mud is on the the walls of the new shockcentre

Construction is a good game... it's a long road but i like to have work to do.  The unfortunate part is that in my life, the times i have done this come in 20 year intervals... so often you are not sharp in your technique.  Just make sure everything is level in the first place and that will help, and there are a few contractor parent types in the neighbourhood whom i can lure in for advise... "you should take a look at this and tell me what problems i have created for myself down the line", is what i say.

But all the instruments lay fallow and the Tascam 440 4-track awaits a celebratory recording... this is my life and i wouldn't trade it for anything. Hey, "I'm just a gibbering fool 27 and drumming, sometimes it's hard to find the right words, feels like your just strumming, I did some things that i wish i didn't but i wouldn't change me for nothing"... I remember being in the original shockcentre co-writing that song like it was yesterday.  I can see it clearly.  My roots i never forget, i always remember the road i traveled.   That last one is a Burning Spear quote... nothing like working to Reggae... for the mudding i have been on a Peter Tosh kick... I also hit some Vancouver bands like The Modelos, D. Trevlon, The Doers, Station A and of course STOKE.   One of the best things about working is music... blast away and get into it.  I also hit Toronto band Bidiniband with special emphasis on the song "The land is wild"... call me a sucker for hockey songs.  I guess speaking of hockey songs i did hit some of my own cd's.

I remember one day wanting to see my own cd's in my cd collection... thought that would be cool, but building your new music space while listening to your musical history in a new place is a good exercise i would recommend to anybody in my position.  The changing of the guard so to say.   Result: although i have never really had any success in music as measured by industry standards I'll still stand with my catalogue any day... it is what it is.

In another interesting point Peter Tosh sings about how he must go to Zion in the song "Lion". I have written a song about Mt. Tabor and apparently in 1853 they were about to call Mt. Tabor Mt. Zion but somebody came to the meeting and proposed the name Mt. Tabor and it stuck.  Until i heard Peter Tosh singing about Zion it hadn't occurred to me that Mt. Zion would be one King Hell name... there are a million connections in songs and life when you listen to the words. As well as playing music i intend to listen to a lot of music down there, as the garden needs water to grow.  None of this new  "star machine" music of course... i need to study the roots.

I really love reggae, I forgot how much.. great working music... slow steady pace, and the message. So much music now is devoid of message...  but then why have a message in these times when apparently nobody has time to listen to a message as the new attention span now is that of a tweet? Not to come down on twitter as i myself have an account, but like in high school i am ignored in the "cool circles"... suits me just fine.   Apparently you can take classes on how to use twitter for social networking... but that's against my philosophy of "this is that i have to offer take it or leave it".   Really it should just make for a nice break in the day... but we know people and their sales agendas. 

not losing

Thinking "not losing" is more important than "winning". As a mindset to tackle life in the grand scheme of happiness. Failure has a greater scope when winning is the goal.

SR Jones ƒ -when the tea was ready

 That was one thought i was going to poke at as i find myself with an hour for blogging... and not late night blogging this time, although there still is a late night to be had down the road, so the table is still taking bets if you know what i mean.  I seem to be in bold font for some reason, i guess that's the way god wanted it to be, so lets carry on.

 Holey shit leaf blower !

Just so you know... I'm not making this stuff up... still blowing away ruining the peaceful silence i was bathing in just moments ago... back when this blog was going to try to bring a wave of positivity and good vibes to the cyberworld.  It's pouring rain and this guy is revving a leaf bower trying to blow a light scattering of leaves over to my  yard...  of course... my yard needs some for i just raked it the other day.  It's a weird idea i know... gather the leaves and choose a method of disposal.  For me I'm gonna dig them into my garden as my clay pile could use all the organic material i can give it.   I can not lose, by collecting those leaves and digging them in to the garden.

But you know...  people who house squirrels and then feed them so they can bury nuts in people's gardens and clog up  downspouts... it is these people who can make the jump to justify smelly noise machine to blow leaves where they don't belong either.  Fits the bill  "fuck those people, i want to do what i want to do and if my actions have a negative impact on those around me... fuck it".

I guess it's time to test my skills and turn this into a "not losing" scenario. Winning would be going outside and putting a few bricks through a few windows, but in the end, that is war and war is wrong.  That's kind of like not losing... not doing something that will drag you down further in an effort to win, but really only losing more.   

