There's some photos of me here, taken by Josh Strauss. More will be posted soon.

I played at the protest at the Liberty Pole yesterday. Here's the Roch. IMC article about the rally. I couldn't remember the names of the songs I played yesterday, but I do now so here they are:
- shock and awe
- pour paint on the fire
- brockport to islamabad

Then it was fun fun fun at the RCAN benefit show. Kinda disappointing more people didn't show up though.

Support the people, not the "troops": http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0418-01.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0415-12.htm

http://www.regulareverydaypeople.com/

The person that just IM'd me, please IM me back. I don't know who you are and I accidentally clicked out of the little message thingy.

people that i didn't formerly think were cool but now do...
Susan Sarandon
Tim Robbins
The Pope
the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks
Martin Sheen
... there's more I'm sure, but that's all I can think of for now (note: Jeneanne Garafolo does not appear on this list because she was already cool)

oh man oh man oh man, i need some sleep.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

My interesting night Saturday...
i got out of work and i was like, 'well what am i going to do now'
and so i looked in the paper and bowling for columbine was playing at the little at 7 so i was like, 'i'll just go to the movie alone'
so i did and then i went to java's after
and so i'm getting coffee and i look in the smoking room and there's this girl that i recognized from a civil disobedience meeting on friday
and so she waves at me so i go in there and i'm like, what's up, can i have a cigarette
so she's there alone too it turns out so we're talking and then a couple of other people come in and we're all talking
and then someone's like, 'hey we should go back to my house and watch this movie harold and maude'
so i'm like, ok cool
so i'm at this person's house that i don't know watching this movie with three people that i don't know
it was just crazy because it started out being a lonely evening and then by pure serendipity i ended up making new friends
it was going to be a really lonely night and i was going to go home all lonely and shit and it ended up being a great night
Rochester is the best city ever!

So the show in two weeks (Sat. the 26th) featuring me and Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs (and other less important acts) is aparently a benefit for the Tibetan Children's Fund or something like that. At least that's what I got from the Roch. ARA website. Here's a poem for all you romantic bohemians...

*Beautifully Inebriated*

Well I guess you pu ta big picturesque mirror over the sink to kill me
Let my own reflection drive me to paranoia or even suicide
A monster lurking in the shadows under my eyes and around my lips
I forgot to drink the tea that makes the spiders stop crawling on my face
Sometimes they let go a bundle of silk and let the wind carry them to where they want to go
But what would mother say?
Where is th epiety in getting high or low?
A good Christian is always right down the center
The ball hits the center pin at the gates of paradise and Strike! Yr in!
The shoes of magnificence donned with all the grace and elegance due
A snobbish look from the velociraptor in a three-piece suit
His teeth smuggly dripping with the carnage of a bowling match
Boy do we ever love guns
Fill the room with potatoes
Everything's going to be alright
But that's not it at all
The world is a pot of gumbo cooking in a caldron over a piece of hellfire
Take a taste too soon and it's too damn cold
Take a taste too late and it's burning up
But if yo umake sure to slurp the universe through yr teeth right now you won't regret having tasted the savory stew largely undiscovered cooking in a cave somewhere
Eve took a bite of the world
So did Snow White
We all have snakes and witches offering us pieces of wonderfully shiny fruit
But where is the sticker that says USDA Certified Organically Grown
The phone rang and the noises began in patterns
You were speaking
But I lost you at hello
So I hung up in mid-sentence and went back to reading Timothy Leary
And i guess I never understood why you got so mad

So the show in two weeks (Sat. the 26th) featuring me and Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs (and other less important acts) is aparently a benefit for the Tibetan Children's Fund or something like that. At least that's what I got from the Roch. ARA website. Here's a poem for all you romantic bohemians...

*Beautifully Inebriated*

Well I guess you pu ta big picturesque mirror over the sink to kill me
Let my own reflection drive me to paranoia or even suicide
A monster lurking in the shadows under my eyes and around my lips
I forgot to drink the tea that makes the spiders stop crawling on my face
Sometimes they let go a bundle of silk and let the wind carry them to where they want to go
But what would mother say?
Where is th epiety in getting high or low?
A good Christian is always right down the center
The ball hits the center pin at the gates of paradise and Strike! Yr in!
The shoes of magnificence donned with all the grace and elegance due
A snobbish look from the velociraptor in a three-piece suit
His teeth smuggly dripping with the carnage of a bowling match
Boy do we ever love guns
Fill the room with potatoes
Everything's going to be alright
But that's not it at all
The world is a pot of gumbo cooking in a caldron over a piece of hellfire
Take a taste too soon and it's too damn cold
Take a taste too late and it's burning up
But if yo umake sure to slurp the universe through yr teeth right now you won't regret having tasted the savory stew largely undiscovered cooking in a cave somewhere
Eve took a bite of the world
So did Snow White
We all have snakes and witches offering us pieces of wonderfully shiny fruit
But where is the sticker that says USDA Certified Organically Grown
The phone rang and the noises began in patterns
You were speaking
But I lost you at hello
So I hung up in mid-sentence and went back to reading Timothy Leary
And i guess I never understood why you got so mad

Sometimes I do feel helpless and alone. Sometimes I think I'm the most selfish asshole there ever was, but then I tell myself that it's not my fault and it seems to make me feel better, even though I don't believe it all the time. And sometimes there's someone who I think will make me feel better, but I only end up feeling worse. Don't ask me about this. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

I've just been informed that there will be free food at the show tonite so all you Brockport anarcho-mooches should be there.

a poem for you... tea for two. don't speak.

