R.I.P. Christopher Brewer

I got a phone call this morning from the leader of the band I played with in New Orleans. He told me that our Bass Guitarist was found dead yesterday of, as yet, undetermined causes. Sleep well, old friend.

I also ran across one of the few pieces of art that I have made. It has no connection to Chris, but I'm really too numb to think of anything else to say right now.

Reform...? an open letter to Washington D.C...

Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) is an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, inasmuch as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty.

I'm confused at all the talk coming from the U. S. Congress and the White House. I keep hearing that the current bill going through the Senate isn't amnesty. However, I look at the above definition and a short paragraph at the beginning of the bill, which states :

"the programs established by Title VI of this Act that grant legal status to any individual or adjust the current status of any individual who is unlawfully present in the United States to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence,shall become effective on the date that the Secretary submits a written certification to the President and the Congress that the following border security and other measures are funded, in place, and in operation..."

How exactly does that read to any English speaker in the country; that this bill isn't an amnesty?

Wouldn't someone being here "unlawfully" suddenly being considered, "an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence..." constitute a textbook definition of just that?

I'm reading through the text right now, but I can say at this point I'm truly disappointed in the obvious perception from Washington, that we, The American People, could be so easily led down this particular primrose path.

While I believe in compassion and fairness, I also believe that I live in a country under the rule of law. Why are we wasting the time, and the money to create another law that will be ignored and unenforced?

While I understand that removing so many people would be a difficult task at best, they are criminals. They have broken the laws of this nation.

By the same logic, can we now assume that because so many Americans would like to break the laws of the IRS, that they now recieve a "Z" tax form?

Do we now decriminalize drug users because incarcerating millions of legal Americans would be difficult to accomplish? Apparently not, it seems to happen everyday. Perhaps we should give them a "Z" Pardon?

I hear that there is some effort to inject some compassion into this issue; to treat people with respect and dignity. Where is the compassion for many other current social wrongs? Why can the current Administration show such compassion over breaking up the families of foreign nationals, while ignoring the anguished families of our own U.S. Armed Services?

How does Mr. Bush balance his compassion for another country's people while attempting to create a second-class status of Americans by proposing an amendmant to The Constitution of the United States of America to deny certain Americans the right to marry who they choose?

Wait, by his own words, “Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” A statement, which should have had him impeached on the spot. I guess he doesn't feel he really needs balance.

I was always taught, as a boy, that the government worked for the people and not against it's interests. I think that the men who built this nation would weep to see what it has become. They would be ashamed to see the American People sold out so thoroughly for the interests of corporate greed, cheap labour at a very high cost.

The Wider World...

Lately, watching the news, I've suddenly found that I can move myself outside of the usual selfish egocentrism of most Americans. I gain some perspective on what most of the world is really like. I'm reminded that as a Buddhist it is my personal obligation to improve my world when and where I can. To seek and give enlightenment where I can. To understand what the true connections between us are and to strenghten them where I can.

I have been a great fan of the band Dead can Dance for many years, but I have lately listened with more than just my ears, but with all of my senses. I'm shocked at how much I missed.

They may be a bit hard to understand or digest at first, but the power of their music can be felt on so many levels if you give yourself a chance to hear it.

This is one of my personal favourites, though the video is new to me. I hope that you give it a chance.

Break time...

Sorry I haven't really been doing much posting during the past few days. It's been a very hectic week. I had finals this week, and I finally finished. I've been pushing myself pretty far and haven't really had much to say. Give me a couple of days and I'll be right as rain. For now, I'm catching up on my sleep.

The View Outside My Room This Morning...

I get the feeling the universe may have it in for me today. I have to go out in this later with a backpack full of books and a laptop. Finals Week, always interesting.

Cheerful...?

I was told that my choice of songs for this blog was a little dark and broody. Noted. So I decided to add this little gem I ran across. It's actually a song By Jamie Kennedy the "comedian" and some friend of his called Stu Stone. This version is apparently the winner of a contest on youtube to make the best user created version of the song. I can see why this guy won.

and yes it's obvious I have a truly warped sense of what's funny sometimes. lol.

