What is the happiness that has eluded our generation?

"I don’t get it. I was the first kid on my block to have a Nintendo. I got a car on my 16th birthday. I didn’t have to work a single day in college (unless you count selling homemade bongs at Phish concerts). My grandfather grew up with nothing. He had to drop out of high school during the Depression to help his family get by, earning money shining the shoes of drunks at a local saloon. Why is my generation, one of relative privilege and wealth, experiencing higher rates of depression than any previous generation?"

(...more)

prodigious prodigical prodigy child

i have a really talented friend


people you know finished recording our EP at The Orange Lounge this weekend. our producer (alf) and engineer (clynt) are two of the most talented people we've ever worked with.

so like hmmm... ok here, try this... you know how a painter or a hair dresser can create these artistic pieces and then later on they can see their final masterpieces complete? musicians don't get that same instant gratification. they rarely get to hear themselves played back in the truest most authentic form.

alf and clynt set up 17 microphones around my drum kit and left me in control. they added some amazing distortion to devon's bass, aimee played layer after layer of guitar and spat out some amazing vocals. shit that girl is so talented. so beautifully talented.

when this album is out, it will be the most honest and authentic replica of people you know's work.

lazy legged rock stars

i'm emailing you right now.

thanks man

where do you rehearse?

do you have a bass amp?

i was thinking that when i'm done recording and my drum kit is back at morgans, you + i should jam (if you have an amp).

i feel uninspired. unripe and suffering from a severe case of musical atrophy.

signed,

the paraplegic percussionist

this isn't happening fast enough

In 1913 the British took control of Iran’s Oil Fields though the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). The British government controlled 51% of the company’s stock. In 1951, the Iranian people democratically elected progressive leader Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh.

Mossadegh ran a campaign whose main issue was the control oil fields. Even though Iran had a huge amount of oil, the Iranian people weren’t getting their fair share of the profits from the AIOC. So, when Mossadegh was elected, he made efforts to nationalize the oil fields. Something along the lines of, “Iranian oil for Iranians.” Not surprisingly, the AIOC wasn’t too happy about this.

In response, they funded SAVAK, the Iranian “domestic security and intelligence agency”, essentially a secret police infamous for its brutality. In another interesting twist, the CIA trained SAVAK forces and Washington DC gave them weapons.

In 1953, SAVAK helped Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi take control of the government in a military coup, essentially overthrowing a democratically elected leader with a military tyrant. Guess what AIOC decided to rename itself forty years later? If you guessed British Petroleum (BP), then you guessed right.

But BP didn’t only destroy political stability in the past, but the environment and local people as well.




(source)

A QUOTE TO REMEMBER

“[A friend of mine and I] have paperwork, and we’ll bring it out soon, that will show what his wishes were and what he wanted. There’s a big fight going on with his parents and some other people involved, and after we bring this paperwork out, everybody’s going to shut up. Gary had certain wishes [excluding his parents]. I’m not going to go against a dying man’s wishes. … There’s a reason why he didn’t speak to them for 23 years.”

Todd Bridges, to ET on why he is going to go through with announcing Gary Coleman’s last wishes despite his parents’ disapproval.

What the hell do you think Gary Coleman’s last wishes were? I honestly cannot even imagine.

(source)