Gym?! Oh, that place I used to go to everyday...

Damn, it has been a hella long time since I have written anything. I know, I know, I am neglecting my passion of writing, but I have lately not had anything interesting to write about. Well...there was the depression of last week that stressed the hell out of me, and then again there was the blessings that my aunt and uncle have placed upon me this week. Well, I guess there was a few things that I could have written about lately; I've just been a lazy little bastard. Getting back in the swing of things of writing consistently on a weekly basis in this blog is where I need to be. Writing seems to be the only thing that I can say that I am truly good at. Even as an abruptly blunt and belligerent person verbally that I am, it always seems a little easier for me to write how I feel about things. Writing with a pen to a piece of paper or typing away at a keyboard is usually which keep my head above water to the brinks of sanity. The harsh realms I have been induced with (such as stress & being unfit) have become the onerous boulders that have been holding me down as of late.

I need to get back in the gym; it has been 2 months since I have done anything strenuous. The hallowed grounds of the gym had become my answer and solace to the hardships that laid beyond the entry doors of the gym. Today, I will go bust my ass in the gym; I have realized that when I work out (no matter how stressful the situation in my life it is) the work outs make me feel so much better about everything.

MIXTAPE!!!

listen to the mixtape!!!

Journal Entry Vingt-Huit (28)

I recently haven't written much because writing to me comes in spurts; sometimes I write everyday in a week's time and others I can go weeks without even writing a word. I try to stay writing at least something (even if it's only 2 lines) a day to keep my writing style fresh and persistent. There's nothing more satisfying to me than knowing that someone is feeling what I am writing about in particular blogs, poetry, etc. Just to know that someone gave a shit enough to take the time out of their lives to read what I have to say is a true blessing to me, and I want to thank all of you that read my blogs from time to time to see me progressing as a human being.

I have came a long way from writing poems in the most bitter mind state for the world to see to writing in more profound ways. I am no longer at a crossroads in my life to whether I am trying to figure out what route to take; I am content with my life at this point in time. I am thankful to live life without any of the health issues that some people I know have come across over the years. Here I was complaining about not having the money to buy shit I really don't need when on Friday I seen an old baseball mate of mine from the little league days paralyzed in a wheelchair, and I realized that I have nothing in the world to complain about. I am able to walk and breathe freely as I please; that is more than a blessing enough for me.

Who is Fat Tony?

I have linked up with this cat named Fat Tony out of Houston, Texas that is hella young but still has the work ethic of a man well into his mid-twenties. I listen to a wide array of music (hip hop especially) and for me to say that I'm going to help manage someone they must be hella good. The potential level of this kid is hella high and I expect him to do hella well.


Check out the new song added to Fat Tony's page....
"Love Life"


Click the picture to add Fat Tony!!!



Upcoming Shows

Oct 31 2007 9:00P
21+ - Pi Lounge and Bar ::: Halloween Show w/ Domino (iLL Faded Productions) Houston, Texas

Nov 2 2007 6:30P
University of St. Thomas w/ Fat Tony, Dee Rail, The Low Ends, The Rudyments, and more. Houston, Texas

Dec 1 2007 12:00P
Free Show - Contemporary Arts Museum houston, Texas

Dec 13 2007 7:00P
Mojo Risin' Coffee House w/ World Wide Web Houston, Texas

National I.D.

National Identification Cards will be implemented to all of the citizens of the United States very soon. The rights to travel freely and live as freely as you think you are doing now will definitely be opposed. The ability to travel within this country and to other countries will be policed with governmental superiority. The absolute scrutiny of your life as we know it will become a way in order for them to revoke you of all your rights and police, abuse, or imprison you when and wherever they please. The latest news that never made national headlines anywhere on CBS, CNN, NBC, etc. of college students having the right to freedom of speech, but being tortured by malicious acts by the campus police should have been an eye-opener for the people of this country. The recent acts of Neo Con soldiers in this country policing rally supporters (which if last I remembered was also freedom of speech) should also have opened your eyes more as well. Seeing as Neo Con soldiers are not police, and therefore they are mercenaries whom have the right to act as they please to engage on innocent civilians as they please when and wherever.

