A man who is trusted, has nothing to fear.
He can lie and betray all without threat of punishment.
This man’s friend belongs to a different tribe.
That tribe made sure of his brothers’ downfall.
The trusted man began a plot.
The trusting man was lured into the desert embrace.
Talking and speaking began between the trusted and trusting man.
Then it happened.
A shout, a bang, and one hit.
The trusting man was dead , the trusted left the gruesome scene.
The trusting had fallen.
It wasn’t always been this way, or at least so I hear.
It has become semi-normal to see the red, white, and blue flag the represents freedom to be halfway down the pole.
September seems like there has been an unusual amount of days to have the flag be lowered.
We started the month of with 9/11.
That was the only day that made sense for the flag to be at half-mast. Not to say that 9/11 should have happened, but it’s been 12 years, the wounds have healed, but to see it down two other days this month, that was unexpected.
First we start off with the Navy shooting.
I don’t even really know what happened, but that’s the issue.
I don’t read into these things, it’s just like oh, there’s another shooting, and I move on.
I see 12 people dead and while yes I get sad, at the same time we have been trained to go, “oh 12. That’s a lot less than that other one.”
Excuse me, but for the children, teens, and even adults to just expect that is really f****d up.
It is common talk to just be like, “hey, did you hear about that shooting?…Oh yeah some guy went crazy and just shot some people.”
Usually the response to that would be tears and cries and millions of questions why.
I literally had that exact conversation on the way to football practice the other day. I talked about 12 people dying for no reason, and then just strapped on my helmet and went on with my day.
And then again a few days later I look up, and there the flag is, just hanging halfway down the pole. I was like somebody must’ve gotten lazy and forgotten to put it up, but nope, another shooting.
I just saw that on the TV the other day and I was like you’ve got to be kidding me, another one.
IT IS JUST SO NORMAL!!!! Why is it normal for 3 year olds to be shot in a park having a good time? IT’S NOT!!
A 3-year-old was shot in the head while having a fun day in the park, and the world just moves on. #wtf
I was sitting at breakfast with my grandparents and I brought up the latest shooting. This time it wasn’t in the U.S., but still, any shooting is crazy.
My grandma said, “I feel so bad that you guys have to grow up in this time, it wasn’t like this when I was young.”
That got me thinking. Is it just going to keep getting worse? By the time I have kids I’m going to have to put them in bullet proof vests to walk out of the house.
Now, this isn’t a lobby for gun control. This is a lobby for the crazy people in this country.
If you are crazy and reading this…. please don’t shoot people.
For everyone else. I don’t care if you have a gun. Shoot targets, go hunting, but not for people.
But, do you really need an AR-15 hanging around your house. Are you really gonna go shoot a dove with a gun used to kill enemy forces overseas. If so, more power to you, but I think there are some more sensible gun options for you.
There’s not really much that I can do to control the crazy effed up people in this world, but I’m just a little sick of that flag not flying at the top is all I’m saying. I want to see good ol’ red, white, and blue, flying at the top of the pole, majestically flapping in the wind.
The nation that rides the East and the West is a serpent to all.
It is large, powerful, and not easily defeated.
Not even the western tiger can hope to quell its fang.
Kindness, grace, or even hope for the future does not calm the serpent’s fury.
It must bite and poison all of mankind to be satisfied.
No law is strong enough, no punishment is harsh enough.
The western tiger claws at its elongated body, the serpent squeezes tighter.
The western tiger loses breath, and begins to fall.
The tiger pleads for compromise, the serpent’s squeezing stops.
They return to their lands and the cycle begins again.
During this summer, I met a subway musician at the Times Square Station, NYC.
It was a really, really hot afternoon and the air was just sticky and burning beneath the ground, especially in the subway.
His name was Peter Joseph Paul, a one-man-band, who played in the subway station with his music despite of the heat.
As a New york born musician, Peter formed his high-tech one-man-band and began performing in the Times Square subway station in 2007. And since then, he began to play at the station every Sunday evening from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Using the latest technology and electronics, Peter plays complex drum beats with his two feet, sings and plays guitar, all at the same time.
Sponsored by MUNY(Music Under New York), Peter is also an accomplished audio engineer, arranger, producer and songwriter. And his musical career started when he was 12.
(Picture from starnow.com)
“I write approximately 1-5 songs daily,” Peter said. “I have been writing for over 30 years.”
So far Peter has published two CDs with his own songs – “Energy” and “Sum Night.” And the next CD will be a masterpiece composed of many new styles of songs and more instrumentation, according to Peter.
“I don’t push my CDs on people,” Peter said. “If people like you, they will come up and ask you.”
During my visit, I met lots of underground musicians from all over the world and played various instruments. All of performances were exciting and enjoyable.
They are just the spirits of music who fill the subway stations with joy.
(Over the summer, I visited a small art studio called “Mascot” at the East Village in New York City. Within a small room, the artist was creating great art.)
The compelling window display is only an intro of this remarkable studio.
The real beauty is revealed behind the door, inside a small room of 250 square ft. with colorful portraits of animals and natural landscapes hanging on the walls.
Since 1982, Mascot Studio has been a landmark in the East Village, which was originally a painting space, and is now established at its present storefront location at 328 East Ninth Street.
For the past 25 years, the studio has continued to offer the variety of artworks from different artists and also personal service to the custom framing.
Peter McCaffrey, the owner of the studio, made the ambience of the room even more like home. The works speak out that McCaffrey was born to be an artist.
He demonstrates the insight of art through his own life experience.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1956, Peter McCaffrey studied at the State Universities of New York at Buffalo and Farmingdale, and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1979.
Unlike other galleries or studios, Mascot is particularly known for its eye-catching window displays which invite the passerby to enter the store’s charming ambience.
The studio not only exhibits and sells paintings, but also provides an unusual selection of custom moldings, vintage frames and mirrors, prints and photography.
The theme of nature and the animal world becomes one of the attractive highlights of the studio, which embodies original drawings and paintings by McCaffrey and other artists, mostly from the neighborhood.
The spiritual works of animals, however, became one of the most essential parts of the studio.
Something special about Mascot is its unique “Annual Dog Show.”
Starting in 1999, Peter McCaffrey has curated the “Annual Dog Show” in honor of our canine friends, and opens during the week of the Westminster Kennel Club Show here in New York in February.
The idea was inspired by Anne Watkins, a watercolor painter whose works were posted in the magazine “The Bark – Dog is My Co-Pilot.”
Watkins’ works focus on animals, especially dogs’ portraits. She works from life, using watercolor to capture and represent animals’ daily moments.
Within such a small space, people come in and visit the works including paintings, photographs and sometimes sculptures, a full collection of artists’ visions on dogs.
The last Dog Show was held at Madison Square Garden on Valentine’s Day. The show was opened to everyone and there were also works for sale.
Mascot Studio has remained unique as an artist-run business settled in the Big Apple.
Summer days are quiet for the studio, but it never slows down for McCaffrey.
“It is not easy being an artist in NY these days,” McCaffrey said. “The cost of living is high here, so many artists have moved to the outer boroughs.”
The East Village is still a very diverse neighborhood with rare and expensive studio spaces.
“Commercial rents like my studio/store are not regulated so I feel my days are numbered,” said McCaffrey. “Making a living only on one’s work is difficult.”
However, this artistic heart would will be knocked down from of the tough conditions.
“It is part of my nature to want to keep making art,” McCaffrey said. “And it is very satisfying when I am in that ‘zone’ of creativity, It is like meditation which takes practice and discipline.”
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