Hey everyone...!

I'm on the move, and off of Maui! Yeeeha! It's waaaay too conservative for my blood. South Puna is next, in a very cute little forested zone known as Pahoa. A land of fire (HVO WebCam), water (Kehena Beach), and thankfully not a lot of conservatives.

Speaking of conservatives... who will you vote for this coming election season?

Are you registered to vote? (Click here: Declare Yourself - If you live here in Hawai'i and need to register, go here: Hawai'i Elections Registration)

Are you aware of the policies that McCain is planning on carrying forth? (See my previous blog entry, and read here: Woe Is U.S.)

Are you aware of Obama's approach to the issues facing us after the Bush Decimation? (BarackObama.com)

Of course currently there's our assholish friend Bush, who has managed - in 8 very long years (but short, geologically... bleh!) to completely trash our constitution and rights. Think I'm kidding? Read these articles of impeachment, submitted by Dennis Kucinich on June 9. 2008. Way overdue, but at least he has the balls to submit them.

Kucinich Articles of Impeachment:
Articles of Impeachment

Wouldn't it be wonderful - oh so very wonderful - to see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Rove, etc, all in prison with frisbies strapped to their pale guilty asses... as they wallow and mewl in the hopes of preventing . . . um, err... well, no need to go on. But I don't think a frisbee would be, ya know, adequate. Nor do I think, frankly, that a fate such as implied would be even close to what they actually deserve. Why? Because the people currently running our country are thieves and liars and murderers. Believe it. The parents of many dead children all over the world do.

Yea, sooo....
Anyhooz... on that sad note.
Get out and register to VOTE!
;~)

 -- brent

Well, as if we haven't had enough of the trash in charge of our country... look what's waiting in the wings: John "I'm a hypocitical dickhead" McCain.

Here's a series of films that are pretty interesting, not to mention other info. I think the most important question to come out of this entire site is...

"Who is the real John McCain?"
A damn good question.

Check it out:
The Real McCain

Adioso...
 -- b

===========================

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.¹
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."²
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.³
   
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."⁴
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.⁵
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.⁶
7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."⁷
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.⁸
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."⁹
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.¹⁰

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your personal network. And if you want us to keep you posted ..On's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/

---

Sources:
1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008
ABC

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
Color Of Change

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
Bloomberg

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
Think Progress

3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
Think Progress

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007
MSNBC

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
CDFA

"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
CNN

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008
AP

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End ..Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
Bloomberg

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008
AP

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
Boston Globe

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
Think Progress

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008
ABC News

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
Mother Jones

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
Think Progress

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
Think Progress

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
Sierra Club

Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.2 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at: MoveOn.org

What an interesting place, Maui. Just when I find myself thinking I’m getting a scope of the geography of the island - whammo! - something new shows up.

Yesterday... I felt for time as if I was wandering my heartspace - the Olympic Mountains in Washington.

At about 6300 feet, on the slopes of Haleakula behind Wailea and Kihei, is a small upcountry town called Kula. A really beautiful area with some of the lushest vegetation I’ve seen (yes, they get a bit of rain). I even saw a cherry tree, I think! Anyhooz, there’s a state park there called Polipoli Springs; maybe it’s a forest reserve, actually. There’s hiking up here. With S and two other friends from Oahu, we drove first up to the summit of Haleakula (10,023 feet) and surveyed our surroundings (foggy, but whoa... so eerily beautiful...), catching a brief glimpse, to the south, of the Big Isles snow-capped summits. I wore my light hikers, jeans, and fleece for the first time since I moved here - that felt homey and nice too! We then drove down into Kula and took a wacked 11 mile windy road up into Polipoli. Oh wow...

It’s a...  redwood forest! No kidding...! And koa and ohia and cypress... stunning! Did a shortish hike through the redwoods in contantly changing light, the greens of moss yellowing in the sun, dissapearing again to the color of ocean depths. Crazy beautiful. And misty, foggy, broken light, cool, so very coolish... The Olympics. Totally. Occassionally we would catch sight of the ocean off distantly stretching below us, to the other islands, to the horizon, it’s flat blue-slate surface detail hidden to us up in the heights. The forest smell itself was just so grounding - evergreen forest smells, downed trees, musty moldy leaves rotting on the forest floor. Quiet too, just occassional rustles and bustles amongst the foilage; denizens doing daily duties. My skin was lilting and stretching for this moisture and it was exquisite, to be back in my native environment. All of us had spent significant time on the west coast, and each of us in our own way was wriggling around in the good forest vibes. It was a like a most excellent massage of the mind. Peaceful and beautiful and ethereal and expanding.

And then...? Down the hill, down down to Kahului, to Kihei, and the land of sunshine and beaches. Took us about an hour.

