My Father the Idealist

My father once told me as a child that if he could have given up everything he had, for us to live in poverty, that he would have done it if it meant we'd find true harmony in humble oblivion. My father's a talker, you see, and this kind of whimsical, far-fetched proclamation was common from him, but it scared me that time. I knew his ideals of living in the rain-forested rural beach-side where he spent his childhood, catching crabs and fishing with his three brothers and late father. My father has always gone out of his way to make his children happy because more than anything, that is what made him happy. I hope one day he'll find the happiness he's been searching for, perhaps when my siblings and I are older, with kids of our own, and perhaps he'll feel as if he did a good job and won't be as hard on himself.

Vicariously Impermeable

Dear Syam,

We like to thank you for your interest in our teaching position posted on Craiglist. However, we do regret to inform you that over 200 English academies in Korea including our client's institute have cancelled the program due to the outbreak of swine flu. Because of the government's health requirements of the influenza, our client's English academy are require to cancel our English teaching sessions.

We apologize for the cancellation of our teaching opportunity and wish you success in your future career path.

These Days

A New Way to Explain Explanation

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy.
If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates

The Lattice of Beauty

I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,

I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.

I honor the place within you, where, if you are in that place in you

and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.

- Ram Dass, translation of 'Namaste'

We Grew Up Too Fast

When It Packs This Much Emotion We Can Use It in Our Ads to Sell Cars! ... ... ... ... ...and So We Have

友達 (ともだち)

Two people are together

Things to see Things to hear

Things to touch Things to smell

Things to taste

Things to feel

こ

ち

ら

こ

そ

。

$_$

Money, get away. Get a good job with more pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car. Caviar. Four star daydream. Think I'll buy me a football team.

Money, get back. I'm all right, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit, but don't give me that do-goody-good bullshit
I'm in the hi-fidelity first class travelling set and I think I need a Lear jet

Money, it's a crime. Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today but if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're giving none away

- Roger Waters, Pink Floyd

I've Been...

-Planning to wander around the UK for next month. I've got more than 10 people to visit/hang out with/whose floor on which I shall sleep.

-Setting up my home recording studio. Finally.

-Trying to (get hired to) spend a month in Seoul and earn $5000+ with free airfare, meals and accomodations.

-Saving up for a 150 cc motorscooter.

-Deciding the best way to go about getting a Tebori sleeve.
(I can try to monetarily convince the best local Japanese artist Jiro that I'd be worth it and that it's not a waste of his time or fly to Japan to see Horitaka or a member of the Horitoshi family. Either decision will require the amassing of thousands of USD which I don't exactly have right now.)

-Realising that my life is my own, and that I can accomplish and experience anything I so desire. (I'm not talking about lavish living but I am talking about "living the dream". My dreams have been complex, kryptic, multi-faceted, detailed, lucid, obvious and obscure. I'm going to live a life of this.)

One hand says to the other, "I wish I could be you.
In return I'll teach to you all that I do."

"I've got to decline," the other replies,
"You've got your place, I've got mine.

I'm just not inclined to your backwards design."

Back to Limbo

The Possibilities of Manifestation in this Reality are Limitless

______Thinking_____
Spherically
&
Linearly

Sometimes pictures make me happy

A Place for the Past?

She's an ugly girl,
Does it make you want to kill her?

She's an ugly girl,
Do you want to kick in her face?

She's an ugly girl,
She doesn't pose a threat.

She's an ugly girl,
Does she make you feel safe?
Ugly girl...

Do you hate her
'Cause she's pieces of you?

She's a pretty girl,

Does she make you think nasty thoughts?
She's a pretty girl,

Do you want to tie her down?
She's a pretty girl,
Do you call her a bitch?
She's a pretty girl,
Did she sleep with your whole town?
Pretty girl...
Do you hate her
'Cause she's pieces of you?

You say he's a faggot,
Does it make you want to hurt him?
You say he's a faggot,
Do you want to bash in his brain?
You say he's a faggot,
Does he make you sick to our stomach?
You say he's a faggot,

Are you afraid you're just the same?
Faggot...
Do you hate him
'Cause he's pieces of you?

You say he's a Jew,
Does it mean that he's tight?
You say he's a Jew,
Do you want to hurt his kids tonight?
You say he's a Jew,
He'll never wear that funny hat again.
You say he's a Jew,
As though being born were a sin.
Oh Jew...
Do you hate him
'Cause he's pieces of you?

- Jewel Kilcher

The Source

"I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm,
to feel connected enough to step aside
and weep like a widow,
to feel inspired to fathom the power,
to witness the beauty,

to bathe in the fountain of our divinity
and still be a human."

- James Keenan, Tool.

Choose Life

I had an epiphany and realised that life is merely a repetition of the same events until you're too old or occupied to repeat these events. After that, one falls into the repetition of new events which quickly grow old as well. Then Death.

So what makes life meaningful?

The exceptions that remain exceptional.

I can keep travelling. I can keep making music in different parts of the world, working with remarkable people and creating unique sonic entities. I can keep learning new languages until I exit this life, finding ways to express feelings and thoughts that I never knew were tangible because of my previous tongues. I want to research undocumented languages and dialects in remote existences, attaining proficiency and living amongst the people as a sympathetically adapted outsider.

