global domination...

I'm doing some work with a class of international students. My favorite parts are when we "get to" learn about "America." Today we're watching 12 angry men, as the students come from around the world, and although they speak english, we have go to over vocabulary first. Include such winners as, premeditated murder, reasonable doubt, unanimous, slum, acquittal, defense, cross-examination, hung jury, open and shut case, orphanage, circumstantial evidence, witness and forgery.

Kominas and the homeless

Last night I went to see a sunday night punk rock show. I wanted to see the Kominas who just happen to be touring, right through my town to boot. Walked a ways to get there, went the wrong way on foot for a bit. On the way I saw two apparently homeless dudes playing what looked like D&D. They had multihedral dice and papers both copy and handwritten that were obviously character sheets and other adventuring materials. I should have stopped and talked to them but I thought I was in a hurry. I do that to myself.

As we rushed past them I saw a third homeless guy settling in for the night, his sleeping bag spread out in an entryway, an unlit cigarette in his mouth. It was all I could do not to blurt out: Dude, you should go play D&D with those guys (and point back the 20ft). I mean, c'mon, what? you got plans? What are you going to do tonight?

Without my ID, I got turned away from the bar. 29, turning 30 in October, balding, don't drink, don't fight and I can't get into a bar. I laughed it off, patted the bouncer on the shoulder and told him he's a good soldier. I headed back to the car to look for my ID. I wouldn't say I was happy about it but I wasn't exactly worryiny.

A few months back, I attended a lunch with Dalia Mogahed where I met Kaitlyn Foley, who just happens to have been traveling with the band for some sort of reason, probably her work. Being turned away turned me to attempting to contact her. As we're basically strangers with a common interest I know it was awkward but through the call and a little happenstance, I managed to meet up with the bassist and his, I'm guessing younger, brother.

I walked into the back room to find the stage covered in a man hunched over a sitar, wailing. And then he was done. He picked up an electric guitar and introduced himself as Sarmus, saying that his band had been detained by the government, and proceeded to play a pretty sweet one man electric guitar show. Though I laughed at his statement... I'm hoping it was a joke? Right? I mean it's punk rock, right? I hope he's able to form the band he wants. His music was powerful, passionate and had a very good sense for melody.

Next came Prop Anon. Prop Anon's name is Gabriel, his email list was laid out in two columns, one read "Gabe" and the other read "Email." I had to stare at it for a minute before I realized that I was supposed to sign my name there. I was the first name on the list beneath his.

Prop Anon's shit was tight and he lives up to the name of his EP "Todo Corazon" - All heart. Solo (man & a macbook) Hiphop show, Prop Anon was lively, intense and confident. Playing along to an unforgiving track on a computer is hard work. Making it look good is an even tougher proposition - Prop Anon made it look fun. If I'd been familiar with even one of his songs, I would have possibly taken to the dance floor. His album is available for limited time (free) download here.

And finally the Kominas.

Michael Mohammad Knight wrote a book called "The Taqwacores." Qutoes on the back of the book call him the "Hunter S. Thompson of Islamic Literature," and say that the book is "a manifesto for the muslim punk movement." A movement that the book invented more so than revealed. The author does not want any credit for the movement, saying that it was "already there."

The book is about a group of muslim punks, who all (re)interpret Islam in their own way. Removing verses from the Qur'an, tattoos, dogs, weed, drinking, sex and even orthodoxy all find their way into the life of each character. Each making differing choices but finding acceptance for each other in what they do share, Allah (God), rituals of religion, sometimes culture and punk rock.

The Kominas take their name from one of the bands in the book. They put on a great show. They remind me of the clash, but fueled by paki-power and pure punk rock fury. Watching them makes you want to buy their CD and see them again. At least that's what it did for me. Bass grooves round out the guitars that swing between begging you to scream "Oi" and making you want to skank while the drums hold it all together. Everything I want in a punk show, plus a couple of top notch mohawks and something like a shalwar k'meez.

It was the straight hot sauce.

