No Sound Mind

Canadian Elk Get Their Own Bridge

2011-11-23T16:27:00.000-05:00

This photo shows elk crossing a specially designed bridge in Banff. Good work Canada.

Thanks for emailing this to me mom :)

The Bottom 1%

2011-11-15T15:10:00.000-05:00

I'd like to see the richest 1% in the world handover their money to the poorest 25%. Personally, I care a lot more about the plight of the extremely poor than any of the folks in Middle America. I've been in debt my whole life, with plenty of food to eat, shelter, medicine, education, etc... My first 30 years have been quite a struggle, but my struggle has been filled with opportunity and hope.

The US and Canada are still "the greatest" countries in the world to live in (we are the "lucky" few at the top of what appears to be a (virtually) global capitalist pyramid). I don't think my generation is as grateful for that as older folks think. Doesn't it sometimes seem like we're on the winning end of a sort of global game of three card monty? Like since we've managed to remain one move ahead for all of these years, we've been perpetually inheriting the dividends of a millennial-old scam?

I think, despite the current economic climate, that our minds should be on continually raising up the BOTTOM 1%, globally. Sure, this starts with toppling government corruption, slaughtering the greedy pigs at the top, reforming the banks, and all of that good Occupy Wall Street stuff. But ultimately, the only way we will have to ensure a just and productive future for humanity is probably a World Revolution. I'm not saying I want to lead it, I'm not even sure I want it, I just don't see our future unfolding any other way. Nature eventually finds a balance.

The rich will say it's human nature to play this capitalist game, that we have an intrinsic need to horde avariciously and to exploit (and even enslave) our fellow man. And to tear apart the planet ruthlessly for temporary profit. I call bullshit. Humanity has more potential than that. Our nature is ours to erect. The universe is not a zero sum environment, it's infinitely expansive. Nobody has to lose for you to win.

Tatlin's Monument was dedicated to revolution and planned to be erected in St.Petersburg in 1917. It has yet to be completed.

Reflections On The Places I Have Lived

2011-09-18T19:08:00.001-04:00

Ottawa - Everybody in this absolutely beautiful city supposedly loves arts and culture, but they all work for the government. I don't know what that means, but it's a bit strange. Super-cool, super-sophisticated pod-people. I'll never miss any other city as much as I miss Ottawa, the city where I was born and raised, but I don't want to live there.

Montreal - If you don't speak French fluently, don't move there. It's a great place to live for a French artist, or anyone who wants to have a fun life in a vibrant major city on the cheap (I think you can still get a huge 3 bedroom apartment right in the downtown area for under $900/mth). Bohemian lifestyles, bistros and cafes, music, nightlife, yeah yeah, all that shit. Definitely one of the absolute greatest cities in the world.

Halifax - So laid back that not much happens. Coolest people in world? Possibly. If you mean cool in the "hip and laid back" way, but not so much the "really interesting, really engaging" way. Nice long fall season.

Las Vegas - A city full of party animals and gambling degenerates. Even many of the otherwise intelligent and reasonable poker players I associate with there have strange bad habits like strip clubs, $12 cocktails, ____ and ____ ( I'll let you use your imagination to fill in the blanks). AMAZING place to visit, but it's like my 20yr+ Las Vegan father-in-law put it: "this is the armpit of America son". Burgeoning art scene in the old downtown crushed by corporate interests? Check.

Calgary - Sophistication, culture, a Calgarian craves not these things. The whiny spoiled teenager of Canadian cities. When people there talk politics they say the absolute dumbest things. It's like they never got the memo about what it means to be Canadian. They are all EMPIRE and no JEDI. Also, the people there are the least worldly people of any Canadian city I've lived in. They care only about Alberta, money, career, and getting wasted. If they are educated, it's in business management or something to do with rocks and oil... like engineering? It's the Yukon with more people. Ok, I'm being a little too harsh here, so I'd also like to mention that it's exciting to live in Calgary because things are changing so fast. Least interesting city in Canada? Maybe, but only temporarily. Is there a lot of opportunity there? Yes. The proximity to the mountains makes living there completely worthwhile for some.

Los Angeles - On the surface, people there are the friendliest people in the world. But it's kinda like everyone is an actor. They are so quick to be your best buddy when you know full well you'll be forgotten a nanosecond after leaving the room. But LA also has the undeniable quality of making you feel like you are at the center of something, and that the potential exists to start something great there (and I don't just mean an acting career). That's a powerful feeling I've never experienced as strongly anywhere else. Generally, LA people are pretty sharp cookies.

Toronto - The biggest of the three great Canadian cities that really do live in the imagination of the world (the others being Montreal and Vancouver). Toronto seems to get a bad rap from across the country for some reason that I don't fully understand. Growing up in Ottawa and Montreal people said "Toronto sucks, blah blah blah", and they say the same thing out west. But the blahs are just blank, what do they mean? I never knew. Love it or hate it, Toronto is Canada's Paris, London, New York, or Tokyo. It's the only true Canadian metropolis, and a huge part of the voice of a country of 34 million in a conversation with a global population over 200 times its size.

Reabsorbing Myself

2011-09-12T22:16:00.000-04:00

I'm moving soon and I'm going through some of my old stuff. I found this little 12yr old notebook with a some silly illustrations and one poem in it... It gives me a weird feeling to peer into these little fragments of myself I'd left behind, in a box in a closet. Anyways, here's the forgotten poem:

On Hibernating Selflessness

As sure as the grizzly was a bear
he always wept in spring
his dreams thawed and melted away
the bitter nauseating realities of the world
lay before him now
forwarded by the brutal sun's rays
how crude of our lord and master to summon us into action without warning
and how insolent are we to even care

CRE8TIVE ANARCHY | Media Abstractions #1

2011-08-27T18:27:00.002-04:00

I'm pre-releasing this little short film I made the other day. I appreciate you guys checking out my blog. I had quit posting for awhile in the spring and noticed a HUGE drop in traffic. And now that I've become a little more active over the summer, I've seen a huge spike. I know you are out there, you fuckin' micro-audience you! So thank you for your patronage.

This film is part of an intended series that will abstractly explore the role of the media in 20th century culture. I have no commercial intentions for this project, so pls nobody sue me for highjacking their footage and reshaping it.

HOOK UP WITH THIS PRoJECT ON TWITTER and TUMBLR

On starting a creative project

2011-08-20T19:20:00.000-04:00

I finally learned something about what a good approach is to starting a creative project. It only took me 30 years to figure out that: A - When people say they want to be involved, they actually mean it. You aren't as much of loser as you think you are. B - People need regular kicks in the ass, and C - You have to stick to your guns, or to put it more pretentiously your "vision", and believe. The train then will continue to pick up steam, so long as you offer partners / readers / fans / collaborators / etc. something that's gradually better and better to be a part of. The challenge then lies in never wallowing for too long in pessimism, drink, or lack of self-belief.

Screw The Status Quo R.I.P.

