Who remembers? We do!

"Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

This statement was made by Adolf Hitler murderer of 6 million Jews.

The vote by the House committee on Wednesday, condemning the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey as an act of genocide made the cover of The New York Times today.

"Mr. Bush appeared on the South Lawn of the White House before the vote and implored the House not to take up the issue, only to have the majority of the committee disregard his warning at the end of the day, by a vote of 27 to 21"

and

"Despite President George Bush twisting arms and making deals, justice prevailed," said Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat of California and a sponsor of the resolution.


Read the full article here.

From the resolution itself:

(21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated April 22, 1981, stated in part 'like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it--and like too many other persecutions of too many other people--the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten'.

Reagan was the first president to ever mention the mass killings of the Armenians as genocide. No president after him ever used the term. Since then, there have been more genocides, most recently what has been going on in Darfur.

And just recently I had seen the movie "Screamers" on cable:

Directed by the award-winning, humanitarian activist Carla Garapedian, "Screamers" is an internationally produced documentary that covers the history of modern-day genocide and genocide denial, beginning with the Armenian Genocide in 1915, and how the world's inaction lead to other massacres.

The movie is supported by the metal band System of a Down so for all you metal-heads out there, you won't be disappointed with the music. I'm glad they decided to do this since SOD has a pretty big fan base.

A neo nebula from under the sun

Debbie's new album "Necessary Evil" comes out tomorrow. I will pick it up probably during lunch time at Border's and listen to it that night.

In the meantime, just got an e-mail from Live Nation that Ms. Harry will be performing at Irving Plaza on November 8. It will a nice place to see her as it's not such a big place.

The first time I saw Debbie live was in Phoenix in a place called After The Gold Rush. She was with Chris Stein so it wasn't all Debbie's songs. In fact the second number was Dreaming. The show was actually fantastic but that was ..gosh over 15 years ago. But I'm thinking this show might just be Debbie solo songs and I'm not holding my breath for any Blondie numbers. Should be interesting anyway. I know I've read a lot of bad reviews about her performance in True Colors and a lot of people even stated that because of that show, they will never see Debbie live. But I've seen her live in more than a few occasions, one being A&E's Live by Request where I was a lucky member of the audience and the performance was pretty good.

I'm posting the video for Sweet & Low. A song Debbie wrote about the late Andy Warhol and it's off the Def Dumb & Blonde record. Love how she looks in this video.

Post-It Doodles No. 7

A doodle post. Honestly, these aren't "planned" drawings rather just done mindlessly as the days drag on. They're not meant to be "thought out" art or anything. But still, I like to share. For whatever reason.

I'll be spending the weekend trying to straighten things out at my apartment. I have lived in this apartment for a year now and even after a year, I still need stuff. It will get there, but I need to make some room first and make good use of the space with some sense. So I have to rearrange things.

I know I'm going to need more than one desk and I saw one at the IKEA website that's just perfect for me. I hope to be getting it soon. It's big enough to do some art work and put my computer & music stuff on it.

What else? The weather sucks. I for one am into seasons and I wish the seasons to change immediately. You guys, you got all that summer time between June and September but I want my fall weather! It's hot and humid out there. It just shouldn't be.

All Supernova in a Big Bang fist

Siouxsie has joined the ranks of her old buddies like Marc Almond who has also turned 50 and Morrissey who has two more years to go. And She's done duets with both of them. No longer with the Banshees and no longer married to Budgie of Creatures fame, she is now just plain Siouxsie.

The album has gotten some really great reviews. I read on another review that this album is produced in part by the same producer as Goldfrapp's and there is hint of it in this release. Perhaps a duet with Alison in the future?

So Siouxsie burts all out all transformed in Into A Swan and then heads to the hard driving About To Happen. A clap along of sorts, you half expect Chrissy Hynde or Shirley Manson to join in on the choruses with Get up - Get out / Don't hang about / Get up - Get out.

Loveless is by far one of my favorite tracks next to Sea of Tranquility where she sings: There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand. Right!

They Follow You is a little Goldfrapp in the way she sings it like a starlet of the 40s (?) Agree?

Some choice lyrics.

I remember everything
I can still recall the pain
I was left there for dead
Can't play this game again
To and fro and back again
I'm senseless - I'm doubtless
Loveless

Dream of flight
In rocket ship
Piercing through
Lunar eclipse
If It Doesn't Kill you

Far up above - Up and away
Up in the ether of opal and grey
Biding out time at the end of a line
We're cast adrift on the doldrum shift
Drone Zone

At first I thought Drone Zone to be a little too screwy for me but it has grown on me.

Cool water
Washing over me
Wash away - Wash away
Clues of finger prints
Forensic traces
Footsteps on an ocean bed
Walk away
Sea of Tranquility

Sew up these eyes
Stitch up this smile
Embroidered tears
Drown the wishing well
They follow you - to sorrow you
They Follow You

I would catch a falling star
If you asked me to
But I can't seem to find one
To hold on to
Heaven and Alchemy

The first Banshees album I ever bought was Once Upon A Time - The Singles. It was around the same time Hyena (with Robert Smith) came out and while me and some friends were out shopping for records, I picked it up at the used bin section to buy it. My friend snatched it from my hands and put it back saying "I will not have you listen to this!" I had stupid friends like that. I obeyed. (why?) But you know I came back for it! After that, Tinderbox came out. And during that time I went out to Tower Records (RIP) and stood on a long line to get my Singles album autographed by Siouxsie and the band. My Singles record was a cut-out (those who know records know what I'm talking about) and I've often wondered if Ms. Sioux ever noticed it. But I was glad I now had an autographed copy of a Siouxsie record. The I went to see her perform for the first time at Radio City Music Hall. Before doing her first number (Cities in Dust), she came out on stage wearing this very elaborate Japanese cape of sorts. It was a great show. Got to see them again during the Seven Year Itch tour. I hope she tours the states with this album, I'd love to see her again.