Love thy neighbour, no matter how bat shit crazy they are.  I'm sure it has never occurred to her all of the many levels of irritation that a leaf blower revving on a rainy day contains... She comes home, and her place looks all tidy, she is greeted by some squirrels,  pulls out a few nuts and she is in her happy place.  Perhaps a new bass amp that can rattle house foundations is in order... whoops slipping into revenge again.. well actually i can get behind the joy of some fine face melting bass anytime, so as long as that is my primary purpose i should just enjoy, since we have agreed we are sorry when our actions cause pain to our neighbours, but under no circumstances will we change our actions.  

On an unrelated point, i have heard, that the best way to hit squirrels with your car is to not speed into them right away.  If you decelerate the squirrel will relax and think it is dealing with one of those fool humans that they own... it's then when thy get comfortable you step on it.  Make sure to come off the break a second or two before you accelerate.  If the bastard looks like it is getting away shock it with your horn... this works well to startle the rodent, which may freeze it, or send it back to the other wheel base.

Who knows if that's true... sounds kind of dangerous, and safety on the road is just another fine example of giving up trying to win in an effort to not lose!

 Hot dam i just might be making some good points here.  Whoops now I'm in a world of doubt... rookie mistake, i can't believe i just did that... i came out of a roll to congratulate myself on a good roll and i lost momentum... perhaps it was time for change.

Making art as an adult is a good "don't try to win, just don't lose" concept.  I have often thought that if i were ever to speak at a music conference that would be my talk.  And then i get to the point in the talk where I'm something like "and don't whatever the hell you do pay some fee to be considered for a slot at one of those insipid god damn career building conferences..." a slight hush comes over the crowd and a dignitary raises an eyebrow, a throat clears and the lights go off a little box by the speakers podium opens up and an angry scatter of black widow spiders are released with fangs gnashing.

out of time.

Cake ready, bread rising, stew on... soon there will be many young children, making a noise i can imagine could drown out a leaf blower... but the leaf blower is gone now... fucking guy just blows it all on my yard!  breath deeply, love thy neighbour...  i am not them... It's OK to get the win every now and then :)

the swing voter

I don't understand the "swing voter"... how can you live in a "democracy" and not know what candidate you want to vote for only to be swayed at the last minute by some bogus piece of information.  I understand the idea that all of the candidates are guilty criminals so why bother voting in the first place, or that the person who shares the closest ideals to yourself never got a chance to get on the ticket.  The American Ron Paul fits that ticket... i can understand the idea that his policies could strike a chord with people, which is probably why he never got a chance and was shut down by his party every time his star was rising... after all people get weird when they know they are guilty, and if a guy says he will go after the guilty, you can understand.

But if you are going to vote and take you place at the mirage of a table of democracy, how can you not know which way you go.  Do these people take no notice of history, or is history just one of those boring subjects that gets in the way of "trending" topics.

Isn't the idea that you live in a country and you have a voice in which direction the country will take, but you don't really know what that is?  Kind of like me in a restaurant... I never know what i want to order, and when i do i am usually haunted with regret... well that's why i learned to cook, so i can take matters into my own hands.  But the Government is different.. people need to be gonged out of power for the greater good, usually a choice of lesser evils i would say... it's just the way it goes.

How can you expect a government to serve you best when you are uncertain who it is you want to govern you, and can be swayed to go either way on some last minute news story published by some global conglomerate... or even worse be swayed by some ideals of a church that takes your money and tells you what to think?

Should there be an intelligence test to verify your voting eligibility?  Of course not, it would just become corrupted savagely... the test would be slanted to weed out people who are not going to vote for the side that the people who made the test want to become elected.

One of the things about moral character that we surprisingly  gravitate to in our greatly immoral society that always cracks me up.  Bill Clinton was amoral because he had an affair and lied about it, but he left the country in great shape.  George Bush was moral because he was a born again Christian, but he lied to take the country to war and left the country teetering in bankruptcy.  Since we live in a me me me society where everybody is worried about their own shit first, what's with this moral shit?

Why not elect the person who can steer the country in the best direction?  What's with this squeaky clean image bull shit?  A good politician can shake your hand and stab you in the back in the same motion, and then perhaps refer you to a drug company that can prescribe you something for your bizarre and unexplained back pain.  How can you pretend by casting your vote, to be a participant in democracy, and not know what you stand for?

I guess it's money, and advertising... you need to fool chuckelheads into thinking you are on their side and you need a lot of money to do that...  fear people into thinking illogically and against their ideals.

