Monday, April 29, 2013

Michael Jackson's Message (Protect the Children)

MICHAEL JACKSON'S MESSAGE (PROTECT THE CHILDREN) - Written by Carroll Bryant


“Today I was inspired by Michael Jackson while listening to his songs. I began thinking about the turmoil in Gaza and Israel - I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my head of innocent little children dying. Please call for a cease fire and try and work things out peacefully. Protect the children.”



When you hear the laughter of the children
Angels sing from above
The sun will shine and it’s listening
To the voices filled with love

Playing in a field of flowers - we are gay
So happy today

When you hear the laughter of the children
God will smile on us all
The breeze will blow to be gentle
In your arms, all their dreams we should hold

Don’t let their world to turn sour - or go away
Teach them the right way

We are the village
We can’t let them to get lost
We are the leaders
Raising them is all of our jobs
Take the hand of your neighbor
Promise you will be true
For the hope and dreams of our children
Resides in me
Resides in you

Protect the children

We have the power
To gain or lose control
Every minute of every hour
We either save or lose our soul
Know that this life is worth with what we’re making
Open up your hearts to all we have forsaken
It’s easy for me
It’s easy for you

When you hear the laughter of the children
The stars come out at night
This is our time for the living
And we have to do it right

Please don’t let their thoughts go to drifting - or slip away
Please just let them play

The smile of a child is the answer to our wars
Damned all the while we can be torn
Love and protection is the act we all must heed
There’s still time for you
There’s still time for me

Let’s not let them bleed

When you hear the laughter of the children
Angels sing from above
The sun will shine and it’s listening
To the voices filled with love

Protect the children
Please love the children
Thank God for the children
Let the child in you see the children
Protect the children
Don’t neglect the children
Protect the children

Their innocence is on display


Friday, April 26, 2013

Master Blaster

MASTER BLASTER - Written by Carroll Bryant



Monday, Tuesday, everybody loses
Wednesday, Thursday, days go by
Friday, Saturday, healing the bruises
Sunday comes and goes, say goodbye

You scream, I scream
Love dies in between
Nobody wins
And this is what it really means

Here, there, everywhere
We're the only ones who care
Everybody sees this
Fair is fair

Hold on tight, it's a long ride
Better make sure of your destination
That's right, a long night
Don't be fooled by inspirations
You couldn't leave it well enough alone
Called me out, here I am
Better go home
I can't take this shit anymore
There's no need to feed a sympathy whore

Hold on tight, it's a long ride

He said, she said, everything is turning red
All of this bullshit piling up in my head
My friends, your friends, when will it ever end?
Cyber this, cyber that, cyber sex is pretend

I never thought it would get this far
I don't seem to know you anymore
Wonderland is crashing down
Bodies laying on the ground
Memories, history
Get the fuck away from me

Hold on tight, it's a long ride
Better make sure of your destination
That's right, a long night
Don't be fooled by infatuation
You couldn't leave it well enough alone
Called me out, here I am
Better go home
I can't take this shit anymore
There's no need to feed a sympathy whore

Hold on tight, it's a long ride

You scream, I scream
Love dies in between
Nobody wins
And this is what it really means

Here, there, everywhere
Neither of us even cares
Everybody sees this
Fair ain't fair

Hold on tight, it's a long ride
Better make sure of your destination
That's right, a long night
Don't be fooled by litigation
You couldn't leave it well enough alone
Called me out, here I am
Better go home
I can't take this shit anymore
There's no need to feed a sympathy whore

Hold on tight, it's a long ride


Monday, April 22, 2013

Song Addiction: Justin Timberlake

I'm not really a huge JT fan. This is only the second song from him that I actually like. Now I am addicted to it. I do however enjoy his SNL appearances and most of his movies. Most notably - "Black Snake Moan".




It actually makes me want to get in my suit and tie and take Jenny out dancing at a high scale club in Columbus. We could be like Michael Douglas and Kathrine Zeta-Jones from 1995. Except I don't have grey hair. 


