Experimental music for the Twitch song "Databomb"!

The meaning of "Worldwide Maniac" off the album "Databomb"

Here's the meaning of the song "Worldwide Maniac" off the upcoming Twitch album "Databomb"!

Manipulations of The System, and Normalcy

For some people, they feel entitled, they feel that they can bully their way into whatever they want, especially when it comes to politics. As of the last few years, there are a lot of people in power, you wonder how they got there, you wonder how they managed to stay in politics for the time they have, and how they ended up in positions of power... Was it shit voter turnout, was it entitled pieces of shit throwing money into the system and getting their way, cause money is the easy manipulation. Was it a combination of all the above... probably.

So, how do we fix this... people who are power hungry, and want to get into politics cause that means, they make the laws, their friends can benefit from their positioning. I think the thing that stands out for me, through all of the shit we've gone through lately, where has the humanity gone? Why are we seeing these ultra right leaning politicians end up in positions of power, and abusing it, and essentially putting peoples lives at risk, all for their bullshit ratings for the next election, or put money in their pockets? Why have we lost humanity in this... like I feel like a lot of these politicians right now, have lost their humanity, I feel like these people in power have gone in the wrong direction, and we see the loss of tolerance of people who are different from ourselves...

...I will be honest, I want society to get to a point where we can all accept each other for who we are, accept each others differences... what I mean by that is, you can believe in whatever you want to... if you believe in a god, or goddess or multiple gods (or you are an atheist, or whatever), and you can change and grow in your beliefs, and not hurt others on top of it, then that is for you... and that same mentality applies to me as well... the key thing, not hurt anybody else. When I look at what is happening right now, I truly thought we eventually would get to that level of understanding and tolerance, but I feel like there has been this shift in the wrong direction, there are these politicians who when they get into positions of power, they abuse it and they benefit who is in their pocket... or who's gonna make them money. I just don't understand how we got here. When I was younger, in my early to mid 20's I thought that, well I wasn't sure if capitalism worked, but I was hopeful, I looked at the examples of my heroes in life (Trent Reznor / Nine Inch Nails), or Korn, or Ice T, or the various other artists and musicians that have been successful in our current system, and they, after putting in their time, ended up being successful... but now I look at the current economy, and capitalism, and I wonder if it is truly possible to reach my dreams... I mean we look at how things have evolved in the last 10 years, and things have gotten worse, and it seems the current system is not sustainable... Which makes me wonder, are my dreams still possible, was I wrong, thinking that maybe someday I'll be like my idols... I will tell you I am not giving up, but I will also tell you, in light of the recent world pandemic, and essentially the economy falling apart, and the shit things various people in power have been doing during this whole pandemic... it doesn't look good for anyone, but I will also tell you that I have, as a lot of other people and businesses have had to, evolve and change... we don't know what this will look like at the end, and I think putting things in place now is the best thing I can do, for my future, whatever that looks like. I guess anyone trying to stay above the water is reinventing themselves.

At this point, I don't think capitalism is sustainable, with where it has been going, but I also think that we as a western society, have to be very careful of what our next steps are in this pandemic, and how society reinvents itself for the future. I know there are a few people in my circle that think communism is the answer... first of all Marx knew that communism/marxism doesn't and won't work, second of all, granted I know China isn't exactly communist, but the recent riots that had been happening there, the students and protesters that were rioting kept saying to westerners and western media "Don't let this happen to you, it's too late for us...", and it is not good in China, communism is not good for anyone, it is highly corruptible. I mean, look at the Social Credit system that they are using there... essentially it's like Facebook, but citizens can rate other citizens, and if you are a down-rated citizen, even if you are a good person, it's likely that people will treat you like shit, police will treat you like shit, you may even disappear... I mean think about that, if every citizen could rate another citizen here... people could generally rate you a shitty citizen and inform authorities, despite you actually being a good person... and you end up being arrested or interrogated, or just in general picked on by other citizens cause you have a shitty social credit. The social credit system is essentially making people informants... who ever buy's into the system the most, and is the most active in that system, likely will end up in the good graces of the police and military... Good little informants, yeah?

