on emotional pain.

A few days later...

We need to make some headway on the issue of head-space.  More precisely, it would be nice to find a better way to handle anger, resentment, and hatred.  These three monsters stand in the way of our progress to the heavens.  If the mind could be opened up so that inner-space and outer-space unite, the expansion would shrink the monsters nearly infinitely. Their power could be rendered insignificant.

There are artificial means of spacing-out, but they usually have a down-side that returns us to Earth too quickly, and we burn-out.  What we need is the transcendent power of progressive trance to loose the moorings of our mind.  The mind is the seed that impregnates space.  Everything that we are resides within its pellucid shell as it reaches up toward the truth.  May you hold your mind in balance, above the grasping vices, in high orbit.  Your eyes will glaze and the images they report may grow fuzzy.  You may hear thoughts as well as sounds.  Time could go funny.  Just learn to trust and love.  It is a gift the other species have not forgotten.  Angels we have heard on high….

Testing, testing, one, two...

Yes, and hello.  It is a hitherto unwritten rule that electronic biographical logs (blogs, for short), must start off with a brief reference to how much time has passed since the previous entry.  The better to fit in, we will now observe that custom.  Sorry, it's been about a month.

As we were trying to remember the name of the server on which the martian hop exists, we stumbled upon an internet segment entitled:  Mars rover photo reveals iguana, blogger claims.  Fossilized iguana. The discovery of the dinosaurs started out with a giant iguana as well.  Coincidence?  The thing is though, the Martians are already here on Earth, in our minds.  I'll leave that with you and make no guess at their origins.  Maybe one day we'll have more definitive proof. "Where you from, you sexy thing?" Do you believe in miracles?

As the old cross-dressing, sex-addict-actor once said: "I want to believe".  Did you know he was in Twin Peaks as well?  So many questions, so few answers.  That's why we love trivia here.  Nothing is too trivial.  Something's always better than nothing.

And practice makes perfect.  Does it?  My human sibling's now-deceased high-school band teacher used to say that "perfect practice makes perfect".  But since the intergalactic juries are still out on the existence of perfection, and high-school band performances continue to suggest against the possibility, we'll have to stick with "practice makes practiced".  Being practiced is far better than not, so we'll just keep trying to get better.

That's it for now. Keep your peckers up.

Zmz

...until next time.

A recent discovery: we at the hop are not the only ones doing this inter-web journal writing thing. There are hundreds of other people out there with personal computers writing on a wide range of topics! Isn't Earthling innovation marvellous? So, after having made this discovery, we need to think about how to stay competitive in a growing market. How can we stay relevant and worthy of your attention, audience? Are we sending these words off into the cold blankness of space, or are you out there with your radio-receivers, picking up the message? What would you like to read about? Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Until next time....

inflammation

Waifu and I have determined it is time to cut down on our consumption of sugar.  No more cookies for breakfast.  There is some anecdotal evidence that skin problems such as psoriasis can have their effects reduced when healthier eating habits are adopted.  Carbohydrate-laden foods such as white flour, rice, and potatoes increase inflammation. But none promotes disease and decay like processed sugar. Replacing these ne'er-do-wells with a variety of different shaped and coloured plant-life, olive oil, and fish oil can work wonders. If you or anyone you know has a problem with sugar, please know that you are not alone.  Together we can fight this terrible substance and an addiction that leaves millions sick, homeless, and destitute every hour.  Join a local addictions support group in your area. Practice transcendental meditation. Go for long walks on the beach. Boycott fast-food chains and candy-bar manufacturers. We can make a difference, and give the children of tomorrow better, healthier, more luminous skin.

Tonight is All Hallow's Eve. The spirits of those long dead cry out for release from the hell to which they have doomed themselves through unhealthy eating choices. I ask you not to obey these vengeful spirits by sacrificing the well-being of our young people. Refuse to give out anything at all, or if you must, stick with apples and carrot-sticks. The roaming souls may then find peace, and our little ones will have a fighting chance at avoiding the sins of their forebears.

