[UPDATE: Added some photos and video]

So on Friday night my old friend TJ from Pittsburgh came to visit me in New York. I hadn’t seen him in about six years since we worked at the same company in Youngstown, Ohio. My wife was off visiting a friend in Idaho from Friday thru the following Wednesday. A couple of days before she was supposed to leave I had called my buddy TJ somewhat randomly and ended up spontaneously inviting him to come up for the weekend. I was floored that he actually took me up on the offer (which never seems to happen to me anymore) and arrived late on Friday night.

On Saturday, TJ wanted to go into the city and do some sight seeing. We got on the train and rode from my stop in Queens to City Hall. Sitting across from us the whole way was a very cute black girl carrying a tall bag that looked like it housed a musical instrument of some sort. We get off the train (she stays on) around 2pm, and start wandering around Manhattan. At about 6pm we were walking up Broadway approaching 8th Street, when around the corner came the girl from the train. Now I’ve lived in New York for about 3 years and have had my share of coincidences, so I’m used to letting them slide, but TJ isn’t and doesn’t. He turns around as she passes and says “Hi” and waves. She turns around, smiles and walks over to talk to us. Her name is Debbie and It turns out she was carrying a saber and had just come from fencing practice. This immediately intrigued TJ as he’s a weapons enthusiast and we invite her to walk with us.

We asked what she’s up to and she tells us about this little gathering hosted by Alex Grey, who apparently designed album covers for Tool. Debbie says that people just hang out and talk about history, philosophy and spirituality. If you know me then you know this is my kind of fun. We went to a bar and had a few drinks (she didn’t drink, though), and then shared a cab over to the event (it was on 27th btw 10 & 11 ave).

Outside the building is a huge banner that reads COSM, it’s on the fifth floor and it’s huge. I know what NYC rents are like these days, and this must’ve cost tens of thousands per month (at the beginning of the services they mention that they’ll be moving to bigger digs soon). We walk in, and there’s a girl sitting behind a cash box. We’re asked to pay $10, given purple bracelets, and then ushered into this other room. I’m fairly shocked to see that there’s like 80 other people all sitting on the floor, facing a stage in the corner of the room.

On the stage was a statue, which I’ll just describe from the top down. The top of the head was egg-shaped and made of dozens of eyes, this connected to the rest of the head which had three faces. The right face was feminine, the left was masculine with a beard, the middle was normal, all three shared a set of three eyes. The right half of the chest had a boob and the left hand held a flower, while the right had a pectoral muscle and the right hand pointed to the flower. The legs looked like an eagle’s mixed with a bear, and it had giant furry balls below a penis going into a vagina on its belly. Oh yeah, and the whole room is covered in posters reminiscent of Hellraiser.

TJ was already up at the very front of the crowd by the stage and the girl we were with was waving me up. Just as I sat down, the service got started. It was a mash of neo-religious preaching, with some Allah and some Judaism and some biker poetry, but no Jesus stuff really. The whole ceremony was enough to put me off because of the fact that we’d been tricked into paying a church $10, but it wasn’t until I looked around and realized that only a handful of people were wearing purple bracelets and we were surrounded by a sea of others wearing red. This immediately triggered a memory of the story told by the character Joey in the movie “Melvin Goes to Dinner,” about his getting tricked into going to a self-help seminar, specifically how all the new people were singled out by their name tag color. As soon as the service was over, I leaned over to the guy next to me with a purple bracelet and asked him if he’d ever been to this before, to which he responded “No”. I then immediately leaned over and told TJ “It’s a pyramid-scheme cult, we HAVE to leave now”. After we grabbed the leader and took a picture with him, me and TJ booked it outta there and headed to the nearest bar.

We told the story to the bartender and were cracking up combing over the whole story in our mind. We were struck with paranoia wondering if she’d been following us all day. Why did they sit us right up in front? What would have happened if we stayed? Did everyone there realize they’d been scammed into some sort of by the book pyramid scheme religious racket? Are members of Tool part of this cult?

