Hillbilly Tabletop

Similar to the entry below, this one is the product of a night out with a folded piece of paper in my pocket.
I saw a 'psycho-billy' band from Jasper (The Grave Mistakes) at the mansion and then made my way elsewhere. When i got home, i grabbed my guitar and wrote a song. That song is also included here. Enjoy this random entry.

Psychobilly spottings in Jasper.
Keep the beats steamed,
lace the charcoal with frozen flames.
Share a moment on the dancefloor-
you wanna talk fondly of the past
so learn to relax
there are pyramids crumbling all the time
so dont get too bent out of shapre Frank.

Dear Laurie:
why did you have to kill the buzz?
why say life aint worth the fuss?
Who told you you were the gate-keeper to the 'legit circumstance'?
who whirled you in with occassional lucid flights of fantasy flood waves in your brain?
It's Wednesday night in Kingston,
so why can't it be the weekend?

YOur stage banter strove for more, mister murphy.
dont worry misses murphy, no one really noticed.
they were focused on the broken speakers.
the young man's sneakers leaked through most drowned out sounds.
i know the town hounds you, miss murphy-
i know they find you day and night without a right or reason -
no predictable season for the hunt.
I know miss murphy that being the brunt of projection's front
could never be desired or required in a life's juncture or plot
but you are all they've got

i heard a story about a man who took a picture every 5 seconds but he died before the film developed.

bass player's got a hate on for the sound guy.
these letters arrive out of nowhere
steampunk bandits
chesterfield shuffle
rocksteady infantry
shovel
dig it

writer's block
out for a smoke
stroker ace (ween)
unseen obstructions of diss-ease
through the window i have sacred inventions to proceed towards un tapped creed
tapa
tabla
raga speed
elapsed belief

And now the song...

When I'm on my way i see
scarecrows
                   Scapegoats trying to lure me astray
But it aint news to me to keep a sharp steady head
                            why would i want to be a robot instead?
I have a brain that thinks
and i can blink
                      neural network; infinite on the brink
sometimes you can find the ground and sink
    could be news to you you choose solace or a holy stink
There's a rapture,
                                  a grail grind of mind
Occurances of eppiphany find solstice in the vine
              Please combine a reciprocal place
Leave a trace if we are not together
we are displaced.

Ghetto Expression

When i go out i usually bring a folded piece of paper with me in my pocket in case i'm in the mood for some writing. This usually brings strange looks but i am very used to that. Whenever i go to the Toucan on Mondays and Ghetto Express (a local funk band) is playing, the words pour out due to the high level of funk jammin'. Last night, i had a piece of paper. I walked after work to the Toucan, then to the Brass, then home. Some inspiration came from Heineken, Moosehead, and Creemore (in reverse order). I am going to post all of the contents of the paper here. Some i cant read but i will try my best to preserve the order and content.
here it goes...

place it in the biscuit cowbell filter
sudden mojo reactions mesh,
 whereby the taste sweetens and themes brighten,
flourishing trends bend into focus, cascading overturning epiphanies in check and right on time.
i wrote a message in the sand with my finger like a turtle transforming the soft surface of sand, leaving only the breeze to wash away its trail

folding past raptures tied in fictional refuge
back up vocals in the blues jukebox crying solo
saxaphone rhumba
guitar calypso
look into the drummer's eyes
join constructive conversation
the bass shakes the ground even if you can't hear it
dont lose that last 2 dollars
purchase the electric organ

the nervous dance
 the disco stance
underground romance collectively entranced from within.
drop the harlequin drapes, supersitions rape souls

truth transcends; you dont need to justify it

i dont think they know what's at stake
yesterday's the day (and every other) before today

an empty page is intimidating

an outsider's what i shall be

bananas and blow

take it: write your biography and count me in
ken kesey said it's a movie

a drip of wind concealed as a flake

calypso catterpillars

bridge / chorus

...in response to a news clip...

new songs

here are some new songs that ive written recently.
I performed them at the midnight magic rodeo show on saturday. It was a great show, with a revolving door of poetry, class act and karli g., das beats, hit the pedestrian, and the responsables.

here are the songs. the first one i did alone, the second one i did with das beats backing me up. thanks!