Alf too blogs

In "Who Are You" she writes:

I don’t feel comfortable with happiness.
It is a strange bed fellow.
I must address this immediately.
My favourite hen has gone missing. I fear the fox has eaten her.

Just sticking my head it to say allo and howdy-do.

Stumbled onto Alison's blog today and, you know, she's just like us. Blogging about happiness, chunky knit sweaters, her being labeled as an "80s singer", her holiday in France and apparently, a favorite pet hen. It's a good read as any blog and you can comment too. I must confess that beyond "Alf" in which a cassette tape release is my only possession of her solo material - I have not yet ventured onto anything more. And I should. I'm a grown-up now and the phases are over. Let's put them all in a pot and taste the brilliance. Music! Yum! And her voice has always been one of soulful and beautiful. By the way, don't try and google "Yaz", you will be disappointed.

Alison's blog.

Website Proper.

ATC for Inspire Me Thursday

OK, here's my try at Inspire Me Thursday's "Artist's Trading Cards." I had recently bought some Prismacolar fine line markers and wanted to try them out already. They're a little too fine, but I guess great for details. Trading cards make me think of super heroes so I drew one. The other is sort of a design much like the post-it doodles that I sometimes make. Hope you like.

Astrona

The Astrona blog is a great place to see some fantastic space art (if you're into that sort of thing.) I myself love it, like this picture painted by Andrew C. Stewart. There are some great works of art depicting scenes of space, planets, planetary landscapes, spaceships, alien civilizations, space colonies, robots and more. Some are old, some are new and most seem to be done digitally. But they're all fantastic and I'm glad someone is devoting a blog to this genre of art. Check it out. Thank you.

SC - Collector Personality

I used to collect Tarot cards. I don't anymore. But I still have all the decks that I have collected from over the years. I acquired them mostly by going to those metaphysics shops and looking at the large array of cards and picking out the ones that appealed to me. Some were gotten from book stores and some were even bought from the Internet.

I did use them. At first to read the future and then as a tool for understanding myself and solve problems I may be having at a given moment.

Now that I'm more of a skeptic, the mystical appeal of these cards have been lost to me. I still do treasure them and still think they are fascinating. So many artists have rendered their own imaginations and given them their own personal depictions of these cards. Which is why they were so collectible to me.

I had been so fascinated by the cards that I had also bought just about every book on the subject. Including a two volume set of - I would say - more than 500 pages each of its history. These were like bedtime stories for me.

It took quite a while to get it down and memorize the meaning behind all 78 cards and use them in readings. But through practice upon practice, I was able to do it without looking through the books for reference. I had even written my own small volume on its meanings and reading methods. Now lost to me. I've been out of practice and would have to pretty much start all over again if I was to do a reading.

It actually all began when we took a trip out to Salem Mass. It was one of those high school trips you take with your class and teacher. While hitting the many stores in the area, I saw a beginner's tarot pack of cards. It wasn't a full deck. It only contained the 22 major arcana cards. But that was my first purchase in the Tarot card world. I think I was 17 at the time. It was compulsory after that whenever I took a trip to a bookstore or visited one of those shops to purchase a deck.

I had written about this before on another blog sometime ago, but since I've never really collected any other thing with a passion before (well, maybe comics) I decided to revisit it for Sunday Scribblings.

Thanks to for reading.

Post-It Doodle No. 6

Just a little doodle to break the silence.

I call this "Anxiety"

My Kingdom for a Swan

I'm eagerly waiting for the new Siouxsie & The Banshee's release of Mantaray. You can hear snippets from the new album on the official Mantaray website. V V good!

Dave Gahan's new album Hourglass sounds promising, after hearing Kingdom. Could very easily fit into Mode's Playing The Angel. Hear a snippet of Kingdom at DG's myspace thingy. Surprisingly good.

Secession - Touch

80's Synth-Pop band Secession performing "Touch" on BBC's Oxford Road Show.

You could call them the one-hit wonder with this song. It became popular enough to be covered by another singer, which I can't recall at the moment. From what I remember it wasn't close to being good as the original. With a couple of 12" records released and only one album titled "A Dark Enchantment," they disappeared and went into 80s synth-pop heaven never to be heard from again.

I had been on the lookout for this album on CD for quite sometime and never found it. I gave up on it eventually until a thoughtful popster-blogger friend pointed me to the right direction and then I was in nostalgia heaven. So I looked to see if they had any videos out and this was the only thing out there.



You don't get to see the members much other than the vocalist. But this is more for the sound rather than the vision.

Post-It Doodles No. 5

I haven't forgotten these.

Still doing them.

Hesse

Like a wallflower he stayed in the background waiting for someone to fetch him, someone more courageous and stronger than himself to tear him away and force him into happiness.

***

Hans thought about nothing but Heilner for the rest of the afternoon. What an odd fellow! Hans' worries and desires simply did not exist for him. He had thoughts and words of his own, he lived a richer and freer life, suffered strange ailments and seemed to despise everything around him. He understood the beauty of the ancient columns and the walls. And he practiced the mysterious and unusual art of mirroring his soul in verse and of constructing a semblance of life for himself out of his imagination. He was quick and untamable and had more fun in a day than Hans in an entire year. He was melancholy and seemed to relish his own sadness like an unusual condition, alien and delicious.

from "Beneath The Wheel"

Hermann Hesse is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

No Cure! (well, not for a while anyway)

The Cure have pulled the plug on all North American tour dates for Sept/Oct., so if you got 'em, either hold on to it or get a refund.

It seems time is needed to finish up their new double album and want to include some new numbers to the set. I for one won't mind if it was all classic Cure songs. Details on their official site. Besides the recent Greatest Hits CD, the last Cure album I bought was Wild Mood Swings.

Well, I don't have anything more to add. So here's a set list of songs that they performed the very first time I saw them back in November 1, 1985 at Radio City Music Hall. The very next evening we went to see Simple Minds on the same stage with Shriekback opening. Remember them? They had that one hit called Nemesis. What I liked about this Cure Show was that they didn't have an opening band and there were no stage props or anything. They just came out and played. Very loud, from what I remember.

• baby screams
• play for today
• kyoto song
• primary
• hanging garden
• cold
• a night like this
• inbetween days
• let's go to bed
• the walk
• push
• screw
• one hundred years
• a forest
• sinking
• six different ways
• charlotte sometimes
• three imaginary boys
• boys don't cry
• 10:15 saturday night
• killing an arab
• do you wanna touch

I got it from this site here.

The last time I saw them was in the mid 90s. It was actually a freebie. The company I worked for owned a box at the venue and agreed to give us some tickets for the show. Fun, but annoying because we were sharing the box with a bunch of idiots who weren't fans and were just there to be at the box and hang out and drink beer. The show was fantastic though.

Here's a pretty decent live version of "A Forest." off of 17 Seconds.



I think the most listened to of all Cure albums for me were 17 Seconds and Faith. And after that, probably Pornography. No surprising as they were really mellow and downbeat apart from a few numbers like Play for Today and Primary. The two were so much alike that they combined them both together and released it as a double LP called "Happily Ever After."

I guess I did have more to add.

Moz - Fall tour

Looks like Moz will be returning to NYC for some fall dates. And this time, he's playing at the smaller venues. In NYC it will be the Hammerstein Ballroom. And it won't be for just the one evening. He'll be doing shows for five nights (October 22-28). They are also offering season tickets for $200 which means you get to go in first and take your place right in front of the stage. I'll probably go for one of the nights. Los Angeles fans will get to pick from one of ten evenings he'll be playing at the Palladium. Imagine the price of the season tickets for THAT one. Got to True To You for the full deal.

The Cure have postponed their September 23 show at Madison Square Garden.

Illustration Friday - Visitors

Thoughts, emotions and identity are like visitors in our minds making us what we can be at any moment in our lives. Making us into the unique individual that we all are. Some visitors seem to take up permanent residency in our minds. Usually not the good kind. But there's always a vacancy for the good thought visitors in my mind. In the end, it's all good as long as we recognize them and deal with them without harm to ourselves or others. And here's to all the good visitors of this blog. Enjoy your stay.

Shoes

OK, I cracked up watching this promo from VH1's "I Hate My 30s" show.

It's on tonight at 10:30.

Quick Fashion sketch

Just a quick fashion sketch I did tonight from an old magazine I had on hand.

Art or lack of it

Art, what can I say? I regret not keeping up in practice and I hope all the money I spent this weekend at Blick Art Materials will not go to waste. And that includes the books at Barnes & Noble.

My intention was to buy just the two items. A Moleskine sketch book and a suitable pen.

Then I saw all these things.

So in addition to the above, I bought a set of 48 Prismacolor pencils. A set of Prismacolor ink pens. A set of Speedball sketching quill/nib set with some India Ink. Some paper and a couple of other small items.

I already have some Rembrandt soft pastels and a set of Cotman watercolors. So I'm pretty much set with all sorts of media to inspire and create.

Now if I can just jump in with some confidence, things would flow through. However, I'm having some problems in that department at the moment and I'm feeling a bit discouraged which is why I've had a lack in posting to the blog.

But I'm working on it. I did want to sign up for a pen and ink drawing course at the Visual Arts college but it was just too expensive for me at the moment. And it seemed like the perfect course to take at the moment since I'm feeling a bit fired up about doing some of this art. It starts next month and maybe something may just happen where I'm able to do it.

*Picture taken from the Blick website.

Inspire Me Thursday - "Dear Diary"

I came upon the website of Inspire Me Thursday while looking at art blogs and it inspired me to post this. The topic was "Dear Diary" and I thought since I have so many journals, I figured I could find something art-related.

It is a self-portrait of me as I remembered and saw myself in New York City. The 90s were a pretty tough time for me. Living in a place I didn't want to live. Friends moving away and having my fill of meeting a lot people that reassured my faith in not trusting or getting too close to people and off course family life was no better.

It took seven years after that entry to finally to get my crap together and leave.

Thank you to the people at Inspire Me Thursday!

New Track: "Voyager"

New track from Gravity & Fusion titled "Voyager."

Basically, I just turned on my equipment and hit the global record button and went with it. I did not use a sequencer and all sounds are from the Roland Juno.

I actually felt it to be a little incomplete, but try as I may, I did not find anything more to add to it. The entire piece contains just five tracks. But I feel I have made the point of using less. Space is VERY empty!

The inspiration for this piece is Voyager's travels out into space. It's travels to the planets and beyond. I think the end of the piece suggests that after Voyager leaves the edges of our outer solar system, it enters deep space where it's mostly empty. And so the single note lingers for a while until the piece is finished.

I hope you enjoy it.

Link to SendSpace: Voyager

In the sun, it's for everyone!

Things getting you down? You should go to the child within or the teenager within and think of those things that made you happy. I went to a place in time where despite some problems, things were a little carefree and I had certain things to keep me company namely, the above woman you see above. I'm so glad that I meet more people today who are fans like myself. When I was a teen, I felt I was the only one. I was labeled a freak of sorts for obsessing over such a band. And if there ever was another, I never met him/her. At Junior High, it was all KISS, Zeppelin and disco kids. Despite the fact that Blondie's biggest hit was a disco song, I still had the words DISCO SUCKS written on my notebook.

So summertime was all about getting a few bucks somehow, and shopping for magazines (anything with Debbie), comics and staying up late to catch whatever weird movies were shown on TV, most of them being Japanese Monster movies which by the way Blondie paid homage to in their first album with the song "The Attack of The Giant Ants."

Lyrics:

Giant ants from space snuff the human race
Then they eat your face, never leave a trace
La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la
They shoot fire all around. Tokyo burns down
Everybody drowns. The moon falls on the ground
La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la

They can't be stopped at all. The buildings start to fall
Soldiers shoot all day and then they run away
La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la

The world is holocaust. Everything is lost
Mankind is destroyed. Sprinkled in the void
La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la

Giant ants from space waste the human race
Then they eat your face, never leave a trace
La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la

Side note - I have a tape version of that first album and though the album was self titled, my tape did have one. It was called "Waiting." I might have something rare there!

And in memory of summers long gone and in which are so emblazoned in my memory, here are the lyrics to "In The Sun."

Surf's up!
In the sun, I'm waiting for the day
Having fun, in warm far away
Moonlight nights, water seems so clear
Ooh city lights while I'm still waiting here

In the sun, it's for everyone
In the sun, were gonna have some fun
In the sun, were gonna shoot the tube
I'll do it for you, my paka lola luau love

New York isle is covered by grey
Concrete piles, blues play my way
Tropic haze, pineapple sky
Perfect wave, hurricane eye

In the sun, it's for everyone
In the sun, were gonna have some fun
In the sun, were gonna shoot the tube
I'll do it for you, my paka lola luau love

In the sun, it's for everyone
In the sun, were gonna have some fun
In the sun, were gonna shoot the tube
I'll do it for you, my paka lola luau love

Where is my wave?
Where is my wave?

Wow! Chrissie Hynde, Debbie and Siouxsie all together in one room!

Speaking of comics of which I'll be exploring this weekend (I'm going for those back issues of anything from, maybe, Detective Comics from the late 70s to early 80s. I just want to see those GRIT adds!) This particular comic pictured above (I know that's a DVD cover, but the comic is of same) was a prized possession until someone came over my apartment once when I was living in Arizona and asked to borrow it. And never returned it or even offered to do so! I won't mention any names, but he is a personal friend of Debbie & Chris. I should mention his name though so when he Googles his ass, he'll come upon this and get a hint. Dude, I want it back! You flake! Ah, at least I know it has a good home. Or something.

This is not a love song

I'm having such a day of it. And It's not even half-way through. I'm trying to hang in there but I'm caught on a wave of despair. DESPAIR I tell you!

I nearly sobbed this morning (OK, well, I actually sobbed. OK???). I can't say exactly what triggered it, but you know it was probably building up all this time and overspilled.

Someone reading this is saying "Get over it, V!"

No, I won't. Can you please try to understand me?

I'm tired of flakes, phonies and bullies!

Am I ever that person? I'm going to go out on a limb and say no. I react to flakes, phonies and bullies. So if my reaction to them makes me look like a flake, phony or a bully, well, they have only themselves to blame for it.

It's tough in New York to make friends. A lot of people think because so many people live here, that it's easy to get on with people. But understand that 90% are, yes, you guessed it:

FLAKES, PHONIES AND BULLIES!

I'm tired.
I'm so very tired
And I'm feeling very sick and ill today.

But I'm still fond of you.

8 Random Facts

I have been tagged by Steve to do an "8 random facts" about me, so here it goes.

1. first, post these rules
2. post 8 random facts about yourself
3. write a blogspot about those facts
4. tag and name 8 more bloggers
5. tell them that they're tagged at their blog

Fact 1: I worked at the Underground at New York City's Union Square during the summer of 87.

For a time, I was obsessed with the movie Liquid Sky. Watched it constantly. I think I was attracted to the visuals. It was movie with a lot of bad acting. The kind that made you laugh even though the characters were trying to be serious. There was a scene during the end of the movie where Margaret, after killing Adrien by having sex with her, goes out to this nightclub where she looks for the junky that raped her earlier: "I've done more Quaaludes than you have aspirin, now where's the cocaine?!" - Anyway, the scene is full 80s night club appeal. During the summer of 87, I was living in New York with a bunch of people in a studio apartment. I got hired as a busboy/bar-back at the Underground and the first night I observed the the lights and the scene and realized that this was the exact club that the scene in Liquid Sky was filmed. I just think it aerie that I'd end up working there after being so obsessed with the movie. Power of Intention? I don't know. The Underground night club is now a Pet Smart. Oh well.

Fact 2: I got the chance to go backstage at one of the most memorable concerts of my life in 1986.

I won't mention the band. If there were anyone that knew me from before and was reading this, they'd roll their eyes and say "oh not this again, what an egotistical bitch!" Anyway, a friend of a friend knew the bodyguard to this band and offered a couple of backstage tickets to the show. My friend was offered this ticket but wanted me to go instead who knew how much the band meant to me at the time. Nice, right? I'll remember you always. After an amazing show, I went backstage into this little room and had the most strange feeling being in the presence of my musical idols. And they did not disappoint me one bit. Each and every one of them were so friendly. But being so awkward and painfully shy, I didn't get to use this opportunity to its full potential. But still, it may be the only highlight of my life that this actually happened. After backstage, there was an after show party and I met up with the opening band who were just as friendly and would always remember me at every show. When I moved to Arizona, I was actually contacted on the phone by one of the members to come to the show and allow me and my friends to go backstage with them. Power of Intention? I don't know but I don't have much stories that are as exciting to me as these and there's always that risk of people thinking you are showing off when all you want to tell is a story. Oh well. 1986, magical year.

Fact 3: Debbie Harry and how I met her.