2011-08-09T04:23:00.003-04:00

~~~~~{~~<@

excerpt from youtube:

This video memorializes the Screw The Status Quo Zine, which published creative content online from February 2009 to Sept 2010, and stayed live until Aug 2011. The images featured are of STSQ contributors, slogans, remnant website images, and a bunch of art from the zine. The first song was by The Flowers Of Hell, the second by Heroin And Your Veins.

STSQ editor SWAiL (a.k.a Salvatore William Delle Palme) decided to discontinue work on the STSQ zine after beginning a new project with a fellow STSQ contributor, writer and filmaker Jeff Campagna. This new project is called Zouch Magazine. Some of the original STSQ writers, including Meghan Clarkston and Kyle Gallagher have also joined the new posse.

The editorial duo agreed to carry forward Sal's original publishing philosophy, which is to work as a team, assisting indie artists and writers disseminate their work to a broader audience, ignore the mainstream as much as possible while building out of the creative energy of the team, organically and serendipitously. And to ultimately give indie creatives a powerful and global platform for amplifying their vision on the web.

STSQ received approx. 50,000 pageviews.

The 4 editions of the STSQ podcast are still available here:
http://www.nosoundmind.com/2009/10/iconoclast-podcast-episode-2.html

The relaunch video, an STSQ editor Q&A is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L-vzo2hq-8

Thank You, and pls visit ZouchMagazine.com
___

A list of STSQ contributors and other artists who were featured in the zine:

Margaux Wosk
Jerry Grandiose
Jim Gaines
Jeff Campagna
Meghan Clarkston
Kyle Gallagher
Annie G
Skip Pollock
Heather Adair
A.J. Valadka
Andy Ristaino
Emily Ragozzino
Guido Daniele
Madison Brown
Christopher Conte
Rouge Lefevre
GANXTERVISION
Burke Mudge
Brain Fischer
Sadie-Avalon Culver
RKX
Chelsea Delle Palme
Amy Delle Palme
The Migrating Birds
Toykult
GOONSWOOD
Kris Gillis
Jill Zmud
Rachael Freedman
Liz Jukovsky
Eric J. Thompson
The Flowers Of Hell
Melodreama
Foad H.P.
Trisha Kendrick
and more...

Were you a contributor???
Pls drop a line to screwthestatusquo@gmail.com if you would like to be included on the list.

~~~~{~<@
R.I.P. STSQ

Megwetch To Grandfather William Commanda

2011-08-03T18:03:00.001-04:00

I received an email today from Circle Of All Nations coordinator Romola telling of how Grandfather William Commanda, former Kitigan Zibi Algonquin chief (from 1951-1970) has departed on his next journey. He passed away peacefully this morning at dawn, in his sleep, in his home. He was 97.

In lieu of flowers, please look for ways to support his vision for the National Indigenous Centre at the Sacred Chaudiére Site.

Former Governor General Michaelle Jean invests Elder William Commanda as an Officer of the Order of Canada. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

A few years ago I created the artwork below, framed it, and gave it as a gift to Commanda on the Victoria Falls site. There's a picture of us together somewhere. I want to help the building get built if I can, because I believe in Commanda's vision to unite all of the nations of the world under one flag. The wisdom I took from him was that we must respect each other first so that we can then work together to protect the land.

Also, I would like to urge all First Nations' to embrace their identity as Canadian or American or Mexican, etc... while you continue to embrace your history and traditions. And I would also like to urge all the people of the Americas to embrace their identity as First Nations'. Our culture consists of elements from all sides now. We are all people of the same earth, we share the same air and the same water and the same dangers. We all have broad backgrounds, extending all the way back to the beginning of life on earth. We all have stories, troubled and glorious. We have the same desires and wants, and we must unite more and more as we move forward, not let disputes or anger get in the way of our greater destiny. All of the power to do good comes from working together :

{Fiction} Fourteen Girls

2011-07-21T20:21:00.000-04:00

I decided late one night that I wanted to know again what it felt like to meditate. The coffee I'd consumed was wearing off, but I wasn't tired. I didn't want to watch television. I didn't want to work, or read, or play guitar. I didn't really want to do anything.

Actually, I experimented with meditation before, as a teenager. Ever since I equate that experience to the highest level of purity I've ever felt in my body. It's strange but I don't relate it much to the mind. I used to think I was close to having one of those out of body experiences you read about. I don't much believe in those now. Yet I feel like there could be something to gain by closing my eyes and taking deep breaths, over and over. Relaxing the gaze, peering inwards, focusing on my yantra.

A lot of people have mantras, but I don't. All I've got is this strange image of circle inside a triangle inside a triangle. I'm not sure where I picked it up, but I think if I focus on it long enough the shapes might start to move around, and get more complex. I'm not sure though, I haven't done this in years.

The scene is set, and I'm on the floor with my legs crossed. I've shut the window to cancel out the whistling of the wind. That's all you can hear out here in the suburbs at this time of night. It seemed like when I was sixteen there was all kinds of activity out there. Young people partying, smoking drugs in the park, and even playing guitars on the grass until the wee hours. I used to do things like that, life used to be so interesting and feel so new. My concentration is broken by my worry that there isn't enough milk left in the fridge for me to make pancakes in the morning.

I thought I might get married once. There's a great happiness to be had through commitment. It's nice to have someone to rely on, and it generally motivates me to be accountable to someone. The thing is, everyone said not to get married because the divorce rates "just keep going up" and the world population is too high, the earth is too poluted, and so on. I guess I believed them and decided to live with several women instead of just one.

Dead quiet is better. I feel alone for the first time in years. No one's asking me to take out the trash, or change the channel, or let them know how their makeup looks. I get tired. Perhaps that's why I'm sitting here trying regain the purity of youth. What has happened over the years? I should be found by now, I should feel more complete. The younger staff members at work having been calling me an old man lately, and I'm only thirty. It's really starting to piss me off because I feel young. But I suppose I still long to feel like I used to, at sixteen, when the mind was a scattered dream that could so easily be mellowed.

They say that when you meditate you should focus the mind on NOT thinking. That's supposed to be the little trick. Isn't it funny, people always say: "You have to think about nothing... but it's sooooo hard to do!" It wasn't hard to do when I was sixteen. I wonder if it used to be easier for people to achieve a state of peace warranting the label of a meditative state, back before the world became this overbearing constant stream of information.

When I was sixteen the internet was this brand new thing. There were personal computers everywhere, but it was a big deal to "go online". That's a funny thought. A thought that wraps my contemplation of why I am sitting here thinking, and not not thinking.

OMMMMM......

The "OM" is supposed to do something. It's a symbol in ancient Sanskrit or some other dead Indian language. The symbol is really complicated, way more complicated than my yantra; yet the word is so smooth and simple, a nice mantra unto itself.

OMMMMM......

Fourteen women live in this house with me. Some of them treat me like a king, other treat me like dirt. The honest truth is that I try my best to treat them all the same. It just seems that no matter how hard you try there will always be a little something in your character that rubs some people the wrong way. I should be thankful that at least three or four of them seem to think I'm great, and that many of the rest treat me with dignity. But one of them in particular just can't ever seem to leave a conversation without making me feel like a complete dick. I've deduced that we can all go in different directions with our personality. We shift a little each day, and it depends on what we perceive other people think they want us to be. For the most part this must keep some balance in the world. The things is, it's hard to tell sometimes what people want, and everyday it seems there are so many more people involved in the equation.

The door just opened. A few of the girls are home. Shucks. I was just starting to see my yantra spin in through the endlessness or the nothingness, or the void, or whatever word appeared more fashionable on the day they translated those ancient Sanskrit texts I'll never get to read.

Why Are We Here?

2011-07-16T17:56:00.001-04:00

Last night I sat in contemplation of one thing. If we can presuppose that there is a conscious effort on the part of life on Earth to “get somewhere” or to do something in particular (if you believe in God then I don't have to convince you of this, if you're an ardent atheist then pls bear with me, I'm a sort of an atheist myself as I “only believe in science”), then I propose that we are close to the greatest achievement in the history of earth. We are about to gain the technology that will take us into space, and secure the safety of the planet to an exponentially greater degree. This will be the greatest achievement ever known, in a category of its own, and it's already started. But before space travel, or Galileo, or Euclid, or even the day a primitive human stared up at the sky and wondered how to get up there. Could it be possible that this specific goal existed? 100 million years ago, or a billion years ago, somewhere out there in the mind of some little creature, could this goal have existed? It's seem ridiculous to think that it could have, yet I believe it could be more plausible than it seems on the surface.

