Serpents In The Subway or That's It! I've Had It With These Motherfucking Snakes on This Motherfucking Train!)

"Serpents In The Subway or That's It! I've Had It With These Motherfucking Snakes on This Motherfucking Train!)"

I'm in the belly of a snake
Sliding noisily through subterranean tunnels
Another slithers pasts me fastly (sic)
Shaking my own surroundings

I navigate the insides of this serpent with tired eyes
Images, trying to sell me things, adorn the walls
What a peculiar place to decorate
As if my eyes and my mind weren't tired enough

I allow this thing to devour me
Maybe twice or thrice a day
It doesn't me in by its mouth
It's a strange serpent... maybe compassionate?
Perhaps it just doesn't like to see whom it takes in

I can only hope it knows its direction
And the foul smell is perspiration and not digestive acid
And I hope it opens its walls for me
For while I am in here, I am not free.

-F

Hipsters.

Strange art and videos on the walls. Boys in flannel shirts, suspenders, distressed jeans, macho demeanor's and fedora's making out with one another. Girls with pretty faces behind ugly over sized glasses dancing to music that consists of complex arpeggios played with Atari video game noises. The irony is overwhelming.

And as I step out of this party, fueled by cheap booze, and onto the street, lined with people smoking designer cigarettes... I look for street signs. I'm certain I didn't take the L train here. This isn't Bedford Ave. Um... okay?

The hipster has spread.



A month back, following a conversation with two of my friends, I was encouraged to write a detailed essay/blog. After a party where my friends (who, God bless their hearts, know not about subcultures) got an overdose of hipsterdom, I had this casual talk. "Hipsters are spreading everywhere," an artist says. "They're not just moving into Williamsburg. They're on the 7 train and they're forming scenes in other cities in the United States." The musician says "They are like a cancer, spreading out." I disagree. Cancers are deadly and spread out from the place of origin. Hipsters are just a mere nuisance that are appearing in random places. Hipsters are more like... acne.

You might be thinking that this is quite a harsh thing to say, and I'll agree. It's a rather mean remark. After all, what have hipsters ever done to me? Well... what does acne do to a person? A person who sprouts a few pimples here and there has no REAL significant change. Hell, even a "pizza-face", is still the same person when he/she hits puberty.. just with bad complexion. However... acne is annoying and so are hipsters. They are an irritating breakout waiting to overload with pus, to be pricked with a sterile needle.



"Let them be 'bra', the problem is you. You're the one agitated by the people just living their lives."
Well with all due respect 'bra', go find your way to Dante's 8th circle of Hell.

The hipster en masse bothers me little, just like acne. It only affects the aesthetics of a face/place.

But what is the hipster? An apathetic individual residing in a gentrified neighborhood, whilst encompassing elements of punk, indie and other subcultures, while not eschewing any of the ideologies associated with them. Imagine a person wearing a keffiyeh, while sipping on a caramel macchiato at Starbucks. He or she thrives on irony and being "hip." If you know about something cool (or "deck", which I've been told is no longer a terminology used): a band, an issue, anything said hipster was raving about a week ago... it is no longer cool. Some love the hipster, consider them avant-garde. Others loathe it. Most just don't understand it.



Because this is what's so "hip" now you have these young ones, who have very little to believe in the first place, decide they want to be like these pretentious Williamsburg pricks. Who can blame them? They want to get laid, and talk about how bad their PBR hangovers are, while shopping at American Apparel. "But PBR is cheap and I totally dig the working class pride in it!" Well I'm sure the working class isn't so proud of you. "But American Apparel doesn't use sweat shop labor!" Have you ever been to a sweat shop? Do you even know that the textiles industry in third world countries, like Bangladesh, account for more than 3/4's of their export income. On top of that the industry now employs more than 3 million workers, 90% of whom are women, in Bangladesh alone, giving them a better future than to be raped at home by abusive husbands. I'm not saying life is perfect, but seriously... do some research before you open that one sided I-just-moved-to-the-city-but-i'm-already-such-a-city-slicking-liberal-tard trap. As neighborhoods gentrify, and the meaning of "urban" is lost, I can't help but get a little angered at the fact even though your parents can afford to pay for your $1000 a month studio apartment, the family (YES FAMILY) that used to live there cannot.

You know what I take it back. Hipsters aren't acne. We don't need Clearasil for hipsters. Hipsters are more like small pox. And the only way we got rid of that was eradicating it completely.

-F

Traumatizing photos from Gaza...

These pictures are on a French website, chronicling the devastation, carnage and death in Gaza, as a result of Israel's attacks. However, I must warn everyone that this is not for the faint of heart or stomach.

http://portail.islamboutique.fr/gaza2008/

So while Israeli lobbyists have their way with our government and our media... this is what a day in the life of a Palestinian is in Gaza right now.

Just think about it.

-F

So who else is denouncing Israel's activities in Gaza?

