Looks like it was time for a change!

The thing about revolution is it allways goes 360..



Subvert City lyrics
And it all went quiet in the city

And the wind blew down the road

Someone cried out "Subvert"

And the people all went cold



Subvert, subvert, subvert, SUBVERT



Meanwhile back in Subvert City

Someone's writing on the wall

"Fuck the government" spray-paint hero

Someone wants the state to fall

Religious dogma crucified

Ritual slaughter, no one lied

Living standards were dying morals

A state-controlled mass suicide



The dying breed of Subvert City

Crept into the underground

The state police just left them there

Blocked the holes, and gassed them down

Ten years later they emerged

Mutated minds so full of hate

Tried again to change the system

But this time round it was too late

There was no system left to change

The people ran the entire land

The subverts became politiciand

And finally got the upper hand



Meanwhile back in Subvert City

Someone's writing on the wall

"Fuck the government" spray-paint hero

But in Subvert City, it's subvert rule



Subvert, subvert, subvert, subvert

All your good is someone else's bad. It is only a point of view.

I wish the incoming administration love and luck, I wish the outgoing administration love and luck.




Late update, Chaplain Shin makes a great observation in her blog here: http://buddhistmilitarysangha.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-new-commander-in-chief.html

My Horror scope for today seems to nail how I feel this morning.

It's a good thing when your life settles down a bit and today could bring the calmer times you prefer. Still, you are intellectually buzzed -- or maybe even annoyed -- for your thinking doesn't mesh easily with your current laid-back approach to life. Don't let your rational mind talk you out of the relaxation you desire.

A couple of Joy Division Songs that resonated with me this morning,

Wilderness
I travelled far and wide through many different times,What did you see there?I saw the saints with their toys,What did you see there?I saw all knowledge destroyed.I travelled far and wide through many different times.I travelled far and wide through prisons of the cross,What did you see there?The power and glory of sin,What did you see there?The blood of Christ on their skins,I travelled far and wide thorugh many different times.I travelled far and wide and unknown martyrs died,What did you see there?I saw the one sided trials,What did you see there?I saw the tears as they cried,They had tears in their eyes,Tears in their eyes,Tears in their eyes,Tears in their eye.

Insight
Guess you dreams always end.They don't rise up, just descend,But I don't care anymore,I've lost the will to want more,I'm not afraid not at all,I watch them all as they fall,But I remember when we were young.Those with habits of waste,Their sense of style and good taste,Of making sure you were right,Hey don't you know you were right?I'm not afraid anymore,I keep my eyes on the door,But I remember....Tears of sadness for you,More upheaval for you,Reflects a moment in time,A special moment in time,Yeah we wasted our time,We didn't really have time,But we remember when we were young.And all God's angels beware,And all you judges beware,Sons of chance, take good care,For all the people not there,I'm not afraid anymore,I'm not afraid anymore,I'm not afraid anymore,Oh, I'm not afraid anymore.

May you be free from suffering,
Jordan

Some other songs

Fugazi,
Long Distance Runner:
The farther I go the less I know
One foot goes in front of the other
It all boils around to not hanging around
To keep moving in front of the gravity
The answer is there the answer is there
but there is not a fixed position
It keeps moving along so I keep coming along
and that's why I'm a long distance runner
and if I stop to catch my breath
I might catch a piece of death
I can't keep your pace if I want to finish this race
My fight's not with it
It's with the gravity
Long distance runner

Down By Law
1944:
somewhere a pen is busy with hate tonight
jaded eyes and cynics bring me down
somewhere a kid is playing his heart out tonight
but he'll get nowhere with the Berkeley in-crowd
well put-downs are so easy
like a novel without a soul
and every executioner wears a hood
when it's time for heads to roll
well they're just like new dictators
trying to tell us what to love
well their opinion they can take and shove
somewhere young rebels will meet up tonight
somewhere skateboarders and straightedgers will unite
they don't need no magazine that's filled with hate and lies
get enough from the world around them
they're young but they are wise
but negativity's easy
you just fire and walk away
and it's the armchair general
who lives to fight another day
well their opinion they can take and shove
if this was 1944, they'd be pointing their guns at you
cause every fascist, left or right, has a fucked-up set of rules
but do they really think the kids are such fools?
Or do they even care?

These were a coupple of songs that resonatd with me when I was listining to the ipod While running on the treadmill this morning. No breakdown required.

May all be well and happy!
Jordan

Nostalgia

I'm watching American Hardcore. I was just at the tail end of that scene. I think I was 12 years old when I got turned on to Black Flag and The Misfits. A little later a new scene came in to the Chicago suburbs. But Watching this I started to get a case of the "if only." I start to think if I had only latched on more to the straight edge scene, If only I had been more musically talented, if only I had stayed away from beer, If only I had exorcised more, not been so nihilistic, angry. If only I understood what is going on around me at the time.

It matters but it dose not matter. I am not being cryptic here it is just how it is.
It matters because things would not be how they are now, I would not be how I am now if i had not lived the life I have lived, made the choices I have made. But it has little reflection on my daily life today. Sure I have a mixed up collection of tattoos, and an eclectic music collection. And I am certain the line of causation put me smack dab into Zazen.

It dose not matter because the only thing I can do is take action in the present moment. I can't go back and address the "if only." It won't get the house cleaned or do my job for me. It won't put gas in the car or feed the family. It won't do Zazen for me or get the wife all the worldly things she wants. Or blow the perfect note on the Shakuhachi or paint the perfect fish.

But nostalgia is not something to Ignore all together either. I know there are lessons to be learned all throughout the past if I can find them. But at the same time not get involved in them with the "if only" and live and act right now. I smile when I see a 12 year old wearing a Black Flag t-shirt.

I left a whole bunch of stuff out of this post.

Be wall and happy!
Jordan

Late entry:

Cleaning the house today with the wife and kids, My wife scolded the 4.5year old "Hannah, How many times do I have to tell you help Iko(2.5)!" Hannah, my new Zen master's spontaneous response? "I Don't Know!"