Natural selection seems a simple yet accurate version of the way things have been coming together for the past three billion years. So taking this model to be accurate, it appears that beings chose their mates based on attributes that they deem most valuable. But is survival at all cost the only thing of value? Who can say that. In other words, I propose that it's very likely that beings choose their mates for a variety of reasons, including being physically well-adapted to the environment of course, but also for any number of reasons that are unknown. Some of these reasons could be that beings sense an intellectual void in the culture of their group. Perhaps, once a primitive creature learned to exist in its local environment it stared over the mountains and into the sky and wondered. Then it shared this wonderment with its kin, and chose a mate who might produce offspring who might wonder better, and continue to lead this arcane, yet potentially evident crusade to the stars in search of answers, and survival in a greater sense. This could explain how evolution has been accelerating over time, because we are getting better at this primary objective of protecting the planet. Also, it would explain a huge portion of what it means to be human, and that we may be the end result of a long line of these skygazers.

{Poetry} Amy's Right

2011-07-09T17:20:00.004-04:00

I could write a million pages of my most profound speculation
She says one word,
And she is right

The weight of a man's existence is measured in his intentions
She whispers one careful thought,
And she is forever mine

A complete effort, my longing for purpose and to change the world
She smiles but once,
And owns my work

To see her sorrowful, to see her need
Is a call to action, and a cosmic seed
To see her happy, to feel that light
Is reward enough to continue this fight
To struggle through the labours of life
In an effort to deserve what is already mine
The hand of a girl who knows what is right

@)-->----

A Comment On Creativity

2011-05-31T21:12:00.000-04:00

The desire to be a true artist is something different from being one. It's stressful to be motivated while you sit uninspired. Why do we feel pressure to express ourselves through creative mediums? I sabotage my own mental freedom with confused dreams of achieving something true. I think good art must be politically charged, yet also enter the world effortlessly. Well, I suppose if humanity is confused (and it's not hard to argue that it is), so will the words of its interprets be. Perhaps we must simply strive to relish these frustrations as we disconnect further from drabness, hoping to catch whatever further glimpses of truth we are destined to experience.

Steam Age Sackcloth

2011-05-26T04:32:00.000-04:00

Steam Age Sackcloth by Salvatore W. Delle Palme

They came to me with a dream
Our forefathers of the age of steam
Building towers and harnessing power
In an effort to expand the serene

There is a blackness in industry
A cold and stony greed
Men cast shadows upon their sons
And mothers are made to weap
All in exchange for the gift of the chaff we're compelled to continually seek
From the day we are born we sow blindly
However, we seldom reap

The exchange is not awry
We have not slipped, all in all
The solutions are right now in your heart
Not in our shopping malls

I'll give you a wink as I buy you a drink
Let us feast like brothers in arms
Like the soldiers of the sacred
We were once, intended to be now
Will you unshroud yourslef and shed your sackloth?
And will you burn it with me?

This time we have is not a ticking clock
Nor a candle burning down
It is the constant reveal of truth
The events we set in motion
And once a train of light is rolling
Faith moves beyond devotion
Action is automatic
Intention fuels a good crusade
The scope of which is greater
Than all that has yet been made

With the light in our hearts
We paint our way into parallel dimensions
An endlessly elegant consciousness
The first of our co-creations

The Soundtrack Of My Adolescence

2011-03-23T00:06:00.004-04:00

In a comment on an article on Zouch Magazine here, I listed the ten albums that shaped my youth. Since then I've gone back and re-listened to some of that music, and I decided to try to write in one sentence why each record meant so much to me personally.

MEGADETH – Countdown To Extinction

That summer, we were 12 year old vandals who hung around a lot and smoked cigarettes on the grounds of abandoned elementary schools.

THE DOORS – Strange Days

My closest friend and I forged a bond that led to Parsimony, over our contemplations of Jim Morrison's obscure, acid-infused poetry and songs.

NIRVANA – Nevermind

I feel like Kurdt Kobain is like a ghostly dad or older brother to me, and that his story taught me at 13 to not take myself too seriously, not let someone else (the music industry in his case) suppose to the masses that you're something you're not.

SMASHING PUMPKINS – Siamese Dream

Ever since the day I saw the video for the song "Today", Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain's avant-garde take on punk rock was a giant question mark to me, chock-full of an explosive creative power that has in some ways always guided me.

METALLICA – The Black Album

This classic album of powerful songs built on wicked powerful riffs and vocals was presented to me in a very peculiar way, as my mild-mannered hippy music teacher taught us Enter Sandman in the 7th grade.

SONIC YOUTH – GOO

I knew heavy when I discovered this record, but I didn't really know loud, and I didn't really know cool, and I guess that might be why Sonic Youth smacked me so hard with GOO and then became my favorite band of all-time?

BECK – Mutations

ALL of my close friends clutched on to this album like it was manna from heaven, and we learned many of the songs on the guitar.

NEIL YOUNG – Harvest

My old man was a big Neil Young fan for his entire life, and now that he's gone from this world I can look back at my roots and see him in Neil.

EMPEROR– Prometheus

They showed us with this record that when powerful minds create epic towers of angst and despair in their adolescence, they may as men, topple their own weaker ideologies converting previous pain and anguish into useful truth.

THE SISTERS OF MERCY – Floodland

When gothic rock expanded in the 1980s, one band carried the torch perhaps as far as it could be carried, and became legends of the highest order in the history of music.

...

Back then, I listened to many other artists that didn't make this list because I wasn't as affected by any one specific album. In other words, pls don't construe this list to be "my favorite music" or anything like that. The official 11th album on this list, would be The Joshua Tree by U2.

SHADOWMASK (poem)

2011-02-25T01:57:00.001-05:00

My partner over at Zouch Media, Jeff Campagna, has been working on some very interesting poetry-inspired artwork lately (take a look). This work inspired me to make a similar attempt. I wrote the following poem way back in 2003.

[A shadowmask is part of a television.]

SCUZZY (Parsimony B-sides 2007)

2011-02-11T22:08:00.000-05:00

In August of 2006 Parsimony recorded PSYKA at Paradoxe studios in Montreal with the help of engineer Sebastien Grenier-Cartier, and Vengeful's Jean-Marie Leblanc on the bass (and on the whiskey).

In between working on the main tunes we found time to record a few unready tracks that actually turned out ok. These are those experiments, the relics of SCUZZY:

Trade Sign by Parsimony

The Terror by Parsimony

End Of The Night (Doors Cover) by Parsimony

Fire Follows Me

2011-02-05T16:59:00.008-05:00

[soulz]

We can't escape the wandering fire
How did you fall under the knife

our bodies laid bare, our ideas aligned
I touched you once more, laid it all on the line

[solemnz]

I'm never gonna be afraid
I'll challenge the devil til I'm tucked in the grave

a billion lost souls that can never be saved
so I'll write down as I go like tormented slave

[swirlz]

that my love for the righteousness
doesn't spare me the pain

[convergence]

I will run till I'm burning, and I fall into the flames

my heaven is churning, there's nothing in the wings

just the souls of my ancestors riding the wind...

[midnight conversations]

I don't know the rules
or from where the energy comes

but when it comes it blinds, and burns away
all that is mine

[Jimus]

Maybe I need a fresh start
life rolling forward on a blank slab

but fire follows me
and so I am always blind

It could all be for the best
lightning making cinders of my paradigms

[she]

fire follows me & when it comes it blinds
fire follows me & in hidden truth outside of time

[white light]

fire follows me / laid it all on the line
fire follows me / and so I am always blind
We, we will win / our ideas aligned
We, we will win / laid it all on the line
We, we will win / our ideas aligned
We, we will win / before we run out of time/

What does NO SOUND MIND mean?

2011-01-16T23:12:00.017-05:00

When I was asked this question in conversation I realized that to try to answer was to open a big can of worms. So I figured the best thing I could do was jot down what the title of the blog means, to me.

In 2003 I studied Philosophy for one semester. This brief experience guided me to some pointed paths of contemplation of many of the classic dilemmas in Philosophy. I've developed my own fragments of answers for many traditional problems such as Determinism vs. Free Will, What is God? What is the mind? Why are we here? Where are we going? and so on.

