I live in a van down by the river!

Matt Foley, you know, the motivational speaker Chris Farley played on SNL said: "Hey you kids are probably saying to yourselves: I'm gonna go out there and grab the world by the tail! and wrap it around and pull it down and put it in my pocket. Well I'm here to tell you that you're probably going to find out, as you go out there, that you're not going to amount to jack squat! "

Hehehe...

Off to The Great White North.

Don't get hung up on the guy in the mirror!

I wrote this on my myspace account recently. Look at all the useful output since then! ;) I hope this can help motivate you, as it did for me.

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything… well, at all. It’s not that I’ve been void of action or inspiration. It just hasn’t come together right. As important as introspection is, it can become a reason to not do something really important too. We unearth all of our misgivings, our fears, and our limitations. As a result, we balk at the notion that we are capable or deserving of doing anything extraordinary. The truth is, however, even the most celebrated of kings, leaders, and idealists were full of character flaws. The only answer is to put one foot in front of the other and press forward. The moment we decide to do something we are better off than we were a moment ago when we were disqualifying ourselves from the pursuit of a noble goal.We were created to do something great. That means something different for everybody, but the end result is the same. We can look back at the end of our lives and know that we mattered. We may not be able to know to what extent, but we will know we gave it our best shot. I have a hard time thinking that most of us are living up to our potential. Are we just supposed to be the best little worker bees possible and be happy with that? Not with the potential that each of us holds. That paints a bleak, pointless scenario, in which it doesn’t matter what we do, it all ends in death. Where’s our sense of adventure?When I play music, I feel complete. But, it transcends even that. Music for music’s sake is pointless. It’s a narcissistic ideal. I aspire for my music to touch, inspire, and rile people up. I want to put people on edge, to make others want more. Music is just the best way I can portray that. Ask yourselves what you love to do and do it! If you’re not a leader, align yourself under someone who is, and who holds your ideals. It’s not really as scary as it might seem. We start out with baby steps, easy things we can handle. Don’t talk yourselves out of fulfilling your destiny.

Today's cartoons are a joke

Cartoons have always had good guys and bad guys. There was often a bumbling evil genius or an idiotic henchman always screwing up the best laid plans of a more menacing figure. Today's cartoons are similar to those of yesterday, save one detail; today's cartoons suck. Seriously. There used to be story lines with creatures and premises thought up by the writer(s). Today's cartoons are devised after video games or card fighting games. All they do is fight. Fight, fight, fight. Forget writing a storyline. Who needs one? I admit, when Pokemon first came out, it had it's charm. All the characters had the intelligence of sackcloth. It was awkward and humorous. But every cartoon seems to have the same blueprint. What happened to Looney Toons, The Smurfs, and The Justice League? Now, don't get the wrong idea. I don't make a habit of watching cartoons, but curiosity roped me into watching a little bit of some new cartoons for comparison's sake. Kirby? He sucks. One Piece (of my life I'll never get back)? Yugi-Oh? Yeah, let's watch people play cards on tv. If I want to do that, I'll take Texas Hold 'em. Those card players show more real emotion in a poker face than their cartoon counterparts can conjure up. How does this affect me? Well, I don't really watch much tv, but to see things that are increasingly standardized with less creativity accepted as the cool, hip stuff, puts a bad taste in my mouth. In fact, it reminds me of a good deal of today's pop music. We're overdue for a revolution.

Monday... bah!

Well, it's Monday, not that I'm happy about it. Sweet weekend. My best friend since preschool is home on a three week leave from the Air Force to help me terrorize at least Minnesota and Wisconsin. We already started heaving smoke bombs and assorted fireworks at the neighbors. It's a good thing his neighbors think that's funny. They brought over their yard fogger to try and smoke us out. Keep tuned for more tales of destruction and random tomfoolery.

Below are lyrics from the song "On The Turning Away" from Pink Floyd's 1987 album Momentary Lapse of Reason. This song is a call to make a stand and take care of each other. We often turn a blind eye to the less fortunate and write it off as daily life. Take a read and let it sink in:

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of other's suffering
Or you'll find that you are joining in
The turning away"
It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the day time is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the wearing
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away

The Two Elvi

"Admittedly, it is sometimes easier to judge someone according to an offending snapshot of their life than to view it as an entire movie, filled with triumphs and failures. "

I came across this quote when reading an article about Elvis. He was someone that wanted to do good, even though the pressures of stardom were too much for him to handle, bearing down on him until he gave in to them. A person who leads a public life is so much more than what that public life suggests. People we know in our own lives only ever show us a glimpse of what is really going on. That is why it is so important to love each other. By regularly taking time to ask our friends and family what is going on in their lives and really listening to them, we can be the encouragement they need to be all they can be.

No man is an island, but we spend a lot of time trying to make ourselves one. It feels safe. But the reality is, that we can do more harm than good by not talking to somebody that will stand by us, hold our hand through the tough times, and encourage us. The pressure will increase until we give in to self destructive tendencies. Elvis was always trying to stick close to what he understood to be right. He did well, when around those that believed in him, and succumbed to the pressure when those people weren't there.

So to quote Bill S. Preston esquire, "Be excellent to each other." Invest time into others. Find people who will invest time into you.

Well...

My name is Jason Bradley. I sing, play guitar, and write songs for high-energy rock band, Fastest Turbo Fire Engine (http://www.fastestturbofireengine.com). As an artist, starting out with a blank slate can be challenging, exciting, and a bit overwhelming all at the same time. I've wanted to do a blog for a while now, but just never got around to making a go at it. I've had a couple notebooks full of lyrics, random philisophical tirades, and motivational ideas stolen in the last couple of years, so I figure this is the best place for me to put that kind of stuff. At least I can keep track of it, even if noone else finds it interesting. It will be much more than a musical blog. I promise you that. I believe that in this rapidly changing age, the only way for us to make it through in one piece is to stick together and move forward through conversation. So, I hope to write things that are thought provoking, and coversation inspiring. Other times, what I write will be total crap, and bore the lot of you because you will have no idea what I'm talking about. (Don't say I didn't warn you). Well... here I go, into the great who-knows-where!