#only thing he did wrong was listen to Joe Rogan which

[lunapwrites]

Really cool of both of my brothers to have life-changing crises requiring my immediate intervention the same week I come down with Covid.

[justforbooks]

Amazing: of all the books in all the world Mr Free Speech Zuckerberg wants to ban, it’s the one about him

Whether the Meta boss and his ex-lieutenant Sheryl Sandberg are truly beyond awful is neither here nor there. I thought he was done with factchecking

I am as shocked as I am confused that Mark Zuckerberg is going all-out to block a memoir by Facebook’s former director of global public policy, Sarah Wynn-Williams. I thought information wanted to be free? I definitely heard that speech should be. We know Meta’s revolting oligarch doesn’t write his self-serving public pronouncements, but he should at least make time in his busy Magafication schedule to read them.

Anyway, even if you think the stories in Careless People are untrue – and I don’t, for a single nanosecond – I thought the Meta boss said disinformation wasn’t a thing any more? He recently binned off all his factcheckers to “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship”. Yet here we are reading stories of how Meta this week launched an emergency action in the US to ban Wynn-Williams from promoting or further distributing copies of her book. It argued – successfully, for now – that it would face “immediate loss … in the absence of immediate relief”.

Honestly, Mark: TOUGHEN UP! It was only about 10 minutes ago that you were telling Joe Rogan that corporations needed more “masculine energy”. If something’s wrong or dangerous or really seriously harmful, just let everyone keep seeing it – because, freedom – but pop a “community note” on it. As for how you put a community note on a book, my advice to you would be to go and stand outside Pan Macmillan, which bravely published Wynn-Williams, with a little sign saying “context”. Listen, if it’s a good enough bulwark against the risk of genocide in some boring old developing-world backwater, then it should be good enough for you.

The grounds for Meta calling in emergency lawyers to block Wynn-Williams’s book seem to be that she has gone against the terms of her severance. Luckily, none of us has a “non-disparagement clause” against Zuckerberg, who on this evidence and so much more should be disparaged every minute of every day in the countries where he operates, and even in the ones he doesn’t. There’s a lovely bit in the book where his company is said to be “dangling the possibility that it’ll give the Chinese regime special access to users’ data”.

In conversation, I overuse the phrase “the worst people in the world”, but the Facebook/Meta top brass really are up there. Wynn-Williams’s book is that simultaneously satisfying yet horrifying thing – an insider account that shows you that absolutely every single one of the awful things you already suspected apparently really did go on behind closed doors. As did a few you didn’t suspect. I knew Sheryl Sandberg’s brand of “lean in” feminism was bullshit – but I didn’t think it involved female employees being encouraged to lean into her lap/her bed on private planes.

Shortly after turning this offer down, Wynn-Williams nearly dies in childbirth. Once she’s back at work, her male boss tells her she was insufficiently “responsive” during the period. “In my defence,” says Wynn-Williams, “I was in a coma for some of it.” For light relief, we meet a shadowy Zuckerberg aide who supposedly games his boss’s own algorithm so his posts have mega-engagement. Mark’s senior staff all let him win at Catan.

And that’s just the office politics stuff. The hardcore business – what we might call the politics politics stuff – is so much worse. Meta is currently insisting Wynn-Williams was ultimately fired for “poor performance and toxic behaviour”. But it’s amazing to think anyone at Meta could get fired for “toxic behaviour”. I’m sure whatever they’ve done didn’t actively stoke a genocide, like the Rohingya claim that the firm’s negligence did in Myanmar. I’m sure it couldn’t be as bad as betraying vulnerable citizens in exchange for market penetration.

Quite early on in Wynn-Williams’s 2011-2017 stint at Facebook, a US Treasury official tells the Facebook execs they’re two years away from being hated as much as the investment banks. Well, that turned out to be adorably optimistic. I think we all love the cuddly old banks compared to companies such as Mark’s or Elon’s. But, of course, the tech firms are way, way too powerful to care.

Meanwhile, the world’s children have simply been allowed to become hideously and destructively addicted to their products by politicians who either implicitly – or, as is often claimed in this book, explicitly – thank the companies for assisting their electoral success. We non-American outsiders bang on about US gun laws and how unspeakable it seems to us to raise children in a world of active shooter drills and school massacres. But all western countries and plenty beyond have failed to protect children from the known iniquities and poison of social media. Australia alone has just banned it for under-16s. I’ve no idea where Zuckerberg’s children (the first born of whom he apparently asked Xi Jinping to name) go to school. But – like metaphorical crack dealers – many Silicon Valley bosses sent their kids to a specific local Steiner school where it’s all crocheted textbooks and chalkboards and no one is stupid enough to let the little scions near the narcotising horrors of the product.

So on Meta sails. There are words and phrases for these supranational organised enterprises that harm societies and seemingly do whatever they like, and none of them is the nerdily bland “tech firm”. What was it that the Indians used to call the period of chaos and social instability wreaked by the East India Company, the rampaging entity/“honourable company” that I increasingly feel Meta is most redolent of? Ah yes: the anarchy. We live in a modern form of it now, thanks to Zuckerberg and others, and it’s way past time we did more than simply scroll defeatedly on.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[uncloseted]

https://youtu.be/kJcpTSNWXdQ

https://youtu.be/yIZ8zUOXh2g

Can you watch these when you have the time? Im curious about your opinion on this because I think youre really smart and these are some topics rhats been on my mind lately! Thnk you so much ❤️❤️

Okay, so there’s a lot here.  I feel like I should admit upfront that I dislike Joe Rogan.  I won’t really dig into why because you didn’t ask for that, but I will say that if you want to listen to someone wax philosophical, I feel like it should be someone who was actually a philosopher (like Contrapoints or PhilosophyTube) instead of UFC commentator and former host of Fear Factor, Joe Rogan.  Anyway, let’s dig into these videos…. 

The first one is called “Unattainable Beauty Standard Outrage” and it’s with stand-up comedian Bill Burr.  Frankly, I find it to be frustrating because they’re both average looking white men complaining about an issue that they’re really not subject to in any meaningful way.  Throughout this video, they conflate a lot of different issues-  the beauty standards average men and women are held to, the (edited) beauty standards present in advertisements, and the physical requirements actors and actresses are held to are all the same in this conversation.  They make them seem like it’s all the same when in reality that’s just…. three different conversations completely.  I think that’s a result of the fact that they’re just kind of talking, not making an argument or even really trying to get to a point.

Let’s start out with what they’re saying about the beauty standards that average people are held to.  Basically, their point is that if you cared about how you looked, you can compensate for it in other ways. The point here boils down to “ugly people won’t take the time to develop a personality like the rest of us, and they’re mad that they get treated differently.”  But the reality is that you can have a great personality, but discrimination based on physical appearance will still exist.  Similar to how discrimination based on sexuality isn’t cancelled out by white privilege or discrimination based on race isn’t cancelled out by being male, discrimination based on appearance isn’t cancelled out by having a winning personality.  Ugly people earn less than their attractive counterparts, on average have fewer friends, worse social skills, and less active sex lives, and are seen as less moral, trustworthy, and competent.  Women have it even worse; while men are able to compensate for their looks somewhat (and there are more “acceptable” looks that a man can have) through factors like wealth, social capital, and personality, women are taught from a young age that being attractive is the most important thing that they can be.  Because of that, women suffer more from looks-based discrimination than men do and are more impacted every time the standard for female beauty gets raised.

Moving on, they start complaining that the UK is banning advertisements that feature impossible standards of beauty.  To my knowledge, it’s actually only the London underground that did this, and I believe it specifically concerned advertisements that are digitally altered but selling a beauty product (correct me if I’m wrong here).  Specifically in this episode, they’re talking about products that promise you a “summer body” with a digitally altered image of a bikini model.   It’s false advertising when you show an edited model who supposedly got their body by using your product- and that should be illegal.  False advertising is illegal in lots of other realms.  You’re not allowed to claim that your dietary supplement will cure cancer, and you shouldn’t be able to claim that your “summer body” product will make you look like a digitally altered model.  Joe and Bill comment that people are being overly sensitive, and that these advertisements just make them “want to go to the gym”, but that misses the point completely.  Even if you went to the gym, there’s still tens of thousands of dollars of cosmetic surgeries and digital alterations that went into making that model look like that.  It’s not about work.  Those bodies aren’t achievable with work- the models themselves, who work out for hours a day and follow very strict diets, don’t look like that in real life either.  Pretending that those images are achievable through “hard work” is actually really damaging.  It can lead to people engaging in dangerous diets and exercise regimens, taking untested supplements, and feeling that their lack of results is a moral failing because they’re not “working hard enough” (which decreases self esteem).

Then they start talking about actors and actresses who are asked to lose weight for movies, and one actress in particular who publicly complained that she was asked to lose 15 pounds for a role.  Their takeaway is that the actress who complained is being lazy, that she was hired to be hot, and that she’s being ungrateful for the opportunity.  A quick fact check suggests that the person they’re talking about is Jennifer Lawrence, who said she “was told by producers of a film to lose 15 pounds in two weeks."  That’s a very different story to the one that they’re telling.  To lose 15 pounds in two weeks, 5′9, 140 pound Jennifer Lawrence would have had to burn 52,500 calories.  Even if she ate absolutely nothing and worked out at the level of an Olympic athlete 7 days a week, she would still have only burned 39,354 calories in two weeks.  That’s still 3.75 pounds short of 15 pounds of weight loss.  It was literally an impossible ask.  Upon telling the producer that she thought the weight loss demands were not appropriate, “he said he didn’t know why everyone thought I was so fat, he thought I was ‘perfectly fuckable.'”  And so to paint it as Jennifer Lawrence being lazy is a bit disingenuous.  But I’m willing to accept that maybe they just didn’t have that context, because it seems like their goal wasn’t actually to have a discussion based in research or argumentation- it’s to make the point that people are overly sensitive now and asking the world to cater to them.

Closing this conversation out, I don’t think it’s wrong for studios to ask actors to change their appearance for a role.  A big part of why people get cast for particular roles is their appearance, and as an actor, you have to be willing to adapt your appearance for the role. Just like you may be asked to dye your hair or wear colored contacts, I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to ask an actor to gain or lose weight for a role (especially since both men and women are asked to do that, and the studio provides them with the support to be able to do that safely).  Those bodies are achievable with work, and I don’t think it’s wrong to show those.  But I think there’s a larger conversation to be had about who’s being asked to change their weight and why.  Christian Bale lost 62 pounds for The Machinist because his character was supposed to be emaciated from his insomnia.  The studio didn’t ask Bale to do that.  He made the decision to do it on his own, even though it made sense for his character to be that thin.  By contrast, Jennifer Lawrence was asked by the studio to lose 15 pounds to... what?  Look hotter in the movie?  Almost every female actress is expected to look a certain way in order to even be considered for a role, whereas men can be fat, mediocre looking, older, balding, and still be cast.  Even when a woman is playing a role where being hot isn’t part of the narrative at all, she’s still expected to be hot.  Even when you’re playing a character that’s “let themself go” or has “hit rock bottom”, the actress needs to look hot.  For men, there’s not that same requirement.  Having hot girls in your movie absolutely do get more people to see it, sure, but the cost is that you’re reinforcing the idea that women must be, above else, hot all the time.

So that’s that.  Let’s move on to the second video,  “No, It's Not "All Men"”, featuring comedian Iliza Shlesinger.  I should say that I like Iliza quite a bit and I’ve seen her perform, so I’m curious to see where this goes.  It’s also important to note they’ve been smoking weed, which... provides some context to this episode, I think.

So again, they start by bitching about this “beach body ready” ad that got “pulled in the UK” (actually just from the London underground) that Joe is so up in arms about.  This time he shows the ad, and it turns out that it was pulled due to “concerns about a range of health and weight loss claims made in the ad”.  The concern is false advertising.  So again, to paint it as, “ugly women are too sensitive because some women are actually beautiful” is disingenuous, and serving the narrative that “people these days are too sensitive”.  They’re also making the assumption that this ad hasn’t been digitally altered, which I find difficult to believe.  

Iliza goes on to talk about how her boobs are real and some people ask her if they’re fake, and she doesn’t like that, and how women shouldn’t judge other women to their faces about how fake they perceive them to be.  I think that’s a fine claim to make on an interpersonal level, but I also think that if we don’t start acknowledging all of the manipulation and work that goes into appearing “effortlessly beautiful”, we’re going to fall deeper into this beauty standard arms race.  Iliza kind of gets a pass on this because she openly admits to having a “fake nose”.  Then she makes a good point about how women will be hated no matter what they do, and so it’s important to remember that when someone doesn’t like you, it typically has more to do with them than it does with you.  She also says that when you don’t like someone, it’s important to do some introspection to figure out where that’s coming from, which is also great advice.  Then they wander into talking about how feminism doesn’t mean that you like women more than men or that you’re asking for special treatment, just that you support the idea of equality, and that’s fine. Joe rogan praises Iliza for being “a feminist, but not annoying”, which is gross.

Iliza then says that feminists who say, “all men” are part of the problem, and I think she’s just missing the point.  When feminists say, “yes, all men”, what they mean is that all men are benefiting from male privilege, regardless of the actions that they’re taking (or not) to better that situation.  People in positions of privilege have to acknowledge that privilege in order to be able to better the situation, and by separating yourself out as “not one of those men”, you’re saying “it’s not my problem because I’m one of the good ones, so I don’t have to think about myself critically or alter my behavior in any way.”  That said, I think Iliza is right that that stance can be taken too far and serve to alienate the men who are allies in the feminist fight for equality.  

Then, Iliza equates the phrases “all men are bad” and “all women are sluts”.  I think this is a bad take; “all men are bad” is a generalization made by a marginalized group about a powerful group that they’ve been victimized by.  Every woman I know has had some type of intimidating, frightening, dangerous, humiliating, or dehumanizing experience with a man during their lifetime.  “All women are sluts” is a powerful group insulting a group that they marginalize, with the intention of controlling that group’s actions (by making them feel ashamed of being “slutty” they’ll stop being “sluts).  “Slut” is also particularly charged in this scenario, because it centers maleness.  What is a slut?  A slut is (usually) a woman who sleeps with men but who won’t sleep with the man calling her a slut.  Which, coming full circle, is why some women say “all men are bad”.  

I get their larger point that generalizations are rarely helpful, but again, they’re making this false equivalency between a political slogan (”all men”), a gendered insult (“all women are sluts”), and random, unhelpful advice, (”women want you to slow down in the bedroom”).  In the first case, the generalization serves a purpose- it’s to let men know that they’re not exempt because they’re a “good guy”.  In the second case, it’s an insult that contributes to a gendered power structure.  In the third case, it’s just shorthand for “the majority of women that we’ve surveyed” because repeating that phrase over and over again will take away from the point they’re trying to make (that maybe you could be better in bed by listening to the sluts, Joe).

All in all, I like this one better than the first one, but Joe Rogan hasn’t grown on me over the course of watching these videos.

[fathersappointed]

The Devil appears to be on the move with this substance!

All You Need is Love and Ayahuasca!

From out of the jungle “two plants” combined together one a Vine! Begins to spread her tentacles all around the planet calling out to people, portals into other dimensions! Graham Hancock, a man who wanted a God to worship! Found Ayahuasca, (“eye – a – waska”) and it comes with a Goddess!

Hey Joe! Where you going with that DMT in your hand? I’m going to burn my brains out, you know I heard a voice, a voice of another man! Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! Drug pushing! Graham, Joey, say it ain’t so! These two acid-heads oughta know better!

The Devil appears to be on the move with this substance! One has to wonder? What’s up with that! I had recently posted on Graham Hancock and his indulgence in ayahuasca when I came across this video, compelled me to post another warning on this substance. Joe Rogan is a well-known podcast host, Graham is a successful author. They are also the Devil’s unwitting, although willing Ayahuasca Pitchman! Graham says it’s called The Vine of souls for nothing it’s an extraordinary portal into other realms! He says this sounds nuts to anyone who hasn’t done DMT or who haven’t drank ayahuasca, but you meet intelligent entities! No this doesn’t sound crazy to me Graham, what seems crazy to me is your lack of concern at what you’ve experienced. Graham, a self-proclaimed God-fearing agnostic..ok, says with Ayahuasca you can communicate with this entity that he reverently refers to as the Mother Goddess. He says that more and more people around the world are meeting this Goddess figure!

Graham talks about his encounter with this powerful entity. He starts talking about how he’s willing to accept that this entity is not real, just a figment of the mind an illusionary manifestation. This is a very puzzling line for Graham to say because that’s what he absolutely refuses to accept, that this entity is a figment of the mind an illusionary being this entity is absolutely real to him. And he immediately voids out that statement with, not only do I think she’s real but that she’s a Goddess! This entity that Graham encounters immediately gets down to business enforcing a state of dominance over him, impressing upon him that she has the moral superiority and the right to judge him! He says this entity that he reverently calls a Goddess doesn’t mind bringing you to a place of hell, to a judgment scene! He says, that everything in his life could be displayed before him, everything you’ve done every second every minute of your life is completely transparent! Every thought, every action, everything you did from the moment you became conscious until the moment of your death is laid out before you! “This is quite an experience, it’s a manipulative/intimidating experience for anyone encountering this evil group. Graham and Joe, like so many, don’t know what we are truly experiencing in this world. They can’t conceive that we are under a  multi-directional attack to manipulate us and our perception and our understanding of life. What Graham has experienced and is explaining is not being caused by entities from other mystical realms per-say. This is caused by the direct results of the Devil and the betrayer’s that stand with him, Christ, Magdalene (Mad Mag, Graham’s Goddess!) John, Paul, etc. This explanation will be less believable than the Ayahuasca Goddess Worshippers but nonetheless that’s what this World is up against! A group led by an entity so consumed with hate it cannot be reasoned with, it will not stop! Until it has accomplished its desire, which is the kill Our Celestial (not to be confused with spiritual “a creation of the devil”) Father and Mother and all of us! This group is not working in a cosmic swirl of spiritual mysticism they run their horrific operation from a structured command platform! They have at their disposal “immense computing ability” beyond what scientists are currently trying to create! With the highly advanced technology at their command they can easily follow and capture every moment, every word, every thought, of any person at any time that they are interested in or are planning to manipulate in the course of that person’s life! Also, they don’t need you to drink ayahuasca in order for them to reveal your life to you!

Joe’s been thinking lately that it doesn’t even matter!

Joe says, When you talk about the Ayahuasca experience and you talked about the Goddess coming to you, and you choose to believe it’s real! My thoughts on this whole what is real, what is not real thing is that → “it doesn’t really even matter” ← if you believed the Ayahuasca Goddesses is real or not, as long as you’re learning from the encounter! Graham agrees, “it doesn’t matter!"  "Joe, are you even listening to yourself!” It doesn’t really even matter if evil entities exist! It doesn’t even matter if evil entities are using psychedelics to communicate, to manipulate people? Joe, I want to take a moment to point out that it really does matter! Really, Joe, I think that’s one too many trips down the yellow brick road for you!

Oh! That I would not be so all alone Everybody must get stoned!

Joe believes that psychedelics are the key to our next level of consciousness a step in our evolution. He says, it’s about a learning experience. It’s about massive leaps in the development of your personality and your psyche, your world view, your personal view, and these massive leaps happened through psychedelics! They happened exactly the same way if you really do encounter a Goddess or if this Goddess is just conjured up by your imagination in incredibly vivid detail either one is the same experience to you personally Joe says this is a very important point, yes it might be a hallucination or it might not be a hallucination Graham agrees…. (Whoa! Joe, Graham, don’t go so fast all you’re experiencing is an acid blast!) Again Joe, Graham, it makes a big difference if this manifestation is a conjuring of the imagination or evil entity bent on manipulation and murder, which is what we’re dealing with! Joe calls Ayahuasca an incredible Ally! He says the best way is the “psychedelic way” An amazing plant..thing in several forms! Joe believes if they just broke Ayahuasca ceremonies out all over the globe, if it became the next big thing, like cell phones. We’d end up living in a surreal wonderful Life. Joe, really spend our days tripped out worshipping the Ayahuasca Goddess! Joe, this is not an entity of love, this is a cold existence of indifference seeking to manipulate people, a willing betrayer controlled by the Devil!

Joe says,  it sounds crazy but I believe this I believe that psychedelics are here for human beings to take to move to the next level of consciousness Graham says, I agree with you that the single one-stop shop to transform our society and make it a better place a far better place than it can be today is the correct use of psychedelics. But I would be wrong to say that psychedelics are a magic potion. Graham you just said the stuff was a one-stop-shop that sounds like a magic potion to me! Which of course it isn’t!

Let the Goddess and the demons set you free! All you need is Love and Ayahuasca!

Graham says, here is an incredibly valuable experience that is available to us. Graham, can’t stop talking the stuff up he’s a man possessed! (literally) He says the big problem is the war on drugs demonized this substance (I wonder why?) There is a deliberate structured reason the Devil makes some things look like a fight. Graham believes with psychedelics you break through portals into other dimensions! When Graham was asked if he believed evil entities were using psychedelics for communication purposes. He said he thought it was an interesting possibility, but that he believes that’s a simplistic approach. Graham goes into a cosmic fanciful swirl about huge unseen rounds of life-forms and how we could interact with these mysterious beings if we were in the right frame of consciousness. In other words “tripped out on psychedelics”. “Can you see the mental snare? (One of many in this post) It’s being created here!”

Graham says Ayahuasca ceremonies are happening everywhere it’s happening in Japan, it’s happening in America, it’s happening in Germany, it’s happening throughout the World, a group of small but growing initiates! In other words, a growing group of enthralled people believing themselves on the brink of great knowledge, unaware that it’s the Devil who has mesmerizingly pulled them in! All of which are in extreme danger these entities that they are dealing with are consumed with hate and desire!

What we need Graham says, is a nurturing society that makes it possible for us to take these substances in a loving nurturing way. He says those beneficial experiences can and frequently do include painful moments. Moments when you come to the realization of who you are, and what you are! “By whose standards Graham?” I’ll tell you who’s standed you’re going by the standards of an entity that’s planning to “Kill You!” Graham says, what is absolutely fundamental with ayahuasca, is what Graham calls the “»Life review«where you see the impact of your behavior on others and the pain you caused. He says in the Amazon they’re called teacher plants. and is making a serious comprehension blunder, his mesmerization of what he refers to as the Ayahuasca Goddess and will describe in a Worshiping Exuberance has completely corrupted his ability to understand what has ensnared him! This is not a compassionate teacher reaching out, this is a mental conditioning, a mental manipulation force, a force motivated by hate, a force planning to kill.

The Devil manipulates those who can manipulate others".

Graham’s mind has been compromised! He has taken the bait he has bought the pitch of the Ayahuasca Bitch! He has enveloped himself in a mesmerization that has compromised his objective reasoning. Speaking of this entity like one who is having a Religious Awakening. He has taken an entity that has manifested itself within his psychedelic experience and elevated it to a God! Listen to Graham it becomes painfully apparent that he has mastered the art of misdirection in this video. Although he will mention evil within ayahuasca he is fast to direct it to outside influences as being the source of true evil even when he brought up the Aztec and their demise he turned the point of concern to agriculture! In this video, there is such an immensity of wrong that it is impossible for me in this writing to cover it. Anyone thinking this is an incredible adventure and learning experience to be embraced you will not be dealing with happy little fairy people that want to hug you and laugh with joy. You are dealing with cold-blooded hate that���s had people on their knees praying to them through the ages as they spread agony and death everywhere. Rethinking is everything! That’s what is needed! It is my sincere hope that both Graham and Joe come to the realization of the hate that has ensnared and compromised them. As I do with all the People of this World.

[masslessobtrusion]

Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, and my brother...

Edit: 

Tl;dr: Jordan Peterson’s self-empowerment does not apply to those who are addicted to drugs and are currently living in abusive households. It’s okay to give people a lending hand when they ask. Telling them to go to a doctor and get a job when they explain their struggles, how they are broken and don’t know how to go to a doctor and get a job. For several years. Is not the best course of action. 

It’s impossible to know what it’s like to be poor when you will never have to worry about it because your parents planned for your life properly and especially when your parents have hurt and manipulated you for years.

