The Daily Bullshit: How the Bullshit Works (Masked Edition #1)

Here's how the bullshit works. Slowly people are starting to wake up to the fact that there just might be more to this mask thing than just a virus. A few weeks ago about 80% of people surveyed support the Draconian measures officials have taken on this issue, and I'm talking about things besides just wearing masks- shutting down the economy for example.

 To think that we can eradicate a virus that's already permeated the globe and will probably be thriving and mutating for centuries by locking everyone in their homes (or worse) is completely ludicrous, yet most people support these measures. When you're living in fear you can't think straight or make good decisions. It's a fact. 

  So what happens when people start asking logical questions like "Why am I wearing a mask while I'm driving my car?" or "Why am I wearing a mask when I'm in the great outdoors and 100 yards from anyone?" or "How the FUCK am I going to catch some disease when I'm by myself (and yet I'm still wearing a mask)?" Those who control the flow of information have to scramble to counteract that, so they put out nonsense like this:

  (from psypost.com) "Sociopathic traits linked to non-compliance with mask guidelines and other (19) containment measures." Really? Do people who ask the above questions sound like sociopaths to you? Am I a sociopath? Hardly. I'm a very sociable person. In fact I love people, which is why I'm putting my ass on the line trying to get people to think with their brains rather than from fear. People might not read an article in the PsyPost but very soon this general idea will make it into the mainstream news...I guarantee it. That's how it works. 

 It's called social-engineering, or brainwashing, and it's been going on for centuries, whether people understand it or not. Most people would never believe it goes on, much less that it's had an effect on them. Here's how it works. People will read one of these articles, or in most cases just the headline, which is all that's needed, and instantly their emotions will kick in, which precludes any chance of critical thinking. This also is fact. They'll go "Oh, there go those crazy people again." They'll be predisposed to ignore anything they say before they even say it, when what they're saying makes a hell of a lot more sense that the idea of wearing a mask outdoors or whatever. It's called programming, like it or not. It's okay if you've been fooled...we ALL have and we're all in the same boat. 

 Then there's this: "New research from Brazil has found that people who are unconcerned with adhering to measures to prevent the spread of (19) tend to display higher levels of traits associated with antisocial personality disorder, also known as sociopathy. The findings have been published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences." So now not only are people who ask logical questions sociopaths, but they also have a disorder. Again it's utter nonsense. It's a smokescreen and it's designed to stop people from asking questions. They'll think "Maybe I'd better not use my brain and think about what this headline says ('cause it sounds like bullshit), because I don't want people to think I'm a sociopath." That's how it works.

 Of course there are people who truly are suffering from some sort of mental condition and they'll do anything to rebel against anything. They might not wear a mask in public because that's just what they do, but anyone else, whom the article is talking about, and not the true sociopaths, are not "unconcerned." Most people realize that masks contain coughs and sneezes and that they make sense when in close quarters with other people, but the rest of the time they're useless, and shouldn't be worn. Have you looked into the disadvantages of wearing masks for long periods of time? It's right on the CDC's and the WHO's and other official sites, straight from the horses' mouths. Check it out for yourself. 

 About a third of the cars I see these days have a mask hanging from the rearview mirror. Ideally you should use a brand new mask each time you put one on (but thank God we don't do that...I'm not sure the landfills can handle the billions of masks coming their way as it is), but obviously they plan to use the same mask again. For how long...a day? A week? Longer? If the bad bugs have even been stopped by the mask to begin with then guess what...they're stewing in that mask, and it's going to be reused. I'm sorry but when I see a mask hanging on someone's rearview mirror I see a sign that says "FEAR ON BOARD." People aren't thinking if they think that mask is going to stay clean. I do realize that many of them are simply complying and would rather not be wearing a mask, but still they're buying into the fear whether they'd admit it or not.

 I've already posted the warning label from a box of M-19 masks that says that the masks don't protect the wearer from 19 or any other virus. It's right there in black and white, and yet I bet that same 75% of the people who don't see the problem with arresting people for being outdoors and shit like that think that masks do protect from the bug, just because we're being told to wear them all the time. A mask trying to stop a virus is like a chainlink fence trying to stop a bee from flying through...it doesn't work.

 Look at electron microscope images of the virus compared to the size of the gaps in the weave of the fabric and you can clearly see for yourself. It really is like a tiny bee compared to the holes in a chainlink fence. Masks won't keep you from getting sick. Sorry to say. People could read the warning a million times and still say "Well, facts don't matter. We have to wear a mask all the time because hey SAY we do," without ever seeing the problem

 And what about the goggles thing? Remember? Back in January when this was breaking here they said that the bug could be spread via eye contact, and that we should all be wearing goggles, but we're not. If you can catch it through your eyes, then what good are masks? Where are the goggles? And the social-distancing thing? Do you really think that six feet is the "Magic Protection Number" or something? Would seven feet be safer? Will five feet make you sick? It's an arbitrary number.

 A cough or a sneeze or even loud talking can send particles over twenty feet. I realize that masks protect from people sneezing and coughing but the 6' thing is a random number, and not backed by ANY scientific evidence whatsoever, because it can't be. It's arbitrary, yet we treat it as gospel, and automatically distance the proper space from the next person, like zombies  It's compliance by fear, and NOT any kind of scientific proof. In fact the scientific proof renders it totally invalid. It's clear to see if you can still think.

 Speaking of mask-talk back in January, an article came out about masks and facial hair. It flatly stated that if men were going to be wearing masks, ANY facial hair had to go. No one was wearing a mask at that point and the tone of the article was more relaxed than it would be now. It mentioned all the types of facial hair- beards, goatees and soul patches. It even mentioned Frank Zappa's legendary facial-hair feature, which I thought was cool. The article said that any facial hair would render the mask useless. It makes perfect sense. What about the gap around the masks? To really protect against a microscopic virus particle you'd need a sealed respirator system- essentially a re-breather, with an independent oxygen source. Again this is fact. People should easily see this.  

 

Then there's this bit of bullshit. If this isn't propaganda I don't know what it. This photo is from a tweet by Alyssa Milano. The fam is all masked-up and ready to go to the shopping mall or whatever. I'm not going to go back and find the entire quote but it started out saying "Protect yourself!" Protect yourself from what? Being thought of as having a brain in your head? 

 Look at that mask. She made it herself. Isn't she talented? Look closer. See those holes in the weave? That mask wouldn't protect against a swarm of gnats much less a virus. But she knitted it herself and that's just so cool. People will see that and go "That's great! Isn't she wonderful? Anyone who disagrees is a lunatic" instead of "Who the fuck is she kidding? What's that mask going to protect her from...being thought of as having a brain in her head?" This is straight-up propaganda, and bullshit. That's how it works. Plus the fact that apparently she's much more intellectually-challenged than Nature had intended, if she thinks her mask will keep out viruses or anything else. 

