From the force to the union shops
The war economy is making new jobs
But the people who benefit most
Are breaking bread with their benevolent hosts

Let them eat war [X2]
That's how to ration the poor
Let them eat war [X2]

            "Let Them Eat War" by Bad Religion

Bad Religion will be playing in Buenos Aires next month. I got my ticket the very next day after it was confirmed. I couldn't see them the last time the came (in 2001) and, of course, it's one of the bands I have to see before I die. A list that is getting smaller and smaller, luckily (Foo Fighters and Green Day are on top, now that Bad Religion will be removed). So, as you can imagine, I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait for the show.

All my scientists are working on a deadline
So my psychologist is working day and night time

Come out to play
Come out to play
And we'll pretend it's Christmas Day
In my atomic garden

          "Atomic Garden" by Bad Religion

The first one is, obviously, a song about war economies (or economies in war times, if you prefer) and the way the "feed" people with death. The second one is about the danger of atomic war. It mentions Gorbachev at some point and makes clear references to the president of the USA.
Very few bands are capable of handling this kind of issues with the clarity that BD does. The music may be repetitive sometimes, but you have to listen to what they are saying. Some of the songs are essays on political and social relations.

You are the government
You are jurisprudence
You are the volition
You are juridiction
And I make a difference too

          "You are the government" by Bad Religion

Another song. Now, comment. And yes, you suck and you've made my ears bleed count as a comment and it's welcomed (honestly. I don't mind.). Thanks.

Ya es tarde

http://www.musmakers.com/1.AboutBlank%20The%20Second%20Coming.Ya%20Es%20Tarde

In general
http://www.musmakers.com/1.AboutBlank%20The%20Second%20Coming

Because I know you are all getting really anxious, the first song I uploaded:

Save Me by AboutBlank

http://www.musmakers.com/1.AboutBlank%20The%20Second%20Coming.Save%20Me

I'm still the best at what I do. It's not my fault if what I do is stupid :P

Recorded a couple rehearsals. Will upload songs later. I hope people will listen and comment, or I'll feel I'm wasting my valuable time.

*with one figer pointing towards the sky, the other holding the mic*

*sings/shouts*
More a question than a curse
How could hell be any worse
The flames are stunning
The cameras running
So take warning!
     Bad Religion - Los Angeles is Burning

Coming soon, a couple diary entries. But that will be tomorrow.

Something [Zab] said made me think of one of my favorite Blur songs.

He talks at speeds, He gets nose bleeds
He doesn't see his days are tumbling
Down upon him
And yet he tries so hard to please
Hes just so keen
For you to listen
But no-ones listening
And when you put it all together
Theres the model of a charmless man

Now, has anybody seen a picture of The Good, The Bad And The Queen, Albarn's new band? Well, here there's one:
http://www.exclaim.ca/images/point_good_bad_queen.jpg
Check and and you'll see that, finally, Damon has stopped looking like a 15 years old. It was about time :P

Some time ago I read "1984" and went through a little stage of obsession about that book. Part of the obsession included the idea of writing a song based on it. Couple months ago I bought Bad Religion's latest album "The Empire Strikes First" and...

Boot Stamping On A Human Face Forever

“Drop dead, it doesn’t matter,” she said
“It only hurts when I laugh,” she said
“Sometimes it’s never a crime
“To spend the day in bed”
She made certain that the curtains were red
To dream better by the light they would shed
She leaned back, tilted her head
And this is what she said…

“You can’t win; think it over again
“I can’t win; look at the trouble I’m in
“We can’t win and we’re stuck here together
“Yeah, I hope it will last forever.”

“Don’t ever dare to hope,” he said
“So I’m never let down too bad
“I know there’s nowhere to go
“So I’ll just stay here, instead”
He knew better than to pull at a thread
They unravel like the thoughts in his head
He looked out; it filled him with dread
And this is what he said…

Chorus

Don't you hate when other people do what you want to do and do it a lot better than you'll ever be able to? :P

Wow, wow, wow (Err, not as in World of Warcraft, but as in "Wow"). I'm Member of the day in Elfwood. I'm there, in the main page :D *smile full of easily earned satisfaction*

Call me and I'll answer
At home in the lost and found
You said I'm much too proud
Someone who's taking pleasure in breaking down

             M.I.A. Foo Fighters

Very nice lyrics.

Danger! Danger! I'm about to order from Amazon for the first time in my life. While it won't be cheaper than looking for books in english in bookstores here or ordering cds at music stores, the catalogue is a lot bigger. But this could be dangerous for my economy :P

What do you think? Should I try Barnes And Nobles or any other online store too?

I rehearsed for the first time with my new guitar. It was cool.
The singer is still in Chile, so I sang most of the songs. We didn't focused in our songs, played lots of covers and such. Some examples: "Stand by me", "Wonderwall" and "Fade Away" by Oasis, "Pipe Dreams" by Travis, some parts of "Times Like These" and "Next Year" by Foo Fighters and even "Tender" by Blur (which, of course, goes pretty high at some points and we all know that my voice is pretty low xD Damn Damon Albarn and his tendency towards highness). It was a lot of fun.