My oldest brother has told me to check out Jordan Peterson. I’ve known about him for a while. I used to be really into Joe Rogan and UFC, but I am no longer a fan and am actually embarrassed I used to like him. 2010-2017 . I listened to him some more today. He preached about how men need to forge their own path because no one is going to do it for them. That’s great advice. It’s empowering. Especially if you’re a small man with no father, which is why I feel this hits home with my oldest brother.  He’s short for a guy. 5f5-t6. He says 5ft8. Probably in shoes. Because every 5ft10 guy claims to be 6ft and it makes for awkward situations. I don’t condone insulting someone for their height. It’s something I’ve personally never worried about, because I’ve never had to. He has. It’s a struggle for a lot of shorter people and I understand this. I never really thought of him as short. When, I do, it explains the behavior in a way that I may be onto something.  We’ve had mutual friends, but he has always had different rules for us. He’s stricter with us. We don’t talk about our feelings. He’s in charge. He claims he’s always busy. He has worked at a used video game store in a part-time capacity while attending school for 20+. 3 kids, divorced. I had my grasp on millions of dollars. I touched mountain tops and gorgeous women on 100ft yachts. I did this coming from nothing and working an entry-level retail job. I met so many people who don’t have to worry about money it warped my perspective greatly. 

My Dad more or less disowned my oldest brother as a bastard child and treated him harsh early-on. Perhaps he sees my suffering as validation of his decision to move out. I’ve tried relating to him on my Father’s abuse and multiple hobbies. Cycling, guitar, video games, music. He’s not interested. 

He refuses to show any sort of compassion or empathy towards me. “Man, just look at him. He’s so bitter and resentful of anyone who is more successful or wealthier than him. He’s like a biker now. That’s why you don’t do drugs.”. It’s never too late to start. I have told him that. I can recall 2 times I have hung out with him in the last 10 years. His boundaries make for a shitty relationship.   Jordan Peterson was addicted to Xanax. When I hear him speak. I hear the same excuses every junkie makes. Instead of going through withdrawal and a taper. He went to Russia and received a treatment he couldn’t get in other countries. He was put into a coma for over 8 days. When I went through xanax withdrawal, I was also addicted to heroin. Nearly died from seizures. I had a broken jaw the entire time, I spent 7 days in ICU. 3 days in a psych ward AFTER that. I hadn’t made a mention of suicide since the first or second day. I refused to be admitted to the psych ward several times. They told me I had to sign the papers or the police were coming in. This was the only defiant act other than when I first woke up in the ICU after the seizure. 

My jaw was shifted several inches and locked open. I couldn’t close my mouth for 10 days. I chewed with my tongue and top teeth. Because the inside of my cheek was pinched between my teeth, cut open, and infected.  Every time I talked. I chewed on the inside of my cheek.   I received no pain killers. I went to an oral surgeon at a dental college, with no anesthetic he snapped my jaw back in place. It took several minutes and another injection of lidocaine and cold spray. It didn’t help much. I was screaming. 

After this. The abuse of my father continued. I also ran out of SSRI’s after 3 months of venlafaxine. SSRI withdrawal was new to me. I experienced it from December 2019-March 2020. I experienced a vertigo like sensation when I turned my head. It almost sounded like Star Wars blasters because there was high frequency ringing in my ears and the pitch would change when I turned my head. My vision felt a little warped too. I believe this sensation is what is commonly referred to as “brain zaps”. 

I can already hear Jordan Peterson’s excuses. “But I help save people’s lives!” “I am different.” “I am the exception.”. It’s the same excuses every junkie who doesn’t like admitting mistakes makes. The first comment on the Jordan Peterson video I watched where he talks about the horrors of Xanax. It says “We love you Jordan, get well soon Brother!”.  It’s a cult-like group now. Pushing books, health pills, blenders. Whatever they can hock to people in order to keep their lifestyles up.  My first thought. Ha, that’s probably my brother. He’s never said anything like that to me before. 

Never. It’s not required. But it doesn’t exist between us. Never has. I tried to correct that and told him I liked how the families I met elsewhere acted towards each other and he agreed. Especially as his divorce and my moving back home coincided. I saw this as an opportunity to get to know him better. We did several things together but the kids were always there. It quickly became a chore. I made it clear several times that I had issues I wanted to address and speak about regarding my health and safety. Involving my parents. Involving my lungs, and living situation. I just wanted someone to talk to. I made that clear. Anyone. My middle brother is too shy and dumb to comprehend the big brain level I operate at. He’ll get triggered.  “Yeah dude, you should find a wife who will pay for your shit and work part-time for a poverty wage while being a part-time stay at home Dad.”. Knock’er up 3-4 times and complain about being poor when you have no career or college education until your mid 40′s. Yeah dude, you’re doing it all wrong. Just do it right!”.

I felt like some of the girls I dated, would’ve been into marriage. But seriously, I was so awkward around girls until my mid-20′s. No confidence that I was attractive or that a lot of the girls I was friend-zoning myself in wanted to fuck like porn stars. Or your heads on my lap?

I didn’t want to marry Lauren. I thought she was too beautiful and talented to be influenced by my negativity. That’s honestly what I told myself when I stayed up, watched her sleep, to make sure she was still breathing. I haven’t really written about her yet. It’s going to be tough. 

He’s not a trashy person or a mean person by any means. He’s always been a smug little prick, with a holier than thou. Despite having the same hobbies. He never invited me or accepted my invitations. I think it’s weird. You’re my brother. Stop being so weird about everything and put your guard down for a second. Take-off the lifts. Everyone knows. 

I never put much thought into how being short could have an impact in our relationship. But with all of the Joe Rogan memes about how he over-compensates for his small stature by framing shots with furniture. I realized that my brother does over-compensate for his lack of height.  I think most smaller men do. There’s nothing wrong with that, except for the overly macho way Rogan talks about how someone who is insecure about their height needs to conquer their inner-bitch and start a podcast. Channel the “violence” in your DNA as he has.  He’s being a hypocrite. The dude is on so many drugs and hormones, his head increased 3x. Good for him, right? Except the dude tells millions of cult-like followers that hormones are fucked up. The fake-it until you make-it attitude is selfish and shallow. The average person interprets that as, “It’s okay to lie, cheat, and steal, as long as you make money.” “Be selfish, it’s the best way, when it benefits you! Socialism is good?”. Sending me mixed signals.

Seems like he only cares because he realizes it makes him hypocritical and I feel Joe Rogan is overly-sensitive about anything that could make him appear as homosexual.  So, that’s where the attraction in these leaders of men who don’t feel powerful, didn’t have fathers, and feel abandoned in the world are attracted to people like this. They seek guidance and found it.  I simply want to seek guidance from my friends and family. I don’t have friends and I don’t have family.  I should’ve shacked up with a wealthy girl in Colorado when I had the chance, right?. I thought that was such a shallow and shitty way to think. My parents would always say that. But, I chose to continue valuing making my own path. My brothers actually tried to hurt me during this time and that’s the only time they have done so. I think they were jealous that I was living on my own. I was struggling and poor. But I was doing it. I am capable.  Going down the path of addiction. I’ve been through heroin withdrawal 50-100 times. I chipped and shot up, used daily when I could. Got sick when I couldn’t. Benzos twice. SSRI’s once.  It’s similar to how someone who will never run out of money or be in a position such as yourself. Telling you to get a job and go to the doctor. After everything I just wrote(I don’t expect many, if anyone to read this and likely dismiss me as a severely disturbed individual to be avoided.). Keep in mind. A lot of the abuse from my parents, happened leading up to and AFTER my most recent suicide attempt. Calling me fat happened 5 months after I was released. I asked my Dad to stop calling me names “worthless fat piece of shit” or laugh when I’m making food. He knows I have a history of cutting and getting bullied. He’s just ignorant.  That’s why it’s weird to see him with such low energy and I feel there is something going on with him health wise. He is incapable of being nice for some reason. So, he is just not going to speak to me now. That is better. I wish he could just understand, admit his mistakes, and move on. That’s a trend in my family. No one admits mistakes. These people snap and go crazy rather than admit any sort of mistake. I used to be like that when I was younger. But I snapped out of it when I was around ~20yrs olds thanks to hallucinogenic drugs.  Alright, that’s enough. If I ever lose my vocal chords due to the throat cancer I likely have. At least I’m a decent enough writer. I could condense this greatly, by not rambling and getting my point across in a formatted/concise manner.  Typing and writing keep my fingers nimble. I started playing acoustic guitar last week. First time in a year or so. I might upload something.

[grapevynerendezvous]

The Byrds - Fifth Dimension

The album Fifth Dimension took flight following two ground-breaking albums that had melded the innovative essentials of the British Invasion with the burgeoning folk-pop music scene happening in the U.S. With the release of their first album The Byrds blended those styles into what came to be known as folk-rock. Although they may not have been the only ones to do this, nor the actual first to produce it, they became the most influential artists to do so. With Fifth Dimension, things took a left turn straight into the stratosphere of psychedelia and toward Raga as well, plus a bit of a right turn toward country music. The album contained all that, although it was perhaps not so well executed as their first record.

In March 1966 the single Eight Miles High b/w Why was released for take off. It turned people, as the saying goes, on their ears. The band and their manager Jim Dickson recorded the two songs at RCA Studios in December 1965, and those songs were a creative leap for them. According to Columbia all recording had to take place at the label’s studios and, with their house producers. The re-recording took place in January. The bulk of the song was written by band member Gene Clark, who had become the band’s primary songwriter, but Roger (Jim) McGuinn and David Crosby were co-writers. By the time the song came out Clark had departed. The “official reason given for his departure was it was due to his fear of flying which prevented “him from fulfilling his obligations with the group”, according to Johnny Rogan in his book, The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited. The reality was that it also had something to do with general anxiety issues. Of course, there was that little affair with a certain “Mama” in another up and coming band as the year progressed.

The remaining quartet, McGuinn, Crosby, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke were left to complete the album which was recorded over the next three months and released in July. The other single that was released, 5D (Fifth Dimension) b/w the instrumental, Captain Soul, came out one month before the album. The two singles were victims of being banned due to alleged drug references by certain stations and markets. This, in part at least, helped prevent them from going higher on the charts than they did. Eight Miles High, which topped out at No.14 on Billboard and 24 on UK Singles, was also cited for being comparably noncommercial and complex for the average listener. 5D (Fifth Dimension) was another, perhaps even more psychedelic track, that only reached 44 on Billboard and never charted in the U.K. The composer, Jim McGuinn, was being cerebral and metaphysical in his approach to the song, trying to explain Einstein’s theory of relativity while also citing Don Landis’ book 1-2-3-4 More, More, More, More as inspiration. Yet a large amount of the audience was interpreting the abstract lyrics as relating to an LSD trip. The other songs written by McGuinn for the album were also eclectic. Mr. Spaceman, which got some radio airplay in some areas, was definitely a lean into country music with by no means typical country style lyrics. 2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song) was novelty song. The main characters of the song were a Lear jet and a pilot preparing to take off in it while the band sang a ten-word phrase repeatedly throughout the entire song. The next song on the album, I See You, co-written by McGuinn and David Crosby, has a jazzy feel and contains some effective 12-string guitar solos. What’s Happening!? is David Crosby’s lone solo composition on the album and presaged his hippie ethos rants to come. Crosby was also the catalyst for including his version of the garage rock song Hey Joe that The Leaves made into a Top 40 hit. The Leaves version came after hearing both The Byrds and Love play it at shows in the LA area. It is a song that is said to have been written by Billy Roberts. There are other claims to its’ authorship as well, but Roberts holds the copyright. Crosby brought it to the band in the first place and wanted to record it before they had gone into the studio. The rest of the band was not excited about it, but by the time they were in the Fifth Dimension session Crosby was was so angry because The Leaves already had a hit and Love had also recorded it, that they agreed to let him sing it on the album. Wild Mountain Thyme, credited as a traditional song, is more directly associated with the song adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake and first recorded by his family in the 1950s. The source was an Irish/Scottish folk song, the lyrics and melody being a variant of  Robert Tannahill and Robert Archibald Smith’ The Braes of Balquhither. The McPeake basis of this was related to me by Belfast musician, and former band member with Van Morrison, Kevin Brennan, who had personally known the McPeakes. All four band members were responsible for the instrumental Captain Soul, and they are also credited for arranging the other traditional song on the album, John Riley, which is derived from Homer’s Odyssey and interpreted through 17th century English folk ballad tradition. It was recorded by Peter Seeger in 1950. I Come and Stand at Every Door is the closing song on the first side. It originated as a 1955 poem by Turkish poet Nâzım Hikmet (Ran), called Kız Çocuğu (The Girl Child). It was a plea for peace from a seven-year old girl who had died in the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima and has, of course, an anti-war message. The only composer in the album credits is Çocuğu, but he was only responsible for the Turkish poem he had written. The roots of the American song version emanate from a non-traditional melody composed by Jim Waters in 1954 to fit the lyrics of Child 113 ballad The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry. Pete Seeger describes the story behind his version of the song in his Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singer's Stories, Songs, Seeds, Robberies (A Musical Autobiography) (1993):: “Jeanette Turner did a loose English "singable translation" of the poem under a different title, I Come And Stand At Every Door, and sent a note to Seeger asking "Do you think you could make a tune for it?" in the late 1950s. After a week of trial and failure, this English translation was used by Seeger in 1962 with an adaptation of "an extraordinary melody put together by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student James Waters, who had put a new tune to a mystical ballad The Great Silkie which he couldn't get out of his head, without permission." Seeger wrote in his Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singer's Stories, Songs, Seeds, Robberies (A Musical Autobiography) (1993), ”It was wrong of me. I should have gotten his permission. But it worked. The Byrds made a good recording of it, electric guitars and all.” Tom Clark, a poet who had a blog called Beyond the Pale, posted the poem with photos referencing Hiroshima and further discussion. Per his response further down in the comments 7 August 2015 at 03:32, “…… rest assured the credit situation had long since been settled up fair and square by the time Pete Seeger, at 90, did that amazing a capella version for Democracy Now. The song is now and forever copy(r)ighted c: Nazim Hikmet/James W. Waters.”

Eight Miles High was the last piece in the puzzle which determined if I was finally going to accept rock and roll as my musical lord and savior. Well at least one of my musical saviors anyway, jazz was already in my head. It came on the heals of music I was listening to in 1966 from the Animals, Outsiders, Young Rascals, Troggs, Syndicate of Sound, Kinks, Paul Revere & The Raiders and particularly The Yardbirds, with Shapes of Things. When I first heard Shapes of Things I knew I was hooked, and Eight Miles High confirmed it. Looking back, it appears I was wide open to the ideas of psychedelic music because both these songs have been identified as pioneers in that genre. My true turning point came when a classmate of mine and I were hanging out at school and he started asking me about my musical likes. This was not long after I had started hearing Eight Miles High on the radio and I finally admitted that I was getting hooked on rock music. I had that undeniable "gotta have it" experience going on, but I wasn't into buying 45s at that point and frankly thought it surely must be on an album. It turned out that album took an another four months from the single release to be issued. It felt like an eternity, especially since it still took me a few more months to finally buy Fifth Dimension. It is generally recognized that the Yardbirds’ song, with Jeff Beck’s Asian/Indian-Raga feedback-laden guitar solo, and the anti-war/pro-environmental lyrics, was the first popular psychedelic song. Eight Miles High, is likewise considered the first American popular psychedelic song, with The Byrds next single, 5D (Fifth Dimension), following up a few months later. What followed was a two to three-year period in which the new psychedelic music scene was explored from top to bottom, and sideways. Psychedelic music incorporated new playing techniques, use of unusual or unexpected instruments, new ideas in thought and expression. It most certainly was influenced by the growing use of drugs, particularly those labeled as psychedelics such as LSD. As was mentioned, both Eight Miles High and 5D failed to reach higher chart plateaus, at least at part, because of what was alleged to be drug references in the songs. Eight Miles High approximates the height at which jet airliners fly and was a reference to that experience. Latently both Roger McGuinn and David Crosby admitted that their own drug use had influenced their contributions to the song. McGuinn however, who wrote 5D (Fifth Dimension) as a reference to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, was disappointed by much of the listening audience assuming it was about drugs. What did he expect? It was 1966 after all, and perhaps that’s what they wanted it to be. Despite the psychedelic feel and abstract lyrics of 5D, McQuinn still somehow managed to make it sound country as well. The album ended up being a continuation of the folk-rock sound that The Byrds had helped pioneer with their first two albums. It also found them exploring what came to be known as country-rock.

A notable difference between Fifth Dimension and The Byrds’ first albums is that the band had five original compositions with four by Bob Dylan in each of them while Fifth Dimension contained eight by The Byrds and none by Dylan. The reviews of the album have been mixed, with some, such as New Express Magazine calling it "faultless" and a work that "heralds a newly psychedelic Byrds hung up on the archetypal acid-fixation with the unknown”, while others were disparaging. The general direction of criticism of the album was that it fell below the standards set by their first two albums, that it lacked energy, that it was “wildly uneven” per Richie Unterberger, or as Barney Hoskins in Mojo put it, "can't quite decide what sort of album it is”. On the other hand Billboard Magazine, later called it “their most under-rated album”. I, for one, was quite happy to not be some jaded critic. My mind was being opened up by new music, new ideas, and I could not get enough. Since I hadn’t obtained the first two albums, Fifth Dimension became my compass point for the Byrds, even though I had heard and enjoyed their first two hit songs. Fifth Dimension, with its’ various styles, was perfect for me and I listened to it repeatedly for quite a long time. It still remains one of my favorite albums. I even found a way to enjoy 2-4-2 Foxtrot (The Lear Jet Song) when I finally listened to it from the perspective of someone sitting in the co-pilot seat. Must have been at LAX.

One cut on the album had a resounding affect on me, "I Come and Stand at Every Door". I was still developing my own perspective on what was going on in the world and this song helped me look at many things differently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Byrds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Dimension_(album)

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-byrds-mn0000631774/biography

https://www.allmusic.com/album/fifth-dimension-mw0000200612

https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Byrds

https://www.discogs.com/artist/215471-The-Byrds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Mountain_Thyme

http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/nazm-hikmet-ran-i-come-and-stand-at.html?m=1

Pete Seeger Aug. 9, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9qzZ0-qkac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ql_ADlWoY

LP15

[aion-rsa]

Titans Season 3 Red Hood Costume Honors Jason Todd’s DC Universe History

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

As Titans season 3 is creeping closer to HBO Max every day, Warner has been steadily trickling information out about what to expect from the first season for the show in its new home. The latest update included a look at Red Hood, our first glimpse of a live action Red Hood costume in history. And it’s…about what you would expect from a Red Hood costume.

Check it out…

Titans is apparently skipping one part of Jason Todd’s road from being Robin to becoming the Red Hood: his death at the hands of the Joker. While Jason (portrayed by Curran Walters) is every bit the problem child he is in the comics, and at least one horrible fate for him has been teased on the show, it doesn’t appear that a death and subsequent resurrection will be necessary for him to take on his new identity.

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The surprising thing about Titans‘ Red Hood is in the revelation that the Red Hood’s costume has been so consistent across so many mediums over such a long time. Jason Todd is part of a Robin lineage that has seen more costume changes than a Broadway show, and yet since becoming Red Hood, his outfit has mostly stayed the same.

The core design elements of Jason’s Red Hood costume are almost always the same, regardless of creator, series, or medium. From Batman: The Adventures Continue, the animated continuation of Batman: The Animated Series; to Injustice 2; to the post-Flashpoint DC comics universe; and back again to the animated adaptation of Under the Red Hood, his key design elements are all there. There’s a red helmet that echoes (but doesn’t directly copy the helmet of) that worn by the guy/mobster/random down on his luck comedian who would become the Joker (who in turn would murder Jason in cold blood).

There is a leather jacket and a bunch of guns, because nothing says “badass” like a leather jacket. Ask the Avengers!

And the color scheme is almost always a brown jacket, a red helmet, and gray everything else.

In fact, there have really only been three major deviations from that main scheme. Oddly enough, the first variation was his first appearance as Red Hood. Sort of.

The Red Hood of Batman mega-arc Hush looked nothing like the costume the character settled on, which makes sense, because the Red Hood of Hush wasn’t Jason Todd, but rather was Clayface pretending to be the resurrected Jason Todd to screw with Batman because Riddler had…a tumor? I think? (It’s not a great story).

Regardless, this is less a Red Hood costume and more a “what if Robin worked for Checkmate” outfit, right down to the awkward length of his turtleneck, something that a superhero super spy agency would probably hand out during orientation.

There was the Red Hood of Grant Morrison and Phillip Tan’s Batman & Robin arc. This was an undoubtedly more superheroic design, with the garish logo and bright colors and no leather jacket. It had a purpose, though – Todd was setting himself up to be the cynical counterpart to Dick Grayson’s (at the time) Batman, and he did that by being the opposite of Batman: flamboyant, murderously violent, and kind of whiny about how wrong he always was.

Last and certainly extremely least is…whatever the hell this was. The sleeveless hoodie, cargo jorts, and metal boots look makes Jason feel like a cyborg who really wants you to listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast. Also what the hell is going on with Arsenal’s shell outerpants? Are they picking up trash in Chernobyl later? Anyway, thank goodness this isn’t what the show went with.

Instead, Titans costume designer Laura Jean Shannon played it pretty straight. Guns, jacket, red hoodie, gray body armor, and a smear of red for his logo that also subtly reminds one of the Bat-logo. It’s not complicated because it doesn’t need to be.

Titans Season 3 will arrive on HBO Max in 2021.

The post Titans Season 3 Red Hood Costume Honors Jason Todd’s DC Universe History appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2HFd1Pt

[organiclifestylemagazine]

Interview With Joel Salatin, Polyface Farms

Joel Salatin is an American farmer and author. He owns Polyface Farms, which is known for its small scale unconventional farming methods. Months ago I heard Joel on a Joe Rogan podcast and was immediately blown away. It’s not very often that we hear people discuss the gut microbiome on one of the most popular podcasts in the country.

Here’s that podcast. I highly recommend listening to it if you have the time.

Along with discussing the gut microbiome, Joel talked about his farm, Polyface Farms. Polyface Farms is located in Virginia, and they do things a little differently than most. The land that is now Polyface farms was purchased by Joel’s parents in 1961. They’re all about regenerative farming through sustainable practices, like pasture-raised meat, carbon sequestration, and working in a seasonal cycle.

In short, it’s a dream come true for someone like myself who is all about organic eco-friendly agriculture, so naturally, I had to ask Joel a couple of questions.

The older generation is a big fan of talking about life when they were young. My grandfather loves to talk about the fact that he was raised on cow’s milk, and he turned out “just fine.” The difference, of course, is that the milk he was raised on was unpasteurized small scale cows milk. What encouraged you to get into small scale sustainable farming? Does it relate back to how you were raised or did you have some sort of revelation in life? Feel free to comment on how things have changed if you have any thoughts on that.

My paternal grandfather was a charter subscriber to Rodale’s Organic Gardening and Farming Magazine when it came out in the late 1940s.  He always wanted to farm but never did.  He had a very large garden, though, and sold extra produce to neighbors and corner grocers.  My dad received his no-chemical indoctrination, then, from Grandpa, so I’m the third generation in the compost tradition.  My Dad was a financial wizard and did accounting work all his life.  After flying Navy bombers in WWII, he went to Indiana University on the GI bill and then headed off to Venezuela, South America as a bilingual accountant with Texas Oil Company.  His long-range goal was a farm in a developing country and Venezuela seemed as good as any.  After about 7 years he’d saved up enough to buy 1,000 acres in the highlands of Venezuela and began farming.  The goal was dairy and broilers. My older brother and I were born during that time, and things looked bright.  But then came a junta and the ouster of Peres Jimenez and animosity toward anything American; we fled the back door as the machine guns came in the front door; lost everything and after exhausting all attempts at protection, (we) came back to the U.S. Easter Sunday 1961, landing in Philadelphia. Mom grew up in Ohio and Texas and all their family was in Ohio and Indiana, but Dad’s heart was still in Venezuela and he hoped after the political turmoil settled to be able to return to our farm.  

