It was interesting because over the years I have tried to write stories. I could never finish anything or just lost interest. Most of the material I tried to execute had serious undertones and I have never really been a serious type. I tend to make light of serious issues, my friends have known me to come up with bizarre comical takes on serious issues. It is hard for me to be serious. What I think of is serious and a lot of issues in my mind are serious but my nature is to make fun of things including myself. Comical observations are very serious and that is what makes them funny.

It is the brevity and discomfort that makes people nervously laugh but also simply the observation itself laid bare. So instead of writing in a serious tone I have aimed for a different voice and so far it seems natural and has actually been keeping my attention and interest. For someone who for years has wanted to write but either the voice was too far in a certain direction I feel I can at least produce material. What keeps it interesting for me is allowing my own natural comical observations soften the seriousness of the content. It doesn’t deaden the brevity but at least gives people something to grab onto through the journey.

At this stage I am just writing separate chapters and plan to organize the direction of the story but it is very open to issues I have countlessly tried to tackle but with a more natural feel. There is a long way to go but what I have written is actually more my own voice. Even when I am with friends my humour is just to keep things calm and rolling along. The issues though are as clear as day and really I want to bring people into my stories.

Well getting into some music, had a play with my midi synth and it generated a lot of noise since my Ubuntu upgrade but I like it and can work with it. The patching on the jack music server changed quite a lot and I think it is that my synth software now has a jack and alsa version which are separate programs. It is all workable and I am fine tuning a laptop for playback of beats and noise in irregular loops.

What I will probably end up doing is recording material and maybe edit it together if I can’t get much out of live sessions. Just see what happens. Really got stuck into painting on walls and paper but I think its time to calm down and take a breath. The work has been rushed and fast but it also gave me opportunities to work and talk to other artists which is needed. It is heating up now in Sydney, we had a mild start to spring so I don’t really want to be standing in the sun for hours painting on the streets.

Leaving the next wall for a few weeks which is good as would like to go and see my friend in the mountains for the weekend. Then I have work the next weekend which leads to a rostered day off which will be a good break to help me gather my thoughts. Even though I feel like I should be pumping out work I want to get some quality work out and it needs to think and bubble up to the surface. The good part has been the socialising but the work hasn’t been great though I am not bothered about it at all.

Well saw ‘Straight outta Compton’ last night. An interesting look into American gang culture that showed the realities of Americas war on drugs and the rise of talented artists who tried to reflect the reality of ghetto life. Initially the release of NWA’s music was a shock for most fans of Hip Hop who had only heard a glimpse of this style with Schooly D.
Personally I am not a big fan of gangster rap but when it was released it was definitely a new wave of raw lyrics and talent. The last album I owned was Ice Cubes initial solo album ‘Americas most wanted’ and then my taste in music changed. The validation NWA gave to African Americans was huge, it showed their culture and attitudes. So many artists jumped on board from all parts of America. What drew me to Ice Cubes initial release was his collaboration with Public Enemy on ‘Burn Hollywood burn’ a really blasting track that helped bring change as the landscape changed to show African American heroes as opposed to minor roles.

I feel teenagers in Australia could never have related to the realities of American culture in regards to the ghettoes but what NWA brought to the table was the culture of music and rebellion. Anyone can relate to that if they are so inclined. I don’t feel that the level of violence and destruction was ever evident in Sydney as to the struggles in Compton. Anyone who was inclined to be violent was just going to be that way and how to deal with that was a separate problem but there isn’t the gun issue in Australia and there are only small pockets of problem areas. There are drug gangs in Sydney that are armed but they are in small pockets here and there normally shooting each other it isn’t endemic. Australia is a very safe country and I am glad we could use music culture as a way to rebel rather than through the absurdity of guns and violence. With NWA it was all about the music and even though it was not politically correct it was great to listen to.