The reason I have the chutzpa to answer these sorts of questions is because I have a fundamentally selfless and withdrawn standpoint from which to consider the world. Posthumanism, and a relativistic sense of detachment from traditional human-centric lines of thinking came natural to me. I suppose I'm a child of Einstein's relativity, and naturally tend to discredit inherited vantage points. I remember my first contemplation as a young boy was on infinity, and I still cannot rationalize it. Time is the mystery guiding my abstract contemplations.

Functionalism is a contemporary theory of the mind that arose gradually throughout the second half of the 20th century. While it's a work in progress, it's considered the truest picture of the mind. It proposes that while the brain is home to thoughts and impulses, the configuration of the brain is home to the mind (and the soul).

The mind (or soul) is what I find most interesting. It's the map behind the shape of the brain. It's a concept, it's non-physical, I call it divine, and it's elegant enough that it solves the age-old mind/brain problem. While the evolution of the configuration of the brain does relate directly to the evolution of the physical brain, the mind has always been a non-physical entity. Today, it is for the first time becoming a definable concept. Time + the physical environment are the catalysts to its unraveling structure. This newly considered arrangement is an example of energy that was never measurable in the past. Without considering how energy is shaped over time as it passes through the mind, we cannot define the energetic properties of these functional structures. The mind is in fact a bridge between the quantifiability of time and of the physical world. It is in itself the very thing that can allow us to understand it, while also offering us a unique interpretation of reality. However the structures of the mind need not be assumed to be unique carriers of this kind of heretofore unseen potential energy.

The name No Sound Mind is a metaphor for the mystery of functional paradigms in the universe. I perceive that thinking on these sorts of relationships throughout the cosmos will uncover the secrets of some of the most daunting questions of modern physics, such as the creation of matter (and the universe), dark matter and dark energy. Also, it could lead eventually to new (and currently unfathomable) methods of energy creation.

A simple contemplation

While listening to music you interpret sound waves in the brain. When you turn off the radio, you can sometimes still hear the music. Ever had a song stuck in your head? But there are no sound waves left, it's only a memory, yet you can feel the energy of the music. It's been transposed, the ideas in the art have new life, and are now infused with new potential energy. The mind still hears the music, and often the potential energy inherent in the creative concepts are snowballing inside you. So, every thought may essentially be like a little big bang within the mind, and in a cosmic sense spiraling endlessly larger.

A Youth Of Ramblings (adolescent poetry)

2011-01-14T20:06:00.009-05:00

A Youth Of Ramblings [adolescent poetry] by SWAiL

Ode to a Radically Green Man

2010-12-11T04:39:00.001-05:00

I wrote this poem after being inspired by Michael Reynolds & how developed his lifelong dream of EARTHSHIP BIOTECTURE.

Our hero, is a green man
doing God’s work with his green plan
to build a new kind of world
where us humans live right
in dwellings that swirl,
through a sustaining light

Biotecture is the word
that’s his mission and his creed
with this vision he has planted
a very crucial seed
and as these new plants grow strong
Mother Nature will cease to bleed

The world must know his name
Micheal Reynolds from New Mexico
he’s dreamed a dream of green
and now the rest of us must go
moving through this life
with our heads in the clouds
striving for sustainability
for the billions in the crowd
preparing for tomorrow
with our hands in the dirt
and marching into the future
with our hearts on the Earth/

The Force Of Function

2010-12-02T02:51:00.020-05:00

The following is a public work in progress relating to my thoughts on functionalism, the creation of matter, and my theory of a fifth fundamental force. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

My goal is social justice. My faith in the idea that we are all good, and moving together towards a common purpose enables me to theorize and preach that social and economic equality in the world is a necessary hurdle for humanity to overcome before we can ever achieve anything cosmically significant. Everything we have achieved so far compares to our potential as a spec a mold compares to the entirety of our civilization. This potential cannot be measured over time by our ability to do this or that, to develop this or that technology. Rather, our journey is an unveiling of a priori truth, and an amassing of a cosmically relevant energy that hails not from a purely physical source, but from functional paradigms interpreted by our minds.

Should my perspective be criticized as aggressively relativistic, I would retort and state that everywhere I look I do see boundless purpose. In my humble opinion, all we need to do is simply continue our good work as we continue to widen our acceptance of reality. If I had the mandate to qualify my beliefs as a theological doctrine, I would call it one beyond compassion.

To follow this hypothetical doctrine would mean to seek within ourselves what we know to be right, and to forgo clinging to any beliefs that are not based in true knowledge. I would suggest that we work to supplement opinions and beliefs with self-knowledge and the sharing of a priori truth.

God, to me, is what exists outside of our a priori knowledge. The true nature of reality is unveiling itself to us as we progress through time. Reality is not a linear experience. Rather it relates to a constant triggering of functions who's exponential nature is infused in all things. Thus, we appear to have a specific trajectory which could theoretically be wholly traced backwards in time. However, in part due to my posthuman perspective, and in part because of my belief that we are so far only able to consider the universe in a rudimentary, inelegant way, I don't see any reason to ascribe any validaty to a deterministic picture.

Thinking on causality I feel as though I'm offering spare change to a vagabond in an effort to feel good about myself. And while understanding full well that in this instance (due to this particular vagabond's destructive, addictive personality) the act will be completely ineffective at providing the food, shelter and opportunity that my nature persuades me to want to provide. It becomes an act literally more akin to a dog chasing its tail than one of philosophy.

As we forge ahead in our lives, the exponentiality of our purpose is manifested in the expansion of the universe. In other words, the entirety of our reality is based on our ideas, which are in nature made up of the very same stuff that fuels all events in the universe. It's a theoretical cosmic force that I imagine as a meta-force. It could hold the key to a vastly more succinct understanding the movements of celestial bodies, and to solving the mystery of the creation of matter. In the least, the 'force of function' already provides us with a new perspective on the nature of reality, and a baseline for the an appropriate and modern discussion of the nature of divinity.

NO SOUND MIND vol.1 [Poetry] Has Been Released

2010-11-25T17:25:00.004-05:00

I've been working for some time on gathering together a coherent collection of poetry, and today it finally came together completely. NO SOUND MIND vol.1 [Poetry] is a collection of tracks that will surely get you thinking, and hopefully keep you well entertained. You can listen to the whole thing for free below, or on Bandcamp, and name your price to download it (min $2.50).

http://swail.bandcamp.com/album/no-sound-mind-vol-1-poetry

Finally, here's a link to the video for Utterances:
http://www.nosoundmind.com/2010/10/utterances.html

On Just Another Summer Day (A Song For John T. Williams)

2010-11-25T00:34:00.020-05:00

Watch on NSM youtube channel here -> http://goo.gl/sgpP4

lyrics are below
When I first heard about the killing of John T. Williams by Officer Ian Birk of the Seattle police, I imagined there must have been a good reason for the use of lethal force. But there was not, there was no reason at all.

For several days after the shooting I had a lot of anger in my heart. It's a symbol of so many things that are wrong in the world, and with America. Over time I came to realize that I shouldn't cry, and I shouldn't spread this anger. If we want to stop this sort of behaviour, the only thing we can do is spread the message of compassion.

Conformity is the opposite of bravery. John T. Williams had in his heart, behind his problems and his sadness, a desire to be brave. An artist does the work that others fear, this work involves a solemn contemplation, and it can be scarring and alienating. I believe John T. Williams was perhaps a scarred man, but his bravery now makes him a hero.

The police can try their best to make everyone conform all the time, but this will only lead to anger and violence. They should take a page from the story of John T. Williams and learn to be truly brave.

On Just Another Summer Day (A Song For John T. Williams)

This is a song about the totem carver John T. Williams who was shot dead in Seattle in August of 2010...

