Sippin' on some Jack...

Often times than not music has the words that fit perfectly

Oh look at how she listens
She says nothing of what she thinks
She just goes stumbling through her memories
Staring out onto Grey St.
And she thinks..."hey
How did I come to this
I dreamed myself thousand times around the world
But I can't get out of this place"
There's an emptiness inside her
And she'd do anything to fill it in
But all the colors mix together
To grey, and it breaks her heart

Oh how she wishes it was different
She prays to God most every night
And though she swears He doesn't listen
There's still a hope in her He might
She says "I pray
But they fall on deaf ears
Am I supposed to take it on myself
To get out of this place?"
There's a loneliness inside her
And she'd do anything to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now,
It feels like cold blue ice in her heart
When all the colors mix together
It's grey, and it breaks her heart

There's a stranger speaks outside her door
Says "take what you can from your dreams
Make them real as anything
It will take the work out of the courage"
She says "please
There's a crazy man creeping that's outside my door
I live on the corner of Grey Street
And the end of the world"

Oh there's an emptiness insider her
And she'd do anything to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now
It's more like cold blue ice in her heart
She feels like kicking out all the windows
And setting fire to this life
She could change everything about her
Using colors bold and bright
But all the colors mix together
To grey
And it breaks her heart...Oh and it breaks her heart
To grey, Yeah...

-"Grey Street" DMB

Remember the Time When We First Met

"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with." - MJ

Now I don't remember the first time I was introduced to the music of Michael Jackson. I do remember however the first time I watched the whole thing of "Thriller" when I was like 4 yrs old and it scared the shit out of me. I think I watched it without permission too, cause you know that's how I do. :-) Little did I know that I just saw music history. Of course, I was only 4. I remember deciding that I needed to know how to moonwalk. So now I can. I remember the music videos that all seemed like short films. All brilliant. Learning the dances to Thriller, Smooth Criminal and Beat It cause it was so cool. I remember babysitting these two little boys and watching Michael Jackson videos every time and having dance parties with them. So much fun.

Yesterday we lost a brilliant performer and it's very surreal. A man that changed the music industry and revolutionized dance and entertainment. Michael Jackson was hands down a genius. You could not count the sheer number of people worldwide that know his music. The amount of people in the music world that name him as an influence. The people in the dance world that started dancing because of him. It's kinda ridiculous to think about the impact one guy could have and the type of legacy he could build. 750 million records sold worldwide, 13 Grammys (6 of those for Thriller {the best selling album of all time}), 13 Number One singles in his solo career. He holds multiple Guinness World Records including The Most Successful Entertainer of All Time. That's bigger than Elvis, The Beatles or any big name in music you can think of. I don't care what anyone says that is NUCKIN' FUTS!

The sad part is the vast majority of the younger generation of people that know of MJ know him cause of all the controversy that surrounded him in the late nineties into the 2000s. Those of us who grew up with him in the 70s (not me) and 80s (yup that's me) know him for his brilliance in entertainment. There never will be another Michael Jackson. And if there is then great. But I truly think (and I'm not alone on this) that Michael is one of a kind and that type of success will never be duplicated. I really don't think the youth of america really understand or grasp the magnitude of his influence. IT'S CRAZY! But forget all that stuff, he was accused of doing some pretty messed up things (which was never proven and he was acquitted) so of course that makes him scum. I'll be the first to say that he was a character and fairly eccentric and I don't get all the plastic surgery but hey whatever, people will do what they want. But I'm not gonna point a finger at him for things that I know nothing about and didn't witness myself. BUT I did witness his music, his music videos, and televised performances. I can attest to that.

Some people will choose to remember him by his eccentricity, unfounded allegations, odd behavior at times and his ever changing physical appearance. This person, however, will choose to honor his name. As I sit here watching his videos and still marveling at his music and choreography, I will remember his vast accomplishments in the music industry, internationally and his philanthropy. RIP Michael, we lost you too soon and I pity the fool who disgraces your legacy.

Better stick to performance art and photographing humanoids...

Alone.

In a crowded room.

Staring.

Blank faces.

Familiar smiles.

You know them.

A tree falls.

In an empty wood.

It still makes a sound.

Alone.

In a crowded room.

Loud noises.

Nothing distinct.

A buzz in your ear.

Incessant hum of bees.

Irritating.

Alone.

In a crowded room.

Open your mouth.

No sound.

Or is there?

No heads turn.

Obvious silence.

A tree falls.

In an empty wood.

It still makes a sound.

This has no meaning. I wrote it in 5 minutes. Poetry is dissatisfactory. I need a different medium.

NEXT!

I tried to run away to the circus once...

