Getting absolutely pitted has never been easier.... This is the type of thing that you watch, love , and shortly thereafter do a little throw-up-in-the-mouth action. The latter incident happens when you realize that it could be YOU sitting in those fatty gaping freight train shacks on the daily, accept its not. You're probably living somewhere in Cali, which does have it's day one every ten blue moons, yet hardly stacks up to the stature of many other warm water wave magnets around the globe. The question you have to ask yourself is, "Do I feel lucky?" Kidding... You really have to ask yourself if trading all the civilized nonsense of the good ol' Ooooh Ess of Aahhh for a much slower and relatively less productive lifestyle, in which getting epic sessions is somewhat of a regular occurrence, is worth it. Anyone who has seen that lifestyle firsthand even for a glimpse's worth knows the unreal pot of gold awaiting at the end of that rainbow.
Surfing comprises a primary ritual component of a budding New World Religion. Lacking superstition, our inspired world-view inevitably surfaces after countless encounters with the ocean. Those of us devoted to la playa know the feeling of insignificance earned while paddling out on those days where most "surfers" choose gladly, instead of risking it, to gaze upon the mackers from safe perches atop their overrun oceanside tumbling towers. Scary surf provides the most powerful example of surfing's ability to instill humility in the members of its tribe, wholly undeniable through experiencing the ruthless raw power of Poseidon directly on top of one's head. Lets just say that getting treated like Raggedy Anne on prom night by a wall of whitewater has a tendency to make a person feel small. Within this same realm of fear and humility, confidence is born. Successfully summiting those skyscrapers of the sea again and again gives a new vibrancy to one's state of mind; fire isn't as hot, cliff's aren't as high, the night isn't as dark, and yes- women don't intimidate.
Thus, we who belong to this unholy congregation walk forth with our humility and confidence and we are better for it. Being that my favorite quality of humanity is our adaptability, our new Religion doesn't play the same game of indoctrinating generations into fearing and resisting change. We'll leave that bullshit up to the already established group of sorry-asses. Our philosurphy encourages the reasonable realignment of perspectives on "normal"; case in point- why not swap this ultra-materialistic rat-race lifestyle that some are bound to hate for the daily experience of a Religious Awakening? For those of us who have the itch-> scratch it or watch your dreams dissolve into traffic....
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Versatile Vernacular of the Vulgar Variety
All the homies out there take note; some of us possess the tendency of sounding like a silly selection of Pongos and Engecos. There we be, clumsily barking, belching, bellowing and blurting our way through this Post-Puritan Paradise. Thank Allah our side won, lest we may have occupied a world in which the (not so) occasional onslaught of ostracized oratory would go unsung. No worries, for the adaptability of this human existence that I am so fond of has turned the contemporary gnar-dog-potty-mouth slang into some sort of a legitimate language.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Life on the 68 BLOCK
Ever go to the zoo? Well, we here over at the 6800 Block of Del Playa live in a real live zoo... There's only one difference between us and your traditional "family/shmeducational" zooeries; ours is one of the few on the West Coast boasting an equal number of untamed humans along with our normal viewable selection of ferocious wild beasts. Often the boys seem to be known for our annoyingly chillaxed 'tude, mixed with our genetic propensity towards possessing anatomical listening structures whose functional efficacy can be compared to a tanning salon in Central America. Not one to disagree with the accusation of displaying the occasional bit of apathy, I must also lay down the admission of being apart of a rag-tag group of genuine cats. The attitude permeating our residence provides the sense that peculiarity is plentiful and optimism is overflowing...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Naiive Musings From Election Day?
November 4, 2008.
Election day. A crossroads in American history. Today is the day in which, if all goes according to proper voting procedures (minus serious voter suppression/fraud) Barack Obama will become the President of the United States. Although it is to be taken with a large grain of salt, this could be the event that restores pride of country within the youth of this nation. As someone who was 17 years old at the beginning of the Iraq war, the majority of my life in terms of political development has been spent under an extremely sorry-ass Bush administration with all its cronyism and corrupt political ends. Consequently, many people of my generation who actually pay attention to the state of affairs generally exhibit one of two characteristics; strong apathy or a deep mistrust of the democratic system’s effectiveness of translating the desires of the people into policy that is sensible and productive. Admittedly, there is more than just the two possibilities I have offered up, yet the point remains the same- the last eight years has turned a young generation of citizens into a careless and disconnected voting bloc.