Please, people...open up your eyes! The structure of the world is not getting any better; the United States is in a police state! Everyone's awareness levels should be on pins and needles; do not let all propaganda of mirrors and smoke of consumer goods that you do not need block your introspection in general! Below is a petition to stop the National I.D. from being implemented. Please look over the site, and if you will feel it makes sense to you, sign the petition! Do some research people on nanotechnology and the National I.D. Don't let the talking heads throughout the media place subjective thinking upon you. Research these topics for yourself and learn the truth about what is going on around you.

http://www.nonationalid.com/TakeAction.aspx

http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/

http://www.ncsl.org/realid/

Institutions of Higher Learning Becoming Murder Scenes

It is not even safe to say that you will go to college to become a more intellectually and socially inept human being; you might have your life ended to a fatal shooting in your college dormitory. This year of 2007, there have been 3 major college campus shootings in the U.S.. The Virginia Tech University massacre captured 32 lives and 28 were wounded in April. Two people were shot at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware earlier in September. The third shooting was at the University of Memphis in Tennessee and the victim was a young black man (whom was only 21 years old) whom played football for the university. He was walking out of his college dormitory last night (Sunday) and getting into his car to be shot and killed with a bullet lodged into his chest. He was found with his car wrecked into a tree not to far from his college dorm. Taylor Bradford was only 21 years old! I do not know the circumstances of how and why this young man was murdered, but I realized by the waking of this morning and alarming news of another fatal shooting on a college campus this year (all 3 shootings were all within the past 3 months) that a person cannot even go to college without worrying about being shot and murdered. That's 63 people that were shot this year on college campuses (that have been recorded), and 34 of the 63 people are dead. I wrote a blog about my theory surrounding MK Ultra and the Virginia Tech massacre, but I am not the one that should be speculating about the other two shootings. But, I will say this...

For a lot of people of color from impoverished neighborhoods, areas, and cities, the opportunity to go to college is a true blessing from God. For Black, Latino, and Polynesian males and females, to get the opportunity to go to college and getaway from the many troubles of the poor neighborhoods that a lot of us come from is a dream. A lot of us from these neighborhoods that grew up seeing all this crime and violence seen the gift of going to college as an escape from the reality that we have grown up with. We would never think it would be even a problem of being shot on a college campus, but now that's no longer a truth to us. Who would have ever thought that by going to college that you would have to worry about being shot and murdered? Definitely not me!

Peace and love goes out to the people and families that were effected by the shootings at Virginia Tech University, Delaware State University, and especially to Taylor Bradford at the University of Memphis. I can most relate to Taylor Bradford's case because he and I are about the same age, and I had a cousin get murdered in January of this year. God bless all of you! Please, do be safe!

Instead of Going Out

I am slowly creeping upon my 100th blog entry; it should be published by the end of October with the writing style I have. As you can see, I can easily one week write 3 to 4 entries, then go a whole week without writing another entry. Writing these blogs comes to me in spurts. Sometimes I feel like I need to write everyday one week, and some weeks I don't feel like writing at all.

There is nothing specifically that I have the vigor to write about in this entry. I guess you can label this one as another one of my "freestyles." Life in general right now has eased up a bit from the cobwebs of stress that I felt a month previously. It was an absolute hard transition to go from being a dependent living in another's house partying all the time to having to become independent and realizing that financially partying 3 times a week is not the best investment. As much as I liked going out at the frequency of 3 times a week, it was a becoming a habit. Spending excessive amounts of my money at night clubs and bars here in the San Francisco Bay Area was weighing down on me a bit. Not so much because of the stability of my business venture, but I was burning a great deal of my profit in the nightlife scene. Think about it:

Typical Night Expenses
a) Gas - $45
b) Bar/Club Cover Charge - $15
c) Drinking Expense - $15
+d) Late-Night Snack - $6

Average Total - $81

After doing this calculation of expenses from how I usually spend my money whenever I go out, it really doesn't seem likely that I will be going out but once a month anymore. The most ridiculous expense of them all is the cover charge for a bar or club. There are bars and clubs as cheap as $5 to even very expensive ones that can cost you $25 just to get in. On average, a mixed alcoholic beverage at most bars/clubs will range from $7-12. Most people when can drink from a range of 2-4 drinks in one night. Whether you're taking it easy at the bar that night or if you're going to party your ass off, you will check in your pockets the next day and realize a substantial amount of your money is no longer there. I mean, I love going out for the atmosphere and to meet new women, but damn, if it costs me on average $81 to when I go out then why the hell am I going out in the first place?!

...Land of the free, Huh? Seemed like forever ago...

Interesting how the people in the crowd during this debate were laughing at the University of Florida student that was being tasered for asking simple questions to John Kerry. Obviously, he was asking things that were a bit too "controversial" therefore the homonculus clones (oh, I'm sorry, the police) were following orders like the guard dogs they are. Anything in the country at this state in time that may bring up the consciousness of its citizens to open their introspection to what's really going on around them is seen as an immediate threat. Therefore, it is policed and cited as a "terrorist act" for stating facts of this nation's corrupt politics. The kid was just stating how Kerry had won the election against Bush, and how it was indescribable how Kerry did not even contest his loss to Bush at all in anyway, shape, or form. The kid also asked Kerry if he opposed Bush's plan to invade Iran, and why didn't he vote to get Bush impeached. The last question and most ironic one that got him arrested was the undergraduate asking Kerry if he was a part of Skull & Bones fraternity with Bush. This tipped the police into a maniacal frenzy to get the kid away from the microphone and arrest him for absolutely nothing. He was immediately tasered when they could have easily just arrested and escorted him outside of the building. Land of the free, home of the brave, huh?

UCLA Student Tasered in Library

But I thought taser guns were not harmful to the human body, Liars!:

1. Loss of function of respiratory muscles, producing death from asphyxia.

This method of death requires paralysis of the lungs for a period of at least several minutes. The lack of oxygen could cause brain damage and death. The AIR TASER® runs off a nine-volt battery that would drain in less than two minutes if it could run nonstop without breaks in the TASER®-Wave cycle. Even if the device was able to run nonstop and the current ran continuously across the diaphragm muscles in the mid thorax, the duration of the paralysis would be too short to induce death by asphyxia. More importantly, the design of the AIR TASER® ensures that a long and continuous flow discharge will not occur. Death due to paralysis of respiratory muscles has never been reported with the use of a TASER®. (See Section 1. Automatic Impulse Regulation for details.)

2. Hemorrhage resulting from increased blood pressure.

Dr. Robert Stratbucker, MD, Ph.D., MS, PE is the most respected doctor in non-lethal electronic weapons testing and safety evaluations. Dr. Stratbucker has written over 23 publications and presented his work in numerous technical conferences and scientific exhibits. Some of his works include the following relevant topics: potential cardiac hazards in the use of hand-held electronic law enforcement devices, relative immunity of the skin and cardiovascular systems to the direct effects of high voltage, cardiac arrhythmia and defibrillation, current density distributions during transcutaneous current pacing, and electrical characteristics of the skin. Dr. Stratbucker’s study in Section V of this report, demonstrated that even direct application of the TASER® output to the heart "showed only a mild and transient effect on blood pressure." No death by this means has ever occurred in an individual shot with a TASER®.

