Death In Vegas

I was in Las Vegas a month ago when the Paris attacks took place.

And this week, fellow Quebecers were in an accident on the strip where I spent most of my time there:



Those interviewed keep asking ''why''? The same was said about what happened in Paris, and in Beirut.

But there is no why. This one was a distressed woman. Terrorists have a cause. People need to realize many things, chief among them the fact that even if we cure everyone and every ill, one dissatisfied customer can take things to the extreme and crack - and kill.

That's life.

Another part of life is that we all die.

At birth, at one year old, at ten, at twenty-five, at fifty, at eighty-three, at one hundred years of age. Natural causes, AIDS, cancer, accident, murder - no one walking the earth's surface survives, ever.

Who the fuck cares how you die. Live for the moment. LIVE. Because Life hangs by a thread, and a tiny one that no one can see most times.

Post-Party Years Depression

Last Friday, a lady was telling me about a two-year depression she'd gone through, where she wouldn't get out of her room, or see her friends - who were only really trying to help. Time took its toll and she lost track of most of them, only staying close to her family, pretty much.

And so I went home to my smallish apartment, alone, and wrote. And cleaned house, or at least tried to while envisioning myself doing it. And Saturday was much of the same, as was Sunday.

Sunny days, all of them, and I didn't even set foot on either one of my balconies.

My skin is whiter than Casper's - take your pick between the Friendly Ghost or the underhanded-rapist from the movie Kids, both are pretty fucking white, and I'm whiter than either of them. As a matter of fact, my skin colour this year is somewhere at the crossroads of transparent, translucent, green and yellow.

But, yeah. Maybe it's depression, or maybe just a dry spell. I'm always exhausted and have to over-amp myself on caffeine just to stay awake for a couple of hours at a time during the day - and yet I'm still pretty much an insomniac at night.

But I'm thinking about getting creative again. Writing music, blog posts, short stories. I always plow through, and I have no doubt I shall again. It's just that I have to dig so deep to find the motivation that many times it takes up all my energy just to get the will part.

But I'm getting there. Be patient with me, I won't be on this for two years - though funny folks might argue I've been there since 2005.

On the bright side, a homeless man told me ''Jesus loves you'' the other day, but he doesn't know any better. Jesus may or may not love me, but only he knows that; no, Jesus respects me as the improved version of what people thought he was, 2000 years down the evolutionary chain from an imaginary book character.

*for the record, while I may show some signs, I personally think I'm more just ''in a rut'' mixed with an unhealthy dose of procrastination.

Wu-Tang Clan: Nothing Left To Fuck With

If it ever came down to me chopping my own dick off and jumping off a building in an attempt to kill myself, I sure as shit hope my friends won't pretend they never knew me or do everything in their power to disassociate themselves from me.

I'd understand if they failed to comprehend the reasons behind my actions, if they thought it was a tad extreme and/or bizarre; I'd be impressed if one of them wondered to the media how long it would take me to slice my genitalia off - but I'd like to think that because of what we've gone through together, none of them would feign not having known me at all.

And that's really the one thing that has thrown me off the most about the story of Christ Bearer (Andre Johnson to the I.R.S.), the Northstar / West Coast Killa Beez rapper who either chopped off his manhood and jumped off a two-storey balcony in front of his friends, or was castrated and almost killed by a bunch of thugs who switched sides on him.

I get that RZA produced his record and that he was featured on a few solo songs from members of the Wu-Tang Clan, but that as a whole they may not have all met - or even liked - him. But to go as far as posting this picture on their Facebook page the day it hit the news was a tad cold:

'Cause I don't know about you, but this album cover with a huge 'W' in the middle of their logo and RZA's name on it twice:

Bobby Digital is RZA's 'weird rap' alter-ego

and this still shot:

kind of speak to me as having at least one member's ''ok'' to proceed with saying you're affiliated in some capacity.

In a XXL interview, RZA ultimately referred to him as ''a guy we gave a chance to'', after calling him insane for 25 straight sentences. But he admits he was one of the first people Johnson called after getting released from jail recently. Seems like the love is only going one way on this one...

Just when he needed their help the most, the Wu cut him off.

TMZ reports that doctors were not able to reattach the former Wu member's member:

Wu-Tang affiliated rapper Andre Johnson is just plain Andre now ... because doctors weren't able to reattach his penis.