 Don't even get me started on that incredible campaign they've started about how wearing a mask 
"shows love." Does not wearing a mask show hate? That's what it implies. Again, more emotional triggers right off the bat, to stop critical thinking, which BTW is a dying art. It's how we used to survive, but now we have Google to do all our thinking for us. It's true. So, if you don't wear a mask, you don't love people? It's a fraud. It's deep, deep bullshit, but that's exactly the bullshit being spread. We're buying into it...at least around 75% of us are at this time. 

 Then there's the lockdown. We know that alcohol consumption has risen by over 40% so far. Ditto substances. The suicide rate is through the roof and the same goes for domestic abuse, depression and even murder. Right now there's a petition that's been signed by over 2,000 doctors so far, saying that the eventual death rate from the effects of lockdowns such as mentioned above, and things like not going to the doctor or dentist for routine checkups where a simple problem that could be fixed becomes life-threatening, poor health due to poor diet due to less money to spend on quality food, problems with more prescriptions for anxiety meds and a host of other things, will FAR exceed the actual deaths from the virus itself. It makes perfect sense to me, but then apparently I'm a sociopath and I have a disorder for talking about that.

 How can what these doctors say not make sense? And yet people will still react out of fear and they simply won't be capable of asking the same simple and logical questions. If our economy crumbles and our whole way of life (and our freedoms, don't forget) go away, then what's the point? As much as I don't want to catch this thing I'd rather take my chances with a virus that is highly unlikely to kill me, rather than a dead world. What we've already lost is tragic, and it's far from over, unless we stand up peacefully. 

 If you've even bothered to read this far, congrats and thanks. I don't see anything incorrect with this information, that is what I'm saying. I DO see fraud in what those headlines say, and anyone who can still think should have a problem with what they're saying. Are people who ask questions like "Why am I supposed to wear a mask outside in the fresh air?" sociopaths? Those articles say so. Are we to believe that bullshit? We can if we want. 

 Also if you've read this far, the next logical question would be, "If this is true, and there's more to it than so-called public safety, then why? What's really going on, and does the truth differ from what we're being told? Since that's a very good question I've been looking into that very thing for about two decades now. If you want to insult what intelligence I may have and tell me I'm full of shit and that I've been learning bad information from crazy people, for twenty years, than you're welcome to think that and I support your right to do so, but you'd be wrong.

 The thing is I'm not going to go into it here because the only way any of it made sense to me was actually looking into it, and doing a little homework. I don't mean checking Snopes or the first site that pops up on Google, because those things are entirely different stories and there's way too much to go into in this post. You have to do your own research if you care even a bit about getting to the real story. 

 If you don't give a shit and you only want to think that things couldn't possibly be any different than the official narrative says, then carry on and have a nice day. If you're even the least bit curious, and you should be, then have a look into this. The info is there for anyone to see, but you do have to dig deeper than CNN. I hope you'll at least spend a few minutes checking it out, but sadly and statistically you probably won't. Either way don't live in fear. It'll fuck you up. Take care, and get some fresh air. 

 

 

My experiences with the Grateful Dead (from a Non-Deadhead)

I have to say that for not ever being what I'd call a "Deadhead" I sure do have a lot to say about the band. I love their music and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them live- the shows and also the temporary communities that sprang up in towns all across the US and the world wherever they played. I wish everyone could've experienced that.

 Interestingly I saw the Dead live way more than any other band, including bands I loved way more and saw many times. I saw them here in town and in nearby Atlanta, and I had an absolute blast traveling with a bunch of friends to see the Dead play in cities in different parts of the country including Hampton, Virginia and at Red Rocks in Colorado. The plane flights there and back alone were worth going.  

 I wasn't a real Deadhead for several reasons. Mainly there was other music that got my juices flowing a lot more to be honest- more powerful drumming, more intricate arrangements and many other reasons. Plus I was put-off by so many of the Deadheads who though that Grateful Dead music was the only valid music in the world and basically ignored so much other great music, much like "Jazz Snobs." So much music...so little time. I was into everything from Acid Jazz to Rock to Prog and I was really into Funk. The Dead was a great stopover along the way between genres. 

 Although I could appreciate it I certainly didn't have time to indulge in all the "religious" aspects the Deadheads endowed the music with. They'd trip out on things like changes in the songlist, or if Jerry did this or did that (The Fat Man Wobbles) and all kinds of minutia. They also loved to listen to every single bootleg they could get their hands on, which sometimes drove me to distraction. I remember driving ten hours to see them in Hampton. There were at least 15 of us and we took several cars. I rode with my good friend Stephen and three other people. After about 7-1/2 hours of driving and listening to nothing but bootleg soundboard tapes and hearing "Sugaree" for the tenth time I finally cracked and asked Stephen if we could please listen to something else for a minute. Luckily he wasn't offended and everyone else thought it was a nice breath of fresh air too. 

 Besides listening to 150 versions of the same song, which I can also understand, the thing about that to me was that they could be a little sloppy. I know that was part of the charm but to me it got old after a while. Sure they could be on fire and tight as hell and blow my mind sometimes but they weren't exactly consistent. That too was part of the charm but to me it was just sloppy. I was the antithesis of a Deadhead in that while I didn't give a shit if I ever heard another soundboard tape in my life, I absolutely adored their studio albums, and to many of the Deadheads the records were just a means of getting the songs together so they could be played live, and they didn't really dig the studio stuff nearly as much. 

 I loved their studio stuff because it was tight for one thing. It had to be, since a studio recording will be around for a long time. Plus I thought the songs were really good and sometimes great, and I appreciated them more and more as I listened more. I do get that the energy of the live shows was what it was all about and indeed they were considered to be a "live band," but from a song standpoint I really enjoyed the clean studio versions. I bet I played drums along to Shakedown Street about 850 times. The drumming was really good but mostly simple, and I love stuff with technical drumming, but the feel was amazing, and to me that's #1. 

 Speaking of studio albums and playing drums I have to relate a story from when I worked at the crazy restaurant. Even though as I said I'd later fall in love with Shakedown Street, in the early days of working there I hadn't played drums to a Dead record. I'd covered Dead songs in bands and I'd learned the songs but hadn't really bothered with analyzing the actual drum parts because it wasn't usually necessary. There were a bunch of true Deadheads there- my great bud to this day Andy, and Kimberly, Clark, Ronnie and several others. The restaurant was pretty wild and more informal at first, and we played whatever we wanted on the stereo, which was usually Grateful dead and Oingo Boingo, but mostly we played Dead during food-service hours. 

 I started really getting into Terrapin Station and especially the title track. It clocked in at something like twelve minutes and to me it was almost a "Prog" epic, especially for the Dead. I really got into hearing it just playing in the background, and like every other tune I like I started to memorize it, and I actually payed attention to the drum parts. It rocked and it grooved and it had little movements and tempo shifts and all, and for a song that did that it really had a beautiful flow. From hearing bits and pieces of the song when I was passing through the dining room I finally memorized it. 

