Posted 2.14.10 at 7pm.
So today I had my first outing into the world and I wound up walking three whole blocks away from the apartment. On the way we pass two ladies and a man. I'm walking with crutches that are taller than most grown men and as the trio approach they veer to the side and one of them eyes me:
HER: I don't know if you believe sir, but Jesus wants you to heal!
ME: Why thank you! What a lovely thing to say!
HER: Havagood day!
ME: Havagood day!
I don't believe in Jesus. I also don't believe anyone who tells me to be afraid of walking down the streets of Oakland. I don't believe in anything anyone of them has to say. I have met too many people to believe anyone is inherently in poor standing or to be feared. I don't live in a red or a blue state and neither do you. The only way anyone can paint a state is to pretend to so on a map or a screen because life won’t allow it’s self to be put into such weak and callous boxes. People try but it never lasts. Roots break concrete all the time. I’ve never met a terrorist in my life but I know that there’s a sucker born every minute and once you make someone fear you can talk them into doing anything. I do know that things get better once you stop being afraid of one another.
Posted 2.4.10 at 10am.
A couple days ago fellow amoebite Susannah was ringing up someone and I heard her gasp and say "Ummm Ryan? I'd like you to meet... Ryan Stark" I met a guy with my exact name. I wonder if he'd ever been on ryanstark.com? It was weird shaking Ryan Starks hand. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to be nice to eachother or fight to the death. He didn't look like a Ryan Stark to me. He looked like a Sheldon.Or a Mitchell. I bet I didn't look like a Ryan Stark to him either. Either way, we let each other live and perhaps next time we meet there will be only one... nah, just kidding this isn't Highlander. However if your name is Ryan Stark I imagine you've been on this website before so drop me a line Ryan! I figure this at least warrants us getting a cup of coffee.
Posted 1.23.10 at 1am.
It's so maddening to see that the supreme court voted in such a ludicrous idea as treating corporations as people. There's a lot to it but to me the math is pretty simple on this one. Our inalienable rights as people are predicated on the fact that we are alive and the decisions we make while alive reflect one slice of an all encompassing pie of thoughts, passions, emotions and connections with other people who also are alive. And one day we're all going to die. What separates a corporation from us is that a corporation has no ability to do anything that I just mentioned. It simply goes out of business and everyone finds something else to do. Meanwhile there is bus load tonnage of young American people being sent back in pieces to be ready for a closed casket. Each one has their own story with a tragic ending but the one thing they all had in common is that they were willing to put their precious lives on the line in a country who's language they don't speak to help protect the idea that is America. And the supreme court just put their lives on the same legal plateau as Save-Mart. My first reaction to this is to try to break every window in North America but that wouldn't get anyone anywhere. What I will do is work diligently to do whatever I can to stop this from happening and end it because until we can send a Wal-Mart to die in Afghanistan in lieu of a young American boy or girl they just won't be able to measure up. Don't agree? Bring your best arguments to the contact link and I'll take them out in 500 words or less.
I have not been up to much lately as I was hit by an SUV on my bicycle and that hindered ability to do things a bit. Sometimes it's fine and other times a flight of stairs might as well be Everest. I had an MRI done and came to find out that the knee I was walking around on for a month had a completely severed ACL. What's left of my ACL is just floating in my left knee. My lawyers and they're lawyers are all sorting it out to figure out what is fair and it's always weird to me that these situations are always figured out by people who had nothing to do with the situation in the first place. I have not ran one iota in months and look forward to when I finally can get moving for real. There's a cool website that shows what's going to be done to me at www.orthoillustrated.com. Find the "ACL All interior method" link and that's what will happen to my left knee. I'm so impressed by orthopedic surgery. If you see the website you'll see that its not even surgery or even science anymore but just to see who can actualize the best guitar solo of a surgery imaginable. What great music/drugs was the inventor of the "All interior method" experiencing when they came up with that? If you know use the aforementioned contact link and I promise that I'll thank you in 500 words or less.
Posted 11.2.09 at 11am.
I dressed up for Halloween. Natalia was an owl and I was a tree. I had all these leaves and branches glued to me. I even glued a small fake birds nest to my shoulder. We went to a Halloween show in west Oakland and there was someone else who was dressed as a tree. I thought that was pretty cool. The place was packed and there were Halloween cover bands playing. Devo, Rudimentary Peni and Op Ivy cover bands. The Devo was my favorite. they even had the costume changes and A/V. I was impressed that every person in the room had a costume on and they all seemed home made. one person came as the trans America building another came as a giant eyeball and another as a pinata. I thought it was pretty cool to see so many home made costumes and creative people. I also noticed that since there were so many home made costumes there was a total absence of the sexy nurse, devil, cat, nun, etc. costumes present. It made me think that when people are left to their own devices they don't want to do that to themselves. Halloween is a holiday of objectification in that once you dress up as something else you give up your identity in lieu of something else of your choosing. It's predicated on other people seeing the costume an not saying "there's a person over there." but saying "look it's Darth Vader!" It makes me think that when people dress in those colored lingerie costumes that they're being told or strongly influenced to do so by some outside force. Later two drunk guys got into a fight. The guy on the right was in a suit and landed a square punch to the face of the guy on the left who was a zombie. It made me flinch when I saw it. there was a lady in a wheel chair right next to them trying to get out of that situation but unable to so I happed in and split the guys up which tore a few leaves off of my costume. a bunch of people then made the suit guy leave and I was checking out the zombie guy. his face was covered in blood and I told him he should go check himself out because his face was covered in blood. he drunkenly said "No man... it's fake blood!" I tried to get it across to him that I understood that he had fake blood for his zombie costume but that there was real blood on it now but he just kept exclaiming "it's fake blood" over and over. I don't think he really knew what was going on. after that we figured it was time to bail so we went off. I looked at my hands. they were caked in fake/real blood and at that moment I felt like I was a Misfits song.