I left after their show as it was already past my bedtime. As I drove away I saw Omar from Sarmus sitting in front of a mailbox on his phone and at least three members of the Kominas in the back alley. I should have asked them if they knew where the IC was. As I realized how similar touring and being homeless are.

paying not to turn it on

so for the first time in my adult life I'm paying for cable by choice. I've lived with people who wanted cable and have asked me to help pay the bill (and I have because it's not worth an argument) but before now it'd never been my choice.

I found out at the beginning of summer that there was cable in my apartment free. I paid a bill and they told me that I had cable TV when we were going over my services. I didn't even have a TV hooked up. I even chose not to after finding out that I had it.

But then I caved.

I got a coaxial cable and started eating up a little too much worthless TV. It started with morning news. I hate morning news but there was a string of Obama's on TV stints that I wanted to watch (including his speech from Cairo) and I am usually up in the morning with little I want to do (something I'm working on).

The formulas are ridiculous. A bunch of douchy dudes and the 25+ aging-yet-still-supposed-to-be-attractive-in-a-middle-class-kind-of-way-but-only-because-she's-surrounded-by-a-bunch-of-douchy-dudes type woman. Or you can watch CNN and their rotating cast of chisled, attractive young news casters.

Same banal crap on repeat. I'm done talking about it. What's sad is that I was actually watching it. I got hooked on Iran and then Michael Jackson died and it snapped me back into reality and I turned it down. And then finally off.

Ah, but I do love the history channel's overacted reenactments and baseball and the discovery channel's coverage of the apocalypse and 2012. Sportscenter doesn't suck and I think the finale of Daisy of Love is on... tonight?

Meanwhile, Charter is bankrupt, DSL sucks and there is no air signal anymore.

There's a thunder storm brewing outside right now. I'm watching it roll in. A whole world of things to do and there's rarely anything good on TV. Night time is better suited to reading or socializing with close friends. Relaxing, whereas TV is exciting and advertising sucks! Yet, I'm paying for it because it's five dollars more expensive than broadband.

It must be time to work on priorities again.

Truth and Facts: Religion

Golly. I just spent almost forty minutes watching some youtube vids about Islam and Christianity. I am at such extreme odds with organized religion but I find myself easily put off by those who would refute the revelation. It's easy to attack religion. Horrible things people have done quickly destroy the shreds of decency or credibility attained by a given belief system. A reminder of the importance of separating what people do in the name of a religion from the true tenets of a religion.

With their metaphorical imagery and and sometimes outlandish claims, it's easy to attack holy scripture and prophecy. As the majority of religious texts are made up of these two things (and their incredible antiquity), it follows that they too are not difficult to take "issue" with. To the contrary, I've found a fair amount of universal truth in the religious holy books of various monotheistic, religious traditions and what I struggle with is typically found in the doctrines extrapolated from the text. Doctrines typically enforced by corresponding zealous orthodoxy.

I quickly come to odds with the opinions of others that don't make sense to me. I struggle with the gospels of the bible's new testament as valid accounts of the life of a man called Jesus as they were written (here & here). However, the words attributed to the man and his teachings contain some solid advice for living a rightly guided life. Regular lessons on the importance of humility and keeping our thoughts and actions in line with each other are fairly universal themes usable and understandable by all (greek & aramaic). When the doctrine is focused on these aspects of the gospels I have no qualms with it. But unfortunately, as I and so many others have experienced (evidenced by the sheer quantity of people who leave their faith behind in a clamor, railing against their former religion), the doctrine seldom stops here.

There's defense of faith, apologetics, interpretation of scripture and prophecy; there's a whole bunch of misogynistic crap. One of my troubles with monotheistic religion is how I don't hate women. If I am given the choice between religion and God (الله, YHWH) I choose God every time, and regardless of revelation, I don't believe that God sets a different standard for women. I don't believe that a man's hair and a woman's hair are any different, or that lust is something that affects only one sex due to the nature of the other.

