothign else, added wonky guitars that where Beefheart oot their nut, layered some amazing fretless exotic bass and topped it off with crazed chanted Clutch style vocals. Unfortunately, this cosmopolitan blend of influences has ended up soundign surprisingly close to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers *shiver*.

Third is that I have never read all the Lord Of The Rongs books, having watched the original animated film and pucked up the literature from there.

Fourth is that I had a dream that I think was from God. It was all about Livingston, seeds and harvests. Its been about 7 years since I had it and no one has ever been able to tell me what it means, but Im sure that someone will one day.

Lastly is that I have loads of regrets about squandering my youth and generally not getting it.

That was easire than I thought actaully. What a narcicist, eh? Right - someone elses turn.

The West Lothian & District Jesus Christ Wonderfuzz Orchestra presents...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 04:11:00 +0000

A Very Progressive Christmas!
(an alternative celebration - waifs and strays welcome)

A non traditional carol service led by members of
Indafusion
Massacre On The Fjords
Jackie Treehorn
Sweet Chin Music
Voice Of The Mysterons
manfully acompanied by
The Impromptu Kazoo Ensemble (who will it be? Who can tell?)
and also featuring
Davey Dobson
Logie

Together they shall present an all time hit parade of Christmas Carol based madness, followed by the mighty SPACIAL ENTREPRENEURS

Monday, December 18th 2006 AD - Deer Park Golf & Country club (Livi) - 7.30 pm as anything

£FREE!

The punx went in 2x2...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:53:00 +0000

Had a lovely couple of nights down in Ayr over the last couple of weeks. Turn out that there is a new venue down there called The Ark thats run as an alcohol free youth centre. No unilateral actions here - its only run by a coalition force of no less than 11 different churches! The Brethren have even assented to working with Catholics! Baptists and Presbyters shoulder to shoulder! Just how it should always be... They even make amazing coffee!

Be friendly - visit www.myspace.com/ayrark and say hello to James and the mob doon thar.

Beaten Up By A Girl!

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:44:00 +0000

It was my own fault really...

I was trying to leave work.
After she punched me in the head twice, I raised myself up and spoke to the bealing drunk:
"Gonae leave it out?"
Then took my eyes off her and returned to fiddling with the keys, crouching...
Blat!
she kicked me in the face.

The only deep damage is to my pride.

Doogs On Tour...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:14:00 +0000

England is a nice place - Im beginning to see what theyre on about.

Thursday saw me heading south to my paternal home of Sheffield for the first time in 8 years. Last time I was there it was to bury my amazing Auntie Blanche who lived her whole life in one house (right next door to the hoose ma da was born in). The train passed amazing grand churches which speckled the eerily flat landscape. It was nice to find life awaiting me in this visit as the blue haired medical student Chris played his very first gig with his new band Free For All. Kind of Snuff meets Billy Brag and, a few wee timing foibles aside, not too shabby at all.

Friday led me back to Livi for an astounding show of streingth from Tabasco Fiasco (www.myspace.com/tabfiasco), the astounding Secta Rouge (www.myspace.com/sectarouge) and promising livi young team A Torn Mind (www.myspace.com/atornmindband). Sadly, these myspace accounts largely dont represent the incredible live abilities.

Saturday took me down to Bradford for punk worship (www.punkworship.co.uk), perpitrated by a certain blog fellow of mine, MaFt. I met and was really encouraged by Stevo, who's really involved in the Manchester Hardcore/sXe scene. It was also nice to get a chance to wallow in God for a few hours. Ideal.

Sunday returned me to Livi and straight into compereing at the Nitespot in a battle of the bands type affair. Things got rowdy (I keep promising myself to stop crowd surfing, I really do). 3 Steps Back done Livi's punk heritage proud and wen through to the semi's. A Shite State Of Affairs reformed and played a fantastic acoustic set. Deadstuartwakes new band Rodent Emporium opened and where sounding gid - and mair gid with every passing show (www.myspace.com/rodentemporium).

4 days of trains, gigs and chips have wearied my body but poured a bucket of freezing water over my bed ridden spirit. Yas.

...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:04:00 +0000

"And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive" - Ecclesisates 4:2

For the 2 people Im not allowed to name and Rab (who wasnt daft). Godspeed you all - you are missed.

For my Gran...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:39:00 +0000

At 5 o clock this morning
in a wee warm hospital room
my mum said to her mum
"love you...
I want to thank you for being my mum".
We held grans hand and prayed as she slipped away.

Updates!

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:57:00 +0000

Aye - marking a year of blogging here with a couple of long overdue updates. Wire in at your earliest convenience...

The Boxologist writes deep and interesting stuff, with a particular eye for middle easter politics. Incidentally, Im reading a book just now called 'A Politically Incorrect guide to Islam and the Crusades' its very well researched but pretty full on.

Hef is the spider fingered geetarist of fantastic livi prog-metalists Massacre On The Fjords. He pops in now and then so pay his myspace a visit.

Rock N Roll Zombies is a wee promotions collective thats come out of Wakenthedead. We're doing gigs in Livi, Stirling, a few in Embra and hopefully soon in Falkirk and Glasgow. Props out to all the chaps :)

YakNak is a Livi based charity for Nepalese street kids who's story is pretty cool. Basically 2 livi twenty-somethings went on their hols in Nepal. They where shocked by the street kids and decided to start a house for them. All the bands helped raise money by putting on a ream of gigs and now the house is built and the first kids have started school. They're far from desperate but you should give them some money anyhow.

Theres also a new section that stictly for the lads...

Kill Your Television (and other stories)...

noreply@blogger.com (Dougleross) — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:35:00 +0000

About 2 weeks ago decided that it was time to get rid of the TV. The plan has been to spend less time mindlessly consuming and more time engaging with God. Its not really worked out so far, as Ive been spending every spare second on the ol' interweb so Im again reminded that walking with Christ is more about what you do, rather than dont do.

However, this could all turn out to be academic as I have to move across town this weekend. Of course, the new place has a telly. Kev (ma new hoosemate) isnae a huge fan of it (he favours a recording studio in place of a front room), so perhaps I'll be able to convince him to get rid of it. Komrade Waddelski has moved over to Boghall to a nice 2 bedroom skete-like flat. Deadstuartwakes will be moving into Glasgow to start doing Rock N Roll Zombie shows and perhaps even plant a church. I suppose that heralds the end of the prayer squat experiment in its current form.

As Kev's place is like, already his hime the move means I'll have to pass on a large proportion of material possesions, most of which was passed on to me. This feels like Im taking part in some kind of 'pass the parcel', which is defiantely as fun as it sounds. Its going to be weird moving into someones elses house from my own.

Aye - and apparently the lesley speaker in my old organ might be worth £600. Im stunned.