Flag Of Singapore

The national flag of Singapore was first adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. It was reconfirmed as the national flag when the Republic gained independence on 9 August 1965. The design is a horizontal bicolour of red above white, overlaid in the canton (upper-left quadrant) by a white crescent moon facing a pentagon of five small white five-pointed stars. The elements of the flag denote a young nation on the ascendant, universal brotherhood and equality, and national ideals.

Vessels at sea do not use the national flag as an ensign. Merchant vessels and pleasure craft fly a civil ensign of red charged in white with a variant of the crescent and stars emblem in the centre. Non-military government vessels such as coast guard ships fly a state ensign of blue with the national flag in the canton, charged with an eight-pointed red and white compass rose in the lower fly. Naval warships fly a naval ensign similar to the state ensign, but in white with a red compass rose emblem.

 Rules defined by the Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Act govern the use and display of the national flag. These have been relaxed to allow citizens to fly the flag from vehicles during national holidays and from homes at any time of the year.





Singapore was under British rule in the 19th century, having been amalgamated into the Straits Settlements together with Malacca and Penang. The flag that was used to represent the Settlements was a British Blue Ensign containing three gold crowns - one for each settlement - separated by a red inverted pall, which resembles an inverted Y. The Settlement of Singapore had no separate flag, although the city was granted a coat of arms which featured a lion in 1911. During the occupation of Singapore by the Japanese during the Second World War, the Japanese national flag (also called theNisshōki or the Hinomaru) was used on land by the military and during public events. Soon after the Second World War, Singapore became an independent Crown colony and adopted its own flag. It was modified from the Straits Settlements flag to reduce the number of crowns from three to one.

The design of the flag was completed in two months by a committee headed by Toh. He initially wanted the flag's entire background to be red, but theCabinet decided against this, as red was regarded as a rallying point for communism. Also, Indonesia, Poland and Monaco already had plain red and white flags. According to an account given by Lee Kuan Yew, the Chinese population wanted five stars, which were modeled off the flag of the People's Republic of China and the Muslim population wanted a crescent moon. Both of these symbols were combined to create the national flag of Singapore.

On 30 November 1959, the Singapore State Arms and Flag and National Anthem Ordinance 1959 was passed to regulate the use and display of the State Arms and State Flag and the performance of the National Anthem. When presenting the motion to the Legislative Assembly of Singapore on 11 November 1959, Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, the Minister for Culture, stated: "National flags, crest and anthem express symbolically the hopes and ideals of a people... The possession of a national flag and crest is, for a people, symbolic of self-respect." In September 1962, the people of Singapore voted to join the Federation of Malaysia. The process was formally completed on 16 September 1963, when the Malaysian flag was hoisted on Singapore by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The Singapore flag was reconfirmed as the national flag when Singapore became fully independent from Malaysia on 9 August 1965.

The Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Rules define the flag's composition and the symbolism of its elements: red symbolises "universal brotherhood and equality of man", and white, "pervading and everlasting purity and virtue". The waxing crescent moon "represents a young nation on the ascendant". The five stars "stand for the nation's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality". During the second half of the 20th century, the star and crescent symbol came to be recognized as a symbol of Islamism, and Singapore's flag came to be seen in this context by the nation's Muslim activists.

The ratio of the flag is two units high by three units wide. For the manufacturing of flags, the Government of Singapore stated that the shade of red used on the flag is Pantone 032. According to guidelines published by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), the flag may be reproduced in any size and displayed at all times, but it must be in its specified proportions and colours. MICA recommends the sizes 915 by 1,370 mm (approx. 36 by 54 in), 1,220 by 1,830 mm (approx. 48 by 72 in), and 1,830 by 2,740 mm (approx. 72 by 108 in). The material that is recommended for the national flag is bunting wool.

Singaporeans are encouraged to display the national flag outside their homes during National Day celebrations, and residents' committees, particularly those of public housing estates, often arrange co-ordinated displays. However, some Singaporeans decline to do so as they associate it with thePeople's Action Party, the ruling party in Parliament, rather than with the nation.