I’ll be writing more about this over the next couple of days as I piece it together and figure out what it means. I highly recommend anyone who’s been in a similar situation to watch the movie “Melvin Goes to Dinner”. This is only one part of the larger story of the movie which is essentially one great conversation between four people.

It’s time to put some meat behind the word that we all seem to cherish equally:

FREEDOM

We all may disagree with how we achieve it and who’s freedom is more important than the others. We are striving to find balance. Some of us see taxes as achieving that balance, some of see it as tool of oppression. Some of us see our military as a means of spreading freedom and ensuring our own, others are wary of the authoritarian nature of our commanders-in-chief and the Top Brass.

What we’re forgetting is that we are all striving for the same goal. It is with that thought in mind that I would like to take the time to introduce you to Gogol Bordello, a band that I believe best represents the spirit of Freedom and what it means to all of us on a very personal level. Through the mere backgrounds of the members, the mixture of old and new sounds, and words that will help to remind you that we are all one people who want to party, fuck, drink and be merry. Never mind the Bollocks.

I should also mention how I was introduced to this band. I had just done a New Team Lunacy with 9 Famous Irishmen, at which a fellow by the name of Charlie whom I’d met a year earlier after a class show I randomly attended just showed up randomly to play on a Mix team. I thought he tore up the place. Anyway, I caught up with Charlie at the bar and we shared a drink and a smoke. Right before I left we started talking about Tom Petty and the excellent documentary “Runnin’ Down a Dream”. Specifically how he really just connects with so many different people and how his shows are incredible feats of audience participation, not to mention how he stood up to the Record Industry when no one else would. Anyway, he’s the one who first told me that I needed to check out Gogol Bordello.

It turns out that Charlie actually hung out with the lead singer a few times. His name is Eugene Hütz, and he told Charlie the story of how rock n’ roll saved his life. I will now paraphrase, please read in a Russian accent my friend!

Let me tell you story, my friend, of how Rock N’ Roll save my life. My uncle and me, we very much Like rocknroll. But State radio say “No!”, But my uncle, he was smart. He fix radio to listen to Pirate Radio Station, so we could listen to the rock n’ roll. Then one night, we hear over the radio that Chernobyl was happening, and so we leave. Only no one else in town knew, because they only listen to State radio. And that, my friend is how Rock N’ Roll Save My Life.

You’re goddamned right, Eugene. Enough words for now, I’m off to dig up more videos and lyrics to post in the comments.
Super Theory of Super Everything

Wanderlust King

And my personal favorite just for the final refrain.

Forces of Victory

My dear good friend
Let’s not forget
That we can take down Pinotchet
Against us any gang of four
Will be on the floor

When I was younger I thought
Someday that we will win
And in another country
I will find my twin
Spread good music and good poetry
Joining forces of the victory

Down in the hallways of unknown
Where we walk alone
Inside of hospitals and morgue
Clinical loneliness backs off…
If you’ll remember those before
and the ones that yet to come
then above suffer of it all
Triumphs the union of souls
With only one thing on its mind
I can’t go on, I will go on!
With only one thing on it’s mind
I can’t go on I will go on
I can’t go on I will go on…

All I’m sayin’ is, the more people who dig this band, the better off we’ll all be.

Tomorrow night is the Solstice and the Moon Illusion will be occurring. This will signify a major shift in the lunar cycle and if enough people are out looking at the sky admiring the same magnificent natural event, I have no doubt that an amazing shift will occur in our collective consciousness. That may sound pretty hippie-dippie, but if this cold-hearted pragmatist can see the mystic value of sharing a little romantic moonlight with friends then I have little doubt that you do too.

So before the sunsets tomorrow, call or email your friends and loved ones and let them know that something wonderful and natural and good is happening in the world for once. Invite them to join you, even if you’re just gonna peek your head outside to take a glance. The important thing to remember is that as you stare up at that majestic celestially sexual body is that you won’t be alone.

