Interesting musings....

A few interesting and funny conversations or situations I have been involved in lately.

"Well, I have shit myself as an adult!" "Stop, right now!!!"

The old cougar going in for the kill, without regard for me or my date. Hella bitchin'!!!

The same cougar falling on her face trying to jump the barrier.

Svetlana....mmmmmmm!

The fucking valley girl, fuck.

Moments after having sutures removed, the nurse says, "Ok, don't go anywhere, there is a girl here who says she knows you and absolutely wants to say hi." Uhhhhhhh, this can't be good, I am thinking!!!!

The 68 year old fucker kicking my ass at the track. Wow, I need work.

Starbucks house blend, no cream, no sugar. AMPIN!!!!!!!

"I can't do math, but I can lay you like a champ." Wow.....

"What your name is?"

Late in the game

Screw it, I am a late bloomer. I read an astrology article once (yeah, I know, lame) that suggested that Cancers were late bloomers and they tended to be successful later in life; whatever you guage success as.....

Anyway, I have again immersed myself into martial arts and have enjoyed reading of several great martial arts books. So what you say? Well, I have been searching for enlightenment all these years, and now, with a few years off from any sort of any deep thought really, I have come to an absolute point for my life; life itself is enlightenment!!

Let me wax on this point; it isn't that I didn't know, I just didn't realize it. I don't need church, nor do I think Jesus, if he existed, really gave me an easy way through this life - he didn't, and we all know how. But much of my circle understands my plight; we all grew up the same and ended up in the same place; right here.

I took about 3 solid years off from the practice of martial arts to rekindle my love of riding and racing motocross bikes. Although not exactly unsuccessful, it was expensive and injuries were costly to my wallet, personal life and physical abilities. Anyhoo, it seems that with a few years of contemplation of reading, watching and not a full on practice of martial arts, I have become a much better martial artist. My body seems old, but my mind is younger; but in a strange paradox, my technique is far better now and I am now able to pull of feats in the gym that I never thought possible before. 

Why is this? Sometimes you need time to grow and realize what it is that you want and your reason for this shitty existence. I realize that it is just to become better and to grow as a person - to face your fears and to realize that life is just that; living. Inexperience is the devil, as my buddy Bart so profoundly told me years ago and his words have never been more evident than now.

On that tip, I will be refocusing my blog to include some interesting and hopefully witty anecdotes about training and life, and hopefully I can get some insight to all of you with interviews of interesting people that are around me and in my life. Besides, I can't do this shit alone..........

Interview with Brandon McGrath

Brandon is close, close friend of mine, and he inspires more than a few people. I interviewed him here http://http://nothingsense.blogspot.com/2006/02/brandon-mcgrath-not-til-daylight.html and it seems that since then things have changed a bit for him. Here is the interview in full, conducted in April.

1. Hi. Two years has passed since I interviewed you. What gives since then?

Got a new band going called 1618 that i am stoked on. Everything else is pretty much the same just hustlin to make money and finish up with some school stuff.

2. Nat Geo - Reputable news reporting or reckless journalism?

Absolutely reckless journalism. They have an agenda with everything it seems. Lately i have chalked it up to all media and government is completely corrupt and it will take nothing short of a coup or revolution to change things in this sinking ship of a nation.

3. Barack or Hillary?

Obama all the way. He is passionate and forthright also he is not your typical career politician. Hillary is wacked out and needs to just let go. For god sakes the woman started NAFTA which was one of the worst and most corrupt acts to ever be set forth in out government.

4. Why do people not respect other people? And what can we do to maybe heighten consciousness to their lack of respect?

First and foremost we need to stop letting people get away with disrespect. Whether racially or socially, it shouldn't be tolerated or shrugged off anymore.

5. You have a new band since we last interviewed. How is this one different from the last one. Haven't you realized that hardcore is dead? People want shitty metal, how do you counteract that line of thinking?

