some paintings ive done

Jim Morrison Died Forty Years ago today

actually that isn't completely true, he died in the bathroom of the rock and roll circus a day or two earlier of a heroin overdose, and was snuck out of  the club a la "Weekend at Bernie's" style and then brought into his apartment and left in the bathtub.  The owner or manager of the Rock and Roll circus confessed years later to have seen him dead in the toilet.  The person who had sold Jim the pink Chinese heroin that was especially deadly in the summer of 1971 leading to many overdoses, did his absolute best to cover this up.  Selling the lethal dose earlier to Janis Joplin and many others was one thing, but this was just too much.  Had Jim Morrison not become such a drunk and ruined that life, he would still be living today and would be a great poet. 

some photos

Punch Drunk Vomit

In the city of Chicago bars are the preferred outlet for socialization.  This is great, if you are a heavy drinker as years of having a problem with booze can go by nearly undetected.  Even police have been known to look the other way when people drive drunk here.  The problem comes in when you don't drink, are relatively young, and still want to be social.  This city, is a city of drinkers.  Bars, are far less tolerable when sober, people are far more annoying when you are not drinking, and they are progressively lubing up.  

Saturday night, and I decided I had to be social, preferably I would have sat at home and watched Celebrity Ghost Stories, but sometimes you have to interact with other members of your species, as social animals, that is necessary for the overall wellness of the condition.

Mike, A big Irish guy, who resembles in some odd way, A cousin of a mafia hit man. Met me at a small dive bar in Lincoln Park.  He was already half in the bag from day drinking at the White Sox game, his first words were.

"Hey, want to do a shot?"
"No, I'm on the wagon remember?" I replied, somewhat annoyed.
"oh...you mind if I do one?"
"Of course not"
Now this is another annoying factor of choosing to abstain from alcohol, and I encounter this mostly when on dates with women.  They feel insecure about drinking, or ordering a drink if I am not going to drink with them, so in my weaker moments I will drink with them, in my shadier moments, I will fake drink so they leave me alone.  I'll order a tonic water with a lime in a rocks glass, and keep in the straw.  This usually is enough to allow them to leave me alone.

Mike walked over to the bar, did a shot of Jameson and rejoined me with a beer in his hand.  His face turned pale and he hiccuped.  I could tell he was fighting off vomiting.  He got up, ran to the bathroom.  I sat and watched, he was vomiting for sure.

Five mintues later, like a flash, he sprinted out of the bar.  I stood for a moment at the table confused.  Then about three minutes later, a large neanderthal of a guy, staggers out of the bathroom, with a bloody nose, pants half on and vomit on his shirt.

I left the bar and called Mike
"What the hell happend?" I asked
Mike, out of breath and panting said "dude, I couldnt hold back the vomit, and people were standing in the urinal, so I kicked open the stall and puked, some guy was in there taking a shit.  I puked all over him.  We made eye contact for a minute, and my fight or flight kicked in, and I punched him in the face and ran out of  there"

So the neanderthal in the bathroom, not only did he have to use the filthy toilet in the bar, but then he got vomited on and punched in the face.  That would be enough to keep me out of bars for a long time.

Blackberry 8830>Iphone 3Gs>HtcG2>HtcEvo4g>blackberryBold9650 My smartphone Odyssey.

I did something last week that is going against the grain of the times.  I switched from Android back to Blackberry.  I left Blackberry after having the 8830 for about one year, I really loved that phone.  It was made of metal, not plastic like most phones now, had a real solid feel.  Like most people around 2008 I had a fascination towards the iphone, based on the brilliant marketing campaign by apple, they had captured trendy and cool, the scarcity of the phone like it was Michael Jackson at a concert in 1984, all the hype, it was fun to see this phenomena.  So without any real issues with the Blackberry 8830 and actually much fondness for it, I gave it up and switched to the Iphone on AT#T and joined the trend.  At first, like most I was enamored by the device, it was great to have an ipod and phone in one, the web browser was great, and all the bells and whistles.  I missed something however, I couldn't quite figure out what it was, or put my finger on it.  I had the iphone for one year, than lost it in a cab, I had heard all the hype about android, and did still miss that physical keyboard, So I decided to try out the Google G2 on tmobile.  It was cool, had some great features and apps, was a bit more clunky than the iphone, the android marketplace felt like a flea market compared to the Iphone app store.  Still something was missing, I couldn't figure out what, so I decided to switch over to Sprint and the Evo, largely because someone at radio shack had told me this was still the best phone on the market.  I had the evo for 45 days, battery drained FAST.  I tried app killer, battery saver all kinds of tinkering with it, nothing worked.  It would die within two hours, So I realized, what is the point of having this cool phone, that has all these gadgets and apps and great big screen if its powered by a weak battery.  So after some soul searching, I went full circle and realized Blackberry was the phone for me after all.  So taking a two year detour, I now feel like I had a girl I really loved, got the wandering eye, and came back only to find she is more refined, and put together than she was when I left her.

