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Friends and readers. the conscious awakening of the human spirit can be but an arms length away, it opens the windows to the soul of a world not yet explored and to meanings not yet understood.  And as the arms length draws closer to the windows of the soul it sees more of this unexplored world and to meanings not so hard to understand.

The combination of  spirit, eyes and soul is a power house of intent and we are mere passengers as this trio sets about it’s work. What do I do shouts the stranger in the dark, who will turn on the light for this frightened stranger and let it stream through the windows of the soul.

According to, whoever it was we are all prisoners of conscience and at any one time suddenly without warning our lives can be altered sometimes for ever and maybe better, that part dear friends lies with within. If someone has switched the light on and allowed it to stream through, it may suddenly dazzle you, but once you become accusomed to the light then indeed you may fear no more.   

Friends and readers. As you know Pilton Sucks always tries to bring to you a bit of something different,  as well as the cut and thrust of local politics and politics in general, we try in our own very small way to inject another side of life, and as the sun streams through our windows this fairest of Saurday Mornings we bring to you a curtain raiser with an injection of a little culture for your delicate palates.

Be transported if you will to the Colosseum in Rome of a very warm evening in 2003 AD. A youngish man sat high in the gods of this magnificent adutorium once used as a place of sport if you can call fights to the death and Christians thrown to lions sport. This wonder of the world was staging an operatic performance of Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi, now if nothing else is required then stamina is paramount given that this particular opera is over 4 hours and as we are sure you all well know is Verdi’s longest Opera.

This youngish man had by chance stumbled upon this cultural delight during a converstaion with a ticket tout, for those that don’t know what a ticket tout is, they try to sell you tickets at vastly inflated prices, and if you did not know that you could pay at the door then you may well have been fooled into buying said ticket.

But our intrepid hero was not taken in and off to the Colosseum he did trot. This event was to be staged without a roof of course only a covering where the opera was to be staged, incidently where the Lions and Gladiators were once housed, mere detail and in the greater scheme of things of minor interest. It is at this point worth noting in a devilish way that it may have been quite a sight to see the two shadey characters spoken of in a previous post enter into the arena as third rate gladiators and watch battle commence,would have loved a ticket for that one, and may yet get one in another arena.

So on to the performance itself and performance indeed under states this cultural experience. The youngish man sat glued to the performance and given the heat glued is the right word. Translated from it’s original language of French into Italian on with the show and the first of 4 acts. starting at 7pm GMT it finished at 11.15pm GMT and for those four hours and a bit our intrepid hero was transported to another world. Won’t bore you culture vultures with minute detail suffice to say that heights were reached of a level yet to be surpassed.

So our own culture vulture who had sat in row 33 seat 8, don’t  think they were numbered like that when the lions were in town, came down from those giddy heights and made his way into the warm Roman evening thinking of what had just gone and a little cultural event enjoyed for the price of a cup of coffee not in the company of the luvies but the common man, from whence this cultural delight came from as did all cultural delights. 

Friends and readers. In our dreams we can dance and you can almost hear the song. Dear friends what do we speak of you ask. well make up your own mind and see what you come up with.  For those that talk,  sometimes to much you might say hammering the eardrums of the poor victim listening, you may be dancing but missing the song.

The purpose of course is not one of intent to talk our poor victim into submission but you may say a zone of comfort emerges in which you can both dream and hear the song, although it may not seem like that at the time. Take if you like the simple art of conversation, it can get up it’s own head of steam and before you know it time flashes in an instant. Good well perhaps depending on your point of view and who you are talking to.

The devil is in the detail but that can get in the way of singing and dancing or even dreaming. The true spirit in which we embrace the words gives real meaning to it’s nature and that’s the good part.

For the long suffering victim at the other end the words may go in one ear and out the other retaining just enough to survive the onslaught. But there is as you can guess a more human side to all this, as well as an element of pleasant suprise. As one person said to another a little while back is this just an illusion,  or words to that effect. How dear friends can you answer that, let’s say if you didn’t see a puff of smoke chances are if you touch this illusion there will be a solid feel to it.   

Friends and readers. Inside the murky corridors of Halcrowe lies pandoras box, which as you know if opened can unleash such destruction as we could not imagine. The secret deals, handshakes which belong to the nod and twitch club and the sliding across the desk of a cuddly little or in Halcrowes case not so little level service agreement.

The strange shaped table that occupies a room at Halcrowe HQ adorned with regalia more at home in Shakespears MacBeth is we are told where the plans are made to bring misery into peoples lives, and then get well paid for it.

The Machiavellian quick step is Halcrowes dance, just ask their dance partners in the Community, one of whom is our newest best friend and everybodys favourite Neighbourhood Manager and Uncle, Pete american smoothie Strong whose allegiance to Halcrowe is lengendary.

