Alright, so I'm driving home from work and there's black ice EVERYWHERE!  I was going north on Telegraph coming up on Orchard Lake road right by the Home Depot I used to work at.  I'm driving straight, going about 35 in a 50 zone, and right before the road starts to bend, I hit black ice.  Lucky there was only one other car nearby and it was in front of me.   I was in the left lane and spun out 3 and a half times before my rear end slammed into the guard rail next to the right lane.  As soon as I started spinning, I distinctly remember saying out loud "Oh shit!", yet at the same time once I noticed after the first half turn that there was no other traffic coming at me, I actually started to giggle while saying outloud, eyes wide as hell, "What the fuck? Holy shit!", and then I saw the guardrail fast approaching.  I braced for impact, was like..."Oooh no!"... and SLAM!  After hitting the guard rail, my car then spun about a quarter circle in the opposite direction that I was spinning and I ended up stopped facing the wrong way on Telegraph.  Shaking my head while still laughing..."Oh my god, that was fucking nuts!"...I turn around and just keep going till I got to the gas station I was already planning on stopping at.  I get out and go to the back of my car expecting the worst.  Fucking phenomenal!  My car is fine.  Just two tiny, TIIIINY little paint scratches and a slightly cracked reverse light casing.  How the fuck my back end ain't smashed to shit, I have no idea cause I drilled that fucking guard rail.  The paint chipping is so minimal that I had to lean in really close just to even see it.  When I first looked at the back of my car I was like..."What?!?!?  No fucking way, that's awesome! :)".  So yeah, that was pretty exciting, fun, and terrifying all at the same time.  That little Eclipse is more durable than I thought.  I barely backed into a light pole in my old Escort, and it fuuuucked that car up.  Here I slam into a guard rail at about 15 MPH inertia , while uncontrollably spinning out and the damn thing is fine.  It don't make any sense. 

Anyway...good times, good times :)

English version coming soon with Terry O'Quinn(John Locke) voiceover!

I recently joined a group on Facebook dedicated to the Bob-lo boats SS Columbia and SS Ste. Claire.  Since then I've been doing a lot of reading on those boats.  They encompass a vividly memorable part of my child hood.  We used to go there a couple of times a year at least, up until Bob-lo Island Amusement Park shut down.  Last I knew the Columbia was rotting away in Detroit and the Ste. Claire was in Ohio.  But that's not the case anymore. 

For the last few years there have been talks of restoring the Columbia and it looks like that restoration has been recently underway.  The hull and the engine are in still in excellent condition, but the framework and boilers are shot. 





The Ste. Claire on the otherhand returned to Detroit in 2006 and is currently docked in River Rouge has been undergoing a complete restoration for several years.  Supposedly she's going to be finished sometime in 2010, her 100th anniversary(the Columbia is 105). 





There is something about the thought of the Ste. Claire cruising the Detroit river once again that makes me feel like a kid again and I am definitely looking forward to stepping on her deck once again.  They're such beautiful boats filled with an incredible amount of history.  The twin queens of the Detroit River could very well return to their former glory.  At a combined age of over 200 years, the fact that these things are still in existence, let alone about to be back in service, is something to smile about :)


The SS Columbia in 2009







The SS Ste. Claire in 2007.

There is something lost in today's music. Soul. Layne Staley was a singer that put everything he had into what he did until he gave up and let the drugs end his life. When I first heard that Alice in Chains was putting out another album without Layne, I was horrified. But I have to admit, their new music is as every bit as soulful as the Layne Staley era. William Duvall is no Layne, but then again, nobody is. And for what it is, he does a pretty good job filling the void. You can definitely feel the spirit of Layne is still alive in AIC's new album. Depressingly so. And first hearing it, I almost forgot that Layne was gone. It kills me to hear this album, but it's so refreshing to hear that Alice in Chains sound again. There truely is nothing quite like it. I have to suck in my pride and admit that I like it. And it makes me want to cry. Not to admit it that I like it, but because it forces me to remember things that I miss. And that are gone forever. Sadly Nostalgic. That's how this album makes me feel.

RIP Layne Staley




All Secrets Known

Hope, A new beginning
Time, Time to start living
like just before we died.