Best of all, it’s FREE and EASY! The price of admission is merely eyes and a view of the skies.

OooowwwoooooooooOOO!!!!!!

bd

p.s. Anyone in NYC who’d like to join me and my friends, I’ve decided that my best vantage will be Corlears Hook Park. I’ve never been there, but judging by the map, it should be a fantastic view, plus I dig the vibe of its history. According to the U.S. Navy’s site, the moonrise is set to occur at 8:07, so I’m thinking of getting down there at about 7:45 to stake out a spot. Drop me a line if you wanna join the caravan.

Article on the Moon Illusion

Location of Corlears Hook Park

History of the Park

I hope everyone out there is getting the message. These are dark times we live in my friends. As fellow caravaners, I hope you are spreading the message that freedom requires vigilance. Evil is a cruel trickster. It uses power only for manipulation and self-interest. It perverts reason and argumentation to bend to its vile biases. It is an evil we all are at battle with. I have just awoken to it’s foul breath and am sickened by the smell.

I write to find the answer to one question: Is anybody out there? Do you smell it too?

But unlike the snake, I believe in love and understanding. I am writing now, often and with the passion I feel is necessary to restore reason and sanity. Once the veil has lifted, and you see the traps that others have fallen into, the compulsion to help them can be overwhelming. I am allowing it to manifest by putting myself out in the world as openly and vibrantly as possible. I have invited others to understand my fears and in turn ask them to share their own. The desire to proclaim the joys of freedom is somewhat insatiable. But it is a far more rewarding insatiability than that of money or fame.

I write for the sheer joy of connecting with another person, no matter who, and no matter the reason. Some I disagree with, some I quibble with, some simply cannot be bothered, but I love them all. The discussions that do occur veer towards a common understanding of the many obstacles that face our generation. I see no way around them other than to open our mouths and let our pains and our fears be heard as loudly and as publicly as possible. Open yourself up to your friends, your neighbors. Tell them what sort of evils you imagine are still possible, it will scare you. From that fear will pour endless love, love of family, love of friends, love of total strangers, and most of all love of freedom.

God bless. Keep the conversation going.

Now if I’ve never I talked politics with you personally before, it’s important that you understand that I am not talking about partisanship, but merely our obligation as a free citizenry to hold our leaders accountable. It does not matter if a D or an R follows their name, the whole point of the Bill of Rights and our system of checks and balances was to ensure that power was dispersed. The United States was formed in order to throw off the bonds of a tyrannical and repressive system which allowed no means of criticizing its leaders. It was not formed to spread that democracy elsewhere, it was not formed to promote the will of God, it was merely a system by which ordinary people could decide if their leader was doing a good job or a bad job. The end is the means, and it in no way can come at the end of a spear.

Yeah, that’s the working title for a documentary I’m working on.

So far here’s the plan I have as I’ve begun some very preliminary research:

1. Interview subway commuters at various subway stations and find out how they feel about night and weekend service. Be sure to ask:
   • Where they commute to/from?
   • How often they go into the city during these times?
   • Would they be willing to pay higher rates for better service?
2. Once I have a good sample of opinions and a sense of common public sentiment, I’d like to start contacting the appropriate authorities on the MTA board about who makes these decisions. I also want to know if these people commute on the subway at all.

That’s it for now. More as it comes.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism, MTA, New York City

It’s not exactly a new topic, but I’ve reached the tipping point where I feel I must begin to participate in this movement and be an advocate for its legitimacy. I’m fed up with the traditional media doing nothing but chuckling over bowling scores and haircuts. I’m fed up with pundits pretending to speak for Americans, when the average American’s concerns are completely absent from the discussion. Most of all, I’m fed up with all the ridiculous crawls and graphics. Network and Cable news in its current form is officially a dinosaur and I believe we are the generation who will witness and participate in its extinction. Newspapers will change, but if I’m right it will be for the better as far as owners, journalists and the public are concerned.