Untitled

I’m going where the chilly winds blow

I don’t care if it snows

I’m heading out ‘cause I dream

And you know what I mean

Words form the wise

Don’t stay inside

Roam the country side

Relax your mind

There is still time

Climb the hillside glide

I may be outta my head

But it’s still being fed

By the streets that I stroll

And the people that know

They’re passin’ through

Right into you

Take the hilltop view

See from the top

Feel from the ground

Find what can’t be found

I might be misunderstood

But then I think that I should

We can’t adapt to a time

That’s filled with hatred and blind

Combine your eyes

Try not to buy

The life that gets you high

Go from within

We can all win

A prize we all supply

And we never knew when

This life would come to an end

But you can treat it like gold

To live a life that ‘aint sold

Do unto you

Let it be truth

Take time to renew

Let it pass through

maybe a few

craft righteous hullabaloo

Jim's Story

Jim woke up in outer space

Cosmic debris brushin’ by his face

The broken earth passed underneath in pieces

Jim was over-whelmed with teary sneezes

He floated in between the stars and moon

Knowing that hypoxia would take him out soon

He got taken by a lazer-beam

Two minutes later met the alien queen

I tell the story it may seem obscene

But I flew by on my space chariot machine

It was announced on the front page screen

The last earthling got to meet the alien queen

She shared a story of the universe

Little known fact, she said the earth was cursed

It took the brunt of a victimless crime

She said her life travels spanned conceivable time

Many hopes and fields of green,

Blue ocean whales at first so serene

But the hunt for the prize kept corroding the scene

Space octopuses now can’t be seen around here

I tell the story it may seem far-fetched

But Jim heard her words and his mind was stretched

They took to foreign lands light-years away

One planet spawned ostrich camels and had a five second day

Solar winds for aerolite kites

Celestial sandbanks warmed by green sunlight

Loss of gravity and loss of mind

Jim begged the queen to be left behind

I tell the story it may seem like fiction

But rebirth, she said is the oldest tradition

She gathered pieces and molded one more

Placed Jim in front of his old back door

She gave a warning, said it one last time

Jim’s to tell the people: drop the I, me, mine

So he tells the story and it may be too soon

But he yells it out with grandpa in the afternoon

people hear his words but they have no time

they reach into their pockets and throw him a dime

jim knows the queen watches from her cosmic thrown

watching the people approach the danger zone

a few more days and she’ll lose her desire

to save them from throwing themselves into the fire

I tell the storey it may seem rehearsed

But the alien queen said the earth is cursed

They tear into her, make a surplus fuss

Before it ends I hope jim gets a hold of one of us

here's a song ive been working on for a while. Thanks to Corey for helping out with the chords.

