Stress

is the absence of rational thought in a trying situation.

Mission Peak Pictures

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe and Mission Peak

I went to a cafe last night that Mike Dirndt from Green Day opened.  It had a old school punk/ska theme, which ruled. Looking at the walls, I noticed an award for best diner from East Bay Express. The menu had clever references to songs only I seemed to know...the food was really great, everyone agreed, and the dollar beers were generous.  The waiter was hilarious.  He had a tattoo of Galactus, devourer of worlds (If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry.  I used to read a lot of comics).  I'll be back to this spot.

Today I hiked to the top of Mission Peak in Fremont, a six miler. Felt the peace that comes with being in wide open spaces.  I saw lots of interesting things that I tried to capture with the digital camera.  The lizards and chipmunks were too fast tho....I'll have to post them later because I'm leaving the house again now for more merrymaking.  I hope everyone is very well.

Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel

I've always just kinda heard this song in the background but I heard it yesterday on my ipod while driving and it blew me away. It's beautiful. I could really relate to it. I'm too technologically challenged to post the audio version but here is the lyrics. Give it an honest listen!

love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes

love, I don't like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
and all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heatin your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,the heat I see in your eyes

A rare moment

Today, on the way home from the Marina after work, I had a rare moment wherein I was void of emotion, of my own happiness, sadness and ego, that is.  And..as I passed people..I felt I could see their whole life story in their face.  I saw a great deal of pain..and felt a strange, new sense of empathy.  

Freedom of Speech?

From: Jack BloodDate: Oct 1, 2008 3:29 PM

If you haven't heard, all of the speakers INVITED to the "We The People" Fest in Los Angeles this past Saturday, 9.27.08 WERE CENSORED BY AUTHORITIES IN LA(This included Myself - Jack Blood, Anti War Icon and Congressional Candidate Cindy Sheehan, and Green Party Presidential Candidate and former Congresswoman (GA) Cynthia McKinney.)The event was besieged with problems beginning just a few weeks before the scheduled event at the Los Angeles State Historic Park located just south of Downtown LA.The event organizers were put under an enormous amount of pressure after certain political entities became abusive over the event artwork, and the choice of speakers to attend.

The police were "concerned" that a riot could ensue if we spoke to the 5,000 plus crowd. (Many more would've been at the event which could hold 20,000 if the police did not block the entrance after they decided too many people were gathered together with "anti - government" opinions.) What happened to the First Amendment????I was about to speak before Suicidal Tendencies - just after Fishbone when I was pulled off stage and told that the cops would shut down the event if I was allowed to go on stage.(I had planned to bring Dylan Avery from "Loose Change" on stage with me)

ST had really fired up the crowd, and then were besieged by "technical problems"Later,Cindy Sheehan was told that she could introduce Tom Morello (Rage against the Machine) but would NOT be allowed to address the crowd. She refused the "offer".Cynthia McKinney was warned ahead of time that she would not be allowed to take the stage and did not attend the event.Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian (System of a Down) also did not attend the event as scheduled, and I assumed this was because of the nature of what was (not) happening.The event organizers, in my opinion, could have done a better job standing up to the authorities, but should not be blamed at this time. (I will reserve judgment) If the concert was shut down it certainly would've resulted in a full scale riot, which might have been the goal all along. In attendance were hundreds of small children who would have been caught in an extremely violent situation.The censorship came from several source points.

1)The Mayor of LA: Antonio Villaraigosa who is a major Obama supporter, and who had wanted to speak from the main stage earlier in the day, on the contingency that the 3 scheduled speakers not be allowed to take the main stage. It appears that all orders carried out by local police were directed from the Mayor's office.(Who was giving orders to the State Police?)
2) Rock the Vote: We heard that they had booked most of the bands, and were displeased by the "anti establishment" "anti Obama" rhetoric previously displayed by the 3 speakers.(OK I am Guilty)
3) The Obama campaign: Who had somehow co-opted the event. There were several Obama and anti McCain booths at the event, and after the speakers were censored, the entire event turned into an Obama rally.The question is, did the Obama campaign recruit the Mayor (and the Staters) to stop the 3 speakers who would oppose their candidate, and reveal that neither the Demopublicans, nor Republicrats were coming to save us.
4) Every speaker scheduled to speak were also 911 Truth supporters, and we can assume that certain people in positions of power did not want us to detail the high crimes and treason perpetrated by the guilty.TODAY - 10.1.08 - I will be joined by Cindy Sheehan (www. cindyforcongress. org)AND Dylan Avery www. loosechange911. com2nd Hour starts at 5 PM Eastern Time.www. gcnlive. com (Stream 2)OR you can look for it later at www. deadlinelive. infoI want to thank the organizers of this event for inviting me, and attempting to make a world class event in one of the biggest cities in the world.What we have learned is just how far the establishment will go to shut down the TRUTH! In the future we might leave our children at home so that we can respond in such a way that the authorities will understand that WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WERE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Where I see myself this morning:

At a nice cottage-like cafe with creeky floors somewhere far south on the 1. The ocean is rolling just across the road and I'm eating a english muffin with apple butter and sipping exquisite coffee. The breeze is perfect. I'm across from a woman in a pastel sundress who has lots of wonderful things to report, like a child returning from a fair. Then, we start to talk about what we are going to do with such a beautiful day...