My Personal Ecdysis
So strange That moment When you realize You never lived at all It was a life for sure But what was it all about? Strutting on life’s stage All sound and fury Yet signifying ‘not nothing’ Rather lived as expectation Being what you thought You should be But what do I want to be? Who am I really? I’ve masks upon masks So deep, I forget Which might be the real me I begin to peel Layer after sticky layer I peel so deep It really hurts And even now I’m unsure If I’ve reached the core Or, am confused myself As to where my skin Ends and really begins Have I reached my true insides? Is that why I’m feeling sore? I shed each skin And then begin To
Read More »So You Think You Know Me?
One idea that constantly occupies some aspect of my thoughts is how transparent people really are. I can think of a couple of examples immediately and in each case, I confess I am often troubled and upset by it. It seems to me that these people believe they know me. They plainly have a picture of me in their mind. A sort of working model. The problem is is that while that picture may have my outer appearance, it is almost certainly a facet of themselves that occupies that outer form in their mind and yet, they do not know this. It makes for an endless source of irritation in our communications. It means that everything I ever say or do is seen against their expectations of how I will
Read More »The Age of the Mantra
Those who know me will know that I’m a skeptic on CO2 being the primary driver around climate change. I’m called a ‘climate change denier’ despite the fact that I embrace the fact the climate changes. My ‘sin’ is to have some other opinions about why climate changes and despite, the mantras, there is a lot (and increasing) of scientists that share this view. However, this blog isn’t about climate change, it’s about mantras. You see, as soon as my position on climate change is known then I’m seen as a right winger. Again, those that know me will know that this isn’t at all true either. I’m a critical thinker and I have the confidence to hold my own options on almost every topic around which I have some
Read More »Humanity Has Cataracts
A couple of years ago, I was rather shocked when my eye doctor told me I was developing cataracts. She wanted to schedule for for lens replacement and I said no…. I can see quite well and I am in no rush to have my eye lenses replaced via an operation thank you! Having said that, I am thinking of prescribing lens surgery for humanity at the moment. We all see the world in our own way. We are sort of programmed by our parents, the broader community we live in, our teachers, friends, peer groups, the news and so much more. We see the world through these layers of our own belief and operate this way unless perhaps we become aware of it. Once aware of this, some of
Read More »Did We Not Learn?
I feel we may be on the verge of night As the darkness is slowly setting in Lying like a heavy, claustrophobic, blanket And that darkness conceals the sin Of the many who through despair, Or perhaps stupidity, have been drawn in It’s a bloody twilight, threatening us all It’s like a sickness or a plague Anger, resentment and hatred Perhaps, its simply frustration A lack of understanding and an ability to cope People losing their way, expressing lost hope Besieged daily with untruths Corrupt leaders striking popular poses They stink, but still smell like roses To their frightened adoring masses As they ratchet up the untruths Fingers on the hatred button Empty promises from a power glutton And as darkness slowly falls We despair for what had been The
Read More »A Word About Climate
If you read CNN or the BBC or even read the hilarious IPCC report recently, you would be forgiven for thinking that the end is nigh. Me, I’m totally sick of this ‘fake news’ trotted out periodically. These days, if something is wrong, climate change is to blame. Every hurricane or storm is because of climate change. Disease is spreading because of it and on and on. Of course, we all know that the science is proven…… Well, the politics is proven and those pushing the agenda of climate change have made up their minds – like the IPCC – which is rapidly becoming a bit of a joke really…. and I will explain why in a few lines. The problem is that science is never settled – by definition,
Read More »Portrait of an Artist
The second photoshoot with Czech-American photographer, Walter Novak, is all done and I’m happy with the results. As Walter put it in an email – 975 shots and I nailed you with this one. I have to admit, he probably did and his style of photography, I am shown as I am. I like the other shots too like this one. He has given me several that I can use for my author activities and also music. Walter is available for photo shoots…. contact me if interested.
Read More »Photo Shoots
Just recently, the celebrated Czech-American photographer – Walter Novak – shot some photographs for me to help me promote a better image around my music. Walter is an award winning photographer who has worked with the stars and so, honestly, it was an honor to work with him. The results I think are startling. His concept was to take the photos at dusk with a long shutter speed capturing a moving Brno tram in the background along with graffiti and so on. It gives a central-eastern European feel while also making me look quite the rocker! I am very pleased with the results. Last night, we completed the second part of the assignment – to take some closer stills of me for my book promotion work. He chose another location
Read More »How To Look At The World
I met Walter several years ago in Brno. He seemed a character and had good stories to tell. Unfortunately, he moved to Prague and from there back to the US. We kept in touch though via Facebook. Then, a few weeks ago I noticed him posting about returning to Brno so I reached out and we agreed to meet. Since then, we have shared a few evenings telling stories and laughing a lot. But Walter is no ordinary person. He sees life in a different way to many and his way of looking at the world is through the lens of a camera. He is also an artist framing what he sees within his lens. His vision captures the humanity of his subjects and casts them mostly in a way
Read More »Singing to Myself
For the last couple of years, I’ve been writing songs. It’s a lot of fun and occasionally, one of them gets played on a radio station – usually in the USA – which is quite a thrill if I’m honest about it. Like almost everything these days, anyone can now make a record and put it out on digital platforms like Spotify. It’s an era in which anyone can, if they desire, do pretty much anything creatively whether they find an audience or not. And most of us don’t. Most of us are singing to ourselves because there is simply so much choice – music, books, videos and so on. In fact, there is a scientific rule that the distribution of things is always unequal such that a country will
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