There's no going back to the place
We've started from.

Hurt, Falling through fingers.
Trust, Trust in the feeling
there's something left inside.

There's no going back to the place
We've started from.
All secrets known.

Calm, All wounds are healing.
Strong, Truth is worth saving
I want to feel alive.

There's no going back to the place
We've started from.
All secrets known.

-Alice in Chains


And it wouldn't be right without some old school AIC.

 


Junkhead

A good night, the best in a long time.
A new friend turned me on to an old favorite.
Nothing better than a dealer who's high.
Be high convince them to buy.

What's my drug of choice? Well, what have you got.
I don't go broke. And I do it a lot.

Seems so sick to the hypocrite norm.
Running their boring drills.
But we are an elite race of our own.
The Stoners, Junkies and Freaks.

Are you happy? I am, man.
Content and fully aware.
Money, status...nothing to me.
Cause your life's empty and bare.

What's my drug of choice? Well, what have you got.
I don't go broke. And I do it a lot.

You can't understand a users mind.
But try with your books and degrees.
If you let yourself go and open your mind.
I bet you'd be using like me, and it ain't so bad.
What's my drug of choice? Well, what have you got.
I don't go broke. And I do a lot.

-Alice in Chains

Breath in, close your eyes and and see the light.
Transmutate this bitter life into a game.
Breath out, feel the air escape your lungs.
Leave your body behind, you'll need it not,
and embrace your conscious mind.

Look up, see the heavens, oh so high.
It's yours if you want it, just say the word.
Look down, see your body lying still.
Nothing to fear, you're still alive,
it's just your spirit reaching out.
 
Where we go doesn't matter,
just so long as we go together.

Step back, enjoy the view from afar.
Colors clash yet separate from the whole.
Lean in, hear whisper of the wind.
Telling you that there's another way
to attain eternal life.

Wake up, you've been away for far too long.
Not to say that it is wrong.
Get up, contemplate where you have been.
In another life, in another time,
In another distant memory.

Where we go doesn't matter,
just so long as we go together. 
Body, mind, and soul.
Together.
Together as one. 

-Ryan Leighton

So this is it then.
There's no regret or goodbyes.
It is what it is.

All is said and done.
There's nothing more I can do.
But at least I tried.

So I'll just sit here.
Just live and let time go by.
It's not all that bad.

Yet still, I miss you.
I suppose I always will.
That's the way it goes.

-Ryan Leighton

Come one, come all. Step inside, we've got a show for you.
Open your mind, close your eyes and just come on through.
We've got fanciful giants, talking snakes and lepers too.
Here water's turned into wine.  See for yourself, it's true.

Though while you're here there's a set of rules you are assigned.
Chiseled in stone by a man who is himself divine.
And you all are so special.  It is made that way by design.
But don't eat of the fruit offered to you by the snake.  Just decline.

Follow me now to the garden.  This is where we begin.
There's nothing to fear now.  Right this way, just step on in.
Behold all the beauty and majesty that lies within.
You like what you see!  I can tell it by the way you grin.

Soak it all in while you can, it won't last for long.
The snake, he is here even though he knows that he don't belong.
His words, they are temping, but don't give in. You gotta stay strong.
If you do as he says then everything will go all wrong.

All that he tells you are bitter sweet words of the wise.
But I can tell you all his words are mingled with lies.
He speaks of a friendship, yet there is betrayal in his eyes.
The shape that he has now, that is just the Devil's disguise.

He'll exploit your weakness, cater to whatever your vice.
A promise of wisdom, and offerings of Paradise.
All this and more if you are willing to pay the price.
The knowledge of sin, just a small token of sacrifice.
 
There is only one thing here that you need to embrace.
Look to the heaven's, lest you want to fall from grace.
If you eat of the fruit in his hand you will not leave this place.
Not only that, you will also damn your entire race.

I must confess there's a reason why I brought you here.
This is a test to see if you will persevere.
There's not much time left, for the end is drawing near.
The choice is upon you, child.  Let's see which way you steer.

-Ryan Leighton

Now and again I wonder if it's all a fairy tale.
Brother killing brother in a search for the grail.

Now and again I wonder why man will never learn.
Over and over and over again, still the world burns.