People are against health care, until they get sick... I'll never understand why you could be against health care but for war, but that's just me, and it's a free country, so if you are for war and against health care then you should know who you stand with just the same, and you shouldn't need a commercial to change your mind.  If you are for proper scientific study and then basing policy on the results, then you should know that, and if you are in to classifying scientific study as an enemy to policy (less it be the physics of building war machines), and using religion and race and differences to drive wedges between people, then you should know that too. I'm not saying one is right or wrong, although i have my opinions... it's just that you should know solidly what you believe in when you cast your vote and not be "swung" by some last minute revelation that may or may not be true.

"If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it." ~Mark Twain

beer bees and politics

Double IPA, brewed with my own Zeus hops takes the sting out of the staining fiasco with regards to the deck.  Slow is good... a bigger roller that puts more on faster isn't always ideal.  I mean it's a good idea when it is spoken... kind of like a Presidential promise...  Yea that sounds good, let's do that... Oh shit that wasn't what was advertised.

Apparently the Republican candidate "won" the debate... debate of course meaning speaking in soundbite sayings while smiling.  Funny one of the soundbites i heard was "North American energy independent".  But wait a minute, didn't your party, when it had the reins, start a multi-trillion dollar war killing millions of innocent, and wounding permanently god knows how many, in the name of freedom, but also to make sure that these valuable sources of the World's Oil  are in safe hands.

Don't get me wrong energy independence is a great idea, but we live in a society that is constructed to waste energy in the name of freedom and choice.  That's why the Oil companies bought up all the streetcar lines in the cities so they could shut them down and get everybody in their cars.  And in 2012 we can hear a used car salesman tout the idea of energy independence as if he just thought of that idea himself.  It's rubbish of course, i'm sure polls have been taken of the American sheeple to find out what "buzz words" are hot... hell you could probably just monitor the internet to find that one out... in the name of security of course. 

I'm a conservative person, and when i was younger i even voted along the Conservative line... then i woke up.  The issue i went down on was free trade... you see i was thinking free trade would be great for my country (Canada) at the time... hell we had all the good cards we should be in a good position... so i voted for the Conservative jackass, who went and made a free trade deal that to me was unconscionable... they just gave away rights to Canadian water and natural resources... period.  Never in a million years did i expect that... i was thinking make a good deal for our country... but that's when  i woke up.  Conservatives don't conserve, and they don't give a shit about what is right... they use religion and fear and drive wedges between things that are different to further their corporate agenda.

I find it incredible that anybody could be passionate about a Conservative/ Republican politician... they come into power with surpluses, and leave with deficits, they are against science (unless the scientists are building war machines).  Even more insane is that, as elected officials, they agree to disagree always as a matter of principal to make the other party, or parties look bad...  the only important thing is being in power, and when you get there it is secrecy, lies and deficits.

They should actually change the meaning of the word conservative... it means nothing anymore... it's like the word gay... it doesn't mean happy anymore.  Conservative means small minded, dogmatic, for oneself... but yet good people stay on the "conservative" line ... do they just not see what is going on?

My ideals are fairly far left wing, whatever the hell that means, and i admit that the folks that run the far left wing might not have a full grasp on how to actually govern, but they just might, despite what the opposition ads may tell you.  i know this... a strong leader is not a jackass who just pushes bad ideas through despite the evidence... that is actually a weak leader, because that person is leading the people to a place where they will be worse off than they were before.

It's the classic Canada Post Union brave heart...  stand up on the floor and start yelling and screaming at people, and others think that makes you a good leader because you are willing to stand up to people, but you are actually a weak leader because you fall into the trap... work to rule is the only real option, but the people won't do that cause the want the carrot, so instead you freak out and cause a scene and think you are doing something.  I should note... those people are not always there for you... sometimes they are just there for themselves

The world is divided into us and them...somebody always trying to make you hate someone for some reason, and it is usually so that you will take your eye off reason and go with the mob mentality and punch your ticket for another round of raping that you thought read reaping... well it was close, but since you punched the ticket bend over old sport.

Last time i checked the incumbent President came into power just as some massive economic bailout plan was being unveiled... because, of course, the economy as we know it was about to FAIL.  Sounds to me like the people before did a real fucking shitty job... i did mention the war of course, or was it 2 wars... probably more than that in reality.  So we are still standing with no help what so ever from the party that was defeated after they screwed up royally... why?  If they help it might appear that the President is doing a good job so it is clearly better to oppose him at every level in an effort to help him fail, and the country with him, so that you can point your finger and lobby for yourself as a strong and natural leader.