3. Heart Failure.

Dr. Stratbucker performed tests by applying the TASER®-Wave pulsed wave form directly to the cardiac tissue via an intracardiac electrode and found "no effect on cardiac rhythm or pumping." He also tested the pulsed waveform for interference with cardiac pacemakers. Dr. Stratbucker found "only when the shocks were delivered directly to the pacer itself did erratic pacing occur. Following the termination of the shocks, the rhythm returned promptly to pre-shock regularity." The designs of modern pacemakers withstand the pulses of electrical defibrillators that are several hundred times stronger than TASER® pulses. Tests at the Cordis Medical Lab in Florida have confirmed this.

There have been several reported heart failures in individuals shot by the TASER®. However, in all cases but one there were sufficient amounts of PCP or other drugs in the blood to have caused the death. The one case the TASER® was listed as a contributing factor involved a person with a serious heart condition who was on PCP. However, the doctor performing the autopsy listed the TASER® as possible contributing factor. In none of these cases did the heart failure occur until at least 15 minutes after being shot with a TASER®. Electrically stimulated heart failure would be immediate and would occur during the shock. The patient would die within two to three minutes. There is no plausible mechanism for the TASER® to cause a delayed heart failure. Instead, it appears to have been listed as a potential cause in the above case in the name of conservatism. (By law, coroners must list any possible cause.)

4. Respiratory failure due to nervous inhibitions or damage to the nervous system.

The TASER® does not produce enough power to damage nerve tissue. It simply produces electrical signals confusing the nervous system by overloading the nerve fibers with meaningless signals. No deaths of this nature have been reported.

5. Skin and flesh burns.

A tremendous amount of heat generated by high power currents would have to occur for this type of burn. The nine-volt battery of a TASER® does not produce enough power to cause any more than perhaps slight surface burns. Testing in hospital settings has shown that the TASER® does not to cause burns.

Ghostland Observatory

I had never even heard of the Ghostland Observatory until the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco on last Saturday, but from their infectious synth production and lively vocals I instantly became intrigued on whom this duo from Austin, Texas was. Aaron Behrons (the vocalist) and Thomas Turner (the producer) are the masterminds behind their debut LP, "Paparazzi Lightning." It's very rare that I listen to an electronic-infused LP and feel that it is only fitting that I get my ass up and dance! I'm not even halfway through the LP yet, and it is slowly becoming an album that I know for sure will be receiving heavy rotation from me. Something that you rarely find amongst singers is that they sound totally different live than they do on their albums, but with Behrons, this was not an issue. He sounded just as great in San Francisco as he did on the album. I didn't get a chance to see them because I was backstage for the most part of their performance, but I know that now next time I see the Ghostland posters being posted for their next performance here in the Bay Area that I will be front row taking in all the great music that this duo both produce together. From the city that highlights the South By Southwest Festival every year, Austin, Texas did a great job in producing this group, the Ghostland Observatory.

Ghostland Observatory's performance at SXSW

Treasure Island Music Fest

It's very simple, people. I work for a pretty popular underground hip hop group, and I got to hang out backstage at the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco, California yesterday. All day I was sitting backstage at this festival running into many independent artists, bands, and groups. Just to name a few: Thievery Corporation, Ghostland Observatory, Honeycut, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Kid Beyond, Zion I, M.I.A., etc. From looking at the line-up yesterday, I knew maybe only 3 artists on the bill out of like 15. But, I think that it was a great thing because I got to discover many new artists and bands that put on one hella great show. In the middle of Zion I's set, the power went out on the stage for like 3 minutes, but they pulled it together to keep the crowd excited. I had a great time out there in windy ass San Francisco! Amazing how being on the water on Treasure Island, there's a huge degree of wind coming off the water. It was cold as hell out there earlier in the day, warmed up for maybe 2 hours around 2pm, then went back to being chilly again around 5pm. But other than that, sitting in the VIP stands and looking at the stage and crowd going nuts over the artists and bands was sick. Then, seeing the background of beach, ocean, and the cityscape of Frisco was truly a reminder of how beautiful and blessed we all are to live in the Bay Area. Well, not all of us. LOL.