Into The Fire ~ Hear You Now

A few days ago while looking for "Moments," I also rediscovered this haunting track couplet "Into The Fire" by Geert Huinink under the alias of Noa Assembly which seems to seamlessly transition into and naturally go with "Hear You Now" by Frank Tomiczek under the alias DJ Hooligan. This couplet appears in Tiesto's In Search of Sunrise 3 mix album. "Into The Fire" is more of an ambient and/or chillout track whereas "Hear You Now" definitely fits in the musical taxonomies of both progressive house and progressive trance.

Quote of the Day - John F. Kennedy

Earlier today I noticed this John F. Kennedy quote on The Economist's Twitter feed (today was his birthdate). I immediately thought of how apropos this is in light of the current Trump Phenomenon. However, it is just as valid in the context of the ongoing theme with which I have been emphasizing for a number of years now, to wit, that people mostly elect to live in their own comfortable little cultural bubble and selectively choose their sources of information and cherry-pick which facts they will acknowledge. Hence, this quote from the Yale University Commencement on June 11, 1962, aside from being relevant in the current political season is also a timeless principle.

~ "We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

Wishy-Washy Nit-Wit Man-Child

At the same wedding as mentioned in the previous post I had a most bizarre and disappointing encounter with the groom. Sometime after the dinner was served but before the dancing began I was sitting outside the venue with my guard partner and one of the company co-owners discussing business during our break. Suddenly, the groom emerged from a side door near us and invited himself to join us to "reflect" on what he had just done. We congratulated him and I reminded him that the marriage bond is one of the glues that binds society. He responded to my comment by admitting that he never used to believe in marriage and used to think it was "b.s." and still wasn't so sure about it (and that it wasn't "b.s."). He expressed his doubts in the wisdom of what he had just done. We were stunned to hear a young man speak thus just a couple of hours into his marriage to a beautiful 31 year-old woman who seemed like a fine person.

Daily, I encounter people who have no idea how blessed they are and seem prone to taking for granted what blessings they have. As a single and celibate man who is a hopeless romantic and a very sexual person, and deeply desires to find love, at the right time with the right person in God's time and way, I marvel at those who have been blessed with finding love and yet don't appreciate it. This man was facing his wedding night not with desire for his wife but rather trepidation about his commitment. What faithless man-child! My life experience has been very different. My entire life has been a litany of episodes of either not being attracted to the women interested in me or the women in whom I am interested are either not available or not interested in me, or on the occasions I thought I might have found someone, they turned out to not be who I initially thought they were. Sometimes (like right now) I wonder if I shall live out my days on this earth alone, but I shall trust God's will regardless.

Finding A Sky Full Of Stars

Tonight I worked a wedding and the deejay played this 2014 Coldplay song. I don't listen to the radio much anymore and I generally shun pop music so I heretofore missed "A Sky Full of Stars" until tonight. As it played through the sound system at the venue I was blown away by it.

I Love Moments Like This

Out of the blue this fine progressive house track "Moments" came to my mind tonight while working in Cal Poly's Chumash Auditorium. Along with it I had a vision of a two-person dance routine by a male and female dancer dancing to it. This dance has always come to mind every time I have ever heard this track over the past decade or so which song is featured on Tiesto's In Search of Sunrise 4 mix album over the past decade or so.

Quote of the Day - Aristotle

As I recall, I first encountered this quote from Aristotle a year or two ago and found it rather quite intriguing.

"The worst form of inequality is to make unequal things equal."

Desirous to share it here tonight I did a modicum of research regarding it beforehand and discovered the previous quote is a paraphrase and the actual quote goes like this:

"But that the unequal should be given to equals, and the unlike to those who are like, is contrary to nature, and nothing which is contrary to nature is good." ~ Aristotle

Night of the Living Existentialist Angst

At this very moment at 2:00 a.m. PDT, on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, I utterly hate my life. Good night!

Armenian Genocide Remembrance

A month ago tomorrow was the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. On the Cal Poly campus a commemorative and educational display of vinyl panels placed upon the ground in the area of the Dexter Lawn was set up for a day. I took these images with my iPhone in a high-glare environment which turned out so-so but will suffice for our purposes here.

Numbers encircled by red are estimated casualty counts by region.

The numbers are subject to much contentious debate, but regardless, something terrible happened despite Turkish denials.

More estimated death counts. Of this Hitler wrote in 1939 in smugly referring to his intended genocide of Poles, spoke thus of the Armenian Holocaust: "Who, after all, speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?" As with so many other things, he was wrong about that, too.

One panel was previously stolen according to organizers, but no mention of when and whom stole it is unknown: Turkish or Armenian thieves? All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - What A Metz!

I missed all the excitement of the Metz Incident in Monterey-San Benito Unit of Cal Fire (BEU) today as I was oblivious to it until about dusk. At that point I went outside my house in Paso Robles to take a break from working on my senior project at Cal Poly and smelt smoke on the wind. I then proceeded to go back inside after walking my dog and checked my emails and the Hotlist. There I discovered this fire had erupted about 75 minutes north of me earlier this afternoon. Ordinarily I would have wanted to drive up and there and snap some images, but it's best I was oblivious and undistracted working on my homework. This 3,876-acre Metz Fire today follows the 3,712-acre Roberts Fire on the post of Camp Roberts two days earlier. Despite getting more rain this year than in the previous three rainy seasons, this part of California is thus far experiencing well-above average fire activity for this time of year which bodes ill for later this fire season. This image was captured from the air attack aircraft (the aerial spotter and air traffic controller for the incident). Image courtesy of Cal Fire (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Grilled Cheese Incident Command Van

Today my buddy Mike and I worked a company picnic at Avila Beach Golf Resort ending our company's two-year self-imposed hiatus working with that proporty. We are no back by popular demand and had a wonderful experience today representing our company and serving our client and their guests. One of the three mobile food service trucks was this wonderful tongue-in-cheek imitation of an emergency management mobile command post or communication vehicle. The folks at The Grilled Cheese Incident make a killer grilled cheese sandwich in various formulations; I had their "dragon." Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Roberts Fire Fiery Sunset

This afternoon a wildfire broke out on the post of Camp Roberts where military exercises are underway. The fire, driven by strong winds and heavy fuels, spotted and ran out of control across 1,500 acres of the base. I tried to gain a good vantage point for photographs when I took a break from working on my senior project. I found such a location near the intersection of Nacimiento Lake Drive (G14) and Interlake Road. However, lint and other minute debris in my camera which I cannot reach, appeared in each photo I took rending them all unusable. In light of that, I found this amazing photo by Trisha Butcher taken in the San Miguel area earlier this evening. Photo by Trish Butcher (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - Krakatoa vs. Tsar Bomba

Today in my Political Economy of Latin America and the Middle East class (History 214), the most excellent Dr. Cameron Jones gave an overview of the Cold War's beginnings and of the arms race. In light of that it seems appropriate to share this tonight, an image if found on the internet but for whom I can find no attribution aside from first name of Stuart. I give props to Stuart whatever his last name, for creating such an awesome graphical comparison of the 1883 VEI 6 eruption of Krakatoa and the 1961 50-megaton detonation of Tzar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear detonation ever conducted by mankind. The Krakatoa eruption is estimated to be four times more powerful than Tsar Bomba.  Image courtesy of Stuart (all rights reserved).

My Thoughts On Tranny-Privy-Gate

The ongoing controversy over gender-neutral bathrooms becoming normative and legal in order to accommodate those either unfortunate enough to be born with unmatching minds and bodies or who are simply nuttier than a fruitcake, whichever might be the case, has stirred up yet more Culture War ugliness in this most contentious and batshit-crazy of political seasons. Tonight on Facebook I noted a well-reasoned but somewhat flawed statement of principal on this matter from a high school classmate. It reiterated some of the oft-repeated myths in circulation by my more conservative (with a lower-case "c") friends and acquaintances whom have parroted what they have picked up from within their cultural bubble. My response follows below, but has been edited both to make it better overall as well as to remove specific references to that friend and his comment and make it more of an overarching statement of principle of my own on this matter. 

