The Meaning of "Databomb"

Alright, here is the meaning of the title track off 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..?

Thoughts on Dystopia: RANT TIME

**BEGIN RANT**

Well, it seems like a lot of people out there are saying we are currently living in a dystopia because of current politics and what is going on in the world right now. And it seems as though people are almost romanticizing the idea... Truthfully speaking, I love cyberpunk fiction. However that form of fiction was written as a warning to not tread the path laid out in those stories... it was meant to be a warning to not end up in a dystopia. (EDIT: Dystopia isn't fun. When the fiction was created, it was meant to be a warning for us not to end up in that situation! William Gibson was intelligent enough to know that this could be a possibility if we don't do something about the situation we are in... what I am saying here, is if he was intelligent enough to see and know that, then we are intelligent enough, to not end up in that situation!) I also think we are not living in a dystopia... and quite frankly, I'm willing to do anything, so we don't end up in that reality. And, here's my point, if you truly don't want to live in a dystopia, go out there, get involved in a local charity, or a cause of some kind... stop fuckin saying we live in a dystopia, and start actually doing something about what is going on around you and your fucking communities... I actually view being in a dystopia, is not a good thing, it's not an intelligent thing... I think we as a human species are more intelligent than to let something like that become a reality! If you truly don't want to live in a dystopia, get out there, get involved in your communities, make the world a better place, cause if you don't, we'll certainly end up in that reality!


By saying we live in a dystopia, means you've already given up, and you are ok with what is going on around you... you've thrown in the towel, and accepted that it is not possible to do anything about the world situation, the political situation. You think when we went to war in World War II that we thought that nothing could be done about that whole situation..? People gave their lives so we could have our freedom... and they changed the world for the better for us! It is not impossible, if we put our minds to it, we can change the world!

Once again; as with the last rant: Violence should be the last resort!!

**END RANT**

Note: I know I've ranted about this before, but I want to get across the point, you have the power to change things! No matter how big or how small! If it wasn't possible, what is the fuckin point, we might as well lay down and let the world end... Sorry folks, that's the reality of life, if we can't affect change within ourselves and ultimately influence others to take action... then why live?! Each one of us has the ability to change! You are not fated to do anything, society isn't fated to do anything... You always have a choice, and you will always have the ability to change, and in doing so, you influence others to take action! That's all I gotta say.

EDIT 2: I removed something earlier… and censored my blog a little bit… and now I feel I should have left it in, with a bit of an explanation… so I’m putting this back in it; the reality of Dystopia, is that corporations rule… Government pays lip-service to the people and capitalism has run rampant, with no checks and balances. Secret wars are going on, mega-corporations are taking out competing corporate executives by hiring, hired-guns, or anyone that is a threat, or could pose a threat… everyone carries weapons, cause no one knows who’s next and is not sure who is competing against them for the same space. Violence is normalized… no one is safe. What I had taken out of the blog is, I don’t want this to happen… and quite frankly, the idea of me picking up a weapon, whatever it is… to protect myself is something that I don’t want to do (violence actually makes me physically sick; one of the reasons why I can’t watch horror movies anymore, or even watch violent movies and shit, or even the news for that matter, cause there is too much negativity, and too much violence)… I believe in peace… maybe not a true peace (we still have to be able to defend ourselves, cause unfortunately there is people out in the world that want to hurt you), but I definitely believe in peace! I also believe that we will overcome the current world situation, by accepting each others differences (that doesn’t mean you have to believe what I believe, but accept that we are all different… and as long as you are not infringing on anyone’s rights, or going out there hurting someone [I believe we all have a right to life], and you can change and grow within those beliefs then that is for you)… This can all be done without violence, I believe we will overcome it without violence. What I was getting at in this blog Rant is; there seems to be a lot of people in our community (especially, the goth/industrial community), that are saying that we are living in a dystopia, and the idea is almost romanticised… and what I am trying to articulate is… if you truly think we are in a dystopia, or we are on the verge of becoming a dystopic society here in Canada or even the U.S., is go out there and get involved in your communities, donate time to a charity or worthy cause… whether it’s volunteering at the local drop-in centre or raising awareness for mental health issues. Do something to circumvent the dystopia! It’s one thing to say we are living in a dystopia, or are on the brink of becoming a dystopia… but if you are not taking any actions to circumvent it, then we will truly end up in that situation, if you truly don’t want it to happen, go out there and get involved in your communities and make the world a better place! I realize it’s one thing for me to rant about it on the internet and social media… but I’m already, working on the making the world a better place part ;) ! We can’t make the world a better place, unless all of us are doing it together!

I hope I got my point across!


What are your thoughts?

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?

Mental Health and Music

There was an recent article released about how 73% of independent musicians are affected by mental health issues, or worry about their mental health, which you can read here! I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not surprised with the study, and to me it's always been obvious that this has been the case... musicians and artists typically use their music as a means of therapy, to get out the issues and things that they've been struggling with... when you add the business side to things and trying to succeed within that business, and trying to make a living... the pressure can be great. I will be honest, I struggled with mental health issues for a number of years. There was actually a period of 4 or 5 years that I lost to mental health issues (not focusing on music, and not progressing musically), and sometimes it bothers me that I lost that period of time, as I could've been pushing my music career forward, rather than dealing with mental health. I would say that, I do realize that now, and I have figured out ways to cope... and even though I'm behind, and not where I want to be musically, I would say that if it wasn't for those 4 or 5 years, I would probably be in a much worse place... I wouldn't have the coping skills that I have now, and I might have been locked in some mental institution or something like that. I also realized that, yes, I do have to do music... it is a requirement for my mental health... I realized, when I'm not focused on it, or music related stuff, my mental health declines... course there are other aspects too... obviously that can't be the only focus, being healthy physically and spiritually is also, essential too! Without that whole picture I or anybody for that matter would be struggling mentally. Each of those pieces are important! I think the one thing that is worrisome and pisses me off, is that here in Canada... the province I live in (Alberta), there has been a conservative government elected in, and I will not be surprised if mental health initiatives and funding for people who are using mental health supports will see cuts! We'll see people having to move out of their homes because they can't afford to pay rent, or pay for food, or medications or whatever... We'll see a lot of them being dumped on the streets... and the government doesn't care... I know when Stephen Harper was in power... he thought mentally-ill people should be in jail or locked up in institutions. Unfortunately, this new Premier, Jason Kenny, worked with Stephen Harper, and has even more extreme views than his Prime Minister friend... I think that is why it's important to remain strong and don't give up, cause most of us know, having a mental illness or mental health issues, doesn't make you a criminal... and I would also say to any musician/artist that... use this situation or similar situations in your writing and art, as the world needs your voice, and we can only overcome this by raising awareness of these issues, and destroying any stigma attached to mental health issues!

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!