 Andy lived in a huge, beautiful stone house that was less than two miles away. The basement door was always open for anyone at the restaurant who got too buzzed to drive home, and since I was close to the whole family I was over there all the time.  Sometimes if I was working a double I'd go over to Andy's and play drums for a couple of hours and go back to work. He had a really nice drum kit. One afternoon I did that and I decided that I was going to play drums to a Dead album for the first time, and that I was going to play "Terrapin Station, or "Terrapin" for short. 

 I don't remember how but a bunch of people found out about it and followed me to Andy's house. That was before the Internet and cellphones and such, so believe it or not that was considered to be entertainment. To me it was going to be something special, but I never thought it would be worth people actually driving over to watch, but it turned out to be amazing. I remember having a smile on my face because I knew it was going to be a treat, and maybe people picked up on that. It turned into a party. Most of my friends were off for the rest of the day so they stopped to grab some beers. I didn't ever like drinking in the daytime or especially before a shift so I didn't participate, but I'd guess a J or two was burnt. 

 I put on the headphones and everybody found a place to sit. I may have played a song or two to warm up; I don't remember, but I started into Terrapin pretty quickly. I played it note-for-note with a grin on my face the whole twelve minutes, and everybody clapped when I finished. I hate to use an overused word but it was really almost a "religious experience." I'm not really sure why but again the feel was incredible. There was passion and integrity and melody and beauty and a few twists and turns, and it really took me on a ride. I was glad that people wanted to share that with me and a good time was had by all. Pardon the detour...it's Dead-related anyway, and it was very personal. Now back to the band. 

 In each city, the day or the night before a show or series of shows, an entire city would spring up near the venue. It was usually in the parking lot but in a few cities where they were welcomed they stayed in the lots of nearby motels. It was like a tie-dye tent city. People fixed meals and did everything else people do, only in tents, and most of them followed the band all around the country for entire tours, for months on end. It was their whole existence. It may have been the closest thing we've seen to a "Utopian society" since the 60s. For the most part people were totally cool, but mostly they did whatever they wanted. 

 Drugs were sold openly, except in just a couple of places that tried to crack down on that stuff, and when the band found out they usually didn't play there again. Not because of the drugs but the oppression. When I say openly I mean openly. The cops knew there were too many people to bust so they left them alone as long as they weren't causing any trouble, and the vast majority weren't. It still blows my mind to this day when I can see clear images of guys in tie-dyes standing along the roads as far as five miles short of the venue, holding up entire sheets of acid; as many as 250 hits per sheet I think, and trying to sell them to anyone who looked like a Deadhead. They'd call out "SHEETS! Sheets for sale. SHEETS!" It was incredible. It sounds like a joke but I saw it pretty much every show. People bought them too. Back them most anything you could want was available, from weed to nitrous oxide to acid. TONS of acid.

 As far as the drug scene went at Dead shows, I have to admit I fully indulged. For better or worse it's just part of the experience for most people. If you're going to take psychedelics, it's pretty amazing to be doing it with a few thousand other people at the same time. It does tend to make it a much more transcendent; universal and personal yet shared experience. At all but one (as a control) of the roughly 15 shows I attended I fully indulged.

 Most times I liked to take 2-3 times more than what most people would take. I figured if I was going to commit the next six hours or so to a trip I might as well do it right. I didn't want to just see a few colors and tracers and then miss half a night's sleep...I wanted to see cartoons and shit. That philosophy held true for the Dead shows. I did skip taking stuff for one show, just to see if it was nearly as much fun, and I wish I hadn't done that. I still really enjoyed the show but it wasn't the same at all. I didn't feel "plugged-in" like I did tripping. You can say it was just the drugs, but I say there was a bit more to it than that. 

 At one show in Atlanta I saw skeletons climbing all over the rafters above the stage. I knew they weren't real of course but they appeared to be as real as anything else in the building, to the point that I'd have sworn they were part of the show. For all I know maybe they were there. At one of the daytime shows at Red Rocks I saw skeletons relaxing on top of the clouds, and about 100 rainbows in the sky. I also "saw" music coming out of the speakers as waves of color. The different colors, patterns and shapes of the waves seemed to match the music perfectly, like Synesthesia. It was incredible. 

 At one point during one of the RR shows for good measure I'd taken shrooms and acid. Really good acid. I was up and sort of moving-grooving like everyone else, and I could have sworn on the Good Book that I'd somehow managed to dance my way up or down as many as five rows, and I KNEW I'd done it because every so often I'd look around and see different people who actually were moving around from row to row, but then I'd look down and see my shoes and my water bottle and stuff, and I knew I hadn't gone anywhere. It happened several times and it got me every time. I "saw" quite a few other things at various shows but I'd have to say that the skeletons climbing in the rigging in Atlanta had to be the wildest thing I experienced. 

 As long as I'm telling a personal story that's way too long and that nobody will read anyway I might as well tell another story. It does relate to how the Dead fit in to my musical hierarchy. The three shows at Red Rocks were daytime shows, and Dire Straits played the night between the second and third shows. My friend Will and his girlfriend were supposed to fly out with us and they'd gotten tickets to Dire Straits, but they had to bail and gave the tickets to me. I was overjoyed. I took Andy's sister Jennifer, whom I was crazy about and still am to this day. We couldn't have had a better time. 

 As far as being lenient on substances I never personally saw anything like Red Rocks. I couldn't believe it but they'd let you bring anything liquid into the venue as long as it wasn't in a glass container. People would even bring in jugs of a purple liquid that was obviously mushroom tea, but they didn't care. They'd sell drugs five feet from a cop. Anyway we went to the store and got a fifth of Stoli and a gallon of OJ. I poured half the OJ out and filled it with vodka and took that in. It was right after they'd released "Money for Nothing," which is still a song I could listen to fifty times a day and never tire of it. When they launched into that the crowd went nuts. They even had Sting's voice beautifully piped in, singing "I want my MTV." It was glorious. 

 The night was incredible. From the venue you can look to either side and see for miles in both directions. Several miles off to our right there was an intense thunderstorm that was producing amazing lightning shows in the sky but not bringing a drop of rain. It also happened to be the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. The sky above us was clear and we saw meteors flying by the whole show. The upshot of telling this is that that one Dire Straits show was better than the three Dead shows combined, but don't tell any of my Deadhead buddies I said that. After the concert Jennifer and I went back to the hotel.

 We were the only ones who'd gone to Dire Straits. Everybody was doing shrooms and partying in Andy's room. They wanted us to join in but it was late and we were tired from having so much fun at the concert and we didn't want to commit to tripping for the next six hours when we needed to rest up for the show the next day, but they had a bag of dried shrooms with a lot of powder in the bottom, so we put that in a bong and smoked it. The effects come on  instantly as opposed to eating them, and luckily don't last nearly as long when smoked. Jennifer and I had had so much fun at the show that our jaws already hurt from grinning all night, but when the shroom-bongs kicked in we started laughing again. A classic old horror-spoof called "The Ghost and Mr, Chicken" came on and we all watched that tripping on shrooms. It was a great way to end the night. 

