Near Fantastica

Here we are, on the rickety edge…

These pink pills are not for my sanity, they’re for the sanity of others. They are intended to keep me even enough for someone to go rooting through my noggin in an attempt to help me put the pieces back together. A candy coated form of control. I’ll make myself better, stronger, faster. All for the sake of others. To allow everyone to continue on with that wonderful sense of everything being okay, the sun shining. How can one be reasonable in unreasonable times? Why is it that our passions must be contained, managed? Sometimes the angels on our shoulders are just demons that couldn’t make the cut.

I’ve been much much better than this. I doubt I have ever been, nor will ever be, worse. The specters of my un-reconciled memory banks have finally been released, like Walter Peck shutting down the Ghostbusters power grid. These spirits and skeletons are free to wander the metropolis of my psyche and have begun to hijack the considerable processing power within to attempt to drill their way out. They are clever little beasts, they wear any number of masks required to draw out more and more control. Despite the best of intentions and efforts by many, I fear this may be a losing battle. The control tower was undermanned. Decimated by both general and very specific attacks. Back to the Ghostbusters metaphor, Ecto-1 is in the shop, Ray and Venkmann are on vacation and Stay Puft is left to his own devices. No gatekeeper nor key master required. Hush now, little puppy, your work here is done.

~~

The melodies are the same. The words also consistent. The lack is in their meaning, the positive power they had. All the soothing balm they had has been stripped away, leaving raw memory in its place. We can’t hear the tunes anymore, the cadence and the rhythm and the lyrical beauty is fuzzy and indistinct. There are no more songs left to sing, no riffs left to play. The instruments may be laid to rest, to gather dust and diminish in memory. Let us speak of these things no more…

~~

I apologize for the extremely negative and catastrophic nature of the words contained herein. The sun does shine at times, but we force ourselves to wear these blinders.

Goodnight and good luck.

A Few Things On A Friday Morning…

Good Morning.

I’m working through a cup of my back coffee since I ran out of my beloved Sucker Punch (from local roasters Catfish Coffee) so I’m typing to keep my mind off of it. Just going to link a few interesting things I’ve come across lately.

~~~~~~

First off, the new video from Extra Credits really caught my attention…

I’ve been playing a whole bunch of The Division with a couple pals online lately. We’ve enjoyed the mechanics, especially in the Dark Zone, and I’ve enjoyed it as an alternative to Destiny which I haven’t touched in a couple months. The game isn’t perfect by any means and I don’t know exactly how long it will keep our attention since Overwatch is going to be grabbing some attention soon. I personally do not understand the absolute vitriol that some are lobbing at it recently and in particular the new patch that added some new content but I guess I’m not one who can  spend twelve hours a day playing nothing but The Division and so cannot summon enough impotent disgust to bitch about a video game.

The video, though, examines the game from a much different angle that I honestly did not even really perceive until this morning. Something interesting to ponder about games and what they can say about the world we live in. There is also something to be said about what they say to those who spend all their conscious time playing and none truly thinking about what they are playing.

~~~~~

A pretty interesting article popped up on AlterNet regarding the situation in Germany regarding the refugee crisis. I’ve had some pretty heated opinions about the crisis as it has touched Canada and lost respect for a good many friends and family over their opinions on it. We tend to be somewhat two-faced as a culture about what Globalization has meant about relations with other humans in that we love all the conveniences but will turn on those in need without a second thought if we think it might mean things will change even a little bit. Come to think of it, we do the same with those we perceive as different here at home…

Either way, I was heartened by the news I heard about Germany and their commitment to humanitarian aid and their openness to refugees. This sort of issue is just going to become more important as there are people in power who are only interested in advancing suffering and hatred instead of the species as a whole. These trials are something more and more of us will face and it will be interesting to see how the Germans handle the situation over the next year or so.

~~~~~

I have a hard time even speaking about our so called Democracy since the sheer ignorance displayed since our Provincial and Federal elections here up North. What is going on in our southern neighbour almost makes my issues with the system I live in seem quaint…almost. I had a link to a great op-ed piece on Salon but it seem to have gone dead. It was decrying this election as another step on a downward trajectory only made worse by the war on education and intellectualism in the country. I agreed with a whole lot of the points in it and it’s actually kind of pissing me off that I can’t find it now. Fuck.

~~~~

That’s about it for now. It’s 7:45 AM and I have to go finish prepping the kids for school and such. I’ll hopefully make it through another workday and maybe be able to sit and type some more tonight. Have a great, thoughtful day, friends.

Quick Hits January 19

Just a short one today. I’m working on ideas for longer pieces but I wanted to post something in relatively short order. These are just some things I’ve been reading/watching/listening to or that have been rolling around my skull the last day or so.

-I finally got my hands on a copy of LA Son by Roy Choi. I’ve only seen/heard a little bit about Kogi Truck and Chef Choi before getting the book. The actual reason I first learned about the book was because it came out on Anthony Bourdain’s new imprint. I’m about halfway through and I’ve gotta say I’m really loving the book and the recipes in it. I’m definitely pre-disposed to it because it’s along the lines of Kitchen Confidential and that book has been a major influence on not only my rollicking nostalgia for my time in the restaurant industry but also my outlook on food and life. If you can get a copy I suggest you do so immediately.

-Renee and I started watching Friends from season one since it was added to Netflix. I’d forgotten how funny that show was and how they really knew what they were doing from day one. I don’t really get into sitcoms these days but it’s nice to watch these shows now with a different point of view from when I first saw them.

-Been fostering a late blooming appreciation for The Tragically Hip recently. I’d always been aware of them (how can you not be if you grew up in Canada in the ’80s and ’90s) but have gotten really deep into the back catalogue the last couple days. I’m really only now connecting with just how Canadian they truly are and I’m totally digging it. There’s an idea percolating in my brain right now for a longer piece on my view about Canadian music/bands, especially the ones that have meant and are beginning to mean a lot to me.

-It’s kinda funny to me that I put the finishing touches on my new computer rig, ostensibly for gaming, and the two games I’ve been spending all my time with on it are World of Warcraft and South Park: The Stick of Truth. To be totally honest, though, I’m loving the shit out of South Park. It’s a really well done game with solid mechanics, great game play, and some truly funny writing.

-I got to visit a production office for a film a friend is working on. It was my first in-person look at a behind the scenes part of film making and was really cool to see. Can’t go into too much detail but I was really grateful my friend was able to bring me in and show me some of his work. I love movies and have always been fascinated by the process of actually making films and the visit just added fuel to the fire in me to maybe one day take part in it myself.

That’s about it for now. Renee and I have the house to ourselves, both the kids are staying at their grandparents since Renee has to take the new cat into the vet early tomorrow. I’ve got a couple longer pieces I’ve been slowing working out in my head that I’m hoping will get from my brain to the screen in the next week or so (if I can get myself to actually sit down and start typing). Should be some interesting stuff.

Thanks for visiting.