"This PC bathroom thing is being made into an obnoxiously over-discussed and over-anguished, much-ado-about nothing, tempest-in-a-teapot. The instigators of this latest Culture War brawl have been assholes in both the LGBT community and in the Christian community of which I am a non-asshole member as well as by more secular Ditto-head types. It's classic Culture War mental-emotional masturbation material for fanatics and partisans. Sexual assault and sexual harassment are still sexual assault are sexual harassment. They were illegal before and remain illegal. I am not the least bit bothered by a woman who lives as a man using a bathroom with me and even sitting in a stall next to me... I'm not the least bit threatened by that nor would any real man feel threatened. Furthermore, men who live as women are akin to or are gay men, especially the feminine type. Gay men do not sexually assault woman, they shop with them and tell them they are beautiful and too good for their boyfriends. However, straight men dressed as men sexually assault women and are usually known to the woman anyway. Gay men do not sexually assault little girls, straight men dressed as men do that and usually are known to the girl anyway. Pedo men who sexually assault little boys are already in the men's rooms and always have been and yet there has never been a public health emergency declared over this due to there being an epidemic of it because most boys are molested by a man they know, not a stranger in the bathroom. This PC genderless bathroom tranny-gate thing merely distracts us with yet one more thing to divide us so we angrily vote like lemmings come November. I refuse to take the bait and get my jimmies rustled. Peace~Out!"

A Feel Good Track

My obsession with progressive house music and in particular the progressive house sound of DJ Hazen Beltagui of Alexandria, Egypt, continues since last I discussed music here. Here is my next favorite track from Beltagui.... "Feel Good" by Dezza and remixed by Beltagui. It really gets going at about the 1:40 mark! Listen to nocturnally with the speakers cranked up and be ready to non-self-consciously dance!

My Top Ten Presidential Picks

As many of you know by now I am in a state of political angst and despair as I note my current "real" options for President of the United States this year. In light of that, here are my current favorite Presidential candidates in descending order of favor.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Darth Vader

Cthulhu

Jon Snow

Randy Marsh

Odin

Groot

General Zod

Christopher Walken

Rick Astley

Avoid Costco In Zombie Apocalypse

This requires no explanation from me.... just watch and enjoy!

Eighth Wonder of the Modern World

The New Zealand protectorate of Niue commissioned the Mint of Poland to produce a 7-ounce .999 pure silver round coin. It features an early modern map of the world by Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu and on top lists the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and a features Swarovski crystal at each point on the globe one of those wonders is located. This is a limited edition run of these of just over 1000 so needless to say I will never own one. Image courtesy of Getty Images (all rights reserved).

Something Was Wrong

For quite some time, but increasingly severely this quarter I have struggled with mental focus, motivation, ambition, and self-confidence..... I lost my mojo and felt overwhelmed by what I have to do to complete my coursework to graduate from Cal Poly a month from today. I have been often feeling powerless to do anything... especially as it pertains to my senior project at which I am severely behind schedule.

This morning the blinders came off and I recognized that something has been wrong.... I mean spiritually, not merely senioritus and college burn-out (which are also occurring), but also rather something deeper and more profound... and punitive. God has been gently disciplining me by withdrawing the full measure of blessing I have been more accustomed to and the full benefit of my God-given talents and skills. I have been like a ship in the Doldrums with hardly any guiding current of wind and water to motion me forth.... and I have not even recognized it.

This mild cursing has not been the consequence of any exotic or serious sin in the way we commonly rate/rank sins which is not God's perspective on sin anyway. For God any sin is sin no matter how small we might think it. No, I have not been away from God or out of right relationship with him. However, particular ongoing issues in my life I have left unaddressed or inadequately-addressed (like my tithe of time with God each day) or in other cases I've backslid into some things (like resuming arguing politics on Facebook after I had sworn off of that last month at God's insistence). There have been other things, too, but now you get the picture I hope.

