Yesterday afternoon, we provided music for a wedding at St. Vincent's at Adam's and Figueroa. As we were leaving the church parking lot, I noticed a sloppily folded piece of paper under my left windshield wiper blade. The image below is a scan of said page. Do not adjust your screen folks...God has hitmen!!!!


I typically do not vocalize my stances or beliefs, or post them on blogs; they're hidden in my music for folks to uncover. I understand that strangers may happen upon this blog, disagree, and make a big stink. However, this is perhaps the most fascinating religious document since the Dead Sea Scrolls. And forget that Da Vinci Code. God is out to kill you!!

My sarcasm points to the obvious absurdity of this list which has at last reminded of me of the existence of the "misguided religious extremist". It would be quite easy for me to ridicule the enigma that penned this work, yet this would bring me to the same hateful tendencies of that person that essentially wants us all to burn. But I'll do my best to state my points clearly in a concise list below:

* At the risk of nulifying this blog entry: What's with the smiley face?! This shit ain't funny!
* The author is clearly trying to scare the reader into becoming a follower of God and is basically saying, "Skip church and you're hellbound." It is this voice of fear that has ultimately coerced people away from the church for years. Adverse effect.
* People who do not fear God will also go to hell?! What about those who don't fear but love and embrace Her? Where do they go?
* Jesus Christ walked the earth preaching forgiveness to all. Yes, that includes you murders and whoremongers out there...Jesus just gave you a "Get Out Of Hell Free" card!!
* Intolerance of homosexuality and inequity towards fellow man or woman...like Christ? I think not. More charateristic of a Brush-Mustached Fuhrer. Author, if you're out there, where do you hang your swastika?
* Regardless of whether or not you believe in God, we are Her children and therefore would never be cast into some fictional Lake (or is it Cake?) of Fire!

Lastly, I would like to address my final point to the author of God's Hit List directly. Sex is not evil. You should try it sometime. Neither is love. You should try that too. Here's a hug from me. It's a celebration!

Derek brings music to tickle your eardrum and words to excite the emotions. Let's see what the devoted who've been moved have to say:

Many of you have already received a "thank you" message from us. But for those of you not yet on our mailing list, we wanted to make sure you weren't left out of our shower of praise for making it out to our show on the 25th. Jen and I received a really great response from you all...and some good constructive criticism too. We love the support. We love you.

When most of us think of career artists, the starving bohemian instantly comes to mind. As Jen and I try to make a living out of sharing ourselves with others, we fear of becoming squatters or street musicians playing for our next meal. We fear a lot of things. But YOU take a lot of that fear away. You come to our shows, visit our MySpace pages (wink), and share our music with your friends. Recently, many of you came to Cafe Europe and participated in one of our best shows ever; snapped along, clapped along, and applauded the rainstick solos. Because of the "overflow" of support, Jen and I will have some HUGE news to share with you. You'll need to stay tuned.

I was quite surprised at the uproar that was caused during our update of "Unsettled". It seems now that I may have a flicker in my new future as a rap artist!! I'd like to warn you all not to expect such shenanigans at upcoming gigs. However, to quench your desire for more rhymes, I have posted an "oldie" from 1999 on MySpace. While you're there, MySpace users can add one of my fancy banners to their websites and show your support for my tunes. Please enjoy.

In related news, Jen has FINALLY posted some music of her own at her MySpace and the world has already begun adding her songs to their pages!! Shouldn't you?

Well, I didn't intend for this blog to get so long. On behalf of Jen and myself, thanks for everything and farewell.

Hope to see you soon,
Derek

www.derekmartinez.com
www.myspace.com/derekmartinez

...makes Derek pretty exhausted. The past few weeks have been pretty rewarding; a visit back home, a gathering of friends, 2 1/2-day pilgrimage to Idaho to witness life in bloom (Cass). At the same time, these weeks have been a high-speed freefall most certain to end in my demise; constant workload of a holiday retail monkey, bouncing from Enterprise to BOI, and straight back to work again. I yearn to devote myself to the art as I watch the car fail to start, Jen's cell fall into the toilet, and the laundry pile up (no pun intended). Will the time come? Will time only tell? Will I be swallowed by the grind...or the need to restore order? Or will I embrace the chaos as my fuel? ...make the time my own? ...refuse to be distracted from a dream? This is my choice. I ramble. ..

I really would like to make tonight's entry about music. However, the guitars are two states away...and my voice is LONG gone!!! I'm quite sick but feel great since I am here in Seattle with my family and my wife. Gotta keep it short. Internet cafe says, "one minute left!"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Peace. Love.

D

Wowsers!! Two posts in less than 24 hours!! I simply wanted to take a moment to put down--for the record--that I am extremely grateful to those who attended/sat through my set tonight at Room 5. Not only was it a cool venue, but to play for you and sit down and chat with you was...aside from celebrating my one-year anniversary with Jen...the highlight of my year. In fact, the evening went so well that I've already been invited back!! I'll be returning to the same lovely place as soon as next month!! Thanks. Peace. Love. -D-

[The following parody is in response to the many replies regarding the time stamp of my previous e-mail. Hopefully, it's worth a laugh.] Greetings from the future. 10 years ago today, humankind reached a milestone in its evolution. At 8:30pm Tuesday, October 18, 2005--on the second floor of Hollywood's Room 5--Derek Martinez performed for a small group of individuals. After his set, these people turned from the performance forever changed...inspired to live life, eager to make a difference in their world...and clinging to the magnetic melodies of "Overflow" and "All Aglow". History is said to repeat. Derek will perform again. But for some of you, TONIGHT is your opportunity to experience it for the first time. Here's how: October, 18 2005 at ROOM 5 @ 8:30pm (mere hours away) 143 N. La Brea Ave (S of Beverly), Hollywood, CA 90036 Cost: SAVE YOUR MONEY; NO COVER Park your Delorean on La Brea or Valet Park. 21 and over. See you there, From the year 2015 - D Failure to appear may result in the disruption of the Space/Time Continuum.

Jen and I shared a nice afternoon at the beach with our guitars. The Santa Monica scenery worked wonders for the creative flow. Ideas rained down like *ahem* seagull droppings. New music surfaced and old ones worked their way into our voices. An overall great time...of course, BEFORE the emergency restroom trip. NOTE TO FRIENDS AND ENEMIES: Avoid the Beach Restooms at all costs. Take your chances in the shark-infested waters. In other news, I'll be doing a little percussion and backing vocals this Friday, Oct. 7th for my buddy - the talented Zach Laney. And I'm looking to plan my own shows in the near future...in hopes of keeping my sanity--and perhaps yours--during the upcoming holidays. Stay tuned.

I simply wanted to comment on the latest musical progress. First of all, Jen and I have been discussing the beginning of our own record label. The idea is fun...and our logo concept is, for the lack of a better term - FUNNER. But we definitely can't wait to unleash it on the public. As for my own creative cycle, the wheel is once again turning. And with our new ProTools setup, it won't be long before I have some ditties to share. As one of my 1up.com friends had observed, prepare yourselves for a sequel to PileUP. But first, look foreward to the transitional Acoustiversions vol. 2. Aw, jeez. Can't wait to try new stuff live, too. I know I'll see you there.