My new band is called 1618 and it is alot different than my last project both musically and stylistically. We gave up on metal because everyone has a shitty metalcore band now, that whines about girls, and has cookie cutter song structure. We have gone with a new and original feel that mixes it up, we have been compared to poison the well, snapcase, and the refused, but our newest stuff even has a biohazard/rage against the machine feel. We are basically just having fun and coming as original as possible.

6. The greens want Ethanol and alternative fuels which use up farm land faster than you can shit out your corn tortilla. The good 'ol boys want us to drill, effectively doing the same to untrampled land - WTF is the answer?

The answer is all the stuff the conglomerates are not throwing money into like hydrogen, nuclear, solar, geothermal and wind. The true right thing to do is to have a balanced infrastructure of all of these and it would take a fraction of the cost it takes to use oil to implement all of this on a national level... then i say we drill Alaska and sell it to the Chinese to pay off the bullshit war debt we have accumulated thanks to oil.

7. Reno? Or somewhere else? And why? Reno ain't so bad, is it?

I love reno. So much great stuff to do both in and out of town. I also dont mind San diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and a bunch of other cities. I think reno; no matter what town i eventually settle down in, will always feel like home to me.

8. Books or movies?

Movies all the way.. I am all about popcorn, laziness, and visual stimulus.

9. Organized religion has been high on my lists of HATE lately? What is your take? And are you atheist or agnostic? Or does you loves some Jesus?

I would classify myself as a spiritual/agnostic. Using the term agnostic in the sense that i don't believe in organized religion at all. I feel that the bible is a fictional story, and just that, nothing more or less. Religion is a cancer to free thinking and self-worth. if you don't have faith in yourself why would you waste all your time worshiping something completely intangible, and why would you put your faith in a story that has been obscured, misinterpreted, and exploited from the day the dead sea scrolls were found.

10. Is your future clear to you yet? I asked you this before, and now it is two years later. Any other ideas?

Well i know what i want and i know how to get it. I know where i want to be, so yeah i would say my future is much more clear than it was. i used to never plan for the future but now all i can think about is what i need to do to make life more fun and worthwhile down the road.

11. Finally, give shout outs......who supported you?

Well of course The Family and my friends who are also family. My girl Valerie for being supportive when i need it most. And personally i have to give it up for CK1 the Cliffy Kumpster, Jess Brown, Jose Galvan, Adam Krause, Matty B, and my bandmates for helping keep me grounded the past couple of years, and for being the best friends/family a guy can have.

Big Bob's Challenge

At Jasons wedding, Big Bob challenged me and a few others to lose enough weight and train hard enough in MMA to fight amateur at this time next year.

Well, I have taken Bobs challenge to heart and have decided that by my 35th birthday I will have competed in at least one Am MMA fight and will be down to 170 lbs for that fight.

Here are my current stats - 230 lbs

Amazing, considering I was at 200 lbs as of Jan 07. Well, this is it, this is where it begins and it ends.....

Inspiration

I can't help it; I have to be inspired to create works via the medium of writing. I have a hard time being my own inspiration; this is why posts on my blog have been few and far between.

I have very little outside stimulus. I have great conversation with my girlfriend, but fulfilling conversation from others, trips or visuals have been sporadic.

Recently, I have been contemplating my role in society. Not society as a whole, but in my little slice of the community that I live in. I learned a long time ago that I probably can't reach everyone. But by reaching a few, maybe the trickle-down effect would be enough to get more people involved reading my work, therefore doing my part and adding some sort of validation to what I do.

I think that is what has been the problem. Artistic expression is for personal validation. You do it for yourself, recognition is just an aside. People do what the love because it is just that - a love. Passion stems from an inner need to get out. A need to have an outlet. Something that you like doing. Something that you think you might be good at. For me, expression through written words has always been a little slice of goodness; with my inability at times to express my self through speaking, I turn to this as a means to an end for expression.

I am not much of a fiction writer. Understandably, as I get older, I learn to mask life experiences in story, but literally. Fiction writers have a knack for telling their life in words, but without personalizing them; that is truly artistic. I am more like an analyst. I am able to make what is good, better. I can take someones idea and run with it, but my own ideas might be few.