A gentle soul who never hurt no one
For 50 years under a west coast sun
No one said he was a perfect man
He strived to follow the spirits plan

With a love tatoo on his left hand
He lived the life of a compassionate man
Looking out for the world with his carving knife
A poet with wood and a carving knife

On just another summer day
Sitting down to a totem under a west coast sun
At Howell & Boren
A lazy place to get some work done

Now officer Birk was an ignorant man
A young policeman with a gun in his hand
He pulled the trigger in such haste
And John T. Williams was laid to waste

On just another summer day
Sitting down to a totem under the west coast sun
At Howell & Boren
A lazy place to get some work done

There's a killer in the streets
There's a killer in the streets
We've gotta a good man down
Call the Police
we've got a killer in the streets

A gentle soul who never hurt no one
For 50 years under a west coast sun
No one said he was a perfect man
He strived to follow the spirits plan

With a love tatoo on his left hand
He lived the life of a compassionate man
Looking out for the world with his carving knife
A poet with wood and a carving knife

My Trick To Help You Make Better Decisions And Avoid Regret

2010-11-19T22:12:00.010-05:00

A few years ago I came up with an idea that's helped me make better decisions in my life. It's a simple question that I ask myself when I come to a crossroads. Which path will cause me to feel less regret in the future?

Since the dawn of humanity we've been able to consider our predicate and make carefully weighted decisions based on our knowledge and intellect. Part of what defines us as homo sapiens is our contemplativeness. Yet I believe it's taken until now in our history to consider the process of using our minds to 'imagine what the future holds' a skill.

Only a few hundred years ago a philosopher could be tortured or put to death for works of prophecy. In fact I'd even say that, until the information age, any careful considerations of the future were considered by most to be either heathenism, mysticism or quackery. Nowadays we have super-sophisticated software and statistical modelling resources, as well as a much richer understanding of the events of our history than ever before. We have become a culture far more capable of thinking ahead.

Every single one of us is in on this advancement, as it relates not to our physiology, but our shared information technology. We're learning new ways to look at the world through the contemplation of a more sophisticated picture of how events inter-relate over time.

At the end of the day my point is about a process, not about technology or evolution. Never before could a human think so clearly about what different choices in their life may make them feel in the future. The metrics for the contemplation of our own lives are exponentially more sophisticated.

The next time you're faced with a difficult life decision, try taking a second to imagine yourself in the future. What will your regrets be? How will you feel about your choices? Imagine what your future self would tell you to do. I see this precognitive regret gauging exercise as tremendously valuable in clarifying to oneself what your true values are, and what you want to accomplish in your time here on earth.

ignore erase adapt evolve v.2

2010-11-15T18:16:00.007-05:00

v.1 is HERE

Funky Map of the Good Ole USA

2010-11-12T05:43:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a trip to the US so I guess this is as good a time as any to post this picture I drew over the summer. It's a funked out map of the good ole USA.

Utterances

2010-10-24T05:20:00.009-04:00

Travel

2010-10-24T02:15:00.007-04:00

My Digs

2010-10-23T19:44:00.009-04:00

Someone wise told me that transparency is currency when it comes to being successful with online projects and social media. I don't know about all that but I did slap together this collection of photos to show ya'll what my office and living area is like. It ain't much, but it's alright.

My office computer setup

Three guitars and a shelf

mini-workout station

20th century style workstation

posters and books and a drum

my hats

cutting edge entertainments system

including a massive 27" CRT

and a few of the latest games for SNES

Likes Vs. Comments

2010-10-22T23:35:00.012-04:00

I recently commented on a facebook status update by the Dalai Lama. The post had approx. 19 000 likes at the time and over 1000 comments. I carefully considered his one paragraph long post and I replied with my own paragraph. I harnessed my perspective and crafted a carefully considered comment. And then it dawned on me that nobody will ever read this.

I don't mind if people think I'm too 'out there' in my ideas, or if they think my words are crap or whatever, and that's why they choose to ignore them. But the problem here is that nobody will really ever even get the CHANCE to see what I wrote.

When I realized this I was mildly saddened, then I asked the million dollar question: Could there really be over a thousand carefully crafted responses to this recent post? I started reading a bunch of the other comments and realized the answer to my question is a resounding NO. Most of the people, maybe 90%, were just giving the Dalai Lama little one-line pats on the back, like "you're the man" or "that was great". But isn't that why 'LIKES' were created?
Another one of my recent online comments was on the post 'Drink, Don't Tweet' by Matt Hunter. I agreed with the author that our culture is a bit over-saturated with social media at this time. My experience with the Dalai Lama comment is, in my view, a good example of social media gone lame.

If the 90-95% of the Dalai Lama sycophants understood that they were burying the %5-10 of us that were trying to use this media to share ideas, I think they would just hit the like button instead. This signifies that the message was received and appreciated.

I'll paste a few examples of the comments I'm referring to:

Thank you!!
This is so true!
SO TRUE ...... !
Perfection :::))
lindo
WORD
Gabba
One more..."AMEN!"
hi is the world best........
Right on dude! Dig it.

...believe me, the list goes on and on and on and on and on with comments that are essentially just 'LIKES' and in the end all they do is render the stream of comments virtually unreadable.

I wanted to include the comment I left on the post by the Dalai Lama but I can't find it. Anyways, it's somewhere above comment #1000, that should help narrow it down for you if you're interested.

Chiefs Vs. Shamans

2010-10-20T17:52:00.002-04:00

In a previous post, Wisdom Vs. Power, I discussed the difference between these two ideals in our life choices and personal values. The theme stuck in my head for a few days and for some reason I started to juxtapose their relationship against the relationship of Chiefs and Shamans in First Nation's culture.

Chiefs lead, they have the power. But shamans connect with spiritual realms in order to procure more reliable intelligence. They are also powerful healers.

according to wikipedia [source]:
Shamans perform a variety of functions depending upon their respective cultures:^[13] healing;^[14]^[15] leading a sacrifice;^[16] preserving the tradition by storytelling and songs;^[17] fortune-telling;^[18] acting as a psychopomp (literal meaning, “guide of souls”).^[19] In some cultures, a shaman may fulfill several functions in one person.^[13]

The Chief (and everyone in the tribe for that matter) follow the shaman's ideas and teachings quite closely. Yet the shaman stays distant from the day-to-day politics of the tribe and lacks the wealth and power of a Chief. But do shamans really lack power? Is special information or understanding, and the ability to influence the group not power? And the chief, what is he chop liver when it comes to wisdom?

Ok I promised myself I would keep this post short because I have a million things to do and I'm starting to bring Einstein's theory of relativity into my contemplation. I don't even understand that theory properly yet so you know the scene is set for a potentially robust and pointless exercise in blogging...

There's a chief and there's a shaman; one has more power, one has more wisdom; they share the role of guiding the tribe like two cogs in a symbiotic system. Hell, there are more cogs than those two, there's women, warriors, carvers etc... All essentially doing different versions of the same thing, propagating human culture. An intricate system with one complex function. The balance of power seems to slip away in my mind. We're all just in a giant machine heading for the stars at increasing speeds.

Wisdom Or Power?

2010-10-17T02:40:00.003-04:00

Jeff Campagna (@AWUTI) posed and interesting question on twitter a few hours ago:

"Poor but Travelled OR Rich but Stationary? Which DO YOU prefer?"

My first thought was to answer 'poor but traveled', because it seems to me that there's no substitute for the life experience you gain when you travel, especially to new places. Personally I feel like a lot of my wisdom and inspiration comes from my time on the road. The thing is, if you choose 'poor', than you may end up lacking the resources to do anything else in your life but scrounge and ramble.

I think for a moral person it comes down to weighting the value (to humanity and/or the cosmos) of your potential wealth against the value of your potential wisdom. In the back of my mind I've always felt like I wanted to make a lot of money in my life because it feels like that money would empower me to do good things. But I've been living like such a free-spirit that I haven't yet been successful in that goal. Instead, I've probably gained some insights that I may have otherwise missed out on, some cosmic truths, some wisdom. I definitely think that these states of consciousness are priceless.