God has pushed back on me to get my attention because He loves me and wants me to be close to Him and thus in a healthy relationship with Him which my selfishness, sloth, and stubbornness have hindered in recent months. Me being the knucklehead I am it took me awhile to figure it out. Scripture reveals "For whom the Lord loves he chastens and disciplines each of his children."(Hebrews 12:6) I have accepted the reproof and made things right and today was the most amazing day I have had in longer than I can remember. God is great and I love Him as He loves me!

Quote of the Day - Rosetti

I saw The Economist Tweet this just now and found the comment interesting on multiple levels:

"The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank."

~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti - English painter and poet.

An Aurally Sumptuous Sweet Disposition

After not finding much new amazing electronic music of note for a number of months I have hit a new mother lode.... it is Egyptian progressive house DJ Hazem Beltagui. Here he remixed Australian band Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" of which the video of the original track can be viewed HERE. I typically prefer a female voice to any vocals in my electronic dance music, but the falsetto of vocalist Dougi Mandagi can be goose bump-inducing sans remix but in Beltaqui's remix it sounds angelic. For those who foolishly believe all Arabs are Muslims or all Muslims are extremists, and thus cannot contribute anything to the collective civilization of the modern world, all I can say is this Arab DJ's sound is the bomb! He is in my view the most exciting DJ I have heard in quite some time and I will be following him closely. Play this track with the sound turned up and give yourself permission to dance even if you must be alone if you are self-conscious. Also, this kind of music being rather essentially nocturnal is best enjoyed after dark in my opinion. The accompanying breathtaking time-lapse videography is a most effective paring with this track. Enjoy!

Shakespeare in Space

While reading Macbeth last night for my Intro to Shakespeare class (English 339) I noticed Macbeth referred to a "dagger of the mind." I immediately recognized it as a title of an episode of the original Star Trek series. This got me to thinking about how many other episodes of the original Star Trek series likewise quoted Sharkespeare verbatum or in paraphrase. Below is my list:

1. "Dagger of the Mind" (Season 1, Episode 9) ~ (Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1)
2. "Conscience of the King" (Season 1, Episode 13) ~ (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2)
3. "By Any Other Name" (Season 2, Episode 22) ~ (Romeo & Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2)
4. "All Our Yesterdays" (Season 3, Episode 23) ~ (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5)

 Of course this list only refers to episode titles in the original series and does not address the plethora of Shakespeare references in quotes and plot lines in the original series and the later spin-off series. It is also worth noting that numerous episodes of the original TV series featured names that looked/sounded Shakespearean but were not.

My Top Ten 1980s Music Videos

Here is my list of best/favorite music videos of the 1980s (NOT best song) which was the artistic high point/golden age of music videos as the juvenile demand/request "I want my MTV" was oft heard throughout the land. Some/most of these were commercially successful with the last few on the list being less so but not less artistically inspired.

Michael Jackson's  "Thriller" in 1983.

The Police's "Every Breath You Take" in 1983.


The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" in 1983.


Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" in 1985.


Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" in 1984.


Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" in 1982.


A-Ha's "Take On Me" in 1984.


Queen's "Radio Gaga" in 1984.


Alan Parson's Project's "Don't Answer Me" in 1984.


Godley & Creme's "Cry" in 1985.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day, mom! 

You won't read this until a day or more after your day. 

I want you to know I love you more than you can know and I would die for you. 

I want you to know I respect you even if my blunt honesty sometimes come across as suggesting otherwise. 

I want you to know I appreciate you and what you have done for me and what you have been through on my behalf starting with my conception up unto this day. 

I want you to know that it breaks my heart to see the loss you have experienced in your life.

It hurts me when I think about what you have missed out on in life up to this point.

Even all your self-inflicted wounds I can relate to more than you can know. 

We have been through a lot, more than anybody else living knows, and ever will know.

We have lost a lot of things which we cannot ever recoup and yet we are so very rich and blessed.