short film, horror film

Two creepy twin brothers, skinny and pale.  See an obituary ad for hot young girl killed in a motorcycle accident, go and dig up the body.

kissed my best friends girl (The Ottoman)

Hector and Sonny sit next to each other at a dusty tex mex style saloon both with bottles of Sol in front of them. They are silent for a beat, staring straight ahead into nothing with blank expressions.

Sonny

When I was a young man growing up in Juarez, I knew that when I came to America, I would know I had made it when I could purchase an ottoman

Hector

an ottoman?

Sonny

somewhere to put my feet up when I came home after a hard days work.

Hector

ah, si, an ottoman

Sonny

yes, it's now my most prized possession next to my wife Dierdre

Hector

si, Dierdre

(Hector shifts nervously in his seat)

Sonny

I need to tell you a story Hector, as you were best man at my wedding, and Godfather to my Donkey William.

Hector

si, what is it Sonny?

(Sonny pauses for a beat and takes a swig of his beer)

Sonny

I killed a man last night

Hector

what?

Sonny

yes, killed him dead, hes in my freezer in pieces, I've been disposing of him all day in plastic bags.

Hector

why did you? What did he?

Sonny

as I said, my two prize possessions are my ottomon and my wife.

hector

yes...

Sonny

I came home from work yesterday, still in my suit and tie

hector

si

Sonny

I hadn't even got in the door when I heard a man in my home.

Hector

In your casa?

Sonny

si

Hector

what was he there for?

(Sonny pauses and takes a big swig from his beer)

Sonny

Hey bartender!

(A bartender approaches)

bartender

yes?

Sonny

tequila

(The bartender pours a shot of tequila, Sonny downs it and slams the glass on the bar, Hector is beginning to sweat, becomes visibly agitated.

Sonny

You are my best friend right Hector?

Hector

Of course Sonny, you know that.

Sonny

would you lie to me Hector?

Hector

No! umm, never, no way!

Sonny

well this man, he was sitting on my chair, in my robe, with his feet! His feet! On my ottomon!

(Sonny shakes his fist in the air, and slams it on the bar, his rage building)

Hector

on your ottomon?!

Sonny

my ottomon, and Dierdre was sitting on his lap! Kissing him!

Hector

My God! That Bendeho!

Sonny

So I strangled him with my clip on tie, the man...

Hector

you...you killed him?

Sonny

yes, and before he died, in his last breath he begged to me for his life, told me he would tell me a secret.

Hector

ummm, ah, what did he, what was the secret?
(Hector wipes sweat from his brow)

Sonny

he told me, that he had met Diedre through you, that you had been kissing her for a long time, behind my back and had told him she would kiss him as well!

(Sonny Slams down his beer on the bar in a rage and stands up over Hector, Hector is frozen with fear)

Hector

(terrified)

yes, Sonny, it's true, I have been kissing her for three years now, but I swear that is all! Just kissing twice a week! Mondays and Wednedays, she has O.C.D as you know and only likes to kiss me on those days!

Sonny

( Holds his rage at a level ten, then totally changes demeanor into confusion, then surprise, then curiosity)
shit man! You serious? I didn't kill anyone, I was just fucking with you,
(Sonny playfully punches Hectors arm)
 you really been kissing Dierdre?