Can an Obama presidency reverse this process? Although only time will tell, there are certainly some unique things occurring in the contemporary political atmosphere that point to an affirmative answer. For instance, the infusion of new voters, generally young and/or previously disenfranchised groups, speaks volume to the electric political environment we see today. As is commonplace in understanding of American politics, the Republican Party’s base will almost always come out and make their voices heard given their proclivity to civic engagement already ingrained in their own lives. Church serves as a useful example of this point, for it represents a crucial civil society that has always been exceptional in getting its members into the participation process. The business community, a group of people who traditionally posses levels of education that would dictate political participation, represents another powerful example of the conservative Republican base that will always come out for their candidate regardless of most foreseeable circumstances. On the other hand, the Democrats have much less of a dependable base. Due to the fact that their policies generally benefit more of the lower half (possibly the lower 3/4 given our sharply rising gap in inequality), the Democrats must frame their campaigns in terms of how they are going to help this large, traditionally disadvantaged group of people. Given these people’s limited levels of education and social awareness as well as a severe lack of civil society, apathy to politics is rampant and getting them to the voting booth has always been a challenge for any party attempting to gain prominence on the basis of their support.
Given the aforementioned reality, as well as the socioeconomic makeup of the political scene and the fact that there are a much greater amount of disadvantaged voters relative to those who wish to preserve this inequitable status quo, one would suspect that if 100% of the electorate came out to vote that it would always be a landslide in favor of the policies of the candidate who supports the lower SES [SocioEconomic Status] classes of people. (It must be noted here that this is a sweeping simplification of the political divisions within this country; many socially minded Christians and powerful business people flock to the Democrats for intellectual/ideological reasons including equality and justice and fairness and liberty. Likewise, many poor classes of people wish to preserve the status quo due to their lack of knowledge of the potential benefits of change, juxtaposed with bigoted attitudes towards Gays, Women, Minorities, and generally Folks-Trying-To-Have-A-Good-Time.) It is for this reason that the conservative Republicans represent the party that stands to benefit from a lower turnout. To be very clear, this point is not overlooked within the ranks of the GOP. It is for these reasons that they as a party have a large stake in suppressing the vote. They can afford to exhibit a level of confidence that their usual constituency will come out as they always do, therefore significant energy and money is devoted to the goal of reducing the number of people who come out to have their voices heard.
Hence, one of the unique aspects of this election cycle is the uncanny ability of Obama to attract a large group of people who would previously have never participated via an extremely important quality he possesses and for which the conservatives constantly criticize him- his ability to inspire. Conservatives write him off as a celebrity who may be a good speaker but obviously does not have the governing experience to make policy work in Washington. Unfortunately for proponents of this view, effective politicians may be looked at as such based on their ability to gain widespread support and therefore mobilization of the populace in support of their policies. How short their memories are, for their own movement had Ronald Reagan, notorious for his ability to convey messages simply and effectively which in turn created a compliant political atmosphere in which shit actually gets done. Was Reagan not a celebrity? Did he not electrify crowds with his inspirational speeches? All of these things he did extremely effectively and for his efforts he is looked at as a modern day hero to the conservative movement. Yet this time around, conservatives cringe at the notion of a very popular and inspirational candidate, particularly because their movement severely lacks the characters that are able to inspire large groups of people. Rush Limbaugh serves as a great example of prominent conservative thinker, and he is as divisive and uninspired as any person could be.
Obama will attract many new voters into the system, which will ultimately result in a shift in the political atmosphere within this superpower nation. These new voters will give our flailing democracy an increased level of legitimacy and hopefully restore the image worldwide of a respectable USA. In addition, his ability to inspire will allow many of his policies to go through smoothly and therefore actually be effectively implemented. Obama is our medicine for our ailing political atmosphere? Thank you God.
Election day. A crossroads in American history. Today is the day in which, if all goes according to proper voting procedures (minus serious voter suppression/fraud) Barack Obama will become the President of the United States. Although it is to be taken with a large grain of salt, this could be the event that restores pride of country within the youth of this nation. As someone who was 17 years old at the beginning of the Iraq war, the majority of my life in terms of political development has been spent under an extremely sorry-ass Bush administration with all its cronyism and corrupt political ends. Consequently, many people of my generation who actually pay attention to the state of affairs generally exhibit one of two characteristics; strong apathy or a deep mistrust of the democratic system’s effectiveness of translating the desires of the people into policy that is sensible and productive. Admittedly, there is more than just the two possibilities I have offered up, yet the point remains the same- the last eight years has turned a young generation of citizens into a careless and disconnected voting bloc.