It's no secret that I have a special love for Debbie Harry and Blondie ever since the first time I saw the video to the song Heart of Glass on Solid Gold 79. After being in New York the second time around, Blondie had decided to reform and put out a new album about 14 years after their last recording. So I read somewhere that they were doing a show at Town Hall. I went to all ticket sales places (remember when you can buy tickets at record stores like Tower Records?) Anyway, I was disappointed to find out there there are no tickets for sale for that particular show and I wanted so much to see this reunion show. Apparently, I found out later that this was a VH1 concert to be taped at the Town Hall and they weren't selling tickets in the usual way. I didn't know how they were going about getting fans to the show, so it was a no-go for me. So with my head down, I went up the street to turn the corner and go into Barnes & Noble to do some book browsing. There I saw a sign saying "Meet Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie!" They were there sign autographs to the book "Making Tracks, the Rise of Blondie." So quickly I went inside, bought the book and got on the line with all other fans. I came face to face with Debbie for the first time and told her how much I loved her and she signed my book. Is it going to annoy you if I again ask whether this is the Power of Intention? Too bad. Many years later a friend of mine invited me to a small screening to a short flick and guess who starred in it? And guess who was at the screening? Nice. But I didn't talk to her then. Just didn't want to invade in that way.

Fact 4: I was a dancer that once stopped traffic.

So the story goes as told by my mother and it embarrasses me to tell the story but who's reading anyway? When I was just a wee one, I loved to dance and by the way, I don't remember this so I must have been quite young. The story is that I went out in the streets and began dancing right in front of the cars. Cars had to stop because there was a child in the street.... dancing. And it seemed that I wasn't going to leave the street anytime soon, so, what did drivers do? They stopped their engines and just began enjoying the show. That is until my mother realized what was going on and pulled me away. Traffic resumed after that and my dancing career was over then.

Fact 5: I wanted to learn piano

I showed interest in art and learning the piano and apparently dancing at a very young age. But my parents had no interest in this so they never granted me my wishes for learning the piano. My father would often make fun of me for wanting to play . My brother on the other hand who is just four years older got his hands on an acoustic guitar, lessons and later an electric one. Well, he wanted to impress girls and that was alright by my dad. So I waited until I could get a job so I can buy me a keyboard. And since then I've been self thought on playing music on the keyboard and have recorded many musical pieces. So, stick it dad!

Fact 6: I've always wanted to live.

Yes it's true, but for some reason, the world is opposed to this and at times I learn the harsh truth of reality that the living is only for the extremely talented and the beautiful. Facts have taken an awful wrong turn, haven't they?

Fact 7: I hate my name.

What the hell. I'm beginning to think this is the reason nobody wants to befriend me. And even to my people, my name is a bit odd to them. It's very difficult to introduce myself in loud places, often repeating my name over and over and each time it is echoed back with such mispronunciation that I want to vomit. Is there such a thing as too foreign? That even those who are extremely tolerant of foreigners say "this is where I draw the line." But I'm probably wrong. But am I wrong?

Fact 8: Drugs are bad.. mmmmm k?

But I'm sure I'm not the only one to fry their brains for a time in their lives. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time. In my early 20s living in Arizona, I met a few people who would offer me the choice to fry. So I did. And I had loads of laughs doing it. It was an experience that I don't actually regret. LSD and John Waters we found out was the perfect recipe for a good time. The downside? The crash that I endured from it was not fun. I'm a depressive to begin with and when coming down, it made me even more depressed. Strange highs and strange lows.

OK, now I'm supposed to tag 8 other bloggers. I don't have that many regular readers, I'm so unpopular in blog land. So I'll try.

1. Xolondon
2. Jack
3. Kilgorsky
4. JL
5. Dan
   

Most bloggers that used to read me are not around anymore so I can't tag 8 people. Does this mean I've broken the rules?

Morrissey - Atlantic City "of all places"

OK, so Morrissey did not re-schedule the MSG concert and canceled it altogether. This could be because of poor ticket sales. And after seeing him live yesterday at the Borgata Hotel & Casino (oh for Pet's sake) - I kinda got a feeling that that was it. The Borgata is less than half the space of the MSG and there were plenty of empty seats. And the floor was not all that crowded. I think he would have fared well by playing Radio City again Beacon Theater or The Apollo. Though hid did play The Apollo in 2004 for an entire week and sold out every show. So what's the deal? I figured a lot of fans from NYC like myself would make the trip out to Atlantic City to catch the show, but I guess a lot of people were maybe pretty pissed off at the man right now.

Moz put on a fantastic show, I thought. Opening with "Panic." Most of the songs came from his last two albums with some classic Smiths and solo stuff like Panic, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, How Soon is Now, Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (lyrics changed to "let me get who I want"), The Last of The International Playboys, Disappointed, Everyday Is Like Sunday. He introduced two new songs. One about Paris and one about growing up with lyrics like, and I'm trying to remember something about falling down, breaking your spine and that there are worst things that could happen rather than being some one's sweetie! Good one.
His voice was excellent and in good form. He chatted with the audience quite a bit and off course the die-hard fans that come by for every show are mentioned by names. Questions are asked to the super fan such as "Why do people scream?" During Irish Blood, the lyrics were changed to "Americans being sick to death of Republicans." It brought loud cheers from the crowd.

During encore a few people managed to get up on the stage and were hurried off the stage. At one point it seemed to get out of control as Moz egging on the fans to get to the stage as the guards are scrambling all over the place to catch them. One guy got up and as he made a run for Moz, he was stopped half way by a guard with some kind of security-guard blocking motion and the guy just flipped back and fell slamming back.

I could have been down on the floor, but I just sat watched the whole thing from a seat on the riser. Had a good time. I'd never been to Atlantic City before so thanks to Moz, I now know what it's like out there. So, I'm glad I headed out there. I have a feeling he'll come back in the fall, but with Moz you can never be too sure.

P.S.: You don't want to see the terrible pictures I took of the show with my phone cam. Can't make out a thing other than the James Dean back-drop.

Also... oh never mind.

