Today's Vlog! I talk about Mayhem, Medicine, and MURDER! And my new reading glasses!
Vlog: 103008 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.
Ponderings and Wanderings of a Metaphysical Intuitive Aspiring-Vegan ManBoy in New York City
Today's Vlog! I talk about Mayhem, Medicine, and MURDER! And my new reading glasses!
Several weeks ago, before the DNC, I had a huge influx of psychic static that led me to be very concerned about a potential assassination of Obama. In addition to my psychic static, I suddenly found that a fellow MySpacer had been privy to a band of people on their way to DNC to do just that. So I was very worried. During the DNC, a handful of fools were arrested for plotting the assassination. I was convinced that this was not what I had sense was on the horizon and that these were just some doofus middle-american ass-wipes with guns. The sense I had was of a fairly elaborate network planning this, not these dorks.
Sharing my menagerie of the day, and talking about how LuLu got steamed, the upcoming YouTube Gathering at Bryant Park (details below), and asking you about your feelings about the saturation of the Social Network/Presence wave...
I woke up to a wonderful morning and I wanted to share! I also wonder how you deal with doctors who treat you like shit.
NOTE: Sorry about the mic rattling. I had it sitting on my laptop and it picked up the vibes.
VLOG: 101808 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.
Okay, I just finished watching the Oprah episode and I am embarrassed I even considered that she might actually try to make a difference and even more embarrassed that I encouraged people to watch it. The entire episode dismissed the concept of anti-slavery (veganism/vegetarianism) as some sort of personal, religious preference and not a no-brainer step in evolution and as a solution to the suffering of animals. Big DUH on that one, people. This must be what the abolitionists of the past must have felt like while watching morons discuss more efficient forms of enslaving Blacks. The solution is compassion and freedom. NOT a few more inches of chain or cage. Some bitch even went so far as to showcase how "humanely" she raises VEAL! And described it as doing so "the way mother nature intended." WHAT!!! These are monsters. Who in their right mind could possibly think that depriving a baby of nutrients, forcing them into anemic states to keep their muscles from forming, is some part of "mother nature's" intention!
People really suck sometimes. Really suck.
Oprah = FAIL!
Let's not be too quick to assume our country, government, and our people are immune to the situation similar to that which erupted in Argentina. I mean, Bush has ordered an active unit of combat troops to be stationed inside the US to serve as an "'on call' federal response in times of emergency," specifically for use in case of "civil unrest" and for "crowd control."
This is a first in American history.
The unit chosen for this task is the Army's Third Infantry Division's First Brigade Combat Team which has spent thirty-five of the last sixty month in Iraq.
They're here now and training for "domestic operations."
Hang on to your hats...
Troy
Check your local listings for OPRAH and record it and/or watch it today, October 14th.
The reality of cruelty and suffering in farm animal production has finally made it to about as mainstream as it can get. It's going to be showcased on OPRAH. This means it will be white-washed, cleaned up, and easy to explore without having to face the horrors that help put those dead bodies on the table.
This OPRAH is in light of the current Proposition 2 in California up for debate and vote, which would stand to AT LEAST alleviate a great amount of suffering and create protections for these animals, along with increasing support for family farmers who have been affected by the powerful movement of Factory Farming.
Please set your Tivo's, DVR's, VCR's, or plop your booty down in front of Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday, October 14th (check your local listings). Though this is a vote that is up in California, it affects everything about us as a people. It's a first (very tiny, but important) step toward opening up to our humanity and compassion to other species, AS WELL as toward each other and the Earth. Can you imagine what kind of world we might live in if we cared enough about the quality of life for a Chicken or a Pig... it would be very hard not to care about each other or about others who are so different from what we find familiar.
Please... just tune in and see what you think and feel. I have no idea if she is going to derail the proposition, or push for it, but at least it's being discussed.
PROP 2 FACTSHEET
Below are some key facts of the proposition:
This November 4, Californians should vote YES! on Prop 2 – a modest measure that stops cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can't even turn around, lie down or extend their limbs.
Voting YES! on Prop 2...