*Wrist or Pocket*

There are things that float like wooden blocks cast upon the tinyest sea inside our hearts and underneath our minds which wrap the up like blankets
These things we need to send to bed
Tenderly tucked-in inside a cradle nestled in the crotch of two branches of a weeping willow in the oldest forest where the moss just makes everything look so tired
And a blue haze rises from the hagared wood that once was vibrant and even mobile
These are the things we hold deep inside ourselves but keep dropping in a clumsy stupor
Sand clinging to skin and photographs of windy beaches
The waves beating against the shore in a rhythm that is reminiscent of what it must be like inside the womb
A drone and a rolling static
Repeated audio orgasms exploding in a Freudian symphony where you and Oedipus Rex dance the waltz
Or perhaps it is Jonah and Pinnocchio moving to a strangely comforting sound inside the belly of the whale
They hold each other tightly in the dark
Neither quite sure what it is the other is looking for
Pinnocchio just wanting to be real
And Jonah just wanting to hide
And all expecting to make love to God in that last golden fuck
That's why you and I should stand on the whale as if she were an island
We can set up a house made from rocks and driftwood and build fires using the oil from her baleen
And just let her skin burn
There are only two rules in piracy:
1) People come to get away
2) Being dry is just no fun

Just a reminder that me (hastheboyfallen) and Brian (the
June Observer) are playing in the Thompson Hall TV Lounge at 8:30 tomorrow night. There is a teach-in that same night in Brockport at 7. I don't remember the room or anything, but I plan on going to that and then leaving early for the show. Also, Wednesday is a day
of silence in solidarity with the glbt people of the world. If you're
into queer rights don't talk until 4pm that day. Wow, big day tomorrow.

Two movies I saw recently that are good:
The Susan Smith Tapes
Hedwig and the Angry Inch

I need to tell you about this cool movie that I saw a couple of days ago. It's called the Stepford Wives. I won't tell you what it's about because when I saw it I had no idea and it turned out surprising me. It's from the 1970s and it's based on the book. It's kinda slow in the beginning, but stick it out and you won't regret it. CP has my noise tape so I can't make copies until I get it back. Remember about the show on Wednesday at 8:30 at Thompson Hall in SUNY Brockport. I'll have copies of Six Degrees, but not the noise record. Maybe I'll get up the ambition to make some copies of some of my older stuff, but I doubt it.

Sigur Ros is anti-war.
"don't spend my taxes on bombs that kill kids
a jar of flies
he's got the whole world in his hands
blame me"

some cool personal sites:
http://www.blurbomat.com
http://www.dooce.com

Remember to come to this show next week...
The June Observer
and
Has the Boy Fallen
Aprl 9th TV Lounge of Thompson Hall at 8:30

...and don't forget the one on the 26th.

i had some pictures that i was going to post, but i haven't been able to upload them yet. i'll keep trying. i have a paper to write now.

This is a great blog from Baghdad.

Alice's Resturaunt by Arlo Guthrie is the song of the day. More light-hearted anti-war songs needed.

Democracy in action! Here's that poll again. I had no idea so many people liked "Missing You."

Here's the straight poop on all the shows coming up...

The June Observer
and
Has the Boy Fallen
Aprl 9th TV Lounge of Thompson Hall at 8:30

Hastheboyfallen
Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs
bryan murphy
matthew cross
travis johansen
Aaron gunther
Megan Bartasevich
April 26th - Rocket Coffee - 8pm?

These shows are definate so come out and support me and some other hot local artists, like forgotten figures falling together between two twigs and others like the june observer... but not the Jesse Ames Experience because she's going to the prom.

Dictators and Pacifists
by Mitch Jones

This is my second article about pacifism. The first was written just
before
the Afghanistan War. Since then the world scene has changed a bit.
Things
aren’t any safer since the war. We are now at “Orange Alert.”
Afghanistan
isn’t any freer. There’s a small part of the country that is ruled by a
puppet
regime, but warlords, vigilante sects of the Northern Alliance, run the
rest.
Now we come to another war and with it another anti-war movement. Again,
the
same arguments come up. I’d like to explain the logic of pacifism once
and for
all because it is what is needed right now. Militarism is making things
worse.

The issue that critics of pacifism always seem to bring up is that of
Hitler.
Of course, they don’t remember that he called his attack on the
Sudetenland was
called a “humanitarian intervention,” using the same rhetoric that today’s
war
philosophers use. Also, the British appeasement of Hitler was not the
result
of pacifism. It was the result of indecisiveness on the part of the
authorities in the countries that later became the Allies. They were
not
willing to take a stand against injustice, violently or non-violently.
The
finally became a necessary war when Hitler’s aggression was too late.
Chamberlain’s decision at Munich was based on the idea that if Britain
supported Hitler then he would not attack England. This was obviously
wrong.
Historians have pointed out that the German courts were ready to oust
Hitler at
any sign of international protest. Some did protest, however. The
Anarchists
and Communists in America, some of who did fight violently in the
Spanish Civil
War against fascism, who opposed Hitler were suppressed, deported and
jailed.
American racists fueled the isolationism of the 1930s.

What would the pacifists have done about Hitler? There are a couple of
ideas.
The Treaty of Versailles was a document that fueled German hatreds and
caused
economic hardships for the Germans, which led to the scapegoating of
Jews and
other groups. Perhaps if the treaty had been drafted fairly Hitler
would not
have risen to power. Also, if Britain and the United States had come
out
against Hitler in their rhetoric from very early on he would not have
got as
far as he did – to the point where his aggression lead to war. David
McReynolds points out several non-violent victories against Hitler in an
essay
on the Philosophy of Nonviolence on Nonviolence.org. He writes:

“But within Occupied Europe there were well documented victories for
nonviolence. In Norway there was a successful teachers' strike against
being
forced to teach Nazi ideology. In Denmark the opposition to the Nazis
was led
by the King, who said that if the Jews had to put on the "Yellow Star of

David", then he, the King, would be the first man in Denmark to put one
on.
When the Nazis moved to arrest the Danish Jews, members of the Gestapo
leaked
this news to the Danish authorities and in 48 hours virtually all the
Jews in
Denmark were gotten to safety in Sweden. In Bulgaria, which had no
history of
anti-Semitism, spontaneous civil resistance (including crowds sitting on
train
tracks) prevented the Nazis from shipping any Jews out of the country.”

Of course, no one can know what could have stopped Hitler, but we can
use it as
an example from the past and learn from it.

Some have pointed out that there are parallels between Adolph Hitler and
Saddam
Hussein. Ideologically, Saddam Hussein is probably more like Stalin,
the
dictator who ordered thousands of young boys to die fighting against
Hitler,
but for the sake of argument we’ll discuss the parallels that seem
apparent.

First of all, Saddam Hussein was brought to power by the United States
and
supported by the United States. Had the anti-Saddam movement been
listened to
early on the mess would not be created. Of course, these are all what-if’s,

but if the critics of pacifism are going to use them to ask ‘What if
violence
wasn’t used against Hitler,’ then I’ll ask, ‘What if the United States
hadn’t
supported Saddam Hussein?’ A lot of talk about weapons of mass
destruction has
revolved around Iraq since the early 1990s, however what they don’t tell
you is
that the United States sold Iraq many of those weapons.

Second, like the Treaty of Versailles, the sanctions after the first
Gulf War
have caused economic hardship in Iraq. These sanctions were meant to
weaken
Saddam Hussein’s hold on Iraq. Although I don’t disagree with sanctions
as a
general practice (they definitely worked in South Africa to end
apartheid
almost non-violently apart from a few riots) the sanctions on Iraq have
not
worked. They have only strengthened Saddam Hussein like the Treaty of
Versailles did for Adolph Hitler. The Iraqi people resent the United
States
more than Saddam Hussein for the economic hardships they’ve had to face.

Finally, the question of ‘what do we do about Saddam Hussein’ needs to
be
answered. It is obvious that it is too late to correct the mistakes
made in
the past. However, the United States could have done much to improve
its image
in Iraq. Expanding the Oil For Food program and making real efforts
toward a
Palestinian state would weaken Saddam Hussein.

As far as weapons of mass destruction go, the inspections were working.
Iraq
was making moves toward disarming. Other diplomatic means as well
should at
least have been tried.

Before the war there was plenty of anti-war criticism. However, since
the war
has started such criticism seems to have waned. This is unfortunate.
Jingoistic ideas about “supporting our troops” should not cloud the
discussion. The world has told George Bush NO, but our illusions of
Democracy
have been shattered. Pacifism is seen as offensive. A philosophy that
opposes
all murder is seen as offensive. Doesn’t that indicate that there is
something
wrong with our society’s priorities?

YellowTimes.org has been shut down temporarily. This is due to censorship. Aparently we showed graphics of Iraqi victims that were offensive. Reuters might be picking up the story. I wrote an article, but it won't be published for a little bit it looks like. I'll post it here eventually.

Here's the deal on future shows:

Wed., April 9
The June Observer
Hastheboyfallen
8pm
Thompson Hall Longue - SUNY Brockport

Sat., April 26
The Jesse Ames Experience
Megan Bartasevich
Hastheboyfallen
others (I don't know the whole lineup yet)
9pm
Rocket Coffee - Monroe Ave. Rochester

Fri., May 9 ?
Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs
Hastheboyfallen
9pm ?
Rocket Coffee - Monroe Ave. Rochester

The last one isn't set yet so don't quote me on it or anything. It will be some time in May probably.

Haha, I just realized he called me a twit.

Here's some funny hate mail I got: You know this has been fun for about a nanosecond or two, but since you
aren't up to any kind of decent argument, I think I'll just say TTFN, and
block your e-mail address. Don't go away mad, you twit, just go away.

PS - Masturbate for peace, eh? Hey, I'll bet you're real experienced at
that! Lot's of practice, I'd wager.

Why does pacifism offend so many people? I can see how anarchism could be an offensive philosophy, but not pacifism. How can you criticize criticism of murder?

Here are some other pages:
http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/wiggins/wiggins5.html
http://iraqpeaceteam.org/pages/diaries.html

This site is good for a laugh.

http://yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1171&mode=thread&order=0
STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR! STOP THE WAR!

Alone at home, listening to Coalesce. Here's a poem about how great I am.

*Stem Tea*

I am lightning
I am a vulture's kiss or a big wet one from Judas Iscariot
I am the light that goes off when you press the trigger on yr camera
I am one and two and three but not four
And you don't deserve me

I am beautiful
I told you I have wings
But did you know the story of how I aquired them?
I feel like an empty jug of wine
Fill me up with puke or tears
Or else prove you love me

I am lightly and gracefully moving across the room on a cloud
I dance like a jester who lost his costume and is forced to wear a gray suit and entertain the entire office
I am the life of the party
I'm dirty and I'm squeaky, shining clean
Don't kiss me
You have diseases

Set up the bowling pins
I'll curl up into a ball and knock them all down
Give me a kick to get me started
And when the destruction is complete I won't stop
I'll just keep rolling into the sunset
And one day a million years from now you'll be sipping stem tea with a friend and say out loud, "I wonder what happened to him"
And you honestly won't realize that you drove me away

THIS WAR WILL CAUSE MORE TERRORISM!!!

Well, the war is about to start. We've got two days people. Let's stop this thing by any means necessary. We don't need to kill any more of anyone's children, especially not our own. Keep updated: www.newsfromthefront.org
http://www.humanshields.org/
http://iraqpeaceteam.org

I realized that some people don't know where Rocket Coffee is. Here's they're website which has the address on it: http://rocketcoffee.com/

I'm pathetic. I just can't let myself walk away.

So last night I got hit on twice. The first girl was really drunk and the second was like 14... not interested, but it's flattering anyway. Maybe being single won't be so bad.

Ok, so here's the news that I was going to say before. Six Degrees of Separation Anxiety is the soundtrack to a movie called Meridian by Josh Strauss. He has copies. If you come to the show on April 26th he'll probably have copies of it. Also, we're talking about doing a screening.

Second, I'm trying to get a show in Brockport with me, Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs and The June Observer. It's still in the works. Also, Forgotten Figures and I are going to do a split and we're going to cover each other's songs. That will get on it's way after the split with the Jesse Ames Experience is done which should be soon, but it hasn't happened yet because I'm a procrastinator.

I think that's all I have to say for now. Oh, someone told me to tell everyone I know to go to a show at Rocket Coffee this Saturday at 9pm so, yeah, do it. I forgot the names of the bands. I know one is the Grievants and the other is something with the word 'penny' in it I think. The latter is pretty good. I've seen them a couple of times. Too bad I can't remember their name.

There's a lot of stuff going on that I'd like to talk about but I don't really feel like it. There's some stuff with Forgotten Figures and my music in a movie and crazyness. The rally last night and the first show at the new FNB space. Um, I'm single now. Again.

I wrote a poem and it's on a website.

Help me write my setlist:

So, there's a few things I'd like to say. I'm making a tape full of noise rock. I'm not going to promote it a whole lot. I'm pretty much just doing it for myself, but if you see me and you want a copy just ask. I'd be more than happy to give it to some people to accompany their altered states of consciousness or otherwise.

Last night I was feeling really wounded. John Lennon said, "one thing you can't hide is when yr crippled inside," but I seem to have been able to hide it pretty well. I don't know what I'm going to do. I feel like no one loves me.

I'm so confused. My head hurts and I'm nauseus. Can it be because I'm confused? Did you ever get where you were on top of the world one day and then on the bottom the next. I don't know. I have to go.

So last night I had a great night. Friday was good too, but not as good as last night. Anyway, I hope I dream tonite.

So I don't know if I already said this, but on Saturday, April 26th I'm playing at show at Rocket Coffee (Monroe Ave. Rochester - near Krudco, Atomic Eggplant, Abundance Coop) at 9pm. I'm not sure who else is playing yet and I'm not sure what the cover will be (probably no more than a $5 donation). I think it's a benefit for Rochester Anti-Racist Action, but I'm not sure of that either. When I get more information I'll post it here.

Finally, I'm going to try and do a split CD-R with the Jesse Ames Experience. I wrote three new songs and I guess Jesse has three new ones too so I think a split's a cool idea.

Well, that's it for now. Like I said, I hope I dream.

PS: listen to Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs if you get the chance. They're off the hook.

PPS: "Where's yr friend Becky, dude. I want to go home." -p

Not really a lot to say, but I wasted all this time trying to get online so I might as well make the most of it. First of all, it's late and I'm kinda tired. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. It's not because I'm insomniac these days or anything (although I have been in the past). It's just that my schedule hasn't allowed me much time for sleep. Anyway, right now I'm sitting here at the computer having just finished my homework and I'm pondering tomorrow. I'm going through all these plans, schemes, for tricking myself into having a good time. That's what it's come down to these days, tricking myself into having a good time. If I think I'm having a good time, then usually I'm not and when I'm think I'm going to have a good time I almost always don't. What that means is that tomorrow I'm going to a show at 99 Custer St. and I'm going to enjoy it, but not by choice. I'll be forced to enjoy it by factors external to me. I think that was about the most meaningless thing I've ever said, but it makes me sound smart. I've never tried to hide the fact that I only pretend to be smart. It doesn't stop me from pretending though. So here in the computer room I feel so alone. I feel isolated because I'm trying to get this message across to millions of people, but no one seems to be listening. The message is: WAR IS STUPID. But that's not the only message. Love is the answer, that's a good one. I'm in love right now. I don't know why I know that, but I just do. Too bad she doesn't know she is. I sometimes think she is and she's just fooling herself and then I think that she isn't and she's fooling herself. Usually it just boils down to: I'm a fool. The best part about being in love is the longing. I love missing people. I know that somewhere out there there's someone that I'd just love to be with more than anyone and maybe that person feels similar in some sort of way. I don't really need to count on that though. I have my own feelings. I know what they are. What others feel is irrelevant. They're only actors in my dream... and it's MY DREAM!!! So anyway, tomorrow I'm going to play the part of a DIY Revolutionary. I'll pretend to be some depressed artist or something, but really what I'll be reflecting is the emptyness of my soul. I don't mean that in a pretensious arty sense. I mean it in a very literal sense. What I mean is that there really is nothing in me that's worth the body it's been given. Sometimes I think that I transcend this body, but it doesn't really matter. I am beautiful, but not by choice. If I had my choice I'd be the most hideous person on the planet. I think that most people want to be ugly. That's why there are so many anorexics. It's not a media-constructed beauty myth. It's a socially-constructed ugly myth. What it means is that the uglyer you are, the more excuses you can make for yrself. Well guess what! I'm beautiful and I have no excuse for not acting beautiful! No more pretenses. We're all rotting cadavers inside.

"Revolutionaries are cuter in thrift store threads."
- p & c

ps: don't go to the brown bean

soundtrack (v 2.0):
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
V/A - Follow And Believe (A FNB Benefit Comp)
The Promise Ring - 30 degrees Everywhere
Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs - demo
Last Days of April - Angel Youth


I'm kinda excited about the show at Custer St. on Friday, but I'm more excited about seeing my lover on Saturday. Go figure.

101 Ways To Stop The War In Iraq

I shouldn't be this happy but I am.

So here's what happened Friday...
We got to the Brown Bean and the guy said that I wasn't scheduled to play. I didn't think there was any point in arguing with him so I just left. Strauss and Casey (aka: Forgotten Figures Falling Together Between Two Twigs) asked me if I wanted to play in the Gazebo in the little square across from the Brown Bean so I said I was into it so we did. We traded off every other song in case we got shut down by the fuzz. It was probably one of the crazyest shows I've ever been a part of. Forgotten Figures tore the place up with their situationism and I played a couple of songs that sounded really bad because my fingers were numb and I forgot most of the words. Yay!

So I tried to post this poem earlier but there was something wrong with the site again. Here it is now.