That's a low blow for me to cut and paste, given the circumstances, to re-post TMZ's lack of tact. I apologize.

R.I.P. Alain Magloire

If I had a hammer,
They'd shoot me in the morning
They'd shoot me in the evening
Despite being seven cops against one man

Yep, the Montréal cops killed another person earlier this month.

(Alain) Magloire had only recently ended up on the streets as a result of mental illness.

Magloire was the father of two daughters, and friends and family contacted by CBC News described him as charismatic and well-educated.

(He) had previously been employed in the field of molecular biology research and also worked for ten years as a monitor at Camp Papillon — a camp for disabled children.

A career criminal, obviously.

Officers shot Magloire on Monday after responding to reports of a man wielding a hammer and acting aggressively in the vicinity of Montreal's central bus station on Berri Street.

'' Kill first, defend your position later'' seems to be their motto, more so than ''To serve and protect'', for sure. One (admittedly distraught) guy with a hammer, versus seven trained professionals. They could have attacked three at a time and possibly not even had been hit once with the hammer - and subdued him with barely scratch marks for anyone involved -or shot him in the legs, or the hammer-wielding arm. (Officers with tasers could not make it to the scene on time)

I wish I could say something along the lines of ''you will be remembered and missed'', but the more people these fascists murder, the harder it is to remember them all. ''Missed'', though, yes, for sure.

There are calls for civilian oversight boards to investigate police shootings and, sure, that could be a step in some general direction. But I suggest each time a police officer badly injures (broken limbs, loss of an eye) or kills someone, they should be detained and tried in court, the same as civilians, no matter what the investigation says or does, so the incident is recorded in the public domain. And I stand by my life-long position that cops and politicians should be liable to twice the penalty for crimes compared to civilians because theirs also involve a breach of public trust that has to be accounted for.

The Amanda Bynes Fiasco

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more entertaining/sad than Lindsay Lohan... another former child-star, Amanda Bynes, goes and puts herself in a situation where she gets in trouble.

Ultimately, it'll be up to a judge to decide to not treat her as he would a regular person because she is rich and famous and and rule her innocent, but for now, let us compare her mugshot her court picture, and her words:

Making Courtney Love look 'normal'

''I'm sotally tober, officer!''

And these pearls of wisdom:

“I'm suing NYPD for illegally entering my apartment, lying about drugs on me and lying about me tampering with non existent drug paraphernalia, then I'm suing for being put into a mental hospital against my will, then locked up overnight for coming home after a facial and working out with my trainer like the good girl that I am. I’m allergic to alcohol and drugs and don’t partake in any of the above. I’m so offended by all of this but so proud to not be a drug or alcohol user”.

Also:

“The judge saw that there was no drugs on me or proof of any type of bong or mental illness. I was so offended to even be taken to a mental hospital and they would not let me call my lawyer until the next day after being in jail all night, then I went to court and was immediately released because the judge saw that I was wrongly arrested.”

 Overlooking the fact that a judge cannot ''see'' something missing in the past in his absence, I take offense at her offense over the mental illness thing, as if it were something to be ashamed of, it shows a deep misunderstanding of people, and life in general. It's a pretty ignorant statement.

But the best part is still coming up:

“I'm also suing my apartment complex for lying about me smoking in my building. I'm free forever! You can't lock up an innocent person! Thanks for caring! Look forward to seeing me in music videos! I'm getting in shape and getting a nose job! I'm looking forward to a long and wonderful career as a singer/rapper!”

Uh, first of all, tons of innocent people are locked up - a few of them even made it to Death Row. Usually just because they are poor nobodies who suffer from mental illness. But you're clearly none of those, Amanda, so carry on.

So, uh, singer/rapper, eh? Are you so talented that you can be an actress - something that most 'actual' actresses devote decades to without ever earning a living from, and you've been doing on and off in a mediocre way for 10 years or so - and a singer at the same time - another job most professionals perfect for decades before even attempting public performance, then countless years honing their craft?

And rapper? You have a mastery of words and poetry beyond the scope that others do? Your grammar isn't all that awesome -although that could be the booze and/or drugs, but no, you're allergic to those -
and I'm guessing your improv (i.e. ''freestyle'') skills aren't that great if they couldn't get you out of getting arrested.

