PARADISE LOOSE.

Paradise Loose.

“Knowledge forbidden?
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
Envy them that? Can it be a sin to know?
Can it be death?” -Milton, Paradise Lost.

One finds if one studies and researches literature and culture long enough that there are common threads and themes throughout – across all time, space, race, beliefs and backgrounds. It takes a lifetime of experience and keen observation to begin to tie the threads together later in life, and inevitably, this process takes on a particular flavor of understanding based on subjective perception, “all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be”.  Now before I get pedantic let me take a perfidious posture and pose the notion that subjective perception is everything – it is 'better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven'.  I have chosen to be here now - personally chosen to sit here in relatively comfortable surroundings writing. Is it wrong that I have wound up here rather than suffering without food or shelter in the streets of Tacloban, Philippines after superstorm Haiyan has creamed the place? No. It's not. Flat out. Was it wrong that I was drunk as HELL the entire weekend of November 8-10^th 2013 partying my ass off with friends in Bahrain while that storm raged and killed thousands? I leave it to you to decide if I'm ignorant, insensitive, or just an evil asshole (honestly, I was unaware of the extent of the storm at the time). Fortunately the governments of the world are willing and able to donate some aid to those unfortunate enough to get hit by that storm. Compassion demands a response.  But based on global warming trends, it's only the beginning. Where will the 600,000 (this number amended to a whopping 3 MILLION by CNN yesterday) displaced people go and what will they do when global aid funds dry up? Will you welcome them into your home? Suppose it's going to get worse (and it is people – YOU KNOW IT). Let me pose another question as devil's advocate: what if it were 10 million displaced instead of 600,000 (or 3 million)? Would there be enough aid to help them? Would the elite of the global corporatocracy sign off on aid for this number? Would race, nationality, and geography have anything to do with it? Let me assure you – in the halls of power – there are serious conversations taking place about whether or not it is feasible to obliterate large populations of the human race (preferably in subtle, clandestine ways) rather than shell out resources to assist them in times of desperation – race and nationality will play a factor. Culling the herd.  These are grim times - and if you're a Filipino on the ground after Haiyan today, or a survivor in the slums of Kibera, Nairobi, you're feeling a 'pinch' that the wealthy comfortable bankers and politicians of the West can scarcely imagine. But they can see it coming – and have no intention of ever being reduced to such estates – risk management and harm reduction are high on their list of priorities!! A mass uprising is feared by global economic leaders.  Russell Brand has become an overnight hero for being so candid about things most people are already aware of – especially since he's proposing some new ideas about what to expect in the not-too-distant-future!!  THIS is one of the more intense socio-economic+political articles I've read recently – highly recommended if you're 'keeping score' on 'the people' vs. 'neoliberal corporate hegemony'.  Meanwhile, I can't help but be turned on by $70,000+ motorcycles from Confederate bikes in the U.S.

I can't help it – it's my nature – bikes are exciting to me and always will be – and this thing is GORGEOUS.  But at that price, it seems like an elite product for greedy motherf*ckers. I wouldn't turn one down if it was offered me, but I'm not spending my whole life in pursuit of such material wonders. Also in my nature, the will to power and fight for what I believe in. Once upon a time I was a 'kitchen slave' - in the 90's - working at the Elephant and Castle in downtown Victoria – 8 hour shifts at $8.50/hour under intensely stressful conditions whilst trying to 'get ahead' any way I could – firstly with Camosun college cooking school, then later by studying English at Camosun College and the University of Victoria. I was an avid comic fan during those years – the art was beautiful and the ideals and strength of the characters was inspirational. I can't help but see mythic connections between Erik Lensherr, Satan, Dr. Strange(?!!) and myself (because 'myself' is always involved as the 'seeing eye' and constant figure of comparison/contrast whether I like it or not). When I say Satan here, I'm not saying I identify with the devil exactly. That would be extreme hubris and very foolish indeed. However. I do identify with aspects of all the characters I've ever felt resonated with my own thoughts or aspects of my own being – in all the literature, pop culture, and art I've had the honor to experience in my life. Bottom line? Life can be hard – use your illusions – because those illusions can shape who you become – and form the basis of your future reality. “Thoughts are ephemeral aurora and unreliable compasses,/They are marshlights not to be trusted.” YoungTimothy's words, like this electronic blog, are ephemera – and will only last so long as you are able to read - and possibly believe in - some of what you can feed your imagination with these words...

THE WEIRD TURN PRO.