With that in mind, he wanted to be within a day’s drive of Washington D.C. so he could get to the Venezuelan Embassy quickly and easily to do paperwork and return. That never happened, but it’s why we ended up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.  When I hit 41, I remember thinking: “If I lost it all, would I start over?” That’s what Dad and Mom did in 1961. I was 4.  Dad did his accounting work, and Mom was a high school health and physical ed teacher; that off-farm income paid the mortgage and within 10 years the land was paid off.  Dad combined his ecology with his economic understanding to create some broad principles: animals move; mobile infrastructure; direct marketing; carbon-driven fertility.  I had my first flock of laying hens when I was 10 years old and then added a garden.  By 14 years old, I was our main salesman at the local Curb Market, a Depression-era hold-over that foreshadowed today’s farmers’ markets.  With only 3 vendors, it struggled but after a couple of years, we had a growing and steady clientele for our pastured meats, poultry, eggs, produce, and dairy products (yogurt, butter, cottage cheese). We closed it down when I went off to college and the other two elderly matrons at the market quite as well so by the time I came home, that market and all of its wonderful grandfathered food safety exemptions were gone forever.

I’ve always said we were about 20 years ahead of our time.  Operating that market during my teen years of early 1970s as the nascent back-to-the-land hippie movement germinated was not easy, but the lessons were invaluable when I returned to the farm and started building a clientele on my own in 1980, long before modern farmers’ markets. Teresa and I married in 1980, remodeled the attic of the farmhouse, and lived there for 7 years until Mom and Dad moved out from downstairs to a mobile home parked outside the yard.  My Mom’s mother had lived there for 10 years and passed away, making that spot available.  As an investigative reporter at the local daily newspaper, I realized every business was desperate for people who would show up on time, put in a full days’ work without whining, and actually creatively think through better ways of doing things all made me highly employable.  Living on $300 a month, driving a $50 car, growing all of our own, cutting our own firewood for winter warmth, not having a TV—all these things enabled us even without a high salary to squirrel away half the paycheck.  Within a couple of years we had saved enough to live on for a year.  I walked out of that office Sept. 24, 1982, with a one-year cash nest egg and the jeering of every person I knew”  “He’s throwing his life away.”  “All that talent and he’s going to waste it on a farm.” “Don’t you know you can’t make any money farming?”

We succeeded. 

While we were watching the podcast you did with Joe Rogan, my dad and I had several “Wow!” moments listening to you. One of us would be in the kitchen, and we would run into the living room where the podcast was playing, and share a look of absolute awe. “This guy is talking about the stuff that we talk about! And he’s on Joe Rogan!” We don’t know many people who talk about gut health the way we do. How did you learn about the importance of the body’s microbiome? Is there a correlation between your knowledge of the microbiome and how you run your farm? 

Perhaps the most profound truth in life is that everything we see floats in an ocean of invisible beings.  With electronic microscopes, we can now see many of these things, but because we can’t see them with the naked eye, they are not in our momentary conscience.  It’s hard to forget the microbes floating in the air, on our skin, in our eyes, nostrils, and intestines.  Our farm’s wellness philosophy stems from Antoine Béchamp, the French contemporary and nemesis of Louis Pasteur.  While Pasteur promoted the germ theory and busied himself destroying and sterilizing, Beauchamp advanced the terrain theory and encouraged people to think about basic immunity.  Rather than sterilization, he encouraged sanitation.  He encouraged folks to get more sleep, drink more and better water (much of the water at that time was putrid) and eat better food.  Along came Sir Albert Howard half a century later adding the soil dimension to this basic wellness premise.

In general, we believe nature’s default position is fundamentally wellness and if it’s not well, we humans probably did something to mess it up.  That’s a far cry from assuming wellness is like catching lightning in a bottle, and some sort of sickness fairy hovers over the planet dropping viral stardust willy nilly.  Sickness and disease, whether in humans, plants, or animals are not the problem in and of themselves; they simply manifest weaknesses developed in the unseen world.  Every sickness or disease we’ve ever had on our farm was our fault.  We may have selected the wrong seedstock, crowded things, created incubators for pathogens.  You can stress things a lot of different ways.  But our assumption when confronted with non-wellness is not to assume we missed a vaccine or a pharmaceutical, but rather to ask “what did we do to break down the immunological function of this plant or animal?”  That leads to far more profound truth than assuming we didn’t select the right connection from the chemistry lab.

The fact that today people actually talk about the microbiome in polite company is a fantastic societal breakthrough. Hopefully, it will continue.

The current “pandemic” resulted in a total collapse of our food chain at big grocery stores. While things have since calmed down and straightened out, many people are now aware of just how weak our food supply chain is. The obvious solution- buy small- scale, buy local. The obvious problem- buying meat the right way, (small scale and local) is expensive. Here where I am in Detroit we’ve got a great meat guy, but a couple of weeks ago I found myself at the Dekalb farmers market in Atlanta. I spent $9 for one pound of organic, grass-fed ground beef. What are your thoughts for people who are concerned about the costs of shopping ethically? On a broader scale, do you have any solutions to this? 

Price; it’s one of the biggest and most common questions.  So let’s tackle it on several fronts.

1.  Whenever someone says they can’t afford our food, I grab them by the arm and say “take me to your house.” Guess what I find there? Take-out, coffee, alcohol, sometimes tobacco, Netflix, People magazine, iPhones, flat-screen TV, tickets to Disney, lottery tickets—you get the drift. Very seldom does “I can’t afford it” carry any weight. We buy what we want, and that includes many folks below the poverty line.  

2.  Buy unprocessed. That $9 ground beef is still less than a fast food meal of equal nutritional value. Domestic culinary skills are the foundation of integrity food systems, and never have we had more techno-gadgetry to make our kitchens efficient. The average American spends fewer than 15 minutes a day in their kitchen. Nearly 80 percent of Americans have no clue at 4 p.m. what’s for dinner. In fact, the new catchphrase for millennials is “what’s dinner?” not “what’s for dinner?” So cooking from scratch is the number one way to reduce costs. Right now you can buy a whole Polyface pastured broiler, world-class, for less a pound than boneless skinless breast Tyson chicken at Wal-Mart. The most expensive heirloom Peruvian blue potato at New York City green markets is less per pound than Lay’s potato chips across the street. It’s about the processing.

3.  Buy bulk. Get a freeze and buy half a beef or 20 chickens at a time.  Buy a bushel of green beans and can them.  We buy 10 bushels of apples every fall and spend two days making applesauce; it’s cheaper than watery junk at the supermarket and is real food.  That’s not a waste of time; it’s kitchen camaraderie.  On our farm, we give big price breaks for volume purchasing because it’s simply more efficient to handle a $500 transaction than 25 $20 transactions.  This means, of course, that you must have a savings plan.  Half of all Americans can’t put their hands on $400 in cash.  That’s not an expensive food problem; that’s an endemic and profound failure to plan

Q: Here at OLM we’re a big fan of systems. We also have 10,000 square foot urban farm right in our back yard and are getting chickens very soon. Developing a farm feels a bit like an optimal opportunity to create the “perfect” system. I’m curious as to how the farm is systemized to be self-sustainable. I’m wondering if the farm is carbon neutral or carbon negative? Do you let your chickens work on your compost pile? Do you monitor cow grazing for optimum carbon sequestration? What advice do you have for the many people including us, who have just started growing our food after the current crisis?

Perhaps the starting point is to think of integration rather than segregation.  How many different species of things can you hook together for symbiosis?  So we follow the cows with the laying hens in Eggmobiles to scratch through the cow dung, spread out the manure as fertilizer, and eat the fly larvae out of the cowpats (this mimics the way birds always follow herbivores in nature).  We build compost with pigs (we call them pig aerators).  We have chickens underneath rabbit cages, generating $10,000 a year in a space the size of a 2-car garage and making the most superb compost in the world.  We see trees as carbon sinks to integrate with open land; industrial commercial chippers enable us to chip crooked, diseased, and dying trees for compost carbon.  The kitchen and gardening scraps go to the chickens.  Hoop houses for rabbits, pigs, and chickens in the winter double up as vegetable production in the spring, summer, and fall, creating pathogen dead-ends for the plants and animals growing there at different times of the year.  Integration is everything.

In half a century, we’ve moved our soil organic matter from 1 percent to 8.2 percent.  I don’t know if we’re overall carbon-neutral, but we’ve done this without buying an ounce of chemical fertilizer and using 800 percent less depreciable infrastructure per gross income dollar than the average U.S. farm.  That creates resilience.  Over the years we’ve installed 8 miles of waterlines from permaculture style high ponds that catch surface run-off and gravity feed to the farmland below.  And the rocks and gullies now grow vegetation where none grew before.  This is not pride; it’s a humble acknowledgment of a Creator’s benevolent and abundant design; it’s our responsibility to caress this magnificent womb.

Interview With Joel Salatin, Polyface Farms was originally published on Organic Lifestyle Magazine

[randoreviews]

LEE INTERVIEW 2

Ben: So yeah, again, these are like really simple questions. No real brain busters. Should I just start? Lee: Yeah, just dive right in, man. Ben: Okay, cool. So what was the last thing you had to eat? Lee: Ahh, this morning I had some breakfast, I made some... potatoes, some scrambled eggs, with a little bit of creme fraiche in em and some cilantro and some sausage. Ben: Oooo! Lee: And then I hit it with a little green Tabasco. Ben: I was gonna ask you any ketchup but green Tabasco, okay. Lee: Yeah, green Tabasco. It's the only way to fly. Ben: Nice. And I was gonna ask you what was the last thing you had to drink, but I can join it up with this question: did you have coffee this morning and how was that? Lee: Yeah, I have coffee every morning. Ben: Does it make you, like, wanna listen to heavy metal or? Lee: No, just a pleasant way to ease into the day, I find. Come down and throw on a pot. Feed the dog. Let the dog out. By the time all that's done there's a fresh hot pot a coffee waiting for me. And just sip on that for a while. Ben: Nice. So in general it usually relaxes you? Cuz I know sometimes for me it can give you that gentle boost you need or like for me it'll make me wanna do like twenty different things at once and plan a trip around the world. Lee: Yeah, I think the jitters is what they call that. But ah, I'll just avoid drinking it late at night, other than that it keeps me rollin through the day. Ben: Yessir. Cool. So when was the last time you had a Pop-Tart? Really random question. Lee: Pop-Tart? God I feel like it was actually more recent than you would think, but I can't put my finger on when it woulda been. I feel like Pop-Tarts were in my life fairly recent... Oh yeah, cuz my fiance's brother is big into Pop-Tarts, so I think when he was out here earlier this fall he had a little stash and then when he left I think there were a Pop-Tart or two leftover. So I'm gonna say it was probly sometime possibly after Thanksgiving but before Christmas. If you can believe that. Before that it was prolly... ten years? Ben: I can, yeah. Cool, so pretty recently, I knew there was a reason I asked you that. Lee: Oh, yeah. Very timely question. On point as always. Ben: Haha. Those things will last twenty years in the cupboard. May as well not let em go to waste anyway. Lee: No. In fact I'll probly go back inside and check and make sure I didn't miss any on my last round. Ben: Haha. Okay. I have just so many random questions just scribbled down. What one makes sense next. Lee: That's cool. Ben: Arrre youuu watching any shows right now with your fiance, since you just mentioned her. Any Columbo. Lee: No, we haven't... well, I'll take that back, sooo... we both enjoy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on... Netflix, I believe? No, it's not Netflix, it's Amazon. Ben: Yup. Lee: Yeah, that's a really good show and I think they only have like two or three episodes left in the, I guess it's the series. It's definitely season 3 maybe but I don't think they're makin another one after that. Ben: I've heard it has great costumes. Lee: Yeah, great costumes, great set design. The dialogue's just... razor sharp. (starts laughing to himself) Ben: Haha, yup. Lee: And it's a pretty unique concept or storyline or however you wanna put it, it's not something I've seen anything like before so... Ben: And that's about the housewife who becomes a standup comedian? Lee: Yeah, pretty much. Yup. Ben: Okay, okay. Is she your favorite character in the show? Lee: She's great. She's also got this lady who plays her manager who's (starts laughing to himself again) pretty hilarious at times. And then, oh, maybe you can help me with this one -- her dad is played by the guy who was in that show, you would know his name. He was in, I wanna say he was in The Man Who Wasn't There but I can't put my finger on where he woulda been. But he played that like neurotic detective on some TBS show I can't remember. Ben: Huh. Okay. I don't think I can remember? But I'm just gonna look it up and I'll include it in the transcript of the interview.   https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001724/ Lee: Yeah, but his character is probably my favorite of the bunch. Ben: Nice. So Mrs. Maisel and no other shows right now? Lee: No. No, we try to avoid the TV as much as possible which we do a really good job at but every once in a while we’ll watch... we watched Clue? The movie Clue last night from 1985? Ben: Oh I love that one. Lee: Yeah, it's the first time I'd seen it. Ben: Oh, it's great. Great ensemble cast. Lee: Yeah, Christopher Lloyd and the guy whose name I don't remember but I think he was in like Rocky Horror Picture Show. Ben: Tim Curry. Lee: Tim Curry, yeah. He was really good. I didn't recognize anyone else, I think. Ben: Yeah. And then the maid. I've seen it a couple times but when you're really young that maid with the great cleavage, it's like, I like this movie. Lee: Lotta great cleavage in that movie, to be honest. I pointed that out as we were watchin it, I was like, yeah... pretty decent amount of cleavage. They knew what they were doin back in the 80s. Wouldn't get away with that now, I'll tell you that much! Ben: Yup, yup. Lee: So yeah, that's about it. Ben: That's a good one, man. So keeping on this same line of questions: last movie you saw in the theater?? Lee: I do actually know the last movie I saw in the theater is I went to see Joker. Ben: Nice. Lee: And I was thoroughly disappointed in that movie, I didn't like that at all. Ben: Really? You thought it was overdone? Lee: Uh, yeah, it's just, I didn't find it at all... interesting, or compelling or... I dunno. Like I just didn't understand why I was sittin there watchin it. And I love Joaquin Phoenix, I think he does a great job in everything I've seen him in but I didn't find his performance all that interesting, or I didn't find the character of the Joker the way they wrote it all that interesting either. I've heard it compared to like Taxi Driver before but it was basically the same story, this kind of loner, isolated, gets a little obsessed with the wrong things and all of a sudden he's crazy. Ben: Right. Yeah. And that was the last movie you saw in the theater? Lee: Yeah... I think so. And then before that Christopher Robin. Ben: Cool, haha. How was that? Lee: That was a great movie. I'll take Christopher Robin over Joker any day of the week. Ben: Hahaha. Lee: What are you laughin at? Ben: Did you see that with your nephew or with your fiance? Lee: Well she was not my fiance at the time but uh, we had just started dating and we went and saw that and, both enjoyed it. Ben: Nice. Have you been listening to any music? Lee: Mmm, gash. I meaaan... a little bit. We'll throw on some tunes around the house every now and then. Ben: Do you have a speaker system or like a bluetooth speaker err? Lee: Yeah, like a little bluetooth speaker, which is fairly decent, it just kinda fills up the room. And then if I'm workin out I'll put on somethin in the headphones just to supplement the coffee, so I feel like I can take on the world. But it's been a long time since I've consistently listened to music, I'm more into podcasts and stuff these days. Ben: Yea, I think that's like a lot of people. What are your favorite podcasts? Lee: Uumm... geez louise... aahh... my favorite podcast is called Part of the Problem by a guy named Dave Smith. And it's sort of a equal parts I guess political and current events. Ahh... what would you call it. I dunno... discussion, or whatever. Ben: Discourse. Lee: Huh? Ben: Discourse? Lee: Yeah, well it's him, Dave Smith, who actually got his start in and still is a standup comedian, so he's got a really good talent of bein able to sort of dissect political news, current events news and then put a usually pretty funny take on it. And if not he's just an incredibly interesting guy and has a take that I sort of identify with more often than not, so... Ben: Is he our age or older err? Lee: Actually, yeah, he's exactly our age, I believe, he's 36, 37. Your birthday's comin up, what, next week, right? Ben: Uh, yeah, I guess it's kinda been in my mind but, I'll be celebrating by myself. Lee: Are you ready? Ben: Yeah, 37! Seems like a fine age, ya know? Lee: It is a fine age, to be sure. Ben: Yeah, yeah. Just keep on learning little things, little improvements. Lee: Yup, every day. Ben: Soo... podcasts, so yeah, any others besides the Dave Smith one? Lee: Umm... I mean, yeah, I mean I've sort of got my little Rolodex that I'll roll through from time to time, this guy Tom Woods I like listenin to a lot. I've actually been pretty good at eliminating podcasts from my diet, not addin em, just kinda cuttin out the riffraff. Ben: Some podcast pruning? Lee: Yeah, exactly. The Joe Rogans of the world have no place in my heart anymore. Ben: Shh, I was just thinking the other day about isn't it crazy Joe Rogan is like the Walter Cronkite of our generation? Lee: Haha, yeah, I know, but he's such a fucking douche too. Not that Cronkite wasn't a douche but... Ben: It's like, can you picture Walter Cronkite being into jiu-jitsu, I mean, tha'd be pretty great, but... Lee: That would be pretty great. And like slammin DMT and smoking like insane amounts of weed and basically just agreeing with everybody on his podcast, everything they say all the time. Ben: Haha, ahh, him saying JFK was assassinated and then immediately smoking a joint right on TV, that would have been great. Lee: Yup, and then comin up with some conspiracy theories and then backtracking completely within the next 24 hours.  Ben: Haha. Well another little random question at the top here is, how do you get your news? Is a lot of it through podcasts or? Lee: Umm, yeah, well what I consider news is not what used to be considered news, like I don't really get day-to-day news because it's all so preposterous and I mean it doesn't affect anybody's life really in any way other than some major stuff, ya know, issues of war and peace and issues like global pandemics, those are gonna affect you much more than, ya know, if you just sort of think back on the last ten to twenty years of what the news cycle consisted of it's just largely preposterous and irrelevant and usually not even true and when it is true it's so quickly spun into a cause or some, you know, political stance, it's like, I'm kind of pruning podcasts and I'm also pruning unnecessary information or opinion out of my life as much as possible and really been enjoying that so, I just gotta find really people I trust and usually not even from a news perspective but if they are discussing something it might pique my interest to look into it a little bit. I'm still stickin with things like theory over day-to-day, you know, I'll prefer to read economics or history or something rather than turnin to the news because I feel like you can learn so much more about patterns and humanity and what not by doin it that way. Ben: Right, right. Your degree is in philosophy, right? Lee: Yes. Ben: Yes, cool. So yeah, the day-to-day politics is pretty much just like watching Real World/Road Rules Challenge, it's just like all drama, people talking shit about each other behind their backs, people tweeting nasty things... Lee: Yeah, but I don't want the takeaway of this to be that the Real World/Road Rules Challenge isn't a fantastic show because it is. Ben: Haha. Lee: Honestly, I think that was a terrible comparison that you just made? I THINK I get where you're comin from but...? Yeah, it's just so dumb, it's not only that it does not seem true or accurate or important at the time but, what?, less than, what, 72 hours usually it's just like, nobody's talking about it anymore, nobody cares, nothing has changed. I just feel like it's a really great way to fill your life with a whole bunch of unnecessary anxiety and anger and animosity towards other people or other groups or whatever it is, it's just like a really awesome way for you to distract yourself from what actually should be at the front of your mind which is what you're doing on a day-to-day basis and the health and well-being of your family and close friends and, sorta how you can contribute to makin the world a little bit better and makin yourself a little healthier and happier and the people you love happier as well. Just don't have any time for it. Ben: Right. You don't have any time for, “Nancy Pelosi ate Mitch McConnell's ice cream out of the fridge” and uh... Lee: Haha, “She drank his milkshake!” No, I don't, I mean every once in a while I'll kinda click somethin, tune back in, just to remind myself how... how... just the word I keep using is how preposterous it all is and how much weight some people put on it and like I said it just becomes such an unnecessary energy suck and soul suck and just, yeah... No need! Ben: Yeah, yup... So what are your go-to apps? What apps on your phone do you find yourself using the most? Lee: That's actually interesting, I sort of am gonna contradict myself but there’s an app I use called Newsvoice which, I liked it a lot better when I started using it, now I feel it's not quite as cool, but it used to just be an app that would compile headlines, you know, local, international, national, whatever, and it would offer, say, for every story it would give you five or six different headlines from different, um, organizations with different political leanings, so you'd get like a HuffPo article and then you'd get a, you know, Wall Street Journal and you'd get the same story covered four or five, six different ways, which is kind of a cool way to avoid unnecessary bias. So that's one I've kinda been hittin up a little. I've really been enjoying everyone's hot takes on the Facebook app with this Coronavirus, just really gettin a sense of (starts laughing) how everybody's reacting. That's really enjoyable. Ben: Yup, yup. So Newsvoice and Facebook? Lee: Yup, I like those. And then you know, I do all my mobile banking and bill paying through apps, so I got apps for those. Ben: Useful... useful. Lee: Yup. What else? Oh, Golf Clash. That's a great one. I play a little Golf Clash when the time is right. Ben: Golf Clash, niiice. If you hit a good ball on that is it like do you feel it in your body still? Lee: Oh, it'll let you know. They'll yell great shot at you or perfect shot and it's like, my entire day has been validated. Ben: Haha, nice. All right, soo... going back to the music question, I know you said you're not listenin to too much music but what was the last concert you saw? Lee: Ooo. Wow... Ahh... Honestlyyy... unless I can remember something else, I think it was the Rancid and Mighty Mighty Bosstones New Year's Eve bash in Los Angeles. Ben: Nice. Where was that? What was the venue? Lee: That was aaat... oh god, if you rattle off a couple of the big ones around there I'll remember it. Ben: Ehhh, I'm blanking on those, there's the Hollywood Bowl of course but it was probably at a smaller club. Lee: No, it wasn't that, it was an indoor venue. Ben: The El Raaayy. Lee: No, it's recongizable but I can't remember what it was.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_Auditorium  But that can't be right though because that would have been like... four years ago at least?    Ben: Yeah, and when did we go to that Weezer/Panic at the Dis... maybe I shouldn't even mention Panic at the Disco but when did we go to that Weezer show, was that four or five years ago? Lee: You mean when Weezer opened up for Panic at the Disco? Ben: Ohh god, no, no, Panic at the Disco opened up for Weezer. Lee: “STOP SMOKING!” Ben: Hahahah... oh gosh. We didn't really fit in with the Panic at the Disco fans. Lee: No, but was that after? Cuz honestly, man, my timeline is so blurry and like out of sorts that you could literally pick an event within ten years and another one within ten years and I couldn't tell you which came first, with like a four-year margin of error. It's pathetic. Yeah, I don't remember. I honestly don't remember. Ben: Yup, but that Rancid/Bosstones New Year's show was pretty good? Lee: Oh, it was awesome, man. I was like thirty rows or, it wasn't rows cuz everyone was standing up but I was probly about thirty heads deep, so great view of the stage and what I considered close but I was like, well this will be certainly out of the way of any aggressive moshpit that might break out. So I was just kinda sittin there waitin for the show to start, sippin my beer, Rancid comes out, and like the FIRST note they play, which is from “Maxwell Murder” cuz they played ... And Out Come the Wolves from start to finish, first bass note I just get a fucking forearm to the back of my head and my beer goes flying like six rows up. I was like, well this is on! Ben: Haha. Lee: I kind of fought my way out of it but basically just retreated another thirty rows and, enjoyed the rest of the show. Ben: Nice. Got another beer, I hope. Lee: Got another beer or two, although I did have to be, that was when I was doing the PI work so I had to be like downtown at like six in the morning for some surveillance thing, and the show basically didn't start until almost midnight, so I didn't get insanely intoxicated or anything cuz I was trying to be responsible cuz I had to be at work the next day. But it was a blast. Ben: I think the Rancid lead singer... Tim Armstrong? Lee: Yup. Ben: I think he lived in our neck of the woods. I think he lived in Highland Park. Lee: Yeah, he did, I think he lived in Highland Park and that bar that Heather used to work at, she said he used to go there quite a bit and just hang out. Ben: Yup, I love that place. Lee: Eedendale or Ed-endale? Ben: Edendale, yup. Tom Mix, Casey Mix's grandfather's old stopping grounds. Lee: Isn't it crazy how you can remember like these minute little details like that but you ask me like what year something took place and I'm like, I have no idea, I think it was some time in the 90s but I could be wrong about that. Ben: Haha. I think Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine also lived in Highland Park/Eagle Rock area. Lee: Yep... yep. Although I think he's about to move up because from what I hear, the crazy anarchist/socialists of Rage Against the Machine are reuniting to go on like a CitiBank tour or something (starts laughing). Ahh, that's so fucking depressing. Ben: Haha. They're finally taking the corporate money. Lee: Well everyone's gotta make a living, ya know? Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Ben: Haha. So are you reading any books? Lee: Umm... actually no, I'm not. I've been sort of lookin around for a book around here that I haven't read but I feel like every book I have I've read at least once or twice. I kinda want something new but of course the libraries are shut down. Ben: Right. You want something fiction or nonfiction or? Lee: Yeah, I don't read fiction. I haven't read any fiction since I think R.L. Stine back in the day. Ben: Haha, gotcha. Lee: I just find nonfiction a lot more interesting. So yeah, I’m not reading anything and I'm ashamed to say it, because it's a great time to read.  Ben: Yes... indeed... uuumm... so what was the last alcoholic beverage you had? Do you like to have a drink some nights err? Lee: Oh yeah, oh yeah. Typically my go-to has always been whiskey. But I was talkin to a colleague at work and he was sayin that he just really enjoys drinking tequila and I was like well I’ve never really had a taste for tequila and he just started talking about how great it was and then I was like well shit, maybe I should give tequila another try, so last couple nights I’ve had a little bit a tequila, which is... somewhat enjoyable. Still not my thing but... Ben: Yeah. It gives you energy, I think it’s the only... upper? Lee: Yeah, the only upper, stimulant, whatever. That’s what he told me and I was like, well that doesn’t make sense cuz it’s alcohol and alcohol is a depressant all the time, it just depresses your nervous system. So then I looked it up, er, googled it, and it was like a super non-clear, vague answer and it was like, well while it technically is a stimulant it’s also ethanol which is also a depressant. And I’m like, well what the fuck does that mean? But I did notice that when I was drinkin it, we were sittin there playin Yahtzee and I was like fired up.  Ben: Right? Lee: I dunno. I dunno if it’s just fired up just cuz of the Yahtzee and I thought it was gonna be lame and I fuckin loved it. But I was super into it and I was kinda shakin my leg a little bit like, yeah, let’s do this, let’s play some more Yahtzee and I was like, is this the Tequila that’s doing that or is this the Yahtzee or am I just like in a really good mood. Ben: I think that’s what tequila does cuz I HATED tequila, never drank it, I remember sitting next to a girl at a party at Saint Mike’s and her breath, she was drinking out of a big bottle of tequila and her whole being just wreaked of cheap tequila. And I think I was like nineteen or twenty at the time so I was like, that is the worst smell I’ve ever smelled, I’m not going anywhere near that. Flash forward to Clapp’s 30th birthday, we went to the Clippers game at Staples Center and then afterwards we were at a bar downtown and someone ordered Patron shots for everyone and I was like, I dunno if I can do this. And then we do the shot and then like twenty minutes later, two or three more shots and people are like dancing on the tables. A little bit different than sippin on scotch, so... Lee: Yeah, well the other pointer that this guy gave me was, you know, most booze you can usually get away with drinking cheaper stuff out of a plastic bottle or somethin, if you wanted to buy some cheaper whiskey out of a plastic bottle you should be fine but he was like, just don’t ever do that with tequila. If you’re gonna do it just make sure it’s somewhat decent stuff and it’s in a glass bottle. I have no way to confirm whether what this guy’s saying is accurate or not. But tequila does seem to be...a bit of an enigma for me, so I might try to get to the bottom of it a little more. Ben: Nice. Let’s seee.... How’s the dog doing? Lee: Dog’s great, man! Dog is absolutely great. He’s settled in beautifully. For the first few months we had him he was a little bit, um... I dunno if neurotic’s the right word but he definitely was a little bit more on the nervous side and it takes a while to build up trust obviously, and we couldn’t take him off the leash, we live backed up against a pretty wide open area of land where we would love to walk him but we really couldn’t take him off the leash and it would suck because it’s such a great place for the dog to run around and we just never knew when he would come back and blah blah blah. Ben: Yep.  Lee: And he would not let you like sorta touch his collar, he wouldn’t bite but he would let you know, like a little fake snap or whatever if you touched his collar. He drooled a lot. But right around month 3? He just like totally settled in. And now every day twice a day we just kinda walk around, whether it’s backwoods or on the street, off leash, and he kinda just like trots up ahead, looks back at us, waits for us to catch up. And then if we yell, if we say “Here” he kinda turns around and comes runnin back towards us. If we say “Stay” or “Wait” he just sits there. He sleeps, he’s like the most cuddley dog of all time, you can’t be anywhere near him without him coming up and putting his face on your lap. I think he’s gotten better looking too, to be honest with you. When we first got him I didn’t think he was very cute, but I think he was just carrying a lot of stress in his face.  Ben: Right. Lee: And his face sorta always seemed a little bit tight or contorted as if he was unsure. But now he just kinda melts into everything he does. And he’s super cool. And he’s gained fifteen pounds since we got him, which is awesome, because he was really underweight. Ben: Nice. Yeah, was he a rescue? What’s his name, by the way? I’m forgetting his name. Lee: He is a rescue. His name when we got was Chance and we were like, well that name sucks and so we changed it to Bojo. B-O-J-O. Yeah, he was a rescue who apparently spent like the first year or two at some shelter down south in Colorado, this place had like no money, they kept him outside in like a coat year-round, which is rough here in Colorado, it gets cold in the winters. And then he was transferred up to another shelter up here and like no one would adopt him. We dunno why now cuz we look at him and we’re like, we have the perfect dog, we’ve got the best dog of all time. And I know everyone thinks that about their dog but... he really is cool... Ben: He’s a mix? Lee: Yeah, we were actually thinkin about doing one of those dog DNA tests because he’s soo like, he looks... we think he’s a boxer/lab mix, he kinda looks like that. But he also looks like he might have some Mastiff in him, and he’s got some tendencies of some other breeds, so I dunno, it would just be kind of a cool thing to know exactly what he is but... We just tell people boxer/lab.  Ben: Yeah. That sounds like a handsome dog. Lee: Yeah, he’s a real handsome fella. Ben: You’ve earned his trust and... nice. Lee: Yeah. And we trust him too now which is super cool, we can just kinda walk around the woods together and just have a good old time.  Ben: Nice. Yeah, you’ve always been a dog person. Lee: Yeah, I think they’re great. I just think they’re great. Ben: Haha. So what’s the weather like in Colorado? Lee: Uh, it’s pretty much beautiful. It’s kind of annoying because the winters are SUPER long and like by the end of it you’re just ready for it to be over and you think spring’s comin because it gets like sunny and mid-forties for a couple days. And then you’ll get like three days of snow and everything that melted’ll just come right back. Ben: Yeah. Lee: So that’s kinda where we’re at right now, where you can hear snow melting off roofs but there’s still basically snow covering, you know, ninety percent of the surfaces. But it’s like sunny and 45 or something today, so... yeah. Just kinda hopin it stays that way. I’m ready for spring now, I’m a summertime guy. Ben: Yup. Have you seen any signs of spring, any flowers er...? Lee: No flowers but there’s definitely some wild grasses showing, and the sagebrush you can actually see the tops of it now. It’s not like blooming or anything but it was just buried in snow for the last seven months so it’s kinda cool to see some open patches of grass and some sagebrush and... more birds. Stuff like that, so... definitely some signs. Ben: Nice. Will Bojo munch on any sagebrush or any grass? Lee: He does enjoy a... I mean this is our first real spring with him so we’ve never know him to react to how the snow is melting. He loves snow, he loves jumpin around in it but he does seem to be chewin on more grass now that it’s melting. And he did show up yesterday for the first time with a dead squirrel in his mouth. Ben: Mhm. I’m sure he was probably pretty proud of that. Lee: Oh yeah. And then we were like telling him to drop it and put it away and he was just like lookin at us like, what are you guys doing? Ben: Haha. Yeah, right. I brought you guys dinner! Lee: Yeah. And we were like ah, we’ll just put it in the trash bag that’s full of dog shit and then throw it in the dumpster, and he’s like, whatever.  Ben: Haha. Ah, that’s great. Are the people in Colorado much different than they are in MA? Lee: Umm... It’s been a while since I’ve lived in Massachusetts to be honest with you so, like, the sort of the quirks of everybody... I dunno, Colorado’s a very active outdoor community. But up here, like IN the mountains where it’s like ski resort country... there’s just a lot of um... the term “shitbag”’s probly not nice to use but like just a lot of people you can tell their reeeal concern in life is like bein able to shred some fresh gnar. Ben: Haha. Yes. Lee: And other than that you can like pretty much go fuck yourself. And they’ll be nice people and they won’t, you know, go out of their way to hurt anyone but like, you can’t like RELY on them for anything.  Ben: Right. They just wanna shred gnar. Lee: Yeah, they just wanna shred some fresh fresh buttercream and like I don’t blame them for that? But at the same time it’s like you need to be able to pull your weight a little bit.  Ben: Haha, yup. Lee: So that's one group of people, but then there's another group of people up here that's just like active, engaged, friendly, um, usually a little bit older, maybe people who are early retirees or just retired or whatever who seem like really topnotch people. Ben: Which proves our point that the older you get, maybe the cooler. Maybe the cooler. Lee: Yeah, the cooler, the wiser, I mean that's the way I feel about myself, for sure. Ben: Have you gotten on the mountain at all this year? Lee: Yeah. I mean it sucks now because they had to close... this whole county, I mean just like everywhere else really but this whole county, they had to shut down about a month before the official end of ski season so, we didn't realize the time of our last ski day was gonna be our last ski day, but... We try to get out, like, in my line of work obviously, bein a chef, the holiday season and that winter season up here I'm just getting slammed like nonstop for a couple months while everyone's up here on vacation and doing all their skiing. BUT once all those people go home and February and March rolls around and it really starts to slow down then that's my time where I'm like, cool, I'm gonna ski like at least once, maybe twice a week and just enjoy everything around here and not have to fight crowds cuz, you know, I'm obviously not off on weekends or anything. So late winter/early spring these last two years has been my time to get up there. That got cut short a little bit this season but, got to get out on the mountain on the skis. We do a lot of hiking and we've been snowshoing every day since we've been quarantined, like we just go out on either some hike or some snowshoe, we went sledding with the dog the other day and that was just insanely fun even though it was kinda dangerous. But yeah, there's no shortage of outdoor activities for me right now. Ben: Yeah. That all sounds great. Lee: It is great. Ben: And these are all things you can also do in New Hampshire, are you guys still thinking of moving to New Hampshire? Lee: Yeah, it's definitely, um, we've got a shortlist workin right now in terms of options or where we wanna go from here or what we wanna do and they're all sort of... what's the term?... I dunno... co-related, codependent, whatever, like one factor's obviously dependent on several others. But New Hampshire's definitely up towards the top of the list. So I was excited, she was excited. And then we had a couple other options sort of present themselves to us so we're kinda weighin those out now and, uh, we'll figure it out. Ben: Yup... Options like... out west or.. back east? Lee: Um... Just options, Ben, you know what I mean? I don't feel like I need to get into any more than that. Ben: Haha, all right, I don't wanna get into your business too much, okay. Lee: Haha, no, you'll be the first to know once we decide though. Ben: Good, good. And also I didn't want to get into politics too much because it can just be a drag like we both agree but... Lee: Sure. Ben: ... and this is kind of a tricky question in the post-#MeToo movement and now that you're engaged but, carrying it over from our last interview, do you still want to boink Hillary Clinton. Lee: (trying to suppress laughing) Ahh god, I have no recollection... Ben: Haha, just purely hypothetically! Purely hypothetically! Lee: I have no recollection of that conversation ever happening. Ben: Hahah. I mean it's on my Tumblr but... Lee: Oh yeah, well... I don't even know how to get on a Tumblr so... Ben: Haha. Lee: No, I don't actively want to, uumm... If the situation presented itself, like if I was a single man... yeah, it's obviously something you'd have to consider but... yeah, maybe the desire has lessened as compared to what it was the last time we did this. Ben: Still a lot of power in play there. Lee: Yeah, for sure, I mean that's... Ben: Part of the appeal? Lee: I could be theoretically a couple heartbeats away from the White House like if things worked out between Hill Dawg and I, which I would make sure everything was kosher on my end but... Yeah, that's funny that you mentioned politics and I thought about our last conversation and all that was goin on and all that we talked about and the question you had is do you still wanna blank Hillary Clinton. Topnotch journalism. Ben: Haha. I mean I spent hours honing these questions. Uumm, yeah, again I don't wanna ask annyy.... we're pretty much at the end here because I do have to transcribe all of this which will take me like thirty hours... but I enjoy it, just savoring, retyping every word that you've spoken but ahh... obviously having in mind what's going on in the world right now -- where do we go from here? Lee: Ahhh, gosh. That's a big question. Ben: Just... more tequila and Yahtzee err? Lee: I mean, you say that I think tongue in cheek but... Ben: Not really!... not really. Lee: Yeah, no, I mean my whole mentality from the day it sort of became clear that this was gonna be a serious thing was, um, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to put my energy anywhere I want and to focus it anywhere I want, and the way I've chosen to do that is like I've said focus on my family and the people around me who I care about and care about meee... you know, get out in nature every day, get exercise every day, try and learn something, we've been doin a ton of cooking at home, pickling pretty much every vegetable in sight... Ben: Nice, that's exciting. Lee: ... Yeah, and just gettin back to the good life and I feel like there's a lot of people who are embracing similar approaches. And then there are also the people whooo, ya know, take ahh... one of the first headlines I saw was like, “Pornhub offers free premium membership for everybody,” and it's like okay, you can spend the next two months just furiously whackin it with your pants around your ankles. You're not gonna come out of that in a good place and you are gonna be terrified the whole time and you're gonna come out in some fucking self-induced stupor and like you're not gonna know what to do or where to turn. So I feel like there's already sort of two mentalities developing and there's two approaches we can take and, I dunno what we're gonna do as a nation, because that's just insane, that many people all tryna choose a path, but at the same time when I said like I'm tryna cut off useless information and stupid politics, what it boils down to is people's individual decisions they make and paths they choose to take. I dunno where we go, but I know where I'm goin so... that's what I'm focused on. Ben: So... Pornhub in moderation? Lee: I would say no Pornhub, if you want my advice, I would say stop whacking yourself silly altogether and choose somethin else to do, find another focus. Ben: Haha. Okay, cool. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about or...? Lee: Uh, I want to let you know that I love you. Ben: Thanks! Lee: And I hope you're doin well. And I hope everyone else back home is doin well. And I've been meaning to send you something, and I finally figured out how I'm gonna do it. The vessel was sort of always the issue, I think I've got that solved. So keep an eye out for something in the mail. Ben: Ooo, a package from Lee. No offense to you but I will be sure to fully sanitize it upon receiving it. Lee: Haha, yeah, for sure. Sanitize everything. Ben: I talked to Shaun right before doing this and I asked him if he had any questions to ask you and he said, "Ask him where the fuck he has been and why we never hear from him." Lee: Haha. Ben: I assume it's cuz, you know you were saying, well, usually you're working and now you're able to enjoy yourself but life for a chef is just like, you're not even able to think, it's just like french fries, french fries, french fries! Right? Lee: Yeah, it's pretty much all about french fries all the time. Ben: Haha. Sometimes sweet potato fries. Lee: But I dunno, I could put that back at Shaun, like when was the last time... I mean... I dunno... look, man... I'm not tryna... Ben: Haha. Lee: Ohh, I miss you guys, I miss Shaun especially. I'll do my part to make sure that we reconnect sometime soon. Ben: Cool. I think that's the perfect... perfect way to end it.

[networkingdefinition]

Gift Quotes

Official Website: Gift Quotes

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• A good wife is heaven’s last, best gift to man, – his gem of many virtues, his casket of jewels; her voice is sweet music, her smiles his brightest day, her kiss the guardian of his innocence, her arms the pale of his safety. – Jeremy Taylor • A happy childhood is one of the best gifts that parents have in their power to bestow. – Mary Cholmondeley • Amid the sufferings of life on earth, suicide is God’s best gift to man. – Pliny the Elder

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Gift+', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_gift').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_gift img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. – Thomas Hughes • Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends,for it is one of God’s best gifts. – Thomas Hughes • Deep down inside we know that the best gifts don’t come from catalogs or shopping malls. They don’t come in brightly-colored packages or fancy envelopes and they’re not sitting under a tree somewhere… The best gifts come from the heart. They come when we look at each other, REALLY look at each other and say ‘You mean a lot to me’ or ‘I’m so glad you’re a part of my life.’ A gift like that will never go out of style or be forgotten or be returned for a different size. A gift like that can change the world. – Ron Atchison • Earnestness is the best gift of mental power, and deficiency of heart is the cause of many men never becoming great. – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton • Everything seems overwhelming when you stand back and look at the totality of it. I build a lot of stuff and it would all seem impossible if I didn’t break it down piece by piece, stage by stage. The best gift you can give yourself is some drive–that thing inside of you that gets you out the door to the gym, job interviews, and dates. The believe-in-yourself adage is grossly overrated. – Adam Carolla • For my confirmation, I didn’t get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift. – Wernher von Braun • God spoke to me clearly and said, ‘Did I give my son Jesus on the cross expecting nothing in return?’ God bankrupted heaven and gave the best gift he could give. He gave the best offering he could give. What did God need? He needed sons and daughters, he gave the very thing he needed. You can bring God a gift fully expecting something in return. Get to the phone!’ – Paul Crouch • God’s gifts are many; His best gift is one. It is the gift of Himself. – Aiden Wilson Tozer • Great men are among the best gifts which God bestows upon a people. – George Stillman Hillard • Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving. – Erma Bombeck • Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me. – Judy Blume • Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. – Gautama Buddha • How sad that we often diminish our best gifts by struggling valiantly to develop in someone else’s area of ability. It is better to focus on your uniqueness and do that with excellence than to end up with mediocrity in several areas. – Dan Miller • I believe the best gift you could ever give a woman is your time. – Ziad K. Abdelnour • I believe the Bible is the best gift God ever gave to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through that book.” On a personal spiritual note, Lincoln confessed, “I have been driven many times to my knees with the overwhelming conviction, that I had nowhere else to go. – Abraham Lincoln • I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. – Abraham Lincoln I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from The Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book. – Abraham Lincoln • I get really cool gifts, and I know this sounds really lame, but I think one of the best gifts I’ve ever received was the Easy Bake Oven when I was younger. When I was little, I loved to bake! I want to get one now so I can make weird mini desserts for people. – Ashley Benson • I have an extraordinary attention span. I manage to juggle two or three different ideas at the same time, and that’s probably, if I have a gift, that’s probably the best gift that’s given me. – Paul Newman • I played rugby for years, and I had a rugby jacket that I lost when I was 14. Somehow, my brother found it in storage 15 years later, and he gave it back to me for my 30th birthday. That was amazing and probably one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. – Ryan Reynolds • I think fun is one of the best gifts we can give to each other. If everyone was having fun we’d be in good shape. – Alex Ebert • I think humor is the best gift, and if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? – Cameron Diaz • I wake up to my three dogs and my wife in bed and the kids, and those are the best gifts that I have. – Mike Ness • In Africa, you only have an independent media in only eight African countries, so there is very little transparency. The best gift that rich countries can give Africa is Radio Free Africa and Radio Free Africa will do for Africa what Radio Free Europe did for Europe. – George W. Bush • In my view, the best gift is one that benefits both the receiver and the planet. – Andrew Weil • In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. – Abraham Lincoln • In regards to this great Book [the Bible], I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are found portrayed in it. – Abraham Lincoln • It is one of Heaven’s best gifts to hold such a dear creature in one’s arms. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe • It’s the best gift in the world to be able to get up and dance because it’s the best gym. You artistically stretch your brain and you physically stretch your body to a higher point than a singular rotation movement like running. It makes your whole body move in lots of different ways, and it can make you very flexible as well, which is good for later life. – Andrew Stone • Kindness is one of the best gifts you can bestow… We know that inherently that feels great. – Joe Rogan • knowledge is the best gift of pure God . – Bozorgmehr • Let my heart be wise. It is the gods’ best gift. – Euripides • LIVER, n. A large red organ thoughtfully provided by nature to be bilious with. The liver is heaven’s best gift to the goose; without it that bird would be unable to supply us with the Strasbourg “pate”. – Ambrose Bierce • Memories are perhaps the best gifts of all. – Gloria Gaither • My latest found, Heaven’s last, best gift, my ever new delight! – John Milton • My love can’t be purchased Best gifts have been well-thought-out surprises. – Nina Dobrev • My mother cranes her neck. Her ability to be fascinated by things is her best gift to me. – Gary Shteyngart • My parents always made education and school the number one priority. They believed that an education is the best gift you can give to your child. – Debra Messing • My whole life has been about changing negatives into positives. I got famous, then I got cancer, and now I live to talk about it. Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest packages. – Fran Drescher • New York has been the best gift, in that the city pushes me to so many next levels. – Baratunde Thurston • No matter how many times you forget it, you can turn around and help someone. Or you can deliver a positive message or share with someone or just listen to someone share their story with you, it’s just the best gift there is. And it’s free. – Eliza Dushku • One of the best gifts we can give ourselves is time alone with God. – Joyce Meyer • One of the best gifts you can give a poet is to present them with field guides – to rocks, to stars, to birds, to wildflowers, to trees and bushes, to butterflies, to reptiles and amphibians. Because when you look at anything long enough to be able to identify it, you see far more clearly and you make a tiny beginning at understanding the life, the place, the history of that bird or rock or mammal. – Marge Piercy • One of the best gifts you can give to an animal is a donation of a blanket to your local animal shelter during the winter months. – Carrie Ann Inaba • Pure water is the best gifts a man can bring. But who am I that I should have the best of anything? -Let princes revel at the pump, let peers with ponds make free, …beer is good enough for me. – Charles Neaves, Lord Neaves • Seeing you happy is the best gift I could ever ask for. – Maya Banks • So every year when Christmas comes, I realize a new, the best gift life can offer is having friends like you. – Helen Steiner Rice • Staying present, living in Presence is the best gift anyone can give to those they love. – Guy Finley • Suffering is the very best gift He has to give us. He gives it only to His chosen friends. – Therese of Lisieux • Surely a gentle sister is the second best gift to a man; and it is first in point of occurrence; for the wife comes after. – Herman Melville • The best #‎ gift we can give in any interaction is to leave people feeling lighter, #‎ happier , and more at #‎ peace . – David Simon • The best gift a fan could give me is undeniable support. – Jessie J • The best gift an educator can give is to get somebody to become self reflective. – Randy Pausch • The best gift anyone can give to a friend is to pray for him. – Benedict Groeschel • The best gift for an actor is the love of the fans. Many make sweet cards, write letters and even come and meet me wherever I am in India. The love and blessings of your elders is also always cherished, but the extra mile that the fans go to is memorable. – Abhishek Bachchan • The best gift from a father to his child is Education and Upbringing. – Muhammad • The best gift I was ever given was the arts. My mum gave me those on a silver platter. Growing up, her and my grandmother would take me to ballets, classical concerts, even smoky jazz clubs I wasn’t supposed to be in! – Jill Scott • The best gift is giving from your heart – Kevin Heath • The best gift we can have is living in the present moment and really enjoying it for what it is; and, not being in our heads and getting sidetracked. – Amy Smart • The best gift you can ever give your mentor is to grow. They feed off your growth. I believe that everyone has the seed of success inside, but too many people can’t find it in themselves and as a result do not reach their potential. But there are those whose purpose in life is to fertilize the seed of potential in another, who are rewarded by seeing that person grow and blossom before their eyes. Raising up others to a higher level is a mentor’s joy and sustenance. – John C. Maxwell • The best gift you can give a human being is an introduction to a God who loves them. – Bill Hybels • The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it. – Marge Piercy • The best gift you can give someone is a part of your soul. – Jane Seymour • The best gift you can give yourself is an open mind. – Hayley Williams • The best gift you can give yourself is the gift of possibility. – Paul Newman • The best gift you can give, besides your unconditional love, is to be strong for them when they are present and stronger for yourself when they are not! – David H. Cooke • The best gift, and investment, you can give your child is your time – Kevin Heath • The best gifts come from the heart, not the store. – Sarah Dessen • The best gifts in life will never be found under a Christmas tree, those gifts are friends, family, children and the one you love. – Unknown • The best gifts to give: To your friend, loyalty; To your enemy, forgiveness; To your boss, service; To a child, a good example; To your parents, gratitude and devotion; To your mate, love and faithfulness; To all men and women, charity. – Oren Arnold • The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. – Bill Vaughan • The big thing with all parents is they just want to be left alone. I want no demands. That’s the best gift for Father’s Day, just leave them alone. – Terry Crews • The highest act of love is the giving of the best gift, and, if necessary, at the greatest cost, to the least deserving. That’s what God did. At the loss of His Son’s life to the totally undeserving, God gave the best gift – the display of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. – John Piper • The very best gift… is that anyone can experience those unexpected twinkles of joy that make a magical moment. At these moments, you feel true, deep joy because of a great new insight, a beautiful prospect, or a glimpse into the radiance of another soul. They are the magic moments when life seems better than you ever realized. – Richard M. Eyre • There is something about saying, ‘We always do this,’ which helps keep the years together. Time is such an elusive thing that if we keep on meaning to do something interesting, but never do it, year would follow year with no special thoughtfulness being expressed in making gifts, surprises, charming table settings, and familiar, favorite food. Tradition is a good gift intended to guard the best gifts. – Edith Schaeffer • To be free from evil thoughts is God’s best gift. – Aeschylus • Turkey is undoubtedly one of the best gifts that the New World has made to the Old. – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin • Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, Is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness That even above the smiles and frowns of fate Exalts great Nature’s favourites: a wealth That ne’er encumbers, nor can be transferr’d. – John Armstrong • When God loves a creature he wants the creature to know the highest happiness and the deepest misery … He wants him to know all that being alive can bring. That is his best gift…. There is no happiness save in understanding the whole. – Thornton Wilder • Who can go to a rodeo and then criticize the hunter? … an expertly placed bullet would be the best gift a rodeo horse could receive. – Roger Caras • Wine, madam, is God’s next best gift to man. – Ambrose Bierce • WINE, n.Fermented grape-juice known to the Women’s Christian Union as “liquor,” sometimes as “rum.” Wine, madam, is God’s next best gift to man. – Ambrose Bierce • Wow,” I said. “Are you making this up?” “Hazel Grace, could I, with my meager intellectual capacities, make up a letter from Peter Van Houten featuring phrases like ‘our triumphantly digitized contemporaneity’?” “You could not,” I allowed. “Can I, can I have the email address?” “Of course,” Augustus said, like it was not the best gift ever. – John Green • You should never lose heart. God is merciful and kind- he has endowed you with the best gift- smile, which can make millions happy. – Mother Teresa

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jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

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[equitiesstocks]

Gift Quotes

Official Website: Gift Quotes

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• A good wife is heaven’s last, best gift to man, – his gem of many virtues, his casket of jewels; her voice is sweet music, her smiles his brightest day, her kiss the guardian of his innocence, her arms the pale of his safety. – Jeremy Taylor • A happy childhood is one of the best gifts that parents have in their power to bestow. – Mary Cholmondeley • Amid the sufferings of life on earth, suicide is God’s best gift to man. – Pliny the Elder

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Gift+', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_gift').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_gift img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. – Thomas Hughes • Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends,for it is one of God’s best gifts. – Thomas Hughes • Deep down inside we know that the best gifts don’t come from catalogs or shopping malls. They don’t come in brightly-colored packages or fancy envelopes and they’re not sitting under a tree somewhere… The best gifts come from the heart. They come when we look at each other, REALLY look at each other and say ‘You mean a lot to me’ or ‘I’m so glad you’re a part of my life.’ A gift like that will never go out of style or be forgotten or be returned for a different size. A gift like that can change the world. – Ron Atchison • Earnestness is the best gift of mental power, and deficiency of heart is the cause of many men never becoming great. – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton • Everything seems overwhelming when you stand back and look at the totality of it. I build a lot of stuff and it would all seem impossible if I didn’t break it down piece by piece, stage by stage. The best gift you can give yourself is some drive–that thing inside of you that gets you out the door to the gym, job interviews, and dates. The believe-in-yourself adage is grossly overrated. – Adam Carolla • For my confirmation, I didn’t get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift. – Wernher von Braun • God spoke to me clearly and said, ‘Did I give my son Jesus on the cross expecting nothing in return?’ God bankrupted heaven and gave the best gift he could give. He gave the best offering he could give. What did God need? He needed sons and daughters, he gave the very thing he needed. You can bring God a gift fully expecting something in return. Get to the phone!’ – Paul Crouch • God’s gifts are many; His best gift is one. It is the gift of Himself. – Aiden Wilson Tozer • Great men are among the best gifts which God bestows upon a people. – George Stillman Hillard • Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving. – Erma Bombeck • Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me. – Judy Blume • Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. – Gautama Buddha • How sad that we often diminish our best gifts by struggling valiantly to develop in someone else’s area of ability. It is better to focus on your uniqueness and do that with excellence than to end up with mediocrity in several areas. – Dan Miller • I believe the best gift you could ever give a woman is your time. – Ziad K. Abdelnour • I believe the Bible is the best gift God ever gave to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through that book.” On a personal spiritual note, Lincoln confessed, “I have been driven many times to my knees with the overwhelming conviction, that I had nowhere else to go. – Abraham Lincoln • I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. – Abraham Lincoln I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from The Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book. – Abraham Lincoln • I get really cool gifts, and I know this sounds really lame, but I think one of the best gifts I’ve ever received was the Easy Bake Oven when I was younger. When I was little, I loved to bake! I want to get one now so I can make weird mini desserts for people. – Ashley Benson • I have an extraordinary attention span. I manage to juggle two or three different ideas at the same time, and that’s probably, if I have a gift, that’s probably the best gift that’s given me. – Paul Newman • I played rugby for years, and I had a rugby jacket that I lost when I was 14. Somehow, my brother found it in storage 15 years later, and he gave it back to me for my 30th birthday. That was amazing and probably one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. – Ryan Reynolds • I think fun is one of the best gifts we can give to each other. If everyone was having fun we’d be in good shape. – Alex Ebert • I think humor is the best gift, and if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? – Cameron Diaz • I wake up to my three dogs and my wife in bed and the kids, and those are the best gifts that I have. – Mike Ness • In Africa, you only have an independent media in only eight African countries, so there is very little transparency. The best gift that rich countries can give Africa is Radio Free Africa and Radio Free Africa will do for Africa what Radio Free Europe did for Europe. – George W. Bush • In my view, the best gift is one that benefits both the receiver and the planet. – Andrew Weil • In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. – Abraham Lincoln • In regards to this great Book [the Bible], I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are found portrayed in it. – Abraham Lincoln • It is one of Heaven’s best gifts to hold such a dear creature in one’s arms. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe • It’s the best gift in the world to be able to get up and dance because it’s the best gym. You artistically stretch your brain and you physically stretch your body to a higher point than a singular rotation movement like running. It makes your whole body move in lots of different ways, and it can make you very flexible as well, which is good for later life. – Andrew Stone • Kindness is one of the best gifts you can bestow… We know that inherently that feels great. – Joe Rogan • knowledge is the best gift of pure God . – Bozorgmehr • Let my heart be wise. It is the gods’ best gift. – Euripides • LIVER, n. A large red organ thoughtfully provided by nature to be bilious with. The liver is heaven’s best gift to the goose; without it that bird would be unable to supply us with the Strasbourg “pate”. – Ambrose Bierce • Memories are perhaps the best gifts of all. – Gloria Gaither • My latest found, Heaven’s last, best gift, my ever new delight! – John Milton • My love can’t be purchased Best gifts have been well-thought-out surprises. – Nina Dobrev • My mother cranes her neck. Her ability to be fascinated by things is her best gift to me. – Gary Shteyngart • My parents always made education and school the number one priority. They believed that an education is the best gift you can give to your child. – Debra Messing • My whole life has been about changing negatives into positives. I got famous, then I got cancer, and now I live to talk about it. Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest packages. – Fran Drescher • New York has been the best gift, in that the city pushes me to so many next levels. – Baratunde Thurston • No matter how many times you forget it, you can turn around and help someone. Or you can deliver a positive message or share with someone or just listen to someone share their story with you, it’s just the best gift there is. And it’s free. – Eliza Dushku • One of the best gifts we can give ourselves is time alone with God. – Joyce Meyer • One of the best gifts you can give a poet is to present them with field guides – to rocks, to stars, to birds, to wildflowers, to trees and bushes, to butterflies, to reptiles and amphibians. Because when you look at anything long enough to be able to identify it, you see far more clearly and you make a tiny beginning at understanding the life, the place, the history of that bird or rock or mammal. – Marge Piercy • One of the best gifts you can give to an animal is a donation of a blanket to your local animal shelter during the winter months. – Carrie Ann Inaba • Pure water is the best gifts a man can bring. But who am I that I should have the best of anything? -Let princes revel at the pump, let peers with ponds make free, …beer is good enough for me. – Charles Neaves, Lord Neaves • Seeing you happy is the best gift I could ever ask for. – Maya Banks • So every year when Christmas comes, I realize a new, the best gift life can offer is having friends like you. – Helen Steiner Rice • Staying present, living in Presence is the best gift anyone can give to those they love. – Guy Finley • Suffering is the very best gift He has to give us. He gives it only to His chosen friends. – Therese of Lisieux • Surely a gentle sister is the second best gift to a man; and it is first in point of occurrence; for the wife comes after. – Herman Melville • The best #‎ gift we can give in any interaction is to leave people feeling lighter, #‎ happier , and more at #‎ peace . – David Simon • The best gift a fan could give me is undeniable support. – Jessie J • The best gift an educator can give is to get somebody to become self reflective. – Randy Pausch • The best gift anyone can give to a friend is to pray for him. – Benedict Groeschel • The best gift for an actor is the love of the fans. Many make sweet cards, write letters and even come and meet me wherever I am in India. The love and blessings of your elders is also always cherished, but the extra mile that the fans go to is memorable. – Abhishek Bachchan • The best gift from a father to his child is Education and Upbringing. – Muhammad • The best gift I was ever given was the arts. My mum gave me those on a silver platter. Growing up, her and my grandmother would take me to ballets, classical concerts, even smoky jazz clubs I wasn’t supposed to be in! – Jill Scott • The best gift is giving from your heart – Kevin Heath • The best gift we can have is living in the present moment and really enjoying it for what it is; and, not being in our heads and getting sidetracked. – Amy Smart • The best gift you can ever give your mentor is to grow. They feed off your growth. I believe that everyone has the seed of success inside, but too many people can’t find it in themselves and as a result do not reach their potential. But there are those whose purpose in life is to fertilize the seed of potential in another, who are rewarded by seeing that person grow and blossom before their eyes. Raising up others to a higher level is a mentor’s joy and sustenance. – John C. Maxwell • The best gift you can give a human being is an introduction to a God who loves them. – Bill Hybels • The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it. – Marge Piercy • The best gift you can give someone is a part of your soul. – Jane Seymour • The best gift you can give yourself is an open mind. – Hayley Williams • The best gift you can give yourself is the gift of possibility. – Paul Newman • The best gift you can give, besides your unconditional love, is to be strong for them when they are present and stronger for yourself when they are not! – David H. Cooke • The best gift, and investment, you can give your child is your time – Kevin Heath • The best gifts come from the heart, not the store. – Sarah Dessen • The best gifts in life will never be found under a Christmas tree, those gifts are friends, family, children and the one you love. – Unknown • The best gifts to give: To your friend, loyalty; To your enemy, forgiveness; To your boss, service; To a child, a good example; To your parents, gratitude and devotion; To your mate, love and faithfulness; To all men and women, charity. – Oren Arnold • The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. – Bill Vaughan • The big thing with all parents is they just want to be left alone. I want no demands. That’s the best gift for Father’s Day, just leave them alone. – Terry Crews • The highest act of love is the giving of the best gift, and, if necessary, at the greatest cost, to the least deserving. That’s what God did. At the loss of His Son’s life to the totally undeserving, God gave the best gift – the display of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. – John Piper • The very best gift… is that anyone can experience those unexpected twinkles of joy that make a magical moment. At these moments, you feel true, deep joy because of a great new insight, a beautiful prospect, or a glimpse into the radiance of another soul. They are the magic moments when life seems better than you ever realized. – Richard M. Eyre • There is something about saying, ‘We always do this,’ which helps keep the years together. Time is such an elusive thing that if we keep on meaning to do something interesting, but never do it, year would follow year with no special thoughtfulness being expressed in making gifts, surprises, charming table settings, and familiar, favorite food. Tradition is a good gift intended to guard the best gifts. – Edith Schaeffer • To be free from evil thoughts is God’s best gift. – Aeschylus • Turkey is undoubtedly one of the best gifts that the New World has made to the Old. – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin • Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, Is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness That even above the smiles and frowns of fate Exalts great Nature’s favourites: a wealth That ne’er encumbers, nor can be transferr’d. – John Armstrong • When God loves a creature he wants the creature to know the highest happiness and the deepest misery … He wants him to know all that being alive can bring. That is his best gift…. There is no happiness save in understanding the whole. – Thornton Wilder • Who can go to a rodeo and then criticize the hunter? … an expertly placed bullet would be the best gift a rodeo horse could receive. – Roger Caras • Wine, madam, is God’s next best gift to man. – Ambrose Bierce • WINE, n.Fermented grape-juice known to the Women’s Christian Union as “liquor,” sometimes as “rum.” Wine, madam, is God’s next best gift to man. – Ambrose Bierce • Wow,” I said. “Are you making this up?” “Hazel Grace, could I, with my meager intellectual capacities, make up a letter from Peter Van Houten featuring phrases like ‘our triumphantly digitized contemporaneity’?” “You could not,” I allowed. “Can I, can I have the email address?” “Of course,” Augustus said, like it was not the best gift ever. – John Green • You should never lose heart. God is merciful and kind- he has endowed you with the best gift- smile, which can make millions happy. – Mother Teresa

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jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

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jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'y', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_y').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_y img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[enjoyblacksurf-blog]

What a Time (Part Deux)

Dude, nobody actually knows what a dinosaur sounded like. Sit with that for a minute...

Good to hear from you and thanks for the kind words. What a total legend of you for dropping off your hearts and sharing our wares far and wide. That's how it works now, isn't it? This is how we communicate.

Have you noticed the long WhatsApp voice message is what all the kids are doing now? Long gone is actually talking to your mates! I'm well and truly down with it. You get to have a good, uninterrupted ramble, on your own time and really get your point across. On the flip side, you have to patiently listen to your mate’s rambles (some ain't got it down) and listen without butting in to share, correct or change the subject. It's good training for conversing with humans. Speak your mind and listen. It also takes actually talking to another human being out of the equation. This could be both sad and dis-connective and equally a blissful way of existing.

Aaaaaah yes I remember where we were...

The state of the world and rapidness of change, individually and collectively speaking. We're all getting zapped through a lifetime of technology and constant change. Look at music, for example. For thousands of years we couldn't record music. We then created records and we were pretty chuffed about that for around 50 years or so, yeah? Then we went through some kind of futuristic light speed music technology portal in the space of 20 years! Betamax, 8 Track, Cassette's, CD's, Laser Discs, Mini Discs, Blue... Bluuuue something? Torrents, MP3's, MP4's, JPEGs and PNGs. “Hey mate, can you send me over a vector of that?” WTF is a vector? Well, I actually know now ‘cos I had to send one, and I happily admit I thoroughly enjoyed telling a vector virgin to keep up with the times about a week later. The classic 'learn something yesterday and act like you've known it for decades and feel smug for a minute before you toy with telling the truth or letting them think you're more intelligent than you are'. Oh, it's a classic.

Wait...

No, we're talking about the uplift of humanity’s consciousness and how we are all playing a part in it's victorious evolution or it's inevitable demise. DUN DUN DUNNN. Hahaaa! Which side are you on?! That was it. I'm on track, it's all good. Loved what you we're saying about that, you crazy cat! You sound mad as a bottle of crisps, but I dig it.

Well, the spell we've all been under, up until now, has well and truly been lifted though, hasn't it? Everything’s all out there in the open right now getting exposed and brought to light. And that is BADASS! It’s rough, but’s it’s bad ass. Coming from the countryside where the general rule of thumb, is don't be Doctor Doom and bum everyone out. Don't bring anyone down with that talk of sadness, depression, anxiety or overwhelm, for god's sake. What will the neighbours think, lad.

The Emo's did try to warn us though, didn't they? Oh, we all laughed in their faces, behind those stupid haircuts. But, they were right. We are in fact emotional beings. They called it and touché. Emo's at least found music to express themselves while the rest of us suppressed our feelings like the proper lads and lasses that we are, and where's that got us? You and I have both have suffered in the past from not talking about shit. Aaaaaah jeeeeez. As you always say, what a time to be alive!

Y’know, thinking about it... When I ask my dad how he's doing, he sometimes says a confident and proud “Fantastic!”, followed by silence. Is he on top of the world or his he saying “Let's talk about something else.”? A bold and wise move I always think. No-one in their right mind should ever question a ‘Fantastic!’ delivered with such conviction and finesse. It's leaps and bounds above an 'Alright' or a 'Not bad', isn't it? It's a touchdown response in comparison. A power move by a seasoned veteran of suppressing and releasing emotions for decades. A man who once used to see the dreaded red mist and instantly react; now chilled, humble and zen.

When things are going good with friends and family, we'll know or hear about it, right? We'd hope, but you and I both know that isn't true, though, is it? We’ve all become masters of hiding our feelings and just cracking on with it. 'How are you doing?' That's one hell of an ask and also a mountain of pressure to release onto another human being for a brief conversation, d’you not think?

We’re not only protecting ourselves, but each other by not opening up sometimes. It's served us well for generations. Sort of. Hasn’t it?

Dude, the difference in the amount of knowledge of awareness, recovery, health and happiness we have access to now, in comparison to our parents generation; it's off the charts! The world has changed sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much in the last 20 years. Are you also noticing with this, a whole load of extra baggage full of anxiety and pressure has been assigned to everyone one of us?

Millennials are screwed unless they also start to connect to this lost natural flow of life itself. Rather than purely just #instatweetagramsnappabookface. Add to the mix that they most probably got whacked by emotional, psychological trauma growing up too, like the rest of us. Kids of 80's and 90's had it like a walk in the park in comparison. As long they dodged, evidently, all the kiddy fiddlers and slew of #meetoo’s that we’re apparently allowed to run amok?

I’m all for carrying on shining the light! Right now, we're doing a fantastic job of bringing every wrong'un, racist and rapist out in to the light for all to see, scrutinize and stone, publicly. Whether we have to herd the one's that had a regretful night and sent a sloppy unconscious tweet that ended their career and the Cosby's of the world in the same pen... I'm not so sure. This whole process is for the greater good, but it's messy trying to figure out the guidelines.

We're forced to instantly know our views, beliefs and morals with each case, instantly in real time. Let's look at the comics for a minute. Louie CK was outcasted and back after 9 months. 9 months out of the public for being a big weirdo. That's what you get for being weird. 9 months ban.

Carlo Mencia was notorious for stealing jokes and Joe Rogan stormed the stage and publicly shamed him at his own gig! OUCH. He's done.  Michael 'Kramer' Richards dropped the racist card and he was sheepishly back on network TV in no time, but it ain’t looking good.

Roseanne Barr, one sloppy tweet and her second career that was all set up and ready to go... Pffffffffft up in smoke. Brutal, confusing and maybe unfair but it's all for the greater good. We're thinning the herd. We're prepping for a better future to come where people will be more conscious. It's as simple as that and that's only a gooood thing!

The Civil Rights Act was in 64', right? Soon kids won't know what slavery was or even be able to comprehend it!

Hey man, I watched the Foo Fighters once and heard a a guy excitedly say to his little bro “You know, he used to be in Nirvana!” To which he turned up at his older brother and said “...in what?” I nearly died in that moment.

This time is sticky as, but if we truly know ourselves, our beliefs, thoughts, morals, dreams, goals and desires, It's gonna be one hell of a less sticky ride. If we don't, it's gonna be HEAVY, seriously confusing and painful. We need to learn to act from the heart rather than the head. This should take no time at all, rewiring and re-programming the planet to be good, ethically conscious souls who care for each other and the planet for future generations.

Hahaaaaa! Yeah, right!

Lenny Henry and co nailed it back in the day, didn’t they. Hello world! It’s all pretty messy. Let’s all laugh about how crazy it all is, come together and support whatever we can and do what we can. That’s the deal, right? Most people get stuck in the heavy, sticky realms of the ‘it’s all pretty messy’ part and get no further than that. Just repeat the news, get depressed, moan, judge and complain about others and do absolutely nothing positive to make a difference at all. That’s only 1/3 of the journey! That’s the easy part! Jog on, pal. Awareness, deciding to make a difference and then making a difference. That's your three step plan right there. That's what should be taught in schools.

Talking of which... 

Can you imagine if we got taught how to actually talk to people and create harmonious relationships? Can you imagine if we got taught how to break up with people correctly or amicably? Can you imagine if we got taught how to use the frickin cooker or be told that being a musician or a skateboarder was a perfectly acceptable job to aspire to have? Tony Hawks famously told his careers advisor that he was earning more money than him at 14 years old when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. Long gone are the days of 'a normal job' or even having just one job!

We just need to allow this time to birth and breath a little. Y'know, just a little time to allow us all to catch up and see objectively, without judgement, that we are indeed being squeezed through a sped up evolutionary process. Absorb what’s collectively and consciously right and wrong, weed out the old and plant the new; nurture, nurture, nurture. Because the inevitable and constant debate between EVERYTHING is exhausting. Have you noticed we now have to have a white, black, asian, disabled, gay, lesbian and transgender character on every sitcom. The narrative has to comment on the latest moral issue otherwise it’s seen as not adjusting with the times and won't get commissioned again for being non-PC. Every show is the god damn same! Ok, to be fair, I may be guilty here of watching crap TV. It’s ok to get the news from South Park, Joe Rogan’s best of the week podcast and the banter in the sauna? I swear between the three, I get the news of the world and a real objective and diverse opinion of each topic.

Times are changing, man and I couldn't be happier about it! What a time to be alive! It's gonna be rough for a while seeing the Trumps of the world in power and people trying figure out how Brexit is figuring itself out. Our politicians somehow turn into overnight millionaires and from what? Their amazing biographies? I don’t think so. Tony Blair is doing ok the last time I checked. Um... Should he not be in jail?

Hilary had her fingers in the Monsanto pies, though, too. Her, Bill Gates and probably Bono investing into a company that... well you can look ‘em up. There’s evidence of Gates saying that de-popularisation of the world is the answer to the population problem. Ooooosh. Hey man, it’s not me saying this it’s the internet. Fake news? So, what's or who’s worse? Voting for either of those guys would have been like switching seats on the bloody titanic. But, we can't afford to let the bastards grind us down. Hey? But jeeeeeeeeeezus. What a time to be alive!

We can’t afford to not observe the amazingness that is all around us, though, too. Now that would be pessimistic and foolish of us. There's too much awesomeness brewing and cultivating every day! We all know that the world has to go to shit before it has the chance to blossom into something sustainable again. Let’s watch it all crumble and side step the debate.

Get working on the new earth and all that comes with it in whatever our field. Let’s be pioneers and get in there early! Speak our minds, make some change and stop following the damn trends and herds into mediocrity! If we’re lucky enough to not be living in utter poverty, surely we have a duty to enjoy life and help others do the same in as many moments as possible? Every person we see and meet can act as a mirror. In each person we get another chance to realise what we don’t want in our life, or a chance to meet with compassion and sympathy if they’re broken, lost or just being a dick. Or, a clear reflection of light, love, happiness and all the other hippy shit that serves us good. If we truly admit it to ourselves; love in all its forms is always a better choice than fear.

We’ve come to the point where we’re definitely aware now. We are now AWARE of all that the world is and has come to. We have awareness for this, for that, this disease, that symptom, cuddle a dog day, ‘Stoptober (don’t be an alcoholic and just learn how to moderate your drinking?) month’, pink band, white band, gotta walk around with a ‘tache for all of November otherwise I don't care about my fellow man’s balls day! My money going in those buckets doesn’t cure the disease and neither does yours. I ain’t joining in to this charade. Unless I happen to want to just rock a sweet ass ‘tache that particular month. WE ARE AWARE! We get it. Awareness is first key to change. It’s the first stepping stone but certainly not the be all and end all. What’s the chuffing solution, pal!? It’s certainly not my November ‘tache!

Hey, as long as the next steps are available, i’m all in. If they’re not, create them! This month, give us money for the awareness of Depression! Urm, we’re already aware of depression, mate. I’m from Yorkshire! What’s the solution? The solution is always in the prevention. I’ll admit it’s not the most popular view. It’s not as popular to not have a super, all-in-one-fix-it-cure-all-drug, but it’s true. Prevention is the cure! End of debate. End of story.

1. Problem - Awareness. Individually or collectively realise and accept the problem. 2. Reaction - Make a positive reaction to create change. 3. Solution - Create a better solution that the last one made. 4. Progress - Create change and freedom for self and others.

Repeat steps 1- 4 when needed and stop funding charities that promote sugar, non-nutritious foods to cure diseases.

We, as a society, package-up symptoms and disease and sell them back to us all like shiny toys. You ever walked into the supermarket and seen all the packaging and all the food that has literally no nutrition in it at all? It’s predominantly a warehouse of about 70% absolute junk that we’re pumping out and lapping up. It gets us sick, we moan and then buy the pharmaceuticals they sell us or patch-up-feel-good legal drugs like food and alcohol. Duuuuuuuuude! WTF are we all doing? What’s our endgame here?

As a whole, our values, morals and outlook are waaaaay off right now. Not even comic relief can patch up this one. As you get older do you not feel that moral obligation to sort your shit out? For the sake of yourself and others too? Do you not find that every other person we meet is either wearing their heart on their sleeve in either the positive or negative sense right now? Potentially, righteously whoring out their opinions and beliefs like myself in hope to cause a spark in someone suffering and struggling in silence. We're either raw, cooking or totally on fire! It's a melting pot of good, bad and everything in between, isn't it? Everyone seems hyper and conscious, frazzled, confused or just completely ignorant. Ignorance seems like a good call sometimes. It’s the opposite end to an easy way out though.

We're either chasing sensations of attraction or aversion in every given moment, d’you not think? It's quite funny that not only do we all know the answer, the answer is so simple and yet we seem to forget it the moment when we ‘wake up’ each day. The Zen lot would say, just observe and accept where we are in life without judgment to ourselves or others. Let go of the past. Navigate back to the moment and get cracking. Repeat this constantly. Over and over and over again. Repeat, repeat, repeat until being present in the here and now occurs naturally in your day. Relief! Voila!

Yeah? What you think? I reckon that's it. Job done. Mate, it's been serving me good for sure. It helps me detach from the past and the future and just accept life as is and all of my shit and everyone else’s too! That’s the kicker! That’s where the ease and relief comes in. Accepting others as they are. Ooooosh that’s a tough one. It’s the only solution I found to life, thus far, that needs no debate. 

What’s the saying?

Lao Tzu (Which translates as 'The Master') was actually an anonymous being that left loads of awesome wisdom on the planet. My favourite being: “If you’re depressed, you’re living in the past. If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future. If you’re at peace, you’re living in the present.”. Nailed it.

When we're really living our truth, making good, conscious decisions in life, we can truly be at peace. I think the issue is nobody seems know who they truly are. Nobody knows what’s right or wrong and nobody knows what to do about any of it. Well, we do know, don’t we! So, therefore we have to get to work and shake up the rest of us.

No religion, philosophy or rules needed. Just a good old fashioned mission statement of: BE A GOD DAMN GOOD PERSON TODAY! DO, HAVE, BE OR SAY SOMETHING GOOD! DO BETTER THAN YESTERDAY!

It's bloody hard work fighting up stream but you gotta, right? Or, we can die without ever truly experiencing the other side of the coin. Absolute Happiness! Absolute over relative happiness. Relative happiness being the quick fix’s to just fill the hole, the void. That general mentality we seem to live in. Either experience a life like a yo-yo of extremes or live the middle path and manage the good and bad, the highs and the lows. Live a life of balance! It’s free from the grip and pressure of the past and the future. It’s freedom! It’s also right here, right now in every given moment.

CHOICE!

If we have the awareness and luxury of choice, that’s all we ever need. As an individual it’s our duty to basically be a good human and create positive change. Hey, leave a legacy for your grandkids, too! Why not? Basically, just don’t be a dick.

Living unconsciously and not making that daily choice between love or fear. Oh my days. That was an exhausting way to live life. Wasn’t it!? We've been there, got the t-shirt and the mug. Smashed the mug and then glued it back together again. Chucked out the mug, lost the t-shirt. Sick and tired of being sick and tired. Constantly getting sucked in to other people’s bullshit. Job’s we don’t care about... Ugh. It was like being an extra in the story of someone else’s film. Nah, fuck that! Sorry... It’s supporting artist, not extra! Oops. Gotta keep up with the new words! We are the lead actor, the writer and producer of our own film. If we don’t realise this, we are living in someone else’s film, in someone else’s story.

It's like a sick joke with a silver lining, isn't it? This veil that has well and truly been lifted, that we're all experiencing, right here, right now. It's truly and completely messy and horrendous, but also positively beyond belief how much progress and change is being made. We are certainly consciously evolving as a species whether we’re indeed merging with the robots or not. Dude, I saw that they were making the plastic bits that tie the beers together out of edible material for fish. That's pretty rad! The missus completely eradicated all our plastic bags and bottles years ago. No chemicals at all in our flat. No chemicals in deodorants or foods. Nothing. Wooden toothbrush's and crystal rock deodorants, fridge full of farmers market organic veg for juices and smoothies. It’s a lot of upkeep and work but we’re fully invested. I used to think she was off her rocker and that the word vegan was a planet! It’s pretty nuts how we've completely changed our lifestyles and gone all in, isn’t it?

I couldn't ever go back, could you? Once you discover the other side of the coin. Nah. All in, pal. You should check out Edward Begley Juniors house. He's been building an eco house since the 70's! His white picket fence is made out of milk bottle tops. I mean... Oat mylk bottle tops (just incase any of those hardcore righteous vegans read this over your shoulder). God those guys suck. They ruin it for all us self-righteous vegans. I gotta say though, the celebration of the vegan lifestyle, yoga, meditation, well-being and all the mylk choices out there, I did not see that coming. It's pretty unreal! And proof the times are changing. Bob was on it back in the day!

We're pretty lucky to be able to make these conscious choices now. Pretty lucky for the awareness that we have this choice! 90% healthy and on it 10% full blown party time. That’s my jam. Yeah, I’ve still got my 10% party card that I pull out once in a while, mate. Don't get me wrong. I might forget my shopping bag once in a while and go wiiiiiiild and get a placky bag.

I saw someone give an old man shit for putting something in a bin once. “THAT CAN BE RECYCLED!” Oh those guys suuuuuuck! You’re doing life wrong, mate. We’re all figuring this out together. And hey, call me out if i’m doing the same. I most probably am! I’m trying my best to be objective and point out my flaws. I have many! I’m opinionated, passionate and stubborn as shit! It only ever sparks conversation and hopefully a positive change in at least one of us though, no?

I’m never a fan of those who sit on the fence. You have a voice and a brain. Use it! Or, get off that damn fence and get out of here, kid. Jog on and find the other kid that was moaning about the state of the world while doing sweet FA to contribute.

As a species though, we've definitely been forced to shine the light on what's truly important right now and dissolve what no longer serves us. We're totally getting there. Equality, gay marriage, a stronger voice for women in society, plant-based living and saving the unnecessary mass slaughter of animals.

The thriving of well-being industries and joking aside, the awareness of the importance of mental health and everything else we have bands and moustaches for. Ethical materials and products making their way into our lives... Again. The positive effects of Psilocybin on cancer patients and people with depression being discussed on mainstream TV!

The awesome effects of CBD Oil on patients with Cancer, Alzheimer's and Cerebral Palsy on both humans and animals. The mass breakthrough of stress relieving tools like Mindfulness, Meditation, Qi Gong and Yoga helping kids, teenagers, parents, inmates, housemates and everyone in between.

Dude, It's safe to say we are all experiencing, both individually and collectively, an overwhelming wave of joy and pain, love and fear, clarity and confusion, simultaneously on a global mass scale. In doing so, we're making way for the birth of a new world and new environment for sure. The release of it all brings suffering to some and joy to others. That's the crux of it all.

What a time to be alive! Which side are you on?

'What a time to be alive!' This could be a state of heaven or hell depending on your outlook and circumstance, right? The buddhists say that heaven and hell are both here on earth rather than a judea-christian outlook with your granny playing a harp and satan surfing the lake of fire.

Heaven and hell and everything in between is a state of mind we experience in each moment. It’s choice that programmes the GPS system and destiny. If we have the ability to read information on a device in this day and age, there's a very high chance we are armed with the powerful choice of choosing love or fear in any given moment, right?

So, this knocked me off my feet. Check this out! There's over 300 million people suffering with depression, worldwide. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide right now. How crazy is that, man!? Are we still allowed to say ‘crazy'? So where are these 300 million then? Oh that's right, we've got ridiculously good at hiding it, haven’t we! You and I both, hey! We need to keep our shit together in order to survive and not bring Doctor Doom to the party. That is until we inevitably, eventually pop. Mate, I can lock up all my feelings just like the next man can! Person. Like the next person can. See! The times are changing! Just about covered my ass there.

Is blasphemy still just a grey area? Do we have an all clear on god damn? What are the rules? I love a good god damn! Do you find that you’re starting to also question every word that you throw out incase you get called out and lynched? I heard a guy get really mad at someone say ‘midget’.

“It’s not midget it’s little people!” Is it?? Is ‘little people' the preferred title chosen by... I’m not particularly reckless with my words, but I do feel the egg shells cracking, constantly. We’re all figuring out what we think is OK and what's acceptable for this new time we're moving into. And that, my friend, is why I watch South Park. I learned about gender neutral toilets from South Park!

I do know we're not allowed to say 'brain storm' anymore! I totally get it. Imagine little Jimmy has a tumour and all his mates are shouting “BRAIN STORM! BRAIN STORM!”. Little Jimmy is gonna lose his shit. A shame because I loved a good brain storm at school. It's mind maps or cloud thoughts now.

Gotta keep moving with the times people! Keep up, keep up, keep up!!! Exhausting, isn't it? When did you pop by the way? Have you popped yet or are you managing your shit well enough? I popped in 2012 and have been attempting to drag others over to the other side ever since. No wonder we feel ambushed, overwhelmed and frazzled. We don't know what words to say incase we missed the meeting and that word is no longer cool or valid anymore. The correct grammar for email but not necessarily a text... Should we say... ‘See ya, pal!’ or ‘See ya pa!’? Does it matter anyway? It does if you're dealing with a hierarchy of intellects, backgrounds and cultures in your place of work. Not so much in school I imagine. We've been ambushed, but simultaneously upgraded with a shit ton of knowledge like a cosmic slap round the face.

I would like to at this point, thank you for your patience for allowing me to gather my own thoughts in this cathartic ramble by the way. This ramble has helped me figure out a few things. So, thanks. I’ll look forward to your reply.

It's got it's pluses for sure, but, by Lord, have we not all seen enough of us go down in the process. We've both lost a few friends and friends of friends. Mate, all those celebs in the last few years? It's like the 27 club all over again. Apart from this time it was mostly voluntary and not most probably a CIA job.

Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Hendrix, The Beatles... Oooooh the times were changing then man! It went downhill after that. I 1000% believe we’re picking it up where we left off! Aaaaaaaaaaw I've only just realised the BEATles is a music pun! How did I miss that?????

When Robin Williams went, that was the sign that's something was definitely not right on planet earth. Oh man, I genuinely miss Robin Williams! Life can be confusing, unfair, relentless, overwhelming and sometimes just fucking rough. But, hey, sometimes, for fleeting moments, it's totally badass! Sometimes it's even FANTASTIC!

We've got to the point that we need to at least acknowledge the other side of the coin now. This side being love, absolute happiness, change, positivity and peace we can experience within us. I ain’t saying the world as a whole as we’ll always need that yin and yang. But, certainly within us, we have the choice. We’ve done, seen and experienced all the fear, hate, lack, pessimism, poverty, racism, sexism, depression and anxiety. We’ve seen the results. The results are well and truly in. They suck!

To balance out this eco-system, the equilibrium within us and that expression into the planet, we have to individually choose either love or fear in every given moment. Constantly. Repeat, repeat, repeat for the sake of ourselves, family, friends and the world itself. We have a job to do! For sure we do. It feels like a responsibility now rather than the chore that it once was as a kid.

Historically though, we are 100% definitely experiencing something out of the ordinary, for sure, right now. Put your hand down, no debates needed. Put your mouth and thoughts away, pal! On this note, we can give ourselves a break. We can collectively take a breath and sigh of comic relief and say “Hey, fuck! The world is fucking nuts!”.

This will help us all bring compassion to those who are struggling right now. Because just being a human-being is hard enough!

So, what have me and the boys decided to do? We've only gone and decided to navigate our way through these insanely treacherous waters and do 'the work’ the only way we know how. We found the thing we love more than life itself. Music! Music, much like comedy is a high vibration and should be honoured in all of its expressions and forms. Just as much as all the ‘proper jobs’ out there. That negative belief system was one of the hardest one’s we ever had to battle as musicians, artists, creatives and performers. We matter and contribute to the world just as much as the suits do! And we bring the tunes to the party too!

We've channeled it into a vessel we call Black Surf and we're firing off all the joy, happiness, creativity, and love into the world where it's needed. Why the chuff not! What else are we gonna do? Sit in a pub and moan about Brexit?

If we have a choice, which we are fortunate to have, struggling against all odds and following your dreams is waaaaaay better than sitting in our pants on the ends of the bed, staring at the shoes we don't want to wear to a job we hate. Like a supporting artist in somebody’s else film.

Mainly for ourselves and to satisfy the urges of writing and playing live for the love of it. Just knowing that we're out there trying to inspire anyone in need of inspiration and allowing space, compassion and sympathy for our inevitable dirty trolls. We love them all. We gotta embrace all the positive change that is here among us and be free enough to let the music we create flow through us, harness it, record it and just keep moving. Because otherwise we’re just arm chair philosophers and wannabes.

It's a debatable point, of course, but I love it in essence. If you wanna save the land don’t chain yourself to the tree. Raise the money, buy the land and do something awesome with it! Save the trees and leave no man behind! Aaaaaaah fucked it.

Hope all is well! Look forward to hearing about YOU! Big LOVE

x Ali

P.S. I've only just remembered in this moment, the moment that I literally typed my name, that you only asked how the band was doing. I'll save the story and mission of Black Surf for next time. It’s all been pretty ridiculous. Messed up, yet beautifully glorious.

[shapesnnsizes]

Why You Should Eat Meat: My Appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience

Table of Contents

Background and Introductions

There Are Serious Problems with Epidemiological Research

No, Vegetarians and Vegans Don’t Live Longer

Is There a Connection between Red Meat and Cancer?

Does Saturated Fat Increase Your Blood Cholesterol?

Where (and When) Conventional Ideas about Saturated Fat Come From

Will Eating Animal Protein Shorten Your Lifespan?

Did the Sugar Industry Influence How We Think about Saturated Fat?

Red Meat and TMAO: Red Herring or Meaningful Association?

Does Fish Increase Your Risk of Diabetes?

Correlation Is Not Causation

Here, We Agree: There Should Be Lots of Plants on Your Plate

What Happens When You Give Up Nutrient-Dense Animal Protein

Is the Carnivore Diet Healthy? Here Are My Theories

On Sept. 27, my debate with Dr. Joel Kahn on the Joe Rogan Experience on the merit of including meat in a healthy diet lasted almost four hours. There are very few well-structured debates on this topic, and Joe did a great job of facilitating a lengthy discussion on such a controversial topic.

I’d certainly encourage all of you to watch or listen to the recording, but if you don’t have a chance to listen to it all, I’ll provide a summary of the highlights in this article.

You can also check out “Why Eating Meat Is Good for You,” the cornerstone page that we put together in preparation for the debate. It outlines my key arguments and contains links to relevant blog articles and studies categorized by topic.

Background and Introductions

For those who don’t know him, Dr. Kahn is a 42-year vegan who attended the University of Michigan medical school. He also did training in internal medicine and cardiology before opening a preventive, plant-based cardiology practice in Michigan.

Did you miss the debate on the health impacts of a vegan vs. an omnivorous diet? Not to worry! Check out this recap and find out why you should eat meat.

Of course, as many of you know, I was a macrobiotic vegan myself for many years, and a vegetarian for quite some time as well. When I was traveling around the world and became sick, it led me to question many of my earlier beliefs about vegetarianism and veganism and ultimately led me to reincorporate meat in my diet.

There Are Serious Problems with Epidemiological Research

To kick things off, we jumped right into the problems with nutritional epidemiology. Randomized clinical trials are incredibly expensive and, in many cases, impractical, so we’re left with observational studies that look at a certain group of people and try to draw inferences from their behavior about associations with disease.

I laid out the three biggest problems with nutritional epidemiology research.

Data Collection

Most observational studies employ “memory-based assessments” (i.e., questionnaires), which rely solely on a person’s recollection of what they ate.

The Healthy-User Bias

When someone engages in a behavior that’s perceived as unhealthy, they are more likely to engage in other behaviors that are perceived as unhealthy and vice versa.

Low Relative Risks

In nutrition, relative risks are often so low that they are indistinguishable from chance:

In fields outside of nutrition, nobody would consider an increase in risk less than 100 percent (a doubling) to be anything worth paying attention to.

Dr. Kahn contended that if we throw epidemiology away, we throw away about 80 percent of nutrition research. Since we can’t do the randomized controlled trials, we’re really left with basic science and studies of centenarians in blue zones like Loma Linda, California.

I certainly don’t think we should throw out epidemiological research, but we should understand the limitations and look at the findings with a critical eye.

No, Vegetarians and Vegans Don’t Live Longer

This led to a discussion of lifespan among those following different diets. I pointed out that there are eight major studies to date that have compared lifespan in vegetarians and vegans and omnivores, only five of which did a good job controlling for the healthy-user bias. Four studies sought to compare vegans and vegetarians against health-conscious omnivores, as opposed to the general population. The fifth study found did not select health-conscious omnivores as a comparison group, but it did a much better job controlling for potential confounding factors than most observational studies do.

They found that both groups had a longer lifespan than the general population, but there was no difference in lifespan between the groups. Several meta-analyses that consider all of the available studies have confirmed this finding. (1) For more information, see my article “Do Vegetarians and Vegans Live Longer than Meat Eaters?”

Is There a Connection between Red Meat and Cancer?

Dr. Kahn immediately turned to the 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) report that found an association between red meat and cancer. He argued that even though the differences are small, 50,000 people could potentially avoid colorectal cancer by avoiding red meat. Furthermore, with newer statistical methods, we can better isolate the effects of animal protein in observational studies.

I pointed out that the WHO report found only an 18 percent increased risk of cancer from eating processed meat, and a two percent increased risk from eating unprocessed red meat. This means that 5.3 people of 100 eating more processed meat would develop cancer, vs. 4.5 people of 100 eating less processed meat. As many epidemiologists have suggested, these tiny differences are difficult to distinguish from chance in observational studies.

What’s more, there are several other studies that have shown no relationship between unprocessed red meat consumption and cancer. For an excellent review of the role of meat in a healthy diet, I suggest this article by David Klurfeld, the National Program Leader for Human Nutrition in the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an associate editor at the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition.

We next discussed several mechanisms for how processed meat might contribute to cancer risk, with N-nitroso compounds, heterocyclic amines, heme iron, Neu5Gc, and TMAO being the most highly cited. However, these often don’t consider the context of the meat consumption. For instance, chlorophyll-rich green vegetables prevent myoglobin form being turned into nitro compounds. Similarly, certain spices and marinades have been shown to reduce the formation of heterocyclic amines.

Given this, not surprising that in all the studies of the relationship between red meat and cancer that controlled for vegetables, a greater increase was seen in people not consuming vegetables. (2) Vegetable consumption seems to confer a protective effect against any potential harm that may come from eating meat. (3)

Dr. Kahn agreed with this and encouraged listeners to at the very least eat vegetables with their meat.

Does Saturated Fat Increase Your Blood Cholesterol?

We next moved to saturated fat. Dr. Kahn claimed that basic science has shown that when you eat foods rich in saturated fat, you reduce the receptors on the liver that take cholesterol out of the blood. Cholesterol stays in the blood and eventually leads to atherosclerosis. He cited a 1997 paper that analyzed the results of 395 metabolic studies where they changed the diet and measured the response to cholesterol: (4)

You add saturated fat, cholesterol skyrockets.

I took a brief look at this paper after the debate, and they did find an increase in blood cholesterol when saturated fat was replaced with complex carbohydrates, but the difference was only 9.4 mg/dL reduction in LDL. It also resulted in a reduction of HDL of 1.8 mg/dL. Many of these metabolic ward studies were also short-term feedings studies that lasted less than a month, and did not measure clinical outcomes. (5)

Dr. Kahn further argued that every major health agency in the world recommends limiting saturated fat intake. I reminded him that these agencies are often behind the times, and:

… the history of science is really the history of most scientists being wrong about most things most of the time.

In the last two revisions of the USDA dietary guidelines, they removed restrictions on total fat and cholesterol—and I wouldn’t be surprised if saturated fat is next.

The most important question, however, is not whether eating saturated fat increases blood cholesterol levels. It’s whether eating saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease. After all, if saturated fat increases blood cholesterol but doesn’t increase the risk of heart disease, why should we care about cholesterol going up?

Turns out this is exactly what studies suggest. Large reviews including hundreds of thousands of subjects have shown that there is no relationship between saturated fat or cholesterol intake and heart disease.

What Low-Carb Diets Reveal about Saturated Fat

To stress the saturated fat point further, I mentioned that several meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have found that low-carb diets (which also tend to be high in saturated fats) have no effect on LDL cholesterol.

Moreover, low-carb diets are associated with a reduction in cardiovascular risk factors like: (6)

Body weight

Triglycerides

Fasting blood glucose

Blood pressure

Abdominal circumference

Plasma insulin

C-reactive protein

Where (and When) Conventional Ideas about Saturated Fat Come From

Unfortunately, we seemed to get bogged down in the saturated fat issue for quite a while. Dr. Kahn consistently wanted to rely on studies from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, which he believes are still useful if “it’s in retrospect, valid.”

I continually stressed that observational research is only useful for generating hypotheses, not coming to firm conclusions, and that:

… we can’t throw out really the highest standard of evidence, which is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Will Eating Animal Protein Shorten Your Lifespan?

We briefly touched on animal protein and longevity. Dr. Kahn argued that the amino acids found in red meat, combined with their saturated fat content, trigger biochemical pathways at the cellular level that accelerate aging:

The amino acid mix found in animal protein is different from the amino acid mix found in vegetable protein, which is why […] plant protein beats the crap out of animal protein. This is high-level cell metabolism.

While it may be true that animal protein is associated with cancer in basic science experiments, I argued that there are:

… no studies that show that eating meat in the context of a healthy diet shortens your lifespan [...] We can’t just focus on mechanistic studies. We have to look at actual endpoints that matter to people.

When you look at real endpoints, it’s clear that there is no effect on overall lifespan.

Did the Sugar Industry Influence How We Think about Saturated Fat?

Somehow, we got dragged back to the saturated fat and blood cholesterol issue. This time, Dr. Kahn referenced the Hegsted equation, which was published in 1965 by David Mark Hegsted and described the relationship between changes in saturated fat intake and serum cholesterol. This, in combination with research performed by Ancel Keys, ultimately led to the original recommendations to reduce dietary saturated fat intake.

However, Hegsted, recently found to have been in the pocket of the sugar industry, was largely responsible for downplaying the connections between sugar consumption and heart disease, instead focusing on saturated fats as the primary culprit. (7)

What’s more, recent studies have shown that the Hegsted equation isn’t relevant in the context of low-carb diets. (8)

Dr. Kahn did not adequately address the evidence I repeatedly presented in regard to recent meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, ultimately saying:

I stand by the fact human physiology will not change.

Red Meat and TMAO: Red Herring or Meaningful Association?

Finally, we moved on from saturated fat onto red meat and TMAO. I’ve written about this extensively, and you can also find more information about it on our cornerstone page.

Dr. Kahn mentioned several studies that showed a causal relationship between increased consumption of carnitine and choline and TMAO. However, certain species of fish increase serum TMAO orders of magnitude more than meat or eggs, yet fish are associated with reduced cardiovascular risk. (9)

Moreover, only certain types of gut bacteria metabolize choline and carnitine to TMA, which is then converted in the liver to TMAO, so:

… scientists have speculated that high TMAO levels are essentially a result of a disrupted gut microbiome.

Does Fish Increase Your Risk of Diabetes?

Dr. Kahn consistently relied on single studies to support his claims:

The assumption is that fish is a superfood. […] Fish intake is associated with increased risk of diabetes, I’m sorry, that’s epidemiology.

While the single study he referenced did find a slight increase in relative risk in the group consuming the most fish, I preferred to rely on the weight of evidence: (10)

Of course we can go and find one study here, one study there, that has a different result, but that’s not the scientific method. The scientific method is to look at the weight of the evidence and to continue to evaluate that over time as the evidence changes.

In this case, a 2012 meta-analysis found no association between fish intake and diabetes risk, and many studies suggest that seafood consumption is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. (11)

Correlation Is Not Causation

One of the running themes throughout the debate was the need to realize that correlation is not causation. This is clearly illustrated by a study I mentioned in a population of hospitalized patients that found “24 diagnoses were significantly associated with the participants’ astrological signs.” (12)

The relative risks were 15 percent and 38 percent, which is on par with the 18 percent increased relative risk that was used in the 2015 WHO report that linked processed meat to cancer.

To further this point, I offered a quote from John Ioannidis:

Given the complicated associations of eating behaviors and patterns with many time varying social and behavioral factors that also affect health, no currently available cohort includes sufficient information to address confounding in nutritional association. (13)

In other words, there are so many factors that influence our health that it’s virtually impossible to parse these out in observational studies.

Here, We Agree: There Should Be Lots of Plants on Your Plate

Dr. Kahn stressed that he believes we have more than enough data to advise the public and echoed Michael Pollan’s “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants,” noting “that is a synthesis of 50 years in nutritional research.”

This was certainly one of the few points where we could agree. As many of you readers know, my recommendation is, and always has been, that your plate should consist of two-thirds or three-quarters plant foods and the remainder animal foods.

Moreover, anyone who is making an effort to be conscious about their diet, whether vegan or omnivore, is going to be much better off than someone consuming a Standard American Diet full of processed foods.

What Happens When You Give up Nutrient-Dense Animal Protein

This segued into a discussion of the benefit of keeping that one-quarter of your plate as nutrient-dense animal protein. I contended that vegetarians and vegans are often deficient in many nutrients, with vitamin B12 representing the biggest issue:

Some of the effects of B12 deficiency are irreversible. It’s a pretty serious thing.

Moreover, many vegans and vegetarians are only measuring serum B12, which will only be affected in late-stage B12 deficiency, and even those who are supplementing may not be getting enough.

Dr. Kahn agreed that it was something to keep an eye out for:

It’s responsible for a healthcare practitioner to advise somebody eating plant-based to take vitamin B12. […] I don’t advise my patients to rely on food because there’s neurologic and hematologic potential for trouble.

He demonstrated how easy it was to take the supplements necessary to prevent B12 and other deficiencies, saying:

My patients are totally complete. The industry has provided solutions to a relatively simple problem.

However, I maintained that this “does beg the question of whether we should be following a diet that can’t meet our essential nutrient needs.” My position has always been that we should be getting as much of our nutrients from food as possible.

Just some of the other nutrients that are an issue with vegetarian and vegan diets include bioavailable zinc, calcium, taurine, creatine, vitamin A, EPA, and DHA. For those vegans and vegetarians who are not ideologically opposed to eating small amounts of animal foods, even just one clam oyster and four grams of liver per day would completely meet your needs for vitamin B12, zinc, copper, and choline.

Is the Carnivore Diet Healthy? Here Are My Theories

Finally, Joe asked about the carnivore diet, and how so many people could be experiencing benefits from eating meat alone. I offered my theory that the carnivore diet mimics some of the benefits of fasting but allows people to persist for longer since it’s providing some nutrition.

The carnivore diet is essentially like a gut rest or a fast.

Of course, this is all speculation:

We don’t yet have any evidence, but meat is absorbed very high up in the digestive tract, and so when you only eat meat, it’s a low residue diet. There’s nothing leftover to irritate or inflame the gut.

I’m certainly empathetic to those who find that the carnivore diet works for them, but it does not mean that there aren’t potential consequences to the diet in the long-term.

Dr. Kahn pointed out that since these people aren’t consuming sugar or fibrous vegetables, they may be hyper-efficient at absorbing nutrients like vitamin C. While there are anecdotal reports of individuals who have tracked their nutrient status, I think we don’t yet have the evidence say that this does not result in nutrient deficiencies.

From an evolutionary perspective, every culture we know of that has been studied ate some combination of animal and plant foods, even though the ratio varied from place to place.

Join the Debate! Do You Eat Meat?

And there you have it, almost four hours boiled down into the key highlights and takeaways! I’d love to hear what you thought about the debate in the comments below. Be sure to also check out the cornerstone page and share it with your friends and family. If you’re interested in delving into the research behind this topic, take a look at the bibliography page.

I hope this debate and these resources serve as a big step towards clearing up the confusion and misunderstanding about this topic.

Now it’s your turn to join the debate. Do you eat meat? Have you ever followed a vegetarian or vegan diet? Leave a comment and let me know!

The post Why You Should Eat Meat: My Appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience appeared first on Chris Kresser.

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New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/how-much-money-do-you-have-to-earn-before-you-get-weird/

How Much Money Do You Have to Earn Before You Get Weird?

This article originally appeared on VICE UK.

Who is your favorite billionaire? Wrong answer: Being a billionaire is a fundamentally immoral thing to be and all of them should be slaughtered, their blood drained from their bodies, and their heavy heads placed on spikes. But ignoring that: Who is your favorite billionaire? If it’s not Elon Musk, you’re doing billionaire fandom wrong. And I’m not talking in that Rick-and-Morty-poster, le-epic-win–style way of enjoying Elon Musk: Enjoying him as a spectacle, as a projection of who you would be if you were rich, that’s the way to do it. Think about it, if you were a billionaire, would you be Bill Gates (philanthropist, still fundamentally looks like he gets wedgied now and again)? Jeff Bezos (unapologetically rich hench dude, first villain to get grenade exploded in an Expendables film)? Mark Zuckerberg (a grey t-shirt that got a bit carried away and an alien who has to actively remind himself to blink)? Richard Branson (“Mommy, why is that dinner lady suing the NHS?”)? Or would you be Elon Musk, who keeps trying to send shit into space and occasionally summons a beautiful woman from the world of celebrity to come and be his blonde concubine? Elon Musk is so rich he called a cave diver a pedophile three separate times because he keeps shit talking on Twitter and he knows he’s so rich he’s essentially legally bulletproof. You telling me that’s not you? Because that’s me. You’re telling me that’s not you? That is me if I ever get rich. So Lord help you all if I ever get rich.

Here’s an example of how Elon Musk is exactly you if you were rich. A couple weeks ago he smoked a joint on the Joe Rogan show, which we all know about and remember fondly because he did it with the casual élan of a 13-year-old who just tried to stick his dick in an N64. The next day—for this reason, as well as two executives quitting on the same day and the hangover from Musk tweeting he was taking the company private and a New York Times interview where he started crying—Tesla stock crashed 6%. I have to caveat the next section by saying: I am bad at math.

I am bad at math: a caveat

Listen. I am not good at math. Accepting your flaws and embracing them—working with them, and not against them—is part of growing and becoming a complete human. Numbers are a foreign language to me! I am not good at math. For that reason, I am going to, bafflingly, attempt a ton of maths.

How much did that joint cost Elon Musk?

According to CNBC, as of June, this year Musk owns 33.7 million shares of Tesla. Before he took a massive rip of that fat J, it was trading at $280.95, making his shares worth $9.4 billion. After honking on dank, dank kush, shares went down to $260.32 (making Musk’s shares worth $8.7 billion). A lot of billionaires’ wealth is theoretical—it is tied up in stock, which waxes and wanes as the days progress, or is locked into hard real estate, so their actual money on-hand is a lot less than the total calculation of their worth—but by my calculation, that puff puff pass cost Elon Musk: $695,231,000. To clarify: six hundred and ninety five. Million. Dollars. Sure, maybe your mom caught you with a little bit of weed once and you got mildly in trouble and grounded for a medium length of time. But tell me: Have you ever bong ripped so hard someone’s GDP disappeared? [1]

Musk’s recent behavior (best described as “gloriously erratic”) has made me realize something: Basically every billionaire goes weird, in the end. And that’s got me thinking: Is weirdness inherent to the billionaire-fated mindset, or is weirdness thrust on to the normal human mind when it is exposed to such a ludicrous bank balance? Are billionaires billionaires because they’re weird, or are they weird because they’re billionaires? Or, to put it another way:

What is the exact amount of money I have to have before I go insane?

I intend to investigate that.

The billionaires

I have spent a very substantial amount of time now[2] investigating the historical wealth of the following five billionaires, who all broadly represent one end of the five-point billionaire personality matrix:

We will plot first their explosive wealth, then map their historical erratic behavior. I’m then going to put one graph on top of the other and try and figure out the exact net worth you need to have before you start going on podcasts and trapping Azaelia Banks in your house.

A few more caveats: Sometimes it is very difficult to figure a billionaire’s registered net worth in the years between their first mythologizing money-making deal (Richard Branson sold $6,000 worth of advertising in his first magazine, Student, when he was 15; Elon Musk sold a video game for $500 when he was 12) and their first billion because nobody (i.e. Forbes) really pays attention to how much money you have until you have a billion dollars. So there are some gray areas between, like, Mark Zuckerberg’s first million dollars in 2006 and his first billion-and-a-half dollars two years later (nobody knows how much Mark Zuckerberg was worth in 2007). Equally: I have not adjusted for inflation in any way at all because: come on! Boring! Thirdly: all accusations of erratic behavior are purely from me, purely on my own terms. I am the lash and I am the law, the only person saying what’s up is me. And so:

Bill Gates

Wealth: My guy Bill Gates is the vanilla ice cream of billionaires. Microsoft secured a deal worth $50,000 in 1980, when he was a 25-year-old CEO; in 1981, he became a millionaire through Microsoft holdings and the general business the company was doing. Although the exact figure is unclear, he had a rollerskating party in 1985 for his 30th birthday and he got speeding tickets a few times, which was about as wild as he ever got[3]. Then, in 1986, Microsoft’s initial public offering (IPO) went gangbusters and Gates, with at least $350 million in stock to his name, became a headline-making billionaire overnight. He’s basically been the go-to “Richest Man in the World” all the time you’ve been coherent and alive before Bezos took over from him this year.

(This is a chart of Bill Gates’ wealth. You will notice his age, written along the X-axis, is wildly incorrect, a running theme throughout this piece. This is because I could not get Excel to change it.)

Mania: In 2006, he announced he was going to start stepping back from Microsoft to focus on philanthropy, and signed the Giving Pledge in 2009 vowing to give away at least half of his wealth over his lifetime. And since then, he’s done nothing too wacky. He put some money into developing Vitamin A-enhanced bananas in 2012? In 2015, he drank a glass of reclaimed toilet water? Like? Nothing he has done is too crazy and most of it is for the wider good of the developing world? Gates is our control billionaire. He’s the most wealth of any man alive, the least signs of deep mania, the noble model of what an impossibly wealthy man should be.

(This is a chart of Bill Gates being weird. Instances of notable weirdness are marked in blue. You will notice there are no instances on this chart.)

Richard Branson

Wealth: Branson started making money in his teens after launching Student magazine and basically turning rival advertisers against each other to secure funding (“I soon learned the art that if I let Coke know that Pepsi were definitely in, that Coke would then jump in. And my education started,” he told CNBC last year. “It was an exciting time.” And the past is a foreign country, clearly, if a 15-year-old can just call Coke up and be like, “alright, money please”). He made his first million at the age of 23 after launching a mail-order record sales business, and then he started chain-launching businesses: he was worth £5 million [$6.5 million] in 1979, made his first billion at 41, and spent the next 18 years making another half a billion to take his net worth higher, then doubled it again the next year. His net worth now hovers around £5 billion [$6.5 billion], making him our poorest and therefore most cucked billionaire.

(This is Richard Branson’s wealth. He was the only one whose age I could get to work on it.)

Mania: Oh, Richard Branson is big time a maniac. Big time. I don’t know how old you are but if your age vaguely aligns with mine you might remember a period in the late-90s where basically the only news story, for about four years, was about Richard Branson repeatedly attempting and failing to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon? He just kept crashing into the sea and doing a big OK-sign when the authorities came to rescue him? He tried to launch his own soft drink to rival Coke? In 2004 he started selling tickets to space and still hasn’t honored a single one of them?[4] When he sold Virgin EMI he ran through the streets sobbing? But the high point of Branson’s billionaire mania, the tipping point, the exact moment he cracked in a way he could never be glued back together again was when, shaven-faced and beaming, he donned a bridal gown for a doomed business called “Virgin Brides.” This man was worth £1.5 billion [$1.9 billion] at this exact moment in time.

Which gives us a good starting point in our studies: Earning £1.5 billion [$1.9 billion] is bad for you.

(Branson’s wealth with weirdness—every time he invested in hot air balloons, basically— marked in blue)

Mark Zuckerberg

Wealth: Mark Zuckerberg has done well for a guy who is the crystalline vibe of “spending too long online researching until your back seizes up,” making his first million in 2004 as Facebook started to receive piecemeal outside investment, and he turned it into his first billion two years later when the company hit its 500 shareholder limit and went public. Since then, his wealth has escalated wildly: He’s worth around $60 billion as of right now, today. Like Gates, he’s signed the Giving Pledge and set up various charitable endeavors, but also took the bullet for the Cambridge Analytica thing at the start of the year and did that weird bulgey-eyed water drinking when he was being deposed. He just feels like he’s your cousin’s older boyfriend who is quite boring and just got really into climbing, and he’s wearing a North Face fleece and eating in silence at your family barbecue, only he’s Mark Zuckerberg, and he’s richer than God.

(Think I got his age more-or-less right with this one, actually)

Mania: Mark Zuckerberg’s lack of outward mania is actually what makes him so terrifying—he sort of has the eerie non-personality of an MRA who only eats red meat and reads books about murder —but yeah on the whole he’s not done anything too weird beyond getting repeatedly sued, forever, by everyone. It’s kind of funny that Mark Zuckerberg just quietly wants to live his life, driving a Prius and wearing a ton of zip-up fleeces, collecting every bit of data on every single person alive—and instead, he just keeps repeatedly getting in trouble for being himself. Anyway the high point of him being a maniac was the water-drinking thing, and his net worth was close to it is now when it happened, so I’m saying: Earning $60 billion is bad for you.

Jeff Bezos

Wealth: Bezos is currently the richest man on the planet and until Amazon Prime stops being so incredibly, annoyingly convenient, that is only going to continue. Early era Bezos was just a properly “reads the whole internet, every day” guy who didn’t know how to buy shirts that fit him, but a few years ago, he did a U-turn and started getting big into arm workouts and wearing padded vests, so he’s possibly the only one of our billionaires to glow-up in any significant way. Anyway, he’s now worth $120 billion and he looks like he can pick you up over his head so sadly the world’s richest nerd is now a Bond villain, meaning we’re all doomed.

(Yeah got the age right on this one as well. Really… really had a time making these graphs you’re just barely flicking your eyes over, I have to tell you. Have you actually closely read any of these graphs? Of course you haven’t. I wouldn’t, if I were reading this. It’s OK. I understand. It’s just I really did try.)

Mania: If being a billionaire is a fundamentally immoral action then Bezos is the epitome of that because he has enough wealth to hand every Amazon employee $10,000[5] and he’d still be the richest man on the planet, and his empire is built on the backs of hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers who are too afraid to take a pee break in case they get fired or camp in a tent near their workplace to minimize their commute. Like most of our billionaires, he has dabbled in space travel (why does everyone with a net worth of $4 billion or above think they can crack space travel, when NASA, working on it for years, still occasionally fucks it up? Start on flying cars and work your way up.) and is begrudgingly tipping his toe into the waters of philanthropy, but the real billionaire weirdness of him lies in his (undoubtedly successful) leadership qualities and approach to work. Here, from Wikipedia:

Bezos does not schedule early morning meetings and enforces a two pizza rule–a preference for meetings to be small enough to where two pizzas can feed everyone in the board room. [122] When interviewing candidates for jobs at Amazon he has stated he considers three inquiries: Can he admire the person, can the person raise the common standard, and under what circumstances could the person become exemplary? [123] He meets with Amazon investors for a total of only six hours a year. [122] Instead of using PowerPoints, Bezos requires high-level employees to present information with six-page narratives. [124] Starting in 1998, Bezos publishes an annual letter for Amazon shareholders wherein he frequently refers to five principles: Focus on customers not competitors, take risks for market leadership, facilitate staff morality, build a company culture, and empower people. [125][126]Bezos maintains the email address “jeff@amazon.com” as an outlet for customers to reach out to him and the company. [127] Although he does not respond to the emails, he forwards some of them with a question mark in the subject line to executives who attempt to address the issues. [127]

On one hand, that question mark thing is so, so sociopathic and chilling. But on the other hand, the guy who can barely type an e-mail is worth $150 billion. So who’s the real idiot? Once again: it is me.

Elon Musk

Wealth: Elon Musk’s wealth is my favorite of the lot because he’s basically just a chain-started nerd businesses and made millions turning to billions with each. His first software company, Zip2, netted him $22 million when it sold in 1999. A month later, he started X.com, which merged with Confinity a year later and became the PayPal we all know and love and use for ill-advised late-night eBay purchases (it sold for $1.5 billion in 2002: Musk made $180 million). Following the sale, he smooshed everything into three businesses—SpaceX, the world’s most expensive ego massage, an airspace company with designs on occupying Mars; Tesla, an electric car company that is statistically massive despite nobody you know seeming to own or drive one; and SolarCity, a solar energy company HQ’d in California. At the time of the three investments, Musk is on record saying he had to borrow money to pay rent: now he’s worth $20 billion and he’s shot a Tesla into space. Yeah? What have you ever done?

(His age is just completely fucked on this one.)

Mania: Elon Musk’s mania is my favorite of the bunch because it’s come to the surface this year—he started going out with Grimes, he invited Azealia Banks over to his house to watch him tweet, he keeps crashing his own stock by doing aforementioned tweeting, he tripled-down on calling a Thai-based cave diver a pedophile, he smoked weed on a podcast, he shot a car into space. His net worth this year is hovering around $20 billion despite all the times he gets high, he starts crying or calls someone a nonce, so it’s safe to say that: Earning $20 billion is bad for you.

But did the bizarreness start earlier than this? If you read the 2010 Marie Claire story where he double-fists ice cream cones and threatens to fire his wife, you might think: yes. In 2001, after Musk left PayPal, he got slightly too into the idea of firing a ton of mice into space and seeing if they breed up there. From 2017’s Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future:

Musk’s friends were not entirely sure what to make of his mental state. He’d lost a tremendous amount of weight fighting off malaria and looked almost skeletal. With little prompting, Musk would start expounding on his desire to do something meaningful with his life—something lasting. His next move had to be either in solar or in space. “He said, ‘The logical thing to happen next is solar, but I can’t figure out how to make any money out of it,’” said George Zachary, the investor and close friend of Musk’s, recalling a lunch date at the time. “Then he started talking about space, and I thought he meant office space like a real estate play.” Musk had actually started thinking bigger than the Mars Society. Rather than send a few mice into Earth’s orbit, Musk wanted to send them to Mars. Some very rough calculations done at the time suggested that the journey would cost $15 million. “He asked if I thought that was crazy,” Zachary said. “I asked, ‘Do the mice come back? Because, if they don’t, yeah, most people will think that’s crazy.’” As it turned out, the mice were not only meant to go to Mars and come back but were also meant to procreate along the way, during a journey that would take months. Jeff Skoll, another one of Musk’s friends who made a fortune at eBay, pointed out that the fornicating mice would need a hell of a lot of cheese and bought Musk a giant wheel of Le Brouère, a type of Gruyère.

At this point, he was worth an estimated $165 million. My guy got so rich he tried to emulate biker mice from mars. Takeaway: Earning $165 million is bad for you.

(Weirdness marked in blue: at $165 million, with the mice, and at $22 billion, with the Grimes and the weed.)

Conclusion

Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos cancel each other out: Gates has been monstrously rich for 30+ years and never done anything weird, and Bezos has been monstrously rich for 20 years and has always been sort of background-hum weird. They are two opposite forces of billionaire weirdness that negate each other to meet in the middle at true neutrality. Mark Zuckerberg is fundamentally odd, but has not ever done anything psychotic enough to be interesting, but as our youngest billionaire, he has time and money on his side (remember when that guy who did #StopKony took all his clothes off and masturbated near some parked cars? I feel like we have something like this in Zuckerberg’s future. Keeps doing press conferences while solemnly holding an AK, for example. Decides to launch a career in pro wrestling and gets slammed to death by Ric Flair with one final, terminal “woo!” Runs for president). This leaves us with two full-on billionaire weirdos: Elon Musk, who made $165 million and tried to fire a tub full of mice into space, and Richard Branson, who went very peculiar in the ‘90s and thought he could dick on Coke. So seeing as they went weird at $165 million and $1.5 billion, we can split the difference and say that this amount of money will send you bananas:

$832,500,000

So try not to ever earn that. Thanks.

[1] Stock being stock, it has since climbed back to $280, so Musk has made his money back. I only put in this horrendously sterile, water-carrying footnote to fend off very tedious “well actually…” replies I’m going to get from people on Reddit and Twitter.

[2] This is a bad idea because now the concept of money means very little to me. Example: In 2002, Elon Musk sold PayPal to eBay, and the value of his stock made him $165 million. In my head, having investigated billionaires all week, I am reading that figure and thinking: Pathetic. What a pathetic number. Try making some real money, 2002-era Elon Musk. Do you understand how in my overdraft I am! Do you realize how much I spent on Ubers this weekend now that I think $165 million is an insignificant amount of money! I have broken my head!

[3] From a 1986 profile I cannot believe I read: “Oddly, Gates is something of a ladies’ man and a fiendishly fast driver who has racked up speeding tickets even in the sluggish Mercedes diesel he bought to restrain himself.” I just really cannot imagine Bill Gates as a ladies’ man, sorry. I know we’re meant to be building him up. But come on.

[4] Though quite why you’d trust a man who can’t even fly a balloon around the planet without crashing it into the ocean with the task of flying your soft human body into space: I don’t know. A Virgin train can barely get to Edinburgh without stinking of shit about it. No way do I trust that dude with space travel.

[5] As of April 2018, there were 563,100 Amazon employees registered, which at $10,000 a pop would make a hole of $56.3 billion in Bezos’ personal finances, which again he’d probably make back within a year just from me buying spatulas, Command hooks, and books I’m not ever going to get around to reading and having them delivered straight to the office

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Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjydmm/how-much-money-do-you-have-to-earn-before-you-get-weird

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3.03.2018 – Journal: Dreams And Selling Out & Relationships As Products

Opened my laptop and it didn’t turn on. I thought maybe it was fucked. In my head I was like – ‘Aw yeah sick, don’t have to write anything’. Which’s weird. Why would I prefer my laptop to be broken than write? I guess it’s the 9 – 5 feel that inevitably comes with being creative. Everything gets boring in the end. If you do stuff only when you feel like it, nothing ever really gets done. I think that’s the difference between a child and an adult. Or an amateur or a professional, it’s finishing shit. Anyone can start a thing. But to finish a thing’s what matters.

Listened to an interview of the great comic Greg Fleet. In the interview he said he can practically sleep on stage, he feels that comfortable. He said the one hour of the day he was on stage was the easiest hour, the 23 others were the hard ones. Very interesting. At this point it’s the 5 minutes on stage that are hardest for me. However, the most exhilarating.

Dreams And Selling Out

Always hated the desperateness and ultimateness when it comes to people and their ‘dreams’. It has a disgusting sense of desperation.

People are afraid to publicly talk about their dreams. And that’s good if you’re afraid - you’ve picked the right shit. If you’re afraid of expressing what you want to achieve in this life, it’s sign you care about said shit. And it’s scary to admit it because then if you fail it, you may feel as if your life has been a failure. Which is all important and whatever, but it’s really got nothing to do with anyone else.

