wake up

Tim (my boss): Frank, get started on that MediaBase project, you know which one I'm talking about.

Me (to myself, complete with cloud bubble popping out of my head): I don't know what MediaBase project he's talking about. Most of the time I'm thinking about drugs and Phishing.

Coffee machine woes, productivity, professionalism, output, input, ctrl-Alt-delete, BHAG's, 20-year goals, company values, strategic goals--fuck all that shit.

Fuck this urban capitalist experiment, I'm dropping out. Tune in, turn on and drop out. We're gonna make it do what it's gonna do baby, and it ain't doing. Never has never will.

"I have made a big decision. I'm gonna try to nullify my life."

While I'm thinking of it: The Backyard Salvia Sessions are going down soon. Pregame it with your favorite psychonauts on Saturday nights, 6-10 pm. Confirmed resident performers Professor Plum and Tumble Dry Low bring the psychedelia. Relax in the cool of the evening and let the time slip away before you head out to da club. 2210 Durant House. Check it. Respek.
Salvia Sessions: Lose your mind.

"cause when the blood begins to flow, when it shoots up the dropper's neck, and I'm closing in on death..."

"Music is my occupation, cause I'm a Rasta Man"

"You can’t help me not you guys, and All you sweet girls with all your sweet talk. You can all go take a walk. And I guess I just don’t know, And I guess I just don’t know."

"Be Big Business man. I'm a Rasta Man. I hope you understand."

Bob Marley Day

Bob Marley dreamed of bringing reggae to Africa: Ragga Muffins see his dream through with festival in San Francisco

At a time when the world truly needs the reggae values of peace, love, happiness and music, the 24th Annual Ragga Muffins Festival boogied into San Francisco to celebrate Bob Marley Day. Marley was born on February 6, 1945, and all throughout California this month, reggae festivals are breaking out to celebrate, party and dance, as the man himself would have it.

The 24th Annual Ragga Muffins Festival exploded in LA on February 19th and then traveled to San Diego. On Saturday night, February 26th, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium hosted this fantastic spectacle.

Seven reggae bands from all over the world saw Bob Marley's one dream come true. Marley dreamed of one day bringing reggae music worldwide, and particularly to Africa, where all of reggae's influences developed and evolved, and because of time and circumstance were changed, subverted, squashed and exploited. But the music could not be stopped, would not die, and as a testament to this undying musical culture, Ragga Muffins presented music from Jamaica, England, the U.S. and, of course, Africa.

The Bill Graham Auditorium was populated with all order of reggae fans Saturday night—from wasted old hippies to futuristic hipsters, from authentic Rastafarians to white guys wearing Rasta hats with fake dreadlocks. Everyone partied together with a shared mutual affection that bordered on a utopian vision. The sweet aroma of cannabis filled the auditorium.

Despite extremely long beer and food lines, the staff handled the event flawlessly. The set changes went off quickly and smoothly, and the house music played in between acts kept everyone dancing and interested.

The Easy Star All Stars (New York record label) kicked things off at 4 pm, but due to insanely long, inefficient ticket and will-call queues, much of the audience missed this performance. By the time most of us actually got in the venue, Tanya Stevens was already on-stage wooing the crowd with her seductive voice and energy, as her three piece back-up band (drum, bass and keys) laid down sparse, tight grooves in true dance-hall fashion. The place was bumping and bouncing by the time Israel Vibration (Jamaica) took over, taking it back to the roots.

Barrington Levy (Jamaica) followed, and this group seemed to be the crowd favorite of the night. As stated eloquently by a drunk woman in her late 20's while on line for a beer, "Barrington Levy is the best band here," she told me, wavering back and forth. She was dressed in just a skimpy purple corset and jeans, and her thin body wobbled in place as her bloodshot eyes glared up at me. "Better than the headliners?" I asked, to which she replied, "Jimmy Cliff, Steel Pulse, they're alright, but Barrington's where it's at."

This seemed to be the sentiment of most of the audience, who sang along to many of Barrington's songs and followed him as he worked them into a frenzy with his wild exclamations of "Whoooooaaaa" and "Whaaaaaaaaa" and "San Franisco yeaaaaahhh" and "murderaaaaaaaaaaaaa." The band behind Barrington delivered all the tight, one-two knockout punches necessary for making this kind of crowd participation effective rather than hokey.