Tomorrow I will wake up, go to work, proctor exams, and banter with other teachers and friends over lunch at the college cafeteria. I will drink strong imported free trade Lavazza coffee in the morning with sugar and cardamom cream and eat lemony crisp Italian biscotti. I'll teach my morning class of adorable 18-20 year old Omani students who seem so much younger. I'll attend the morning meeting for test alignment. Then I will receive an email from corporate America, saying 'come join our team in Saudi Arabia'.   At this time I'll be in my office, reading a visa invitation for a job I've known about for some weeks. Immediately, I will get on the phone, book a flight, and be out of the country by the time classes start the next day. No one will know I am leaving. I'll spend the afternoon packing my large green MEC 'Ibex' expedition pack and black Arcteryx day pack. I'll make sure my Les Paul guitar is comfortable in it's hard shell red plush velvet lined coffin case. With the blink of an eyelash and a wee puff of brimstone and Frankinsence, I will be gone from their lives forever. How strange it is to be THE MIDNIGHT RUNNER. In 13 years as an EFL professional I've never done this – but for triple the pay in the Middle-East, it's simply the right thing to do, and most of my colleagues would agree – even friends who wish I'd stick around. Time grows short for making hay while the sun shines, and I am going to need a little piece of ground to kick around on out on the West coast of Canada while the world dies. We do what we have to – and there's a fact. You is what you is – and there's a Zappa-ism. So without further ado, here's a glimpse of the unfinished 'ghetto' villa I've called home for my two months in Oman. Poor by the standards of some, rich by others, I've been in a large air conditioned and comfortable apartment on the second floor under the unfinished concrete chaos up on level 3. Two of my colleagues have 'pulled runners' in the past 2 weeks, and I'll be the third.  What a way to go!!!

Frankinsence is one of the most brilliant things about Salalah – I've been loving it – weekends with coffee and incense burning – room full of sensuous smoke - a good internet connection – a good book – and a beautiful white sand beach one hour away for the afternoon swim. You could almost wonder why the heck I'd leave - $$$?

I regret only having had the chance for one decent overnight hike in Salalah (Mirbat). This is what you might call my 'country home' if I stayed – if you look closely – you can see the 'living room' in the cleft of rocks below where we made a fire ring and enjoyed the stars while considering what manner of wild animals were howling around us (Hyenas or Leopards?).  Thanks Andy!!

The inside of our cave – there was an adorable gecko type lizard and little poops that looked about antelope or hyrax sized.

Speaking of coming down the mountain, if you're ever hiking in Oman in Summer or Fall – pray for clouds – or you will have your mind broiled...

DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKER.

“Ignore that nightmare in the bathroom. Just another ugly refugee from the Love Generation, some doom-struck gimp who couldn't handle the pressure. My attorney has never been able to accept the notion - often espoused by reformed drug abusers and especially popular among those on probation - that you can get a lot higher without drugs than with them. And neither have I, for that matter.”-Thompson.

Tales of ribaldry. They're coming. I swear it. No narrow frith to crosse. The trouble is, I'm heading back into the belly of the beast, and if I say too much right now and it winds up being read by the wrong people, things will get...difficult. Potentially dangerous. As I'm in the business of risk management and harm reduction myself among other things, I'm going to hold onto these stories for now, maybe write some up and hone them down... There was a moment – and most such tales will at their best consist of sublime moments framed in appropriate language – where I lay back and thanked a friend most sincerely for the gift of altered consciousness, glanced at the movie on the wall, and lay back to get centered and observe the inside of my own mind. This is always a brilliant place to be on psychadelics – for awhile at least – and this particular time, an immense horse head nebula, full of stars and BREATHING with soft cool colors of red, blue, and purple hues reared up and drifted out above my head. The ceiling melted away and I was looking out into space – in realtime - and I WAS that space – as it was me. Simply and ineffably. Expanding and contracting – the entire cosmos in concert with my own breathing. Intense feelings of peace, well-being, and emotional balance filled me and washed over me and I had to remember to breathe deeply in order to cognitively process the immense depth of the moment!!  Profound gratitude.  Life is a miracle. If anyone ever tries to tell you different, just show them the horsehead nebula in their third eye. It's easy if you try. Infinity and bliss are always just one breath away - as is death – mortality too a divine gift in its own way. I had the honor of teaching 'carpe diem' to my college students in Salalah – as Muslims, I wonder if they 'got it'?!! Perhaps the desert bedouin among them wondered why I was taking time to state the obvious. One thing I'm relatively sure they don't know – the visceral sensation of 'being' a kosmic nebula (in a psychadelic entheogenic trance). For that reason and others, I'll be keeping further tales of total chaos to myself for the time being.  Out on the fringes of space/time autonomous zones at the edge of the waves where entropy rides infinity along distorted aural noise gate guitar sounds - Truth will out and I will share.  I hope to see you there.  The stars will rise again tonight along with the November full moon.  If you're alive and reading this, take a deep breath - congratulate yourself for being here!!  Enjoy the moment.  As for 'tripping balls' in the Middle East, specifics are matters for surreptitious disclosure - and I prefer to play it safe and keep my butt outta the fire as they say.  I hope you'll stick around with me as the journey continues – I'll stay safe long enough to reveal more later...

A DREAM OF HARMONY.