*sings*
Tender is the day, demons go away
Oh God I need to find some who can heal my mind

I showed the guys a couple parts of new possible songs. And also showed some with lyrics written by [Linderel]. It's a pity that in the rehearsing space we've been renting they can't record. We'll change it next time, though, and maybe I'll be able to upload a few things to show all of you.

Weeeeell... Rain or no rain, storm or no storm, I'll have to face the weather and go to work :P

See you in a while.

It's raining outside. I need an umbrella :P Somebody lend me one.

Miss. Silverunicorn and yours truly are trying to bring back to life an old RPG named "The Five Souls". If anybody (and by anybody I mean you, you and you) is interested, we could use a couple more persons, so just ask me about it. It's a rare occasion, since I don't rp a lot. And it's an even rarer occasion because this should force me to write a lot. And you all know how good I'm at writing and how lazy too ;O

I bought a new guitar yesterday :D It was about time that I had one in good shape and sounding ok and all that. Of course, me being myself I went with a pretty classic shoice: Fender Squier Strat California series in black. Nothing very particular, but the kind of guitar I like :D No pictures of it yet and, in any case, it looks totally standard, at least for the moment.

It's something like this:
http://matthewm.boedicker.org/img/squier_strat.jpg

But more like this:
http://www.casalibertella.com.ar/assets/images/g_fender_cs_st_rwbk_gde.jpg

It's the some model, but one is in maple (the first one) and one in rosewood (the second one). Mine is in rosewood.

Ok, last link I put here today, I promise.

This is a real marketing move and not that silly Ronald McDonald character.

http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/kisblood.htm

OMG! I think I've found him!

http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=reporterdv5.jpg

I want it, I want it, I want it... somebody buy it for me, yes?, pleeeease?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2007/01/06/pdrac06.xml

Who the hell are Abercrombie and Fitch? :P

Suggest me a mood!

Note: I know this is pretty long and that that will probably make lots of people ran away, but it would mean something for me if you took the time to read it and, maybe, disagreeing or not, expressing an opinion.


I was thinking that some more of my "Impossible to accomplish" new year's goals were in order. Obviously "Conquering Belgium" still stands. Playing in the CBGB with Mr T Experience or Foo Fighters is a good one too (the fact that the CBGB is closed doesn't really add a lot to the impossibility of playing anywhere with public). But, instead of that, I'll give you all a few optimistic thoughts for this new year.

Let's start with the needed song quote:

You've got a chance to confront the world today
Desperate romance is the curse of castaways
What good is skill if you don't make it to the dance?
Despite the circunstance, you've got a chance
            Bad Religion - You've Got A Chance

Having the chance to confront the world is probably one of the happies, most optimistic ideas I can think of. It means that we actually have the freedom (most of us do, luckily. There are place where you probably can't) to confront the stablished order, in your own way and to your own pace, and you aren't obliged to agree. It's one of the real ways freedom can be achieved. By confronting what's around you, doubting it, taking decisions about it, fighting it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about revolution here. Nothing so extreme. I'm just talking about wondering how reality works from your own place, in the way you can and how you want. May it be by stating your opinions clearly from a listened-by-3-persons radio show, be it through your songs, be it with the poems you write, the pictures you draw or by getting in the street and shouting to the world. By discussing with the person sitting next to you. Or with the hardest and simplest, at the same time, procedure: by thinking.
Thinking is curious. It may take you to all the wrong conslusions and all the wrong places. But remember this: msot of the world's populace doesn't think. Ever. They are in their place and they are content in it and never wonder about why they are there or how they got there. That's not wrong, it's their way to live. But they don't think. And they still get to all the wrong conclusions and all the wrong places. So, isn't it better to at least analyze the path?
We are all part of what's called the "System". I would be an hypocrite if I pretended I'm not. I work in it, live in it, wonder about it from inside it. And most people is the same way. Again, there's nothing wrong with it. It's a choice and you get your happiness the way you can/want. What isn't right is not being conscious that you are inside a system and that things happen around you. That's loosing.
So, ask where you are and what's really going on. And when you have gotten some answers... well, question the answers, too. It's a long, neverending process, but it's freedom at work, so you shouldn't complain about it ;)
On a last note, remember that newspapers, tv shows, radio programs, websites, anything related to news, are lying to you. Just like that. They are giving their own version of "reality" with their interpretation and with their own interests in mind. There's no such thing as being objective. Therefore, never take them for granted and doubt them. Interpretation is the only way to the truth. Oh, and of course, don't believe me either. The fact that I wouldn't lie to you doesn't mean that I'm telling the truth.
So, going back to the optimistic thoughts, let 2007 be a year of confrontation with the world and its mechanics. Make it be that way at least inside your head. Don't let yourself be fooled, chained, used or taken advantage of. Think, please, think. It's a way to win every time. I can't think of few things more optimistic that the idea we can do it. And I'm sure we can do it.

PS: I actually started playing with some of the ideas in this text (none of them too original or new, of course) yesterday. In the way from the mental work to the written form and with 24 hours in the middle, several things got lost and the shape lost beauty too. Happens all the time. Also, there were a few things that I left aside so it wouldn't be so long.