However, the world keeps turning, and do I want to ramble forever? Do I need to continue to trade in the opportunity to build wealth in order to seek a philosophically richer existence? In my case, I think the answer is yes. I think the insights I may bring to the table in my life outweigh the good I could do if I immersed myself in business in an attempt to become a multi-millionaire. Even if I had a reasonable chance of becoming very rich and building a bunch if wells in Africa or something of that nature, saving many lives etc..., I don't believe it would outweigh the value of my ideas. In my ideas is contained all of the same energy that I would commit to any purpose, regardless of my station in life, and I therefore ultimately believe that my choice is relatively benign, if I even have one at all. All that matters to me is that my motivation for doing anything remains righteous.

The Bleak Hopeful

2010-10-14T16:53:00.003-04:00

I added this poem as a bonus track to go with the mini-album. Pls DL it, it's free.
<a href="http://swail.bandcamp.com/track/the-bleak-hopeful">The Bleak Hopeful by Swail</a>

A Humbling Contemplation (2/13/07)

2010-10-14T00:07:00.004-04:00

2/13/2007

I don't know what it means when the real world feels like dreams and signs of a different world, a spiritual realm are everywhere in all I see, yet this happens to me. Yesterday I had more contact from the divine, the type I rarely speak of and as usual the immediate result of this otherworldly day are too personal and spaced out for me to help you get a read on it.

In the evening I thought on once again an old contemplation of mine from my early teenage years. I'm sure some of you have had similar thoughts to these before. First, I remembered how things always become clearer in time, that all civilizations through history do their part to uncover more and more of the fundamental nature of the universe as well as contribute new elements to the universe that are devised with functional purpose and well understood. So it would seem that we are in the long run moving closer and closer to something. A complete domination of our environment to fulfill a righteous and universal purpose maybe? Perhaps sometime in the very distant future we will have a holistic picture of everything physical and all the hows and whys. There is no question that we are more advanced intellectually than our ancestors who thought the earth was flat and at the center of the universe; just imagine the droves of mythology and quasi-scientific mumbo-jumbo people used to believe. Now go deeper into our history, into prehistory and picture a lone hunter or gatherer in a natural environment 20 000 years ago. Imagine their beliefs and contemplations, imagine how absurd they must have been when compared to the wealth of scientific truths we have come to understand in time. I haven't yet gotten to the crux of the contemplation though, really what I think long on is the idea that I am that paleolithic wanderer in relation to our wiser progeny of the distant future. What will we know that will make us so much more clever and powerful? How impossible it is for me to even wonder.

A Jam In October

2010-10-13T05:00:00.004-04:00

The Trojan Horse

2010-10-09T16:55:00.003-04:00

The Trojan Horse by Swail
reading of a poem from the unpcoming 'A Youth Of Ramblings: Adolescent Poetry' by Swail

Utterances

2010-09-30T19:47:00.009-04:00

Utterances 1 by Swail

A Rock & Rock Dream

2010-09-30T19:19:00.002-04:00

A Rock and Roll Dream 2001/03/07

I’m sitting at the bar, with Jim Morrison of course
He’s not being too coherent anymore, but what can you expect?
Happy hour just ended a little while ago
I think it’s been about fifteen or twenty minutes
But don’t quote me on that
Cause I’m not really too sure
Jim took serious advantage
I’m feeling pretty good too

-Look over there Jim,
it’s Frank Zappa in the corner there with a kazoo,
I’d go and see him, but I should stick with Jim,
he looks kind of pale

Led Zeppelin is about to take the stage
Man, it’s getting hot in here
I can’t believe the people out tonight
Jethro Tull are in attendance and being quite neighborly, mingling with the locals and such. You see, I believe I overheard Ian Anderson express that he is here to relax this evening and has left his flute at home at the farm
The rumble of the drums is commencing and the distortion’s glassy hiss is progressively increasing the rate of our heartbeats. Aside from Jim I think the only other person unaffected is Keith Richards. I don’t think he’s come out of the bathroom for quite some time now. But what can you expect?

“Hey Jim, Zeppelin are on stage! man!”
No reply

Ozzy looks pretty happy over there with his entourage
They scare me in a good way
Like a good horror movie on a lonely Sunday afternoon
Hey, is that Lou Reed hanging out over there with them?
Man!
Jim?

“When the levy breaks you’ve got no place to stay”
I always knew this was true, hey this is great,
But where’s Jim gone? Jim!?

“Hey kid, your friend went outside, someone didn’t take too kindly to his remarks. You know, he's been talking trash all night.”
“I know, but he’s Jim ‘fucking’ Morrison man”
“Tell it to the judge, or hell, go tell it to Janis Joplin, she’s beating him to crap outside as we speak”

What could Jim have done? Oh this is getting so weird
I’m going outside

“Jim! Oh my God! Are you okay man!”
he’s spitting blood all over the place trying to say something
“Jim?”
I can see Janis running off
What the hell is going on?!
He suddenly stopped trying to speak
I think he stopped breathing too

The street lights are glaring at me with disapproval
“What do you want me to do!”
Looking back to the club I can see a few people coming closer
It’s Eric Clapton “Eric, Please help me! Jim is seriously hurt over here! He’s not breathing!”
Suddenly, music is filling the streets with a medley of all of the most extreme and significant segments of Pink Floyd’s 1972 release ‘Dark side of the Moon”
and a helicopter is descending from the sky
I can see into it
Sid Barrett is the pilot
His face painted with black streaks
starting at his eyes and down his face
Bruce Springstein, Bob Dylan and Neil Young are dress up like paramedics

“Jim, can you here me? Everyone is here to help you”
I am now surrounded by the many of greatest recording artists there ever was, the classic rockers, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, John Lennon, Mick. Every time I look at one of them I hear their music. A decade of revolution through Rock n’ Roll streaming through my head like rain into a paper...
Sieve

They’re taking him away in the chopper
Good luck Jim, get well brother
The others are all gone too
The street lights are normal again
I have no idea what the hell happened here tonight
But I’m sure I’ll figure it all out tomorrow

DR.GROUCH OH NOOOOOO OMG

2010-09-30T14:11:00.000-04:00

A Western Man

2010-09-27T18:01:00.004-04:00

They came from every corner of the world
To be a western man
From every walk of life they hailed
To figure in to this new plan
A merging of two worlds
To bitter and wealthy ends
A western man did come to be
A hero and a friend

At first they came from Europe
To settle a new land
To mix and match with Indians
To delegate, rule and plan
A future of democracy
Innovation and adventure
In this age the west was to the world
Below, and still indentured

Later came the modern age
Of trains and planes and autos
America, a prodigal son
Had matured into its motto
To be the greatest land on earth
Through hard work and bravado
And a swath of culture from this place
Accross the world did echo

The Eastern seaboard was now changed
Through years of industrialization
The midwest was it's factory
Incesant with production
Throughout this new east
The dream had changed forever
Slanted towards industry
And away from adventure

But tucked away
Accross the new world
In pockets of the south,
Crannies in the north,
And nooks to the west
There were some who did protest
Western men with hair on their chest
Adventurers, horsemen, mavericks & thinkers
The most free culture in the world
In these men still lingered

Has the west been lost now
Are we all the same?
Has our technology
Left our minds bright
But our spirits lame?
For what evils in the world
Can a true western man be blamed?
They came here for adventure
They came here to be changed

Spirals 2 (flower)

2010-09-23T23:00:00.001-04:00

Burned Blind

2010-09-23T22:26:00.001-04:00

Burned Blind by Swail

Promessa

2010-09-14T07:09:00.003-04:00

recorded in early 2010

Spin Cycle Of Tumult

2010-09-09T14:44:00.000-04:00

A Circle of Faces

2010-09-06T19:26:00.002-04:00

a little doodle I did WAAAAAY back when, in the 90s? omg

New Outlook

2010-09-03T20:47:00.003-04:00

For this version I left the overlapping lines to give it that 'can't quite draw between the lines' feeling. I had a little trouble fitting it onto the scanner, so an odd scanline remains towards the bottom.