Alpha Blondy (Ivory Coast, Africa) came on next, and I thought this was the highlight of the night. With a three piece live horn section (gotta love that!), a keyboard player who laid down spacey, psychedelic, atmospheric textures, and a lead guitar player who delved into heavy metal riffs at times, the pure agility of this band is enough to keep you interested. But with the balls-out high intensity of their performance, you're blasted into the stratosphere, sailing somewhere high above the ceiling. Alpha Blondy is a testament to Bob Marley’s mission and dreams, a true heir to the reggae throne.

Jimmy Cliff (Jamaica) was a definite change of pace, donning a happy-go-lucky style that seemed cheesy at first after the high-tech Alpha Blondy, but eventually the crowd settled in and enjoyed Cliff's sincere devotion to everything peaceful and loving that music stands for. This is what reggae's all about, and it was amazing to be enveloped in Cliff's total dedication to the art form.

By the time Steel Pulse (United Kingdom) walked out on stage, the crowd was hazy, tired and inebriated, and everyone just bopped around drunkenly, struggling to stay on their feet. But Pulse kept us dancing and grooving, and even though it was hard for most to comprehend their surroundings, the squinting eyes and flushed faces kept at it, dancing strong 'til the final note.

Other than the long lines and other tiny hitches, this festival was a rousing success. The love and happiness in the room sketched an outline of what the world can achieve if everyone just chills out and listens to the music. It was a great party to celebrate Marley’s birthday, and I’m sure he was looking down loving every minute of it.

While I remember (musical content)

While I'm thinking of this, let me let you know that I am almost 100 percent finished with my debut solo album, entitled "Low Tide and the Creatures Lurking Beneath the Subconscious." It's a Professor Plum disc, AKA The Salvia Detective, and it features 12 original psychedelic eletronica club anthems written, produced and recorded by yours truly, Professor Plum, AKA The Salvia Detective. I have enlisted the help of Chunk Dark blogger Shaman Yates for final musical input and his amazing photography artwork, which will be displayed on the cover of the album. For a free copy, please email me.

I will be hosting a CD release party at some point in the next few months, hopefully at the Shattuck Downlow in Berkeley. More details as they develop.

Let me explain a little about the name Professor Plum, and a few other things about the album. The term "Professor" was used extensively during the birth of jazz at the turn of the 20th century to describe the piano players who worked in the brothels of the red-light district in New Orleans, known as Storyville. A "Professor" was a piano player who played sans band; he was a self-contained act. The word "jazz" comes from the French word "jazzer," which means "to fuck," in the sexual sense. A plum is a small, rotund, quirky, psychedelic delicatessan, perfectly delicious and wonderful on the senses.

The name of my first album, "Low Tide and the Creatures Lurking Beneath the Subconscious," was influenced by a beautiful photograph that Shaman Yates took at Muir Beach. The picture shows a family of purple and orange starfish chilling against some rocks. Muir Beach, incidentally, was the site of the very first Acid Test in 1965.

Salvia Divinorum is a popular plant that has hallucinogenic properties when smoked. It has been used by shamans in Mexico for thousands of years in medicinal and spiritual rituals. A good bong-load of this stuff is enough to put you into a realm of reality so different from our own yet so convincingly real that you return to your spiritual self and forget that you were ever born. I was on the brink of turning atheist a few months ago, after years of existential despair, when I smoked salvia and became utterly convinced that neither our current consciousness nor our physical world is all there is.

Welcome (to self)

Welcome to self, I say to me. I am in innards of embedded beds of rosy cheeks and all the checkered men's self-loathing dashboard confessional triggered such. So says I. In the sunshine. While drinking wine. On tents of grass I lay my hand while my flaking nails poke my teeth and dissolve my Freudian slip-knots of sound.

I love the intertexuality of the internets, especially that of the blog. It's the ultimate post-modern device (get it? POST modern! Huh Huh Huh!). At certain times I aim to be clear, concise and coherent, while at others I aim to be completely obtuse. But no matter how hard I try, I'll never be as absurd as our own president of these United (altered) States. Here's an example from a recent speech:

"Because the - all which is on the table begins to address the bigcost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increasesor price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that arebeing considered. And when you couple that, those different costdrivers, affecting those - changing those with personal accounts, theidea is to get what has been promised more likely to be - or closerdelivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you?

"It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increaseof wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggestedthat we calculate - the benefits will rise based upon inflation, asopposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve thered if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefitsgrow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those - if that growthis affected, it will help on the red."

You get the point. Man, I'd hate to be the guy who had to transpose the transcript of that speech.

Anyway, this is my blog, this is my first post. I'll leave it at that for now, and make sure I post more later. Until then, Peace and blessings.