I really feel uncomfortable to feel it necessary to promote this, but unless there is evidence against the claims and information shared in these interviews and movies, we really need to wake up, be prepared, and brace ourselves for a huge revolution that seems to be more and more inevitable.
Take your time and really make a concerted effort to understand just what is being presented in these videos. It is terrifying and upsetting, but if we don't wake up, we are in big trouble. Burying our heads in the sand (or in our iPods and iPhones) will not make our lives better.
If you can counter the claims presented here, please do so. This is some tough stuff to contemplate. Take your time. But please... DO take the time.
25 minute interview with Naomi Wolf
the most important 2 hours you will have spent in your recent years
What to do?
We have to reach critical mass in our understanding and efforts together. Please. Please make the time to learn, to think, and to do. Our future, our humanity, and peace on earth are depending on us.
ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT: Critical Mass
THE VENUS PROJECT
It's not what you think... heh heh...
I'm excited to be seeing LOW again tonight! There are several bands I see EVERY time they pass through NYC and this is one of them. LOW is a husband/wife team whose harmonies just send me... along with the dark, political, and deeply emotional, poetic and lyrical melodyscapes, this is one of my favorite bands.
Thanks to my wonderful pal, "Blainewad," we have a bit of footage from the concert last night:
I am very excited to see STARS again tomorrow night... a precious, lyrical, happy-sad band who can capture the importance of the bittersweet and political.
WARNING: psychic and metaphysical mumbo jumbo post, so if you already have a distaste for that sort of thing, I would stop reading here or you will just think I am more bonkers than you already think I am. Otherwise, enjoy!
I wasn't going to post anything about this, but then I came across this blog entry and now I'm really floating in a weird, ominous space about it. I don't know if you have to be a friend of that person to read the entry, but if you can't read it, it's basically a recount of a personal experience that ties directly into dreams and premonitions I have been having over the past month or so.
There are a lot of people waiting for my blog post about my 20+ year family reunion that took place in Peru, Indiana a couple of weeks ago, but I have video footage that is downright unbelievable and more perfect than any words can be, so I have to make time to edit and upload that... but until then, you get this entry.It's been just a year now since Jip and I broke up after our amazing summer of Love and Hell in Amsterdam. That was pretty tough stuff. Following your heart across the globe only to find a hospital bed that might be your last stop in life is a pretty harrowing and life-changing experience. If you are not up-to-date about that adventure, start here and work your way forward in time. Being the one who almost died, left with a deadly (though scientifically-unsound) diagnosis, a life empty of all possessions, dumped over Skype, and having to learn how to breathe and walk again, I have taken my time getting back into the dating scene. Of course, my wonderful Jip has not only moved on, but had a new, publicly-proclaimed boyfriend within a few short weeks and has now traveled to globe to be with him.
This week was filled with strange dreams involving a couple of my muses in this life: Chris Garneau and Elizabeth Fraser. The truth about these muses is that I have no real idea about their personal lives, their personal integrity, their personal paths... but their art has changed my life. Or maybe I should say, it makes my life better than I imagine it would be without them. Along with several other artists in this life, they have become soundtracks to the inner space of me. And for some reason, I was visited with inspiration this week in the form of both Chris and Elizabeth.
My Chris Dream:
I dreamt I was attending some kind of ballet class for some reason and Chris happened to show up for that same class. I behaved as I would normally behave around someone who inspires me or toward whom I am in awe and I just did what I came to do, letting myself be thrilled, but not letting that spill over to invade Chris's space. But he kept coming up to me and laughing and touching me and engaging me and I felt tremendously at ease. We started acting silly and doing obnoxious dance poses... at one point, I remember his leaving the room and then suddenly spinning through the doorway, round and round and round until he was dizzy! We fell down together laughing, onto the floor against the wall. I realized I was leaning back onto him and that my hand was on his leg. I pulled my hand back and sat up quickly, but discreetly, continuing to laugh with him. Without any awkwardness, he reached for my hand, placed it back on his leg, and pulled me back into him, continuing to talk and laugh with me. It was extremely comforting. He whispered into my ear, "Don't forget. I know you."