(Hector is frozen with fear and pale, he vomits on the bar

2238, snowpocalypse

The snow didn't stop for three weeks, someone joked we would need Noahs Ark but on skis, it was starting to feel that way, everything was paralyzed and stuck, luckily I still had power and water, the trucks couldnt get through to do deliveries, no one could open businesses, the few that could open had lines that snaked for blocks, and small children were bundled into mounds of clothing, sometimes I wondered if it was just clothing.
   I awoke around noon to the steady snow falling on the skylight above me, this was my reality, day in and day out, never saw the sunshine.  I rolled out of bed, my joints ached.  My ankles cracked on the cold wood floor as I entered the bathroom, looked in the mirror.  My beard was getting thick again and dark black, my eyes had bags under them, I looked grey and pale.  The nights and days had begun to blend to a degree where I didn't always know if I had slept through a couple days or not, some days I'd wake up at six A.M and be ready to go, and other days I couldnt get out of bed.  I was 38 but felt as though I could have been 68.
   I had been taking a synthetic form of speed called fineral, that would keep me awake for days.  This was the only high I could get, the alcohol had run out months ago, but somehow the guy whom we alll called "Shady Mcgrady" would always come by and drop off the fineral. 
   My other pleasure was communicating with my spirit guides, they would always tell me when I was getting off track and I would have to refocus and recenter myself they would tell me about future events, what was going to happen, I had faith as whatever they told me did happen when they said it. 
    the days blended into weeks into months, when I was awoken by my guide, he had said I was to wake u and walk out the front door, that it would be able to open,
 "What do you mean? its snowed in"
"Open the door and you will see, now is the time"
My heart was beating in my chest as I got up and opened the front door, it wasnt the grey snow I had expected but the most pleasant tangerine glow, it was warm and inviting and felt like where I should be.  My energy began to elevate, I hadn't realized how low it was, everything because luminous and I began laughing hysterically.  I entered the orange light, it was almost like walking into a venus fly trap with a petal down or a giant orange banana....

Jonny Rotten, quite a genius

It's one that to start or be a leading figure in an artistic movement, but two back to back? that is very special, only Jonny Rotten, the Sex Pistols, were the punk band in the UK in the seventies as we all know, and then Public Image Limited was a founding new wave band, led primarily by Jonny Rotten.  Listening to PIL now, it doesnt sound as experimental as im certain it did in 1979, now it just is interesting, creative music.  At the time it was certainly groundbreaking.

Syd Barretts Solo work

The brilliance of Syd Barretts solo work is that it seems largely like sketches, musical sketches.  You have to almost hear some of it for the potential in it, not for what is there.  As the seed for Pink Floyd he was crucial yet if he had stayed with the band, it wouldn't have become what it did as that was largely Roger Waters energy.  So much untapped brilliance existed in Syd Barrett, perhaps he was meant to burn brightly for a short period of time, that was just his run. 
        His work conjures up images of castles and kings of medieval times, fairy tales, like in the song "golden hair" as well as just an alternate reality where "clowns and jugglers" exist in this renaissance fair sort of mystical land, that is haunting, beautiful and surreal at the least.

freecreditreport.com messed up my credit

my credit was shot, so I took the advice of the guy that looks like me in the commercial and signed up for freecreditreport.com.  It was auto-billed ten bucks a month.  All was well for a while, and they kept good track on my credit score and if anything changed, they sent me an email.  Eventually my credit card expired and I had forgotten to cancel the freecreditreport.com.  They kept charging me, but I didn't know it, eventually it went to collections, so I had my credit score negatively effected by the company that claimed to help improve credit scores.  Buyer beware!

Television, the fall, the cramps, the misfits, black sabbath, fugazi, 13th floor elevators, and many more

Pandora is one of the best things to come out of the interweb in a very long time.  I have found numerous bands that I would have never known about had I not heard them through Pandora, as well as revisited many that I had forgotten about.  Truly going to be a revolutionary step in the future of music, one of the best things as well for these smaller artists, many indie bands are going to get much more airplay, a great way to connect the artists with their fans, fans that might not have known they were even fans until Pandora.