I'll need all the humour I can get today. It's Finals Week, starting this afternoon.

My Angel...

I shared this video with a friend of mine recently. I never explained why. I mentioned to her the other day that I understood what she was going through with her breakup, this video is the soundtrack of my own.

I mentioned Brett in an earlier post. The whole story would take too long to tell, but he was my world. If you shaved him, he'd look very similar to the guy in this video. As messed up as he was, he made it a point to encourage me to live out as many of my dreams as he could. Going back to school, living my dream of being a working musician, my writing, my songs. He made it possible for me to reconnect on many levels with my family, to put my demons aside, to live again after so much destruction and death in my life.

His personal demons got the better of him, and destroyed us as a couple. I tried but I couldn't save him from himself. But he left me with this song. I was his Angel, but he never knew how much he was mine as well. Even now.

Break a leg, kids...

A friend of mine is auditioning for a televised talent show in Germany this week. I wish him as much good Karma as I can send him. Break a leg, Jesse. I hope you go far, you deserve it. Don't forget what I told you. lol. You'll do just fine.

Also, My dear friend Andrew is taking his Visual Basic finals this afternoon, and I hope he nails it.

Brevity...

Not much to report today, as I've spent most of the day doing some Visual Basic coding. I have however made a few cosmetic changes to my new home here. I settled on something a bit brighter. I thought this looked like something I could live with. Ok, Suzanne, I'll stop with all the black. lol.

I've tweaked things out a bit as well by adding some translation code for those who may not speak english. Also, as you can see, I couldn't stomach all the wasted space. So I went searching for something that would give me the space I'd like to grow into.

The Day of Deep Depression...AKA Emo Day...

Today, has apparently been the great day of depression across the land. Many of my friends have gotten in touch with me today to talk about breakups or being lonely. I guess I've let it get to me, a bit.

I've caught myself looking back at past relationships of my own. I have been lucky enough to have been invovled with some truly incredible people. Some people have thought me cold, but I they would be shocked at how deeply I do feel. There was a guy (yes guy, grow up) recently who I found an amazing man. Funny, passionate (in his way), intelligent, and beautiful in my eyes. Things didn't work out however, but we're still friends. That's not as hard to do as some of you may think, but there are some dicey moments.

I bring it up because I'm helping a friend get over a bad relationship and I guess it helps that I know what she's going through. Not that the relationshp I was in was bad, but I didn't want it to end, brief though it was. Then there was Brett. Poison for me, but the great love of my life. I definately know what she's going through. Enough whining for today I guess. We all heal eventually, whether we want to or not.

One of the greats of our time...

Going To A Town lyrics

I've have recently found my myself in absolute awe of Rufus Wainwright's words and voice and thought I share a bit more of his brilliance with the world.

A glimpse of my creative side...

I made this as a special birthday present for a friend. He decided to have a non-traditional party, and so he invited us all out to the park to help make what was essentially a giant homemade birthday card for himself. Not being very good at painting or drawing, I opted to make this from the pictures I took that day.

Random Rant...

I started this blog last night. Today I looked around for more tools to make this better. I was shocked at how technocentric most of the other blog systems really are. And I used to consider myself a geek. LOL.

I think I'm going to be happy here for a while. At least the controls here make sense.

By the way, you'll notice a number of rants about software and websites here. I have a habit of trying lots of things out, and I'll try to "review" as many as I can.
The first of these will be Skype and Pidgin. I have probably most of the available messengers currently installed on my computer. Having used them all for quite some time, I've reached the conclusion that Skype wins hands down for A/V chat and Pidgin (formerly Gaim) wins for basic instant messaging. I could get more in depth, but I believe that seeing is believing. Try them out yourself.

How I really feel about Yahoo...

You may notice the Skype Icon at the top of the page. It's in response to yet another hijacking of my Yahoo account. If you notice me online, please feel free to communicate with me in real time. You must have Skype installed for this to work. Crazies WILL be blocked immediately, so let's be grownups, shall we?

Episode 1 : The Introduction...