Sidewalk

Theres a party on the sidewalk

In the news today

There’s tommy at the bus stop

He said to say hey

I see people selling nothing

Others giving it for free

Selling souls by the dozen

People changin’ what they see

The sidewalk sale is over

People are chilling by their traps

Trippin on vitamins and

Socially acceptable snacks

There’s long tall Sally

Buying sneakers at the shop

She says people love her madly

And they don’t know wneh to stop

Little bobby’s at the drugstore

Scammin doctors by the hour

Yeah he always needs a bit more

He’s throwing pennies off the tower

Toss a nickle in the fountain

Make a wish for peggy sue

She’s driftin in her blind spot

She’s got a reckless point of view

Peggy sue, peggy sue

We never wanna lose you

Yes it’s true, yes it’s true

We’ve lost track of the time for you

The sidewalk sale is over

People are chilling by their traps

Trippin on vitamins and

Socially acceptable snacks

Tricky tracey’s off her rocker

She’s got some books on her shelf

She’s telling stories from the cellar

About her long lost wealth

And if you wanna sing with her

Well go ahead

You’re making up the rules

You’ll see her out all night

Amongst the beggars and fools

Mad Maggy’s on the corner

Spinning tricks for a hit

She knows her job’s gonna kill her

But she cant afford to quit

And if you wanna sing with her

Well go ahead

Perhaps she’ll sing along

You’ll see her out all night

Mixing her rights with her wrongs

Peggy sue, peggy sue

We never wanna lose you

Yes it’s true, yes it’s true

We’ve lost track of the time for you

Billy’s looking froa a free ride

He’s been anxious all his life

He lost some marbles on the inside

He’s got a make-believe wife

And if you wanna sing with him

Well go ahead

Perhaps he’ll sing along

You’ll see him out all night

He’s trying to finish this song

The sidewalk sale is over

People are chilling by their traps

Trippin on vitamins and

Socially acceptable snacks

Some Songs

Today is a good day for no particular reason. In fact, it should be a bad day considering im at work and im tired and broke etc. but for some reason that's how i am- content. Too many people complain.

Here are some songs.

I wrote this one a while ago. I like it. I'm hoping to make a video for it before the next Hallowe'en. I'd like to get a video camera and film some of the circus when it comes to town. I 'll update whether that happens or not.

Cursed Circus

Circus came to town yesterday

Tons o’ fun games but I wont play

A warewolf’s loose and on the prowl

Someone’s gone missing about ev’ry hour

The cursed circus took over my town

I saw a fire-breathing gnome and an evil clown

Freaky witch screaming from the forest at night

Vampires only need one clean bite

Think I’m gonnna stay in for a while

Joinin’ cursed circuses ‘aint my style

I saw an alligator man and fortune tellers who coerce

Don’t want poisoned lasagna or voodoo lady’s curse.

My dog got eaten by a giant frog

A wizard turned my sister into a log

All I can do is bar up the doors

Prep silver bullets, put garlic on the floor

The cursed circus took over my town

I saw a fire-breathing gnome and an evil clown

Freaky witch screaming from the forest at night

Vampires only need one clean bite

My dad keeps sayin’ he’s rousin up the town

Gonna take the evil circus down

Pitchforks and crosses, secret meetings underground

Planning a way past the grizzly wolfhounds

This may be the last letter I write

Dad says I’m too young but I’m ‘gonna fight

It seems to be the only option for me

Seems the only way for us people to be free

The cursed circus just took over my town

I saw a fire-breathing gnome and an evil clown

Freaky witch screaming from the forest at night

Vampires only need one clean bite

This is a new one i 'm still working on. It'll probably change but i got the chorus started last night which im happy about. Enjoy. It's a sort of folky sounding song...

Untitled Thus Far

Janie came down on the subway track
a hundred letters in her bag were stacked
Janie came down on the subway track
tossed her bag and headed on back

Billy won't you get going outta here
You're eyes are spears and laced with fear
Billy won't you get goin outta here
you rough my shirt and spill my beer

chorus: It's time to change the scene
actors, scripts, and the means,
myths are running out of steam
sacre rites seem obscene

Ted boy just keep talking like that
Let us know just where you're at
Ted boy just keep talking like that
spreading those words underneath that hat

Preacher won't you open your eyes to see
Preacher won't you set yourself free
Preacher won't you open you eyes to see
all the unlooked realities

It's time to change the scene
actors, scripts, and the means
myths are running out of steam
sacred rights seem obscene

Transcend the chains inside your head
Manifest chenge inside your head
transcend the chains inside your head
knowledgable people they can't be led

Janie came down on the subway track
a hundred letters in her bag were stacked
Janie came down on the subway track
tossed her bag and headed on back


I think im going to write something about songwriting on this blog soon because everyone writes songs differently and i think it'd be fun to talk about the process.