I'd rather eat a shit sandwich.

There is no unity in humanity... distracted by what glitters, hanging on to promises that will never materialize, it's easier to hate than to love.  The bees in the hive are not looking over their stingers at what others are doing, criticizing and complaining.. if they don't do their job they are stung to death on the spot... their cones are perfect every time... we have rights and opinions and consumer impulses...


hour is up

random thoughts hour... go

Nutmeg in the cake i baked warms the spirit... a little shaved nutmeg can turn a good baked item into a great one.  I am currently studying spiced baked goods.  Studying meaning randomly mixing things together, never writing anything down, but coming up really good i must say.  I climbed the ladder in my chef and baker skills this year... it's funny seeing yourself go up a rung.  It comes with confidence, and confidence comes with secured knowledge.  I'm a method guy... the minute details are rather insignificant.  Just in case you are a brain damaged hammerhead, let me make something clear... you can't "wing", the amount of flour, baking powder, baking soda, butter and milk... those fractions have to stay constant... but you can "wing" it up all sorts of other ways.  You might have to knock back the flour a bit if you were to toss in some rolled oats.  Even still you can be off a bit... it's good to see how these things affect the cake or cookie.  You want to get to the point where you can feel it... how is that batter behaving?  These are the questions you need to ask yourself when you are in the zone.

But earlier today i was high atop a ladder, like 30 feet up, staining my cedar siding on my house... really fucking high, and you feel so vulnerable.  If shit went wrong at this moment, clearly i would be dead, or maimed so severely that death would appear as something to strive for...  every movement becomes exaggerated... every pound on my body stressing the ladder... slip into some cake frenzy regret..

Then there was this bug, a green green bug that looked like a cricket but might be able to fly... it was at the apex under the peak of the roof... i thought maybe i wont stain that part... i can let the bug live... very spiritual of me indeed... but then i ran through the sequences:  What if i tried to paint it and it came at me pulling out some stinger or some "mantis like" arms in a full on attack?  Then i have 2 options 1) freak the fuck out and fall to my death, or 2) cling to the ladder for dear life giving the insect a clear attack on my face.  Obviously i was going to go with 2) when i went through the  "insect attack scenario" on top of the ladder.  i even had the good for-sight to remind myself, should the bug go for my eye, not to swat my eyeball with a paintbrush full of stain.

A little thing called experience friends... you see if i didn't pour that tray of stain over my head i wouldn't have had the stellar vision to follow through with all possible scenarios in which my own stupidity could harm myself.  After a while having engaged and studied this bug... it was quite a spectacular bug... it had good Omen energy shining through it's bright green Chitin.  I'm not big on messing with Omens in times of crisis... bug eventually moved to area under the roof and i slapped some stain on the top triangular shingle finishing the front of the house.

Later i was over watching a dog that is part chihuahua  and part rat terrier on the case defending a yard against pest rodents. I got the lowdown on those dogs... actually bread to kill rats.. i like it. I asked if there was a dog called Squirrel terrier, because a dog like that might be worth looking into.  If I could get a squirrel terrier to defend the yard we would be defining the word symbiosis. But apparently there is no Squirrel terrier, although it was pointed out that i could probably breed one, which is an interesting idea... apparently a fox Terrier could kick ass on the squirrel population  It would only need to make random kills from time to time, the squirrels would learn not to be in our yard.  Pretty much perfect plan i say... and then it was asked how my wife would like the news of us getting dog.  I sort of went into one of those weird jells where time freezes and i see myself, from above.. there is me... feet up and talking, convinced i need a dog.. how are we going to sell this to CT?  This is exactly why, we had in our wedding vows, that nobody was to ever lose their fucking mind and think that for some reason we needed a pet.  I hate to split hairs on this issue but garden defense from pests is not a "lose their fucking mind" moment... It might actually be a find your mind moment.  Also while touring Kaiya's third grade class i saw what Kaiya wrote about herself.. one of the points was "my dream is to have a pet".  i remember seeing that and thinking "have a dream and i end up picking up a dog shit". I never really thought of a positive for having a dog, but sending a natural predator of your nemisis into the environment to loyally defend the said turf is a pretty major one.

Bye the way this cake is really good

hour is up