Stimulus is the grounds for change and advancement of society. An old master said it best; "Hot water will not remain hot without adding more hot water". And that is the truth.

Inspiration is the hot water that keep the wheels churning for me. And, I surmise, for all artists. Just by writing about my lack of inspiration, maybe I can find some deep down inside. Maybe I can inspire the reader of this to look at what is around them.

I love to express myself. I am an artist in my own right, and I admire anyone that can shape someone by doing what they love to do. People that collect, aren't the ones that move the world. Those are the ones that hold us back - they don't add their flavor to the circle that they live in.

Culture, as I define it, is the person, places or things that helped shape who you are. And when you live in a culture that is devoid of forward thinking or expression, then you lose inspiration.

I had an interesting talk with a few good friends last night, and it was enlightening. I kind of felt that who I am is important, whether or not I am recognized.

In closing, thanks for the inspiration......whoever, or whatever you are.......

Outstanding...

......was the job done by Nat Geo to portray the negative side of Straightedge. Well, it turned out how I thought it would.

Thanks to Nat Geo for interviewing someone that is over 25 and has some tenure. Thanks for leaving the second half of the show with the negative tone. Nothing like ending on a high note. (sic)

Thanks to Nat Geo for being a true small-time media outlet and turning the coppers on to the "SHOW".

Thanks to the Reno kids for trying to debunk the myth of being gangsters by having a cutlass on dubs. Sweet!!!!

Look, we all knew how this was gonna turn out. The fact that this was exactly the way I thought it would be just reaffirms the battle that we would have. Unfortunately, we all know that straightedge is a loose knit bunch of wild men (mostly, and some poser girls) that will probably sell out soon.

All-in-all, this show was a pile of garbage. And kudos to the RGJ for being the absolute rag that it is. Small town dicks........

Just take a look at this garbage that they chose to print - with clever title and all. How cute!!!

In that I am absolutely amazed by the amount of ignorance posted in the comments section of the articles on the RGJ. Do I hate all muslims because some muslims might be associated with Al-Qaeda? No way!!! That same kind of narrow-mindedness is what got us into the pathetic situation our country is in right now.

If you are reading this and are not straightedge, let me say this!!! We choose to stand for our right to choose what we put into our bodies. We stand for our right to be who we want to be. Due to the actions of a few misguided individuals, we have all been labeled in a manner that is inconsistent with the masses.

Straightedge is not a "scene". Is is not an afterschool group, a church or a religious faction. It does not have a written set of bylaws, nor does it affiliate itself with a color. We just like black!!!! :)

If you are straightedge and are reading this, I have this to say to you. I have scars on my body that I have acquired in the name of straightedge. They are from sticking up for myself. I am in spite of the "scene". I don't need anyone else who is straightedge to support my choice. It is a personal choice that is MY OWN. As soon as you look to others to validate your existence, you cease to be an individual.

You are not part of a "scene". You don't get points, or become revered by "belonging". You get all that by being who you are in a hostile environment. Hanging out with like minded individuals will just cause your view to become narrower. And your mind will become smaller.

You are part of a community. You are part of something bigger than you. It will go on without you or with you.

Straightedge needs people willing to be a voice of change. Not a force of change. We need people willing to become educated and become mouthpieces for the label.

People in general need to look past what the Reno Police Department (LOL) have deemed as a "gang-like group". You could deem any group like that. A football team that fights another team is not labeled a gang; they are labeled a TEAM!!!!

Tradition shapes a lot of peoples ideals and I am no different. I yearn for the days where we hung out, BBQ'ed and acted like kids. But sober. We did no harm to anyone that did not do harm to us first.

Nowdays, the internet glorifies and sensationalizes Straightedge, just as it does everything. I absolutely believe that not searching for the truth will lead you to lies.

The media does what it does, selling space, papers or air-time. And it didn't do it by reporting good news. Think about it.

Amazing....

This story is nuts.