ONe more song for now...

this one is a sort of east coast pirate song. there's no music for it yet

A Drifter’s Life (For Me)

Lookin out from shore

We thought our lives a bore

So we sailed to sea

To find our fee

To the life that’d give us more

We sat down by the fire

Shapin’ plans we would conspire

But the shore line broke

And the pleasant folk

They rode out in a bellied choir:

its a drifters life for me

Give me rags an’ let me be

For a luxury’s game

Wins ya nothing but fame

And a sore head all the same

And the mother of tha land

She gave us barley from her hand

But the caves were chilly

For the folks unwilling

So we left and made new plans

Some treasure’s never found

Some treasure’s underground

Some treasure’s worth nothin’

To a greedy lil’ muffin

Who’s just lookin’ to be crown’d

its a drifters life for me

Give me rags an’ let me be

For a luxury’s game

Wins ya nothing but fame

And a sore head all the same

Today

Sandwich suggestion: avacado and tomato with some babaganouj (spelling) on toast.

Drink suggestion: watered down juice.

Song Suggestion: Sunday Morning by Velvet Underground

Cereal: Mix Life cereal with Raisin Bran

Mood suggestion: Happy Go Lucky- smile at strangers, talk to random people, hop over puddles, take the long way home.

People suggestion: Joseph Campbell, Aldous Huxley, Ken Kesey

Quote of the week: 'if you're too drunk to bake the hash you're too drunk to smoke it"


i want sushi

Top Ten Ween Songs...

Ween is one of the best bands ever- they span genres like no other and they have a cool back story (they have a demond god Boognish).
Ween can be a bit overwhelming to the un-Brown-ed mind- they have about 9 studio albums and four live albums...so where to start? If you are like most people and dont buy albums anymore, you are most likely intertested in songs before you take a crazy risk like buying a record. So here are my top ten favorite Ween songs!

10. Awsome Sound- Off of The Pod album (but a better version is on All Request Live)
9. Monique The Freak- Off of Shinola Vol.1 (not an official album but an outtakes disk)- imagine Prince and Daft Punk in a funky, sexy song ...and then listen to this song and see how close it gets to your imagined version.
8.Pollo Asado- Off of The Pod- Chimichanga! I needn't say more. But i will- they were high on scotchguard while making this album- do not attempt this at home!
7. If you Could Save Yourself (You'd save us all)- Off of Quebec- epic-best line in the song= "the wheels fell off, bottom dropped out, the cheques all bounced, i came in your mouth..."
6.  Bananas and Blow- Off White Pepper - imaging being stranded on an island with bananas and blow- could be worse- great song, very carribean, great imagery...
5. Never Squeal - Off of God Ween Satan- a great song because the lyrics are fun and there is a chain saw in it! Jazzy!
4.Your Party- La Cucaracha- Very sophisticated, highly entertaining song. So serious but very ween.
3. Cold Blows The Wind- The Pod- this is like an old traditional song- i think of long black veil when i hear it.
2. Gabrielle- Shinola Volume 1- This is a Thin Lizzy tribute, it sounds just like them. Its one of Thin Lizzy and Weens greatest songs for sure!
1. Mister Richard Smoker- Twelve Golden Country Greats- Im not a huge fan of country, but this album is great. They went to Nashville and recorded with some pretty legit. musicians. They capture the essence of country music but add a ween hugh to it. I like this song because it is a bit much but i love the instrumental jam. Go Ween!

http://www.ween.com/

http://www.songfacts.com/ - a copol site with some random song facts (both fictional and real) check it out!

Be Creative: Let Your Brain Breath a Bit

          Originally Published in CFRC’s ‘Listen Up’ Zine Jan. 2009

          People are always telling me I’m creative. I don’t think I am. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that I don’t think that I am more creative than anyone else. I think that people disregard their own ability to be creative. Creativity, I think, is a skill that can be practiced. It is valuable, whether you are into architecture, scientific research, art, literature, or your own day-to-day living and problem solving. Here are a few tips to keep your creative juices flowing.

          For starters, it’s always good to have a project on the go. For example, start a comic strip, film, book, or write a song or play. You can also find an established medium (like a magazine, art gallery, or radio station)and get involved with it. This is a good way to start because it’s hard to be creative when you have nothing to be creative for.