"Israel likes to portray itself as an island of democracy in a sea of authoritarianism. Yet Israel has never in its entire history done anything to promote democracy on the Arab side and has done a great deal to undermine it. Israel has a long history of secret collaboration with reactionary Arab regimes to suppress Palestinian nationalism. Despite all the handicaps, the Palestinian people succeeded in building the only genuine democracy in the Arab world with the possible exception of Lebanon. In January 2006, free and fair elections for the Legislative Council of the Palestinian Authority brought to power a Hamas-led government. Israel, however, refused to recognise the democratically elected government, claiming that Hamas is purely and simply a terrorist organisation." -Avi Shlaim

SOURCE: The Guardian

“Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp.” - Cardinal Renato Martino

SOURCE: NY Times

“Today U.S. tax dollars, U.S. jets and U.S. helicopters provided to Israel are enabling the slaughter in Gaza. The Administration enables Israel to press forward with the attack against defenseless civilians; blocks efforts promoting a cease-fire at the UN; and refuses to make Israel comply with conditions that arms shipments not be used for aggression. Israel is going to receive $30 billion in a ten-year period for military assistance, without having to abide by any humanitarian principles, international laws or standards of basic human decency. Wake up America.” - Dennis Kucinich

SOURCE

The porn industry seeks bailout

But the industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the statement. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."

SOURCE

I agree. Any takers?

-F

NOTE: Turns out this was just a joke by Larry Flynt and that dude from Girls Gone Wild. READ: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/07/campbell.brown.porn.bailout/index.html#cnnSTCText

Let's bomb civilians and schools!

"So, this is a poor and very young people and they are able to escape absolutely nowhere because they can not flee like other populations can in wartime. Because they are fenced in and they are in a cage. So, they are bombing one and a half million people in a cage. And young people and poor people and, you know, you can not separate between the civilians and the fighters in such a situation." - Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working in Gaza. SOURCE "Well before the current fighting, the UN had given to the Israeli authorities the GPS coordinates of all its installations in Gaza," Mr Gaylard said. "These deaths highlight the tragic reality of the situation in Gaza that for civilians, neither homes nor UN shelters are safe." SOURCE Further Reading: Strike At Gaza school 'kills 30' - BBC News U.N. official says Gaza school was clearly marked - Yahoo! News (Reuters)

Apathy

Apathy. Looking at my life in the past few months or so (actually I have no idea when this wave started)... I realize how apathetic I've become. Apathy stems from disillusionment. My personality has tended to border on nihilism a great many moments in this time frame.

It's when food doesn't taste the same anymore. Music doesn't sound as good as anymore. Aesthetics look cheap and trite. Nothing excites you. But nothing disappoints you. Everything just bores you. For how long, I'm not even sure, I've been bored with myself and my life. I've come to have no expectations, for I shun them before they even have a chance to develop. Lame. <--- That's been my word for like everything lately. Lame.

I've grown to become what I myself have disliked so long. All the traits that made myself bearable to others... my passion, my ambitions, my questionable and cheesy humor (okay that probably still exists)... all gone. I'm going to need some time away from the world to beat this apathy up and take Foisol back.

Stay tuned. This usually means I'm going to be blogging more.

-F

P.S. - I miss LiveJournal already.

So this is the new year...

Blah. That's all I feel. I went to the dentist today -- well actually more like 5 dentists since most wouldn't even take my insurance -- and I wish I took up pre-med, so I could be one. Why? Because it'd be fun to inflict the kind of pain, to other people, that was inflicted upon me today. But alas... it's not over. I have a root canal, which I may or may not have to pay out of my own pocket, before I get my broken mess of a tooth replaced. It's times like these I just wish I was still in Dhaka where they would just do the damn thing already instead of making me wait for the pain to come.

With that said... I sit here hopped up on pain killers and antibiotics, looking like I'm strung out or something, I actually feel pretty good. Of course I'm trying to avoid a mirror at all costs, and trying to avoid words that have an 's' or an 'f' sound to them (pretty hard and pretty awkward).. but I feel good. Good stuff happens and bad stuff happens. Anyhoo, here's a list of things for 2009, that I want to accomplish:

*Change this blog. Everybody has some creative name and url for their blog. When I initially started this blog, I titled it "Blog." and my URL is my name. *yawn*

*Grow my hair out again. Yeah I don't care what people say... I miss it.

*Eat healthy and work out more. This time I don't want to work out like a mofo for a few weeks, only to stop and end up eating Kung Pao Chicken and drinking beer every day for a week.

*Land an internship. Something in activism would be cool, or anything involving travel. Hopefully this leads to a real job.

*Boost that GPA up like it's nobody's business. I screwed up quite a bit, so I need to land me straight A's for the rest of the year.

*Cook a proper dinner. That does not include being creative with ramen noodles and whatever is around the house.

*Write poetry again. And try not to bawwwwwwww and wahhhhhh too much through it.

*Experiment musically and play more shows. I already have my current band and NARF.

*Change current band's name. Choosing a band name when drunk makes a good story, but rarely makes a good band name.

*Buy a good tube amp. An Orange or a Marshall DSL 2000 is what I'm eyeing.

*Become a better guitarist and a better singer. For someone who's been playing for this long, I really have gotten stuck in this rut.

*Get out of all my other ruts. Music and creativity isn't the only place I'm stuck in a rut... I'm just too lazy to think and write right now.

*Learn to dance. Something exotic... like salsa or the tango. Grinding my groin up against some unsuspecting female isn't what I constitute as really dancing.

There's loads more, but I'm overambitious. Maybe I'll try to actually be realistic and manage my time well this year. 

Maybe.

Til next time. Hopefully I'll have a new blog by then, instead of foisol.blogspot.com *yawn*

-F