This morning I saw a sparrow chase after a moth.
And then I saw it eat a moth.
I know I shouldn't root for the moth because this is all natural and these are all natural things that are happening, but I always root for the prey. I mean, all they're doing is minding their own business---and then all of a sudden they're getting fucked with.
And eaten.
Ben J. and I watched "Demons" and "Demons 2" this past week.
They're gross/gory (awesome) Italian zombie movies that I hadn't seen since I was 8 or so.
Well, damn, I thought I had some clips of it to show you, but I don't seem to have any favorited.
So, instead you can watch this video of a testicular examination:
I'm not entirely sure why I can tolerate/accept gore in older horror movies, but I have no tolerance for it in newer movies (e.g. "Saw" and "Hostel"). I was talking to Ben about it last night, and I came to a conclusion... But I forget what it was.
Oh, wait, I found some stuff for the "Demons" movies:
Boss.
In other news,
I'm no longer having back pains.
Not sure what I'm doing differently, but I can finally tie my shoes and such without feeling like I'm going to die.
Maybe it was my body telling me that I'd been 23 years old for too long.
It wanted me to be 24.
This song leaves me speechless. Eddie is simply amazing.
I am totally going to take a nap at lunch.
1 hour and 19 minutes to go.
"Bat - Rebirth
Steeped in the mystery of Mesoamerican tribal ritual is the legend of Bat. Akin to the ancient Buddhist belief in reincarnation, in Central America, Bat is the symbol of rebirth. The Bat has for centuries been a treasured medicine of the Aztec, Toltec, Tolucan, and Mayan peoples.
Bat embraces the idea of shamanistic death. The ritual death of the healer is steeped in secrets and highly involved initiation rites. Shaman death is the symbolic death of the initiate to the old ways of life and personal identity. The initiation that brings the right to heal and to be called shaman is necessarily preceded by ritual death. Most of these rituals are brutally hard on the body, mind and spirit. In light of today's standards, it can be very difficult to find a person who can take the abuse and come through it with their balance intact.
The basic idea of ancient initiations was to break down all the former notions of 'self' that were held by the shaman-to-be. This could entail brutal tests of physical strength and psychic ability, and having every emotional 'button' pushed hard. Taunting and spitting on the initiate was common, and taught him or her to endure the duress with humility and fortitude. The final initiation step was to be buried in the earth for one day and to be reborn without the former ego in the morning."
From Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson.
I use Google Earth at work. And usually, it'll start out work-related, but then I end up jumping all over the globe. Typically, I go to Egypt, London or the Bay Area. Ok. Getting back to work...
Loathing:
Shin Splints- That's what running does for ya. I've been doing a C25K program for a little over a week now. I finally bought some proper running shoes yesterday though so I think that's going to make a HUGE difference.
People who stare. I just colored my hair with Feria's Chocolate Cherry Hair color. It's a VERY bright red/purple/blackish color. Especially in the sun. I freaking LOVE it. Other people...not so much. Let's see what they think when I get my tattoo and my nose pierced in September..HA!!
The fact that there is still at least 5 more weeks until school starts. This summer has seemed LONG.
Loving:
My new body that is being unveiled a little more every day. I'm REALLY starting to LOVE what I'm seeing. (Bart is too.. ;-) )
My brand new Nike Shox Navina+2 Running Shoes. These are by far the MOST EXPENSIVE shoes I have ever purchased...AND the most divine on my feet.
My new Hair. Yes the blackish, reddish, purple look really suits me. I've always been a bit of a freak. It's not like I have to go get a job or anything...LOL. You can't really see the purple in the pic because the sun wasn't shining on it enough but trust me it's there..and it's AWESOME!!
My new Treo 800W- There isnt much this phone can't do. It's a damn sexy phone.
"Montrez-nous vos dix doigts d'un coup"
Suggérée par Benjamin
Fastoche, mes dix doigts sont très facilement trouvables, vu qu'ils sont toujours au même endroit.... sur mon clavier ;)
Et pour prendre la photo, rien de plus fastoche aussi, il suffit de saisir l'iPhone entre les dents et d'appuyer sur le bouton photo avec la langue :D
Hey peeps! It’s been almost a year since I mentioned this so I just want to quickly remind you guys that you can help contribute to charitable causes simply by clicking a web button. Doing so takes up an almost imperceptible fraction of your daily surfing time. In fact, donating to The Animal Rescue Site would take about the time it took you to read this sentence. One click. No lie. The clicks from yesterday alone provided 186,935 bowls (42.4 metric tons) of food.