Some fashion - and hands. From the "portfolio"

Turban (Contour)

This was one of the exercises in Contour Drawing that I did while taking a course in fashion illustration. If you've taken art lessons, I'm sure you know what it is (it's sort of like blind drawing - You can't look at your work while doing it). After if was finished, I was able to fill it up with oil pastel. It was a drawing of a male model wearing an elaborate turban. Come to think of it, I think it was just a big peace of cloth made to look like a turban. Whatever. This was the result and you can see underneath the lines going in all directions.

Man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door of his prison and run away. A man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him.

- Plato

I'm not happy.

Post-It doodles No. 4

Another installment of Post-It doodles.

The one on the upper left is some kind of jelly-like alien with one eye and may only be found floating around within the clouds of Jupiter. Or something.

Enjoy the weekend!

I've always known...

From "A Pale Blue Dot"

I'm reading Carl Sagan's "A Pale Blue Dot" at the moment. Here's little excerpt from a chapter titled "Is there Intelligent Life On Earth?"

"From your orbital perspective, you can see that something has unmistakably gone wrong. the dominant organisms, whoever they are - who have gone to so much trouble to rework the surface - are simultaneously destroying their ozone layer and their forests, eroding their topsoil, and performing massive, uncontrolled experiments on their planet's climate. Haven't they noticed what's happening? Are they oblivious to their fate? Ar they unable to work together on behalf of the environment that sustains them all?

Perhaps, you think, it's time to reassess the conjecture that there's intelligent life on Earth."

Still Ill

Dear Valued Patron:

Please be advised that due to illness, the Morrissey concert performance originally scheduled for Saturday, June 30, 2007 at Madison Square Garden has been rescheduled.

A new date will be announced soon. Please retain your tickets. All tickets marked Saturday, June 30, 2007 will be honored at the new performance.

For more information regarding the new date of this show, please continue to monitor www.thegarden.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We look forward to your continued patronage of Madison Square Garden.

Sincerely,

Madison Square Garden

Well, at least it's not a complete cancellation of the show! Hopefully.

Alive & Kicking

So many of the bands we grew up with are still kickin it on stage. Debbie Harry, a first love of many in my age group is out there touring with Cindy Lauper, Erasure and others with the True Colors tour. She's also releasing some new material in the fall. I didn't go to True Colors and I'm regretting it! Erasure is touring and will be performing here at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn. I may want to go to this one and hopefully they'll do all the cool classics. I'm not so big on their newer releases. I only bought the single Breathe from their last album. I'm going to go see Morrissey next Saturday. I just saw a TV ad on this which probably means that he hasn't sold out! Should have stuck to Radio City or Beacon Theatre, dear Moz.

And now, The Cure have announced their U.S. tour dates. It's been a while since I've seen them live, over ten years ago, so I think it's time to see them again. They're going for Madison Square Garden (oh well). They usually have an extensive set-list so It'll be nice to hear the classics. And they're pretty good live. Check out their website for dates.

Post-It Doodles No. 3

Sick of it all!

I got a call from my insurance provider today asking me how everything was going and if I have any questions regarding my plan. I'm wondering if the call had anything to do with Micheal Moore's new documentary, SiCKO which is to open next week.

The documentary is definitely something to check out. It may make you look through your closets for any suitcases you have to get you packing for your move to either Canada or Europe. Or better yet, take better care of yourself so that you never fall in any of the situations that some of the people in the film have fallen victim to. Some things are unavoidable and that is what scares me. It's ridiculous.

iTunes Woes..

You see, I'm a nostalgic fool. I just won't let go of the past. And the past usually means it's filled with the music that kept me sane and alive. So I fuel myself with the past to get going for the present and hopefully the future. So having said that, I went on over to iTunes and just wanted to peek into what they called the Complete Depeche Mode Collection valued at $169.00. I suppose if I just got into DM and never bought one of their albums before, this would be a great way to catch up. But for most of us, we have them in so many forms and have shelled out more than enough for the albums and songs included in the collection. But the one thing that caught my eye was the Early Rare Live Recordings! See, at home, I have three French imported vinyls of DM 12" singles. On each of the flip sides are four live recordings from a concert. So if you had all three 12" singles, which are Love In Itself, Everything Counts and Get The Balance Right, you'd have almost an entire concert. I loved listening to these live recordings because they were done in its original form. They sounded so much warmer because you can actually tell that keys are being pressed and played in real-time rather than everything being on tape. It just sounded good. And there's this whole energy especially when they're doing Shout and Photographic. It reminds of the first time I went to see them.

I should tell you about the woes...

Well, as it turns out, only some of the songs are available for downloads at .99 each. Some selected tracks are labeled as Album Only purchases. So you'd have to spend the $169.00 in order to get the those tracks that you want. As it stands, only fanatics and fans like myself are going to go for those rare live recordings, I don't see why iTunes does not make them available. We already have all those albums on CDs finally and don't want to shell out more just to get the rare stuff. What a tease. And to think of the excitement I felt when I saw those tracks and then the let down when I saw the Album Only label. Well... I don't know if I'll ever download from them again. Bastards!

But why should I be surprised when everything counts in large amounts.

Just For One Day

New EP out from Clan of Xymox. Ron's version of a David Bowie cover Heroes. Two versions available, the "Slow Industrial Version" and a "Pop Version" . Both are excellent. So you can select the version you want to hear, depending on your mood. Also included is a new track On A Mission which also comes in two versions. Both are again excellent the first being more preferable though the second version has an interesting ending with some G. W. Bush samples. Also included is Be My Friend which appeared on their last album, Breaking Point. Good stuff from Mr. Moorings.

Post-It doodles No. 2

Here's another installment of Post-It doodles.

Post-It doodles

Sometimes - in order to relax and relieve some kind of stress at work, I just stick a post-it on my desk and begin doodling. Usually, these are the results.

I think I'll make it a regular posting. Post-It doodles. Could it catch on? But then I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Post-It doodler's unite.!