Forths green and pleasant valleys are now in places mounds of earth and unfinished projects which Halcrowe might make good at a cost of course. The cowering residents of Forth who peer out from behind their drawn curtains or through their letter boxes in the hope, that the Angel of death in the form of a Halcrowe rep will pass then by, tremble at the possibilty that Halcrowe will be let loose near them.

We are told the thought of a Halcrowe project has made grown men cry and do strange things at funny hours. The Machiavellian quick step while holding Pandoras box is a Halcrowe speciality and one that has taken years of shoddy workmanship to perfect. If by some terrible earth shattering disaster  Halcrowe get their service agreement re-newed, then they won’t need to open Pandoras box the Forth residents will be lining up to open it for them.    

Friends and readers. As we meander our way through life doing what we do being who we are, there are times in this life when it can feel as though gray clouds surround us, and the light might never come in. It occured to the writer more than once, that the light can shine through at the most unexpected moments, bringing with it the joy of daylight and all that goes with it.

Our lives can resemble a river with it’s twists and turns alongside it’s mild currents, but then where the bend ends is the clear water which lies calm and will attract you to perhaps wander in and enjoy the comfort it brings.

This the place you want to be, for you have arrived somewhere you may have thought could never be, although you may have dipped into water before it is this river at this time where you want to be. Why should this be who knowes, to analyse it is to spoil it,  just let it be and soak up the pleasure it gives.

It matters not that the river may have stones on it’s bed or it may be deeper in parts than others, they are as much a delight and pleasure for they are part of the river that has attracted you in. The wonder of it all is that this river has always been there you just didn’t know it until you seen it.

It is not for us the question to wonder why, nor can the answer ever be relevent. For how ever long you may have lived can it really be this is the river that dreams are made of.     

Friends and readers. One moment in time, one meaningful glance, can move mountains and give a sense of purpose that you thought lost. This and more can give you reasons enough to smile and take you through more difficult times and stormy waters.

This dear friends is not as straight forward as you may think. It is the most unusual circumstances that can change lives for the better we hope and the beauty of it all,  it can never be anticipated, which makes it all the more mysterious in it’s make up. 

What when and why would be a good starting point but why bother seeking answers it matters not, only the sense of presence it brings with it. Let us look briefly at a sense of presence. What is it? what does it constitute, how is it created. Hard to really get to grips and be honest it’s a two way street so we must seek anothers view, you the reader will have an opinion which best describes how you see these three questions.

Pilton Sucks offers no view other than to say it can give real meaning to life beyond  what you might have expected. The view of the reader may see this differently or much the same or even add to it, fatten it up if you like. The unexpected can be a real winner, and that’s how we like to think of it.

No-one can say with any real certainty what will happen tomorrow, oh yes there may be a plan for your day, but an unexpected spanner can be chucked in the works, which throws the plan into confusion, what’s that saying the best laid plans of mice and men. But of course on the other hand comes the plan that actually goes to plan and within it can come somewhere in that plan your old pal the sense of presence, whatever that might be.

It is not for us to wonder why but to embrace it,  if of course it pleases you and to want more, that to dear friends makes the unexpected that bit more welcome. What you expected and what you get may be two entirely different animals which can in a sense knock you for six in the nicest possible way. 

The rose is the most fragrant of flowers and offers us an unexpected calmness and dare we say makes us feel better about our surroundings. Who would have thought a flower could do that. Dear friends that rose could be another rose by any other name       

Friends and readers. Building foundations for a new sustainable Community does not come easy and is not without personal cost. But that fades in the distance as the silent wings of success fly your way.

One can sit quitely contemplating any number of things but to see something grow from nothing can make your heart soar and breath ever so deeply to avoid the tears of a game hard played but brought to the edge of reality.

It is unquestionably a lonely path and just when you thought it could not be so a seemingly invisible guiding hand helps you across the finishing line. The hurdles can seem impossible to climb at times, but hope and belief that this is the right road keeps you going.

Rebirth, renewed vigor, thinking about the end result all play a part but it is in the end the human effort which will bring failure or success. For now we rest not on our laurels but to re-energise and pass the batton onwards for all to be included in this inclusive Community, which we build.

No-one will be left out everyone who wishes to play a part can do so just come forward and the hand of friendship will  be extended, for no man is an island and support from wherever it comes is welcomed. But for now we think of a solitary soul sitting,  perhaps in a car park somewhere thinking about how it all came about and quitely smiling to himself about a job well done to date.

Ah the silent wings of success.

Friends and readers. Our new world of the Waterfront was to be a new begining for what is now the Forth Ward, and of course the wider Community. Alas dear friends the pheonix did not arise from the ashes and we have been deserted by the profiteering developers, whose legacy is overpriced and in some cases badly constructed buildings.

Are we witnessing what some have called our future slums or does that over dramitise our present prediciment. Let us peer in for a moment and have a look see. Many of the properties remain unsold and if left like that will quite clearly deteriorate. A number of the buildings have stalled in the process of construction and have an ugly appearance about them.