So what am I getting at here, I don't know if I'gonna be able to post this on my social channels, FB has blocked various posts I've made in the past regarding the bad word "D*****ia", but what I'm getting at is this... we have to be very careful of the next steps we take moving forward from this worldwide pandemic... the current system obviously doesn't work in it's current format, I mean if it did, this whole situation wouldn't have happened, and no one would fall through the cracks, cause there would be no cracks to fall through... I don't think capitalism works, I don't think communism/marxism works either... I will say, I do think democracy works as a governmental structured society, but not in it's current state... I do think democratic socialism is the way to move forward. As far as how we fix the current situation... how do we move through it... maybe a basic income for everyone... then a lot of the businesses (especially small businesses) would be able to walk through this without losing and having to close shop.

This is what I see, what do you folks think?

“We can't return to normal, because the normal that we had was precisely the problem.”

Are you going to sit by and watch it fall apart..? Or are you gonna get up and do something about it..?

I'm listening to this track by the band Darker Days Tomorrow... from my understanding their philosophy on life and society was that they would rather not participate in the world, and would rather watch it fall apart. The track, I love the way it sounds from a musical and sound design aspect, but I never really understood why they believe in that philosophy of not participating in society, and just letting things fall apart. I mean, if you are not participating, and trying to make things better for everyone... at least, I think, you are a part of the problem. We already have enough obstacles in life, why not be a part of the solution? Life really is too short, and I think if we can make it better for everyone, why the fuck not?? I mean sure it takes energy and time to help others, but if your position is, that you'd rather sit and watch it fall apart, and not participate, I mean truthfully, you've already made your decision, and don't value human life or society... and if that is the reasoning, why even bother doing anything, including music... I mean even that act, creating music, truthfully you are already bringing value to society and your communities... cause music and art is a necessity for our psychology. I guess ultimately, whether they know it or not, they've already created value by creating music and art. So in a way they are being hypocritical, but once again, unknowingly doing something positive.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?

The Making of "Databomb"

Here is a little video about the making of the upcoming Twitch album "Databomb"!

Dreamtime in Shayne's Dreamland... part 1: The War

Well, not many of you know, but ever since I was young I've kept a mental record of most of my dreams while I'm sleeping, I generally remember most of them. I've always been able to draw meaning from them... and if it doesn't happen the first night of a vivid dream then it's usually the third night in a row, that the meaning will come to me... Whenever, I've had problems or issues in my life, I've always found that a combination of meditation and studying my dreams has really helped me make decisions or helped me realize certain things, or let me know there is something that I need to do, or something that I need to address. Our minds are amazing things... it takes all the information that we've processed all day, and at least I've generally found, I've been able to take meaning from the dreams that I've had, and maybe learn something, or take action on something that I need to do. I know a lot of people say dreams could be just that... nothing more that reflections of our daily activities... but believe it or not, if you listen to your dreams and what your mind is trying to tell you about your daily activities (maybe it's work [I hate work dreams; as that means I'm getting stressed out, and will eventually wake soon cause I'm worried about work, and what I should be doing is relaxing], or maybe it's interactions with your friends, and conversations you've had with them throughout the day or week, or maybe it's other stuff like creative endeavors and possible directions that you've been stressing about and you are not too sure which direction... there could be all sorts of things... and it's all purely individual based cause each of us has a different job, we have different friends, we have different aspirations and goals in your life)... but when we are sleeping your brain doesn't shut off... it's actually working on problems while you sleep sub-consciously...and what I've found by studying and interpreting my own dreams (a long time ago, I was trying to interpret dreams by using dream definition book [ie: if you dream a certain animal, it means this certain thing], but I found it was never helpful, none of it's definitions were true for me, and I realized, every single "Dream Dictionary" type books is based on the writers definition of what these things mean... so, I started to listen to my own dreams and define themself)... and generally if the meaning does't come in the first dream it'll resolve itself, after a 3 day cycle, and I'll wake up with the answer! And, that leads to "Shayne's Dreamland: Part 1: The War!"