If it doesn't make sense to you, maybe it's not for you. Rules are made to be ... broken? I mean really, there's all sorts of rules in the Talmud, the bible and the Qur'an. If there aren't any rules then no one ever does anything wrong? I don't think so. Humans are humans were humans, we're humans and we've avast an incredible (or is it tiny?) amount of knowledge in our age. Our technology has changed (improved?), we've discovered medicines and mastered running water (also, I'm sure it smells better these days than it has in some prior ages and places) but how much have humans really changed? Hopefully we've gotten more civilized from the "Ten hairs away from baboons," that Lewis Black uses to explain (@ 8:11 ) the Jews of the old testament.

Taking ancient religious texts and ideas at face value is dangerous. Words can share or could have shared many meanings in the time and place they were written and mean very different things now (see above Jesus links). Look at any religious website trying to disprove another religion and the subsequent counter-arguments. Another repercussion of face value texts leads to end times, armageddon-end-of-the-world style prophecy.

Despite a vast and varied display of incredible circular logic religious debate is by and large a moot point. Because in the end a person can't believe in something they don't believe in. You've got to want to believe in it. If you don't want to believe in it you won't. Perhaps the Qur'an says it best in the 109th surah, al-Kafirun (سورة الكافرون); the disbelievers/atheists (literally translates in the xerox morphology as "the infidels"): "O disbelievers (1) I worship not what you worship (2) nor worship ye that which I worship (3) and I shall not worship that which ye worship (4) nor will ye worship that which I worship (5) unto you your religion, and unto me mine (6)" (Pickthal).

Maybe some people need religion. Maybe they need the exact religion they have, exactly the way they follow it. Whether it's factually true or doctrinally correct, so long as it's not preventing you from living the way that feels truly right to you, why fight against it? If faith is what's important, doesn't it have to be important to you. In a way, faith is making yourself important by putting what you truly believe above all else. Both the sinner and the saint can claim that only God can judge them. Changing a little here or a little there, removing passages or expanding on the ideas presented therein might make one's religion worthless to another or dangerous to many. It could also be exactly what someone needs to feel comfortable in their own skin.

This is thin ice though. Picking and choosing what to believe is the fast track to heresy and apostasy in religion. It is really not uncommon for me to feel that the "message" and the location of "power" in religious organizations are off-base and/or in the wrong hands. I struggle with taking all of anything at face value. When 90% of something is amazing and 10% is forgettable I want to focus on the 90% and forget about the 10%. I want to utilize what empowers me to strive and eliminate what hamstrings me from the same.

Whether debunking spiritual prophecy or using science to prove the existence of a creator God, isn't the important question: how does what you're doing make you a better person, today? How are you making the world a better place? In an interview on "Radio Without Borders," (Wisconsin Public Radio) author Michael Mohammad Knight reminisces about early 90's Hulk Hogan. Paraphrasing the Hulkster, he says, "Hulkamania is a standard you can never reach, but you just keep trying."

Chew on this:

Wouldn't God want us all to be the absolute best we can be? Both together and separately. Fulfill all your potential potential. Utilize all that God has blessed you with. Maximize opportunities through preparedness and right action (right place, right time and ready to go). Whether you call it lucky or unlucky; free will or fate; the hand of god or random chance. If rules guide you there, follow them. If they lead you away from there, find your own path. No one walks your road but you and only God can judge you. Sometimes, words just get in the way.

More or Less

I want to wake up in a better place

A better world, not one that's falling on it's face

A slow decline - the sudden stop at the end

Sun's gonna rise - inshaallah in the east again

Rushing up, forming crowds and breaking lines

Is this the last act flashing before our eyes

or the starting of the rising tide?

I want to reach out

but not to break the fall, calling interference

This is not the time to cower in the shadow of doubt

This time we can clasp our hands around the world and

pave the streets by pounding the pavement, with our feet we'll

Stand together - all around the world

When the riot act is falling on deaf ears,

It's time to open your eyes

With one heart beating, back against the wall

No way to give up in a crack down

With everybody looking for the smoking gun

Can you ever go back home, now that this has begun?