Now and again I wonder will we ever truly change?
Just the thought of peace and happiness seem so strange.

Now and again I wonder are we cursed to always war?
How many innocents die before the world can't ignore?

Hold on, don't give up now.
We will figure out how
to live as one.

Now and again I wonder will it be all right?
Will there come a time when we'll no longer fight?

Now and again I wonder what the change in time will bring.
Now and again I wonder about these little things.

-Ryan Leighton

I see the festering greed
from which you bleed and feed
with your ensaciable appetite.

You can't hide from me, little fool.
You've been overruled, tool.
Now shut up and get it right.

What is it with you anyway?
Fuck what you say, one day you will pay.
With or without a fight.

Irritant, you're a waste of air.
Don't sit there and stare,
you should know that it's not polite.

So swallow your pride.
I lied, you're dead inside.
Your pyre, I'll ignite.

You don't belong with the strong.
Something wrong? Move along.
Whatever, get out of my sight.

-Ryan Leighton

Each day we live is a memory,
one that lasts with time.
Take it all away with me.
Everything's so sublime.

Seems like yesterday was when,
we were chillin in the garage.
Taking lots of DXM
with our entourage.

Trippin balls, and hittin bongs.
Yep, those were the days.
Jamming out to heavy songs!
Fuck it, it's here to stay!

Cause really that's all that we can do,
make life the best it can be.
And remember all that we've been through,
cause each day we live is a memory.

-Ryan Leighton

This journey I ventured upon
became one of the dying day.
Nightfall cradles this womb.
That which I was born unto.

Reason all but forgotten,
no way in and no way out.
This is the price to pay
for a glimpse at everlasting life.

Give it to me anyway,
I'm not afraid of fate.
I'll do what I must to insure
that one day I'll rise again.

Deep in the hearts and minds
of the so called prophets
rests a hidden fear.
One I know all to well.

I've seen it all, I've seen the end.
The only thing that I fear
is that I am wrong.
You have to die to make it right.

A mass sacrifice of human kind,
a ceremonial triumph of our wounded Mother.
She didn't ask for much, but then again
it was just too much for man.

Gather all around now,
hear her wail and cry.
It was you who forced her hand.
She's gonna take you down.

A little help from the heavens,
and all with be right.
Watch the sky fall
while the waters turn to blood.

She bathes in it, let's it clean her.
Time to begin anew.
From the ashes of our deaths,
will birth the dawn of a new civilization.

-Ryan Leighton

Another day in the Holy Land.
Another day to die.
Mothers cry for their lost sons.
Husbands cry for their wives.

Hunted down for what they are.
Nowhere that they can hide.
The men, the women, the children too.
Victims of genocide.

A star descends upon their homes.
Blue with six pointed ends.
Stained with the blood of the innocent.
The land is what they contend.

Where is the anger? The outcry? The rage?
For this is done in our name.
You allow this through ignorance.
You should all be ashamed.

Wake up fools, cause you are next.
You're seen as sheep just as they.
They call themselves "Chosen Ones",
And we are all their prey.

-Ryan Leighton

This poem is not meant to reflect on the Jewish people, but on Zionism.  Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jews, and it's sad that the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people is being carried out in their name as well as ours.  Every year millions of American tax dollars go to the funding of this genocide. 

Just one question for you.
How's it feel to be a martyr?
You could never ascend.
All you ever did was pretend.

It's either righteous or blind.
The epitome of the Savior.
Die for them, die for me.
Never opened your eyes to see.

Wear that crown of thorns, my friend.
It's the only way you'll transcend.

Devils in hearts of men,
Poisoning the well of the holy.
Hate is love and love is hate.
Giving in is what sealed your fate.

Swallow all of the lies.
Suck them in and let them bathe you.
Cleanse yourself with this sin.
Open up and let it all in.

Nail yourself to that cross, my friend.
It's the only way you'll transcend.

Take a look at yourself.
You are broken and God won't save you.
He'll just leave you to die.
My advice, an eye for an eye.

Guess you're too good for that.
You walked around like you were holier than thou.
Fine by me, you're still dead.
Just remember what I said.

Push that spear in your side, my friend.
It's the only way you'll transcend.

-Ryan Leighton