Contrast

Coming back from vacation is like coming down off of a really mind-altering trip.

You feel like you’ve been given a new lease on life, but you know it’s only a matter of time before every-day-life comes to piss on your picnic…

Every time it becomes a question of “How long can i keep up this positive frame of reference? How long before i get kicked down off my cloud and forget the simple joys of life again?”

Contrast is necessary though… i dare say it’s fundamental to our very reality.. light and darkness need each other in order to exist… so in the end it’s all about seeing your glass as half-full, right?

So why is there such a tendency for us to see the glass as half-empty? What is it about negativity that creeps in, relentlessly? Is it just me or does it seem like there are more people struggling to find peace in their lives than people who are habitually happy?

Want It! – Now With Less Poison! (10-06-07)

poi

This is definately my favorite flyer i’ve done so far… i had the most fun ever with this concept.

For those of you not in the know… This is Want It’s annual decompression party; formerly “Rawktoberfest”… last year we kicked it up a notch and the turnout (no small thanks to you) was PHENOMENAL… Ambient Mafia hosted the chill area, and Want It’ers in the main room…

Blurry-eyed and psyched, I was dragging my gear up to the main stage to play right after Forest… and right as i was setting up, this unbelievable smell hit me… my eyes started watering and my throat started to close up… I looked around and everyone was scrambling to get out the emergency exits…

We had talked to the whole complex about the fact that we were going to throw a party that night but some fucked-up tenant had just moved into a small room that shared a wall with our main stage… and nobody knew he was there… after calming him down several times, he went completely fucking apeshit and apparantly ran out into our party and broke open a gallon of ammonia, officially ending our night.

It’s still surreal to me… that some copper-plated douche bag would actually resort to chemical warfare and risk the health and lives of hundreds of people… for WHATEVER reason. Clearly, the guy was unstable. After a long discussion, it was decided that we wouldn’t call the cops on this guy… we’d let him get evicted and avoid the possibility of another incident. Nobody got hurt… just our feelings.

So now.. without further ado… Want It proudly presents the sequel… Two areas of completely mind-melting music on decompression weekend… don’t worry about blowing your wad the night before SF Decomp, as this is a donations-only event. Costume-up and come rawk out with us on saturday night and then wind up at decompression on sunday!

Or don’t … your call… but you may regret missing this one!

New Swami set on the Memekast

Big thanks to JK for hosting my latest mix!

There is no greater gift than the gift of music! This one’s a pretty straight-forward half-hour of glitchy midtempo goodness and one of my favorite little mixes to date!

www.mk2systems.com/memekast/mk023

and while you’re there, be sure to check out some of the amazing work from all the other artists who have been showcased on the site!

ENJOY!

Teeth Falling Out

Here is something i thought was absolutely weird.

At Burning Man ’05, on my third night of sleep, I had a dream that my teeth were coming loose… at the end of the dream I watched my father die right in front of me in a rite-aid.

In “The Techno Pagan Octopus Messiah” ( www.amazon.com/Techno-Pag…/0953327515 ) author ian Winn wrote that he stayed with a shaman and had a dream that his teeth were falling out… when he asked the shaman what it meant, he was told “it means that your father has died”

A few chapters later, he went to Burning Man for the first time… He was also there in 05 giving lectures. I tried (and failed) to attend one of them.

This year, on my 2nd night of sleep at Burning Man, i dreamed again that my teeth were falling out… On burn night I ran into Nice Jason and he told me that he had the same dream the night before.

What is the connection between Burning Man and this teeth dream? How is it that I watched my father die in my dream, just as the shaman interpreted for Ian Winn? Why did the dream return 2 years later on the playa again? And why did Jason have this dream too?

Burning Man = Transformation

Last Saturday night may very well have been one of the greatest and most beautiful nights of my entire life.

How often do you get to:

- Have serendipitous encounters with close friends in the deepest darkest regions of the desert?
- Have deeply bonding experiences with old friends while running around like children?
- Learn deep and significant lessons about yourself and your behavior and purge all your blockage?
- Make superhuman love to the sound of air raid sirens and feel the earth shake underneath you as a mushroom cloud goes off half a mile away?
- Swing on a giant swing with the love of your life while watching the sun rise on the playa?
- Watch Karmic cycles occur with utmost clarity and feel the universe speaking directly to you?
- Dance to sticky beats in the morning sun with someone swinging from a metal tree to your left and someone working a flamethrower on the purgatory cruiser to your right?
- Inscribe pieces of your heart in a book for all to read?

The entire trip was fantastic… just the sort of blend of effort and reward that makes burning man so special… but Saturday night…. WHOOOO BOY… Saturday night i will never forget. It was a deeply contemplative kind of night that reminded me of my first times… first time at burning man… first time raving…. first time falling in love…

It was the kind of night that reminds you where you are and where you’ve been and clears the fog away that you had forgotten was there. I learned a lot of things about myself on Saturday night but the most important of which are as follows:

- This was the first time at burning man that I have not felt the need to burn a part of myself at the temple… For once i do not have anguish i wish to escape from… This is a good thing and means I’m doing something right.

- Ever since Burning Man 05 I have been trying to play as many gigs as possible but this makes it really difficult to party and hang out with my friends… I have spend less and less quality time with friends who i love because of this hobby… having to get my gear somewhere safe after the gig… busy busy busy…. On Saturday night I felt total freedom to relax and to really share myself with my friends, and vice-versa… I had not realized that my own hectic schedule was the source of much of my dismay. I love you guys and miss a lot of you and I will be making an effort to go to more gatherings where I’m not playing so that we can spend time stomping the ground together.

- When I purged my blockage I think I REALLY purged my blockage… There must be a reason that other people didn’t have that same seemingly-adverse reaction… I will take the shamanic approach to this one and assume that I really did release some shit that has been preventing me from relaxing and growing… Perhaps my vow of “taking it easy” has been counter-productive… no shaman ever said “this guy needs a lighter dose…”… it’s the hard ones that are transformative…

- I am fucking in love with WantIt… the fact that I have not camped with them officially these past 2 years is nothing short of sad… next year I will be camped with them… with my family.. where i belong…

I have many people to thank for making saturday night possible and I plan to reward all of them in their own special way… Jay, Erica, Keebler, Mo and Phyllis… Jim, Jay, Misty, Misty, Phoenix, Chappy, Devon, Tamika, Eric, Derrick, Stacy, James, Tom, Molly and of course my Emmy Boo Bear… I love all of you and thank you thank you fucking thank you.