I thought my forests of the heart were a 7 hour plane ride and numerous boat/car hassles to get near them. But they’re not. They’re here. They have followed me (or me them) and not only have I accomplished a winter of sunshine, an excellent job, and significant movement in the realm of music... but I’m actually discovering my home too.

What a strange and fascinating journey this life is. Around every corner is a new discovery, a new joy, and sometimes new people to share it with. And every morning, when the birds are going off in the meadow at 6:15am, I thank Mother Nature for letting me follow her around in all her wild ways, and for providing the coolest people to wander her vales with.

 -- brent

Hey a really quick music update on the state of the union here on the wonder island...

Recording is actually in process, though I have to admit it’s somewhat slower than my impatient self would like. I’m a little distracted what with all the running/swimming/snorkeling, playing music with S, composing new orchestral pieces, and preparing for the JJ opener coming up in late April (with my awesome friend and kickass kit man Fletcher Andrews!!).

As the tracking moves ahead, however, I am seeing that this disc will have a definitive acoustic feel to it. Which is pretty humorous given all the fusion/funk/classical stuff I have been dabbling in of late. I think this album is going to be a cleansing for me. It’s a small slice of the music I wrote while living on Vashon (so was the first CD for the most part), and once complete, I think I can then truly move on to... the next thing.

So it’s important to get it on, get it out... but I also can’t push it. It needs to organically arrive in my world, my life, my CD rack.
And it will.

For those west coast V-Islanders that I miss and love... The Elementals (S and I) are doing a date at Cafe Luna in late July. It will be great to re-visit that wonderful room and people. Watch for that as it nears...

Perhaps it is yet another stage of saying goodbye, too. Who knows...?
Have a coolio weekend, all. Get out for some sun and some music...!

peace,
 -- brent

After all this time, after all of this money ($500+ Billion Dollars! of yours and mine), after all of these needless deaths, and after all the public opinions shared by you and your fellow citizens (whom vote, fyi... for whatever that’s worth...) about this stupidass war that our dimwit imbecile of a president (president?) put us into... he still believes we’re, uh-hum... ’winning’..??? Is he fucking MENTAL!?

Well...yes. Obviously. He’s a goddamn twit. (McCain is no better, though somewhat smarter - but let’s face it, the bar is pretty low when we’re talking of gw...). And a liar. And a con man. And is gullible, lacks integrity, has shit for brains, and... oh, the list... so LONG! Here’s just a few tidbits on our dickhead leader.

Frankly the statement he made today, his continued backing of this debacle, and his lack of ownership for ruining so many peoples lives leads me to believe he should be unceremoniously dumped in Azkaban.

I’m so pissed at him and his lack of... well... EVERY thing that I’m fucking vibrating in the seat.... There’s so much more to say but I just felt I needed to vent, fer chissakes. (Thanks for letting me.)

Please please please, energy forces of this good earth, let there NOT be another fuckhead put into office here in the United States. Let the rest of the world heal from our meddling, and let US heal on the inside after this mental prick has trashed our country locally and globally, all in the name of oil and ignorance...

So... fuck you George Bush. I sincerely hope you enjoy the upcoming [eternal] time you’ll be spending in a very warm place with many of your closest friends (and family)...
 -- b

PS - yes, I know a lot of this data is old. Makes it even worse, doncha think?
PSS - here’s a song I wrote about the dipshit - enjoy...

Wow! Totally great nature lately...!

I have had visiting family (and of course my wonderful partner has been here as well) and we have had exceptional whale watching this last week.
Here’s a quick run down:

- North edge of west Maui, overlooking the famous blowhole: we’re hanging out on the high cliffs watching the pounding surf on the gorgeous cliffs and a pod of whales were hanging out in the bay. We had a bird’s eye view as one of the males conducted breach after breach right in front of us. Spectacular.

- Wailea Luau in the evening. A small whale pup got seperated from the group hanging out in the bay, came right up to shore where the break was. Hung out there for 30 minutes, about  50 feet away. Mom finally showed up - wow! - and the two of them did numerous little antics for us watchers as they paraded their way back out into deeper water. We were totally able to see the connection of these two whales - Mother and Child. We could hear them breathing and moving through the water, and get a solid sense of them while standing right on shore.

- Last night we had a few Pacifico’s on Makopu Beach while body surfing and watching another incredible sunset. And the whales were litereally in a checkout line across the outer edge of the bay. We stayed through sunset - about 2 hours total - and the entire time there were whales breaching, spy-hopping, and tail flopping in between us and Molokini. Really amazing, crazy beautiful, these creatures.