My Valentines Day Ransom Letter

I hadn't been sleeping well, this girl was driving me crazy.  We would go out have a great time and then she wouldn't talk to me for two weeks, a slow, steady torture.  My confidence was shot.  I couldn't get her out of my mind.  Someone suggested to me, I write an old fashioned letter to her explaining my feelings, hand written, in this day and age of technology, things like that are romantic and different, also she could keep it and read it over and over, maybe send a rose with it as well.    Of course, I thought this was a brilliant idea, I'd pour my heart out to her, explaining how I felt, but the only problem was my handwriting looked like a five year olds, it was terrible, I considered writing it in block letters, but that didn't really seem the same, my cursive was illegible, so for some reason, I thought it would be quite clever to write it in ransom format with the letters cut out of magazines.  I figured she would find this clever as she was an artist and would appreciate the creativity.  Now mind you I hadn't been sleeping much and my mind wasn't all there, so I figured I would include a black rose and sign it in my blood.  I worked all night feverishly putting together this ransom note Valentines day letter.  It came out great in my mind, some of the lines in mishapen words included "I will never hurt you" which I found quite ironic being written in ransom type, and also "I don't want you to feel pressure" another great irony in my mind.
       Well, I sent her the letter, and the only reason I know she got it was because she blocked me on her twitter and her facebook. Oh well, live and learn, perhaps another girl would have found it romantic, perhaps Elvira, or Wednesday Adams.  Live and learn.

riots in Egypt

Does America really have a place in commenting on what happens in Egypt?

My visit from Albert Einstien

     I had been deep in the throes of depression, after chasing away another nice girl during a night of getting completely drunk and blacking out, I decided not to leave my apartment for an entire week, the lights were left off as well and I kept Dominos pizza on speed dial.  The days and nights blended together, it was late November 1999 just after Thanksgiving.  I had been unemployed for months, my last fifteen dollars was in my bank account. 
     my apartment had deteriorated into a den of discarded pizza boxes, used tissues and various random nick nacks, totally unpresentable to anyone with a shred of decency.  I had been drifting in and out of sleep for a while when I woke up and saw Albert Einstien standing at the foot of my bed.  He was solemn wearing a dark overcoat and holding his hat.
     "What the fuck are you doing here?"  I asked as I tried to figure out if I was dreaming or not "I'll call the cops!' I exclaimed
      Professor Einstien, calmly yet assertively began to speak "I have it figured out, the grand unifying theory, I need you to give me a pen so I can write this down, this is extremely urgent"
      "dude, I just woke up, come on, you really want me to dig around here and find a pen?"
   Einstien began to get a bit agitated, his upper lip began to quiver "do you realize how long I have been working on this?"
  "Okay, Okay, Cheesitz" I said, as i rolled out of bed in my boxers and stained white shirt, ushaven for three weeks.  I got out of bed and started turning over pizza boxes, I found one half pencil nub, barely with a point, and handed it to him.
     "I need paper!" he exlaimed, getting more annoyed with me.
     "Shit, paper too?, let me see here...." I ripped the top off a cardboard pizza box and handed it to Einstien.
      "Man, what a slob" he muttered under his breath.
      "what was that?" I asked, moderately threatening
      "umm, nothing, thanks for the pen.
I rolled back into bed and closed my eyes while Einstein feverishly scribbled his theory on my discarded pizza box.  I closed my eyes and dreamt of a beach in Hawaii, with some exotic beauty feeding me grapes,  was I escaping reality? your god damned right I was.












      

Illinois Governor Quinn to reinstate Russian Beard tax

the state of illinois facing another fiscal year of budget chrisis has decided to institute a beard tax.  The idea sprang from governor quinns recent trip to st petersberg russia.  on his flight there he listened to an audiobook on peter the great.  "this isnt my first choice to increase revenue, but we are running out of options, its time to think outside the normal income generating revenue streams" said the clean shaven quinn.  the tax is set to begin feb 1st, in the heart of the winter.  While many in the state will remain unaffected those in wicker park, logan square and ukranian village feel specifically targeted.  men who choose to wear beards must pay a monthly tax of $500. Failure to pay could result in further fines and ultimately jail time to those who are non compliant.  "this is total b.s man, if I don't pay some beard tax ill wind up in the gulag? are we really going back to 18th century Russia man?" said local bearded man humberto quintanna.  Pub  owners have expressed outrage in logan square as well "my customers bitch about a $2 pbr, they cant afford this, once again the poor and downtrodden are targets of some barbaric tax" said joe greco, owner of barcade on California ave. some in the gold coast and Lincoln park expressed support. "i think its a great idea, the state needs money and it will make those ratty hipsters more presentable" said tom kutnick a marketing manager. Mayor Dailey has refused to comment.  Local historian Langdon Algar claims "the beard tax was instituted by Peter the Great to bring Russia into modern times, this seems to be bringing us back to the time of Tsarist Russia" ZZ top has expressed interest in playing a benefit concert to raise awareness of the issue.