Can an Obama presidency reverse this process? Although only time will tell, there are certainly some unique things occurring in the contemporary political atmosphere that point to an affirmative answer. For instance, the infusion of new voters, generally young and/or previously disenfranchised groups, speaks volume to the electric political environment we see today. As is commonplace in understanding of American politics, the Republican Party’s base will almost always come out and make their voices heard given their proclivity to civic engagement already ingrained in their own lives. Church serves as a useful example of this point, for it represents a crucial civil society that has always been exceptional in getting its members into the participation process. The business community, a group of people who traditionally posses levels of education that would dictate political participation, represents another powerful example of the conservative Republican base that will always come out for their candidate regardless of most foreseeable circumstances. On the other hand, the Democrats have much less of a dependable base. Due to the fact that their policies generally benefit more of the lower half (possibly the lower 3/4 given our sharply rising gap in inequality), the Democrats must frame their campaigns in terms of how they are going to help this large, traditionally disadvantaged group of people. Given these people’s limited levels of education and social awareness as well as a severe lack of civil society, apathy to politics is rampant and getting them to the voting booth has always been a challenge for any party attempting to gain prominence on the basis of their support.
Given the aforementioned reality, as well as the socioeconomic makeup of the political scene and the fact that there are a much greater amount of disadvantaged voters relative to those who wish to preserve this inequitable status quo, one would suspect that if 100% of the electorate came out to vote that it would always be a landslide in favor of the policies of the candidate who supports the lower SES [SocioEconomic Status] classes of people. (It must be noted here that this is a sweeping simplification of the political divisions within this country; many socially minded Christians and powerful business people flock to the Democrats for intellectual/ideological reasons including equality and justice and fairness and liberty. Likewise, many poor classes of people wish to preserve the status quo due to their lack of knowledge of the potential benefits of change, juxtaposed with bigoted attitudes towards Gays, Women, Minorities, and generally Folks-Trying-To-Have-A-Good-Time.) It is for this reason that the conservative Republicans represent the party that stands to benefit from a lower turnout. To be very clear, this point is not overlooked within the ranks of the GOP. It is for these reasons that they as a party have a large stake in suppressing the vote. They can afford to exhibit a level of confidence that their usual constituency will come out as they always do, therefore significant energy and money is devoted to the goal of reducing the number of people who come out to have their voices heard.
Hence, one of the unique aspects of this election cycle is the uncanny ability of Obama to attract a large group of people who would previously have never participated via an extremely important quality he possesses and for which the conservatives constantly criticize him- his ability to inspire. Conservatives write him off as a celebrity who may be a good speaker but obviously does not have the governing experience to make policy work in Washington. Unfortunately for proponents of this view, effective politicians may be looked at as such based on their ability to gain widespread support and therefore mobilization of the populace in support of their policies. How short their memories are, for their own movement had Ronald Reagan, notorious for his ability to convey messages simply and effectively which in turn created a compliant political atmosphere in which shit actually gets done. Was Reagan not a celebrity? Did he not electrify crowds with his inspirational speeches? All of these things he did extremely effectively and for his efforts he is looked at as a modern day hero to the conservative movement. Yet this time around, conservatives cringe at the notion of a very popular and inspirational candidate, particularly because their movement severely lacks the characters that are able to inspire large groups of people. Rush Limbaugh serves as a great example of prominent conservative thinker, and he is as divisive and uninspired as any person could be.
Obama will attract many new voters into the system, which will ultimately result in a shift in the political atmosphere within this superpower nation. These new voters will give our flailing democracy an increased level of legitimacy and hopefully restore the image worldwide of a respectable USA. In addition, his ability to inspire will allow many of his policies to go through smoothly and therefore actually be effectively implemented. Obama is our medicine for our ailing political atmosphere? Thank you God.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Let's Talk about Sext
People, lets not be too hard on ourselves. Reduced down to our most primal elements, humanity represents a collective hornball energy that permeates throughout every aspect of our intriguingly coincidental existence. Texting, although reflective of the ultimate adaptability that is the essence of human experience, lacks as a means to our simpleton end in a serious manner. Although it technically covers the area of Sight, can that alone make up for a general absence of Touching, Tasting, Smelling, Hearing? You be the judge...
Only in the Modern World
Does this look like the face of God?One day, when I was on mushrooms, a beautiful fairy told me that it did.
Then she emailed me this picture of that exact moment to prove it.
I could only react with awe at the notion of a computer-literate fairy.
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