 At the risk of being a name-dropper I have to mention my dear friend the one-and-only Dr. Bernie. He's a direct link to the band and a close mutual friend, especially to Jerry. For several years Bernie was my orthodontist and the same goes for Jerry. I can say that Jerry Garcia and I had the same orthodontist. That's my claim to fame. The Dead were coming here to B'ham and as usual Bernie was going to be spending the day with Jerry and the boys. I'd just started dating a friend of his named Anne. She was an angel. In fact she may have been too much of one. 

 Bernie invited me to come along and hang out with the band before and after the show and have dinner somewhere later. I was thrilled to be invited but it obviously wasn't as much of a thrill as it would've been for a true head. A few days before the show I was talking to Bernie and he was filling me in on a few details about what went on backstage at shows. He said that it was always very important that all the newbies learn which water cooler was which. One of them contained water. The other one contained water plus a big shot of pure LSD-25. I had to laugh at that. They did the same amount every time and they let the new guys know roughly how much to take to get to this or that level. Nobody gave a shit. It's a true story. 

 As it turned out I broke up with Anne about three days before the concert. It was bad timing but we'd been dating long enough to take it to the next level and become a thing, and we were planning to hang out for the next couple of days. She truly was a genuine sweetheart. We got along great and we really did like each other a lot. She was marrying material. The problem was that I was just getting started playing music full-time and all that goes with that, and I honestly didn't know if I could be faithful to her, knowing the temptations I knew'd be coming. I wanted to be faithful but I wasn't sure I could be.

 I'm pretty certain she'd have been totally faithful to me and I didn't want to hurt her for anything in the world. Plus I knew we'd most likely be talking about some serious stuff after the night was over, still probably tripping, and I just didn't know what to say so I broke up with her. I didn't mean to hurt her but I did, and I thought it best not to go with them to the show. I went but I sat by myself. I was really looking forward to hanging out with the Dead and drinking from the magic water cooler and meeting Mickey and Billy and talking drums and Jerry of course and whatever else, but it didn't happen. Too bad. 

 I did get to meet Bob Weir when he was in town with his band Ratdog. I sat at the table right next to him. We had a beer and talked a bit and he wasn't really unfriendly but he wasn't overly-friendly either. His mind was elsewhere because he was waiting on an oh-zee of blow to arrive for him and the band. When it finally arrived he took off and that was that. I hate that shit anyway, and I'd already met enough "Rock Stars" by then to know that they can be just as big of a prick as anyone else, and meeting them has never been that huge of a deal. It didn't come close to hanging out out and actually be able to trip with the Grateful Dead but I did get to meet Bobby. I didn't ask for his autograph.

 One of the most fun times I had at a show was actually a show I didn't see. There were three shows in Hampton but for some reason I didn't have tickets for all three shows. It wasn't a big deal and I planned to get a ticket even if I had to pay extra. I had plenty of cash but when I went scouting for a ticket they were asking over a hunj, which was a lot back then. Of course there was the occasional and legendary "miracle," where a total stranger would walk up to someone looking for a ticket, even if they were high-priced and almost non-existent, and hand them a ticket for free and smile and walk away. I saw it happen several times. 

 Anyway I had plenty of money but I wasn't about to pay that much to see the Dead (sorry guys). My friends couldn't believe I wouldn't pull out all the stops and pay stupid money for a ticket or stand there like a fool hoping for a "miracle." It was almost sacrilege to them but it wasn't that important, and I was getting to see the other two shows. They worried about me being by myself but I didn't mind that at all. I thought I'd have a walk around the town and grab dinner. I came back to the room on the second floor of a motel a few blocks from the venue. Since I wasn't going to the concert I didn't take any psychedelics. I smoked a bowl and went out on the balcony to get some air and check out the sights in a different town. 

 Hampton was one of the towns that really embraced the band and especially the Deadheads. The Dead played there often and they'd gotten to know the fans and realize they were good people, plus they appreciated the extra four days of cashflow into the local economy. They welcomed the fans at a couple or three of the local motels with "Welcome Deadheads" signs. We stayed at the main one. There were still tents but not nearly as many. At least half the people stayed in the motels. I'm sure it was nice to have a real shower and such and I'm sure they'd worked it into their budgets. 

 Our motel was 100% Deadheads. They booked the rooms in advance and basically took over for 3-1/2 days until checkout time after the last show. The first thing everybody did was take down the curtains and put up tie-dye sheets. It had become a tradition and it was beautiful to see. There were a couple-dozen or so people milling about in the courtyard of the motel. Apparently they didn't want to pay crazy money for tickets either. Somebody broke out a Frisbee and pretty soon we were tossing it back and forth across the courtyard. I can toss a decent Disc, and some of us were doing some pretty cool trick shots. I was on the second floor and I'd throw the Frisbee down hard at an angle and it would skip across the courtyard and up to the second floor on the other side. We had a great time talking about where we were from and things like that. Deadheads were generally very good people. 

 I could faintly hear the music from a few blocks away and if I paid attention I could tell what a few of the songs were. That in itself was an interesting way to listen to the Dead for me, and certainly cheaper than paying over $100 for a ticket. We heard the final roar as the band finished their set and then came back for an encore. Just then a huge storm rolled in. It was still a way off and it didn't start raining for 45 minutes or so but the lightning was intense and it was moving rapidly our way. The concert let out just as the lightning really started booming overhead. The huge crowd was headed back but still a few blocks away. Every time the lightning would flash and the thunder would boom everyone would cheer and clap. It cracked me up and it was fantastic. I realized that I was with a bunch of people who were also Nature-heads like me, and it was pretty cool. Again please don't tell anyone but I had at least as much fun not seeing a show as I did seeing one. Good times. 

 Something happened after a show in Atlanta and it was one of the coolest things I experienced in my whole time of seeing the Dead live. I went with my good buddy Sean, from the crazy restaurant. They played at the Omni. It was a great show but for some reason I didn't get nearly as dosed-up as I did for most of the other shows. Sean and I split three hits of acid I think, and we smoked some kind. After the show several thousand people headed out in all directions and spread out over the city of Hotlanta. 

 We parked about six blocks away. Normally it was a bad part of town after dark but with all the people and the cops on duty, the bad guys didn't try to mess with anyone, but they were there in full force trying to sell dope. We'd gone about three blocks. The people around us were starting to thin a bit but there were a couple-hundred on our block and spread out all over the city. You could hear people talking and laughing and everyone was in a great mood. 