An icky uncomfortable feeling you experience in relation to the desperateness comes from people telling their ‘dreams’ and they’re just ridiculous, borderline impossible or actually impossible, or they severely lack the talent, or the dedication and/or awareness, or it’s something they’ve thought of literally that afternoon after watching the documentary Jiro Dreams Of Sushi on Netflix and suddenly want to be a sushi chef. You know those people. The ones that every time you see them have some new plan, some new bullshit, some scheme, some new course they’re entering. All of this’s fine. In my opinion it’s exactly what you should be doing – searching. Searching for something you love and can use to unearth the whole 360°s of your soul to the world and universe. It’s just the smugness, the assurance, the deluded confidence, the lack of commitment, the enrolling and dropping out and the never ending - ‘getting my shit together’. It’s the inability to just say publicly that they’re searching and that’s irritating. It’s probably just a problem of the western world – having to always present a façade that everything’s fine, sorted and organised to the public. Because there’s an acute fear of a social witch hunt if you express the fact that your just as lost as everyone

How do I know all this shit? Because I’ve been doing it for years.

Another uncomfortable thing about people’s dreams is the impossibility. Like a deluded and lonely guy that’s really into a girl he met twice. Everyone else sees he’s deluded and she doesn’t want anything to do with him/or doesn’t even realise what’s going on. Everyone around them grits their teeth and can’t bring themselves to tell them that they maybe should give up on that shit.

The ugliness of the desperation comes from the incompleteness so obviously displayed by the person. It just screams – I won’t be happy, fully happy, until I get that thing. Which’s funny because how do you even know it’ll make you happy? What I’m sort of subconsciously describing’s a sort of American, L.A., Hollywood, ‘X’ country has talent type desperation, which is the wrong type of desperation.

‘If I was to win Australian Idol that would be a dream come true, it would be the happiest day of my life’.

… Makes me shift in my seat. Yuck. Sort your shit out.

It’s a heavy focus on the love you’ll receive. Rather than the craft. Love is a main component of wanting to be an artist. I’m not going to deny that. But it’s that bit you must wrangle. That and the potential to sell out. And I’m not talking about ads at the beginning of The Joe Rogan Experience type of selling out, that’s fine, I’m talking about Logan Paul selling out, where every 13 seconds he plugs his merch and screams some bullshit into the camera and then breaks a plate for no reason.

The current cultural definition of ‘selling out’ is kinda bizarre. It’s this interesting thing that’s kinda like an inner, cultural, arts world meme. Almost like a joke you associate with 9/11 conspiracists, tie dye wearing, dreadlock flicking, MDMA smashing, drug fucked, angry, easily triggered, guy at the end of the bar, occasional busker, full time unemployed people.

But if you’ve ever entered the world of the arts you’ll know it’s very hard to make a living. This year I’m finally going to try and figure it out. So stay tuned.

There’s still a strong part of me that wants to be like Frank Zappa. Well, not like Frank Zappa. But I want to work hard like Zappa, so I can reach a point where creatively I can do whatever the fuck I want when I want.

Maybe the whole concept of a ‘dream’ is a childlike thing. When you’re a child you say all types of crazy shit. Like I’m going to be policeman or an astronaut. Then you get into your mid-twenties and you’re like – ‘Ah, I don’t know man… Fuck knows…’. Followed by the quiet gurgling of a bong and Wu-Tang Clan playing quietly in the background. The universe’s too big for a human life span.

Most of modern life’s designed to minimise your experience by taking up your time working. Most jobs are repetitive and mundane, some completely pointless, many are simply the maintaining of machines that create popular products. You work so you can afford a place to live. Then you buy products to enhance, streamline, to indulge in or escape. Modern life minimises your variety of experience by how much you must work to still be apart of modern life. To be involved is fucking demanding work. And for the majority you must use your body to make money, doing labour orientated jobs that at this point should probably be done by robots. I think it’s funny how they talk about jobs becoming automated and soon will be done by robots. What would happen if the robots developed to the point of conscious awareness? Is that then ethical to make them work? The irony is it’s already been happening with humans forever.

I’m not saying work is bad. Working is good. Challenging work, passionate work, work to progress humanity, helping others, working towards a more harmonious society, all that shit. But it’s the fact you must work. And that sometimes minimum wage doesn’t line up with the cost of living. After a while you can feel like you’re being fucked. When I worked fast food jobs I’d be paid around $13 dollars an hour. I’d work roughly 35 hours a week. That’s fucking 450 dollars a week for half my weeks’ time. Just so I can exist within a house.

The problem is making fast food in this weird sterile world of extreme organisation, regulation, wearing hair nets and gloves, clocking on and off with a fingerprint system, dealing with horrible customers, learning the combinations for different burgers has nothing to do with your actual survival. It’s a very removed, almost virtual reality-esque existence. Like an acoustic, organic attempt at a virtual reality - the management of the animal. Quite bizarre.

I fantasise about disappearing into the woods. Living in a tiny house, isolated from people for at least a few kilometres.

I will make as much art as I can until I’m around 40. And if I’m still alive I’ll look back and say – ‘Alright am I happy? Am I satisfied? Was it worth it? Did it make me happy? Am I wrong, or right?’. Then I’ll collect up the money I have or don’t have and disappear for a bit. Spend some time thinking and contemplating for a few years and decide - do I need to do it to be happy or not?

I’m sure it won’t be as abrupt as reaching ‘x’ age and disappearing, but I really want to try and be an animal at some point. It’s an important thing to do in this life, to experience the origin of what we are/were. It’s much closer than we acknowledge. I wanna get in there and see what I find.

Relationships As Products

I think relationships are advertised as a product. Heartbreak as well. Something to yearn for, to strive for, to purchase.

I remember walking to school in year 7 listening to blink-182, pretending I felt the same way Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus felt whining about girls in their songs. But at that time, I’d never really had a girlfriend or anything and I was just wishing I was sad. Why’s that? Did I want to be cool? Did I think being depressed and whingy was cool? I don’t know. I still don’t know. But it’s a product just like anything else in this current reality. The idea of a romantic relationship has so much cultural narrative. It’s also sort of all we have now. No more God just things to consume and relationships to have.

One of the solutions to morality that Ernest Becker proposed in his book The Denial Of Death was romantic love. The idea of a connection between 2 people would beat time and space or some shit like that. I’ve always thought this was a wishy-washy argument, and one that does makes sense in the throes of passion and love-retardation during a honey moon stage of being really into someone but beyond that seems stupid. I’ve always tried to understand what he meant by this argument, but I’ve never been able to work it out. What’s ironic is I kinda believe in it, so I must be in some sort of love right now.

Relationships are a product. They’re also a complete wild west. No one knows how they work. The smartest cunts in the world still break up with people and still pick wrong people to be with. There’s no manual, no guide, your parents, even if they’re highly intelligent, well rounded and kind are still blinded by their own relationship.

In the Uber a generic song came on the radio. Prior to the song a more modern song had played. During a verse they’d dubbed a massive ‘BLEEP’ over a swear word. Which reminded me of music on the radio in the 2000s*. Then the next song came on. It was a song about love and relationships, all that bullshit. It was painful to be listening to due to the context I was in. And probably more painful for you because I’m giving you no context to this story or blog, not now, not ever. But it was painful and almost embarrassing because even though the song was so generic and shit it couldn’t help but strike a chord within me and make me feel gross. I felt almost ashamed like I’d got emotional during The Big Bang Theory.

But it was emotional. She was in the backseat. She pocked me on the shoulder, the finger jabbing as if impatiently trying to get the doors in an elevator to shut.

‘Do you have any glue sticks at home?’.

‘Ah… Yeah… Um… Yeah I think we do… Surely we do…’. I said.

‘OK, cool’.

Even an exchange so pointless and minimal is so sad to me. I can’t even be bothered verbally expressing myself because if I do I’ll cry and then she’ll cry. I don’t know why I’m avoiding that really. Maybe it’s something vain. Maybe it’s emotional vanity. Maybe I’m just done showing physical weakness to anyone. Maybe it was what that girl said to me that one time. Maybe I just would prefer to be sad privately. Maybe I’ll get it all out through writing. Maybe I currently can’t see what the best thing is to do.

I think it would probably be easier if I didn’t spend every moment with her before I leave. But then that’s all I want to do. But it’s sort of paralysing me. I can feel the emotions I’m tying down. I’m like Steve Erwin wrestling a crocodile, smiling as he looks at the camera, talking as if it’s all normal shit.

‘Yeah you can see she’s a bloody feisty one this one here! …’.

‘Now the thing you must remember is never let the pressure off the centre of the snout, it’s this big nippers achilles heel. Now remember, don’t try this at home. If you see an emotional breakdown in the wild just keep still, and back away slowly, don’t try and tackle it like I’m doing here’.

 *The ‘BLEEP’ is an interesting type of censorship because it’s telling the audience there’s something naughty there but won’t tell you what. As years past it became more fashionable and practical to manipulate the swear words in songs. If you’ve ever listened to radio versions of Eminem music, it’s quite interesting. The most interesting is a version of his first hit song My Name Is. When I was around 13 my Dad forbid me to listen to any Eminem until I was 16. I had an iTunes gift card and I wanted to buy some music but being so terrified of my parent’s judgement I didn’t want to buy any tracks that were labelled ‘explicit’ so I bought ‘clean’ versions of songs. I bought the ‘clean’ version of My Name Is and it was bizarre. Words were completed distorted in strange ways, like if you’ve ever listened to Stairway To Heaven backwards so you could hear the intro to Satan’s podcast. There were also completely new verses I’d never heard before. And darker verses cut out.

This type of censorship is far scarier to me than the simple ‘BLEEP’ because it’s completely erasing what was originally there. It’s like in 1984 where it’s some people jobs to completely re-write history.

[taco-calamitous]

Top Ten Albums of 2017 (According to Me)

So 2017 was kinda a rough year for most people not named Taylor Swift, eh? (Jeez, Taylor. Way to have a good time. That’s not allowed, or something.) American politics are shit, everyone hates each other, and people seem barely capable of not hitting each other over the heads with bike locks, or ramming their cars into each other. Personally, I drifted further into burnt out/not-giving-a-fuck territory this year, even though this is arguably the easiest year I’ve lived, this decade. I didn’t work at all (although I wanted to) I got mostly A’s or A-‘s for the classes I took, and one B, because I was too lazy to get an A in that class. I put shit off until the last minute, practically went without reading entire books that were required reading for my classes, and, by the end of the year, have spent many days entirely without getting dressed or taking a shower. It’s been easy, but I feel like shit for being this way, because just last year, I was in the Air Force and actually putting effort into life. It doesn’t help that I’m also now the fattest I’ve ever been. It could be that my medication is too high and making me too lethargic, I dunno, but something needs to change this year. So what about music? Music was pretty alright. There have been a handful of tracks I’ve really enjoyed, and some albums I’ve thought were rather good. Will I remember them with the same fondness I remember tracks and albums from, say, 2011 or 2013? We’ll see. In any case, the following is a list of the UNDISPUTED, BEST TEN ALBUMS OF 2017… according to me. Right now. Some time, next year? I can’t promise I will feel the same. But RIGHT. NOW… Number 10. The Menzingers – After the Party I was aware of the Menzingers for a bit before I paid them any mind. I got their fourth album, “Rented World,” when it came out in 2014, and thought it was pretty solid, a good album for a Summer day. However, for whatever reason, I wasn’t super in to any of the songs, though I distinctly remember “Where Your Heartache Exists.” I really liked that song at first, but then decided I didn’t by the end of the year, and I’m not really sure why. I guess I’m just a fickle piece of shit. This year’s album, “After the Party,” I decided I was getting when I heard the first single, “Bad Catholics.” I’m a Catholic. I’m often amused when comedians, musicians, or anyone else talks about being Catholic. However, that song kinda wore out on me. The rest of the album had staying power for me, though. I realized that a friend of mine would really like this album, so I played it for him, and he bought it. We’re not always big on the same music—there’s usually just an occasional crossover, and the rest of the time, we’re like, “eh, that’s alright,” about the other’s preferred tracks—so this is kinda a big deal as far as our tastes go. Standout Track: “Lookers” Number 9. William Patrick Corgan – Ogilala A few years ago, Billy Corgan had announced that, from now on, he wanted to be referred to as “William Patrick Corgan.” Shortly after this album was released, however, I read that he’s once again referring to himself as “Billy Corgan.” Perhaps that makes more sense, as it’s the name he became famous with, along side his band “The Smashing Pumpkins.” Not a lot about Corgan always makes sense to me, however. When one reads one of his blogs, one might ask oneself, “…wut?” When one hears about one of his many rantings over the years, one might again ask oneself, “…wut?” Corgan is very much this generation’s exemplar “eccentric artiste,” but not just because of his eccentricities: he is also a brilliant musician. Maybe not the best singer, but a great musician. So pretty much, I had decided, “whatever crazy shit he does, whatever obnoxious, egotistical thing he says, I will always like Corgan.” And then he went on the Joe Rogan show and said that a lot of it was an act. …I don’t even, any more. This solo album seems to be a continuation of what he was doing last year, when he was playing stripped down, acoustic versions of his songs, Smashing Pumpkins or otherwise. I got to see his show the last weekend that I was in the Air Force, down in Little Rock, AR, because he gave a special deal to members of the Armed Forces. It was an amazing show, both musically and visually, as he performed in front of these painted backdrops with moving lights and such. That show was the reason I realized that “Soma” is a pretty awesome song, in fact, and I had first heard that song about sixteen years beforehand, when I first got in to the Pumpkins—right before they broke up. I’m not sure what to say about this album, though. I like it, but not a lot of it stands out to me. There’s an acoustic version of “The Spaniards” on this, which is a pretty awesome song. Really, the album is a bit of a mesmerizing, acoustic soundscape, in which Corgan’s musicianship really shines (if that nonsense I just typed really means anything, and isn’t just cliché). Again, Corgan is the exemplar of our generation’s “eccentric artiste.” Standout Track: “Aeronaut”   Number 8. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand I didn’t listen to this one until half a year after it came out. Even then, I haven’t listened to it much at all. That’s somewhat similar, for me, for Mastodon as a whole. When I first saw them perform on some late show or another, I didn’t think I liked them. It didn’t help that one of the biggest douchebags I’ve ever interacted with online also gave them high praises. However, for some reason, I decided to buy “Once More ‘Round the Sun,” their 2014 album. It was pretty awesome, although I’m not sure that I listened to it in its entirety, either; I just really liked their single, “The Motherload.” They tend to have some longish songs, so maybe that rubs me the wrong way. I might have totally forgotten about this album, but I decided to listen to it again, tonight… and I cannot deny that it’s a well-constructed, great-sounding album. The guys in Mastodon are obviously very talented musicians, and I love that one of their band members got kicked out of the 2014 Grammys, because I cannot stand the Grammys. I feel like the Grammys are not a celebration of the best music of the year, but rather a celebration of the music that most benefited from payola and the “artists’” good looks. So that dude getting himself kicked out forever makes him awesome in my book. Standout Track: “Precious Stones” (I guess… I’m not really sure) Number 7. Gwar – The Blood of Gods Back in the 90s, when I was a little kid, and my brother was going to college and living in the dorms, he borrowed my copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. His roommate had a file in which he obliterated the game, and he had named it “Gwar.” I asked my brother, “What is ‘Gwar?’” I don’t exactly recall his answer, but I seem to remember thinking they were some crazy rock band or another. Years later, I saw their video for “Fucking an Animal,” and thought they seemed pretty fun, but for some reason, I never got into them (and given what I was listening to at the time, I probably would’ve really liked the album “Fucking an Animal” came from). In the back of my head, though, I’m pretty sure I always thought “Gwar is probably pretty cool.” Eventually, I did decide to start listening to them, due to their cover of “Carry On, My Wayward Son,” because obviously, there was a strong sense of humor to them. I got “Scumdogs of the Universe,” and was like, “this alright,” but what really hooked me was the album that came out later that year, “Battle Maximus.” It was far more brutal than anything else I had heard by them up until that point, and it just totally kicked ass. From there, I went back and listened to more of their older stuff, including “We Kill Everything” (the one “Fucking an Animal” was off of, and the one a lot of their fans apparently don’t like). …and then Dave Brockie (aka “Oderus Urungus,” the lead singer and sole remaining founding member, at that point) died of an overdose. Not only had the band just gone through an unexpected, tragic death of Cory Smoot, the final performer of “Flattus Maximus,” but they had lost the central, driving force of the band, up until that point. Most people thought they were done. Even when Michael Bishop (aka “Blowthar,” and the original “Beefcake the Mighty”) filled in for Brockie, I didn’t think they’d do another album, and wasn’t sure how much longer they would last. However, in October, they came out with “The Blood of Gods.” Is it as good as “Battle Maximus,” or the album before that, “Bloody Pit of Horror?” …eh, I dunno. It’s very different from those two albums, and seems closer to what they were doing around the time of “We Kill Everything.” Also, a few of the songs ended up irritating me, upon repeated listenings. I still like it, however (or else it wouldn’t be on here, I suppose.) It gets bonus points for featuring MC Chris, too.   Also bonus points for being a Gwar album, when I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get another Gwar album. Standout Track: "Viking Death Machine" Number 6. Flatfoot 56 – Odd Boat Flatfoot 56 were the opening act for one of my more recent favorite bands, “Larry and His Flask,” in March this year. I had never heard of them, much less heard them, before I saw them at that show, and that show was the first time I ever saw Larry and His Flask live (I had bought tickets for a show in November of last year, but hadn’t been able to go). I’m actually not sure if I even knew that there was going to be an opening act, so I wasn’t exactly excited to see them. Furthermore, their van broke down, so they were like a few hours late, which in turn caused the show to start an hour and a half or so later than expected. So I was a little annoyed, as were the rest of the people waiting. They made up for it with an awesome show. It turned out they were a folk punk band with bagpipes on several of their songs (and some other folk instrument I forget on their other songs). The dude with the bagpipes fascinated me, with the faces he made and his dancing, or whatever it was. The lead singer also had a unique voice; deep and gravelly, though consistently on key. They impressed me enough that I bought their newest CD, and I don’t normally buy CDs anymore, I just get mp3 albums, or whatever. Very fun album, and I don’t think it has any swearing, even on the opening track, in which they tell about one of the meanest baseball players ever (which was almost my choice for standout track, but…) Standout Track: “Stutter” Number 5. Pet Symmetry – Vision Pet Symmetry started as a collaboration between members of the band “Dowsing” (whom I’ve never heard) and solo act “Into It. Over It.” (which I have one album of, but wasn’t super crazy about). I got their initial single on Asian Man Records (and usually, you won’t go wrong with a band signed by Mike Park) and thought their two songs with obnoxiously long titles were pretty alright. I was excited for their first album, “Pets Hounds,” although upon going back and comparing it with this year’s offering, I feel it’s quite a bit weaker. There were only four tracks that really stand out to me anymore (and even back then, the rest of the album bled together, to me). What’s more, some songs seemed to abruptly end. “Vision” is their most rockin’ album to date. Furthermore, each track more or less has a distinct sound to it, and none of it blends together at all, really. The first three tracks are very energetic and catchy, the fourth is slow, but still amusing, and the fifth is energetic and catchy again. Really, this could contend for the four albums that follow it for “number 1 album of 2017, according to me,” except that, although it doesn’t bleed together like the last album, not even my pick for “standout track” particularly stands out from the rest of the tracks as being a song I will remember years later. Though it’s still pretty catchy and fun. Standout Track: “Stare Collection” Number 4. Dead Cross – (Self-Titled) Growing up, my eldest brother was always a fan of Faith No More. One of my earliest memories is of the music video for “Epic,” and the goldfish flipping around out of its water bowl. I was highly concerned about that goldfish, so my brother told me it got back in the water after the video was finished filming. Later, my brother had a poster for their album, “King for a Day,” and it was scary to me. I didn’t decide I wanted to listen to them until years later, when my brother made me a mixed CD, with “Surprise! You’re Dead!” on it. By that time, the band had long since broken up, and Mike Patton was doing his numerous projects and/or collaborating with other bands. I guess Dead Cross is some kind of super band that Patton was gonna release on his label, and then the singer dropped out, so he did the vocals for them, too. The other members are Dave Lombardo—former drummer of Slayer, and also current drummer of Suicidal Tendencies and the Misfits, apparently—and two guys from a band I’ve never heard of before, “Retox.” The album’s songs sound as if they were originally written with Patton on the vocals, but Patton arrived after they were all written. Perhaps it’s because Patton has such a distinct voice. Also, he seems to never age. He looks almost exactly like he did in the 90s. Regardless, yeah, pretty awesome album. Standout Track: “Divine Filth” Number 3. Goldfinger – The Knife Goldfinger were at the Warped Tour this year, and they were fuckin’ awesome. Definitely one of the highlights of the day, along with Gwar and Save Ferris. My bro and I totally did NOT know that MxPx front man Mike Herrera is in the band now, so that was quite a surprise to see him up there with them (actually, it sounded like the only remaining original member was John Feldmann, their front man). In any case, I’m not sure that I’ve ever actually owned one of their albums before this new one, “The Knife.” I have a Best of somewhere, and possibly their first one, the self-titled album. My brother had like their first four albums, so I think I heard all of those, but really, they kinda fell off the map for me after that. This new album is really good, though. It’s a lot of fun, and a throwback to the Summer of Ska in the late 90’s (which to me was like three years: 96-98). Even though they don’t have a horn section (they borrowed Save Ferris’s for one song on their set at Warped) there’s a lot of horns on this album. It’s just a catchy, poppy, ska-punk album. I’ve read some comments that it was over-produced, but whatevs; I don’t get that at all from it. Standout Track: “Don’t Let Me Go” Number 2. The Dreadnoughts – Foreign Skies The Dreadnoughts have been around for a minute. You may have heard them in some video game. I haven’t, but a coworker claimed they were. I cannot find any evidence of this online. Whatevs! I first discovered them via their album “Polka’s Not Dead.” The concept of a polka-punk sound intrigued me, so I bought it. They only seem to have a few polka-esque songs, however; they’re mostly a folk-punk band. “Polka Never Dies” is still my favorite songs by them, and one of my favorites of the decade thus far (yeah, yeah, “the decade didn’t actually start until 2011, and the album that song was on came out in 2010.” I hear that, but I offer this argument: shut up.) I’ve never gone back to anything they did before then, but I probably should. Also, they claimed they were breaking up the year I discovered them, apparently, but then they didn’t, and I didn’t know about that until I read it on Wikipedia just now. So yeah. This new album is quite a departure from “Polka’s Not Dead,” or even the 2011 EP “Uncle Touchy Goes to College” that followed it.  It’s a much more seriously-toned album than either of those—especially “Polka’s Not Dead.” It’s a bit slower, a bit more thematic, and a bit more traditional than those were. Because of this, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first. The album did grow on me quite a bit, however, after successive listens. My favorite track, “Anna Maria,” stood out to my in particular, as it had such an epic feel. The sentimental part of me also quite liked “Black Letters,” but yeah; “Anna Maria” is where it’s at. Standout Track: “Anna Maria” Number 1. Authority Zero – Broadcasting to the Nations The first album I’d ever heard by Authority Zero was previous album, “The Tipping Point.” I had heard them before, I realized, however. They did that “One More Minute” song, way back in 2005, that got a bit of radio time. Hadn’t caught my attention back then, but sampling “The Tipping Point,” they struck me as the type of 90’s Skate Punk music I wanted to listen to. They also have some ska elements to their sound, as well as some kind of Southwestern Border feel, particularly in the aforementioned “One More Minute.” (they’re from Mesa, Arizona). Not salsa, but somewhat Latin. “Broadcasting to the Nations” seems a bit more melancholic than “The Tipping Point,” which had a lot of punk tracks that seemed to say “let’s go get ‘em!” I’m particularly thinking of tracks like “Creepers,” “One Way Track Kid,” and “No Guts No Glory,” which are 3 of 4 tracks that end the album. Mind you, these tracks are still a lot of fun, as is the rest of the album. It just seems that in this album, Authority Zero has a bit less faith that “this is our time to take a stand,” or whatever. I do think that I like this album a bit better than the last one, too (although I feel like there was more competition for my attention in 2013). Standout Track: “No Guts No Glory” Honorable Mentions: Chuck Berry – Chuck (also probably the best you will hear a 90-year-old sing/perform); Municipal Waste – Slime and Punishment (also at Warped Tour, wherein the lead singer requested some drugs, because Oregon); Jonathan Coulton – Solid State (writer of "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" does a concept album); Foo Fighters – Concrete and Gold (not as good as "Wasting Light," but alright. Lotsa Beatles-sounding songs)