          It’s important to realize that our thoughts can fall into habitual patterns. This wont help you at all! Your thought patterns and perceptions are changeable. Don’t get trapped in them! You need to change your perceptions and try to do things in a unique way, no matter how monotonous they may seem. This will get your brain used to finding novelty in stimulus.

          It’s good to have a base to move off from. Try to build skills, explore and have positive motivation. Creativity also sometimes means taking risks and relying on a little ‘serendipity’ – because sometimes things just come together and ideas show up, seemingly out of nowhere.

It’s important to document ideas when you have them. Inspiration can come at any time, so make sure that you always have a pad of paper or sketch pad or whatever you need to jot the idea down. You might all of a sudden have some random song lyrics in your head and if you don’t write them down you might lose them. Salvador Dahli had a conrtraption that woke him up after he fell asleep and he would incorporate the dreamy visuals that came to him into his paintings.

          The use of stream of conciousness, flow, and improvisation are also good ways to get ideas and to excersize the creative muscles in your brain. I like to just write without thinking sometimes. It gives you a good base of raw ideas that you can work off from. You never know what will come out and it just might be useful. It’s also therepeutic just to get things out.

          Creativity is sometimes defined as finding a new link between two or more things. So it can be useful to introduce new ideas into your head to see what combination it will come up with. So pick words or images from a hat, look up words in a dictionary or thesaurus, or ask strangers questions and see what you can combine and create from that.

          It’s important to seek out other as well. I find that inspiration is sometimes reciprocal, so let your friends be your muses. They can challenge you to come up with new ideas that bounce off of their own. Brainstorming is also a good way to stimulate your creative brain.

          If you’re looking to get new ideas out, it is important to try new things and to go to new places. You never know what you’ll see in a new environment. And once again, please remember to feed your head. You brain will sort it into some web of thoughts and the raw information might work well with some other information that you already have in there.

          One more important thing: your ideas or creations do not have to be perfect. I’ve noticed that over the years the percentage of useful content I come up with overall has increased. But there is always crap! No one can produce amazing stuff all of the time. You need to work at it. Be patient. The important part is that you do it without caring about whether it will suck or what people will think. Just do it. You can filter it out later.

          Creativity is useful not only in the artistic realm, but in our own problem solving and in any career or life situation we may find ourselves in. So keep this in mind and think of your own ways to get things flowing. Your tired brain will thank you. 

Suicide Article - Don't be Scared

Suicide

            I’m going to delve into that topic that no one wants to talk about: suicide. It seems strange to me that one of the leading causes of death for young people is kept so far away from our eyes and ears. There may be a lot of ‘sensational’ coverage of suicide, but maybe it’s not touching on the right issues. Is this done to show respect to the family of the deceased? Maybe the media at large doesn’t feel that suicide is a ‘good news story’. Or maybe- and this is a stretch considering what we are exposed to by the media- people can’t handle the news of someone who had enough suffering and chose to end their life. But if this is the case, how are we showing any respect to those who have taken their lives if we are ignoring their struggle only to let it happen over and over again?

            Whether our mainstream media will admit it or not, suicide is a real problem that needs attention. The Queen’s Journal (April 1, 2010) has taken the subject on after a student took his own life and I commend them for that. The article discussed the availability of mental health supports on campus and what the community can do to stop it from happening again. It is a good start, but more still needs to be done.

 Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) was an early sociologist. He talked about something called ‘anomie’ which is when a society’s people do not feel a part of the whole. Tensions rise and what results are people ‘dropping out’ of the mainstream society. This is one contributing factor of mental illness, violence, drug use, suicide, and an overall lack of concern for one another, according to Durkheim.