*Onion Skin*

Dissect the layers
Inch by inch
Hydrosphere and Biosphere
Penetrate the flesh
Dominate every hemisphere
Become the cheshire cat pirched on a mountain of mustard grains
You need to grow wings
You really should try to grow wings

A long winter's journey into the darkness of a springtime in remission
I'm looking forward to the rain
Maybe the warm air will send yr heart back to me in an envelope marked, "what it is to be a pair of dispossessed eyes ... and what they saw"
But for now I'll just feel sorry for myself and know that yr not thinking about me
Even though yr always in my mind
An apparition for my thoughts
The subliminal poetry written in the first letter of each page of a 1000 page volume growing dusty and with a sandpaper cover destroying all the other knowlege on the shelf

I didn't want you to leave the car tonite
There's something symbolic of yr leaving
And when you call me tomorrow you won't be the same person

And all I could ask was, "why"
Isn't that the hardest question?
Who, what, where, when, how
Those questions deal with truth
But why is always subjective

I'm going to see the River Man
I'll tell him everything
Then he'll hit my skull
And attach a tube to my forehead
To suck out the leech that troubles my mind
When he dangles it in front of my eyes I'll squirm
But not as much as I am now that it's still inside of me

Ok, so it's the day before the show and here's some new information. I'm playing at 8pm (not 9 like I originally thought) and will be followed by John Smit at 9... or at least that's how I understand it. So once again, here's the info:

Hastheboyfallen
John Smit
Brown Bean - Fredonia, NY
Friday, Feb. 28
8-10(?)

I think that's the deal. Anyway, just be there at 8 or a little before.

Ok, so here's the news. I'll have copies of Six Degrees of Separation Anxiety available on a voluntary donation basis at the show on Friday. Six Degrees is my new full length. It's 12 songs, about 47 min. of music. Come to the show if you know what's good for ya. Hopefully, I'll have copies of Besar o no Besar as well, but i'm not promising anything at this point.

I wrote a whole bunch of stuff, but there was a malfunction and it didn't post. anyway, now i have to go to work and i don't have time to write it again.

It's confirmed. Next Friday I'm playing in Fredonia at the Brown Bean. Once again, that's Friday, the 28th of February from 9-10:30 at the Brown Bean in Fredonia, NY. Be there or be dumb.

If you haven't seen the I Hate Myself website yet, you should. It's pretty dope.

YellowTimes is back up yall! You knew it wouldn't be long.

Now I should really get some sleep.

'if you love me you'll sleep in my bed'

the password was ica and i thought it was iom. it's ok though, neither of them are real words.

*Nacirema Cross Stars*

I'm tired of being the one to take the blame all the time
Balanced on a wire and falling from the vibration you made
I'm not crazy
But sometimes I'm driven by that river to make*out in the back of a Buick
If I am the antithesis of sanity
You are the antithesis of helpful

The way I once thought things were has been shot down by a spirit sniper on the ground
I'm a brick in a hall of mirrors
The illusions are changing
Colors fading from crimson and purple to yellow and tawny
The shell is hell tonite
The perceptions of sensible objects has somehow shifted to a more skewed kind of futurism

If I am the antithesis of American
You are the antithesis of content

Star spelled backwards is rats
White hair and grey beards
Welcome to the olympics of academia
Hope you brought yr pencils
Nothing in the world matters more than homework
Homework means the world to me

Sorry if I sound cynical
If I'm the antithesis of anything
Everything is nothing
And you are the antithesis of material
Not even metaphysical
Maybe somewhat subconscious
(Definately 'sub' something)

We walk around like robots
We pay attention like it's a toll
We thank only half-sincerely in electronic voices
But if we are the antithesis of human
Love is the antithesis of us

I am the black bloc
You are the paracite
I am the bone marrow of a dead animal being ate out by decomposers
You are the concrete chopping block with paint replacing blood
I am the war helmet lost by a cadaver still walking, searching
You are the rose inbetween thorns
We are all just walking corpses
Because as soon as yr born
You start dying
And everywhere in chains

This is a very powerful speech by a 12 year old girl.

The show below is still unconfirmed. Sorry if you already told yr mom you can't go to yr little sister's dance recital because yr going to see me in Fredonia. I'll post more information as soon as I get it.

hastheboyfallen (me) - friday, feb. 28th - show - fredonia - the brown bean coffee shop - 9-10:30pm - be there or be somewhere else

A lyrical strem of consciousness (that means lyrics but not to any one song)

'if there's one thing i know it's how to make something out of nothing
when i play the fool the part comes alive so that it's no longer meaningless lines conjuring vague symbolic convergance
a soul on ice
a trophy display
lenin's tomb
his corpse rotting away
black lights and sleepless nights
it looks like things are getting better
i think the problem is getting worse
she said yr out of here
so i left
what else could i do
there's a factory in north lansing where the workers look out in desparate longing to escape the heat inside before the pinkerton returns
i'm nothing if not what you want
i'm everything beautiful
i'm nothing if not apathy
i'm everything dispossesed
i refuse to slip quietly into obscurity
i won't quiet down or fade away'

Playlist for now...
Sonic Youth - 1000 Leaves
Pavement - Terror Twilight
Public Enemy - He Got Game
Blackheart Procession - 7
238 - Regulate the Chemicals

... hmmm, and I think I'm going to listen to Nick Drake when I get home.

I've been coming home for lunch lately which has a few advantages. I don't have to pay for lunch at the union and I can relax in the cool, quiet atmosphere of the place where I spend most of my time. However, it also takes gas for me to drive from school to home and then back to school which pollutes the environment and supports terrorism. Hmmm, seems like alot of life is a bitter-sweet paradox these days.

This is a good site: http://www.rochesterhope.org/ Yay!

Speaking of movies, I heard that Brittney Spears walked out on one at Sundance because she "didn't understand it". Haha! Why do people like that even bother to go to Sundance if they don't want to make themselves look stupid? Oh, and another movie related note... David Gordon Green (director of George Washington - one of my favorite movies of all time) has a new movie out called All The Real Girls. Not sure if it's gonna be playing near here any time soon, but I sure hope so.

"The rain people are people made of rain and when they cry they wash themselves away."
- James Caan in Rain People (a good movie)

YellowTimes got shut down by so-called "patriots." Read about it.

I wish Death Cab For Cutie would come to a town near me. I was rocking out to a song by them that Nick put on a mixtape that he left in my car.

Oh! Before I forget, there's a show on Saturday that yall should go to. It's the first Rochester Anti-Racist Action show (yes, I realize that that spells RaRa! Please don't run around shouting it like a cheerleader) and it's at 9pm at Rocket Coffee (on Monroe Ave. near Krudco, Abundance Co-op and Atomic Eggplant if yall don't know). It's a benefit for Food Not Bombs I believe since ARA isn't having benefits for itself yet I guess.

