On Our Way to Disappear

Grand Central Station in New York on a Saturday afternoon. Totally empty and perfect.

Offend in Every Way

What the fuck is wrong with this country when our news anchors keep talking about how this disaster in Japan could be good for our economy. Its as if the Japanese people are not alive to them or something and I wonder if this is indicative of how many people feel about those outside the US. We seem to be obsessed with war. My parents were in Germany a few years ago and the couple they stayed with bluntly said that our problem is that we've never had war on our own soil. At least not in a way that has scarred us to the reality of what war really is.... a bunch of power hungry fuckers using the rest of us to pursuit their own goals at whatever cost. Its attitudes like that, that I seek to change. This weekend I feel like my life was changed several times and I now know I cannot just sit here when there is so much going on in the world that I as an artist have a duty to reveal. So it begins....

Apocalypse later

This will make me sound insane. Which I can't completely refute, but I'd rather refer to myself as psychologically quirky.

Some of you might know, but I've started slowly building my apocalypse backpack. Not for anything specific. I'm not buying into the whole 2012 thing, zombie outbreak or the return of Jesus. I mean if Jesus does come back and says "hey, fuck you Buddhists", I'm screwed anyway because my backpack won't be complete by the time he returns this year. Or at least that's when the billboard tells me he'll be back.

I just kind of think it's a good thing to have. That one thing you grab if shit really hits the fan and you may need to survive out in God knows where for who the fuck knows how long. Plus it gives me a reason to buy cool shit, like machetes.

I guess in retrospect, that just makes me sound even more insane. Plus if the government actually tracks everything people buy online, I've got to have one of the weirder files. And probably flagged. I think in the past 6 months, I've bought 2 knives and a machete, premium photo paper, a compass, a cheap portfolio,  a Phoenix Marvel statue, a fire starter, Little Big Planet 2, 100 ft of paracord, a UV lens filter, 3 seasons of Murder, She Wrote (that was actually my sister's Christmas gift. She has this weird infatuation with senior citizens.) a copy of Kitchen Confidential and a few random movies. And this was only on Amazon. Stupid Amazon and their random array of stuff you never knew you wanted and convenient 1 click ordering.

Maybe I've been watching too many apocalyptic movies. Or listening to too much Coast to Coast and all the conspiracy theories have been slowly seeping into my unconsciousness. But somehow the idea of the apocalypse backpack became less of the in and more of the sane. It's probably a bit more on the in because I haven't actually bought the backpack yet.

But for now, I continue adding to my random ass pile for apocalypse survival. Next will be my tinfoil helmet.

If you happen to see me wearing white shoes and handing out Kool Aid with handfuls of psychedelics, I've completely lost it and please just run me down. It'll be better for everyone in the long run.

K

For Phil, Tyler and Adam

MT

If you are are a fan of "this" musician, the scene pictured here is undoubtedly a landmark here in Los Angeles that you should seek to visit.  When I stood here, I thought of my old friends that introduced me to the artist, and then had one of those moments.  It was fitting that the mural had been sprayed by taggers and graffiti artists over the years.  (yes, the unique wall painting is the center piece to this whole story).  It wouldn't feel right if the painting was unmolested....when my only means to share my photos was facebook, I titled the folder "Time Only Conceals"...(I never title pictures, only folders....yet this folder had but one picture....).....but I don't think that title was well thought out.  At the real site, the graffiti worked its way up, reaching as far as anybody wishing to mark their own presence could extend their arms.  In fact, I once read the painting had been partially covered over multiple times over the years, and the owners of the recording study; to which the painting belongs; had restored it as many times.  Eventually, the owners or occupants will give up due to financial necessity; or will move or close shop and subsequently abandon the right to recover and revive the painting.  Someone will then relocate to this address or a new business will sprout in the abandoned space.  The owners or investors will quickly realize or will have predetermined an opportunity to advertise anything/something/everything important to their affairs, and the space on which the original painting currently rots beneath newer soil layers, a new history will be written.  Many times over, in fact.  And for some, just as important.  Looking long down the march of time, I don't see a present sign or bronze plate of either sunken or raised letters arranged in a way that speaks to what 'once was'... and therefore, I don't see anything assisting the rare future pilgrimage; no placard will be funded to say "An important moment and symbol in a particular musical history occurred here, and, for many years, a reflective painting remained behind, commemorating this time and indeed attempted gracefully to weather the cancer of time, until it fell to the movement of time in 20XX - Paid for by the those who knew"  In fact, if a placard ever does surface, it would be absurd.  Having traveled to many great destinations, I often laughed when I found a placard that stated "So and So lived here, or the XYZ was formed here in 1622, You cannot relate to this, and anyone that ever likely could have cared, surely died 220 years ago, but this placard marks the site, nonetheless"  I don't think Elliot have an opinion, one way or the other, but trust me....it will disappear as it should.  The people remembering will always be relative to the people engaged....so as both fade, both can disappear without the need for true sadness to be considered.  I should have written on my facebook folder, "A period in the time, in which I was lucky to be present"

Matt