I'm afraid I've been thinking. A dangerous pastime. I know. (mega points for movie reference GO)

There are quite a few things that I used to do that I don't do anymore, that I enjoyed immensely.  Playing the saxophone for one. I started when I was 8. I got good, dare I say really good as time went by.  I've never procured my own instrument however, which proved to be an obnoxious setback once I went to college. I can play any saxophone. Alto I can't stand though. It's an annoying sound to me. Soprano is fun to play, though I dislike the music of Kenny G. Not to be read as "Kenny G is a sucky musician." He's a brilliant player. I just can't stand his music, I find it rather irritating.  Tenor sax is great as well, particularly in jazz. You have a nice mix of the upper register and it can still get fairly low and have a great bottom sound. Man! I miss playing jazz, it's so much fun to play. And bari sax. Oh my gosh! If you have never heard a well played bari sax, then you need to go listen to some Dave Matthews Band. LeRoi Moore (RIP) is flippin' amazing! Well played bari is one of the  sexiest sounds (no, your eyes deceive you not), in my opinion, that I've ever heard. Especially when you get to your GAB below the staff, you can feel it in your gut. Mm! 

Juggling is another thing I used to do a lot. So much fun to learn tricks and perfecting them and juggling clubs too. Plus it just looks cool if you're good :-) I was part of the juggling club first two years at Messiah then I don't know what happened. Most unfortunate. I used pine over the Dubé juggling catalog. When I was 15, I auditioned for Circus Smirkus, which if you're not from the New England area, is a kid's circus. Legit. Real professional. Kids from like 10-19 doing all circus acts. Flippin' amazing. Didn't get in. If I did, who knows what that would've led to but yea. But I have a special place for circus. 

I think I need to come back to the basics of me. I remember in high school knowing that I would study something in the arts cause at the time I couldn't see myself doing anything else. Now, I see myself doing a lot of different things. But I need to re-center I think. Get art back into my life in a greater capacity. I think I'm so stuck on what I should be doing as my "job", that I'm missing out on so much other stuff.  I need to come back to why I fell in love with art, performing and fine alike. Photography, music (I would love to get my hands on a sax again), acting, cooking, singing, dancing. Something about the arts is so freeing. The ability to put yourself into something that doesn't necessarily utilize words is just an amazing concept.  Playing music and dancing. Singing. I get the urge to sing sometimes but I'm talking songs that have some pretty hardcore belty parts. I think that is my draw to musicals.  Thank you Larry Carey for helping me discover belting and that I have a belt voice and a powerful one at that too.  Belting is just like purging your soul of whatever you're feeling.  It's kinda ridic. :sigh:

Yea a return to the basics.  Gotta work on that...

It ends with Chicago...

It's Official! Invisible Children's event The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers is over in the sense that all cities have been "rescued"!

The event started last Saturday in over 100 cities all over the world (yes we've gone international!) After a city in the US was rescued, then people went on to the next city to join those that still awaited to be rescued. IC had 3 buses starting in LA, NYC and DC that were deemed official Rescue Rider buses that went from city to city once a place got to rescued.  Everyone culminated in Chicago, who had troopers camping out and rallying all week. 

They spent the last 2 days really trying to get the attention of Oprah by marching around the offices and singing outside the studios. And this morning, Oprah came out and talked to Jason, Bobby and Laren (the filmmakers) and invited them in. She revamped her show to include this situation in East Central Africa, we were on the first 10 minutes and yea! This is HUGE! So many people watch and respect and look up to Oprah, she is by far one of the most influential people in this country and she does amazing work. So thank you to everyone that came out to the Rescue, supported the Rescue Riders in shelter, food, everything!  Thank you to all the moguls that came out and voiced their support for this organization.  All of the rescue riders that went city to city on a bus or in car and just rallied together to stand for something that is important. All of the Rescue Watchers that stayed online all day and night to keep Cam and Marcus awake while driving and contacted the media and moguls and harnessed the power of the internet and were part of the Chicago rescue that way! Fun times! 

We live in a country who's government is built on the principle, "FOR the people, BY the people."  Meaning that if enough of us take a stand and say that something is important to us and we need to do something about it, then they HAVE to respond to the pressure and they will because the Govt. doesn't like pressure, it makes them nervous :-).  But yea so, keep writing letters to your Reps. and Senators, keep letting them know what's important to you and don't let up because they do hear you and it does count. This is something coming from me cause I am the last person that meddles with politics.

Watch Oprah today at 4pm in your timezone if you can. And yea, NO child should have to fight in war...EVER.

Courtesy of Nathan (nathanboard.blogspot.com)

Cheers to us crazies!

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

-- Steve Jobs/Apple Computer

Evidently, the KKK's good name was dragged through the dirt...

Fantastic just fantastic. This is exactly what I want to hear. 

God, help the people of this country. And is there a white culture? I mean seriously. I don't believe that your culture is determined by your skin colour but rather where you reside, where you came from and where your ancestors came from. Why can't people just view other people as well...I don't know...PEOPLE!