Mike Soto is a genious.

---

On the bathroom wall today it said, "Don't ever fall in love."

it's really cold, but i'm still sweating
here's a poem i wrote last night

*LEVELSOFSOCIOCULTURALINTEGRATION (LEVEL50F50C1OCULTURAL1NTEGRAT10N)*

I had a dream that you were asleep next to me
And when I reached over to touch you you were gone
It wasn't a dream so much as a nightmare
Complete with gouls and goblins and ghosts
The irradiated vermin that crawl around under yr skin at night
And then force you to ask existential questions
Anyone who has never questioned the existance of everything has never questioned anything
Because you can't start in the middle of the labrynth and find yr way out in both directions
You can follow the herd by starting at the starting line
Of you can question everything by starting at the finish line
But you can't lock yrself away and throw away the key
You can't bury yrself in books and mud and then shatter the lenses of yr eyes
You can hide away in the forest of paradox
But the search party of reason will eventually drag you out

I had a dream that one day my children would be judged by their character and not their race, gender or class
That's a dream deferred
I inflated the plastic cloud past critical mass
It burst in a whirlwind of fanciful colors and sounds
But somehow the brilliance of the whole schene just left me empty

I wrote you a neurotic messsage and sent it from this computer to yrs
I typed without capitalization or punctuation
I said things that I was embarassed to say out loud
The computer stripped the romance away
And left just lines of passionless text
I almost regretted sending it
And I wondered...
Have we become little more than cyborgs?
Are we still divine beings or do we simply exist to use and maintain the machines that enslave us?
I wrote this poem on my weblog
I don't feel too good about it though
The computer needs us
We don't need the computer
These robots are in love with us!
These robots are killing us!

more spontaneous poetry...

i told dr. greenstein i'm already an existentialist
i told him he's got me figured wrong
i told him i'm sick of trying to prove the reality of my beliefs
i told him i'm content to believe in my existance and deny the orthodoxy of reality
i didn't tell him how tired i am
how i've been up countless nights imagining that i'm someone else or that i'm on the moon mining cheese
i've been through rivers of tears and blood or else rivers made of sand as a prop in my television mirage
i can't say if anything's real
there's nothing i really know

i told caitlin that i love her
i don't know if she believes me
but i create my own reality so who's to stop me from loving whomever i want
and i do want to love her
so i make my self sick with doubt and longing
i breathe heavy like an ox ready to strike
i swim in my own in-ground pool filled with self-pity
maybe i'll drown in there some day
but for now it works to plunge me deeper and deeper into hopelessness
the fountain of youth tainted by urine

I guess Laura Bush backed out of the symposium on "Poetry and the American Voice" because she was afraid they'd read anti-war poetry. http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/dn20030130.html

someone sent this to me. I guess it's been circulating around the internet.

If You're Happy And You Know It Bomb Iraq (by John Robbins)

If you cannot find Osama, bomb Iraq.
If the markets are a drama, bomb Iraq.
If the terrorists are Saudi,
And your alibi is shoddy,
And your tastes remain quite gaudy,
Bomb Iraq.

If you never were elected, bomb Iraq.
If your mood is quite dejected, bomb Iraq.
If you think that SUVs,
Are the best thing since sliced cheese,
And your father you must please,
Bomb Iraq.

If the globe is quickly warming, bomb Iraq.
If the poor will soon be storming, bomb Iraq.
We assert that might makes right,
Burning oil is a delight,
For the empire we will fight,
Bomb Iraq.

If we have no allies with us, bomb Iraq.
If we think that someone's dissed us, bomb Iraq.
So to hell with the inspections,
Let's look tough for the elections,
Close your mind and take directions,
Bomb Iraq.

If corporate fraud is growin', bomb Iraq.
If your ties to it are showin', bomb Iraq.
If your politics are sleazy,
And hiding that ain¹t easy,
And your manhood¹s getting queasy,
Bomb Iraq.

Fall in line and follow orders, bomb Iraq.
For our might now knows no borders, bomb Iraq.
Disagree? We¹ll call it treason,
It's the make war not love season,
Even if we have no reason,
Bomb Iraq.

I am Ned Flanders!
Which Simpsons Character are YOU?

This is my poem of conscience. Maybe the President will read it and it'll make him choke on a pretzel or something.

*War Is a Joke... and I'm not Laughing*

I saw Viggo on Charlie Rose wearing a home-made t-shirt that said, "no more blood for oil"
I saw the way they explained him away as if an obstruction to the escapism of entertainment
I saw the pseudo-intellectual post-modernist writing another page to his autobiography at the bar at the coffee shop
And I wondered if the chapters of his book will be about writing at the bar at the coffee shop
I saw the children rejoicing in Palestine and Iraq at the prospect of free candy and what appeared to be Amerika's demise
I also saw the prayer service
The zealots praying, "Dear God, kill the fuckers that did this"
Or praying, "Dear Allah, be with them in this time of need"
I watched in horror as the world melted into the palm of a dick-tator's hand
I heard them saying, "We killed them to save them" and citing Numbers 31:17
I saw the doves and hawks competing for breadcrumbs thrown at the dirt by the tourists of terror
I saw the candles, the infinite candles, melting and the wax blending and pouring over into the flower box
I watched in quiet desperation as storm troopers with gas masks trampled the flowers that once grew
I saw the dispossessed huddled in the corners of Western society with pockets full of herbs and heads full of ideas
For a fleeting moment I could see a beautiful existance where the only law is that of egalitarianism
I watched my friend spike his hair into a mowhawk because it made him feel like a righteous social misfit
I watched and I watched and I watched television in my angst ridden boredom
I played with fire because I thought it would change things
I disguised myself as a Democrat and wrote angry letters of protest to Hillary Clinton
I hid my face behind a black dandana like a villan in an old Western melodrama
I did everything I could
But Amerika still wouldn't see

I support this:

From: Sam Hamill, founder of Copper Canyon Press, Port
Townsend WA

January 19, 2003

Dear Friends and Fellow Poets:

When I picked up my mail and saw the letter marked
"The White House," I felt no joy. Rather I was
overcome by a kind nausea as I read the card enclosed:

Laura Bush
requests the pleasure of your company
at a reception and
White House Symposium on
"Poetry and the American Voice"
on Wednesday, February 12, 2003
at one o'clock

Only the day before I had read a lengthy report on the
President's proposed "Shock and Awe" attack on Iraq,
calling for saturation bombing that would be like the
firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo, killing countless
innocent civilians.

