Hello guys!
Hope you’ve been well :) haha
I’ve got some wonderful news for everyone who lives in Melb/Syd Australia!!!
I will be performing at the Comedy Festival! WOWOWOW!
Not alone.. but with Superwog too! (http://www.youtube.com/superwog)
We will be performing LIVE SKITS on stage to thousands of people!
Thought I’d let those that read my semi-insane blogs that I’ll be part of a live show coming up next year! Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=SUPERWOG13#.UMmIIYPqlBk
My Latest Cover :) Theodore Saidden - My Angel. not my usual style of music, but it was a request, and it was fun to play. Give it a listen?
Go find yourself.
Ok, we all know this one type of person. You know, the one that tells you they want to go to Thailand to ‘find themselves’. The reasoning, which is generated by their little and I imagine quite deformed brain of theirs is that by travelling to a foreign country, they’ll be able to better understand themselves. Excuse me, but you’re a fuck turd. Sorry, I promised I wouldn’t swear in this post. Normally, I avoid speaking to that person in the first place, sometimes by running in the opposite direction or by just dying quickly. But when I’m cornered into it I try to zone out. Zoning out is good. Sometimes I bang my head into the wall until I lose consciousness. That helps but creates all sorts of problems for me. Anyway.
If it isn’t the flawed nature of the contention, it’s how fucking clichéd it is that makes me want to bust open their face. ‘Yeah dude, I’m actually really lazy, but only when it comes to important things like studying and working - hmm, maybe I should go to India and learn about myself’. Fuck face, please. The first travelling you need to do is the university office where you can un-enrol from Arts and enrol in something that’ll make the mistake your parents made of fucking without contraception a little easier.
I’m sorry. That was as bit strong. It’s just funny how the same travel and culture horny people described above are the same cocaine-sniffing whores at all the outdoor music festivals. It’s always the drug fucked Arts degree dropouts who don’t know that a little bit of discipline and less socialising might solve their problems. The issue is that these infections running around the world are just intelligent enough to know what a ‘euphoria’ or ‘epiphany’ is but are too stupid to realise what brings about one. Give a dumb person some intelligent words and he’ll sound smarter than an intelligent person who’s quiet.
If you’re one of those types of people, please take everything I say personally. I’d like that. Maybe it would mean you’d hate me more. Which is good. I can have more reason to laugh at you. Drown in a chai-latte? Just don’t tell me about it if you do. Your kind are the equivalent of those trouble-making drunken backpackers who try to justify their looseness by being ‘cultured’. Ok, ok. I’ll admit you’re cultured. You’re cultured in the sense that you’ve internationalised your genitals. You’ve broadened your whore horizon. You’re a globalised whore-ass. Oh, that and drugs. The only culture absorbing you do is the marijuana you bought from some poor kid in that country. And no, even when you do actually visit sites you’re too busy worrying how you’re going to get your next root.
I know now the solution. I’ve got it. I think you can only find yourself once you’ve figured out how to fuck yourself. Until next time.
Malcolm X
As you might expect (from my online comedy), I have an interest in racism. Almost every video I put up in some way touches on the issue. So, wanting to understand it more, I decided to read the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Just quickly, when I was in school, I pretty much failed history. I still remember drawing over the top of Dr Martin Luther King’s picture in class wondering how it was possible for my history teacher to look so much like a turtle. Anyway, you know when you read a book, or any body of text that entrances you so much you forget that you’re reading? Well this is how I felt from the moment I started.
I understand that the very nature of autobiographical works makes the reading personal, but I especially felt the connection in this case. I think what contributed to this was Alex Haley’s introduction. He depicts an energetic and, at times, frantic Malcolm imparting the most detailed description of his thoughts and life. Haley describes keeping all the items Malcolm would scribble on, napkins etc. such a strategy indicates the level of accuracy in this work. This is no boring account, you become privy to the inner thoughts, emotions and psychology of a true revolutionary thinker.
I don’t want to spoil the book, but I feel like this isn’t even a book you could spoil. It’s not so much the story or the circumstances as much as it is his thoughts and views on both. His wisdom develops slowly throughout his life as he meets more and more people. Forget everything any teacher told you at school about Malcolm X, Dr Martin Luther King, all of them. Schools somehow manage to bureaucratise knowledge. They could make skydiving boring. Read this and enjoy it, because I’m positive you will. Rid your mind of the prejudice you have of him (if there is one), ‘oh but he’s violent’, ‘oh he’s an extremist’, ‘well we don’t have as bad race issues these days, no point reading it’. No. Listen to his story and understand the way he thought and how he came to challenge society. To have both street and academic knowledge, to capture a crowd both in prison and at universities, this man was truly a leader.
That said, I know some of you may wonder if it would be worth watching Spike Lee’s film as a substitute for the book. I guess this is the point of my post. In my opinion, the film does not do the autobiography justice. Well, not in the sense of carrying across that connection I speak of above. I don’t mean to make an attack on the film, as visually it’s great, the story is accurate - and yes it’s interesting. But it was never going to reflect the man’s mind, it was never going to be more than a mere re-enactment and an account of his life. To be honest the book was so powerful it made the film look nothing more than just that. I think a documentary would be better than the film and I know that there are good ones out there. I’m not interested in the way he spoke, dressed or looked like in prison, let alone an actor’s portrayal of that. No music, editing or acting is able to match the intensity of reading words straight from the mouth of the man himself. I might be harsh but it’s one of those cases where the real deal is 100 times more exciting. I strongly recommend this book.
Although many people might not think that my videos have any political aims or policies behind them, the birth of every single video stems from a kind of observation about the world and society. This might even be from observing a particular wrong about the way things are today. I believe that art’s main function is to express an emotion or a feeling within the artist, one that takes a new shape or medium in the artwork itself. That is, the principle, the emotion or even the idea does not change, rather the way it is expressed changes. One can think of it as the soul of the artwork and I am trying to elaborate on what the soul means in this music video. I thought some of my viewers might appreciate it this.
There is no question that “My Angel” was written out of a need to express a disdain towards an element of youth culture in Sydney today. It might be a culture that exists all over Australia, possibly the whole world, but I have only been informed by what I have seen in Sydney. For those that have already seen the video you will be aware that its main focus is the use of Cocaine. I would be surprised if anyone above the age of 16 has not either witnessed or heard about the use of Cocaine in their social circles. Some might argue that we are living in an age of sensory stimulation and Cocaine is just another way to stimulate ourselves mentally, to escape temporarily and to feel a short-term sense of euphoria. Even then, this indicates a serious problem, and it is the word ‘escape’ that is so contentious in that sentence. It suggests that the state they are in before taking the drug, that is, most of their lives, is a state in which they would like to leave temporarily. The fact that this is happening in one of the most developed nations in the world indicates that something cannot be right.
“My Angel” is meant to give an insight into the psychology of youth in Sydney. It features a persona (Kimberly, who many of you are aware of) who makes the inevitable connection between socialising and drugs. The drug is essentially psycho-active, it changes the way we perceive things. If what is real for the person is determined by their senses, and the drug warps the very thing which processes our senses then drugs can even change the way reality appears. In my opinion this not only has disastrous consequences for their identity, but also dignity. They lose themselves into a state where the compromise self-respect – people take advantage of them.
In the same way religious people search for inner peace (e.g. nirvana for the Buddhists) people like Kimberley strive to keep the feeling of euphoria that is induced by drugs. Some might argue that there is not one acceptable method of accepting reality, and that drugs are just another way people can enjoy their lives. It’s a hard argument to defeat but that’s not what I’m trying to do. All I want to give is an insight into a subculture that is increasingly growing in Sydney, and probably all over the world. I think we’re crossing into dangerous territory as we enter into an era of digital and psychological stimulation.
Our brains are fed constantly with advertisements, socialising, all of which are meant to deliver short-term highs – even the food we eat is packed with sugar and salt, again, for short-term satisfaction. The persona in the video cannot stay alone. This is exactly what socialising does for them, it fills a void. Silence kills them slowly as self-reflection is painful. Substances like cocaine manufacture or more accurately, keep up a state of euphoria that is so desperately sought after by an individual in pain. Wikipedia states,
Cocaine increases alertness, feelings of well-being and euphoria, energy and motor activity, feelings of competence and sexuality
It also states, in relation to excessive use:
…the drug can cause itching, tachycardia, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions. Overdoses cause tachyarrhythmias and a marked elevation of blood pressure, which can be life-threatening. (emphasis added)
Therefore, “My Angel” attempts to illuminate the relationship many youth have with this drug. The drug supports them, comforts them, and rescues them in a sense, thus the “Angel” reference. It is known that casual use of cocaine is not known to have major physical or social consequences for people but I can assure you that many users of the drug would not be categorised as casual. I chose a female as the protagonist as they are the bearers of our future generation. I do not mean to understate the importance or responsibility a father has to their offspring but the very fact that a mother must carry the child for 9 months is enough of an indication of the importance the mother has to the child.