I want you to know how grateful I am to have you back and don't ever want to lose you again.

It is in my nature and it is one of my current roles to push you to actualize and realize your full potential and not let any grass grow under your feet so please understand that when I seem to be pressing you. 

You are a remarkable person only just now emerging from your chrysalis to become an amazing woman. 

Please keep chopping wood and putting one foot in front of the other every single day of your life.

You have many unexpected and satisfying chapters of the book of your life yet to write.

Your son, 

Kimmer 

Picture of the Day - Swallow Creek Ranch Prom

Vino Vice tried out a new client tonight (Swallow Creek Ranch) and sent me to work the event at this new (to us) venue over at the coast three minutes outside of Cayucos, CA. I was previously unaware until tonight that there even was an event venue in the Cayucos area aside from the Cayucos Vets Hall (which was red-tagged but just over a week ago due to structural problems). Tonight's event was the prom for Coast Union High School in Cambria, CA. The kids were on their best behavior and the event staff and venue owner were a pleasure with which to work. *Note: my camera needs a little interior cleaning and I don't clean up my images on Photoshop so this is how my photo came out, warts and all.
Photo courtesy of Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

On The Eve of Armageddon

Can anybody out there tell me anything about this illustration, to wit, who painted it, when, and on what book or publication did this appear? Thank in advance! Photo provenance unknown (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - KAP-ing the SAF

Image of the San Andreas Fault on the Carrizo Plain taken by means of the "Kite Aerial Photography technique."
Image courtesy of the USGS (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Wasco Cloud Crawler

Tonight thunderstorms are effecting various localities scattered throughout California as a cutoff low meanders over the region. The most intense activity has been centered in the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Foothills. Jared Isaac of Shafter, CA, captured this beautiful and dramatic image north of Wasco, CA, a few hours ago. This "cloud crawler" lightning is something one would expect to see in association with the more violent thunderstorms seen in the central and eastern U.S. Photo by Jared Isaac (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Feline Pâté Box

My little geriatric buddy Willie who is now about 17 years old and getting incredibly feeble and senile is finding wackier resting places all the time it seems. The past several days it was mom's kitchen sink; now it is his discarded pâté catfood box. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Scripture of the Day - Schadenfreude In Scripture

The Germans have a wonderful word for what otherwise in English and many other languages would be a phrase or clause to describe taking pleasure in someone or something getting its comeuppance. This word is schadenfreude (deriving pleasure from others' misfortunes) . I would argue that the English word "gloat" is not precisely the same thing. God has something to say about this in the Book of Proverbs.

"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and don't take pleasure when he stumbles because God will take note of it and become angered at you and remove his hand from your enemy (with the implication of placing upon you instead)." ~ Proverbs 24:17-18 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

Quote of the Day - Socrates

At first glance this seems like a contemporary critique of Millennials or even younger people today, but actually it was penned by Socrates in lamenting the youth of his day.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." ~ Socrates

Picture of the Day - Reed Family Mass Grave

Today I partook in my first fire chase of this year's fire season. I heard CAL FIRE SLU North County ground and air resources dispatched to CAL FIRE BEU's adjacent South County in Indian Valley outside of San Miguel/Bradley near the intersection of Indian Valley Road and Hare Canyon Road. The fire burned about 3 acres and I only traveled as far north as San Miguel as I noted no header. To make the short jaunt north worth my while, I stopped at Mission San Miguel Arcángel and shot this image of the Reed Family mass grave. The Reed-Vallejo Clan who occupied the mission property were slaughtered by six men (5 whites recently arrived from the Gold Country and a local Indian) in an armed robbery resulting in 11 deaths. I had previously not understood the significance of this cross until an employee of the mission over at the mission event center told me about it the last time I worked there. I had previously looked for this grave marker expecting to see a name on it. For some reason this family is buried in an unmarked grave. Were they not good Catholics? The property was secularized and privately owned at the time of the Mission San Miguel Massacre/Reed Family Murders in 1848. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).