Quote

I tried to commit suicide by sticking my head in the oven, but there was a cake in it. - Lesley Boone

Dear Kitty

I hope you haven't given up on me..yet. :)

I had been pretty sick the last week or so. Bacterial infection. Not fun. Had to see a doctor to get some antibiotics and get rid of it. Last Sunday was the first day I could get out and do something. So I went out over to my favorite Astoria diner simply called "CUP." I love the atmosphere there and it's a pretty big place. Service is usually great. Just the perfect place to get a nice big cup of coffee and some banana pancakes (my favorite) on a nice and sunny afternoon. There's a movie theatre right nearby and usually I do both a late breakfast and a movie, but there wasn't anything I wanted to see so I slowly strolled back home and stopped at the barber's for a cut. Monday I headed out to Queens Center Mall. This mall has gone through some heavy changes from the days I used to go as a teen. This mall was my escape for when I wanted to ditch school and hang out somewhere else (before I discovered The Village.) Well, it was either the mall or the library. I bought three dress pants, two dress shirts, socks, underthings, all for the workplace. Mostly from Macy's. There was a time where I lived for shopping for clothes, but being overweight has put an end to that. And it's not fun to see all the younger dudes all thin and floating around buying all the fun stuff while I have to waste it on work clothes. Still, I put a little thought into it and did not skimp on some sense of style. But it's not enough for the Sartorialist to notice and take a picture! haha. Besides, he wouldn't be caught dead on this side of town. He's strictly 5Th Ave, Madison Ave and Soho. Or some other fabulous city in another country. Sigh.

I have a friend at work.

I know you're all shocked so I'll wait until you recover.

She says nice things to me. Things I don't quite accept about myself cause I find them hard to believe. It's been nice. We do things sometimes outside of work. We have interest in the same things that is not easy to find in the people that I work with and possibly the only person I'll know that is right now reading the new biography on Einstein, which I'll be getting pretty soon.

The nice thing about where I work is that Battery Park is right outside our building and we headed out there for lunch today and sat and just stared out into the water where the Statue of Liberty stands. Nice breeze coming from the waters. It was almost meditative and I did not want to leave.

Going through my CDs tonight I spotted Portishead's "DUMMY" and imported it to my player. I'll be listening to this tomorrow morning on the way to work. This album came to me at a time where I was having a very difficult time with my depression. Funny reading the music rags at the time this album came out, they kept comparing it to be most "Smiths-Like." I bought the CD not knowing at all what it was going to sound like and in a day, it was in constant rotation in my apartment. So much that even my roommate began requesting it for his listening pleasure. The music of "DUMMY" spoke volumes to me at that time and I know that when I begin to listen to this album again tomorrow, I'll be riding a time warp back to that place in Tempe, Arizona, the pills and days spent in my bright and sunny room and the walks I took to and fro the clinics and health offices.

The Russian barber said nice things to me. Especially the part where he told me that I did not look my age at all. Aging Queens like to hear that sort of thing. :)

Addition:

Dear bloggers and friends who read this, I NEVER forget the nice things y'all write to me!! I have been fortunate to know some of you and those who have been very generous in sharing the music and kind thoughts!

Thank you.

Greetings from the cubicle

Yeah, that's Tigger with the little magnet sticker saying "HELP" which sits on my cubicle.

So It's Friday and we may all heave a collective sigh of relief knowing that tomorrow we don't need to adhere to any rules other than those we make ourselves. So we get up when we want and go out if we need to and have lunch at whatever time we feel right.

I love today's weather. It's very cloudy with a the threatening hint of rain. I say threatening because it's coming and going little by little. I left my building today and felt the unseasonably cool weather and felt very alive. Yeah, it's a bit unusual that the grey skies and thick clouds can do that to me and not the Sun whom I worship. But I see this as the Sun taking a little vacation and hiding behind these menacing clouds tired from being such a "superstar." Another five billions years to go, Mr. Star.

Anyway, good Friday to you all. And sorry for the lack of postings.

They're not just for decorating

I opened up a box full of books last night. I had put them away for not having any space for them in my previous apartment. So boxed up they spent all these years not seeing the light of day. They've all been read before but, I'm a re-reader.

My first choice was Vidal's "The Smithsonian Institution" - Now in light of the lecture I went to last Wednesday, what are the odds that this would be the book I'd choose to read? I can't remember much about the book. Only that a bunch of historical figures come to life after the Smithsonian closes down. It's typical Vidal fashion like in his masterpiece "Myron." Which I've read many times.

Here's the scoop from the inside jacket for The Smithsonian Institution:

"questions about political responsibility and personal sacrifice are deftly woven into a surreal narrative of quantum physics, string theory, clones, the sexual habits of Eskimos, and the domestic arrangements of various U.S presidents"

Blah, blah "4Th dimension", blah blah "Space-time continuum," - "Einstein" and "atomic bomb."

I don't remember all that when I first read it, so it should be more interesting to read this now as it was the first time.

Have I just crossed the line to utterly boring, yet?

Reflections on Werther

"There is the story of an Englishman who hanged himself because he didn't want to dress and undress himself any more. I knew a gardener, a stalwart fellow in charge of a big park, who in his bleakness cried out one day, "Am I to spend my whole life watching the rain clouds move from eve to morn?" And then I have heard tell of one of our best men that he hates to see the greening of springtime and wishes that, for a change, everything would come up red! All these are symptoms of a weakness of life that quite often culminates in suicide and is more prevalent among thoughtful introverts than one would care to believe."

From "Reflections On Werther" by Goethe

Good thing you're not a thoughtful introvert. Ey?

Are we living in The Matrix?

I had the pleasure of attending a lecture last night. The speaker was Brian Greene. Author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric Of The Cosmos.

The lecture was mostly about the Multiverse. There is a possibility that because there are an infinite number of universes, there's one universe where there is a world just like this one and you in that world are doing the same things you are doing right now over here. Or that there is another universe with a world in which you exist but there are variable differences. Like maybe the color of your eyes are different or you're wearing the same shirt but in a different color.

