To be young again...

         Perhaps I am optimistically assuming, nevertheless  I  must declare, that for most Americans, their childhood was a moderately to highly enjoyable experience and as they grow, or have grown, into adulthood, they look back upon with much amusement and nostalgia. The desire to reverse their lives for just one moment, reliving past memories of tire swing daze, soaking up rays, and tantrum displays. I get it. How perplexing it is to have found comfort in a device that spun you into a stage of lunchroom vomit or How soothing it is to find yourself back on that family vacation to Myrtle Beach, yes that must be nice.  I still believe that allowing your child to wallow in grief in the middle of a supermarket should solicit some type of ticketed citation, however this idea of "returning to your innocence," going back to a time where your were so unconscious of a world outside your own, is an idea that is down right depressing.
      Children are naive, curious, and persistent. They jump their bikes over creeks, hit wasps nests with baseball bats, and poke sticks into snake holes--and all because it was wednesday and the pool was closed due to rain. Which comes to my main statement. Children are basically fearless and I envy that. I decline on clinging on to my childhood because I understand that I will forever live in some sort of fear. I mean isn't that how adults live, constantly turning the gears with a cloud of fear fanning overhead? I saw it in my parents, I've seen it in my friends parents, and I see it in complete strangers. Who's going to pay the car payment? When's the next prostate exam? Have you considered not smoking? Looks like we are going to have to take that gull bladder. Have you filed your 1040 taxes? Oh, so you are taking out a second mortgage? At your age, you know you are at a high risk for Osteoporosis? These questions smash into your windshield as you drive down that road of life ( hands at 10 and 2). And what do you do? You cower, and do every precautionary measure possible to deter bad results. Where's the spontaneity, the discovery, the sense of adventure? Unless you are the exceptional bourgeoisie of adults, such as professional skydivers and Bear Grills, you sort of have to throw those virtues out the window. How wretched is such a world!
        I leave you with this: You are seven years old and you have a un-scratchable itch for sugar that could only be cured by the chocolately goodness of America's favorite cookie--the Oreo. The thought alone diverts your mind from every other task (clean room, spelling homework, feed dog, etc) and you begin to salivate at the mouth. You know mommy hides the Oreo's from daddy, and you know that she hides your slingshot on the fridge. Put two and two together and the Oreo's must be on the fridge. You can't possibly reach so you grab the foot stool. The foot stool does not allow enough height for you to even touch the dust on top. So, you grab three cookbooks, and stack them underneath the foot stool giving you just enough of a glimpse so that four of your fingers caress a ceramic cylinder. You are now determined like never before. You look around in a hurried state and find only a basketball and for some reason that seemed like an applicable resource to breach the castle walls. You delicately place it on top of everything and you step up to wobbly balance on top, tinkering with handle of the ceramic jar. Before you can even feel a crumb, you come tumbling down and break you collar bone, as well as the jar. You cry and cry, but the wails are muffled behind a stuffed mouth of chocolate and cream. Now, a broken collar bone, that is a learning experience. But, that cookie in hand, that is a triumph and that is all that mattered to you. Children are fearless. - m. cali ...
      