This is what happened in the 60’s and what resulted was a massive counterculture of drugs, music, art, and fashion. In that sense, the anomie brought about an alternative sense of cohesion. But what about when people ‘drop out’ of a society or economic system and are overwhelmed by feelings of loneliness and helplessness tied in with their very real struggle with depression or other mental illness? Not as revolutionary to say the least. They feel alienated from the system around them. And to make matters worse, they must deal with the stigma that hangs around mental illness. Since there may not be a very accessible source of mental health support for them, they may utilize the coping that they know: violence, drugs or alcohol, self harm, suicide. This is the worst-case scenario, of course, but a very realistic one as well. 

I’m not going to pretend that I know why people commit suicide. There are more factors contributing towards it in any one situation that would be too hard to describe here. My aim is to simply say that instead of ignoring it, or even worse- pretending that mental illness is a weakness that needs only to be dealt with within the medical model scheme (diagnose and treat)- we need to discuss suicide and mental illness without the barriers of stigma and ‘politeness’.

My aim is to share the idea- and you can take it as you like- that mental illness is a systematic problem. What I mean by that is that perhaps those people with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. are having a very human, very natural reaction to a fucked up community- one with impersonal city streets, housing crises, an unrealistic focus on monetary status, dirty, unregulated street drugs,  pill popping solutions, hospital waiting times, and a lack of cohesive social bonds. The list goes on and on. Perhaps this angle to mental health is backwards; we are trying to integrate people back into the system that may have stressed them out of their minds in the first place. Instead, maybe we should consider the fact that people react this way because we aren’t focusing enough on community support. Maybe there is a way to target the lack of perceived options and lack of public awareness with regards to mental illness. Maybe this can open up a discourse that will build towards a proactive approach to mental health.

We need to start hearing people’s stories of mental illness and addiction to know their struggles and end the stigma that our media perpetuates. We need to educate society as a whole about coping with stress, dealing with substance abuse, and having a good support and coping system. This could help families and friends recognize early warning signs of mental illness. It may help us to once again have a vested interest in one another. Realizing that mental health is on a continuum and that it affects each and every one of us may help us feel a bit of a social bond- one that may keep us attuned with the actual factors contributing to the collective social problems. Considering these may be a move towards at least talking about it, which I think would be a good first step.

eight 8's

Eight 8’s

1
the moon drops in
           overarching parades while
  late night sorcerers
                     in a pyramid
                                      reach for the
                          end of
               the sky

                                                                                    2
w  i   d   e    eyed
              dreamers
hold wands
                    above their heads,
    swatting stars       and
                                piecing them back
     together
            in their sleep
                                                                   3
                                                  cosmic blankets are sketched
                                 together and
                                                         the telescope throws
                                                                                             a hole
                            through the clouds,
                                sending unsettled
                                                       wishes back to
                  earth
                                       4
   careless co me t s
s     t        r      e     t      c       h          |boarders|
                                                                   and (c)collide(e).
       sc a t te r r e d debris
                        softens as it falls
   and
                                    makes me wonder
                                                                  how the day started
                                                                                                                 5
                                                                                   armored fairy tales
                                                                    cross the pages
                                                           on a shiny
                                                                                     table,
                                                                                        near a ray
                                                                                            of overdrawn
                                                                                                                      light
                                                                                    and it blocks the moon
                                                               6
                     streaked canvas ,
          smudged colours
                           steeped in oil,
                                      hardened by the
    night air
                  passing through
                                           the window
                                                                        and it gives me chills
                      7
                           green thumb pressed
                on your blue
                                   palm, white
                                             dusk,
                                                       cherry suede
                                                       afterthoughts
                                                                            bring me back to
                                                           your hideout
                                       8
                    steps lead
                                     down or up:
                                                            downsides to wins and
                                                                                                  upsides to a loss,
                                 [collective bargaining}
                                                                        across strides , leaping
                     over lily-pads and
                                                        stones of sediment

TODAY

here is a short poem (You) and a song (Rosie) for your enjoyment.