So what if it's "out there" stuff. I loved listening to him talk about all these possibilities. Though Brian Greene will have you believe that there is no such thing as free will. That it's a very nice illusion. But that it doesn't exist. Something the audience probably found hard to swallow.

The Multiverse was compared to that of Swiss cheese. Coincidentally, I had a packet of Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese in my bag (you know the ones with the wedges). I have a friend who likes to reward me in cheese. I'll explain some other time.

By the way Brian Greene is a vegan.

To the point, I had him sign my packet of cheese. Actually, I got my friend to do it. I was too shy and embarrassed to do so. But it was my idea. And I only said it as a joke that we should get him sign the cheese. Well, Greene thought it was funny.

The question came up by the moderator if maybe we are the result of one universe in which the inhabitants are so super intelligent that they came up with this computer that was able to create an entire universe and that creation was us. Brian says it's possible. But that he's fine with it.

Are you fine with it?

Greene seems like a super nice guy when even after his lecture, didn't mind a bit hanging around a crowd of people still wanting to answers to their questions. Mostly, I was happy to see a lot of very young people out there who I envy very much. The fact that they get the opportunity to feed their growing minds in this way is wonderful. Greene is only about four years older than I am. He's also a professor of physics at Columbia University.

Missing shows

Found out way too late in the game that Fronline Assembly is performing tonight. I won't be going. But that's OK.

I also know that Skinny Puppy will be performing in June. At the moment, I'm not so sure I'm going to that either.

Thompson Twins Live 1984

Now at Concert Vault is a full Thompson Twins concert for you to hear recorded at the Allentown State Fair (PA) in 1984.

Just add water and stir

MOZ

Well, I've managed to get a good floor seating to the Moz concert despite the fact that I missed out on the pre-sales. I don't really feel that "Ringleader" is all that great but I'll go just to hear some of the old classics and Smiths stuff done live. It's was a great feeling the last time I saw him when he belted out those tunes. First time I went to see Moz was during his Kill Uncle tour in the early 90s. It wasn't until 97 that I saw him again. Moz somehow knew about me moving to New York and decided to do a Central Park summer concert for me during the Maladjusted tour. I saw him once more after that when he had nothing new going on but packed up the venue nonetheless and I think it was one of the best shows that I've been to. It was at the Roseland Ballroom so the place was small.

Planets

So we've discovered a new planet and this one is different than all the other 200 hundred or so planets we've been finding. I say "we" as if I had something to do with it when in fact I mean "we" as in the collective human species. It's a rocky planet orbiting a star in its habitable zone. It has an atmosphere which could mean that there might be water and where there's water, there's some kind of life. I think this is a great find and we need to find more of these planets. Because pretty soon, we're going to have to move and find another place to live.

People

Sometimes I just want to say to people: "You know, I didn't just come into being when you first met me. I've existed before. I've had eyes, ears and all other senses just as you in my younger years and I know what I see and hear.

But there's really nothing you can do about what people think about you. It sucks that they start painting this picture of you and when there's a real live contradiction, they start to rebel against what they have painted. They get angry because it wasn't what they thought about you, so you're at false or something.

One person once told me: "I can't see you ever being angry at anyone." He said this as if it was some sort of novelty. I mean what kind of a thing is that to say to someone? That they are incapable of displaying one of the most common of emotions.

Light Bulbs

I have to change my lights again in the living room. It's really starting to piss me off.

Siddhartha

Just finished reading this amazing book. Did you know there's a movie? I need to get it. Why don't you read it, if you haven't done so? You don't have to buy it, you can download for free and and print it out (60 pages) here!

Immortal Beloved

Just saw this movie yesterday. A friend lent me the DVD. It's an amazing film about the life of Beethoven. By the way, Alan Wilder does a wonderful Moonlight Sonata on the b-side of "Little 15" I've always loved that piece and is one of the most loved of Beethoven compositions.

To those guys

Thank you for smiling today!

Contact Intro

One of my favorite scenes from the movie Contact, besides the part where Ellie is in the machine is the intro. The zooming out from earth, the planets and galaxies.

"They're alive"

Monday's Paperbacks

No shortage of what I want to read as I'm finding it in great number of volumes these days. Those authors of long ago whom I feel are much deserved reading than today's trendy 20 something writing about what? Today's insanities and the people I won't relate to. They're not so brilliant, I feel.

Today's finding are more of Hesse and one of Goethe. Both of whom I should have read a long time ago but I find that it's more fitting to read about the stories they write today. I don't think it would have fit in well at the time of my 20s. I was more contempt mostly with the supermarket novels of Anne Rice during those old times. Well, I'll still read Rice. So sue me.

The books are in old paperbacks rather than the over sized ones where you have to shell out more money for. I remember the days before the over sized paperbacks. Though most science fiction paperbacks are still mostly produced in the smaller sizes, it's hard to find the smaller ones in the fiction category. So for the price of one over sized paperback, I was able to buy two of the smaller ones.

Reading commences tonight at around midnight.

R.I.P. Kurt A.K.A. Kilgore Trout

Though I have not the complete library of books written by Mr. Vonnegut (19), I have enjoyed all those that I have read so far. My first book being Breakfast of Champions followed by a number of others. The last book I had enjoyed reading was Galapagos and have been looking forward for more readings from this fine author. He died yesterday of head injuries in which was the result of a fall he took at his home. He was 84. R.I.P.

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ” - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.

- Requiem (closing lines)

Blessed are the cheesemakers.

What really went on during Jesus' Sermon On The Mount.

So sleep and dream of love...because it's the closest you will get to love

It's been one of those weeks. So this is what I'm listening to now. I figured a Moz/Smiths playlist was appropriate. Let the music speak for itself.