Saturday, November 6, 2010
my favorite radio station
Ah youtube! I LOVE it! And now I figured out how to post some videos here ( share ) of some of the amazing music I have found there. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Blessed Are The Peacemakers
It has been all over the news about the arrest of members of a "Christian" militia group. There is a reason I put Christian in quotation marks. They say they believe in the rapture. Check. I believe that. They say they believe there will be an antichrist who will rise to power. Check. I believe that. They say they believe there will be a one world government. Check. I believe that. I consider all of that to be scriptural. But that is pretty much when I part ways with this bunch. It is reported that this group believes they will pick up the sword and fight against the antichrist which they believe is the government. Say what? Sorry, but what part of "blessed are the peacemakers" didn't they get? Did they happen to miss that part of the Gospel?
When I read about the Christians of the past it is the Christian missionaries who spoke the Gospel and took it fearlessly to those who often martyred them. These Christians are the ones who stand out with a shining light as examples. When men take up the sword of war in the name of Jesus it is not the Light of Christ that shines but their fanaticism, their hatred of others that darkens any truth of the Gospel. One has only to look at the Crusades as an example.
Did Jesus take up the sword? No, he did not. As Christians we are supposed to follow His example. Killing others in His name profanes and makes a mockery of His name. I am thankful these misguided individuals were caught before they could have harmed others. It breaks my heart that so many who say they love Jesus are so full of hate for others and even talk of killing people as if God wants them to do that. This bunch allegedly talked of killing police and any bystanders who got in their way!
Yes, there will be a one world government and a one world religion. There will be a one world ruler whom the world will follow and worship. But scripture is clear concerning this evil man. Scripture told the church of Philadelphia that it would be kept from the hour of temptation that will try the entire world. This speaks to me of the rapture. Those who will be left behind will be unable to war against the antichrist as the Scripture says that he will rule the world and that those who would defy him, who do not take his number or worship him will be killed.
It would be better for these so-called "Christians" to read the Gospel and follow the Prince of Peace by example. And that example does not call for them to take up the sword and war against someone. It calls for them to take up the cross of Jesus, to deny themselves and to follow Jesus. The Great Physician and the Prince of Peace would never advocate violence, and especially violence against lawmakers and innocent bystanders, in His name. God forgive these misguided individuals and may He show them HIS truth rather than the lie of the devil that they were deluded into following in God's name.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Violence is not patriotism
Well the wingnuts are at it again but this time they are not content to merely call people nasty names to prove they are bigots. The extreme far right has decided to show its disapproval by breaking windows, cutting someone's gas line ( a relative of a member of Congress ) and by threatening the lives of members of Congress and their families. There is nothing patriotic to such horrible and criminal behavior. It does not matter what party a person is a member of. There is no excuse for this. NONE. This is homegrown terrorism, pure and simple. How DARE anyone take it upon themselves to threaten the lives and safety of members of Congress and their family! HOW DARE YOU! How dare you think you somehow have the RIGHT to try and force your opinion on our elected officials by threatening their lives and the lives of their loved ones! It doesn't matter what the reason is. You don't like how someone voted? Vote them out! THAT, my friend, is the American Way. To threaten the lives of those whom you disagree with --- that is a dictatorship, that is terrorism. And when you do that you are a traitor to our country and all that it stands for. Shame on you. It shows you up as a bully. And I have neither patience or sympathy towards bullies. Oh and a PS to those who use our airwaves and our tv stations to promote violence and hatred towards others --- by calling for violent revolution against our Federal government YOU are also guilty of treason. And that is not covered under the First Amendment. If ANY of our elected officials or a single member of their family is injured or dies as the result of the inciting of unstable minds to commit acts of violence then those who incited them should not be held innocent of wrongdoing.
I STILL Want My Boombox ( and artistic rant )
A family member posted a rather snide comment the other day because of my wanting to be able to go out and buy a boombox with the ability to record my songs. I don't know, maybe he thought he was being funny with his little comments about it being archaic and like a oxcart or a victrola. The only problem is that it wasn't funny. It was MEAN. I truly wish that I was good at tech things and could figure out how to record my songs on a computer. But it is not something I have figured out. It is easy on the boombox. And I have some great songs that I have recorded. And I believe there would be more great songs that could be recorded but I can't find a boombox. The only ones that have been out there, if you can even find them, have horrible sound quality.