Pay no mind, to the man behind the mirror - and all the lies

This is so much bigger than an election or a leader

If politics and fashion are the same thing

Then human rights are as real as what's in between

a you and a me

There's a fine line violence getting walked on

A united front in divided times

There a set amount of getting stepped on

Before it's time - it's time to rise up

I want to clasp our hands together

pave the streets by pounding the pavement with our feet

Stand united - all around the world

While there's a leaf blower blowing up the white house lawn

Millions of millions are getting dusted in down town Tehran

Paying in blood but taking baby steps forward

While the world watches on over youtube's shoulder

Just killing time, while they're killing themselves

In the name of freedom and for hope itself

Living in the nightmares

we use to get scared

of others just like ourselves...

If we ever wake up - this will be a better place

If we ever wake up - we can make a better world

not one falling on it's face

If we ever wake up...

Everybody wake up.

early morning puppy poop patrol

I woke up to the least fantastic sight of the week: plenty of poo in my doggie's kennel. Boo Uhura, boo. This is a first. In three weeks she has not pooped in her kennel for an unexcusable reason (she poohed in it when we left her with a strange lady - her vet - over night last weekend, but she was super stressed, and I wasn't there so I forgive her) until this morning/last night.

I'm going to be perfectly honest, I don't know what to do.

I cleaned it off the kennel itself. I hand washed her blanket and pillow, followed by machine wash (where they are now), and I shortened up her kennel space from all of it to just over half. I took her outside where she pooped and pee'd again and I have to give her a bath at some point. If she'd ever stop whining I'd take her out of the kennel again (I don't let her out when she's being vocal about wanting her freedom).

=(

I want to have fun with her and take her for a walk, but I don't want her to have any sort of reward associated with crappin the kennel. I love this little puppy and even though I'm not so pleased with her antics, I understand that she is a natural creature with needs and bowels and that this is probably my fault. When she makes her mess inside I feel like I failed her.

Symbolic Waking Dream After Meaningful Experience

I have had a waking dream.

I have dreamt:

A wall of ash taking the shape of people and animals on it's leading edge - It's moving, they're moving - as fast the wall can advance. It shifts between shapes like leaders in an infinite amount of races. Rushing towards doomsday, rushing towards the end of existence. Fading from the front is like slipping into quicksand - at what point is it all at a loss?

But not all are arriving as such. A banner, I beacon or a sign-post. A standard upon which rests a lengthy oak staff . High above the lengthy column of followers (reds and oranges, uniforms or robes?): A red phoenix in an sphere. In it's iron cage the bird appears joyful, either mechanical or most pleased. The bearer of the standard wears a silly hat - it is four, black folded corners upon a white cap. Triangle/diamond shapes folded up on a half sphere. They were very different than anyone else.

When I saw the ash wall, I thought, "where am I?" I didn't feel represented, thought, "Have I fallen back into the disintegrating ash?" I looked upon the phoenix with admiration. I did not feel like I was a part of the ash.

I dreamt of an angel watching over me counting each action I make marking it's length with and without using numbers, colors. I saw him counting down, but not moving backwards. And, as well as also - never instead - like two angels. Outside my concept of time.

Time moving through itself. The end coming from it's beginning, the beginning crossing through towards the end. Perhaps circling back upon itself only to collide again.

I thought of the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic idea of judgement day. I looked up to a door in an archway where it was assumed that Jesus would be and it was empty; like it was his apartment and he was elsewhere. He was where he is supposed to be. I looked up and saw Mohammad(pbuh) praying for the ummah and all who would be saved by the mercy of ar-rahman.

This was happening on a desert plane seemingly nestled between the ever shifting ash-like images seen above and below, not a reflection but not a separation either; flowing like water and smoke.

[+-=#=-+] felt bigger than anyone's concept of GOD could contain - larger than perception itself. I didn't know where I stood and I worried about whether or not that meant I'd be consumed by the ash but for the first time since I ever imagined hell, I felt safe.

* * *

If our genes are codes that contain possible preferences and capabilities... Nature & Nurture - programmed for better or programmed for worse but given a choice. The better can choose worse, and the worse can strive for better. With time working forward and backward. The entirety seen as crystal clear from outside. All things known.

Beyond life, I felt alive.