King of the World 3.0

In my continuing series of "If I were King...", I offer the following ideas in the hope of getting pelted by unbelievers...

April 16th, Election Day! It occurs to me that this is the best day to have our National Elections, for there is no time I am more pissed than when I realize how much I paid in "contributions". If I miscalculated in my deductions and get a "reimbursement", then I am really peeved that Government kept my money a whole year without paying me a cent of interest. After all, we all know know lenient in penalties and interest they are if you file past midnight of the 15th. What a great way to make tax reform a central issue EVERY election and not just during the financial bumps of the times. Think of it, you file your taxes one day, and roll into your polling station the next day either pissed (like me) or happy to contribute to the good of all mankind (like everybody else BUT me, apparently).

Why can Israel have full elections in 60 days? You want to know why we are full of cynicism and political fatigue? Because our political season is,... well, obscene. It begins 15 minutes after each election cycle and we get impaled with it forever. I actually look forward to tax season, just to forget about this never-ending of seasons; even if but for the time my turbo tax program readies me for another orifice. Immediately after November 6th, everybody starts jockeying for position, injecting their PAC's with steroid-like infusion of money-gathering ethos, and States (like California for example) start hopping other state's primary dates in hoping their voices have greater impact in the coronation of their party's King. We're done with this. King Truth-Pain hereby says that from now on our political season lasts 2 months. Primaries, political contributions, public advertising, debates, conventions and lastly the obligatory masturbatory 12-hour election-night media debauchery all occurs in 60 calendar days. There, now we all can enjoy life without politicians on TV for 46 straight months. Oh yeah, mid-term elections have 30 days to get their shit together. That's it.

Unions should be in charge of the borders. I hear the voices... "what the f***k is the pain-man ranting about now..." I don't know, I just thought that since the Minutemen are hated, the border patrol is ill fully equipped to help any President do his Constitutional duty; and any attempt to build walls or prevent masses of humanity from entering comes across as inhuman, calloused and mean, then we should put those real gate-keepers of American job interests in charge; the unions. Think of it, Cesar Chavez, the left's patron saint of farm worker rights even put his very own "wet line" on the borders to keep his very own Mexican brethren from taking a dip on the Rio Grande and swimming over to take his precious union jobs (bet you didn't hear that from the media, did you...). One reason Unions such as those representing Steel workers, Teachers and Auto workers don't worry about it too much is that 90% of the people coming across go into farming, janitorial and manual labor; hardly a threat to their jobs or tenure (not to mention that they mostly vote Democrat). But let there be a monsoon of say qualified auto workers taking over jobs in Michigan, California and Tennessee and you will see a "steel line" of UAW picketers from San Diego to Brownsville (and this is a quote from my Democrat-loving buddy who works at the nearby MUNNI plant of Fremont, California). So, by Fiat, I am putting James Hoffa Jr. in charge of border control. Let him decide who gets to live the American dream of "pursuing happiness". How worse can it get?

And I just got tagged for being in someones "Thinking Blogger award" (Mustang!, what were you thinking?).... Guess I have to get busy tagging somebody,.... look out~~~

As goes your heart...

I have "rebounded" nicely from my divorce of a few years ago, and in some ways I have surprised myself at how effortless the change has been. I have a great relation with my ex, with whom I share the care and love of our daughter. I have not suffered from the emotional hangovers associated with messy divorces, which in and of itself is quite an accomplishment; and I have met a wide variety of great people and woman that have opened my eyes to things of which I was not aware.

So last night, I am in a gathering of friends, some single, some un-happily married, some.... well, coasting through it, but none happily smitten. What a tragedy, I thought to myself. What is it about relationships that make us giddy at the onset, and eventually turns into a blase affair into the world of the average and non-adventurous. Are we that finicky? Is our appetite for instant gratification so developed that the notion of a long-term anything is untenable? Anyway, back to the party. One woman complained her husband, though a loving man, never complemented her no matter what she did. Another guy, laughed when the question was tossed about of whether or not it was possible to be happier at the latter years of marriage rather than the initial ones. I myself put to the group the following question, "did you guys get married because you wanted to?... or you needed to? (nervous laughter followed by the en masse switching from the left butt-cheek to the right one). Then the conversation sort of faded in volume in the recesses of my shaved Mellon and I began to "see" something. I know all of these people very well, to include their political/social leanings. The way I was able to forecast their replies to subsequent topics, was like shooting fish in a bucket, and all of this based on what I knew their emotional compass to be at the moment.

The topic of relationship fascinates me. Not because of the obvious human interest and self-enlightenment need, but because I can extrapolate a lot of how people feel about life, society, faith and yes, politics by just watching them interact with their spouses or partners. My parents divorced when I was 2, I was a single child, moved around a lot, always felt I was "different" than other kids, and kept a lot of my emotions to myself. As an adult, I am a divorced man, with one child, have moved around quite a bit (nomad heart), know for a fact that I am different from a lot of people (like THAT is not apparent), and keep my emotions to myself unless my daughter is involved; then its open-heart season. But it fascinates me to think that my independent streak and beliefs spawned from my instincts to be self-sufficient. I did not trust anything or anyone growing up, and that same thinking kept on with my politics and social traits. I have a select few friends, but keep them at arms-length. I am the most gregarious person in the room, yet find myself enabling others to build bridges of understanding, at the price of my own self-interest. When I look back at my youth, my choices along the way, and how I have interacted with woman throughout my adult life, I can see why my politics are the way they are.

There is no greater truth than the fact that we are a product of our present environment, our rearing, our experiences, our choices, the information we choose to inhale, and the people that we choose to emulate. But one more meaningful true-ism to me is that I had my road-map in front of me all along. As went my heart, so went my life. According to the demands I made on my wife or lover, so went the wishes I had for society and forms of government. As went my madness in trying to figure out woman (another posting altogether), so went my patience in understanding my friends and the way they saw things. My love life, or lack of it, was always a bell-weather for how I felt about everything, not just my lover. I can track this phenomena so far back that I am almost embarrassed in not seeing the pattern sooner.

The more removed I am from thinking I am ok and ready to move forward in search of the "one" perfect person for me, the more I think being single is my first best destiny. Who the hell is gonna' put up with this shit?

This is what happens when you don't watch news or read blogs of any kind for 2 straight weeks. Well, non-political ones anyway. I can't wait until April 1st, and get out of this ridiculous self-imposed political free-zone.

Reconstruction ...

It takes me 4 weeks, twice a year, to get used to the "spring forward, fall back" hour change..., another month of sleep deprivation. And speaking of the seasons, changes are in the air in the House of pain. I've found its more fun to read and react, than to post-read-react and finally nuke in my own house; hence my posting once or twice a week instead of the daily thing.

But getting back to this theme, I dig this time of year. A lot of bloggers are in spring-cleaning mode. They are shagging and dusting out the carpet, spiffing-up their templates, adjusting their audience (if such a thing is possible) and getting a fresh look on things, a gathering and measuring of themselves as it were. Such are the rites of the season.

I visited a few blogs today and oddly enough they are all in "refresh mode"; and so in the spirit of things, I'll start to do some house cleaning myself. I'm gonna blow-off on some things here, my own habits included. I rant a lot about the hypocrisy of life in this medium and life in general. One of my habits, and a bad one I think, is that I try to be TOO fair both in my comments here and abroad because I have this innate need to be liked and (yes) loved, all in the spirit of a good conversation and discourse. Though it may be a common thing to long for acceptance, it does not do any good if your views are filtered through the looking glass of trying to appease the host's views somewhat. I think I have to change that. I have to learn to say what I feel, respectfully, and carefully edited, without taking the extra step of the "having said that I agree with you that..." disclaimers. I think that is just as hypocritical as anything, unless you truly believe what you are saying. Another thing; I've stopped visiting sites that espouse they are one thing and you go to another site and there they are bellowing out in contrary form to what their house is built on. Look at my blog-roll, its tiny compared to others out there (do they really read all those?...) The reason they are there is that they are consistent and because I've had a great relation in tits for tats with them as well. Go to any of the left or right (center anyone?) blogs there and you will find they are pretty solid in view, no matter the ideology. Go find them in someone else's house and you get the same bravado and passion of thought. My kudos to people like that. Being left should mean that. Being right should mean just that. Being a moderate or centrist -like I think I am, albeit with a twist to the right- should mean you take a position that is not necessarily on one side or another but based on a lot of factors not necessarily objective. I just love it when I go to a blog self-described as centrist and all they do is pee exclusively on the right or left. Please, just say you are an independent progressive or conservative and leave the mantra of centrist to those who not beholden to holding any body's water; to the equal opportunity pissers of the world. There is a reason there are no centrist in my blog roll, I have yet to find one that is as honest in their views as the rest of the invitees. I'm still taking applications.

I'm very much looking forward to changing the visual and content facade to the blog, a new template maybe..., add some contributing writers, and focus on something other that the usual suspects.

Lastly, some different springtime news,... I've reconstituted my band. I will be singing and playing bass along my long-time guitarist maven, who makes Al DiMeola look like he has polio. Its a song-writing team more than a performance-based project, and we are deep in pre-production mode for a summer CD burn. The music style is Pink Floyd meets Clannad meets Incubus,...on human growth hormones. I may even be daring enough to post a mp3 of one of our diddies so you all can roll on the floor laughing for 3.5 minutes.... , aahhh the rites of springtime.

Castaway....

This is politics-free zone for March.

I've played this cliched game many times, .... -If you were marooned on a Island, what CAN'T I do without?-

So pretending for a second this Island has an interminable supply of AA batteries for my portable DVD-player, and that my MP3 player had nuclear cells so it could run for decades before loneliness kills me; here is my list of Movies, Albums and Books I can't do without,... I will limit the list to five of each.

Movies
- Shawshank Redemption. I've seen this film at least 10 times and I still get giddy when he comes out of that pipe onto the creek, and finally to freedom. I'm still waiting to see if they got that boat finished in Mexico.
- Lord of the Rings (any). I had never read a J.R. Tolkien book until after I saw the LOR trilogy films. I'm not a fantasy genre guy, but this author has me by the short and curlies. As to the films. the sheer scope and visual candy of any of these films leaves me stunned to this day. I know the majority is computer graphics but if I'm stranded in Gilligan's Isle for any length a time then I want movies that make me REALLY forget. Besides, watching Frodo walk up that volcanic mountain, will make me feel like I'm in St. Tropez.
- Brazil. Sort of a cult film in the mode of Eraserhead or Clockwork Orange, but its still one of the most bizarre movies I've seen. Robert DeNiro's part alone is worth the 2 hour volley.
- Delirious. This Eddie Murphy concert classic is not a movie per se, but it is on DVD dammit so it goes in the pile. Besides, I will miserable enough swatting away mosquitoes, .... Eddie's irreverent humor will make the swatting that more meaningful.
- Patton. I'm a huge George C. Scott fan. This Oscar winner is not deep in plot, just deep in symbolism and dualities for me. It reminds me of many things,... Nixon, WWII, Honor, .... the Moral question of warfare...., I can watch this every day and write a different post to it accordingly, it has influenced me that much.
MUSIC CD's
- Kings's X (Gretchen goes to Nebraska). The Beatles meets Black Sabbath. To say this is my favorite band is a gross understatement. There is my daughter, and then there is King's X. If that band I was in a decade ago had a semblance of talent, and sounded anything like this, I would not be here

- Ruben Blades (Siembra). This is an ode to my Puerto Rican heritage (although he is Panamanian). He nails what is the classic salsa sound. Soft, alluring, powerful in music and melody, and recorded at a time (circa 1979) when there was no digital editing to clean up a bad performance. His voice is iconic.
- Sarah Brightman (any). There is no voice in this mother Terra than can paralyse me into inaction as much as this British Diva. From Pie Jesu of Andrew Lloyd Webber fame, to any of the new age pop diddies she is known for these days,... she is incapable of singing a bad note,...
- Peter Gabriel (So). An old album that has the unique gift of having every song being a great cut. From "Red Rain" to the duet with Kate Bush "Don't give up",... this is 80's production at it's best. And how many Albums can you say that about?...
- Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack). Its got nothing to do with Disco, but everything to do with the fact that I remember where I was when I first heard EVERY one of the cuts in that double-album masterpiece. I remember high school, the dances, the girlfriends, the pot, my father, the movies, american top 40, my family..., a lot of memories there. Maybe not the most significant piece of memorabilia, but I do own it in wax, and that alone makes it a makeshift freesbee in my Island paradise.
Books
- Red Storm Rising. This cold war era yarn is the perfect techno-thriller for Tom Clancy addicts like me. Not as gee-whizzy as Clive Cussler, but the attention to detail and twists in plot are perfect..... for staying up all night.
- Cosmos. Carl Sagan wrote this book I don't know how many years ago, but it puts -in layman's terms- the wonders of the universe. And if I am going to be face up on the sand at night staring at the stars,... I might as well know what the hell I'm looking at....
- The joys of Puerto Rican cookery. Talk about gluttony. The only reason this book makes the list is because i am marooned and (maybe) I will never taste the meals made so lovingly by so many in my family. If my lips can't taste them,... at least my mind can,... as I read the recipes and chew on a coconut.
- The Iliad/Odyssey. I know, its 2 books, .... so shoot me if I'm cheating my own game. But you CAN'T read one without the other, .... and after chewing on a coconut, I need to think of Trojan woman serving me grapes and oxen,... (Besides, Homer has a sense of humor that appeals to my lack of decorum ...)
- Century, A collection of photographs (Phaedon) A massive tome of 20th century history photographs and commentary. You can say this is 30 books in one as each chapter takes you on an amazingly detailed journey of a particular era of this planet we love (or hate) so much. And maybe, after browsing through these thousand-plus pages of human endeavor,.... I may just thank my lucky stars I am stuck in some Island at some God-less longitude,...

Tom Hanks, eat your heart out...