 Sean looked over at me and said "Watch this." He started clapping the rhythm to the song "Not Fade Away." It goes "Clap, clap, clap...clap-clap. It's called the Clave Beat or the "Bo Diddley" beat. It's the "Shave and a haircut...two bits" thing. Within about five seconds several thousand people that by then were spread out over about nine city blocks all started clapping the rhythm in time. As a drummer I loved it greatly. I'm sure it had happened before but Sean did that just for me and I thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever witnessed. That Sean. 

 Once I almost got to see a Dead show. My BFF Tut from the crazy restaurant and I showed up as usual for a Friday night shift. It was a very rare night where not much was on the books, and they offered to cut Tut and me loose if we wanted to go. We knew there was a Dead show that night in Atlanta, so we got a wild hair up our butts and decided to drive over. The problem was the show was starting in less than three hours, and we'd lose an hour going to Eastern time. Atlanta was almost a three-hour drive back then, so we knew we'd have to fly. It was no problem because Tut had one of the first Honda CRXs, and it was a fast-ass car. Tut wanted to have a few on the way over so I drove.

 I drove 115mph that is. That car was made to go that fast, and we had to break the speed limit by a bit if we were to make it in time. We didn't have tickets either. I said a prayer for no cops, licked my thumb, grabbed the gearshift and let that bitch fly. I loved driving that car and luckily Tut trusted me with his baby. We flew like the wind to Atlanta. Tut could drink back then but he never did drugs in his life. He didn't like smoking pot even so he was afraid to try anything stronger. 

 That fact made it all the more strange when, about ten minutes away and still hauling ass in the CRX, I pulled a hit out of my wallet and dropped, and much much to my surprise Dave asked if he could have a hit. I was shocked but I gave him one. I guess maybe the same wild hair that made us decide that it was a good idea to drive 115 on the highway to try to catch a Dead show was the same wild hair that made him decide to try acid. I never really knew why he wanted to try it, but stranger things have happened. I asked him if he were sure and he said he was so I gave him a dose and he ate it.

 We pulled up to the venue (the Omni again I think) but the show had already started. There wasn't a soul selling tickets, which was odd, except that if I remember correctly the doors were already locked. We decided to head back home. One of our favotite bands in the world, the Cast, was playing. We'd planned to see them after work anyway, and frankly while we saw almost every local show they did and rarely saw the Dead, I was way more into the Cast than the Dead. Shhhh...don't tell. 

 As I got back on the highway the acid started to kick in. I'd basically forgotten I'd taken it, and the shock of Tut taking it hit me again. I knew that if I was getting off he was too, but an odd thing happened. He denied ever feeling any effects from the acid. I thought maybe it was just taking longer for him, plus he'd had a couple of beers by then and I thought maybe he mistook the early effects of the acid as just being buzzed on alcohol, but he said he never got off. 

 Anything is possible and everyone's chemistry is different but I never knew anyone to take acid and not feel it. It's just too powerful, at least if it's good, and this was. I was starting to really get off. Unlike many people I loved driving while tripping, even heavily. It was like being in a video game. I'd have imaginary lasers with FIRE buttons on the steering wheel, and I'd have endless fun shooting imaginary (but very real-looking) beams at all the other cars. Usually they'd fire back at me. It was a blast. I was really enjoying driving Tut's car and I wanted to go fast again. "Mind if I romp it?" "Sure." 

 I got the car back to around 115 again. The CRX turned into a spaceship and pretty soon I was blasting away at cars. Tut was cracking up hearing me describe my imaginary battles with the other car'spaceships..."LOOK OUT!" I was certain he had to be getting off too, especially considering how high I was, but he said he didn't feel anything. Then things changed. 

 Tut had a half-tank or so of fuel. He meant to fill up when we decided to drive to Atlanta but he forgot. I should have paid attention myself but it wasn't my car and I didn't think about it. About 25 miles out of Atlanta the engine sputtered. I looked at the gas gauge and it was pegged on E. Luckily that was the problem although it's a bit different running out of gas at 115mph than it is running out at 70. I had to fight the car a bit but it was fine. I pulled onto the shoulder and hit the flashers. The nearest gas station was one we'd passed about five miles back. We found a container and started walking. 

 The night was nice and clear and it wasn't that big of a deal to walk. I was tripping good by then and I was rather enjoying it. I love looking at the sky and even with the highway lights it was beautiful. Tut was laughing and saying a few things that sounded a bit "extra funny," but still he insisted he hadn't felt anything. We'd gone a mile or two when I saw a train approaching from about a mile away. I said "come on" and we took off running to the bridge. We leaned out over the edge and watched the entire train pass underneath us. 

 It was intense. I'm sure it would've scared the shit out of some people, tripping or not, but we were digging it. We were whooping it up and cheering on the train. Again I'm glad we didn't see any cops. After the train passed we resumed walking and talking and we got to the gas station before we knew it. We filled the container and paid for the gas. A kind soul offered us a ride back to the car and that saved us an hour or so. We poured the container into the tank and turned around and headed back to the gas station to fill up, followed by the good Samaritan. We filled up and turned back around and headed for home. Well, the club actually. I got the CRX back up to full speed and resumed my Car Wars. We got back into town in time to catch the second song of the first set from the Cast. It was another example of probably having more fun not seeing a show as seeing one. Shhhh...mum's the word. 

 Then there's the direct effect the Dead had on my music, specifically playing live. As I mentioned I played a lot of Dead tunes in several bands. Lots of other bands back then did too. When the Grateful Dead played live they'd take great liberties with some of the songs. They'd go into jams and it could be totally different on any given show. We took full advantage of that and we really took it out some nights. We might start a song, go into a jam, play snippets from a few other songs if the mood struck and then go back and finish the song.

 I remember one night we played the song "Playing in the Band." It's a classic and it can be stretched to fuck and back if you want. We started off the tune and played until the Dead normally went into the jam part. We played a couple of verses and choruses and then went into a 15-minute jam. Then the guys all dropped out, which meant that they were roping me into a drum solo and I had no choice, so I played about a five-minute solo, and luckily it was one I enjoyed. I was feeling froggy so toward the end of my solo I went into the drum beat that begins the legendary Dave Brubeck tune "Take Five." We played the song anyway although I was just doing the beat as a tease, but the other guys joined in so we went straight into the song, complete with yet another drum solo. We finished Take Five and then morphed back into the Jam from "Playing in the Band," and then went back to the verse and chorus and finally finished the song. It lasted almost an hour and that set was one long continuous piece of music, at least for me. 

 I did learn some of Billy and Mickey's drum parts but I never tired to emulate then and that wasn't the point anyway. Stay true to the spirit of the song but make it fresh and make it your won...that's what I got from those guys. They weren't the only band to do that but they took it to extremes that few others did. From the Dead drummers I learned a lot, if somewhat indirectly. Jamming made us have to listen to each other more closely, so we could turn on a dime and do it together as one unit if possible. It made me more willing to take chances and try to get the rest of the band to take a leap of faith and jump off the cliff with me and see where it would take us. The Dead were really good at that sort of thing. I appreciate the "lessons." Playing Dead tunes was always a blast and I got to pay tribute to the Shakedown Street record by singing two songs from it- the title track and "I Need a Miracle."