I believe the only legitimate response to such a
morally bankrupt and unconscionable idea is to
reconstitute a Poets Against the War movement like the
one organized to speak out against the war in Vietnam.

I am asking every poet to speak up for the conscience
of our country and lend his or her name to our
petition against this war, and to make February 12 a
day of Poetry Against the War. We will compile an
anthology of protest to be presented to the White
House on that afternoon.

Please submit your name and a poem or statement of
conscience to:
kokua@olympus.net

There is little time to organize and compile. I urge
you to pass along this letter to any poets you know.
Please join me in making February12 a day when the
White House can truly hear the voices of American
poets.

Sam Hamill

I'm at school right now. It's my second day of my second semester of college. I'm liking the classes I've had so far: Environmental Science, Philosophy, Sociology, Art and coming up at 1:15 is Anthropology. I'm interested in all those subjects, so I don't think I'll have a problem with boring classes this semester. Anyway, yall don't care about my schooling. Here's a poem. I probably could have structured the lines a little better (more sentence like) so they made more sense, but what ya gonna do.

*This Watch Says Yr Blind*

Friday bleeds into Saturday which bleeds into Sunday which fades into a deep blue Monday where the sun refuses to shine and the street lights only cast shadows
8am is a black widow spider enticing her prey, luring him with sex and excitment into the alleyway where no light can touch
The red illumination that burns the tired dreamer's eyes and scolds the tireless wanderer with a wage-system notion of scheduling seems bright against the black hole of digital clock
A post-industrial conception of time and the unnatural color of neon lights makes sure we don't step out of our roles as zombies in a made-for-television horror flick
They'll pass our act off as entertainment
A life size flea circus to sour the taste of bread and roses
But there's nothing entertaining about watching lemmings follow eachother over a cliff and into the pyre of Gehenna after you've seen it so many times
Even violent stupidity gets boring after a while
And so the half-hour-time-slot scheduling for the after-hours wage-system where we all pay mental rent ultimately defeats itself
Like a snake whose motto is "Join or Die" struggline to swallow its own tail whose motto is "Don't Tread On Me"
Time burns a hole in time and the natural illumination comes shining through
Humanity has come full circle
We've turned back the clocks again to the tribal ways of green anarchy
But have we only tipped the hourglass on its head
Of have we smashed it and scattered the sand over the cemetary lawn like the ashes of a friend who we all used to know but eventually somehow lost touch with

a mouse scurries around on the floor on which you walk lightly and gracefully
you are watching every step
careful at every corner
a mouse runs around trying to be the last ray of hope
you are walking slowly
the mouse's feet move swiftly
you step down and for a moment are distracted by the beaming sunlight in the stained glass window
the mouse stops at the wrong second
and it's all over
but we all gotta go sometime

Go to Rocket Coffee tomorrow at 9pm and see the Jesse Ames Experience. It'll be worth it (I think).
Also, go to Visual Studies Workshop at 7pm tomorrow to see init.two featuring Joe+N among others.
I'm gonna try and do both.

There's some good poetry here
Quote: thisisntjoesoto: you win this round miss dictionary 2000

http://www.infowars.com - I scare myself sometimes at how many things I agree with these people on. Filter through the racism, sexism, capitalism, homophobia and religious dogma and you've got some pretty brutal conspiracy theories that will keep the status quo on their toes.

Watched Two Towns of Jasper on tv last night. Did you ever notice how racist people always say, "I'm not racist, I just think n****rs are inferior." Maybe you should check yr definition of racism, buddy.

*MLK: A Memorandum*

Lots of people let locusts fly out of their mouths
Saying they know Jesus
So-called Christians with self-serving answers to What Would Jesus Do
Jesus would attack Iraq, Jesus was kill Saddam Houssein
But nobody knew Jesus of what or who he was
The so-called Christians say "know Jesus, know God"
But the Gospel of Thomas says "know yrself, know God"
Self knowlege is knowlege of the divine
Take a stand for justice
That's all Jesus was really saying
Dr. King took a stand against Vietnam and the FBI killed him
Dr. King was no killed by some cracker with three names like James Earl Ray
He was hunted down on the Poor People's Campaign Trail and in a brief moment of weakness outside his hotel room was slaughtered by the military-industrial establishment
The President was LBJ, Disciple of Christ
Would Jesus Use Agent Orange?
Rest In Peace Reverend King

Genious is relative. Celebrity is ridiculous. Consciousness is a lie.

*The Stars Are Really...*

I

Circles of sadness form around my eyes
I'm so alone when I'm without you
The hopeful swaying waves
Bring the driftwood that hits my feet
As it goes tumbling by on the water
The universe implodes around my mind
Inducing an alternative state of consciousness
Recalling the meaning of star-crossed lovers
A drop of blood in a bucket of tears
God's fatalistic snares
The dying roses that wash up against the shore
I held on up to you
But instead you gently kissed my neck
The circles of sadness form
Like Saturn's rings
Growing every minute I'm away from you
When yr near me again
I'll hold you like my shield from the radioactive world
You'll be my shelter from its deadly rays
And then I'll stare into the face of the moon and laugh
At the idea that whoever's face it is up there all molded in blue cheese
Has never felt the way I do at that moment
But (s)he's always been alone
And (s)he always will be

II

I wrap myself in the night sky like a blanket
Hoping maybe I'm delusional enough to believe it'll keep me warm
When it's so cold without you
I wish the summer would just melt everything
Including our hearts
And then we'd walk slowly to the irregular beating in our chests
I wish a lot of things
But there are never enough shooting stars to strap yr wishes on
Until one day you wake up to a giant meteor plummeting toward yr home
The great red shift
Or else you wake up to realize that all yr dreams have died
Suffocated when you weren't looking
And yr too old to start making new wishes
That's how people die alone

Poetry night at Rocket was chill.

