Ska @ MindSay

Bands won't play no more
too much fighting on the dance floor
Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?

I have seen the spectres of my past and I have even been contacted by these ghosts from long ago. I am not afraid to confront the past that I have long since buried. This is not my Christmas Carol for I have not spent my life chained to my sins. And yet here I am wondering why my life functions as it does and what the meaning of this is in the grand scheme of things...

I have seen the spectres of my past and I yet I have shown no fear for the life I lead back then is not the life that I lead now. I am not the same person I was in my past, I have seen the ghosts and I shall not return to what I was when these people where alive in my life. There is no return for life is a one way street that leads to a dead-end...

Now I am left to wonder why so many weird occurrences happen to me in a short period of time and why so many ghosts have appeared. Is there a reason why this has happened? Is there a greater purpose to these seemly random events that have occurred within such a short period of time that would make me stop and wonder if there was something I should be seeing in these events? And I wonder and wonder about things that I as a human will never be able to understand. I wonder about the big picture, but I am only able to see what is before me - it is as if I as a three-dimensional being am trying to see the fourth dimension from where I sit and through it all I know that I can never experience anything outside my own dimension. And yet I still try to see what is beyond me knowing that I will never be able to do so...

And still there are those spectres of my past that have haunted me this past week. I have gone so long without seeing the ghosts that when three appear during the course of one week appear I have to take notice. I have not changed my routine much over the past year, and now I wonder why three paths cross mine in so short a period of time when they had not crossed it in many years. Should I take this as a sign? Or is this just some strange twist of fate?

There are so many things to think of when I think of things that occupy my thoughts as I type with only the thoughts of the spectres in my brain - the shadows that are cast upon the walls of my skull that I have to watch and wonder what the plot of this grand play is. The have come from the dark times rattling chains and I know not why...

This is the Word of the AntiCrust...

Praise be ye who Read the Word for ye are Blessed amongst humans...

It's New Year's Eve and I'm full of empty promises
I half pretend to keep this time, just like last year
The band is loud and I'm wandering the shadows,
Wishing I was never here, I persevere

A crowded room, these whitewashed tombs*,
They raise their glasses high, they kiss the past goodbye.

This New Year's Eve, I'm waiting for tomorrow
My heart is on my sleeve, and yes I still believe
This New Year's Eve will turn out better than before
I'm holding on, still holding out, until they close the door
On me

It's New Year's Eve and I feel my insecurities
Are haunting me like ghosts, this sinking quicksand
And then with thunderous praise and lofty adoration,
A second passes by, yet nothing changes

I hate my skin, this grave I'm standing in
Another change of years, and I wish I wasn't here

This New Year's Eve, I'm waiting for tomorrow
My heart is on my sleeve, and yes I still believe
This New Year's Eve will turn out better than before
I'm holding on, still holding out, until they close the door
On me

A year goes by and I'm staring at my watch again,
And I dig deep this time, for something greater than I've ever been,
Life to ancient wineskins*, and I was blind but now I see.

This New Year's Eve, something must change me inside,
I'm crooked and misguided, and tired of being tired
This New Year's Eve, I'm waiting for tomorrow
My heart is on my sleeve, and yes I still believe, in You

-Five Iron Frenzy


*Whitewashed tombs is a Biblical metaphor to describe people who look great on the outside, or like they have it all together, but inside they’re filled with death and decay

*Another metaphor, the full line of it being that no one pours new wine into old wineskins

For some reason, on New Year’s Eve, right around the stroke of midnight, or shortly after, I go for a walk. Everything indoors is bright and festive and loud and there are people that I like…but I need some perspective. Get out where it’s quiet, walk for a ways.

Stop. Listen.

Trees in the wind. The river not quite talking under the ice. Silence in the woods and on the hills.

Stop. Watch.

Stars burning. Snow falling. Take in the sight of everything under a few inches of powdery blanket. Take in the light from below as well as above.

Stop. Pray.

It’s not that I don’t want to celebrate, or that I don’t make resolutions. But there’s so much out here that doesn’t change, that doesn’t measure years the way we do. And I need to perceive all of that. I need to stand in the silence and listen to the world when we say it’s a year older.

I need some time with the God who made me, who’s gotten me through the last year in stretches that I couldn’t have gotten myself through, and who’s promised to get me through anything in the coming one.

I was at Reese’s for midnight. His house is far out in the country, and ideal for the silent walk. Also ideal because when he puzzledly came looking for me, he understood after my explanation what the walk was about, and offered to go with me.

Glad to have him for a friend. Rogue kind of gets this sort of thing, but Reese for some reason really understands me when I’m talking about experiences and perceptions. And I’ve not shared that walk with anyone before.

This was a clip from the cartoon short by "GoGo13." It was featured on Yo Gabba Gabba sometime ago. Well it was a nice little toon. Teaching kids the importance of picking up your room and also picking it up at the same time ("Pick it up" a ska phrase meaning to skank basically) So when they say "Pick it up" it means several things. I liked the to watch it on youtube. And I found it on 21deadmonkeys, turning ska into a four letter word, which was for obvious reasons.

Well the video featured a little black girl and a little skinhead boy playing in the room. When all of a sudden the girls dad opened the door and was obviously a Jamaican Rude Boy from speach and dress etc... So they go into a singing number and pick up the room, every once in a while would start skaning in a colored scene.

Unfortunately I tried to watch it on 21deadmonkeys but it wasn't available so I went to youtube. And turns out Viacom didn't allow people to watch it because of some copyright crap.

As if Viacom needs more money, you greedy bastards. I am sure that letting a few videos out every now and then won't get in the way of taking money from the dozens of other big corporations you own. I know they own Comedy Central and I know there are enough idiots to watch it and pour money into it so that is some proof that Viacom obviously owns some sort of food hold in the media.

Well I thought it was a really good video. Teaching little Rude Girls/Boys and skinheads to pick it up at a young age. But I think a little less of it considering the source of funding for the video.

 

So thanks Viacom for taking that simple pleasure away from me because you wanted to save a few bucks in people not watching a clip from you. Well at least they are consistant.

I have just adapted a version of "that's amore" to a zombie ska version... It should be a real nuckle bitter. And whenever this band of mine comes together then it will be a real pleasure.

I went to a Reel Big Fish concert about two weeks ago I think it was? Well it was nice, partly due to the fact that it was free! I met some really nice college kids. Lucas was his name and the other Amy. Bought a Reel Big Fish Pirate flag and got the whole band to sign it and got them to sign my sisters zombie comic book. The one signed her book "The Walking Dan" with a picture of a pac man ghost. And! And I got to have a conversation about zombies witht he trumpet player. It was fun, we talked about Max Brooks "Zombie survival guide" and "World War Z" and their connections with movies filmed after the publishing of "Zombie Survival Guide."

And on a side note the security guards were jerks. I guess you give a guy a shirt and he gets a power trip. Well they pointed to the group of us Skanking in a circle and said "they're starting a mosh pit again, we have to break it up." No one had a mosh pit, it was a ska concert for christ sakes. Well I think there was one, but that was earlier and on the opposite side. And in the process of trying to break the so called "mosh pit" I got pushed and almost had my glasses broken.