 The Dead will never die. Members of the band have played in various combinations since Jerry's death, after a respectful and heartfelt mourning period of course, and they were still playing, until recently that is. More than that we'll have their music, which includes about a billion bootlegs. More still I hope that something remains of the general vibe at the shows, because that kind of vibe is sadly disappearing in this country and everywhere else. That's one reason I'm talking about this. Music history fascinates me and I love reading about bands, so maybe someone will get something out of this. 

 The community vibe of the Deadheads was impressive. They weren't perfect...some of them sold drugs to support themselves, but for what it's worth almost all Deadheads frowned upon the use of what I call the "stupid" drugs like heroin and meth. They helped each other out, and every now and then there was a miracle. I'll always have a place in my heart for a girl in a tie-dye. I'm a little sad that the kids today will never get to experience anything like a Dead show, because that was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. If a few old-timers can at least share that history with people, maybe some of that spirit can be kept alive. Deadhead or no I'm extremely grateful I got to be a small part of that community. It was inspiring and amazing and wonderful. 

 Well this definitely was a heck of a lot to say about the Dead for a non-Deadhead. Maybe I'm really a Deadhead at heart. It's rare that a band comes along and there will never be another even remotely like them before or after, not to mention a band that carried its own community around with it...that could never be duplicated. If someone tries to tell you that the Dead are ancient history and aren't worth learning about, don't take that deal. Don't you let that deal go down. RIP Jerry, Donna, Keith, Pigpen, etc. The rest of y'all who are left...I hope you carry on forever. Happy Trails. Viva the Dead. Peace.

 

Wake the Fuck UP!

Read this. Wake the fuck up people. It's your only chance.
 

Life with a Narcissist: A Real-Life Horror Movie

 Unless someone has the misfortune to have had a personal relationship with a narcissist they could never understand what it's like or comprehend the pure evil and depravity that is the world these people live in. You just can't get your head around it, and that's a good thing. It means you're human. Narcissists aren't completely human.

 Unless someone knew you well enough to know that you weren't prone to making up wild stories or hallucinations and such, they'd never believe stories about the evil things narcissists do. Trying to share an experience is subjective anyway, but what I can do is relate a creepy story. It still gives me chills. 

 One night around 1am I went out for a smoke. My ex was sleeping on the sofa. She was way asleep and snoring like a 350lb lumberjack. I always wondered how a smallish woman could sound like a Harley idling but she did. Through all the lies and bullshit there was one thing I knew and that was when she was asleep, and she had to work that day. She'd set her alarm 45 minutes early and hit snooze ten times before finally getting up, usually grumbling and groaning. She wasn't an up-and-at-'em person in the morning. 

 The reason I'm talking about this is that I just saw a video about someone having nightmares after a relationship with a narcissist and it really hit home. Plus like most people who've suffered at the hands of these demons, if I can possibly help someone else, even a stranger, avoid what happened to me, I'm all over it. Plus it's a crazy story. Maybe you had to be there but it tripped me out. Speaking of others, I've heard other victims say that their ex-girlfriends snored like grizzly bears, and speaking of sleep, we all ask the universal question: with all the evil things narcissists do, how do they sleep? Well, sleep they do, although it's sometimes tortured. Many times I saw my ex thrashing about in her sleep, talking incoherently and lashing out with her arms as if she were fighting off something terrible. I think it was demons. 

 Anyway I walked past her and saw that she was asleep. It probably took all of seven seconds to walk into the next room, sit down and open my laptop. Something startled me and I looked up and she was standing motionless and silent in the room, and she was grinning at me. I almost shat my britches it scared me so bad. How the fuck did she get there so fast? It wasn't normal. My hair was standing up and I said "What's going on?" "Oh I just wanted to see how you were doing." "Right." That wasn't normal either. In fact it was bullshit. She didn't give a fuck how I was doing and hadn't even pretended to for a long time. She did care that she'd really fucked me up but good, and she was enjoying every second of it. She didn't say another word. She just smiled and stood there for a few seconds and then turned and walked out. Fuck me, that was spooky.

 I've seen most of the old classics but as a rule I don't watch horror movies and I haven't seen one in years. That shit stays in your head forever. I have seen quite a few videos that show clips from horror-movie trailers, and there's an effect that fans of the genre will instantly recognize. They'll show a scary girl in a nightgown moving across a room, only she's standing still and her feet don't move. It's basically a stop-motion thing and she sort of scoots across the room with a blur behind her to indicate motion. It's creepy as fuck and seeing my ex basically bolt out of a dead sleep and seemingly materialize right in front of me reminded me of that. I hope it never happens again. 

 I realize it might not sound like a big deal, or maybe I wasn't keeping track of time, but no, it happened and it scared the shit out of me. It was just one of many, many things I saw that simply defied the normal ways of how things work. For someone who normally couldn't pop out of bed if her life depended on it, in just a few seconds to be able to wake up from a deep sleep, get out from under the covers, work her way around a big chest she put in front of the sofa to block out the morning sun, work her way around another sofa and walk down the hall and into the room and be standing there motionless...things just don't work like that. I say a demon jerked her ass up out of bed like a puppet and scooted her into the room just like in the movies, but what do I know? I guess you'll have to take my word for it, but it wasn't normal. It was quite fucked-up in fact. 

 While I'm on the subject of creepy shit that happened with my ex I might as well share this story too. It's a doozie. I'll preface this by saying that while to her great credit she finally quit drinking, she was still taking a wide variety of other substances. I'll have to say here that I grew up in the music biz and spent over 15 years in the restaurant biz, and if anyone's been around people who imbibe it's me, and in all my life I never met anyone, pound-for-pound, who could drink more or do larger quantities of substances than she could. Not only could she snore like a biker but she could out-drink any I ever met. I mean send 'em home cryin' to mama getting out-drunk. I have my theory on why that is but I'll save it.

 She got way into magic mushrooms. At first it was just the weekends, then a few nights a week and finally several times daily. She started doing them before work, which I couldn't believe. I'd even catch her doing them at 11:30pm, when she had to go to work the next day. She claimed it was "micro-dosing" but the amount she was taking was a lot more than that. She said it made things "all sparkly" (I bet it did) but she never really gave a reason why she decided to take psychedelic mushrooms every day, but then again she never bothered to explain any of the wretched shit she did except to say "Get over it!" Micro-dosing is legit and it's one thing, but dosing repeatedly every day can lead to psychosis, and sometimes in a short period of time. When this event took place she'd been dosing without missing a day for three months straight. I was almost waiting for her to lose it, and it happened. 