This dream started off with me doing a little wandering in the around and moving into this house (If I'm not mistaken it was a house I was living in with parents or brother... and a friend showed up (yes, Jordan Jaundice showed up in my dream... he wanted me to take care of his dog for a little while, so I agreed to do it, while I was taking care of his dog, I was looking outside, and people were preparing for war in our City (I think it was Calgary), cause of all that shit is going on in politics lately (with the election here in Canada, and in the US), I was afraid, cause I didn't want to pick up a gun, and possibly have to fight my neighbors or fellow Canadians, and I really don't want to use a gun, cause I have no fuckin idea what I'm going to do with it... when Jordan Jaundice got back... because I was sooo worried about this war, and I could see neighbors in the area planning and stocking up on weapons (think the neighbor right across from us had a modern military canon, the type that you sit in and pull ze trigger to launch some kind of missile or whatever). So, I told him I need to protect myself, and he handed my this shitty small revolver... then when he was about to leave again... he took his dog, looked over the dog, and I knew he wasn't gonna trust me with his dog (in real life I love all animals and I love dogs especially larger dogs; Huskies anyone??), but I also felt a little bit of relief because I new I would have to take care of him and have the added stress of having to dog sit, and also protecting myself if a war does happen... the dream got a little more vivid at this point, and I was starting to think the dream was real, and I hear this voice saying "You're getting closer" as I was heading into this upper room of the house, an I realized I was in a very deep sleep, and generally when things get vivid like that, it's time to wake myself up, so I shook (I literally force my body to shake) myself out of the dream and woke up!

...So, I suspect the next couple of days I will have a couple more vivid dreams like this and the meaning will be revealed to me (as that is usually what happens if it's not revealed sooner)...

... I will tell you my initial thought's I think I'm worried about politics, polarization, us vs them shit that certain conservative governments are trying to push forward...as a way of dividing people into us vs them, in order to divide us and make it easier to control us... cause that is what polarization is... and if you look at politics around the world, and especially here in Canada and in our neighbors in the South... a lot of the conservative agenda has been to push this idea that polarization is happening (I have another theory why they are pushing that idea, but that is a conversation for another time), and I'm slightly worried about the coming Canadian election, as if things don't go well, there's no telling what will happen. However, maybe I'm off on this... we'll see in the next couple of days... maybe there is another reason for this dream... I will keep you folks informed on this dream cycle and let you know if there is any meaning that comes to me in the next couple of days!


P.S.: At some point here, I'll also go into a little more details on the definition of what I mean by "Dreamland" as suggested in the title of this post!


What have you folks been dreaming about lately? Do you take meaning from your dreams..?

Documentary - The Great Hack

We all know what the political climate is like right now, we all know that because of social media being exploited, "hacked" and politicians using it to manipulate the general populace, the results of the election didn't turn out for the good, and there is a joke of a president in power... who is only interested in benefiting himself and his family. If you are curious how social media was involved and used to manipulate people, then watch "The Great Hack" on Netflix! Such an excellent documentary! A little commentary here: If the laws change around the internet and social media to not be able to use our data without our permission, and fake news also not being allowed, we might be in a better place, but so far nothing has really changed all that much... which means this shit can still happen... as you'll see in this documentary, know that your data can be used against you, and used to manipulate you... You would not believe how much data your leaving online with simple interactions, even with playing "games", such as those online "fun" questionnaires (eg: what is your spirit animal, etc).

The Online World: Lost in Translation

I think their needs to be something said about social media and the online world, and online communities... the problem with writing posts online, and texts, and emails... is we don't quite understand context... like when you are talking to someone in person, you see their body language, you hear their voice inflections... you basically get a sense of what a person is trying to articulate (you may be able to tell if they are agitated, or anxious, or even angry)... in the online world, it is completely different; you don't see someone's body language, you don't hear their vocal inflections, text on a screen does not accurately articulate what point someone is trying to get across. It is nice that we can communicate online, but in the end, we do not understand what a person is truly trying to articulate cause through text we can't articulate those things that we can only say and do in person. Sure, there's emojis and shit to give someone a general sense of "ok, this person might be angry..." or "ok, this guy is happy, or laughing", but in the end, even emoji's can't truly show an individual what is going on on the other end of the screen! Don't get me wrong, I like being connected online and in the digital world, social media and the various online forums and communities are a nice tool to use to connect with people across oceans, but I will say it can only do so much to get our points across, to truly know what a person is trying to articulate, you need to be in the room with them, you need to hear them, their voice, you need to see their body language. I'm not saying unplug from the net, what I'm saying is, take these things into consideration when conversing/communicating with people online... a lot can be lost in translation from person-to-text-to-person... and hey I mean, the irony here is I'm communicating this thought with you online via a blogging app... but if you want to have an in person conversation, feel free to call me or message me and we can arrange to meet!! Obviously, I'm not gonna meet with someone that isn't within my community... still gotta play safe folks... but if you are in my community (you know who you are 😉) feel free to message or call me!

What are your thought's on this subject? Do you feel we can articulate our points and opinions and all the other shit well online, or do you think something get's lost in the translation?

