BEGINNINGS

I kind of like it in here. The space is a little cramped, but I can get comfortable by kicking myself around. Pretty cool having fingers now, helps pass the time by counting. Id count my toes if I could see them better but my head is too big compared to the rest of my underdeveloped body. I'm not sure what that thing is just past this rope connected to my belly, I dont think its a finger or toe, pretty good sized but I'm not sure what that's going to be used for. Best of all is breathing underwater. This is gonna be huge later in life.

Hey, what's going on? Where'd the water go? what the heck.... gurggle, mumble.... OUCH!!! Dude why'd you hit me... waaaaa!!! waaaaa!!!!! Man its bright out here, anyone got any shades?

Ft. Meade Army hospital was as dreary a place as you can imagine. It would be the place where later I would run down the halls because the Drs. produced syringes made of stainless steel, huge with finger holes to get maximum leverage. The floors were green tile, always polished, a dark sterile place. I'd always get caught by my Mom, or a Dr.

Ft. Meade Army Base is also a military intelligence base in Maryland, just outside Washington DC, near Laurel, MD. If you watched the movie "Men Who Stare at Goats" , the characters are in a paranormal psyche unit and adept at remote viewing. The movie places the unit at Ft. Bragg but this also took place at Ft. Meade. Remote viewing is the ability to see things without being there and the military experimented with it. Men Who Stare At Goats was a dissapointment as a movie, Clooney didn't pull it off and I don't think it was factual, b ut it did illustrate the fact that the Army experimented with remote viewing. Strangely, Im pretty good at it myself.

At about 4, I was at my cousin's ( that's him up there, a follower) Grandparent,s house at a family gathering on the Back River, an estuary of the Chesapeake. I remember watching my Dad and Uncles wade out into the river, catching soft shell crabs. I guess my Grandfather had decided it was time for me to learn how to swim. He snuck up behind me, grabbed me by the arms and flung me into the water. I remember vividly seeing black, brown, green, yellow... then surfacing. This was how we learned to swim, babtized in the Chesapeake..... underwater breathing sure would have come in handy.

Lady Gaga, The Grammys, and The Future of Mankind

I'm so hesitant to watch any Awards shows on TV nowadays. Especially after the Kanye/ Taylor Swift incident. The music industry is pretty saturated with so many artists and it seems record labels throw stuff up against the wall to see what's gonna stick any more. And Rap/ Hip Hop, Fogit about it. I used to appreciate Rap in the early days as an expression by an artist, not that I particularly liked it, but appreciated the expression and was curious about it.

I fancy myself a pretty good judge of talent, kind of have a knack for knowing what's going to be big. Not that I'm an expert by any means, it's kindo of intuitive. Earlier in 2009 I picked Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga as the lead horses. This was born out last night on the Grammys. I'm glad I watched and was impressed that melodic music seems to be back in the forefront, unless you watch the MTV Music Awards. Plenty of crass and un class still to be found there, but I suppose someone is downloading or buying the crap.

About Lady Gaga. I'm a huge fan. What first caught me was the visuals from her videos. Kind of sophisticated Devo esque. I don't know how much artistic input she has in them, but they are avant gaurde, eye candy. Secondly, her versus are club like but in all of her songs, she breaks into catchy melodic choruses. Thirdly, she is very talented, great voice, phrasing.

I had an arguement with my brother and cousins at xmas about her. I contend that she is a cross between Madonna, Cher and Grace Jones. And that she has the ability, and probably will transform herself from her current shtick and have great longevitiy. In the meantime, we get interesting and entertaining art. Her duet with Elton John was impressive.

Since her and Sir Elton did the opening act at the Grammys, I thought " who's going to top that...." well Pink did. I'm not a big fan of her punkyness, but she sang a song the demonstrated her vocal skills, low key but while doing acrobatics. I was in awe.

I pegged Lady Antebellum earlier last year for their great harmonies, diversions in the melody and bridges. Incredible vocals. Hillary Scot is actually country star Linda Davis' daughter. It doesn't hurt to have those connections, but they hold their own.

Then finally, Taylor Swift. Her songs are bubble gum for the most part, but when she crossed over from Country I realized her vast appeal. She writes her own songs, can you imagine the money this young woman is going to be worth? I have to believe at some point she will run out of lyrics. How many fairy tale princess, prince, high school, when you're 15 stuff can you come up with. But, she's been doing duets with a number of groups and people. I hope she can sustain.

All in all a good show last night. Lots of big productions, Beyonce, phenomenal vocals.

Back to Hip Hop. Whats up with Jayzee? What does he do? I saw him in a video with Alicia Keys, the New York song. I don't think he says much, kind of grunts here and there.... Guess he'll ride B's coatails. I dont know. Emmenem and the two guys he was rapping with... I either had technical difficutlies with the TV sound system or they bleeped out a bunch of lyrics.... and those guys need to buy some new belts for their pants because they're underwear was showing..

Pants on the ground, pants on the ground... lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground...