this is an excellent video. kymatica.

i will add that a group claiming to occupy space that is on occupied stolen land is, in itself, ironic. this country was built on occupation, the murder of the native people, and the use of forced slave labor. the government/corporation continues to occupy foreign lands, stealing resources and creating contaminated wastelands throughout the world. we are all passively supporting a capitalistic corporate state that runs rampant--like a psychopath--destroying the natural world, poisoning our water and soil, contaminating our food and air, chopping down rain forests, and creating never-ending wars of conquest. all in the name of profit. meanwhile, the brainwashed masses chatter on about political parties and sports teams, fear imaginary "terrorists" and balk at those who challenge the status quo.

many folks are frustrated. a whole lot of shit in this world is so wrong it's evil. our way of life is not sustainable and we have to make a conscious, wide-awake decision--individually and collectively--to stop participating in the system that enslaves us. real change will come when people value human life and nature instead of money and things. real change will come when young men and women refuse to offer themselves as cannon fodder for the military/industrial complex. real change will come when those employed by the federal government realize what their labor/life energy is supporting. real change will come when the folks wake up and see that the so-called american dream is dependent on a system steeped in greed, corruption, wars, and ruthless hegemony. real change will not come easy. it won't come without a fight.

we need a bona fide resistance. we need to unite, regardless of so-called differences, and resist what is destroying us all. resist the media mind-control. resist consumerism and materialism. resist the global capitalist system. resist the corporate wage-slave mentality. resist the war machine. resist the fear tactics of government, police, judges, and anyone else whose sole purpose is to enforce the "rules" of the elite.

we're at a crucial moment. in 20-30 years, there may not be any drinkable water or clean air or edible fish or healthy crops. how will we humans survive with nothing but cars, buildings, and bombs? who will care about wall street or the fiat money system then?

we are all on this planet together. things are not going to get better until we change. think about your children/grandchildren...what kind of world would you want them to inhabit?

i always smile and answer with "good music." for some, that's enough. they nod and say, "cool, what time do you start?" for others, it causes a different reaction. they firm up their stance, give me a piercing look and say, "seriously, what kind of music?" at that point, i'll say, "well, we do a little rock, soul, blues, jazz, funk, pop, and some originals." they respond with "oh, yeah?" and walk away looking unsure. inevitably, these are the first people who will come up after the set and say, "you were awesome and you did songs from every genre. i love the way you did blah, blah, blah...i was totally blown away!" well, alrighty then!

like many others, i straddle the line between being a working vocalist who does only covers and being an "artist" who does original music. i do about 30% originals on most gigs and the covers i do are all over the place. for me, it's about the lyrics and the melody. it doesn't matter what genre. what's a genre, anyway? a song is a song, be it a melancholy country song, a blazing classic rock hit, a smokin' r&b/funk jam, or a bouncy little jazz tune. it's all music. genre is a term created by people trying to market and sell music to a "demographic."

well, we all know times are changing and there is no predictable demographic anymore (outside of teenagers). the person you expect to buy a certain thing won't. the person you think won't be into it loves it. with the music industry in meltdown and the accessibility of music online, people are free to explore and find what moves them, instead of being told what they should like.

i'm sure you know some metal heads who sometimes listen to jazz. and there are hardcore blues fans who sometimes groove to trippy electronica. we are humans, not programmable drones. some days, we want a steak. some days, we want thai food. some days we want pasta salad. we are free to roam with an open mind.

so, the next time you walk into a club and see a band setting up, don't ask "what kind of music do you play?" ask "how long have you been together?" or "who are some of your influences?" better yet, just have a seat, grab a drink, sit back and prepare to partake of the vibrations with your fellow humans. you don't know what might be on the menu, but i'm sure there'll be something you find satisfying. unless they just suck, of course. in which case, the answer would be "bad music."

i know that you have seen a plethora of poor quality cell phone clips posted on youtube. i always ask myself, why did they even post this? you can hardly make out the artist on the stage, the sound is terrible, and you hear the guy/girl with the phone talking and laughing over the music. i don't get it. it's like, "look at me, i'm at a concert!" um...ok.

i see this is a part of a larger problem with some younger audiences. not all of them, just some. it seems that music is secondary to the scene or the social element of their lives. we have a generation that's been raised on tv and videos. if your mind has been deadened by a lifetime barrage of 30-second sound bites, i guess it would be hard to still yourself and just be in a moment, let the music flow through you, and appreciate that connection that you can only get in a live performance. it's not a video. it's someone giving you a piece of themselves. they deserve your full attention and respect.

at some venues where i perform, there is usually a group of 5-10 younger people who will have loud conversations through a whole set. they might shut up for a minute if they hear a song they're familiar with,  but they always go back to chattering and, inevitably, they pull out their cell phones...click, click, click, text, text, text. i find it rude and annoying...other patrons do, too; and we're all glad when they leave, texting as they walk out the door.

who are these people? what's wrong with them? put down the damned phone!

no one in my household has a regular full-time job. that is by choice. we are getting by. slightly below comfortable, but we, like so many others, we are making do month to month.  i'm sharing the following article. it's very enlightening...

Broke! 10 Facts About The Financial Condition Of American Families That Will Blow Your Mind

The Economic Collapse

The crumbling U.S. economy is putting an extraordinary amount of financial stress on American families.  For many Americans, "flat broke" has become a permanent condition.  Today, over half of all American families live paycheck to paycheck.  Unemployment is rampant and those that do actually have jobs are finding that their wages are rising much more slowly than prices are.  The financial condition of average American families continues to decline and this is showing up in all of the recent surveys.  For example, according to a new Gallup poll, "lack of money/low wages" is the number one financial concern for American families.  To make ends meet, many American families are going into even more debt and more American families than ever are turning to government assistance.  Right now, more Americans than at any other point since World War II are flat broke and have lost hope.  Until this changes, the frustration level in this country is going to continue to grow.

The following are 10 facts about the financial condition of American families that will blow your mind.....

#1 Only 58 percent of Americans have a job right now.

#2 Only 56 percent of Americans are currently covered by employer-provided health insurance.

#3 The median yearly wage in the United States is $26,261.

#4 The average American household is carrying $75,600 in debt.

#5 Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.

#6 At this point, American families are approximately 7.7 trillion dollars poorer than they were back in early 2007.

#7 The poorest 50% of all Americans now own just 2.5% of all the wealth in the United States.

#8 According to one study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States were living below the poverty line in 2010.

#9 Today, there are more than 44 million Americans on food stamps, and nearly half of them are children.

#10 According to Newsweek, close to 20 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 54 do not have a job at the moment.

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read the full article here.

i have to say it is more enlightening to read the comments than the actual articles. people go back and forth about political parties and presidents, but it's not about dems vs. repubs. they are two sides of the same coin. people, please, wake up and see that. anyway, back to the debt; for those who don't have a clue, i'm going to try to break it down for you. if you are already awake and aware, let's work to help our friends and families see the truth.

who is this "debt" owed to? it's owed to the "federal reserve bank", which is not federal and there are no reserves. it is a private corporation with stockholders.

how did this "debt" come about?  a federal reserve note (almighty dollar) is a debt-note. for each one issued, there is interest attached. this started back in 1913, when they created the federal reserve bank, which is essentially part of a world-wide group of banking families (the rothschilds, et al). you can read a little bit here and here. or, if you're not good with the whole reading comprehension/attention span thing, watch a sped-up, 10-minute video here.  

how does it work?  the u.s. treasury prints money for the federal reserve bank. the federal reserve bank pays the treasury a flat fee for printing. it doesn't matter if it's one-dollar bills or one hundred dollar bills, the printing cost is the same (it's just paper and ink). then, the federal reserve bank "loans" this fiat money to the u.s. government with interest. the government then uses this money to pay for its operational expenses, wars, etc.

now, over the past almost 100 years, this "loaned" money and interest have accumulated to ridiculous amounts. there is no way it could ever be paid back. there is not enough money in existence to pay it back. the whole system is based on debt and requires ever-increasing debt to sustain itself. the u.s. government is bankrupt...has been for a long time. the taxes you pay to the irs (another private corporation) are handed over to the federal reserve bank to help cover the interest on the "loans."

why should you care?  you should care because this system is the reason that the value of your labor, exchanged for worthless dollars, has less and less purchasing power. it's the reason that you are paying $5.00 for a loaf of bread that used to cost $1.00. it's the reason that most people in this country are debt-slaves...working meaningless jobs just to survive. we have all willingly participated in this system. we all have to willingly change it.

what can you do about it?  first, i would suggest you open your mind. just consider the possibility that all of your belief systems are based on lies. do some research...there is plenty of information out there. the more you educate yourself, the more powerful you become. turn off the tv and think for yourself. stop letting the media/government control your mind. stop buying into the illusion that little pieces of paper and numbers on a computer screen have any real value.

this system is and has always been a con game designed to transfer wealth from the masses into the hands of a few. these international banksters literally control the world with their fiat money system. it's the reason for wars and the theft of resources. the reason entire countries are bankrupt. the reason greed and corruption are pervasive.

a legitimate government would print its own money and put it into circulation for its citizens to use as a means of exchange. there would be no interest, no debt. very simple.

the only solution is to abolish the federal reserve system. we can not wait for our so-called elected leaders to do it. they are puppets for their masters. it's up to the people. the people have always had the power. but the people have to first come out of their distracted, dumbed-down, drugged-up, lemming-like state. wake up!

but then, i'm a musician. for me, it's about the music. plus, i grew up in a time where the only way you could hear a new act was radio, tv, or a friend turning you on to an album.  all you had to connect with was the song or the live performance. there was no youtube video, no twitter, no internet/media hype, no "they have 1,000,000 myspace friends, so they must be good."  it was only about the music and how it moved you. real music. real singers. real musicians playing real instruments.

i know the current scenario has been created by the business, technology, and the mtv generation. with the rise of videos, music took a back seat. people wanted to "see" the song. it could be a crappy song, but if the video was exciting, to them the song was exciting. sad.

for years, labels have been ignoring quality acts and pushing the quick-money-making-auto-tuned-lameness. at the same time, with the internet and current technology, everybody and their grandmother has the ability to throw some loops together and put their song and/or video out there for the world. people are so bombarded with crap every day that they feel like, "why should i listen to your music?" "what makes you special?"

to those stuck in the "i have to like your tweets to check out your music" mentality, get over that. get into the music. or not. most of the artists that i love, i will probably never meet, and i really don't have a desire to interact with them online. i respect their talent and i happily embrace what they give me musically.

let me add that, as a working musician, i know the value of someone who connects with your music enough to spend their money to buy your cd or actually get in their car and drive somewhere to see you. people always come up to me at gigs and say, "i found you online, i love your music." that is the reason we do what we do.  to find those people that get it and vibe with them.

at the same time, several people in the area have said to me online, "i'm a fan. i love your music." but, they have never come to see me live. i guess they are content with sitting in front of their computer and reading whatever i post online. then again, maybe they don't like my tweets, hahahahaha.

check them out here. 

there is also another set of photos of women in school and at work here.

and do you really believe that people were celebrating in front of the white house at midnight? waving flags and wearing hats, no less. they looked like college students to me. did they round them up from bars on pennsylvania avenue and give them all flags to waive? "ok, guys, stand together and chant 'usa, usa'!" it was a surreal wizard of oz moment, "ding, dong, the witch is dead." i call bullshit.

tv. news. feeds. you. lies. open your eyes. believe only what you see and experience yourself.

case in point: the "african american day stabbing" on april 25. charlie and i performed at the zoo that day. it was a beautiful, peaceful event. we were there for about 2 1/2 hours. we performed from 2:00 to 3:00 and left at 3:20. the event was over at 4:00. when we got home, people online were talking about a stabbing and fights and riots and general mayhem. that was not our experience, nor was it the experience of the thousands of people who were at the zoo when we were there. if there was a fight, why wasn't there any video footage? no news crews on the scene? every time i mention the day to someone, they respond with, "you were down there in all that mess?" or "there was a stabbing!" the initial report said the incident happened on the street, outside of the zoo. i wont go so far as to say something didn't happen. all i can say is what they reported was not our experience. we experienced a very chill, peaceful vibe on a beautiful day. yet, for those who didn't attend, the visual imagery of thugs fighting and stabbing will forever be associated with the day.

when they control your thoughts, they control your reality.