On National Day in 2007 at the Padang, 8,667 volunteers holding up red and white umbrellas formed the largest-ever representation of Singapore's flag at an event organised by Young NTUC, a youth movement associated with the National Trades Union Congress.


Source: Wikipedia

This work is released under CC 3.0 BY-SA - Creative Commons  

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Story Time: License To drive


License to drive at 15. That was my goal at that age. I was living in Georgia, right smack in the middle of Covington County. We only lived there for about 5 months. (My parents lived there for a few months before I joined up with them, having been staying with my Aunt prior to that in Columbus, Ohio.)


It was an early Friday night, around five PM. Right after school. Me and my step-uncle, Matt, took the one mile hike to our friends house, Booger was his nick-name. Now Matt was the youngest son of my grandmothers new husband who was about 20 years her JR. Matt is a year or two younger than me but was about as tall as I was then, around 6 feet and one inch tall I reckon. I’ve since grown a few inches where he kind of flattened out.


Anyhow, we get to Booger’s house where we thought the plan for the night was to drink as much as we could then Matt and I hook up with Booger’s older sister who was 19 and her friend of the same age. Booger was 17 then and his girlfriend was a 16 year old cutie pie, sweet as could be. How she ever got hooked up with the likes of Booger, I’ll never know. I secretly coveted her. Okay, it wasn’t really much of a secret.


Everything appeared set to go until Booger announced a change of plans. And it didn’t include the girls. Except for his girl and his sister. You see, his girlfriend invited us over for a homemade chicken dinner with all the helpings. His sisters friend didn’t want to join us so she took off to someplace else. I was upset because she was supposed to have been my score for the night. Matt was already having an affair with Booger’s sister for a few weeks leading up to this night.


So there I was, with the only motivation for the evening of getting drunk. Before heading out to his girlfriends house for dinner, we did get some drinking in. Jamming out to some old Southern rock, watching TV, or just otherwise goofing around.


We made it out for dinner around 8PM. We were there for thirty minutes before we ate. I had already drank about 10 beers by this time and in fact, I was down to my bottle of Mad Dog 50/50 - Grape flavor. I saved it for after dinner. Meanwhile, I chowed down big-time. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do. We all rode in Booger’s car. Him driving, me riding shotgun and Matt and his sister in the back seat, making out the whole time.


While they finished early, and then quickly took to the out-doors to find places where they can make out (both couples) I was kind of stuck with Booger’s girlfriends mom. I asked her if she had a problem with me drinking my Mad Dog and she said, “Why would I care? You aint my son.”


Bottom up!


So if I weren’t drunk enough before from all the beer, I was getting there double time with the Mad Dog. Now keep in mind, I had to get up early Saturday to go into the Motor Vehicle place to take a test for my drivers license. You could do that back then, get a license at 15 in the state of Georgia. I don’t know if it’s still like that now.



So, I spent the evening getting plastered and hanging out with that girls mother. And no, she didn’t cougar me. I probably wouldn’t have minded. Or maybe she did and I can’t remember because I got really smashed. Only the way back home, Matt and Booger’s sister kept up with the sexual activities. After they were done, she offered to “take care of me” however, I was too wasted to worry about that. Had I known she was going to be so generous, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten so drunk. As it were, I just ended up tossing my cookies in Booger’s car on the floor-board. He wasn’t too happy about it either. “You’re cleaning that up tomorrow.” He said to me.


Speaking of which, the sun did soon rise up and greet the day. Matt and I got home around 2 or 3 in the morning. (We shared a bedroom) However, I didn’t wake up in the bedroom, instead, my mother woke me up by turning on the shower as I slept in the tub with my clothes on, reeking of fried chicken, grape wine and vomit.


She informed me that we had just enough time to make it to the DMV. I didn’t have time to shower properly or even change my clothes for that matter. She was prepared to let it go and give it a try next weekend when I insisted we go now. “I’ll dry out before we arrive.” I assured her. She just shook her head at me. Sure enough, I was right. I did dry out before we got there. We drove all the way with all the windows down. Evidently, I was exuding a very fowl odor or stench from my person.


My mother dropped me walked me and up to the main counter. The officer behind that counter squinted his nose. “What’s that smell?” He quipped.


My mother sighed embarrassingly and pointed at me. “My son. He’s here to take his drivers test.”


The officer looked on surprised. “You’re kidding me?”


No, she wasn’t kidding him one bit. He pointed out the room for where I had to go and I quickly walked to it and inside where I walked up to a table where a female officer sat in waiting and about a half dozen other people sitting at school like desks, prepared to take this test with me. She reacted the same manner of the officer. To her credit though, she didn’t really say anything, just indicated with her facial expression that I was exactly mister smell good. She had to ask me some questions prior to giving me my test and my mother had to sign a paper. The last question she asked me was, “Are you now or have you ever been diagnosed as an alcoholic?”


I stared at her. Then at my mother. My mother stared back then at the officer. I turned and stared back at the officer and she, back at me. It was quite awkward to say the least. Until finally, I answered. “No.”


The female cop rolled her eyes and handed me my test booklet. “Take a seat … back there.” She pointed at the back of the room. She then got to her feet. “I’m going to open up some windows.”



I did as she instructed and I took my test. An hour later, I got my score. I passed with flying colors. I got my picture taken and just like that, I was licensed to drive. I wanted to drive my mother back home, but she wasn’t having anything to do with that. “I don’t think so.”


The day didn’t get any better either. As soon as I got home, I was summoned to go clean out Booger’s car. Yuck! Chicken dinners look a whole lot better going in than coming back out. And it smells better too.


You know what? I didn’t care. I had my license. Kiss it world! LOL (Which was later taken away from me by the state of Ohio when we moved back that summer and I was caught driving. The communist bastards made me take drivers education in school that year first and then get my permit for six months before getting my license. They wouldn’t respect my license from Georgia because I their law required you to be at least 16. The assholes.) THE END.  

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

American Gangster: Sam Giancana

Salvatore Giancana (born Salvatore Giangana; June 15th, 1908 – June 19th, 1975), better known as Sam Giancana. He was a Sicilian American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957–1966. Among his other nicknames were, "Momo", "Mooney," "Sam the Cigar," and "Sammy."

 Born as Salvatore Giangana to Sicilian immigrants in Little Italy, Chicago. His father, Antonino (later simplified to Antonio) Giangana, owned a pushcart and later briefly owned an Italian ice shop, which was later firebombed by gangland rivals of his son.

Sam Giancana joined the Forty Two Gang, a juvenile street crew answering to political boss Joseph Esposito Giancana soon developed a reputation for being an excellent getaway driver, a high earner, and a vicious killer. After Esposito's murder, in which Giancana was allegedly involved, the 42 Gang was transformed into a de facto extension of the Chicago Outfit. The Outfit was initially wary of the 42ers, thinking them too wild. However, Giancana's leadership qualities, the fact that he was an excellent "wheel man" with a get-away car and his knack for making money on the street gained him the notice of Cosa Nostra higher-ups like Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca and Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo. In the late 1930s, Giancana became the first 42er to join the Outfit. In 1942, Giancana also allegedly forced jazz musician Tommy Dorsey into letting singer Frank Sinatra out of his contract early, so that Sinatra could expand his career. This story was famously referred to in "The Godfather."


Sam married Angelina DeTolve, the daughter of immigrants from the Italian region of Basilicata, on September 23rd, 1933. They had three daughters, Antoinette, Bonnie and Francine. Angelina died in 1954 and left Sam to raise his daughters. Sam never remarried after becoming a widower and was known as a good family man, despite frequent infidelities, and held his late wife in high regard and respect during their marriage and after her death. All of the Giancana daughters have married at least once. As of 1984, at least one daughter, Antoinette, had taken the "Giancana" name again.


In 1945, after serving a sentence at the Federal Correction Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana (during which time he told his children he was away "at college"), Giancana made a name for himself by convincing Accardo, then the Outfit's enforcement chief, to stage a take-over of Chicago's African-American "Policy" (lottery) pay-out system for The Outfit. Giancana's crew is believed to have been responsible for convincing Eddie Jones to leave his racket and leave the country. Giancana's crew was also responsible for the murder on August 4th, 1952 of African American gambling boss Theodore Roe. Both Jones and Roe were leading South Side "Policy Kings". However, Roe had refused to surrender control of his operation as the Outfit had demanded. What is more, on June 19, 1951, Roe had fatally shot Lennard "Fat Lennie" Caifano, a made man in Giancana's crew. Over an FBI wiretap during the early 1970s, Giancana said of Roe, "I'll say this. Nigger or no nigger, that bastard went out like a man. He had balls. It was a fuckin' shame to kill him."

Though the South Side "policy"-game takeover by the Outfit was not complete until another Outfit member, Jackie "The Lackey" Cerone, scared "Big Jim" Martin to Mexico with two bullets to the head that did not kill him, when the lottery money started rolling in for The Outfit after this gambling war, the amount that this game had produced for The Outfit was in the millions of dollars a year and brought Giancana further notice. It is believed to have been a major factor in his being "anointed" as the Outfit's new boss when Accardo stepped aside from being the front boss to becoming "consigliere," in 1957. However, it was generally understood that Accardo and Ricca still held the real power. No major business transactions, and certainly no hits, took place without Accardo and Ricca's approval.

Giancana was present at the Mafia's 1957 Apalachin Meeting at the Upstate New York estate of Joseph Barbara Later, Buffalo crime boss Stefano Magaddino and Giancana were overheard on a wire saying the meeting should have taken place in the Chicago area. Giancana claimed that the Chicago area was "the safest place in the world" for a major underworld meeting because he had several police chiefs on his payroll. If the syndicate ever wanted to hold a meeting in Chicago, Giancana said, they had nothing to fear because they had the area "locked up tight.



It is widely reputed, and partially corroborated by the Church Committee Hearings, that during the Kennedy administration, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited Giancana and other mobsters to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro. Giancana reportedly said that the CIA and the Cosa Nostra were "different sides of the same coin.

 The association between Giancana and JFK is indicated in the "Exner File" written by Judith Campbell Exner. Exner was reputed to be mistress to both Giancana and JFK and claimed she delivered communications between the two regarding Fidel Castro.
 
However, Giancana's daughter, Antoinette, has stated her belief that her father was running a scam in order to pocket millions of dollars in CIA funding.



According to the recently-declassified CIA "Family Jewels" documents, Giancana and Tampa/Miami Syndicate leader Santo Trafficant Jr. were contacted in September 1960, about the possibility of an assassination attempt by a go-between from the CIA, Robert Maheu, after Maheu had contacted Johnny Roselli, a Mafia member in Las Vegas and Giancana's number-two man. Maheu had presented himself as a representative of numerous international business firms in Cuba that were being expropriated by Castro. He offered $150,000 for the "removal" of Castro through this operation (the documents suggest that neither Roselli, Giancana, nor Trafficante accepted any sort of payments for the job). According to the files, it was Giancana who suggested using a series of poison pills that could be used to doctor Castro's food and drink. These pills were given by the CIA to Giancana's nominee, Juan Orta, whom Giancana presented as being a corrupt official in the new Cuban government and who had access to Castro. After a series of six attempts to introduce the poison into Castro's food, Orta abruptly demanded to be let out of the mission, handing over the job to another, unnamed participant. Later, a second attempt was mounted through Giancana and Trafficante using  Dr. Anthony Verona, the leader of the Cuban Exile Junta, who had, according to Trafficante, become "disaffected with the apparent ineffectual progress of the Junta". Verona requested $10,000 in expenses and $1,000 worth of communications equipment. However, it is unclear how far the second attempt went, as the entire program was canceled shortly thereafter due to the launching of the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961.


 At the same time, Giancana, according to the "Family Jewels", approached Maheu to bug the room of his then-mistress Phyllis McGuire, whom he suspected of having an affair with comedian Dan Rowan. Although documents suggest Maheu acquiesced, the bug was not planted due to the arrest of the agent who had been given the task of planting the device. According to the documents, Robert Kennedy moved to block the prosecution of the agent and of Maheu, who was soon linked to the bugging attempt, at the CIA's request. Giancana and McGuire, who had a long lasting affair, were originally introduced by Frank Sinatra. During part of the affair, according to Sam's daughter Antoinette, McGuire had a concurrent affair with President Kennedy.


 Giancana's behavior was too high profile for Outfit tastes and attracted far too much federal scrutiny. He also refused to cut his underlings in on his lavish profits from offshore casinos in Iran and Central America. Both of these factors resulted in much bitterness among the Outfit's rank-and-file. Giancana was the subject of many hours of wiretaps. On one, he was heard to say "We're whacking a lot of the wrong guys lately."
As a result, Giancana was deposed in the mid 1960s by Ricca and Accardo as day-to-day boss, and replaced by Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa. After about seven years of exile inside a lavish villa in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Giancana was arrested by Mexican authorities in 1974 and deported to the United States. He arrived back in Chicago on July 21st, 1974.

After his return to the U.S., Giancana joined the FBI as a witness in the prosecution of organized crime in Chicago. The police detailed officers to guard his house in Oak Park, Illinois. However, on the night of June 19th, 1975, someone recalled the police detail. A gunman later entered Giancana's kitchen and shot him in the back of the head as he was frying sausage and peppers. After Giancana fell to the ground, the gunman turned him over and shot him six more times in the face and neck. Investigators suspected that the murderer was a close friend whom Giancana had let into the house. One reason for this suspicion was that Giancana, due to his heart problems, could not eat spicy foods. Therefore, he might have been cooking for a friend. Giancana was killed shortly before he was scheduled to appear before a U.S. Senate committee investigating supposed CIA and Cosa Nostra collusion in plots to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.
Some commentators have alleged that the CIA killed Giancana because of his troubled history with the agency. However, former CIA Director William Colby has been quoted as saying, "We had nothing to do with it."
 
Another theory is that Trafficante crime family boss Santo Trafficante Jr. ordered Giancana's murder due to mob fears that Giancana would testify about Cosa Nostra and CIA plots to kill Cuban president Fidel Castro. Trafficante would have needed permission from Outfit bosses Tony Accardo and Joseph Aiuppa to kill Giancana. Johnny Roselli, whose body was found stuffed in an oil drum floating off Miami, was definitely killed on Trafficante's orders.

Most investigators believe that Aiuppa ordered the Giancana murder. Giancana was still refusing to share any of his offshore gambling profits with the Outfit. In addition, Giancana was reportedly scheming to become Outfit boss again. According to former Mafia associate Michael J. Corbitt, Aiuppa seized control of Giancana's casinos in the aftermath of the murder, strategically sharing them with his caporegimes.

Longtime friend and associate Dominic "Butch" Blasi was with Giancana the night he was murdered, and was questioned by police as a suspect. FBI experts and Giancana's daughter, Antoinette, do not consider him Giancana's killer.
 
Other Mafia suspects are Harry Aleman, Charles "Chuckie" English, and Charles Nicoletti. In the 1995 movie Sugartime, Dominic "Butch" Blasi, as portrayed by Elias Koteas, is shown murdering Giancana.

Giancana was interred next to his wife, Angelina, in a family mausoleum at Mount Carmel Cemetery, in Hillside, Illinois.

 Source: Wikipedia

This work is released under CC 3.0 BY-SA - Creative Commons

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Doomed

DOOMED - Written by Carroll Bryant



I can hear my heartbeat wail
I’m a clone of humanity’s fear
Inside my head it’s hell
Behind my eyes hides another lost tear

I can’t seem to breathe in my dreams (Nightmares)
For the end is coming
That’s what they say
I’m so scared
And I don’t wanna think

Even when I am sleeping
Machine guns shooting and bombs exploding
Even when I am sleeping
Preachers preaching and choirs singing
And everything comes crashing all around me
And everything comes crashing all around me

I can smell an evil plot
Before the earth starts shaking
There’s a new face on the clock
In my ears I can hear that it’s ticking

I can’t seem to scream or so it seems (I swear)
For the end is here
That’s what they claim
I don’t care
And I just wanna drink

Even when I am sleeping
Machine guns shooting and bombs exploding
Even when I am sleeping
Preachers preaching and choirs singing
And everything comes crashing all around me
And everything comes crashing all around me

Doomed

I can’t seem to breathe in my dreams (Nightmares)
For the end is coming
That’s what they say
I’m so scared
And I don’t wanna think

Even when I am sleeping
Machine guns shooting and bombs exploding
Even when I am sleeping
Preachers preaching and choirs singing
And everything comes crashing all around me
And everything comes crashing all around me

Doomed



Monday, April 8, 2013

Teenage Dream

Hey you!

Yeah, you.

Remember this?

When we were driving down that road in Cali

In the rental - convertible 
You noticed we were the only ones on the road

Nobody around us for miles
You turned to me as I drove

You tilted your head and smirked

"How you doing."

This song started playing on the radio

* Wink *

You stood up and started dancing

Singing

The wind blowing through your hair

Waving your hands like you just didn't care





Thank you for that memory


Saturday, April 6, 2013

Coming in May: The Vasey Interview



 Okay you guys, I got the Vasey interview back and will be putting it together shortly, when I return from California. It should be released on May 5th, so mark your calendars. In case you haven't heard, Vasey is an up and coming rock band that hails from the UK. The band consists of front-man Karl Vasey, guitarist Ben Perdue, Bassist David Amar and drummer Aidan Hunnisett.

Here is a sample of their work. Their video "The Other Side"

Friday, April 5, 2013

Carroll's Journal: Hanging By A Moment

This journal is dedicated to her. She knows who she is. Well, at least I hope she knows who she is. Anyhow, mountains were made to protect her, to guard her, to keep bad forces out. I want to surround her with mountains. The sky was made for her dreams. She has so many of them. I only want them all to come true for her. I would make the sky even more blue for all of her dreams if she ever decided one day to allow me. Maybe she will. The ocean was made for her soul. That's how deep her soul is. Sometimes it is calm. Sometimes it rocks with huge waves. The ocean isn't wide enough or deep enough to contain her worth in this world. The universe is her eyes. I want to be an astronaut. Enough said.

She has an uncanny ability to keep me grounded.

She won't let me get away with anything.

To the world, she is just there. To herself, she is imperfect. To me, she is everything I wished I could be. I fall short of her grace. I long for her inner passion. I lay awake at nights wondering, what does she long for? Hope? Love? Oh, how I wish I knew.

Every day that slips by, is another chance left untouched. Every breath she breathes is another breath of life given to the wind of Atlantis. Lost, but never forgotten. Her heart is a beaten track. Her smile can't be denied. She wanders like a vagabond in her thoughts. She dwells inside of mine like pure gold.

Yeah, this is me .... hanging by a moment.

For you, my lady. You know who you are.

Well, at least I hope you do.

I have to head back to Tinsel Town. 

But for you, I am never gone.

I am always here for you.

Should you ever decide to one day ......

To be continued ..... ??????


There is nothing else ....................


-------------------------------------------------------------
"Hanging By A Moment" - Light House



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
You make me act so silly. LOL




One day, my journey will lead to you ... and you will journey with me.
 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


For everyone else: This is about as crazy as you will ever see me get.

(Or maybe not.)

LOL




Story Time: Lemonade


Okay, so once while my family and I were living in Florida (Indian Rocks Beach) I was so tired one morning for school (high school Freshman) that I grabbed a tee shirt  without looking at it. I got on the bus as normal and took my seat and closed my eyes to get in a few more zzz’s but when I arrived to the school, and while walking the halls to go to my first class of the day, people were laughing and pointing at me and then I was stopped by a teacher and escorted to the principle's office. I asked her why she was taking me to the principle’s office and she said, "Real funny Mr. Bryant. Nice shirt."


I then looked down at my shirt and realized I put on the one with this green monster thing leaning against a wall with his right hand up and middle finger extended, giving the bird. LOL “Whoops”. I uttered in a comical fashion. “My Bad”.


I wait in the main section of the office in a chair just outside his office while first classes were underway. After about 15 minutes, I was nudged out of my second morning nap. LOL The principle sees my shirt when I get up and he chuckles slightly. “That’s funny, Mr. Bryant. You’re a very amusing young man. You do realize I can’t allow you to wear that shirt in school.”


“I didn’t mean to wear it.” I said. “Not that you will believe me. I was running late and just grabbed a tee shirt out of the drawer.”


“Do you have a back up in your locker?” He asked me.


I stared at him confused. “Who keeps extra clothes in their locker?”


“Some people do.” He stated.


“Well, I don’t.” I responded. “I told you, it was an accident.”


So then the principle gave me 2 options. Turn the shirt inside out or go home and change. “Seriously?” I snapped back.


He studied me momentarily. “On second thought, just turn it inside-out. If you go home to change, I doubt you will return.”


“Oh, ye of little faith.” I replied, with a shit eating grin. “But I am not going to wear this shirt inside-out.”


So, I went home and changed. However, I did not make it back to school that day. (Proving yet again he had reason to have little faith)  In my defense, it was a 3 mile walk one way so ..... you know .... it was Florida .... Instead, when I got home, I changed into my swim trunks and I walked to the beach. It was across the street so …. You know … it was a lot closer than the school. (And a lot more fun)


I mean, come on, nobody was home and I saw the surf board sitting in the corner of the enclosed front porch, what was I supposed to do? It looked lonely. It was calling out to me, “Carroll, the waves are bitching today, take me, I’m yours. Take me to the beach and ride me big boy, ride me all day long. Ride me long and ride me hard.” Ha-ha.

So there I was, just a 14 year old boy surfing the waves on a school day when all of a sudden, she arrived. (She being a 22 year old girl that lived a few houses down from me.) I can’t recall her name off hand so I will call her Marie for the sake of the story. And as a young man would do, I started to show off.


Now, Marie was a waitress or a bartender or something like that. She worked nights, that’s all I knew. And this was how she spent most of her days before going to work, by walking across the street and catching some sun, working on her tan. And what a sweet tan it was too. (Just saying) And … what a sweet hot body to boot. (Just saying again)


Every kid on the block had wet dreams about Marie. She was as cute as the sun is hot. Long black hair, standing around 5 feet 9 inches tall and maybe a hundred and ten pounds. While at this time, I stood a good six feet and two inches tall, a cool 180 pounds maybe, with long blonde hair and a pretty decent tan if I do say so myself.


Before I knew it, I walked up on her and said hello. We started chit chatting and shortly after, found myself giving her some surfing lessons. I have to admit, she looked pretty damn good in that two piece bikini. Hell, she looked fine in anything. (Or nothing at all)


She didn’t quite take to learning the ways of wave riding, but she did invite me back to her house for some lemonade.


The next morning, I was walking the halls of the school and heading to my first class when the principle approached me. “Like your shirt, Mr. Bryant.”


“Well,” I countered, “you did ask me to change.”


“I knew you wouldn’t return to school.” He so happened to say. “I gave you an unexcused absence. Not that it worries you none, does it?”


“Not really.” I gloated.


“So, did you enjoy your day off from school? I hope it was worth it for you.” He wanted to know.


I gloated some more. “Yeah, it was pretty good actually, very good in fact.” Then, with that ever famous shit-eating grin, I told him. “It was more than worth it.”


The moral of the story is - If you ever have a choice between school and surfing, go surfing! Although, I’m not exactly positive if the surf board actually said those words to me or if it was Marie who said them. Anyhow, speaking of  Marie again, she lied. She didn’t have any lemonade!