Unless... oh, did you mean as part of the Star System, with auto-tune, part of the big money-making machine, not in the real world? You wanna make a record, like Paris Hilton? A song featuring a young, hot rapper you can bone while filming a video over a weekend at a Hawaii resort? No need to go through the whole process, then, dear - just call up Pitbull. Everybody else already did. Except Miley Cyrus, she went to Snoop Dogg Lion.

News From Tila Tequila

Remember Tila Tequila?

The former MySpace click champion (and subsequently Reality TV ''star'') has taken to blogging, and has clearly lost her mind:

I DECLARE A WAR BUT NO SOLDIERS, JUST ME, THE PEOPLE, AND ALL OF YOU SO CALLED ILLUMINATI, ELITIST COWARDS! I HAVE ALL YOUR SECRETS, I AM MUCH WISER THAN I WAS BACK THEN WHEN YOU F-CKED ME OVER SO BAD I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO JUST DIE FROM ALL THE PAIN YOU ORCHESTRATED AND INFLICTED UPON MY SOUL! MY TILA ARMY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE HAS YOU WAAAAAAAAY OUT NUMBERED!!

SHOULD I TELL THEM ABOUT THE SUPER HUMANS THAT EXIST AND ALL OF THOSE EXPERIMENTS YOU DO ON THEM TO USE THEIR POWERS FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT?  SHOULD I TELL THEM THAT IS WHY SO MANY “MISSING CHILDREN” POP UP EACH YEAR BECAUSE YOU SADISTIC F-CKS WERE THE ONES BEHIND IT??! AGAIN, THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF US OUT HERE WITH SUPER POWERS AND I WILL GATHER THEM ALL TOGETHER AND YOU EVIL PRICKS ARE ALL GOING DOWN!!!
SO WHAT IF YOU ARE ALIEN HYBRID? THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU OWN US!

SHALL I TELL THE PEOPLE ABOUT THE ENTIRE CITY INSIDE THE HOLLOW EARTH??? SHALL I TELL THE PEOPLE THAT YOU CAME HERE AND LEFT YOUR OWN PLANET TO INFILTRATE OURS AND NOW SOME OF YOU STILL CURRENTLY RESIDE ON THE MOON!

And if you thought that was bad:

(...) Aside from that, I was also indeed “JOAN OF ARC” in another one of my past lives!!!!!  It makes so much sense now!  I mean, Joan of Arc and myself share incredibly similar things!

Uh, yeah. Please... go on...

Everything I talk about now, it is only and always in the 5th dimension frequency!  For instance I cannot relate to anything here on Earth anymore.  Everything I speak of is always in a very spiritual manner and My “HUMAN 3rd dimension body” is CONSTANTLY disappearing and reappearing all the time now!

I WILL be disappearing soon in the new Kingdom of God in the 5th Dimension back to my true light soul once again, and I shall be disappearing VERY SOON!  The only reason why I am still here, when indeed I have already given my certificate to Enter the new Kingdom of God, but I choose to stay here just for a little longer because it would hurt me deeply (just because I have been granted access to the 5th Dimension and given my “GALACTIC CARD” to travel to all 12 dimensions) doesn’t mean I can just leave you guys here and forget about you!  I told you this once before and I shall say it again, “I HAVE NEVER LEFT YOU NOR WILL I EVER LEAVE YOU!”

That's the stuff!

Some other titles of her recent posts include ''The Government Are Cloning Humans and Themselves! ZOMBIES ARE REAL!'', which includes the amazing quote:

The human race is possessed by demons. (...) These beings are mentally sick, upside down and follow a perverse goal of death instead of life.

George W. Bush died in 1987 and was carried on through secret laboratories (Area 51 etc.) as a zombie henceforth.

Well, it takes one to know one. Not the zombie thing, the mentally sick part.

Video Of The Week: Forest For The Trees

This was originally intended to be my Video Of Last Week, since it's a song I sang at a benefit show on the 21st, but Desert Owls released their video, and I had to bump this one.

Forest For The Trees, essentially, is Karl Stephenson, the man who co-wrote Beck's ''Loser'' and co-produced his ''Mellow Gold'' record. He recorded his own album with the royalties from the Beck song and record, and put himself in an institution upon its release.

The whole record is great, look for it.