We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine, and the machine is bleeding to death

I have started listening to Godspeed! You Black Emperor again after a recent trip to New Orleans. I forgot how inspiring and calming they can be. It's almost as if fear manifest itself into an auditory dance of classical and modern melodies, with the classical leading the modern. Its an experience like falling into an unpleasant dream and then being slowly awakened by something overwhelmingly comfortable. I could imagine that they were playing as alice fell down the rabbit hole. It truly is exquisite.

I think fear doesn't always have to be a negative emotion....

For some reason recently I have been revisiting things I haven't seen or used in years. Things that once filled me with joy and passion, things that shaped who I am today. For instance, I have started to read fahrenheit 451, my favorite book, again. I am remembering why I write, why I am creative, and why I have an urgency to express myself. It's not something I just do for fun, it's something I have to do. It's an obligation to my creator who instilled this in me.

I think the reason that Ray Bradbury words spoke to me at such a young age was because I could relate. In 451 it describes a world that books and all literature is illegal. Everyone gets their information from talking screens and seashell headphones. The jobs of fire men are not to stop fires, they are to start them. They are ordered to burn anyones house who contains a single book. The story is of a fireman who slowly comes to the realization that there is more to life than the fabrication of information by society. Most people see this as a tale of censorship and overcoming the oppressors, but in several interviews Bradbury says that is, most certainly, not the case.

He explains that the story is, indeed, how people are becoming illiterate, not in the literal sense, something far worse...

People are not using intuition and deduction to formulate opinions, people are simply adopting the ideologies and fabricated truths of the seven headed dragon over the the television (and now internet). This captivated me, coming from a culture where television taught me my ABC's. It sparked me to find out for myself and to have an opinion that I formulated, not some media talking head. It influenced me to ask questions and get answers by any means necessary.

It taught me to seek truth...

So thanks Ray, you have inspired me to fulfill my dreams. I can only hope that one day I will shape the way a kid processes and receives information. In the ever growing world of media wars between mutually right conservatives and liberals, I think thats a pretty big feat.


pick up this guy when you have a chance, or contact me.... I have a few copies.