Forest Grave

2010-08-30T18:39:00.000-04:00

ZOUCH Magazine & Miscellany

2010-08-28T14:54:00.004-04:00

I recently added a little banner on the right sidebar that links to Zouch Magazine & Miscellany. This isn't an ad, it's a project that Jeff Campagna and I have been working on lately, and I'd like to invite you to come and check it out. We're likely to be officially launching on Sept 30th, so you're essentially getting a sneak peek at a beta version of the site.

The idea is similar to the Screw The Status Quo zine (my other project) in that we are trying to provide artists a stage to showcase their work online, but we've taken it upon ourselves to create something that is more like a traditional magazine, with stricter editorial guidelines and stronger direction. STSQ is a strange project, it's non-standard, the content isn't really streamlined, it's a bit of a head-trip. While we have only a small following, it's a solid community. But in the end the project can only go so far. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that has the potential to become widely successful. It's not that I care about making a ton of money or whoring out etc... the point is that I want to maximize our chances of having a big impact and being successful with this kind of project. That's why I'm going to split my efforts and see where it takes me.

We're currently looking for regular contributors who have a knack for blogging about arts and culture, as well as creative submissions from various mediums. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us with any questions or comments.

Consciousness Beckons

2010-08-28T14:38:00.002-04:00

Consciousness Beckons by Swail

A poem about seeking lucidity within a dream

In A Wood

2010-08-24T19:53:00.003-04:00

In A Wood by Swail
IN A WOOD - wrote this poem last year in a car on a road trip across the U.S. on old route 66.

Strange Bird

2010-08-24T19:12:00.001-04:00

Three

2010-07-30T14:56:00.002-04:00

You Have Control

2010-07-21T17:55:00.003-04:00

Last year my buddy Kris Gillis from back in Toronto sent me this track and asked me if I felt like trying to add some vocals. The ensuing demo turned out ok.

You Have Control (simple version) (added by Swail)

ignore erase adapt evolve

2010-07-03T19:51:00.002-04:00

The Unborn by Swail

2010-07-03T06:21:00.003-04:00

The Unborn by Swail

THE UNBORN - wrote this poem last year in a car on a road trip across the U.S. on old route 66.

It's Hard to Be Alone

2010-06-30T19:38:00.001-04:00

This is one of the first things I ever recorded back in 2002?

<a href="http://swail.bandcamp.com/track/its-hard-to-be-alone">It's Hard To Be Alone by Swail</a>

Spirals (One)

2010-06-30T19:22:00.000-04:00

Midnight Station (video)

2010-06-27T22:19:00.002-04:00

Midnight Station

2010-06-26T00:00:00.001-04:00

<a href="http://swail.bandcamp.com/track/midnight-station">Midnight Station by Swail</a>

Parsimony Flag

2010-06-25T03:53:00.006-04:00

Parsimony was a band I was in a few years ago. This image was a prototype of our flag.

Antz

2010-06-25T03:46:00.003-04:00

Alien Sun

2010-06-25T03:45:00.000-04:00

Homework

2010-06-24T16:55:00.005-04:00

I've finally gotten my home studio in order with the right gear etc... A lot of cheap stuff really, but it's functioning correctly and in tandem. So I should be able to start producing better quality tracks and taking some of my new songs to higher heights.

Angels In Shadow (Three Faces EP)

2010-06-23T17:36:00.001-04:00

Wrote and recorded this tune back in 2007, someone told me it was their favorite of mine.
<a href="http://swail.bandcamp.com/track/angels-in-shadow">Angels In Shadow by Swail</a>

Running Blind

2010-06-21T02:20:00.002-04:00

recorded spring 2010

The Ninth Realm

2010-06-20T18:49:00.002-04:00

<a href="http://swail.bandcamp.com/track/the-ninth-realm">The Ninth Realm by Swail</a>

Running Blind (first demo)

2010-06-20T18:05:00.002-04:00

This is a very new tune of mine, so it's evolving still. This demo sounds a little different than the way I've play it now. Lately it's gotten faster and with a little trickier strumming, as was suggested to me by my friend mathshank.

Never Say Never

2010-06-20T17:51:00.003-04:00

Here's a vid of a tune I wrote a few months back.

whale&drum

2010-06-19T21:01:00.003-04:00

I got a new drum the other day which inspired this track yesterday.

My Migrations

2010-06-19T19:07:00.001-04:00

I've finally come full circle and revamped my blogger blog and made it my true home. I originally created this here page to serve as my homebase, but later I decided I didn't like it that much and thought that Tumblr would be better. Turns out this is better. Tumblr is really cool, but it's too much of a sacrifice of a freedom for a quasi-skilled web donkey like me. I'm totally keeping the Tumblr page, and I intend on actually tumbling with it instead of making it the sole home of my creative work.

I have also been keeping a blog on the STSQ zine. That might have to go too. I figure it's smart to simply amalgamate my efforts onto these here pages of NO SOUND MIND. K.I.S.S I always forget to do that.

The bitch thing is that there doesn't seem to be any way to export from tumblr into blogger. Some guy got a script working for Wordpress, but it ain't workin' for me. No matter though, I'll just start from this day forward right here. If I feel like referencing my Tumblr page, well dammit I will. love and cheers

The Outsiders

2010-06-19T18:54:00.000-04:00

It is so clear to us
this world and our role within it
and when our neighbours come to us,
so fearless and raw
like tigers
we stay silent and awkward,
and weep on the inside

What we seem to be seeing
an arcane elegance in the complexity of this universe
as it is constantly unveiled
constantly,
now?

Now the pressures are extreme
they can't heed our warnings
blank stares in a room full of academics
the codes are archaic
axioms of the draconian past hiding in every whisper
yet the elegant
the perfect balance
it never ends
it always is

In my deepest moments of panic,
torment and sorrow
I know the flawless world I am a part of

Hoop Drum Dreams

2010-06-16T17:48:00.006-04:00

| this is me with my new hoop drum.
I just bought a new musical instrument at Long and McQuades music shop here in Calgary. I think it's modeled after the First Nations hoop drums, but it doesn't have any strings in the back (you can see what I mean in the pic below). So, it's good as a handrum, but you could also use a stick with it.
The sound of this drum caught my attention right away, and I had to have it when I realized the price was only $33. I wanted some kind of drum in the first place to fill in some percussion on my acoustic tracks. We'll see how this setup sounds. Aside from that, I'm not sure how it will affect me, but it will.

Reblogged in Asia... whoa...

2009-11-29T05:15:00.003-05:00

Tumblr is interesting because it makes it so easy for people to repost your stuff anywhere in the world. It's exhilirating as an artist to see you stuff posted on some foreign page you can't even read, it's a first for me. Check it out... http://fideleruuth.tumblr.com/page/3. I Think Tumblr type sites are the wave of the future, I'm considering dropping this blog altogether and using only this one http://swail.tumblr.com/

This is another version of the art I'm refering to:

My Tumblr Page

2009-11-29T00:09:00.004-05:00

I created a Tumblr page the other day because it's better for interacting with other people, reblogging things and posting a range of different kinds of content. To me, the Blogger blog format is fundamentally better than Tumblr, so I'm gonna keep both.