“All is not lost, the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal hate, and the courage never to submit or yield.” - Milton, Paradise Lost. I'll be posting a detailed review of Leon Uris' book 'The Haj' soon – this book has taught me more than a few things about 'the Arab mind' – and while I admire 'the courage never to submit or yield', I admit I am annoyed with mortals who propose 'immortal hate' as something to hold onto. Hate that crosses over from generation to generation is to my mind the height of ignorance and stupidity. Humanity needs a state of 'world peace' and cooperation as never before in history. It's never going to happen as long as people hold to outdated ideals of hate!!! As for me, I'm leaving. POOF. Gone. Leaving nothing in my wake but a broken down Honda Steed chopped bobber motorcycle I paid too much for.....

With any luck a good friend from back East (THE BISHOP) will sell it for me in Muscat, or I can somehow get it delivered to Dammam, Saudi Arabia, the belly of the beast, where I am once again going to work for 'the man' as a technical English trainer working for an anonymous corporate Saudi entity through a huge anonymous American non-profit educational organization (anonymous cause covering your ass is absolutely necessary in this game - and I've just pulled an exhausting runner out of Oman).  Why the HELL would any West coast boy from Canada (and a bloody Aussie to boot) do such a thing??? Let me put it this way. As a 'kitchen slave' in the 90's I made around $1000/month and could barely pay rent. Let's just say I've more than tripled that figure twice since then (as of next week for a first), and with any luck will be able to afford a slice of property in my homeland to live and die on sometime before I'm too old to carry on working my butt off overseas anymore!! Check this out:
YouthUnemployment, A Western Epidemic!! 

Even now with all my experience, education, and connections, I can't seem to get a job in my own country that pays a third what I'm offered in Dammam this year. Being an expat is exciting – the lifestyle is a blast – but – what many of us want more than anything is to go 'home' someday and be at peace in our homeland. 21st century Hyperreality has every dream in high tension (D?)evolutionary flux. Things are weird as NEVER BEFORE and respected Canadian environmental scientist David Suzuki has gone on record saying exactly what's been on my mind lately. If there's another earthquake in Fukushima of 7.0 or above (and Suzuki puts this at a 90% probability in the next 5 years) it will mean 'bye bye Japan' (his words) and we will have to evacuate the entire North American West coast. Suzuki calls this 'terrifying'.  I don't think this is the right way to put it. 'Terror' is an absurdly abused word these days - many comfortable North Americans would regard numerous phases of my life as 'terrifying'.  Certainly it's been more fun than boring!!  I've become comfortable with a fast pace and constant change. I've existed continuously in 'hyperreality' for over a decade now. Regarding the possible loss of the entire nation of Japan and poisoning of the West coast (my birthplace and where I feel most at home in the world) - Sadness seems more appropriate. Sorrow. Great, unimaginably crushing sorrow. Not to lose my homeland to my own wanderings, lust for life, and need for money, but to an environmental catastrophe from across the sea that kills all life in the ocean and makes the very air poisonous. At what point does the spirit crumple? At what point does Eric Lensher buckle and fall under the boot of Apocalypse? At what point does Satan fall from grace and say “To hell with all of you!!” This horror will grow mild, this darkness light!! Our cure, to be no more; Sad cure!! If human imagination is responsible for the indomitable will and spirit of characters like Satan and Magneto, can collective human imagination not manifest a state of peace in the world? As a student at UVIC I once read some graffiti someone had carved into a desk in the philosophy wing of the Clearihue building – it stuck in my mind for years, “fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity” - author unknown. It's kind of a mindfuck that statement. Two unrelated clauses that are somehow proposed to be the same. Fucking for virginity is an obvious paradox – fighting for peace makes good sense – depending on how you define the fight. I would like to find peace in Canada someday. I pray for this.  If CANADA is somehow obliterated by the cataclysmic ignorance of greedy avaricious men, I can always run off to Australia?!!  I believe in the power of the collective human imagination – particularly my own!!  I'm leaping into the void tomorrow - the naked quad rider pulls a midnight run in broad daylight!!  Jebus.  Good Lord.  The scandal!!  The headlines!!  Heaven help me now!!  Where's my crackpipe FORD?!!  Total hysteria.  FUN.  LULz.  Get a grip man.  A week of Limbo in a hotel in Bahrain (again!!) while I await the grace of a Saudi visa processing bureaucrat.  In this vacuous meantime, I continue to stand at the edge of a precipice, looking down at a long black drop, with another deeper chasm at it's bottom, wondering if I'll ever make it across the oceans of time and space that separate me from my one true Love. Whomever or wherever he/she/it may be...

“Into this wild Abyss/ The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave--/ Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,/ But all these in their pregnant causes mixed/ Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight,/ Unless the Almighty Maker them ordain/ His dark materials to create more worlds,--/ Into this wild Abyss the wary Fiend/ Stood on the brink of Hell and looked a while,/ Pondering his voyage; for no narrow frith/ He had to cross. ” -Milton, Paradise Lost.

As a luminous irridescent butterfly flits on by...