My Elizabeth Dream:
I wish I could remember more of this because I NEVER dream of Elizabeth. What I remember is being shocked that she showed up somewhere where I was and that she was looking forward to meeting me! She showed up carrying packages and she was all frenetic and talkative and running around... I remember asking if she preferred to be called "Elizabeth" or "Liz," and she said, "anything, but Lizzy!" and I remember thinking that name had never even occurred to me. I don't remember much more than that, except that we were talking and talking and talking and it was hyper and excited. I do remember one phrase that stood out... she said, "we all end up singing our own lullabies."
So in honor of two of my muses visiting me in my dreams, I am putting together a MuxTape to share! Please take time to listen and enjoy. I've included some lyrics below to help you fall into this space within and maybe hear this music from between the worlds more intimately. So open the playlist into one page, and listen along with this page!
COCTEAUBOY JULY MUXTAPE
Playlist with Lyrics:
Cocteau Twins - MY TRUTH
You become powerful as you are accepting
You can work through the pain or enjoy more pleasure
Commit to the work of both
If you love all this energy, the chemistry
And you can work through the pain or enjoy more pleasure
and you can, you can work
through the pain
or enjoy more pleasure
and you can, you can work
through the pain
and come home to peace
It's frightening, exciting
Something shakes up our old understanding
The truth is more powerful
Are you fools, and confused to say
that I'm not angry
and you can, you can work
through the pain
or enjoy more pleasure
and you can, you can work
through the pain
and come home to peace
I'll remember my secret
I'll write it down and never tell it
It's not more fear outside of myself
that can save me
And you can work through the pain or enjoy more pleasure
Chris Garneau - TRY ME
Go ahead and try things on me
Maybe it'll bring you things you've never seen
It's a try, guaranteed
You can take whatever you need
Only skin remains
The winds blow it away
the guts and my brains
I'm as lonely as a stone
The one left behind
Never picked up and thrown
No more tired, you
I'm sure you love me, you do
You can touch me, still
Try me, then leave me
The way that you will
I can't wait
I can't wait
Just wanna see a beautiful face
One that won't last
But one I can't erase
Like that moon or lunar ambush
Comes in so soon
Turns my dreams to mush
No more tired, you
I'm sure you love me, you do
You can touch me, still
Try me, then leave me
The way that you will
I can't wait
I can't wait
I save everything like files
Your smile
My wounds
Your Dark
And your Light
Your joke
Your smoke
Your lovely
So when do you think we could love?
Told you it's a try, guarantee
I said you can take whatever you need
Come on
Come on
Come on
No more tired, you
I'm sure you love me, you do
You can touch me, still
Try me, then leave me
The way that you will
I can't wait
I can't wait
Cocteau Twins - ROUND
I, I will stay focused
When the thoughts do land
It's positive reinforcement
This sense of movement
This space, enjoy it
It gives me a new sense of progress
To this new life, a capacity to improve
Yes, I will, I will stay focused
When the thoughts do land
This space, enjoy it
This space, enjoy it
because because because...
the wheel turns
This space, enjoy it
because because because...