I've always been an outsider, even in Trinidad where I spent the first 17 years of my life. I've accepted this. I don't know if I'll ever encounter a place where I truly belong but maybe that's what I'm to recognise... maybe I'm supposed to be exclusive only to the universe. After all, my visions of future are always solitary - walking down cobblestone streets or meditating in the jungles. It doesn't mean I feel alone, though. On streets I feel the lives of all who've tread before me, and in the jungles I shall make harmony with the Bengal tigers.

<-(me)

"Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else." - Trainspotting

The Feeling of Rust

These videos are so delightfully and intriguingly creepy...I came to know about them because Jalon suggested that they make a 'Salad Fingers' movie, starring Johnny Depp. Hells yeah!

Abasi as Leader

I found Tosin Abasi's current blog and his personal Myspace! Who knew his name was so frightfully long (Oluwatosin Ayoyinka Olumide Abasi)?! For those who haven't yet been amazed by the world's youngest and most innovative progressive guitar god, take a listen to "Tempting Time" by Animals as Leaders in the video below. Sweep-picking, two-handed tapping and lightning-fast intricacy are just some of the techniques he's mastered as a formally trained guitarist, but it's his use of polyrhythms and odd-time signatures crafted into beautiful works of art that really distinguish him from the masses as a musician and songwriter. The fact that he plays custom, synth-equipped 7 and 8 string guitars and the occasional 6-stringed acoustic only helps push the envelope for the self-titled album Animals as Leaders across the genres of fusion, avant-garde, metal and progressive with enough jazz class to cut it with seasoned veterans.

And because Tosin has written the most inspirational music I've heard for the year, I'll go ahead and supply you with some other streams for this groundbreaking and life-altering masterpiece.(Click 'play full song')

All New Materials

This is Misha Mansoor aka Bulb from the D.C. tri-guitarist progressive/math metal band Periphery. He posts his works-in-progress at SoundClick which not only consist of Periphery tunes but Of Man Not of Machine, and also his solo project and various unassigned compositions. He is also the genius who programmed the electronics and drum machines for Tosin Abasi's masterpiece Animals as Leaders debut album. I met him (Bulb) at a Periphery show in July, where I spoke to him and some of the other members. They're still a young band but about to put out their first full length album for which I can't wait. Misha is one of the musicians at the forefront of the new technical/virtuoso music revolution. Don't say I didn't warn you.

You and Me and the Mountain

I stumbled upon an mp3 download for Chicago tech-indie/math-rock guys Maps & Atlases "Big Bopper Anthems" from the album Trees, Swallows, Houses (2006). Every member of this quartet is an honorary virtuoso for achieving this eccentric, organic and infectiously charming sound, at times reminiscent of old Minus the Bear and Hella. You can listen to a ton of their songs, including the latest album, You and Me and the Mountain (2008) at their Myspace or iLike (<- excellent music resource.) They'll give you the impression that you're hearing more instruments than they're playing and that their timings are more odd than they actually are. In short, Maps & Atlases is a freshly unique and captivating listen on many levels.

Inside Joke

My friend Bryan (@BlinkyTT) sent me this and I'd say it's pretty accurate. I suppose it's an inside joke since only those from T&T will find it amusing or of any interest. The truth is, I feel like Trinidad itself is an inside joke once you live in the rest of the world.

Sourit!

I Think New Years Begin in September

"I think new years begin in September, well at least for me they always have. I've always been fnd of September. Spring is never a good time. It's a trussed up and beautiful drag queen but Autumn is real."

I wrote a song called "September" with my first band when I was 16. It's laughable at best but I said the same thing as George here. I grew up on the equator so seasons barely flinched but September always represented a new year for me, because it's my birth month and the beginning of the academic year.

Brain Health Tip

Taken from a Lumosity.com newsletter.

How Noise Affects Cognition and Mood

We subject ourselves to 'acoustic startle response' each morning we're roused by the unpleasant sounds from an alarm clock. This abuse can, in the long run, induce cardiovascular and digestive distress.

We also become mentally combative when we're pummeled with noise, such that the World Health Organization notes aggressiveness as a health risk of noise. Additionally, other cognitive functions are sacrificed in the presence of noise-induced anger.

Psychologist Arline Bronzaft's research has shown that, in the case of a school located next to a train track, students' performance is hampered by noise. On the quieter side of the school, students performed at a reading level higher than the students on the train side. When measures were taken to insulate the noise-affected students, their performance evened out.

Beyond this, stroke victims have also been reported to have increased visual awareness when listening to preferred music, and surgery patients have reported less pain while listening to nature sounds.

The takeaway? Take measures to calm your mind and body by using more soothing sounds to wake you up in the morning. And whenever possible, try drowning out noise by listening to something pleasant. Your brain will thank you!

No One's a Beacon, We're All Reflections

As grounded as I'd like to imagine that I remain, sometimes I'm consumed by the obscurity in my own life. Where will I be next year?

Well, I should've learned by now not to worry this much about the future but there are many choices to consider.

As for now, many of my bandmates are occupied so I keep writing on my own and branching out with new musicians but my conscience stings with joblessness. I had two interviews this week but I've already been turned down for one. The other, however, was rather promising so I'll uphold my positive expectations of it. I started meeting with Gabrielle in person to work on her art-oriented GWisz venture since the company has re-located to the greater L.A. region.

Hi.

This is my blog.

I've dabbled in bloggetry and bloggature under psudeonyms in the past.

My friends call me Sy.