I create. Creativity pours out of me. And I need something simple. I am a creative genius. I realize my family does not give a crap or believe in me. This is how God made me. He made me to create songs and fantasy and whatever ( poetry, art, fashion design ). I have handicaps when it comes to certain things and while I have tried to work around those things there are just some things that I can't seem to do no matter how hard I try. Besides, I would rather write, sing, paint, etc. Trying to force oneself to do something does not work. I am 61 years old. I am not going to be a geek. I admire geeks but I am not one. So my rant about something that WORKS FOR ME is a valid rant. I know there are thousands of people out there ( maybe millions ) who can relate to this particular issue. And in my case it is not only wanting to listen to old music on cassette tapes but also to record my own songs.
My family counts me out. But then they have always done so. I don't know if I can ever remember my family ever giving a damn about what I do or encouraging me. Oh they occasionally will say they like my poetry but I am not a poet. I WAS a poet when I was younger. Did I ever get any encouragement then? No. Any criticism was teardown rather than constructive.
Who knows? Maybe my family is so disdainful because I went to Hollywood and actually tossed my Bohemian beret into the cesspool of the entertainment industry. Letmesee, I hobbled off to Hollywood at age 40 and was neither a putout ( which would have made me a whore ) or a sellout ( which would have made me a fool ). So it makes me a holdout. And holdouts are not appreciated or respected unless they actually collect on the dues they have paid. Which has not happened yet. Will it ever happen? I hope so. I hope my ship comes in. I have been paying berth dues on it forever.
I am sick of working my ass off and getting nothing but attitudes from people who have always been too busy to actually sit down and READ some of my fantasy or listen to me sing some of my original songs. THEY DON'T KNOW ME. And it is sad but I don't think they ever will. Because they don't care and never have. I am a stranger to them. I wonder if some of them ( I m not singling any of them out so if anyone reads this and says "Oh she is talking about me" no I am not, it is in general, not one person in particular ) realize that the way they have treated me over the years is so mean spirited, so judgmental and self-righteous? I know my siblings ( with one exception ) have been hard working and I admire them for that. BUT I also know they have looked down their nose at my disabilities and consider it to be an excuse to be "lazy." But none of them know how hard I have worked and struggled.
So I will continue to write and sing and just pray that some day all this hard work will pay off. And then maybe my family will "appreciate" me. But I doubt it. If they don't care now why should they care if it finally pays off for me?
It hurts to not find a boombox. DAMN. I hate so called "progress." Give me back my boombox.
As far as the family, well you can't give them back to me because I don't think I ever had them in the first place. :-(
I guess this really brings home to me that I miss my friends in Hollywood. No, I did not become rich and famous there but I met some wonderful people and I miss them so much. Coming to the desert and having most of my family throw me under the bus after having kicked me to the curb really makes me appreciate what I had in Hollywood. And besides wanting my boombox back I want a cheap Hollywood apartment back to so I could be back where I belong, back with the beautiful losers who appreciate that my mind wears a psychedelic kaleidoscope rather than a gray flannel 9 to 5 mentality.
Maybe my family member was right. Maybe some things have gone the way of the dinosaur. But I still want my boombox back, I wish I had a cheap apartment in Hollywood that trust fund babies priced me out of, I wish I had back the family my rose colored glasses I used to wear told me I had.
Well, time to go fill up the half full glass I refuse to see as half empty with the lemonade I am making out of the lemons life has given me.
Depression sucks.
Monday, March 22, 2010
This Is Not Acceptable Behavior
When some of our members of Congress were walking into Congress this weekend they were greeted with protesters who screamed out the "N' word ( they were men of color ) or the "F" word ( the one that rhymes with maggot rather than the one that rhymes with luck ).
This is not acceptable behavior. What is it about our bi-racial President and this Democratic Congress that brings out the racists and the bigots? It is troubling to see, not only these lowlife gutter scum screeching out horrid slurs, the response from the right and that includes the supposed mainstream of the Republican party.
I have friends who are Republicans. In fact my very best friend online is a Republican and I love her dearly. I think that others and she should join the Democratic Party. If they do not care for the platforms on social issues then they need to find or join a Conservative Democratic organization to address those issues. But their party is falling apart when it takes its platform from a tv station owned by an Australian man who already owns the media in his home country.
Regardless of what party, there should be no room in any party for derogatory slurs directed at members of Congress concerning a person's race or sexual orientation. It is not acceptable behavior in polite society. Even if you do not agree with someone there is no excuse for that sort of language, that sort of disrespect.
Unless one is lowlife gutter scum.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
I WANT MY BOOM BOX BACK!!!!!!!! MAJOR RANT
About two years ago I made a NASTY discovery ( and it had gotten worse ) --- I discovered that it was virtually impossible to get an audio cassette recorder. I am not just talking about what I REALLY want but what I really NEED. That would be a double cassette player-recorder. Panasonic formerly made a really good one and YES, since the speaker on one side blew out I WANT ANOTHER ONE DAMN AND I WANT IT YESTERDAY!!!!!! But now one can hardly find a hand held cassette recorder. GRRRRRRRR!!! It seems that TPBT ( the powers that be ) made some stupid decision that those of us who record songs ( in my case it is my own original songs ) should have to learn how to do all this on a computer, that we should put all of our music on an MP3 player or ipod blah blah blah.
There is just one itty bitty problem with this( ok, so there are A LOT of problems with this but one main one ) --- those of us who were born before 1980 REALLY LIKE our cassette boomboxes ( the same way we also prefer LPs to CDs which sorry for those digital junkies, do not sound half as good ). We have boxes and boxes of cassettes from the 70s and the 80s etc and a lot of that stuff one can not find except for hordes of cash.
In my own case it is wanting to be able to record rough cuts of my original songs and not spend a fortune for it. Not to mention --- it is a heck of a lot easier to push a button that says record and sing into the built in mic ( ok, I cheat and hook up another mic with a little echo as well ) and the sound comes out pretty good and real good depending. THAT I can do!
But try and learn it on a computer? That means fiddling with this thing and that thing and then adjust this and that and then after that you need to do this and do that and then of course that is not quite right so you need to adjust this and push that and pull out this and then you need to do this and then you might lose everything you created and by then the little men with the white coats are coming to take you away and not hahahaha take you away either.
First of all in the good old days ( 3 years or so ago ) one could still find a boombox ( double with built in mic ) for under 100 bucks and the sound quality rocked. NOW, if one actually wants to get a decent cassette system ( and good luck in finding them even online ) one is expected to shell out thousands for fancy stereo components and find someone with an engineering degree to hook it up for you.
With the good old boombox you plugged it in put in a tape, twiddled with the equalizer a tad, pressed a button and you were good to go. I am a major tech dummy ( ok, ok,THE tech dummy of the universe ) and even I can do that! I could and did and have hundreds of cassette tapes of MY SONGS to prove that.
And on the low end, if you can find something, it is under 50 bucks and the sound quality is CRAP and usually there is no built in mic and of course it is not a double cassette player. I WANT MY BOOM BOX BACK!!! And put it in the damn stores thank you very much.
I don't want to order it online. The rotten one I have now I bought from the Panasonic website a few years back, they sent me a demo or a return ( I think it was the latter ), it took two months to send back, after jumping through customer service hoops. They then sent me another lemon. After that I just gave up the ghost.
But you know what is really pathetic? It is knowing that I would grovel to get my greedy little hands on ANOTHER of the same kind ( but without the blown speaker ). Are you listening, Panasonic? Or Sony or RCA and all the rests of you who are shoving ipods and MP3 players down our throats! I don't want my Mp3! I want my fat juicy smooth analog easy to use machine!
Do they even have a CLUE as to how many of us boomers are out there and we want our BOOMER BOXES back! It has really stifled me as how the heck do I get my songs recorded? I don't read or write music but I have some great tunes runnin' around in my head and need to get them recorded. I am NOT some fancy computer programmer with a doctorate who can figure out ANY computer music program --- unless it is a one button and sing into a mic routine.
And even then in these economic times why should someone have to shell out a thousand bucks or more just to record what sounds better on a 100 buck boom box? I just need a little double cassette boom box with a built in mic so I can record my original songs and dub a copy of them to send to my friends in Mississippi and Wales. To TPTB: can you send me one or ok maybe half a dozen? I will pay full price and I would be eternally grateful ( but no more lemons! ). PLEASE. And make that pretty please and a song sung for my supper on top of it.
PS I might add that these cassette recorders also work great for recording grandparents and their old memories.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
10,000 songs and one more
Ok, I now have a little more to say. On Valentine's Day I finished up writing my 10,000th song. And I am such a laze I have only written one more since then. Of course I am now working on another project which I started on ( not realizing it was a project at the time ) a few years back. I am now over 780 fantasy worlds into the 1001 fantasy worlds project. Other projects sort of in the works: the rock and roll band ( I saw Janis Joplin live when 18 and never you mind if I was high or not but I decided then that I wanted to be a rock star. I am 61. Dreams sometimes refuse to die ) I want to form at the new senior center a block away. I would then like to see about maybe getting a 1001 song project started ( having others and myself record a 1001 songs of my 10,001 songs ), and a 1001 stories project ( to be started after my 1001 fantasy worlds is completed ) which should then take me a few years or more. Why the 1001? Because I live in Indio ( though I SOOOOO miss my Hollywood friends and the awesome thrift stores there ). And Indio has the Riverside County Fair, the Date Festival, patterned after the Arabian Nights which were 1001 nights.
Some times there is big big frustration and one wonders if anyone knows or cares at all what has been my life's work. But being the creative genius... I wake up and my fingers itch to write. It just pours out of me, the creativity, because that is who I am. That is who God made me. I will just view it as a blessing even though I am living my life in poverty and obscurity. I can't afford to buy music so God has given me songs to sing that are uniquely mine. I don't have the money for art so I am given the blessing of seeing kaleidoscopes of color in my mind and can create my own art. I love to read fantasy and so much of it nowadays are just textbooks of how to practice witchcraft and magic ( BARF ) rather than actually using one's imagination to create a world of fiction, so I have been given worlds of imagination to wander through and create. So this is God's blessing for me. Even though there are naysayers that consider me to be a worthless bum. If you are artistic and poor you are the equivalent of ewwwww something scrapped off the bottom of a shoe. If you are artistic and rich you are worthy to be cast in gold or whatever to be worshipped and adored as an icon and idol. I don't want to the latter ( rich and famous, sure but worshipped iconically, no ) merely to be respected for my craft. Another blessing is that I do have friends who are artistic whom I treasure. They respect me as a peer which means more than the world to me. I am honored by their friendship and I love them dearly. Now if I only wasn't estranged from the family that feels they have the right to judge me and say they "know me." Self-absorbed, they sit in judgment. They do not have a rat's ass clue as to whom I am, not as a person and certainly not as the mad-eyed Bohemian that I ever profess to be. Off to stick a nose in a book. R is for Ricochet if you are so nosy as to want to know..
St Paddy's Day
I haven't been posting in my blog much of late ( bad bad me ) and I really need to do that. Lots of rants and a few raves as well. But this is just a short post. So since it is in the wee hours of St Patrick's Day, everyone have a good one!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Haiti
I haven't posted here in ages but felt I really needed to comment on this. This quake is such a tragedy. And yet, the people of this country, alone in the dark with terrifying aftershocks, sang and praised God for their survival. Haiti, California prays for you. We are well acquainted with earthquakes. I was living in Hollywood when the Northridge quake hit and have spasms ( from a pre-existing condition ) as the result of a fall during that time. I know there are people, too many, who have lost their lives and will have debilitating conditions much worse than the spasms I still live with. My heart and my prayers go out to the people of Haiti. God bless you all for your fortitude and your courage in the midst of this disaster.
Cynthia
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