THE KING HAS RETURNED... AND HE'S BRITISH

     America, you gave us Elvis and we thank you. A pelvic thrusting, hip gyrating hound dog who could have u dancing in your blue suede shoes, then turn around and love you tender.
     England, you gave us The Beatles and we praise you. From mop tops to mutton chops, the fab four literally defined music, breaking genre's and preconceived notions yet remaining widely accepted. They gave us the love of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and they gave us angst in "Helter Skelter," and sometimes you got 'far out' in their LSD infused "Strawberry Fields." No matter the focus of expression, they executed it precisely and beautifully and their music will truly live on forever.
      Since then, you could argue Michael Jackson was the next great contribution to music, but with the loads of  personal baggage that he possessed, America only claims him pre "Bad" album.  So, we waited and waited. Grunge was a pretty cool fad but it left once Cobain left, and N'sync came and went with the bubblegum generation of the millennium. Today, we got the "Beliebers" who worship a seventeen year old with a horrible haircut (thank you, Canada) and enough Gaga to go around for everybody(thank you, Outer-space), so where is the next great thing?
                 AH, it has been underneath the western world's nose for decades. Thom Yorke is the closest thing to a revolutionary musician we had since Lennon. With a cult success in the nineties, they brought a fresh and artistic approach to alternative music, but they didn't just stop there and fade out like the many imitation bands (I.E. Sonic Youth and Portishead), no they defined how the bar was to be set.
                With their last 2007 release "In Rainbows" we saw how they changed the face of the record industry by allowing their album, via download, payable to any amount. I paid $20.50 for the album to show support but the guy next door payed a whopping fifty cents. This shook the walls of the capitalistic music monsters like Colombia, Virgin, and Sony. To them their music was art and to be heard by the masses, not used as a whore for the pimps of record companies to collect on. And since then, many bands have this new precept.
                As of today, right at this moment, they have returned! After a mysterious four years of "hush hush" and secret shows, they birthed their best work yet. They can't be stopped and as far as I am concerned, England, you got one up on America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8

Chivalry Is Dead

      It's February and love is in the air. Put on your Barry White albums, pop open that Dom Perignon you've been saving, and make that anticipated reservation for two at the five star White Castle!
      Surprise your loved ones by courting him/her at America's popular chain that's home to the steamed mini-slider. This year, don't succumb to the wine and dine; branch out a little, and chicken ring with your fling! Nothing says, "Be Mine" like thirty mouth watering burgers from our cardboard crave case. With each breath have your partner awestruck with the riveting decor that lines all 422 establishments. The cracked white walls, accompanied by the grease stained ceramic tile and construction paper hearts not only please the eye, but epitomize love.
       Have fast food establishments become some sort of guilty pleasure in this country? Perhaps. The economy is a dreadful state, child obesity is through the roof, and we all know that eating healthy, or organic, only digs into the wallet a little deeper. Never mind the V-Day cliches of roses, candlelight, and intimacy. This holiday, I urge everyone to take a step back from saying " I love you," to saying, "I love you enough to spend four dollars." Show her the true meaning of love! ( It is found in the dictionary between "lousy" and "low").

GEDC0025

SING IT FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOPS

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world” – Martin Luther

        Solace and tranquility. Power and triumph. Intellect and progression. Inspiration and Meaning. This is what is found through music. It invigorates the senses and magnifies the written word. It is the catalyst for self-expression.

       John Coltrane once said, “ You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.” Ah, to be sincere… To be genuine and passionate in your music, like Lennon, or Springsteen, or Cobain, or Tupac –to allude to all of society’s blemishes with full vibrato and emotion!  Finding that in today’s radio culture is a paradox. Pshh, write a song that questions race, sexuality, or wealth? That won’t sell a million records. You can’t put a dub-step bass to that. How are you supposed to fist-pump with all this talk about teen suicide? No, we are looking for the quick hook and quick buck.

     If its quick, catchy, and too the point, there have been plenty of great, sincere songs through the generations. “Fortunate Son” by CCR might be one of the best. Besides a thirty second arpeggiating introduction, Fogerty used three chords through the whole song while belting “It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son.” I remember asking my father on the way to middle school why he was yelling the whole time (not realizing that was his signature voice). My father replied, he was angry, angry with the Vietnam War. Today we have plenty to be angry with, plenty to scream at the top of our lungs and let the world know that we see the injustices and the turmoil.

     Ke$ha might go triple platinum auto-tuning about “everybody getting crunk” and “boys trying to touch her junk” but ten years from now their will be no significance to such babble. People are not going to reminisce all those times they woke up in the morning and felt like P.Diddy. No, we will remember the war in Iraq, Barack Obama, Fred Phelps, and Hurricane Katrina.  

       So I urge my readers to turn off the radio and look elsewhere. Look for the artists who have a vendetta, who want their music to be anthems for our weary souls. In the meantime, I will crack open a Four Loco, blast Lady Gaga, and sit back to cry.