77 Wars

my brother, russell wrote this recently…

Have you ever slowed down enough to watch yourself make your morning cup of coffee?

I had the opportunity when I was sitting in an MD-80 Jet bound for Spokane, Washington. I was listening to a mixed CD I picked up in Sedona, AZ at a Thai Restaurant, of all places, from our waiter by day DJ by night.

I was listening and enjoying my quiet mind time between two strangers sharing my row. The attendant placed the cup in front of me…nothing new…coffee, 2 sugars, 2 creamers and a stirrer. It was in the moment when I reached for the cup that I noticed my hand and everything else slowed down. I watched my hand slowly grab the cup and as I tilted it back to look in, my eyes were pulled into the steaming black gold, gleaming and holding my face in its reflection. I reached for one of the creamers and pulled back the foil lid gently and slowly poured the creamy white dominator into the center of my cup. Swirling, the creamer’s pattern; before my eyes I watched the coffee quickly lose its beautiful brown significance. Now I could have employed more patience, taking this experience to the next level, in ripping open my two packets of sugar…but I didn’t…since I enjoy far more the experience of the tandem tearing of the two packets, simultaneously at the ready to sweeten my grail of morning power. As I poured the sugar I watched the creamy gold fold over and over the tiny diving grains of delight.

I pulled back the second lid of cream…now this can be an optional addition…but in this moment I could not pass up on the experience. This time round the cream rested a bit on the top of the cream laden coffee creating psychedelic swirls that slowly disappeared into the creamy brown sea. My grail was almost complete, ready for me to enjoy. All that was left was to insert my stirrer and counter clockwise work my soldier of equality until I felt assured that the taste would be perfect. Oh and it was! Hot, smooth aromatic; could this be had from a cup of Seattle’s best on a plane poured from a happy steward? It was on this day in May, high above in the friendly skies in seat 27B. mmmmmm!

frog eyes – strange and emotional, in a kind of arcade fire sort of way. but in it’s own kind of way. the album i checked out is called ‘tears of the valedictorian’. it’s consistently energetic and a selection i think might be a good way to stay awake and have fun driving in the car. well worth giving a listen to if you are not a dim-wit and like good music. out now on absolutely kosher records.

dr. dog – these guys rock. imagine that the beach boys went with eery keyboards at times, or with distorted guitars at others and got crazy, but then could be mellow and, well, perhaps i’ll update my review when i listen to it a couple more times, but it’s frikkin good. the album is ‘we all belong’ on park the van records. it’s good times, thoughtful and speaks lightly of pain sometimes, but with a smile. always with a smile.

calvin johnson and the sons of the soil – these guys are awesome. if you love singers that can’t really sing then this rock and roll album is for you. lou reed, steve malkmus, david berman… they can’t carry many notes, but they are some of my favorite singers and calvin johnson is right up there with them. think drunk and rock at a shitty bar that you love. like holly golighltly meets, uhh, never mind, screw some stupid music equation. just go buy this record. it’s the newest and self-titled album, on k records.

“When Tony Blair tells you something, as we say in Texas, you can take it to the bank. We’ve got a relationship such that we can have really good discussions — so I’ll miss him, he’s a remarkable person and I consider him a good friend,” bush said.

the quote is from an article on the reuters web site. it reminds me of how much i won’t miss tony blair.

tonight at the echo in echo park my friends are having a dance party. it’s gonna be fun without a bunch of snootyness… tandemoro are nothing if not one of the most fun bands around these parts of town or anywhere for that matter. they’re good guys that really enjoy playing music. come on, when was the last time you saw a whole band smiling?

written in that darkest of hours for every waiter. this is from the old days of the brite spot graveyard. rest in peace ye night-crew of olde.

1. you are an idiot

2. your server has many more important things to do, but has taken a few precious moments of his time and wasted them talking to you. this means hurry up. hurry the fuck up and order.

3. do not ever complain

4. if your server is rude to you, you should tip him well. the next time he sees you, he may be less rude or even pleasant. if your server is still rude upon you next meeting, continue to increase the tip amount until your waiter is able to tolerate you.

5. NEVER mention your server’s lack of emotion, motivation, or enthusiasm.

6. do not tell him how you are doing unless he asks first.

7. do not make little jokes with your server unless he initiates it. remember, your jokes are not funny.

8. do not mention how expensive stuff is. primarily, your server does not care. also, your server did not set the prices. remember, your job is to not aggravate your server.

well, i’m trying to cover all the starting points since this site is fully up and running now. i haven’t written much about hockey recently because the regular season is over and, as usual, my team is not playing in the playoffs. as far as what’s going on now… i hate the san jose sharks and i hope that the recent turnaround in the series will continue and see them out of the playoffs by the middle of next week, go wings ( i am not truly a red wings fan, but i root for them in the playoffs for my friend ben, who is, for better or worse, from michigan). i especially hate the anaheim ducks and wish them all the worst a team can get. for the rest… i hope the devils can come back and beat ottawa, i don’t really know why, but i do not like the senators. as for the battle for new york… go rangers. buffalo? i don’t know… not a big fan, besides it’s good for a city of losers to stay losers.

anyways, my team is, has always been, and always will be the los angeles kings. which means i’m an idiot who will forever be in pain over the futility that is kings hockey.

ahh, the joy of staples center… if you’ve never gone, go see them play next year… they’ll probably lose, but it’ll be in one of the premier sports facilities of any league.

…and there were many acts of petty brutality, for shanghai was an occupied city and soldiers are men at their most beastly.

well, this shark faced fast walking business chick shoulder checks me as we walk by on the street. i turned around expecting to exchange glances and give her the “what the f***?” combo of confused face, shoulders raised and palms turned out, but she was steadfastly walking with no discernible change of demeanor. what a complete bitch, i thought. but whatever. this was the day i expected when i left the house.

when i was in high school and i read slaughterhouse-five, i figured out that i could read something other than stephen king books. that there was merit, somewhere, in this whole idea of learning and experience. that the people who organize things don’t necessarily know anything about, well, anything.

maybe it’s because i’m feeling older, but i realize that, especially as a guy who reads and watches a lot of wwII stuff, that pieces of our world, or our connections to them, are constantly disappearing. it’s not a time for me to be sad about these things, but to embrace them while they are here and remember that we’re all going to die. my girfriend’s grandfather told me about how he had to hide in the mountains in southern france during the nazi occupation, and who’s gonna tell our kids about all that stuff? no one will be here to do it in person…

shit, i’m rambling, pointlessly, but i’m sad that another great writer is dead. though, it was good to know we were walking around on the same planet for awhile.

i’ve been obsessed with this record for a really long time. the self titled jesu album. this is the music i would play in a church if i had a church. yes… nothing lasts, but we get to live lives that make all this nothing seem so huge and wonderful. maybe i should start a religion… somehow based on metal/post-metal/doom records. i know ben would show up. i guess it would ultimately end up not being a religion so much as ben and i hanging out listening to records. sometimes smoking flavored tobaccos from his hookah and drinking some beers. maybe it should be a cult then? can we talk about hockey in a real cult?

well i just found this…
http://www.blackplague.org/cult/

anyways… my original posting was just these lyrics from jesu (justin k broaderick)
—

And all the stones I’ve thrown,
they come back twice as strong.
And all the stones I’ve thrown,
they tell me nothing lasts.

And all stones you’ve thrown, they come from your highest throne.
Pass them on to me below,
they remind me nothing lasts

Nothing