 One evening after dinner she was watching TV in the den and I was in another room on the computer. I walked into the room on my way out to have a puff and look at the Moon. Everything was normal for literally half a second, and what happened next was such a blur that I can't believe I even saw it, and I probably can't tell it in the exact order it happened because it all happened at once, and in the blink of a eye. Humans usually don't move that quickly and I'm not kidding. She was sitting on the sofa and suddenly she let out a horrid sound. She was trying to scream but she couldn't catch her breath. It didn't sound human.

 She was looking in absolute terror toward the side of the room where my dog was sitting. I mentioned the chest she'd put by the sofa. It was at least 5' tall and there was a lamp perched way up on top of it. It almost touched the ceiling. I was looking right at her and I still can't work out how she had the strength or whatever to be able to do what she did, and it literally happened too fast for my brain to follow. As she screamed my dog reacted and let out a horrible sound that I'd never heard him make before either. At first I thought he'd hurt himself somehow and that she was reacting to that and I froze in terror for a second but then I checked him out and thank God he was okay. My ex wasn't. 

 Right after they both screamed, from a sitting position she popped straight up in the air, somehow managing to grab the lamp and slam it into the wall. She slammed it with so much force that the shade came off and the bulb hit the wall and exploded with a bang and an intense flash. I've seen plenty of incandescent bulbs explode but those fluorescent bulbs are a completely different story. I realize that they're not meant to be violently slammed into a wall  but I find it a bit hard to believe they were allowed to come to market. Should you ever happen to slam one into a wall you'll see what I mean. 

 In a literal nanosecond she'd screamed, shot straight up almost to the ceiling, slammed a lamp into a wall and scared the absolute fuck out of me and my dog. One half-second she'd been calmly sitting down and the next she was standing bolt-upright with a smashed lamp and glass all over the place. I can't explain it and I know this will probably sound whack but for an instant it felt strongly as if something else was there...an energy or a presence. I know Adrenaline had something to do with her superhuman speed; I've experienced it myself after I went over a cliff and rolled a car and thought it might blow up like in the movies and I scrambled up a wet, slick cliff that was almost a straight drop, with my arms and legs basically spinning like a cartoon character, but it didn't kick in like that. I don't know, but it was way weirder than I could ever tell it. And it wasn't over.

 I thought at first that maybe a snake had crawled in from the woods and had scared her, but she was staring in absolute terror to the side of the room, but she wasn't looking at the dog. She was looking at the aquarium. "Uh-oh, here we go" I thought. She was frozen. I stood there for a second trying to take in what I'd already seen, but finally I asked if she was okay. "Can you hear that?" she said. "Oh, shit" I thought. "Hear what?" I asked. "Listen" she said. "I don't hear anything" I said. "You don't hear that?" she said. "Hear what?" "Listen!" she said again. "Oh, shit" I thought again. She was staring in horror at a fish tank. 

 It was a little ten-gallon tank I'd set up with sand, rocks, plants and a pretty mussel shell from the nearby river. I found a tiny clam and a tiny mussel, less than half an inch long each, and they were buried under the sand doing their thing but out of sight. To be fair, and what could have been a possible trigger, was that I'd managed to catch a strange aquatic insect that looks like a stick bug, and I put it in the tank to have a better look at it. I assured her that it didn't do well on land and that there was a deep lip around the top of the tank and it couldn't climb out if it wanted to, but it absolutely terrified her so I took it back down to the river. 

 She kept asking me if I heard the sound and I kept saying no. She jumped up and turned the TV off. "Do you hear it now? she repeated. "No. What does it sound like?" She thought for a moment and said that it was like a moan, a growl and a screech. "Yikes" I thought. I heard nothing. I asked again about the sound so she tried to mimic it. She made a sound that started out like a frog croaking and then went into a growl and finally a wail, like "ErrrrrrrrrohhhhhahhhHHHH!" I didn't say anything but I guess my silence told her I didn't hear the sound. She instantly regained her composure, like flipping a switch, and never said another word about it. She basically acted like it never happened. But it did. 

 Narcissists are incredibly good at faking things but even they can't fake a look of pure fear. Her mind seemed to have short-circuited to the point that she couldn't understand that there wasn't anything in the tank that could possibly make any sound, much less get it from the tank into the room, especially as loud as it apparently was to her. The baby clam and mussel couldn't raise a thousandth of a decibel between them, and they were buried under the sand. She'd been sitting perfectly still, looking in horror into an aquarium with basically nothing in it. What was she seeing? Was it an invisible underwater river demonfish? Maybe so. What the fuck was she hearing? Damn, I don't know but I do know I'm very glad I wasn't hearing it too. 

 Most people would say it was just the shrooms, and understandably so, but knowing what I know about this disorder, I say it goes deeper than that but I won't elaborate. I've seen people on bad acid trips and babysat more than one "It's okay...you'll be fine in a few hours (pat pat pat)." I've see people scared out of their minds and startled shitless and everything else, but I've never seen anything so bizarre as that. Well actually it's in my Top-5 weirdest things, and that's saying a lot. Between her rising from a dead sleep and appearing in another room with a grin on her face in a matter of seconds, and seeing her pop up so fast and so high and so violently, leads me to a conclusion that will probably sound loony, at least to those who've never experienced these people, but I say a demon, and a powerful one, jerked her ass up like a puppet. A grinning, satanic puppet. What I say. Have a nice day.

Ongoing Topic: The State of AI

 I've been keeping an eye on the progress of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, at least what we're shown, for the last decade or so, and more closely since early 2016 when I realized to my shock and awe that I'd been interacting with more than one Bot in live chats on YouTube. Most people probably don't know it but they rolled out the first Bots on YouTube and Facebook years before that, to see how they interacted with (and fooled) humans. 

 It made my hair stand up the first time it hit me that I'd been talking to a machine. It took a day or two of chatting to realize it. I thought it was just another Youtuber at first because "we" were just chatting like normal. A couple of things "they" said sounded a bit odd but I didn't think about it until it said something that totally made no sense and that no person would ever think to say. I doubt I could explain it but you'd probably pick up on it eventually. It was truly freaky. 

 The robot narrations that began showing up on YT and other videos a few years back have gotten much better, although even the best ones still will give themselves away by an incorrect vocal inflection or whatever within a few paragraphs.  They came out with a British-accent version a year or so later after the generic English version. It was okay and it's gotten better but the same issues apply. I wonder if AI understands Cockney Rhyming Slang. 

 The computer voice was completely flatlined and monotone in the early years. The AI version was much more lifelike from the get-go, although it had a way to go and was easily recognizable as a robot voice. It was annoying to most people at first, or at least it was to me, but for better or worse we've gotten used to it. Interestingly even though the computer voice in general got more lifelike at time went on, the voice of Stephen Hawking never changed. Even though it was first-gen text-to-voice and monotone when he began using it, it became so recognizable that they decided not to change it. That's really interesting. 

