Im just chillin in Harvey the RV out behind Dos Amigos in Odessa...Sipping on a lil jager and red bull waiting for soundcheck. I love being on the road and playing shows every night. Its when I truly feel the most alive and get to see alot of friends that I don't normally get to see. We played to a pretty good sized crowd night before last in Abilene and I got to kick it with some close friends of mine Frank Pain (his bday) and Ethan (not sure what he was celebrating but it was something) My night concluded at some point after 5am haha. Hopefully tonight will go easier on me as Im getting older but I highly doubt it......So if you are in Odessa tonight come out and party otherwise Ill see you in Amarillo tomm. OH and Aaron and I have been working on shooting a pretty simple low budget video that (If my theory is correct) should turn out pretty SICK....STAY TUNED! and Cheers!

I know how many of you gripe at me for not "posting blogs" more often......However dont be mistaken, I'm not trying to be Perez Hilton or anything. I'm just trying to give my honest, open opinion on life. Sometimes it takes me a while to find the inspiration to write..... Recently I've noticed an influx of friends getting married, for legitimate....or illegitimate reasons....But, I've recently hit the big 26. I thought that 21 would be a milestone....or 25...but that was nothing compared to the reflective period that follows your 26th birthday. It really makes you stop and re-evaluate your life...what you've done and where you're headed. I still hold true to the mantra of "Do something extraordinary"...and thats a big gamble because at the end of the day you may be left holding nothing more than a good story. But I feel like a good story is worth way more than how much $ is in your bank account. My grandfather (RIP) once told me that the true way to success is to "Do something"......I didnt know at that young age how deep that statement was but now I get it......So I encourage each and every one of you who are reading this to go out and do whatever it is you dream of with careless abandon...They will tell you that You can't and they will also tell you that you are crazy....But FUCK 'EM!!!!! Rock and Roll ain't for sissies. I hope this has been an inspiration....As I strive to be an insipiration.....Yet I may end up broke one day and holding nothing more than a good story...........But in the end it will be way more worth it than slaving away at something I'm not passionate about....Fuck "SECURITY" Because can anyone define SECURITY anyway?

I found this article from The Huffington Post entertaining, enlightening, and saddening at the same time....As I believe there should be equality for EVERYONE.....yet isntead we let ourselves get mired in RIDICULOUS shit like this:


On Tuesday President Barack Obama will address the nation's school children in a speech promoting education, ambition, perseverance and the need to become civic-minded. It's a terrific message designed to challenge and inspire today's youth. But as expected, the issue has been hijacked by the right-wing lunatic fringe that's either gone completely mad or lost all control of its racial bigotry. Either scenario is equal parts frustrating, infuriating, shameful and scary. Wild, unfounded accusations of "indoctrination" are flying at the president, and many children will be kept home from school to avoid the speech. It's "America's Parents Gone Wild."

While visiting Wal-Mart today for the quick oil change on the UAV. I had a realization/observation. For those of you that know me, you know how much I LOVE Wal-Mart and the absolute beautiful picture it paints for the current state of humanity/society and our slowly declining lack of intelligence, but thats a separate entry all on  its own. I was standing in the music section looking for a CD of (what I thought) was a relatively big name and SURELY wal-mart of all retailers would have it. As I started to notice how small the section of CDs had become, an attractive girl walked by and I noticed her carrying a big spindle of Burnable CDs. Alot of conversations I've been having with friends has had to do with (This may sound cliche) the decline of the music industry, and how to harness this change. Im starting to think that you are going to have to give away the razor to sell razorblades...Meaning, music in itself will become free as artists have to figure out ways to make money to continue their dream, in other avenues/revenue streams. I snapped out of my thoughs just as they paged my name to come pick up my car, and I went to best buy and bought the cd. What are everyone else's thoughts on this subject?
 
-B
 
Oh and BTW I know it seems quiet on the Faktion front......but there's a storm a-brewing. We are hard at work on new songs that sound amazing!!!

I can honestly say I didn't write this but I love the message:

 

 

In the middle of a summer, a lifetime before now, I spent a couple of weeks alone in New York City its the only place Id ever been where anyone could be completely invisible; rich or poor, anonymous, famous Everyones invisible. I was wandering around and getting lost on the trains in the middle of the night. I was broke enough to hate how much more expensive an awful bottle of merlot is on the East Coast than it is back home in Northern California. It was night after night and day after day of chain-smoking and lonely hangovers - too much TV News, eating away at my optimism... I was listening to Bright Eyes and Death Cab albums on repeat, practically wearing holes in my shoes walking up and down the length of that crazy island. Manhattan is about thirteen miles north to south and about two and half miles east to west, roughly thirty-two and a half square miles. Thats nine hundred and six million, forty-eight thousand square feet and I felt like I had stepped all over each and every one of them

Most days I walked from when I woke up in the afternoon until I found my way back to my hotel in the early morning. I always had my headphones blaring my own soundtrack for the taxicabs and crowded sidewalk scenes. All of Central Park danced in perfect time to my playlist. A few times I found myself singing in the dank subway dungeons but not performing Not then I was just mumbling under my breath, counting syllables on my fingers and humming in my head along with instrumental ideas the band had recorded for me to write to before I left home. They say the best way to go unnoticed in a crowd is to look everyone in the eye as you pass them by; The first thing people do when confronted with a strangers glance is look away. Whereas, if you dont see them watching you, if they have time to study you, thats exactly what theyll do Well I tried that trick a lot - so nobody saw me. Nobody saw my eyes tired and stinging, cradled in nests of thick puffy bags of skin. I was using up all the ink in my pens and filling up notebooks and mini-tapes with everything that crossed my mind - most of which was useless - but when you're documenting everything it's only natural that most of what you write would be garbage, junk you amass and collect only to sift through when the dust settles...

I came to realize over that summer that the lyrics for the new album would have to be my best attempt at painting a picture of how it feels to live in America right now. Living in what mostly feels like the end of times. There's such a thick, black hopelessness all over everything and it'll get you down if you let it, so you have to keep moving. Our collective mood is like quicksand and whenever we feel ourselves starting to sink, we rely on any little bits of hope we can find to keep us going. For most of us the only thing left that brings us hope is love. There's nothing wrong with an honest love song - why is it that only blonde, pop-tart sluts are singing love songs now? Has the whole world outgrown love? When did this happen? I dont care, we write songs about real love because we believe in it, just as much as we believe in intolerance, violence, apathy, loss, corruption and all those terrible things. Each song on the album tells a different story and describes another part of our lives From love to loss and everything in between We live in a country at war with the world This terror culture permeates everything in our lives. Its not something we can avoid writing about anymore

    Has anyone ever noticed that if enough people are singing along together it never sounds bad? Its never out of tune, Perfect in its unity maybe?....Just a thought. I suppose you can parallel that to if enough people are telling you something they can't be wrong.

This song hit me like a wall, Ive found immense inspiration in it. Albeit 2006 wasnt quite as good to me as I would've thought had you asked me how I thought it would've turned out in January, The one thing I have learned is that life is all about learning lessons. 2006 was a year Ill never forget and that's for sure! Let me know your thoughts

Cheers and a Merry X-mas to all!

Stone Sour Zzyzx Rd.

I don't know how else to put this
It's taken me so long to do this
I'm falling asleep and I can't see straight
My muscles feel like a melee
My body's curled in a U-shape
I put on my best but I'm still afraid

Propped up by lies and promises
Saving my place as life forgets
Maybe its time I saw the world

I'm only here for a while
But patience is not my style
And I'm so tired that I gotta go

Where am I supposed to hide now?
What am I suppose to do?
Did you really think I wouldn't see this through

Tell me I should stick around for you
Tell me I could have it all
I'm still too tired to care and I gotta go

I get to go home in one week
But I leaving home in three weeks
They throw me a bone just to pick me dry

I'm following suit and directions
I crawl up inside for protection
I'm told what to do and I don't know why

I'm over existing in limbo
I'm over the myths and placebos
I don't really mind if I just fade away

I'm ready to live with my family
I'm ready to die in obscurity
Cause I'm so tired that I gotta go

Where am I supposed to hide now?
What am I suppose to do?
You still don't think I'm going see this through

Tell me I'm a part of history
Tell me I can have it all
I'm still to tired to care and I gotta go

Oh yeah
Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Still too tired to care and I gotta go
Still too tired to care and I gotta go
Still too tired to care and I gotta go

Yeah, yeah

Still to tired to care and I gotta go

Go home

Still to tired to care and I gotta go

Yeah yeah

Still to tired to care and I gotta go