- Snorkeling near Lahaina with Sherri, we ran across another reef shark, a small one, that headed out to deeper water as soon as he spotted us. And turned, saw a huge turtle - the biggest one I had ever seen. His shell was probably four feet across and we watched him float ethereally through the sun-scoured water above spectacular reef, the water dappling his shell in the most amazing colors.

So, the last few days have been wonderful and beautiful, sharing with the people I love the most. And I keep getting the flash of just how lucky I am, to live here in this amazing space. (Yes, it has problems, what place/space in society doesn’t) I am playing music with an exceptionally creative, warm and beautiful and diversely talented partner, am now actively recording my next CD, have a great job that is pretty flex, can commune with a live volcano (Pele’!) and live right next to a beautiful dormant one, and I sleep each evening in one of the most desirable places in the world - hey it’s why people visit here.

I am thankful and grateful every day for all that Mother Nature has shown and shared with me. It’s a spectacular time in my life right now.

I hope the beauty of the world is permeating the days of each and every one of you, too. Life is short, and there are just so darn many smiles to be had.
 -- b

Been a run of a week, gotta say...
Swam with my beautiful partner and a manta ray, saw a centipede (eek!), and played an amazing gig...

While so many things are going great, there's a few items that need airing out. ;~)

First off, in my misguided efforts to actually support a friend, I probably inadvertantly insulted them. Not my intent, but I think it happened. Well, it is a two way street. Saying someone is a dickhead is different than saying someone is being a dickhead. One is a way of being (is); one is an event (being) - and hopefully temporary. Doesn't matter, the damage is done. I was too opinionated (though I had no guidance on a response, either).

The problem is, really, that I have had to watch someone I care about stay stuck and mostly be a victim about it... for over a year. They are totally empowered in every other way except changing their life. And man, it is hard to watch, and even harder to support. It's incredibly difficult for me to see someone so focused on the past, yet with such a fucking bright possible future. In the [apparent] end I was no doubt feeling that. Sad that I didn't just shut up and watch the spin. Which has been my policy and which I will go back to (not that I'll have the chance...). Not sure if it's a good policy or not, but one thing is certain, the opposite didn't work.

So I feel like I lost a close friend this week which makes me really sad..

And...
Maui comments...
Now that I have been here for a bit, I have had a chance to dig into the life cycle of living in Hawaii. There is much good, and the Hawaiian peoples (the indigenous peoples, not the hale's like me) are through and through good; wholesome and family-oriented (take a lesson America), with warmth and charm displayed in nearly everything. They are royal and elegant and this is their land. Westerners have once again disrupted a local ecosystem and world. And it is sad to see...

And yes, it's a beautiful place, there is no doubt of it. Looking closer, there is also a lingering doubt as to a final place for me to settle down. Maui has terrible garbage practices (see previous blog), a worse recycling program, and there's places where litter runs amok. Like cigarette butts, for example. The sad thing is that the locals are the ones throwing butts around, not the tourists. Why litter where you live? What is the point?

And the drivers are the worst I have ever experienced, with tailgating (I mean tailgating!) being the nrom. Fucking torques me right off, too, that people can be so blatantly disrespectful of other people...

Also, as a hale living here, I have zero access to any ranchlands, which make up the largest part of south Maui. So getting into nature is about the beach, or very controlled nature walks. And truthfully I miss the backcountry aspects of craggy peaks, the wanderlust I could manifest in those areas. I know I'll get back to that. For the moment I am enjoying this gorgeous place. But it will not be my final landing zone.

Anyhooz... that's the day... hope you are all well.
 -- b

I actually heard a sportscaster on am radio say this yesterday during the Georgia whomping of Hawaii in the Sugar (disem)Bowl:

"They've got them by their gonads, with their big right hand."

Hah! Wow... Thrill-a-minute, that sportscast was. The game sucked the the color commentary guy was such an idiot it made for excellent entertainment.

Oh and... Happy New Year!
 -- brent
ps - yes, I really am listening to myself... get over it. ;~)

Yes, I am getting settled. I have a table, two if you count the rolling cutting board vibe. I have two stools for playing guitar, and two nice comfy easy chairs that could double as deck chairs pretty easily. I have a futon. And most importantly, I have a stereo.

And I have a landlord. This is part of getting settled in Kihei - unless you buy (median house price: $560k. Buy...??? Are you kidding?). And my landlords have a house too. They've been settled for quite a while. We don't have that in common, among many other things.

Like... garbage for instance. I realize I am very likely old fashioned and just plain silly in this regard... but they have garbage service. Are you aware of what this means? Well, maybe you are, in your own neighborhood. Allow me to paint the Kihei picture for you...

Kihei proper is fucking LOUD. South Kihei Road along the beach is party central, beaches, bars, prettyboy thumping sillymobiles, parks, and local surfland hangs. It's great. Just wouldn't wanna live there. So I chose not to. I picked a nice quiet suburban area out of the way, still close, and rented myself this private little behind-the-landlords-house cottage. Nice place, too...