Posted 8.13.09 at 4pm.
Earlier today the great Jazz drummer Rasid Ali passed away. I was lucky enough to see him and meet him years ago but it's a real rough pill to swallow. Ali was Coltranes last drummer and afterwards did a lot of amazing music. There are no bad records with Rasid Ali on them. anything with his name on it is worth your time. Am now working on some songs and some essay types stuff I've been working on as of late. Looking forward to getting through this batch of things in my head so I can move on. If you don't get whats inside of your head out in someway you'll never be able to move ahead from where you were and will be as interesting to talk to as someone who wants to talk about the "good old days" of punk rock. I'm not going out like that. I'm looking forward to a weekend of getting a lot of things done and a lot of things inside of me out onto a piece of paper or through a guitar. Tomorrow I turn 29.
Posted 8.2.09 at 11am.
been writing a lot and making new songs. Have been hit especially hard lately by the music of Klaus Nomi. That Voice! Yesterday I checked out an art opening by Mark Mothersbaugh at a tattoo shop. It was pretty cool. It comprises of these old looking pictures that are mirror imaged through the center. Some of them are cool and creepy but most of them were very joyous and fun. Tonight this one band called Sonic Youth is playing here at this little place called the Fox Theater. I wanna go and support cause I really think they're going to go somewhere someday.
Posted 7.4.09 at 1pm.
Well Earth has travelled around the sun once again and its time for America to celebrate it's corny anniversary of independence. 230 years ago many rich white slave owners decided that a shift in political power called America would be a better way to save money and it took a lot of killing and war to make it happen. This is celebrated as most battle inspired anniversaries throughout history have been celebrated; by blowing things up in the sky. I don't care one way or the other about any holiday and the further I can stay away from them the better. I think that the requisite beer, barbque, fireworks mill is both boring and scary at the same time. Americans are so good at doing things when they aren't out celebrating something. Think of all the cool shit that Americans have done and how none of them happened whilst celebrating this countries bloody birth. I do feel lucky to be an American and the privelage it allows me but not for one second am I proud or pretend that I am free. I hate fireworks as they remind me of war and gun shots which are being heard with more and more regularity here in Oakland. I always thought a good way toremember something is a moment of silence which I wish could be incorporated more into this paticularly violent holiday. I look forward to July 5th as much as I avoid the 4th. I could go on for pages more but I won't. This holiday just really piss me off.
Posted 6.25.09 at 6pm.
Michael Jackson died quite a long time ago.
working more on the nocityintheworld.net site. There's a link to it now. as of now you can only listen to the tracks but soon enough you'll be able to download it. Up now are Guard Rails, Young Lions, Children, Bafabegiy, Disconnect and many others. Go now!
Posted 5.28.09 at 8am.
We recorded nine Guard Rails songs that we're going over again with a fine tooth comb and making sure the levels are right etc. Was supposed to go to another Prop. 8 protest in the city last night but wound up accidentally breaking a mirror instead. that's a mess you cant leave around for a house cat to find so no protest for this guy. Oh well. Some of the types at the protest can get a little hard to take. After the protest they want to go smash a sears or something. I never think that protests do much immediately. I don't think that protest songs do much for change in an of themselves. I do think they're important but only for the people protesting. It helps re instill that you are not alone and that this thing that is effecting you is effecting other people. A common enemy makes comrads out of strangers. all they need is that one spark, one instant, one chance too meet.
Posted 4.29.09 at 12pm.
Today while pouring a cup of musli for myself today I noticed some movement in my mouth after the first bite and then two spiders crawled out of the bowl I just made. I chewed and ate what I assume to be the third spider and threw the rest away. I actually felt pretty weak about that. I threw away a bowl of food because I was so disgusted by spiders. lame. Probably was more nutritious than it would have been. Oh well. Tonight Guard Rails play with My Flag Is On Fire and Joe Lally of Fugazi. That should be a good time. It will be cool to talk to him again. Will be our first time playing outside. Not sure how that will pull off but we'll see. if you're in the Reno area, I gather that the show is free so come on down to the west street market on west street and first and say hello. show's at 7.
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