my short film

http://vimeo.com/13022042

How I use my facebook

To me facebook is the wild west, the land of opportunity America was before the crash of all things that made up reality.  Recently facebook was valued at over 50 billion dollars, how can something that doesn't produce anyting solid be so valuable? And I will tell you right now, it is specifically targeted advertising.  When people click on "like" you are feeding advertisers with what they need, a targeted audience for the products they sell.  This is information they would ordinarily pay you for, that they get by you voluntarily submitting it to them.  Think about that, for years the advertisers were constantly thinking of ways to trick you into giving information.  This is a sea change in the world of marketing and its potential is just that, pure potential, but I digress, the purpose of this article is to explain how I use my facebook, and for me, as a small business owner, its extremely valuable, not only am I in direct contact with my customers but I'm able to tap into networks of friends, get groups of people to book parties and even advertise drink specials.  The other ways I use facebook are for expanding friendships and keeping people close by that live far away by being able to see pics and chat with them instantly.  The downside of facebook is the privacy issue, anything ever published is online forever, more than a few people have had mistakes that have cost them friends or created problems as well.  My account got deleted (long story) and I instantly got texts from  people asking me why I unfriended them.  I have also had posts in other places that accidentally got linked to facebook without me wanting that to happen.  Like anything else, facebook has its pros and cons, the key is to use it smartly and pay attention to what you post.

great blog about blogging

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/100-blog-topics-i-hope-you-write/

the short story that wound up going south

Our assignment was to write about a news story, something that was a current event in the form of a rant, I had been up all night on speed writing some stream of conciousness stuff and hadn't proofed it.  By the time I got into class,  I was feeling strange, blurry vision,  people seemed to really be staring at me something fierce, as I read my story I noticed the eyes of the guy across the room from me started turning black like an insect, it was terrifying, I began to tremble.  I kept reading and hoping that it was in my head, but it wasn't.  I looked up again and the entire room had turned into some kind of giant beetles.  I screamed and ran out of the room.

a Halloween Party in Chicago Gold Coast

I went to this Halloween party last week and it was a very strange time, strange would be a modest way to put it.  The party was a costume party, but not just any costume party, it was a full body costume, head and everything else that could identify a person had to be covered so that no one could tell who was in what costume.  To make it a bit more bizarre for myself, I only knew one person that was going to be at the party and that was an idiot who came in to my bar named Chris. He sent me the evite, I don't know why I decided to go, possibly because he is a good customer at the bar, and I figured this would be a decent way to get out and network.  I haven't been going out much lately, pretty much just work and home, and I have seen a direct correlation between how much I go out and meet people and how much business I have at the bar.

I decided to go as an ape, I rented an ape costume from the costume store for 80 dollars, which I wasn't happy about spending.  The party was in an old mansion in the gold coast, it was a beautiful house, I took a taxi there and showed up at 9 p.m. it was a balmy night for late October with a slight breeze.  This was a bit of a warm front which is very pleasant in Chicago in late October, in a way it almost feels like cheating because it should be colder and this is just a few more days biting into inevitable long and freezing winter.
The house was one of those gothic grey stones, perfect setting for the party, Chris told me that it was a co-workers of his, which for me was a bit suprising, he sold insurance so this means that the co-worker either was a great sales person or had money from somewhere else, as this was at least a four million dollar home by my estimation, even in the down economy.