YOU


you are poor
but i like you
you see through
my shadow and
never need to explain
what you're doing.
money is poison
and whoever
hears you speak
will know that you are
no one's enemy,
just a rare adjustment
to a fucked up system

Rosie

Rosie found it tricky

To find the stolen city

It never really hit me

To ask and what a pity:

She’s a lost soul

Strung out on rock and roll

I can’t find her

The records that she left

Tell a story of her quest

Between mountains of the West,

Eastern beats and all the rest:

She’s a restless queen

Livin’ out her dreams

She’s gonna find them

She gets together once a week

With children who can barely speak

She looks between the broken words

A glance at meanings she once heard:

They’ll never change her mind

She’ll leave them all behind

It’s all been written

She likes to share her story

To men well past their forties

She leaves before they meet her

There’s no man who’ll complete her:

She a solo trip

Without a stable script

She sings to strangers

She’s like a rolling stone

Headin’ farther from her home

There’s a whistle bell tone

That she heard so long ago:

She’s gonna chase it down

Til she’s out of town;

Her ears are ringing

Eddie

I met Eddie at a bowling alley in the 60’s. He always seemed a bit on edge. He frequented the pool halls and bowling alleys, but his main refuge was the arcade. Those lights would fascinate him, especially when he was on a trip if you know what I mean. He would always put Pink Floyd on the juke box- not the new stuff, the oldest stuff, the Syd Barret stuff that seemed appropriate for insane clowns or adults who were in a child-like trance of some sort.

And boy would he dance! Not that he could dance, but he did. And even though he wasn’t any good, boy, he had that fluidity, that lack of self-consciousness that really set you free just watching him. I’ve never seen such a free spirit since.

He could have done anything, that Eddie, even without the dope and the pink Floyd and the pool halls.

He’d tell me stories about the night before. I don’t think that guy ever stayed in. He had too much energy. He cheered people up everywhere he went: dancing around, smiling, singing- not a care in the world could bring him back to earth.

The stories he would tell seemed to be a combination of reality and fiction, the kind that every good story-teller comes close to relaying. And he’d tell us those stories without a breath in or out it seemed. His arms would flail. His eyes would rise and fall. You really couldn’t look away. When he’d laugh, you would laugh. When he’d cry, you couldn’t help but cry with him. He’d finish the story and walk away and you’d be stranded like a helpless newborn, crying your eyes out or holding your stomach from the pain of laughter. Oh, but it was worth it to hear those stories.      

It was weird because it seemed like once he told a story, it left him completely. He would tell you and then forget about it and it was up to you to bring it to life again. I could never tell the stories like he did. I don’t think anyone could. And it was a shame because if you missed it, that was it. You missed it.

It’s funny to think that you always wanted more from Eddie, even though he gave you more than anyone else had before. You always just wanted more. And you wanted him to be there with you. But he never really was. He was too distant. He was in his own world, where the music set the tone and if you weren’t in you were out and that was it.

I used to go looking around town for him just to see what he was doing and what story he was telling. I’d pop my head into all the arcades first, then the pool halls, then the bowling alleys. When I’d find him I’d never say hi, I’d just watch him. I don’t think he ever knew my name. He’d come to me like he did every one else: like a stranger who’s going meet him for the first time whether they were ready for it or not. And you could never really be ready for him, even if you thought you were. He’d blow your mind every time. People would whisper to each other after he left.

I would hear people talking about him sometimes when he wasn’t there. And if I couldn’t find him I would end up listening to them to see what they had seen or heard to know what I had missed. But I never was satisfied listening to the accounts of what he said. I would snicker, of course, picturing him and what it would look like if what they were saying was true, but it was never as good as the real thing.

Sometimes I’d get to an arcade and hear the end of some Pink Floyd song, knowing that I had just missed him. I never knew what kind of plan he had. I don’t know how he chose where he was going to next and when and where he would go to after that. So if I had just missed him, there was no way of knowing where to find him.

I hardly noticed at the time, but my life started to dissolve altogether. It became a chase. My life became Eddie’s shadow. One step behind, but sometimes I would catch up to him and follow him around town.