The new page is here swail.tumblr.com

Go Home

2009-11-24T22:36:00.005-05:00

go home now, to Guernsey Jim
his pangs are hidden, deep within
go home to panic, go home to fright
go home to scrurrying in the night

his soul is restless with internal scowls
his thoughts are dirty, wretched , sour
go home to darkness in an impure form
go home to arsonists, thieves and whores

when the sun shines on the shy belly of a man's brain
when the unravelling of the twisted liquids of his unease is complete
what then?
when the happinesses so long surpressed takes hold
do they ever let go
Is it a violent rebirth into endless love?

beefing up the myspace

2009-11-18T20:39:00.005-05:00

I've made some improvements to my Myspace and added more tracks included some recent demos and a cover of a Neil Young song.

the address is http://www.myspace.com/salvatorewilliam

I don't know how they do it

2009-11-05T20:16:00.005-05:00

Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire draws spellbinding 18ft picture of New York from memory... after a 20-minute helicopter ride over city

Canuckski

2009-10-28T22:41:00.003-04:00

Yeah... So this link is for all of you living it up in the great white north this winter. I thought you might appreciate this lil' poem written by my Dad.

http://nataledellepalme.blogspot.com/2009/09/canuckski.html

INDIE Iconoclast

2009-10-03T16:30:00.041-04:00

EPISODE 4 - December 6th, 2009
Our first podcast post-relaunch, featuring the tracks:
So Sick.. by Maki
Arrival by Disease
Summer by Your Heart
At First Sight by Chris Donner
Holly Wood by Letters To Jonah
You are My Home by The Rivulets.

Download podcast 4

Andrew from Your Heart will write a custom song for you, go here.

EPISODE 3 - October 31st, 2009
The Halloween special, this show features music by:

Inverted Grace
Virtual Light
Felicia Atkinson & Sylvain Chauveau
Swail
Unleash The Archers
Vengeful

Download podcast 3

EPISODE 2 - April 28th, 2009
This one features original music from across Canada & Europe, artists include:

Heroin And Your Veins
Whip
Jill Zmud
Alan Cooper
The Flowers Of Hell

Download podcast 2

EPISODE 1 - March 23rd, 2009
This puppy features music from across Canada and a track from Australia, artists include:

Bob Cole
RKX
Toykult
Migrating Birds
Inverted Grace
Swail

Download podcast 1

MOONRISE song lyrics

2009-09-17T15:20:00.003-04:00

Lyrics to a new song, obv better with the music, but I don't have a demo yet.

Moonrise, Hernandez
A calming breeze before the wicked sun
Our cakewalk across old 66
has become quite the marathon

On a sideroad, at the Gates of the Valley
where the joshuas fade, and the jeffreys seem to smile...
taken again by my memory of Laguna
my brush with death, when in the tide I lost my breath

We ride through Hesperia
and on to the beach at Solana
as daylight fades, the music creeps up on us...
mysterious and delicate
like the final moment in a dream

Swail on reverb nation

2009-08-05T15:00:00.009-04:00

...just got hooked up with a reverbnation page... and i'll spruce things up soon.

Two New Tracks

2009-05-09T20:24:00.004-04:00

Here are two new pre-production demo tracks to give you a taste of some of the sonic vibes I hope to achieve on my upcoming debut album. The album project is called 'Heaven Is Now'. If you wanna help make this record, play on this record, help record me etc... pls get in touch.
cheers,
Sw.

here's 'The Ninth Realm'

This one's called 'Midnight Station'

Teenage Flashback (2008)

2009-03-12T06:58:00.001-04:00

The Unexplained (2001)

2009-03-12T06:57:00.000-04:00

Amy Cries Out (2006)

2009-03-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

Anna's Castle (2003)

2009-03-12T06:53:00.001-04:00

Parsimony's PSYKA EP (2007)

2009-03-12T06:13:00.011-04:00

Parsimony was formed in Montreal in 2004 by uniting the forces of Sal William the singer and guitarist, with drummer Surge Howl . They went through a few bass players, finally recording their EP in the summer of 2006 with Jean-Marie Leblanc, the mastermind behind one of Montreal most badass metal bands, Vengeful. Parsimony disbanded shortly after welcoming new bassist Kris Gillis into the fold in 2007. It's an open question whether or not this project will ever reignite.

Stream the PSYKA EP:

Megaflood

The Crying Call

Enemy Mask

Arise Forlorn

Chief Commanda Dances at Asinabka (2007)

2009-03-12T06:04:00.002-04:00

I donated my artwork, 'Chief Commanda Dances At Asinabka', to the Asinabka Project in Ottawa, Ontario in 2007. My goal in creating this piece was to link my soul to Chief Commanda's vision and to unite his being with the land, in a way others could easily interpret visually. It is a depiction of his reaction to the realization of his dream. I hope I've encouraged in some small way, those actively working on the project to persevere.

You can learn more about the project by visiting the website, http://www.asinabka.com/

Fjord (ep 2002)

2009-03-10T04:27:00.005-04:00

Awaken The Spider
It's Hard To Be Alone
Fjord
Hearts On Trial
Michelle
Fjord-Alpha
Attack Retreat Repeat

The Temple Of Love

2009-03-10T04:20:00.000-04:00

Here's my live cover of The Sisters Of Mercy tune.

The Ascension (1999)

2009-03-10T04:01:00.002-04:00

The Resurrection (1999)

2009-03-10T03:59:00.001-04:00

The Death Of Christ (1999)

2009-03-10T03:58:00.002-04:00

THREE FACES (mini album 2007)

2009-03-09T16:28:00.015-04:00

1. Come Rain, Come Shine

2. Angels In Shadow

3. Crannog

4. In The Jungle

5. Bhabhar

6. Ordinary Folk

7. Aftermath

8. The Rushing Blue

9. Four Regrets

10. Take Me Away

Zouch Media Banners

2009-02-04T00:06:00.003-05:00

Forever Bright (2009)

2009-01-12T16:54:00.000-05:00

I relay this
To our enemies
Who lay restless in the shade
There will never be a time to strike

No servant of choas can win this fight
No martyr for deviance can extinguish our light
We walk with purpose now

Should you slit our throats
A thousand times
We will walk forever on
As shaded souls
Somehow
Forever bright
As troubled minds
Somehow
Forever bright
Working endlessly to defend what is right

Dreamers And Jellyspines (2008)

2008-11-01T16:51:00.000-04:00

Where has our integrity gone?
Or does some ruse compel me to perceive
That we were once noble, just and true
That the forests were all green
And the oceans, all blue

Corruption can't be this easy
Those men can't be as sleazy
As they come across on T.V.
Mavens in the art of bending over backwards
Reaching for dollars
As their morals cascade
And their memories fade
I raise my flag in silence, in solitude
Under the tempestuous evening sky
Dreams and memories circling in my mind
Thunder clapping, again and again
Every time we make the mistake
Of caving in, to moral decay

Shadowmask (2008)

2008-10-12T16:38:00.000-04:00

through the shadowmask
light comes in fragments
the wasted ambitions
of a generation confused
by the fuzzy warmth
of a foreign dream
a distant screen

what is real and what is dream
our day to day fictions
the guidelines of our dealings
our day to day feelings
the joys we feel
a script surreal
a serial

the temptation to run
steal away into the wild
delve into the real rush
of our distant fathers
the young men of this day
let out a quiet scream
we share a dying dream
burried under the tonnage
of a foreign dream
on a distant screen

Janus in Cain (2008)

2008-03-13T16:37:00.000-04:00

Alone in a lie of vapid lust
Here he sits, shamed
But full of life and passion for the open world
One aspect of his mind, is an absolute disaster
Filled with a regret greater than his will to live
And like a Jekyll to this Hyde
There is one side who nigh opposes the crime

Ten Thousand Days (2008)

2008-03-12T16:35:00.000-04:00

Into the memories of my fragile yolk
then thousand days have slipped through
the sieve of our incredible partaking
of the pleasures of making a difference
here on earth

In a realm where even gods are envious
of the intense, tactile stimulation,
the feelings of longing and of love
the most visceral tortures of loss
and the pride we share in our kin,
and for our country, and for humanity

I wish we could take each day
and cherish it so,
examine its form, every small dent
or bend in its shell
but life is twisting of the conscious mind
forever, we camouflage our daily energies
and seek out new beliefs

the future so intriguing
so many possible experiences
we could combine our forces
and tear into the great spaces
that shade the universe from us
but it is in our living memories
that the passion to take even one step
is born