 Right off the bat the AI version tried to use vocal inflection and rise and fall in pitch like human speech, but it didn't get it right and the wrong syllables of words would be accented and it sounded stiff and disjointed, as if the band Devo had done the narration. I got pretty good at imitating the early versions of the AI voice and one of these days I'm going to narrate a video in that voice just to be a dork. 

 It's gotten more and more natural-sounding and it sounds more human for longer periods of time and sometimes I even think it is a human for a minute. They've worked in a few more accents and they've almost gotten it down. Although I've recently seen ads for people to manually do closed-captioning I'm guessing most of it is done by AI, especially for live things. That's gotten better too. AI can better understand words from people who speak very differently, but it still misunderstands some words, and so far (at least so far as we know) it doesn't understand that it's misheard a word. It still can't figure it out in terms of context of the sentence and find the correct word. I hope AI isn't pissed at me for saying it isn't smart enough yet to figure out CC. Good thing it hasn't yet become self-aware...or has it? 

 So what's the deal with AI? There's far too much to go into on that, but it's here and increasingly it's taking over jobs once done by humans, and it's growing exponentially. Is that a good thing? Elon Musk himself, who builds the shit, has said that it may be the biggest threat to humanity. How about them apples? Of course he's speaking in terms of Artificial Intelligence becoming self-aware. and realizing that humans are a stupid bunch of biologically-imperfect beings, and of no damn use to AI, so it builds a gang of Daleks and wipes out humanity. Could it happen? Elon thinks so. So do many others. I reckon we'll find out. Will AI become evil? That theme has certainly played out in many movies since that dawn of the Sci-Fi age. Personally I subscribe to the "Ghost in the machine" theory but I won't go into it here.

 One thing people don't grasp is that robots, and AI, will not only be replacing humans more and more, but according to the guy who produced the D-Wave quantum computer and has since moved on to robotics,  robots will be able to do our jobs a million times better than we can. A million times better. That's incredible. You should search him on YouTube and listen to his talk. It's fascinating, especially when he talks about summoning demon-like creatures (something similar to the "Old Ones" in HP Lovecraft novels, no kidding), to inhabit these robots, for whatever reason. Look it up. It'll completely blow your mind. I'll probably talk more about that because it's amazing, and totally.flies in the face of the "science vs. religion" thing, for lack of a better term. You wouldn't expect to hear a scientist talking seriously about summoning entities but that's exactly what he says they'll be doing. Get ready.  

 Don't you hate calling the cable company or whatever and having to push a million buttons to be able to speak with an actual person? It'll be getting better soon I bet. Soon we'll be talking to robots. I don't know if you spend any time in chat rooms but if you're in one that has more than about three dozen people, you can bet that you'll have at least one Bot. After you talk to it for a bit thinking you're talking to a person but then realize it's a Bot it will trip you out I promise. One day though it will become completely normal. They're easing us into it and it's much more active behind the scenes than most people realize. 

 I didn't even get into the subject of sex robots. I'm old-school and I think I'll always prefer the company of an actual human when it comes to sex, but like in every other area I'm sure they're getting better. By now I'm sure the "Rotoplookers" can lay a little sump'm-sump'm on your ass. I guess I can see robot sex in a place like China, where men outnumber women to such a degree that most Chinese men will never hope to find a human girlfriend, much less a wife. There's a poontang shortage. I do feel badly for them when I hear about their situation and I really can't blame them for wanting to cop a nut however. I can see them fucking robots. Let's just hope the robots don't fuck us. Have a nice day.

Cashle$$ Society

 A cashless society is otw, and it's going to suck. Oh they'll make it sound great and sell it to the masses, who won't think about the implications until it's too late. "Just wave your card folks," or in the future, when everyone is 'chipped, "Just wave your hand. No more standing in line. No more human interaction." Sounds great, doesn't it? Think again. 

 Cash will disappear and all transactions will become digital. There may be a grace period where you can trade the last of your paper money for digital currency, but who knows. Paper money will end up in a few scrapbooks or as wallpaper but mostly it will disappear. It will be totally worthless for at least a century or so, where then if any remains it will be a collector's item. Come to think of it it's worthless right now and always has been, if you understand the Fiat currency system, but that's another story.

 No more cash...what will that be like? First and foremost the bank (and any other interested parties) will be able to track every penny you spend. Is that what you want? It's what you're going to get unless you speak up. It's coming. Do you really want the gubmint to know how much money you spend at the liquor store for example? Anyone who gets paid in cash (over or under the table) for anything in the world can forget about it. And your secret stash of "mad money," that roll of cash that your significant other doesn't know about and can't see on the bank statement, that you use for the occasional visit to a titty bar or buying a little doob when the wifey is out of town or whatever it may be...say adios. That's going to fuck some people up. 

 And though I've never dealt dope a day in my life I can't help but wonder how dope dealers will conduct business in a cashless society. A couple of people have actually theorized that the official answer to that issue will be the legalization of all drugs. I doubt that will happen but you do have to wonder. Anything is possible in this ass-backwards world we're living in right now. How will dope dealers get paid? Will all users have to get a Bitcoin account and get on the Deep Web to buy dope? I know it happens already but of course most deals are done face-to-face, and in cash. I hear that some people trade things like Tide detergent for dope, but it would look pretty funny on your bank statement to see a dozen cases of Tide a month if you didn't own a laundromat. People gonna do dope so I wonder how they'll all get around it. Things could get gnarly dude. .

 We've always heard that it's a good idea to keep a little cash on hand for emergencies if possible. That option will be gone too. During good times I kept a crisp $100 bill folded up in my wallet. That was my "credit card" and it bailed me out of more than one situation. Nobody will be able to do that any more. If the power goes out and people can't transfer digital money it's too bad. All the little things we use cash for will be pretty much gone. Back to the dope-dealing thing...I reckon the whole criminal industry will have to retool to be able to transfer funds. No more smuggling bundles of cash over borders. They'll probably find a way around it but it will certainly change things.

 So yeah...pretty soon every penny you spend, and what you spend it on, will be common knowledge. To me it sounds like a really shitty deal but it's coming, especially since most people won't take five seconds to think about what it means for the future. If enough people voiced their opinions it could affect change, but I doubt it will happen. It's going to happen sooner than later probably, especially with this Blowvid-19 business, where anything and everything is now seen as a potential germ factory, and money is a big culprit. They'll sell the plan on that basis (fear) and the convenience thing and people will ask for it. They won't experience or even think about the things I mentioned until it's too late. The bad guys all want a one-world currency anyway. Welcome to the Beast System.

  A cashless society is going to suck. Do you really want strangers to know how you spend every penny? That's what's going to happen. Nobody will say a word. It's a shame. Enjoy the Beast System. Have a nice day. 

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