When he entered a place, people would watch his every move. They’d smile and talk about him to each other. He had an aura and he didn’t even know it. That’s what made him so interesting. He wasn’t self-absorbed at all. In fact, he was the exact opposite of self-absorbed. He told stories about other people, he danced as though he was the music; he was a reflection of us all. Heck, sometimes I even thought he was just a figment of my imagination. Maybe I was just on a wild goose chase around town trying to find myself. But I couldn’t invent someone like Eddie. No way. More like he was making us up and we were part of his story. We were only here because he wanted us to be.

And the day I figured that out, I couldn’t find him anywhere anymore. I wouldn’t hear the ends of any Pink Floyd songs. I wouldn’t see people with the wild eyes that they used to have after hearing one of his one time only stories. He just disappeared. We were all shocked in a profound way. But in another way, none of us were really certain he was ever really there at all, ever. It was like he was just some bizarre hallucination that none of us could ever forget.     

A New Song

I will most likely post alot of songs here. I have no one reading this Blog yet but whatever i just started it today.


Dreams OF Alchemy

I could dream of alchemy
manifest change ahead of me
But you bring me down

I could swim deep near ocean reefs
Buried in sands of disbelief
But that shit 'aint free

I could know you and you could know me
The space between laced peacefully
But you miss it everytime

I could spend time with a muse downtown
flash inspiration at the speed of sound
But there's no one around

I could have lost faith in a thing or two
Attempeting to adapt to your point of view
but you're turning around

Now i see the world is opening,
your restless heads are flourishing
So i'll stick around

First things first

Alrighty, so i guess it'd be best to share some random stuff here and to provide some useful, inspiring material for you. My aim for this blog is to somehow take some of the more exciting things i know and get them into the world of BLOG. I am very new to this, and so please, if you have any comments or whatever feel free to share.

A website to check out: http://www.imaginaryfoundation.com/
- this site has a great BLOG filled with art from around the world, mind expanding ideas, and information on scientific advancements. They sell tshirts that have interesting (sometimes surreal) artwork and inspirational messages.

A community- http://www.cfrc.ca/
CFRC is great- support your local community or campus radio because they are best! I am going to post a short article soon on free media and another one on creativity. I think i will put alot of articles on this blog because i have been writing them recently and my mind keeps telling me that there are more to come. I dig sociology.

Perhaps ill talk a bit about some local shows in Kingston as well. I seem to go to alot of them so i  might as well comment on them in case people wanna know whats going on.

What New in my life right now you ask? Well, i will soon be going into prisons around Ontario to interview men who killed their wives and attempted suicide. I'll be contucting interviews as a research assistant and the research is being conducted in York University. This will be the first living sample for this type of research- other studies have been conducted on dead guys who actually commited suicide. Im looking forward to this...i most likely will be inspired by it and will write a story or song or something about the experience.


What else is new: Im hosting an event on March 19 at The Mansion in Kingston- its called midnight magic rodeo show. there will be a poetry/spoken word open mic followed by performaces by Hit The Pedestrian, Class Act and Karli G, Peanut Butter Knuckles, and The Responsables (www.myspace.com/theresponsables) .... plus there will be art making and some other collaborative things happening...followed by a dance party hosted by Palace Sound Systems, its called Sloppy Footwork.

... ive been writing some new songs and jammin with my buddy corey. Our band is called JukeBob County.We are very new but working on stuff and will hit up the open mics in town in a few months. Corie likes to take it slow...i like to get shit done...we will work well together.

and last but not least, i am working on a story that i am quite excited about...i may start posting parts of it on here but i am not sure yet. Its random and i have trouble explaning the plot to people so i will just keep it at that now...

life is good.

A first for me

I've never done this before. I've been thinking about starting up a blog because it seems like a good idEA- so what to expect from this blog? AT this point, I am unsure. I dont think i'll be updating it everyday like some people do- mostly because i dont have a computer at home (just a typewriter)... but i do lots of writing and ususally have many projects on the go so i figured i would have this space to provide information on projects, share new stories, songs, etc, and maybe even update about whats going on in this crazy life of mine.

Enjoy.