the wheel turns
Chris Garneau - SO FAR
Like the touch of my mother's hand on my head
I'll miss you, too, when I go to bed
We've ruined all the new pots
And the metal in the egg crate cots
But we haven't missed a good day of television, yet, so far
No we haven't missed a good day of television, yet, so far
The dishwasher's on now, cleaning, somehow
The baby bits of hamburger helper that dried too soon
We leave out the milk and it rots
and the mayonnaise that we got from Top's
But we haven't missed a good day of eating good food, yet, so far
But we haven't missed a good day of eating good food, yet, so far
You love good
but I think you should
go home, honey
cuz we haven't got any money
You love good
but I think you should
go home, honey
cuz we haven't got any money
Like the touch of my mother's hand on my head
I'll miss you, too, when I go to bed
We've ruined all the new pots
And the metal in the egg crate cots
we haven't missed a good day of television, yet, so far
No we haven't missed a good day of television, yet, so far
we haven't missed a good day of television, yet, so far
Elizabeth and Jeff Buckley - ALL FLOWERS IN TIME BEND TOWARD THE SUN
Elizabeth:
My eyes have baptismal views
I'm singing into my fires for a hand, I'm lost
Jeff:
All flowers in time bend toward the sun
I know you say that there's no one for you
but here is one
All flowers in time bend toward the sun
I know you say that there is no one for you
But here is one
Here is one
Here is one
Both:
All flowers in time bend toward the sun
I know you say that there's no one for you
but here is one
All flowers in time bend toward the sun
I know you say that there's no one for you
but here is one
but here is one
Jeff:
Keep it growing in me
Wicked traveler
Say it ain't farther from me
with your face in my window glow
oh where will you wait for me, sweet willow
Elizabeth:
It's okay to be angry
but not to hurt me
oh darling...
Both:
All flowers in time bend toward the sun
I know you say that there's no one for you
but here is one
Chris Garneau - RELIEF
I saw the sea come in
I saw your good old friend
He walked right past
I'll never ask
I'll never ask again
I saw the sea come in
I saw your good old friend
He walked right past
I'll never ask
I'll never ask again
I love the way you dance
Oh we can work it all out
Don't you miss your chance
The pain, it will all grow out
I heard your good ole word
I heard the things you said
They all shuffled in
As medicine, as medicine in red
I heard your good ole word
I heard the things you said
They all shuffled in
As medicine, as medicine in red
I love the way you dance
Oh we can work it all out
Don't you miss your chance
The pain will all grow out
I didn't go to see the city
I went to see it around you
Oh we can laugh in hell together
The devil will find you, too
Nose to nose
and eyes all closed
This is what I said
would never ever end
Nose to nose
and eyes all closed
This is what I said
would never ever end
I saw the sea come in
I saw your good old friend
He walked right past
I'll never ask
I'll never ask again
Chris Garneau - BETWEEN THE BARS
drink up baby
stay up all night
the things you could do
you won't but you might
the potential you'll be
that you'll never see
the promises you'll only make
drink up with me now
and forget all about
the pressure of days
and do what i say
and i'll make you okay
and drive them away
the images stuck in your head
the people you've been before
that you don't want 'round anymore
or that push and shove
and won't bend to your will
i'll keep them still
drink up baby
look at the stars
i'll kiss you again
between the bars
where i'm seeing you there
with your hands in the air
you're waiting to finally be caught
drink up one more time
and i'll make you mine
i'll keep you apart
deep in my heart
separate than the rest
where i like you the best
and keep the things you forgot
the people you've been before
that you don't want around anymore
or that push and shove
and won't bend to your will
i'll keep them still
the people you've been before
that you don't want 'round anymore
or that push and shove
and won't bend to your will
i'll keep them still
Cocteau Twins - SEA, SWALLOW ME
no lyrics
Chris Garneau - BLACKOUT
I, I was kidding about the mean things
While we were sleeping
Heat rushed in, Heat rushed
The fan stopped, the fan stopped
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Flashlights in delis
Drinking on the street
All the lights are out in New York City
And it never ever will be
Too damned late
To run inside the market place
I, I'll be quiet then
in middle of you talking
when we're walking
thoughts rush in
those thoughts rush in
the heart stops, the heart stops
oh, oh, oh, oh
Flashlights in delis
Drinking on the street
All the lights are out in New York City
And it never ever will be
Too damned late
To run inside the market place
I sit by the window
and I watch all of the little
raindrops, raindrops
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...
Dif Juz (featuring Elizabeth) - LOVE INSANE
no lyrics
Chris Garneau - LOVE ZOMBIE
eat and sleep and shun
your mother she's the one
who gets all your goats
and herds them up two hills
with rotten oats
apple orchard goat
the place you loved the most
your holy frightened ghost
your heart
they liked the meat
it was too tough to eat
to chew and grind with teeth
to chew and grind with teeth
your love zombies
and all those men!
you beast!
you beast!
you beast!
you beast!
jeffrey...