Besides the fact that it so resembles a high school caste system, I’m also done waiting for the traditional media to start understanding how urgent an issue global warming. Sure the major science channels will do the occasional 1-2 hour ’scare the pants off you’ special, but no ongoing stories about what we can do on the local level. No ongoing stories of the people who want to spread the word about actions they’ve taken. And there’s very little coverage of actual local civic engagement. I have no clue what the hell is going on in my community.

While I am sure that a lot of issues are covered by my local paper, let’s face it, I don’t fall into a ‘reads the local paper’ demographic. Nor do I wish to. As i mentioned earlier, I believe that for newspapers to remain competitive, they will need to begin to invite and eventually rely on direct citizen contributions. If the success of YouTube and reality tv have taught me two things about the emerging populous it’s that 1.) they know how to work cameras and computers and 2.) reality is easy to produce. I can’t emphasize the second point enough. All the shittiest shows in TV land actually are harder to produce than quality documentary pieces because they need to trick you into thinking that shit is interesting or compelling. Case in point, Hell’s Kitchen:

Now as a counterbalance to what a solid people-powered media documentary takes to produce and have an impact, I give you this:

If you haven’t caught on by now, I’m a big fan of Current TV. I first heard of it due to Al Gore’s involvement and have been following it’s progress for a while now. It is essentially a media outlet that thrives on user participation. If you want the antithesis of what passes for news on other networks, I highly recommend CurrentTV if for no other reason than the fact that I want this news model to thrive.

So with relatively few resources, I am beginning this journey myself. I am going to participate in more community events, trying to connect with other concerned citizens and documenting as much of the process as I can. I don’t know if this will lead to participating in local politics, working in a community garden, or cataloging the timeliness of the subway on nights and weekends. All I know is that I’m excited about the outlets exist now for me to help create a more honest, legitimate and reflective media establishment. All I need to do now is wait for my new camera to arrive.

This is going to be my first open identity blog. I’m sure this is something I want to do that may have an audience considering that I have never taken the time to create any official ‘memoirs’ of my shenanigans, coupled with the fact that I now have a wide variety of friends and family who are only aware of components of my life (each touching their own part of the elephant, so to speak). There’s at least a few of you who might enjoy these stories. Beyond that I’m hoping I’ll glean a little bit of sense about the path I’ve walked and where it’s taking me.

I’m planning on posting at least one journal a day, and at least one long story from the past each week.

That might sound like a bold statement, but I’m not gonna tell you about this blog until I’ve got at least 2 weeks worth of work up. Hopefully at that point I’ll have proved to both you and myself that I’m not a useless piece of shit.

This is my video response to the Current pod, Rent Free or Die. The pod’s about the Libertarian “Free State Project” and asks the question, “Should we rely on the government for anything?”:

Look, I’m down with those crazy Libertarians to a point, and i say that with all due affection–crazy like Hunter Thompson. Just like them I believe that the government should always be viewed with skepticism and not blindly trusted to do good, and I damn sure don’t want the government legislating what I do personally if it doesn’t harm anyone else (and yes, I am mostly talking about weed, but also about morality legislation in general).

Where we part ways is in the idea that we can co-exist in a society without government. Watch the video for more on that.

As an addendum, I’d like to say that I now consider the Libertarian view to be the far left of the feasible political spectrum. George Bush and his cohorts in the GOP have branded the Republicans as the party of Big Government with the size of the budget, warrantless wiretapping, and total corruption of our Justice Department. That puts people like me back in the center, who want us to be free but understand the necessity and purpose of government.

So I’m while I’m glad to have this little experiment in NH, I’d like to see it replicated en masse by people simply taking back control of their local governments. We need to enact policies that demand all our politicians are constantly, openly, and directly confronted by their constituents. No more ‘guessing’ what the public sentiment is through polls that ask ridiculous questions by an out of touch media apparatus. We have the tools to repair our government, we only need the will.