As I paid the driver $11.83 for the cab, I slid out of the car in my ape suit.  I told myself I wouldn't become one of those idiots on Halloween who acted like a fool because I was in a costume.  I knocked on the giant door, which had an old iron knocker and a person in an Eyes wide shut mask and cape opened the door, and said
"Welcome" I bowed and entered, the house was fantastic, very luxurious, a great crystal chandelier hung over head, actual Picasso sketches on the wall, and a large wooden staircase winding to the second level, and perhaps the most remarkable thing of all was the stained glass ceiling directly overhead.  The person in the "Eyes Wide Shut" costume led me into a large ball room where people were hanging out and talking, everyone dressed in full costume from head to toe, this was pretty intriguing and interesting, as I did not know anyone there, and obviously no one knew who I was, if I was one of their friends or an acquaintance, I found this prospect quite thrilling.
I walked around the party taking it all in, all kinds of costumes, at my best guess about 100 people there, a few of the eyes wide shut costumes, some Kang and Kudos, the aliens from the simpsons, some scream masks, and oddly enough another Ape, this person was wearing the same exact costume that I was, on top of this, when I looked at the ape I felt something like an electrical charge.  I walked over to the Ape, who was staring at me.
"Hello" the ape said to me
"How are you?"
"I am great" the ape replied
"That is good to hear"
"How can I help you?"
"Well" I said "We are wearing the same costume"
"Yes" replied the Ape, almost mechanicly
something was very strange about the person in this ape suit, when talking to him I was feeling a very real energy, also, In that brief interaction, I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was now 11:15 pm, I had arrived at around 8:15 pm, so what felt like ten minutes tops had been three hours? I couldn't really comprehend this, I was dead sober, I had been sober for months now,  I was thinking about the time lapse when the ape said to me "Interesting isn't it?"
"What is?" I responded non chalantly.
"The way time is an illusion"
"What do you mean?
"You know what I mean"
"Perhaps I do, I am feeling very strange"
"Yes, it's the energy, the higher connection"
"because we are both apes?"
"No, because we are both real, and no one else here is"
at that point, i stopped cold, I couldnt speak
"Wha....what do you mean by that? that we are real and no one else is?" I was sweating as I said those words
"Look around, everyone here is just a costume, you think they are real, they think they are real, but nothing is under the costumes, only they don't know it, part of this illusion is they have to think they are real"
I was floored and couldn't speak, was this guy putting me on? what a strange thing to say.
"I have to go for now" I walked away, and felt dizzy, who was that guy? something felt very strange about this entire experience.  I had to find out, what did he mean that the people were not real? they were just costumes?
I had to find out what he meant, I franticly ran into the bathroom, something I had eaten earlier wasn't sitting right, I vomited in my costume, I pulled myself together while looking in the mirror, I had temporarily forgot that I was in the ape suit, so when I saw my reflection I stopped cold. Behind me was a costume of a shadow person, it was just a black cape and a mask with no face.  I grabbed him and said "You are real arent you?" he pulled away and said "Of course I am, wow, are you on acid or something?" he then laughed and walked away.

I looked back at the mirror in the bathroom and saw my reflection. I laughed a bit to myself, then walked back outside.  I looked over and saw the Ape sitting on a chair, not moving, staring at me, I ignored him and walked back into the party.  A stunning blonde dressed as Britney spears was by the bar.  I walked up to her and stood next to her.
"Hello" I offered, "Can I pour you a drink"
"sure"
"Thanks"
"These parties are so boring, Jim has one every year, always the same people just in slightly different costumes, some of them even wear the same ones"
"Really? this is my first year here"
"Oh, wow, you are new here?" she turned to face me, and smiled slightly.
"Well, yes, I suppose so"
"Well, umm....."
I noticed then that her face was made out of plastic, she was also in a costume...I got a bit nervous and walked away.
I stepped backwards and walked into the ape, as I was reversing.
"pretty girl"
"Ummm....yeah"
"Is she?"
"Yes, I think so"
"What is pretty about her?"
"She is a hot blonde, what else can I say"
"If you like that fake, plastic type. You will find that  you are no longer interested in that type soon, what is on the outside is incidental, if its just a shell, what do you think she looks like under that costume?"
"Listen man, I don't know who you are, or why you are talking to me, but you are a freak"
"Whatever you say Horace"
"How do you....how did you know my name?"
"I know everything"
I started feeling very dizzy and kind of freaking out, I had to know who was in these costumes, so I ran up to person wearing a George Bush mask, i ripped off the mask, and that is when I saw nothing under the mask, the ape was right, these were nothing more than costumes, no one here was real.

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world history 1920-45

When one looks back at world history between roughly 1920 to 1929, we see a rather bright time globally, between the roaring twenties, the rise of scientific, philosphoical, political ideas world wide, the peak of architecture in the America, great films, arts culture etc. it was a great and booming decade.  1930 through 1945 times got much darker, then after world war 2 another great boom in western civilized cultures, all the way up to the housing collapse and stock market collapse of september 2008, will we suffer another decade between 2010 and 2020 of darker times? or has the sun began to peak through the clouds?

why the Black Angels are the most exciting band in years.