Craig Armstrong (featuring Elizabeth) - THIS LOVE
This Love
This Love is a strange love
I'm afraid it can remain love
This Love
This Love
I'm think I'm gonna fall again
And even when you held my hand
It didn't mean a thing
This Love
This Love
Never has to stay Love
Doesn't know it is Love
This Love
This Love
It doesn't have to feel Love
Doesn't need to be Love
It doesn't have to mean a thing
This Love
This Love
This Love
has a strange Love, strange Love
This Love
This Love
has a strange Love, a strange Love
(doesn't have to mean a thing/think I'm gonna fall again)
This Love....
Vimeo is the best video sharing site online, full of original videos from the most amateur of us to the most amazing professionals, and all of it is set in a context of maturity and support, as opposed to the frenetic teen-minded-haters of YouTube. I love YouTube for a lot of things, but nothing beats Vimeo for its inspiration and sense of community. Not everyone is trying to be all fancy with their videos, but it's clear that most are putting some amount of effort into the creativity, message, and experience of the video, so that even the simplest of the videos is easily appreciated.
So the Vimeo Peeps got together and set up a Vimeo Meetup for all of us local to NYC (though many came from far far away to be there), and we danced our boo-tays off. We had such a nice time.
I didn't know what to expect from the night, so for a long time we stood around, waiting, listening to the music, and enjoying the social atmosphere... but eventually it became clear that this was just... a party! I was expecting some presentation or something, but it was just to socialize and have fun. I met some really sweet, kind people who have some really amazing things on Vimeo. I'll add a few samples below my vlog!
I had a very strange dream last night (as if my dreams aren't always strange).
DREAM
I dreamt I was at Cyprus's parents house, even though the house was not recognized and is not the same as her parents' house in waking life, and we were sitting around, watching TV. Her parents weren't her parents in waking life, either. In my dream, they were our friends, Sandy and Larry.
For some reason I decided to go get a blanket from the closet. There was a thin, white blanket, kind of like a jersey sheet, lying on the floor of the closet. I reached for it and it moved. My hand cringed back to me and I looked closer at the blanket. Part of it was disappearing into a space that was between the floor and the wall. I grabbed the blanket and pulled at it. It pulled back! It was like fishing, with a fish tugging at the end of the line. I pulled harder and sure enough, pulled through the crack came a tiny, little mouse. I was surprised by the strength it had. I tugged at the blanket until the mouse let go and then it scurried back into the wall.
I didn't want to make a big deal of this, but I wanted to tell Cyprus that there was a mouse in the house. I carried the blanket with me to the doorway of the living room and waved discreetly to her to come into the other room with me. She did.
In hushed tones, I started to tell her about the mouse. She shifted her weight as she listened intently to me and put one foot on a beanbag chair that was in this sitting room. Suddenly a horrifying odor wafted up toward us and it was the smell of a dead rodent (if anyone has ever smelled this, it is one of the most upsetting smells on the planet). I looked down at her foot on the beanbag and I saw that she had placed her foot on a large, dead, bloated rat! Her foot had squished into the rotting softness and caused the release of those horrible smells!
She freaked out and pulled her foot back, shivering and looking completely disoriented and I just stood there, wide-eyed. There was no hiding our conversation from her parents, so a lot commotion ensued as we dealt with the reality of my finding a mouse and now this dead rat.
I don't remember much of what happened next, but the final thing I remember is eating Twizzlers (strawberry licorice sticks) from a bag on the counter in the kitchen. I leaned against the counter and chewed one up, then reached for another, pulling it from the sticky inside of the bag... I ate it, too. I think Cyprus and her parents were, at this point, dealing more directly with the rodent issue and I was just wandering around, finding these delicious Twizzlers.
I reached for another in the bag and that's when I saw through the clear part of the bag, almost obscured by the lettering and logo, a dead mouse stuck to one side of the inside of the bag!
I started retching...
I woke up.