Did I mention quiet? It is. Pin drop quiet.
For just about 97% of the time. The other 3% is split evenly (that's 1.5% each, math-heads...) between Tuesday morning (including Christmas please note...) and Friday morning. (Morning Defined: Pre-7AM)

On these mornings, down at the bottom of the hill, there begins - smallish at first - the rumble of an angry dinosuar, gearing up for a morning of can hunting and breakfasting. Screeching to a halt when it finds prey (full garbage cans), it then accellerates into peevish rotational fury to get to the next set of victims, uphill to the next level on the hill where I live. The Victims? Garbage Cans. Big ones. Big neightborhood ones. Huge ones. That people roll exasperatingly loud into the street on either Monday or Thursday evenings, or very early (5am) on the days of feeding. Wha' the Fu...?

The Garbosaraus begins feeding at about 5:30am. Off in the distance we of the Quietude shimmer unelegantly in our slumber, unconsiously acknowledging the upcoming terminations of rest and reprieve, transitioning into unrest, unreprieve. Eventually, the roar of accelleration up the hill, the clanging and clamor of the Victims being unceremoniously slammed into the stomach walls of the G'saraus by Garbage Minions, and the screeching baying whining of the brakes as another victim is identified... these all combine to bring an entire hillside (I kid you not) directly into wakefullness. Twice a week.

Finally... ninety minutes into the melee and after many gloriously LOUD recapitulations, the reptilian (or should I say Orwellian) monster recedes into... other neighborhoods. Lucky them.

The visiting of the Neighborhood Garbage Truck has got to be one of the most rude experiences I have ever had. And begs so many questions. Like... collusion. The entire area is colluding with this beast. They ALL subscribe to the service. So if one peson decides they want to sleep in all seven days outa the week instead of just five, they can't, because the beast will inexorably arrive for their neighbors garbage cans regardless of the number or vociferating of the sleeper inners. These inviolate outcasts have no choice but to follow the American Dream.

And then... these Garbage Audio Supporter People (GASP) in this area... they (gasp again!) pay for this service. They do! Actually give the beast MONEY! To wake them (and anyone else, by gosh) up, twice weekly.

Shall I mention the most sorrowful aspect of this blatantness? Why yes, I think I should. Here it is...

What kind of wasteful, ignoramous, shallow-headed, eco-idiot requires a garbage pickup TWICE A WEEK!? Get a fucking CLUE people! It's these... carbon units (for want of a less disturbing albiet more descriptive name) that have no idea of the state of our beautiful planet.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. It's a song (not shitting you: http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/lavajam-11.m3u), and I wish they'd listen to it.

So... welcome to my neighborhood. Five mornings a week it is magnificent and quiet ad very very serene. It's a small war zone on the other two, but after all, cleaniness IS right next to godliness, right...? (At least in the Republican Dictionary.) Small price to pay. For a house that breaches sound barriers it reaches so high (I'm guessing 3500sq for two people and a departing teenager) - gotta have garbage pickup, christ yesssss....

There ya go. Thanks for reading about the American Dream. I'm pleased to share, and you should be pleased to know that here, in Kihei, Maui, HI, people are achieving this dream. And what a dream it is. Good for them. By...uhmm... god?

Now... I'm off to recycling, and to take a nap. Buhbye.

(Thanks to LMSings for inspiring me to dig this out...!)

John Cage - he's a great one. I remember being in composition class and everyone debating profusely about the validity of Cage's 4'33" piece; silence as music; wow what a concept! That seemed to blow all of our compositional boundaries as students right out of the water - the world became our musical oyster and I personally felt like I could write anything I wanted and it would be valid in the musical world. (I still feel that way to be honest, because I do it for myself, no one else.) It was a great feeling. Running out of class and scribing... the equivalent of... nothing! Giving it a title, calling it good. Certainly there are moents listening to the radio or other public music forums where I wish these writers would practice more of cage's approach... but that's just me...
;~)

Anyhooz, this is off Wikipedia. I'm sure there's a ton more on this guy out there, but sharing this small piece of a man who was thinking waaaay outside the box. And not only musically.
Enjoy...
 -- brent

John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde and the most influential American composer of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for the most part of the latter's life.

Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4'33", the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. Although 4'33" in fact consists of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, it is frequently erroneously perceived as four minutes, thirty three seconds of silence and has become one of the most controversial compositions of the century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the most well-known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48).

His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933-35), both known for their radical innovations in music, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on chance events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life – not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living".

In addition to his composing, Cage was also a philosopher, writer, artist, printmaker and an avid amateur mycologist and mushroom collector.