Ahhh! It's 5:19 am as I begin to type this, and to think just a few hours ago I passed out watching The Basketball Diaries with Leo DiCaprio... Was a bit boring, I thought and, seeing as I got woken up not even an hour later, I pondered what to do with my now sleepless state. Human Traffic it was, though I didn't watch most of it. I spent time cataloguing my recent vinyl purchases into my collection on Discogs' database. How I love watching my collection grow (though this might be an addiction I'll never get rid of!).

I spent a lot of time looking for places of residence in Southern California yesterday, and it looks like I'll be doing the same today. I found quite a bit in the San Fernando Valley, and I'll be looking around Ventura once I finish up with this page. Maybe I'll start it once I'm done with this entry. Who knows.

Emily from Rockford called me tonight. Damn, I haven't talked to her in a long ass time! Apparently she was in a singing competition at Disneyland a while back. Good for her! We were talking about all sorts of stuff. She says she's gonna come out to SoCal next month to see me DJ @ Otter*Pops! Yay! Makes me happy to see others prosper in music. It inspires me, now that I have the time (and sanity) to finally focus on my own artistry. Ugh so much to do, but it's all gonna be worth it in the end.

BTW... Flyer for Otter*Pops:



It really makes me wonder who makes these flyers. They look rather silly, but whatever works. Tulip's making me excited to see Tigger spin TRANCE. Apparently he hasn't mixed in 12 years. In addition, I'm gonna be pulling out some of the DARKEST shit I've ever played for ANY set as I am the closer for the drum & bass/hardcore area.

I also talked to Yvette tonight for quite a bit, and she's gonna be making it out to Otter*Pops too. She's not even a raver, but I'm gonna turn MY SOCCER PLAYER on to this filthy music. :D! Oh yea, and I'm gonna have my first OFFICIAL audio engineering "gig." Chase of Blu Ice Entertainment is going to be teaching me the ropes (as I will be going back to school soon for this very profession). DJ TZ has also offered to mentor me.

I'm currently working for 4 drum & bass labels: Blu Saphir, Influenza Media, Black Reign Music Group and (soon) Vibez Recordings. I also have a feature coming up on dogsonacid.com on the revival of Biotic Recordings. Boy, am I excited!!!!

Uh oh... It's getting light out. Ah how I miss the rave. I miss those days of walking out of the venue as the sun throws itself over the horizon. I miss those days of chillin at The Rocks on Foster & Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, cuddling with some cute girl that I met the night before. I need to rave soon. That's for sure. Technologic on July 5th is going to be FUCKING INSANE.

I feel like doing something right now. It might seem a little crazy. It's now 5:35 am, and I'm not even tired. And as I raise my arms above my head to stretch, I feel the "bruise" that was left when Eric, my roommate, punched me in the chest earlier. I got $3 and a nice folding knife out of it though. And then he started punching and stabbing things (with a pair of sai) like speakers. He was also shooting flaming skewers at the wall with an airsoft gun. o_0 Shawn & Eric both passed out on me. And somehow the coal sitting atop the hookah fell off, burned my leg and scarred the carpet. Still don't understand that one. I wasn't drunk or anything. Whatevs.

Mew. I could say more. I just don't know what to say. Maybe sleepyness will kick in soon... I hope...

Current Mood: awake

First there's these images:

(to be inserted later. website is unavailable :[)

Then a Weed Shake recipe:

Here's a good recipe for weed shakes:

Mix 600 ml water, 250 ml 2% milk, a few teabags or a bit of coffee, and 5 drops of lemon juice with a couple good handfuls of weed waste (vaporizer leftovers and / or leaves; I have no idea how much bud you'd use). Note that 2% milk seems to work best, as it's the surfactants in it that we're after, rather than the fat (the stuff that keeps the fat suspended also traps THC).

Heat until it's just barely boiling, and hold it there for 90 minutes.

Filter out the weed sludge WHILE IT'S STILL HOT, and add sugar and either chocolate syrup or vanilla extract to taste.

Let cool (if you're patient), then shake and drink. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to kick in, but the effect is very strong and will last for about 5 hours.

Tags: shake, weed

DETROIT - Thieves who stole an 8-foot statue of Jesus Christ off a crucifix in Detroit may have been seeking copper to sell as scrap. Problem is, it's made of plaster.

The Rev. Barry Randolph said Wednesday that the statue at the Church of the Messiah is green and looks like copper, one of several metals coveted by thieves because of soaring scrap prices.

Thieves have damaged copper pipes and stolen aluminum gutters at the church over the past few months, said Donya Ray-Gregg, a member of the congregation, which over the years has dwindled from about 350 members to just 50.

It's unclear when the statue was snatched. A parishioner noticed it missing Monday from its perch on the side of the church, 10 feet above the ground. A small piece of plaster was found nearby.

The church has made a public plea for help.

"It is so crazy," Randolph said. "It's been there for so long and was a symbol of hope to a lot of people in this neighborhood."

Police were investigating, but department spokesman James Tate said it was doubtful thieves had mistaken the plaster statue for copper.

"People who steal copper know what copper is and what it feels like," Tate said. "There is no way they would think a plaster statue is some type of metal."

Tags: copper, detroit, jesus
Current Mood: amused

So today's been pretty chillaxin'! Got up early this morning to head over to the social security office for an interview to get food stamps. That went well. So I'm gonna get a decision either tomorrow or Thursday. 95% says that I'll have $155 coming to me every month. :]

So after the usual boring bus ride, I came home and started working on vocals for 2CV (aka Phono of Leet Recordings) for an minimal tune. I had a lot of fun doing it. It seemed to flow nicely. I finished recording about an hour later and started working on a freestyle for Lollita's "Luxor." I'm gonna have fun with this one, but I think I should get some advice from Illy Emcee before I continue on with this.

I have tracks by Subject 13 and Belial that I still need to finish still though. I'll be working on those more tomorrow. My voice doesn't like me much right now. I've gotta get my ass to Arizona and finish up some shit for Juggernaut too... Meh. One of these days.

I've also hit up another band in Arizona, Ashes For Erin. Apparently they're looking for a vocalist and are on the death metal/melodic tip. So YAY. We'll see what happens.

:] It's a good day so far. Now time to go play with Reason for a little while! ^_^

Tags: 2cv, ashes of erin, belial, food stamps, illy emcee, juggernaut, leet recordings, lollita, luxor, mike battle, minimal, phono, reason, s13, singing, social security, subject 13, vocal
Current Mood: creative

After influxes of insanity over the last week or so, I've started to re-evaluate my current situation, where I'd like to be and what I'd like to be doing. Let's face it. Moving back to Northern California could have been the worst mistake I've ever made.

I thought that moving back up here after being laid off from Anything Imprinted would have possibly done me some good, especially since Simon Apex was offering me this huge opportunity with Nu Energy USA. He described it as "my big chance." He was a great friend. Not someone I met on the internet. He's helped me out in the past, so I figured "why not?" So I came up here and gave him his alotted time to make the necessary arrangements so that I could start work.

Unbeknownst to me, weeks later, Nu Energy USA went kaput but, instead of going back to SoCal right then and there (because it didn't come to mind), I stayed in Martinez and survived on unemployment. This definitely proved to be my enemy when, on July 21st, I had to leave Martinez because of fucked up situations. The usual in my life, right?

So with nowhere else to go, I relocated to San Jose. Things first seemed okay, but as time went on, everything began to spiral downward on a rapid rate. We eventually got evicted for Chris' loud fucking parties every night (though we never got an actual reason, this is what I was guessing) and moved to the east side of San Jose. I had found a place down the street from where Chris & Zephyr were staying, but found out a week later that the landlord rejected me because I had to "permanent" job. I was with a temp agency. Give me a fucking break! Why he waited a week to tell me this is beyond me.

A friend was also willing to let me move into her apartment in Vista (Southern California). I would have ended up right where I was when I left Arizona for Southern California. But "friends" brainwashed me into staying in Northern California and also talked my ride out of taking me down there. On top of that, Home Depot had called me that same day, offering me a position. I was blind and didn't see the massive onslaught that would be immediately following this. I accepted the position and stayed in San Jose.

The following month would allow chaos to reign on every part of my life. Hours were getting cut within a month, "friends" were turning on me due to drugs and the "house" was turning into a "crack house" with people being on shit every night. I couldn't even go out to buy groceries because the second I did, they'd be devoured by some twat that didn't have their own money to begin with.

I finally got out of there with a place of my own in Mid-October. At this point though, it didn't really matter anymore. It seemed like all of my local friends had turned their back on me. I spent a lot of time working. That's all I did.

Fast Forward to the end of February...

I had been served with a notice to move out by my landlady. So I found this place in South San Jose (where I reside now). The trek to work would be an hour greater, but it's what I had to do. Around Mid-April, the Capitol Light Rail station went under construction by my house, and due to this inconvenience, the bus shuttles made me late for work three times. Though I explained to management that this wasn't my fault, I was terminated.

Gotta love the way they play favorites, huh? There are people who no call/no show, call in sick every day and are late every day. But they don't get penalised at all. WTF is up with that? I was also beginning to look for another job around the time of my termination. That puts a damper on my tracks huh?

So $923 was put in my hand, and I still had money in the bank account. Great! So now I've got over a thousand dollars to move to Southern California. I had found a place in Chatsworth that would allow me to stay from Mid-April to June 1st for $300. So I co-ordinated with the lady that I would make it down there on April 28th, the same weekend as Uprise. She had told me that "the place is mine" and to just give her the money when I got down there. Fair enough.

So I spent two days looking for a ride. In this time, I guess the lady had e-mailed me saying, "are you excited?" Obviously, since I was so busy, I had no time to check my mail. I open my inbox to see the words "the opportunity is gone." Obviously this freaked me out. I called her up and she told me that since I hadn't replied to her e-mail (though she already told me the place is "mine"), she gave the place to someone else. I tried finding another place to fit my budget, but that was an utter failure. Strike two.

Upon the realisation that there was now no way in hell for me to move back to SoCal, I slipped into a patch of darkness and depression. I had re-applied with Officeteam and IHOP, but didn't do much other than that for the first two weeks. I had money in the bank anyways. I thought that something good would come up. Officeteam still hasn't "found" anything, and the manager at IHOP that interviewed me kept asking about my lazy eye. I kept telling him that it doesn't affect my vision. I guess he wanted to discriminate against me just because of a "flaw."

Once I emerged from this darkness, I started putting out applications and resumes EVERYWHERE. It was taking forever to get a reply for ANYTHING. Finally I started getting replies to e-mails, and I secured a job at Togo's... But that's all I've gotten... After countless sleepless nights, a ton of hard work and finally being burnt out, I'm finished. I'm tired of having no friends, struggling with barely any money (and having to ask parents for money numerous times because unemployment rejected me) and just having an overall dissatisfied life.

And you'd really start to think... What's become of Simon Apex and his "opportunity?" He's asked me to write up interviews for SacLights, but this too will be unpaid. I can't really afford to write unpaid right now, especially considering that my head isn't really in hardcore to begin with. But one would start to wonder, the least he could do is share some of his connections so that I can make some cash as well as expand my portfolio. I love to write but lately, it hasn't really appealed to me much either. And I'm really sick of people who turn their backs just because someone is going through a string of hard times. Those aren't real friends at all.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Megadeth

An unwitting passenger arriving at Japan's Narita airport has received 142g of cannabis after a customs test went awry, officials say.

A customs officer hid a package of the banned narcotic in a side pocket of a randomly chosen suitcase in order to test airport security.

Sniffer dogs failed to detect the cannabis and the officer could not remember which bag he had put it in.

Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials.
The cannabis is estimated at having a street value of nearly $10,000 (£5,000).
"This case was extremely regrettable. I would like to deeply apologise," said Narita International Airport's customs head Manpei Tanaka.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7419969.stm

Tags: airport, cannabis, dog, experiment, tokyo

BLUS008 Peyo & Cloud Nine - That's What You Do To Me/Random Movement Remix

Peyo is a man of many different styles. His creation of the signature "cinema-concert nights," a distinctive "4-deck DJ-theater show" (performed alongside the Electrons Libres.) has opened eyes across the globe to new techniques in live music. Playing everything from drum 'n bass to breakbeat, electro, funk and soul, his impeccable, creative mixes have landed him a residency with the legendary Dragon Crew. Playing many shows across his home country and Europe with an impressive list of top notch producers to include Moby, Keaton, Dillinja, Amon Tobin, Shimon and MC Stamina, these credits have cemented his stature as a mixologist in the French drum 'n bass scene for over a decade. Peyo maintains a busy schedule with recent releases on Bingo Beats and Vandal, a weekly radio show on Toulouse's FMR Radio with Redeyes, "Breakbeat Experience" and various guest appearances on premier broadcasts, including Fabio's program on UK BBC, Flight's Next Chapter and Bailey's Intabeats.

Not to be confused with the early Cloud 9 (of You've Got Me Burnin' fame), The Funktastics' Cloud Nine takes a step outside of his group for a superb solo effort with the man mentioned above. Don't let the name fool you though. Despite the obvious similarity to one of Nookie's earliest productions, this man is no newcomer to D&B. Putting on events since the mid-nineties with the Dity Crew alongside fellow Funktastics mate, Cosa, "C Nine" has brought out many big names including Andy C, Shy FX and High Contrast. If his more recent releases on Friction's Shogun Audio and SGN:LTD, Spin Recordings and Sidechain-Music weren't enough, look out for more discrete and deeper sounds in the pipeline!

BLUS008 (click on links for audio)
A. Peyo feat. Cloud Nine – That's What You Do To Me
B. Peyo feat. Cloud Nine – That's What You Do To Me (Random Movement Remix)

What You Do to Me:

If you've never bought a Blu Saphir release, this would be the one that would fit perfectly in your bag! A superb chord progression on the pads leads into an even more magnificent main vocal, leading the way to more looped samples and an atmospheric backdrop of pure bliss. Big up to the Frenchmen – showin' the world how to do drum 'n bass right!

What You Do To Me ( Random Movement Remix ):

The RM remix presents a different take on this brilliant piece of work. The trademarked, upbeat feel that is ever-present on so many of Blu Saphir's releases is definitely noticed here. The vocals are chopped and looped throughout the track amidst multiple driving drum sections. A simple bassline adds the depth while the staple elements roll the track out to the finish.

For more news on this release, please visit http://www.blusaphir.com and www.myspace.com/blusaphir_recordings

Both tunes have massive support by the likes of Makoto, Fabio, Big Bud, Marky, Patife, Beta 2, Henree and many more..

Promos are out now on Chemical Records, Juno, Hard To Find, Etc.

Words by Bryan Friedman (sykophiend@gmail.com)

Tags: blu saphir, blus, cloud 9, peyo, promo, random movement
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Within Temptation - Mother Earth

Don't know where to turn
Don't know when to run or when to stand and fight
Like a rat trapped in a cage, I'm trapped inside this colorless box
Crawling from the black of death to reach for an outstretched hand, but I find nothing

Moments later the sun beams down on my face
Taking in the Earth's winds one at a time; it carries me
Climbing mountains of sand and stone
I reach the apex as I look down on the ground below
But then that mass disappears...
I plunge thousands of feet ground below
Falling rate increasing
My face bounces off solid earth
I lay there... unconscious; just to regain life seconds later

My eyes disappear to the back of my skull
I fight to stand only to collapse as I rise
Back at the bottom of this gargantuan structure
Too weak to climb...
Refusing to repeat the enormous feat that had me victorious before the fall

I crawl to an endless infinity
Away from this mountain
Not caring to climb it again
But I know I'm going to have to
I crawl away hoping these winds would carry me to the top
But the air is calm and no gust blows

Lacking energy and strength, I give in
The whole world goes black

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: Within Temptation

So finally after weeks of this dreaded darkness, something positive decides to show itself. I've spent nearly two "work days" hunting for more jobs and it looks like it's starting to pay off. I had two interviews today, one at P.F. Chang's and another at In-N-Out. They both went well. Tomorrow, I'm headed over to California Pizza Kitchen and Buca DiBeppo for two more interviews. I'm headed back to Olive Garden next week for an interview as well. That makes five in one day. Nice, right?

I'm actually celebrating with my "victory Tilt" right now. Good drum & bass as well. Go Goroteks!

Still have a bit to figure out with how I'm going to be paying my bills that start coming in the next few days and paying off two overdrafts (that came due to unemployment being so slack on getting my case handled... It's been a fucking month and my case is still "pending." More like "impending"... doom).

I've got more on my mind though, and this is something that has been permeating my brain for the longest time now... But only came to light in the last week - these so-called "friends" I have. What kind of friends turn their back on someone going through hard times, saying they "don't want to deal with any of their "drama?"" That's really nice, especially considering that if my friends were going through hard times, I would be there in a heartbeat. Friends are supposed to be there for each other, yet it seems like the "friends" I have up here are only concerned about their own well-being. They don't want to stick around for someone when times get rough. I say this to these people - FUCK YOU.

I'm sorry if I get so negative sometimes, but if you were in the same situation where things were just spiraling downhill at a rapid rate, you might be the same way too... AND I WOULDN'T DESERT YOU.

But here's something to ponder... What are you gonna think when I'm gone? Where am I going you ask? The United Kingdom! Why? Because there is OPPORTUNITY there... and people actually appreciate me there. I could use a change of scenery... A different way of life. You idiots are so soaked up in your own lives that you just feel the need to kick me to the curb when things get bad. You aren't real friends to me, and you probably never were. I don't need you. I don't want you. Have a nice life without me because I'm going to be something that you didn't even see coming.

Current Mood: drunk
Current Music: Goroteks - Dom & Roland Mix! BOH!

For those who I told I would be doing vocals for an upcoming freeform track:

Unfortunately, this isn't going to happen. The track was due to be sent in today, and had a lot of changes made at last minute. The title of the track was also changed, and with Jen in from Long Beach, there was no way I could redo the vocals on such short notice. So no go this time. Was kinda disappointed yesterday, but it's all good. We all know this is not the end.

On the upside though, I did realise a few things:

Let's face it. My voice doesn't belong in happy hardcore. My lyrics are dark, and my voice is even darker. After showing this producer my lyrics, he agreed too. I might like happy hardcore, but I am in no way that happy-go-lucky vocalist. My atmospheres are dark and twisted.

It was worth a shot. It didn't happen. We move on.

Tags: freeform, happy, hardcore, vocals
Current Music: Ed Rush & Trace - some random darkside mix from 97