Insects rule the Earth

Zmz has been desperate to do something useful, and in at least some small way important, for most of his years on this planet.  Doing is the predicate and vital part of a being.  Anxiety grew out of the clash between this fundamental sub-creative urge and the weakness of fear.  The fear is often of  embarrassment; of the loss of perceived control; of the opinions or ill-will of others; of the shifting, shadowy non-entity "Failure".  These fears so often coddled what appeared to be an infant, but was, rather, an ancient, immortal man shrunk to the size of a beetle whose name is Cowardice.  The myth of this creature is similar in some ways to that of Tithonus.  However, while Cowardice rolls a ball of faeces forever up-hill, Tithonus shrank to a wizened cricket and made music in the night (pining for his love, the Dawn).  Anyone who has had a new-born human in a household can attest to a similarity with this latter creature's sleep habits.  Also, a babe does not know fear until taught it, and is brave to a fault.  Everything is new in its innocent eyes, everything is there to explore, experience, and put to use (or in its mouth).  If someone claims as an insult that a fellow is being childish, it is actually an unintended compliment.  Of course we cannot all be children all the time. But everyone has their brave, innocent, childish self within them to protect against forever rolling in shite.

Now for something a little more serious...

Hello spacemen and spacewomen,

Have a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_trSIBCgF0

It seemed like just the thing.

Love,

zmz

Alasdair Roberts and friends, post-show thoughts.

As mentioned in a previous jotting, there were recently several "materialisations" of Alasdair and Friends this side of the pond.  We were fortunate enough to have the chance to see him do his thing on stage when he came through town after performing at the Calgary folk-festival the week prior.  This was a "big deal" for Zmz, to say the least.

There were some misgivings in the back of the mind that the night would be another case of dashed expectations.  Waifu came along, aware of the significance, her first-born sharing a name with the singer, but herself not too enamoured of Mr. Roberts' body of work.  She finds his music, in the main, depressing.  This is understandable: he does transplant a fair few dark notions and traditions from Scotland's brooding past to the present-day.  But for me, the chords he strikes recreate a world and people beloved by my father, with a history taught to me with love and earnestness since as far back as I can remember.

The venue was run very professionally and had the feel of a small cabaret or jazz club.  The sound quality was top-notch, and when the opening act encountered problems with a cable, a working replacement was quickly produced.  There were no such issues during the main act.  We were the youngest people at the show, with two possible exceptions; however, this was not all that surprising as it was a Monday night.  From the banter with the local opener it appeared as if a number of the city's seasoned audiophiles were in attendance.

Just prior to the performance I got a chance to exchange a few words with Alasdair himself.  I felt keenly embarrassed upon approaching the soft-spoken, unassuming young man and starting to blabber.  I am acutely aware that most of the talking was done by the "fan" in this situation.  Anyhow, the moment felt surreal: all synapses were firing at once.  He was gracious and gentlemanly; I was pleased as can be, and probably came off as manic and strange.  I should have chosen what I wanted to say more carefully, but blurted out what came to mind, that my son shares his first name by no accident, that I feel akin, being born in Scotland et cetera.

The opening act served to warm up the audience quite well, generating some back-and-forth and calming the butterflies.  Alasdair and Friends (electric guitarist/harmonica player and up-right bassist; the drummer and violinist having been refused entry to the United States for one reason or another) started off with a song about the Highland clearances from the new album A Wonder Working Stone. The rest is rather a blissful blur.  There was a generous helping of both old and new songs. He had audience participation on "...the sun shines down on Carlyle wall/... and the lion shall be lord of all", an old Scottish (well, of course) folk-song about infanticide.  Only a few days earlier in this city a woman drowned herself and left her two infants to die in a bathtub.  Quite the opposite to being inappropriate, this dour ditty's call-and-response felt like an act of catharsis.  It's hard to know if this tune was chosen for the set-list especially for this reason.

The man really pours himself into his art.  His finger-picking is astonishingly nimble, his voice clear and ringing, and he was soaking in sweat after only two or three tunes.  His bassist has arms like the limbs of an old oak tree and fingers you'd be thankful to have had the limp-fish handshake from.  His guitarist looked a bit bored for most of the set, but livened up when getting the chance at singing vocals or playing the mouth-harp.  I put it down to being tired near the end of a long road trip playing the same material time and time again.  The inclusion of his noisy, atmospheric touches helped recall The Night is Advancing and some tracks from Spoils.

Alas, all good things must also come to pass, but not before a terrific instrumental piece followed by "Riddle Me This" from The Amber Gatherers for an encore.  Then it was over.  I walked out feeling inspired, more aware, and jittery with creative energy: not a bit let-down, and with fresh album of new tunes in hand.  Waifu seemed content, and I'm so glad she came as well.  Certainly not a night soon to be forgotten.