END DREAM
WAKING LIFE ANALYSIS:
Clearly this was a strange processing of my day, yesterday, because I spent a great deal of it "mouse-proofing" my apartment. I have now seen a mouse in my apartment on several occasions, but very few and far between. I never have a mouse or bug problem, so I don't usually get too concerned about it. I attributed my sightings to the fact that some construction and renovation have been going on in my building that the little mice were just passing through. But I don't want to be a passageway for rodents, so rather than setting traps and killing them (I refuse to do so), I would rather just take preventative measures. I have tried to find every possible point of entry and fill it with steel wool and that expanding foam stuff you can buy from the hardware store. So that's what I did, yesterday.
I think it must have carried over into my dreams.
Now, why they were dead and rotting and playing tug-o-war with a blanket... I don't know!
Just a couple of videos from recent vlogging...
I've never done this before, but feel inspired by a friend's entry listing 30 things about herself. It was so much more interesting than I had expected! So, in one sitting, here are 30 things about me that I can think of right now. A lot of this is probably already familiar, and then some parts may be TMI!
01. I am gayThat concludes 30 Things About Me today...
02. I am 100% Vegetarian and 90% Vegan
03. My primary philosophy about life is shaped by the teachings of non-physical Beings by the names of "Michael," "Seth," "Emmanuel," "Lazaris," and "Orin and DaBen."
04. Despite the love and support I have in my life, my best friend EVER was my dog, Pluto, who died after 5 years of friendship from Cancer (he was euthanized in my arms)
05. I am now HIV+ as of last year and am technically "living with AIDS" (though I am perfectly healthy)
06. I have a hard time believing that HIV or AIDS exists as we currently understand it because of the extreme lack of science to support the theories, but now I have to live as if it is true
07. I have now lived in New York City for a total of years that count as nearly half of my life
08. I love "Reality TV"
09. I spend more time with electronics and non-human animals than I do with people these days
10. It bothers me when people call me a "Racist" just because I make legitimate complaints and open commentary about my primarily-Black neighborhood and the issues that obviously plague Black culture (hello, I'm right in the middle of it!)
11. I rarely tell people what I do for a living unless they ask
12. I rarely relate to anyone who does what I do for a living
13. My greatest unfulfilled aspirations are to successfully publish a well-accepted novel and a non-fiction book
14. My greatest fulfilled aspirations are all related to helping people and animals to have and create better lives for themselves
15. I almost died last year in a hospital in a foreign country and spent several days in a coma.
16. Before last year, I have always done anything for "Love." For the first time in my life now, I have genuinely lost all interest in ever feeling that way again. And that's not a bad thing.
17. Most of my guy friends are my ex-boyfriends.
18. I have lost several close women friends because I was not interested in their affections.
19. I lived for 18 years being abused my Mother. Now I have not seen or spoken to her in 22 years. And she has never tried to contact me.
20. I communicate with the dead every day, but I really don't want to die.
21. The greatest ambient influence on my soul is the music of Cocteau Twins and one of the greatest days of life was when I met them... and they knew who I was.
22. After hearing a lengthy speech about me and my influence on my high school, I won a writing award that had not been given in 17 years. I accepted my award to a standing ovation.
23. I was voted "Most Cheerful," and "Most Outrageously Dressed" in my Senior Class in high school.
24. Despite being 40 years old, I still enjoy life as if I am just getting started.
25. I think Zombies and Clowns are two of THE most terrifying things on the planet.
26. The most disheartening and shocking things in life for me are having to watch people choose Convenience and Self-preservation over Compassion and Kindness.
27. When I look at people and things, I see colors and shapes dancing around and through them and I sometimes know what they mean.
28. Despite being very sexual all of my life (from a very early age), I have never really had sex.
29. Despite being 40 years old now, after growing up abused, I still constantly live in fear of "getting into trouble," even when there is absolutely no reason.
30. Believe it, or not, I always do the things I do because I truly love doing most of what I choose to do, and not for any reward, applause, or praise.
I haven't had a lot of time for writing like I'd like to do, but I have been making my CocteauBoyTV episodes and would love to share these with you: