The Gypsy Swing Revelation

Wow what a lack of posting on my part! I do apologize for not being very active recently on account of my school schedule, but things are finally starting to wind down (at least for a couple of days before the next rush of work comes) and I hope to focus more attention again to this blog.

I spent some time with a band named Le Chat Lunatique last night. I've recently felt this urge to approach and visit with every band that I can, like the ora of the music scene is drawing me in. These people are, as a matter of fact, like minded to me. It amazing to speak with a group of guys that are so established within the music world, insofar as they can rely in it for income. I spoke with them in hopes of finding the primary difference between them and I, aside from the vast difference in skill level. As we spoke, they told me of there struggles with moving producers, self supported tours, and lots of hard work. For there last album, the vocal tracks alone have been weeks worth of work; this was very obvious as they performed; the harmonic vocal lines were clean to a degree that I have yet to experience in a live setting. But back to my point, It seems that that primary difference between them and so many musicians that don't make it is that they didn't give up. When I refer to giving up, I mean it in all aspects that it stands... they didn't give up learning, practicing, working hard at their music every day, playing shows, recording, continued learning, etc... I must say that talking with them was a very pleasurable experience; to see the passion for music within them, knowing that they loved what they did... truly inspiring...

Anyways, I just thought that I would come on here and share this experience with you!

Peace,

Jacob In Real Life....

The Tourist

Freshman fever has taken over UNM once again...This place is a circus.......and you know what that means.....

Bro rape happens everyday...be careful boys....

More importantly, though, I'm looking off in to my future and what is the small remainder of my undergraduate career. I've began to think to myself , In the current job market, that leaving academia may not be the best choice. Maybe the hiatus is was planning before grad school is not necessary. I say this, now on my first day back to school, like a bright eyed kindergartner..... Remember that day?

I remember my mom dropping me off at the bus stop, I had tingles all over. The school held a bus stop practice day where students and parents rode the bus together to make sure that the students boarding the bus knew how and where to get off. Imagine my moms surprise, on the first day, I missed my stop and went to the far ends of Los Chavez.

I remember little of the kindergarten experience, though. That is where I met my friends Michael Baca and attended with old friend Katrina. Also, I remember a girl named Lauren... she kissed me and asked if I would be her boyfriend; naturally I said no and kicked her in the shin....hmmmm anyways, little did I know then that I would be in school for years to come after that, long into my adulthood; I would have numerous first days, friends, missed bus stops, and girls asking me to be something to them (boyfriend, husband, etc...) . But as I stated before, it is only the first day back, and it seems that upon the commencement of every semester, I am ready to uproot myself from this place; I swear I will leave and never come back. No matter how my feelings change, I am glad to be here today.... it feels so familiar anymore. I have dedicated more work in effort in my years here than I did in my 12 years preceding it, and for that I am grateful. But I digress....

First day babel...

Peace,

Jacob In Real Life....

In todays news

turns out that my old History teacher is now a custom bicycle frame builder (matthewscustomcycles.blogspot.com)...beautiful work that he does. The day that I can afford one of his custom builds is a magnificently glorious day.... If you want to buy a bike, you should go to him! 

Peace

Jacob In Real Life...

(PS short and dirty sweet; look out for TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN any day now) 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

In your final moments you belched out an arrogant shout at me. Your words were unclear but I know very well what it pertained to.
First and foremost, I would like to remind you of a little law that states that as long as me and my bicycle are on the street, I am to follow traffic laws just as any other vehicle does. I receive the same citations, yield to the same pedestrians, and take the same risk (if not more than you) therefore when you pulled up behind me wanting to make a right hand turn, there was nothing I could (or would) do to allow you to go without putting myself at risk. So suck it, and stop being such and ignorant prick.

It seems like this is a weekly experience, an occurrence bound to me by my choice to commute by bicycle. I learned a while back that retaliation is useless and only agitates the situation more-so, therefore I usually don't react on the road. I simply ignore and remain aware. The whole turn around in my attitude happened when a weapon was pulled on me after a verbal confrontation.......

The beer bottles pressed against my back, their cold sweat seeping through my small messenger bag as I left the grocery store. I was so close to home, not but a block away when those bitter words spit themselves out of car window. "Nice bike FAGGOT". The day weighed on me as I watched the car pass, a young guy with his head out of the window and a scowl on his face. I Reacted, "Fuck you! You piece of 'cholo' shit!" This was almost routine, I was no stranger to shouts of anger at passing cars and I had evened thrown my U lock against the body of a car before, so this reaction was no surprise to me. As I looked ahead, I watched the car pull into the turning median to cross into the same apartment complex that I was. Do to the nature of our little scuffle, I decided it be best that I pass and come around at the next turn, as to not worsen the situation. As I pressed my bike passed the car as it waited to cross, the red eyed thug was hanging out of the passenger window of the car waving a cleaver at me. This wasn't done aggressively. He wasn't shouting or waving his body, but threatening me with evil eyes, rocking the cleaver like a ticking pendulum. In a brief moments I had turned the opposite direction and ridden into a culdisac where I felt i could wait for a bit until the situation was sure to have blown over.....

It is since that day that I have decided to play it calm on the road. There is not use to put yourself at anymore risk while you are on a bicycle. Riders, our situations are vulnerable enough as it is, 25 lbs bike vs 1500 lbs car is an outweighed fight and the bike will not win. Trust me, I've tried. And every now in then, you may even get some words of encouragement (About a week ago a guy pulled up to let me know how fast I was going then gave me a hoot of encouragement). And drivers (This goes for EVERYONE INCLUDING MYSELF and everyone that ever sets foot in a car) please remember that cyclist are just trying to do the same as you, get from point A to point B in the best amount of time, and are under some very contradicting laws, so take it easy on them.

And to the driver today, foes of the past, and enemies of my future; I don't give a f*#K what you think I should or shouldn't be doing on the road. I'm going to be there everyday, a lot of us are, and you're going to have to live with it.

Peace,

Jacob In Real Life.....

PS Feel free to leave a comment about how you feel on this topic, whether you agree or disagree! I'd love to hear what you have to say.