These people don't like International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). I don't really like them either. http://authoritarianopportunistswhocozyuptogenocidaldictators-forpeace.org/ Should still Fight War, Not Wars, though.

When they said there's nothing new under the sun, I looked above.

A New Poem By My Of Deep Spiritual and Social Significance...

*A Part You Can't Touch*

Places like this are the pits we keep ourselves hidden inside
They're the blue lawns where discontent festers in a boiling caldron of pus
These places are the world between the curtain and the window
The negative space that escapes notice on the all-too-oft occation
The trick is not hearing the notes she is playing
But discovering the subtlties of those she isn't

Spiritually charged - finding rhythms - ready for battles
My feet in harmony witht he floor and the floor with the foundation and the foundation with the earth
And the earth - the metaphysical glue that connects us all on some higher level
Sharing the air we breathe
Becoming what is self-evident
It's all too obvious

I collapse in a heap of alienation on the couch of my malcontent
I disappear into the pattern like a divine chamelion
I can be quite invisible when I'm interested in being so
My body is still but I'm always in motion
Ona Move!
Discovering the Shangra La in my mind

Electrons passed through a wire connect us by the sound of our breathing
A cosmic energy charging the lines that strech like tentacles across every corner of the earth
Our questions remain unanswered as our answers reveal themselves in metaphors for the natural world (the matriarch) and our collective consciousness (the patriarch)
When our dream's been deferred for too long we strike out in rage against the system that shackled us and then left our bodies to become corpses
And we will no longer pay mental rent to the clergy of the last Aryan Empire
Our minds are our own

I haven't posted a poem in a while so here's a cute little one.

*Sitting on the Fence*

Somewhere near where the march of stagnance meets the stagnance of marching there are kids holding hands
Their eyes barely open
Their mouths pursed or streched into a smile
Caught somewhere between discontent and infinite ecstacy

The chemically treated grass that grows on the other side looks greener and more fashionable than ours
The sun rises on their side
But the sunset is beautiful on ours
Somewhere in the doldrums of existance after loss
There is a rainbow like a gift after the rain
And it feels like it's about to come pouring down in sheets

There's a decision I've been struggling hard to make
How can I decide where I'm going when all I want to do is stop going anywhere
There's always dreams
In my dreams I'm holding her
In my dreams I'm beautiful
In my dreams the sky is yellow
But it's only a dream

Just got back from Niagra Falls vacation. Went to see the Modigliani exhibit at the Albright Knox Museum. It's funny how much more attention someone will pay to something if they've paid money to see it. I've never seen so many goatees and berets in my life. The AK has a Duchamp, though ("Why Don't You Sneeze..." or something like that). I was happy about that.

I've got a few things to say...
1) I LOVE not celebrating Christmas. Hahaha, suckers! Don't be a corporate slave. buynothing!
2) All my energy is artificial. Instead of sleep and food, my veins are flowing with caffene and ginseng. I'm sorry. I just can't get to sleep.
3) Know what? Sunday was great, despite locking my keys in the car. Thanks to the homeless dude that hung out with me and you know who you are.
4) Not sure if I mentioned it before but Hope and Fear is really good. I saw him play at the Against Me show. Check him out if you get the chance. Also, City of Caterpillar was mad chill on Sunday. I love detournment.
5) a new poem...

*Teetering Around 4*

Light the flaxen wick with the passionate fire that burns deep inside you
I've seen it before
You can be quite beauiful when you need to be
As if the butterfly has landed softly on yr cold nose and struggles to decide where her wings will take her next

The light switch on the wall
Metaphysical objects that make more than sense
The one thing God can't do in Her dreams is adjust light levels
In our dreams we are gods
Is it true that thw whole world and everything in it is a metaphor for something else?

Why am I afraid when I realize I'm dream?
Is it because I fear what monsters I might conjure from deep within my convoluted sub-consciousness?
Standing like a statue on the crest of a wave
Marvel in marble
Not just being, but becomming

This is where fear and alienation meet
The disgusting corners of the mind
Where the winds of consciousness have swept dusty memories

Aparently "bloggers" "brought down" Trent "Lott"... whatever.

*The Future Says She Loves You*
by Mitch Jones

This boy is my one and only
This boy is my pride and joy
He’s the boy of the future
But can you face the pain when he stares you right in the face
The laser eyes and the pulsating glands
The steel teeth designed to rip apart flesh
And you say the television made him sick

I’m gonna fight the dark skinned terrorists with this boy
Not the patriots who kill in the name of Christ
But those infidel ones who crucified the twin shrines to capitalism
I’m gonna make this boy kill
I won’t be happy until I see veins in his teeth
After all, he’s the latest and the greatest machine
He always follows orders without questioning
And you told me he’s sick from the tv

I’m gonna give him a medal
So all the neighbors can be proud of their native son
They don’t have to know he was born in a metal shop
Their white eyes beam with excitement at the thought of turbans stained with innocent blood
They bake us pies and shower us with wax kisses because it’s Christmas
Their brains are baking in the oven
They’re baking bricks for the crucifix; they’re being whipped by Pharaoh’s stooges
And the television made them sick

Has it gone too far?

Yesterday felt like the end of the world... but after much soul searching I decided not to leave home just yet. I might wait to decide until after next semester. I've got a lot of things to figure out and I need to decide where I want my life to go. Props to everyone who gave me hope at the Against Me show!

I've got Mad Pride! Do you?

commentary on the billboard music awards:
beneath the crass commercialism, divisiveness and glorification of violence there is unity and even love somewhere to be found in all of us. the tribute to jam master jay was inspiring as artists from different races, sexes and genres joined together to celebrate the life of a soldier of peace. i was moved to the edge of tears by the unity and hope embodied in the embraces on stage and darrel mac and jmj's wife's speeches put me over the edge. unfortunately, somtimes it takes tragedy to bring people together.