Plus, everything you buy from them provides shelter animals with necessary relief. And, seriously, who wouldn’t want this incredible t-shirt? (I mean besides mailmen and people on the lam, of course.)
By the way, The Animal Rescue Site is a part of GreaterGood.org. If you like the idea of giving just by clicking, you will want to also visit the GreaterGood sites for World Hunger, Breast Cancer, Child Health, Literacy, and Protection of Rainforests.
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OK, show of hands: how many of y'all reading this have dropped acid? Strangely enough, considering my interests in neurology and altered states of consciousness, I never have. Nope. Not once. A friend of mine once said that I acted as though I were on acid all the time, just by default. Therefore, I've always been afraid that eating a tab or two might, paradoxically, make me normal. Can't have that now, can we?
Well, thanks to London, Ontario's Golden Death Music, you do not need to resort to illegal pharmaceuticals to experience seriously altered states--I'm talking the kind that can potentially mutate you into a Homo erectus or a telekinetic, maggotlike far-future form, so be careful when listening. Also, if you're forced to take a piss test at your job, do not be surprised if traces of Golden Death Music's stunningly beautiful first album, Ephemera Blues, turn up in your urine. This is the kind of bizarre, edgy, yet still tranquil music that will permeate your entire being after a few listens, lighting up your chakra, opening your Third Nostril, and perhaps transforming your pineal gland.
Golden Death Music is singer/songwriter Michael Ramey, but the album sounds as though it's been composed by a whole studio full of musicians. Nope. It's all Michael Ramey, who has written and recorded every song himself--a sizable achievement, since Ephemera Blues has a very large sound. Mixing elements of Pink Floyd, Donovan, 13th Floor Elevators, Legendary Pink Dots, Radiohead, and Jethro Tull into a swirling, multicolored and multitextured album, Ramey has created a record that literally defines the word "psychedelic." Though most songs are primarily driven by acoustic guitar and vocals, drifting in and out and through these primary elements like noctilucent clouds are eerie synths, glitchy electronic touches, flutes, cellos, electric guitars, horns, and heavily-reverbed backing vocals. Though the sounds all blend together nicely to create a languid, sleepy texture, all instruments are still distinct and nicely arranged in space, which makes this album a wonderfully immersive headphones experience. Coloured waves of sound will fill your mind with disembodied bliss...and best of all, there's no nasty come-down or flashbacks to worry about!
Much like Pink Floyd, Golden Death Music acknowledges that melody is the keystone of any piece, and Ephemera Blues is built on a solid foundation of melody and songwriting. Ramey's lyrics are often rather dark, as on the album closer "Into the Ocean"--"Throw yourself into the water / Feel the changed and tainted ocean / Let the damaged waves caress you / Feel the change"--but not morbid. In fact, there is an airy lightness to this album that gives it the feeling of a peaceful near-death experience and greatly justifies the name Golden Death Music. "Waking Nightmare" may be constructed from a tense, unnerving electro-glitch base, but the melody itself and the vocals are quiet and pretty, as though Ramey is observing the waking nightmare of life from the stance of someone who's left it all behind. Even "Lost in Violence," my favorite track on the album, manages to depict our earthly hell with a relaxed peacefulness.
Speaking of Pink Floyd, Ramey is one hell of a good guitar-player, and his acoustic guitar work will no doubt remind you a lot of David Gilmour. There are no guitar solos in his songs, however: they are trim, economical tracks that usually measure about four to six minutes in length--just long enough to let you lose yourself in them without becoming overlong or tedious.
In many ways, Golden Death Music's Ephemera Blues is musical theosophy. Much like the literary work of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Golden Death Music gathers together elements from many, many sources and attempts to synthesize them into a mystical, transcendent, syncretic unity. However, unlike theosophy, Michael Ramey actually succeeds. Whereas Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled was a hefty tome of absolutely insane religio-babble, Ephemera Blues is a tight, complex, but manageable assemblage of musical concepts and ideas that really will make you feel as though you've tapped into the Pistis Sophia, the gnostic truth, the one-ness, behind the confusion of reality. And it will bring you the peace of musical enlightenment.