Mistakes and Learning from your Past

Well, I just want to say something here, especially about mistakes, and learning from your past. What I'm finding is, a lot of people (especially) in the online social media communities are quite reactionary and aren't really thinking about what they are saying and the example they are setting for others... This is true of everyone; we all make mistakes, no one is perfect (I have made plenty of mistakes, and paid for them too)... that includes politicians, police, military, everyone... every single person on this planet has made a mistake... some people are paying for their mistakes in the penitentiary system, some of them are paying for them by doing probation in society, or community service... some of them have learned them by being called out by their family or friends... No one, absolutely no one is pure... if we didn't make mistakes, how the fuck are we supposed to learn and make amends, and rehabilitate... I'm not gonna point any fingers here, but I'll give an example... remember the guy on the Greyhound bus that decapitated a kid... I'm sure most of you remember that story... that guy is now walking free in society... after the incident, he was given a psychological assessment, they found he had a mental illness, and that whole incident was the result of his mental illness... after serving a period of time in jail (or whatever correctional institution he was in), with being monitored, he was given the go to be released back into society, because he was doing well, and realized the error of his mistake, and is now on a serious dose of medication (that story is here)... There were a lot of people pissed off about that, because he served very little time (the family of the victim wanted him to remain in jail), but I think that's what people are forgetting... the idea of jail is in the end we want to rehabilitate these people, and get them to be a functioning member of society... that is the key, jail is not meant to be a revenge on the perpetrator of a crime (that is why they are called correctional facilities)... Granted there's people who get released into society that probably shouldn't be, but there are also people who have rehabilitated and should be given a chance to be integrated into normal society again (I'm sure some of you will block me, or even have some choice words, or this post gets blocked or flagged or whatever, but quite frankly I'm not afraid to say it, cause we have to be aware that we all make mistakes, and we should all be given a chance to correct them and learn from them), I think that's my point... everyone should be given the chance to correct their mistakes and learn from them, to be rehabilitated... Maybe this is an unpopular topic, but I think it needs to be said, cause if we are truly human, we need to give people this ability, we need to give them the ability to make amends.

Note: I'm not an apologist here either... I do realize sometimes people have to remain in jail for the rest of their lives cause they can't be rehabilitated currently (cause we don't know how to fix them), or being in jail the rest of their lives is how they rehabilitate. What I'm trying to point out here is that we do have to let people make amends and heal/rehabilitate (if they can)... I mean look at anyone's life... how many times have you or your friend fucked up, or made a mistake and your friends understand that and have given you a chance to make amends?? I'm also not saying that these mistakes or whatever are right, what I'm saying is that everybody makes them, and should be given a chance to make amends (as I stated earlier).

What do you folks think?

We shouldn't have to feel afraid for speaking out.

Sometimes shit needs to be said, sometimes we need to bring awareness or speak out when something isn't right... or an issue that needs to be dealt with. With any issue there is definitely apprehension of; if you speak out what is going to happen..? Will you be shut-down..? Will you be ridiculed..? Will you be detained or arrested..? Will you be singled-out and made an example of..? Will someone get violent with you..? All of these things are a possibility... and I think one of the key things here is... most people want to hide away, they want to remain ignorant, they don't want to have to deal with the unfamiliar, or the uncomfortable... cause the less they have to deal with, the less they feel responsible for it. The fear of the unknown is what shuts people down... people are so afraid to step out, cause they feel, most of the time, that makes them feel alone, that makes them feel like a target, and truth be told... that can and does happen. When you step out and call-out shit that isn't right, you will invariably be targeted by people that are so firm in their ignorance that they will do anything to remain ignorant, because they don't feel safe, and the thought of them changing their mind and realizing these truths is so uncomfortable that they are almost willing to do anything to remain in that ignorance. In awareness of these things, here is the ultimate answer; we are all gonna die someday, and most of us don't know when we are gonna die, could be crossing the street, could be shot, could be in our sleep, or if we are lucky, we'll live into our 90's (maybe into our 100's; if health is in our favor)... we don't know... here's some questions for ya, that only you can answer:

How much time do you think you have left?

What do you want to do with your life?

What can be worse than regret?

Question...

Question: Does a system that leaves someone behind, or falls through the cracks a functional system?

Photo credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Answer: No, a functional system would not leave people behind or let them fall through the cracks…

BUT, no system (currently) is perfect, and we have to work together to make the world a better place!