The promise of up to 9000 jobs was not only overly ambitious and down right dishonest but proved to be a false dawn for any type of local constructive employment. we recall many moons ago a public meeting held in the Prentice Centre to woo the locals into believing good times were on the way for all who wished to be involved. One voice that evening that seems like so long ago raised concerns about glossy slide shows and even glossier brochures, hiding the reality behind what was a Community being conned by a few individuals who cared not for the greater good but only the lining of their own pockets.

That voice was shouted down but has now come back to haunt us like a nemesis returned. There was a grand scheme to have 23% of the developments as social and affordable housing, never happened, open accountability to the Community, never happened mail drops telling us of the dawning of a new age, never happened. So what do those people that shouted that voice down now think, if they ever thought at all.

A frail grasp of the big picture was the error, and a very easy error it was to make as many were seduced by false hoods and make believe. Many wanted to believe hope was around the corner and with that we find no fault, and it is perhaps easy to understand the reluctance to listen to a voice that offered doubt about such, what turned out to be extravagant claims.

The developers are gone WEL is no more the dawning of a new age did not even get off the ground, and the players in this sharade are long off the scene of the crime. The voice that was shouted down years back will not gloat we think far from it but rather promote and unify a Community still at odds with the sting they suffered.

Optimism and hope tinged with a determination not to drop the balls again may yet offer opportunities to come. If this were the ingredients for a fine wine, would it be a classic vintage. We may just have to ask the audience on that one.  

Friends and readers. Momentus events have helped shape the world in live in today. From the birth of the Christ to mans first step on another planet our world has grown to encompass all that has been achieved and all the achievments to come.

But perhaps to our shame or more so to the shame of those charged by the people to lead, we still have not found a path which leads us to peace. At any given time there are numerous conflicts around the globe and while armies and tribes fight it out for supremacy the real victims are the peoples stuck in the middle of such conflicts.

The rights and wrongs have no place here and therefore we do not seek to look deep into the motivation for conflict, we look only to the casulties and the fall out which impacts on us all. Our achievments in producing better and quicker ways of destroying each other has never been in question, and some of the best minds around have used their skills to help produce some of the worlds killing fields.

Opportunist conflicts like we seen in Iraq helped secure the oil fields while destroying the infrastucture of that nation. The desire to control land and it’s means of production has also been a great motivator for war, and of course the old chestnut itself religious wars, whatever they are.

The crusades in the holy land produced nothing and the fighting continues today just a different form of crusade. The conflict in the Balkans and the horrific ethnic cleansing that went on, we are still none the wiser but poorer for allowing it to happen. The genocide acted out on the jews during the Nazi years showed up true hate in it’s basic form. We could go on, but the message is clear, war produces nothing but misery and death.

There is no right war all war is wrong but world leaders with their eyes on the prize have yet to understand this, most simple of messages. What’s your’s is mine and what’s mine’s is my own is a lesson in understanding what drives one nation to berate another.

Our world is a fragile place which has to be nurtured and looked after so it can be passed on to future generations in one piece hopefully, but it seems to require guile and cunning to get past first base. The holes we leave in our societies will have to be patched up somehow, but we fear they will be torn apart again and again to satisfy mans greed for more.

In it’s most basic form the bully will always try or be able to justify their actions and may even convince enough people to make it sound plausible. It can happen once but when lightning strikes twice and often in the same place who then will be convinced,  how plausible will it sound then, and who will believe, only those whose own self interest is put in danger will continue to turn away. 

Friends and readers. An interesting moment occured to somebody yesterday[Tuesday] On what was a miserable day anyway it was further compounded by a fleeting encounter with two characters of a some what shadey nature.

This dear friends resulted in a temperory loss of concentration as to the reason he was there in the first place. Just in case you are scratching your head wondering where this place was, it was in fact the archetechtural delight that is Waverley Court.

That aside our friends concentration unusually left him momentarily, but normal sevice was quickly resumed in the company of a far  more delightful nature, sorry folks the rest is strictly private and personal. All to quickly the real reason for being there was over, and then on to a more mundane do in the same place.

But dear friends there is a positive note. The warm glow that our friend had took him into the next meeting which dragged on a bit bogged down in detail. So our friends mind drifted a little or in truth a lot to the encounter previously, and to a further meeting in the evening another dreary but important get together, which lasted rather a long time.

The glow still remained, and when combat commenced and commence it did our friend glided through with a smile on his face much to the bewilderment on the faces of those present. He even managed to get a good result. So overall the two shadey characters who had momentarily disturbed him faded quickly but the glow remained.

This dear friends made the encounter with the shadey characters seem in a strange way an acceptable face off. For if he had not been there and had the misfortune to bump into these characters he would have missed out on the silver lining, and that dear friends would have been a real loss.

The irony of it all is that our friend may yet bump into those shadey characters again only next time it may be a tad more than a fleeting moment.