In the summer of 2006 a friend of mine and I were driving around from bar to bar, he had this strange music playing that I could best describe as strongly Velvet Underground influenced, with a strong, pounding beat, an almost native American rhythm that would drive the song.  The drone, the repeating guitars added an element as well.  At best I could say I was struck by the potential of the band, but it wasn't quite there yet, it was still too one dimensional.   Recently after pandora got more popular, I remembered to check them out.  In the fall of 2010 I heard the album Phosphene Dream.  This had changed everything, the sound had gotten more layered, the melodies more complex, this was it, this was what I had seen back in 2006 as the potential, and in my opinion it will keep expanding from here.   One of the best melodies I've heard in years is a song that wasn't on the album but only found on Itunes called "Melanie's Melody" other highlights are "Bad Vibrations" and "The Sniper" where at one magical point the guitar and vocals seem to almost blend together.  Keep an eye on this band, they will be the ones to watch.

Drunk birds in Romania

Drunk Birds in Romania

a large amount of starlings were found dead in Romania outside of Bucharest recently.

So those birds that fell out of the sky were drunk on wine, that is the conclusion, nothing more than that, were they all partying it up and they didn't realize they shouldnt fly or did they agree to just get as hammered as they could and decided they were all okay to fly? They forgot to keep one sober bird to navigate home, this story is eerily reminiscent of those drunk pilot stories, perhaps the birds and pilots were sitting a hotel bar during a long delay, got to talking about the changes in environment and as things progressed, the alcohol took hold and the friendly discussion turned into a hostile misunderstanding over the changing jet stream and extinction of species, or the belief that 2012 will be the end of the world, and they then decided,to have a contest to see who drink more leading ultimately in alcohol related death, but probably not, most likely the birds just found some fermented grapes, however some would certainly take this as the impending apocalypse of 2012.

Goes to show that some people look for any sign of apocolypse, as I heard more than a few people say about the recent animal deaths, you know what thats about? 2012, and then nod knowingly as if the world will end then. I remember Y2K and really thinking every computer in the world would crash sending us back to the time of horse and buggy but that didn't happen. So drunk birds are no more a sign of the apocalypse than if Sarah Palin gets elected which reminds me of a shirt I saw that said Palin 2012, the Mayans were right and who knows maybe they are, I still have to pay the electric bill until then.

This also reminds me of a story a few years back about drunk bears eating fermenting corn that had become alcoholic and got into their drinking water and then terrorizing a small town in Montanna, Imagine that, your sleeping in your cabin and a huge bear stumbles in and starts jamming Phish or Jimmy Buffett at four in the morning, talking loudly and ordering pizzas, just being a total drunk asshole, singing Cheeseburger in Paradise while your trying to sleep, and what can you do, hes going to be massive and drunk, you can't fight him, just wait until spring term to move out.

Maybe the birds were looking for some excitement as well but they were Romanian and drunk on wine so more likely they were gothic, or existentialts and looking for a bauhaus concert or Sarte reading, or they were coming from either of those and killed themselves in a massive suicide. Id rather see a drunk bird than a drunk Jimmy Buffett bear though, but if drunk Jimmy Buffett bears started falling from the sky just after new years wearing parrot hats and Hawaiian shirts, than you really might have a sign that the world has already ended and the 2012 theorists were right.

circumcision conversation while camping

This was a IM conversation between two people

Ali a 28 year old woman and Erik a 32 year old man

Ali:

When I was 8 years old I went camping with my dad brother and cousin Dan,

Erik:

In Ontario?
Ali:

Yeah

Erik:

Was it fun?
Ali:
It was, but for some reason I had heard the word circumcision somewhere and I have no idea why, but I asked them what it was?

Erik

Wow

Ali:

Yeah, they were all silent, no one responded, so I realized it was a bad question.

Erik

Yeah, when I was 8 I heard the word lesbian and asked my mother in a restaurant, what that word meant, and she just ignored me, so I figured she couldn't hear me, that I wasn't speaking loud enough so I yelled “Mom! Whats a Lesbian!?”
the whole place was silent and she shot me a look, I'll never forget that look, then she said “Instead of a Boy liking a girl, its like a girl liking a girl” that made sense to me at that point.

Ali:

That's a good explanation actually

Erik:

yeah, it was, did they ever tell you what a circumcision was?
Ali:

no they never did

Erik:

So you still don't know?

Ali

correct, I do not know what it is.