PAUSE (playlist)

i got all deep for a minute (see tirade below), so i hope you enjoy this new playlist to balance it out:

PAUSE 2 DANCE - 18 free MP3Z

i dig'em all & they're all credited properly so google'em or look'em up on myspace if you must find out more.
it starts with my new favourite band The xx & ends with ODB who holds a special place in my heart.
i've been waiting for way too long to get my hands on
some tracks from The xx... expect to get more
as i keep sharing music i love...
the Daft Punk cover of The Twelves is epic.
& check out this fluffy video for Bunny Holiday:

so...

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!

i'm feeling the need to share some deeper thoughts today. after 7 years in the production, advertising & music industry, i took a much needed break to find a new & more balanced way of life for myself. so why the hell am i back in this bizz? WHY?!
who am i and what is the point of all this??? YIKES!!!

before i go on, check out the pic i took by my office the other day; what a funny juxtaposition of ideas/brands/concepts:

only in LA, right?! i luv it!!!

so, how am i easing my way back in this new climate? well, as soon as i find myself getting a little ahead of myself or things don't feel right, or i'm just taking a wrong turn, guess what?

I JUST SIT & DO NOTHING!!!

i lay down my weapons & just wait for instructions, & by that i mean i try to set my ego aside & reconnect with the universe. keep reading if you wanna know the kinda shit that pops up in my head when i meditate...

when i was a kid, there was this kinda joke question that often popped up in TV comedy shows. one characther would ask another "ok big shot - so what's the key to the universe?" or perhaps "tell me, oh great one, what's the meaning of life?" it was always the same question, a kinda cosmic joke, a way of debagging the pompous & the mystical. essentially, it was meant to satirize the oldest question we know:
"who am i & what is the point of all this?"

the assumption of course, was that even the smartest of smart asses would be dumbstruck by such an unanswerable question. underlying that assumption, i believe, was another: that it was futile & meaningless to quest after the universal spiritual truths which were clearly beyond our comprehension. the suggestion being that if you really insisted on posing big stupid questions about the meaning of existence, then there was a perfectly serviceable church, synagogue, mosque, temple or whatever with a big book full of slick answers & a neat circular argument. meanwhile, we would all be better off aknowledging our lowly place in the scheme of things & getting on with the business of living normal mundane lives... funny, but i don't hear that joke anymore!

i think there are reasons for this. first, my memory became increasingly selective & i took the path of only hearing what i wanted to hear. secondly, mainstream society isn't so threatened by mysticism as it was back when i was a kid or even many years prior to that. from my teenage years on, there has been such an explosion of information, products & status brands in the world, making rampant & obsessive consumers of us all.

the current economic recession is a blessing in disguise! somehow i just have to believe that it will all make better sense one day. meanwhile, advertising is taking a back seat or toning things down a bit, or going in a new direction, whatever that may be... it has been in a constant state of flux since i accidentally fell into this bizz, but this time more than ever, it's changing once & for all. everything is changing! this is exciting. hopefully we will all come back to basics & boil things down to what's truly helpful, necessary & innovative.

still, there are more things to watch, listen to, wear & buy than ever before. we've been living for so long in a nintendo sega xbox wii guitar hero disney coke bud apple nike adidas puma levi's diesel lacoste a.p.c. calvin h&m american apparel vw bmw fiji smart water frenzy of consumption, and just the basics!!! not much time left to ponder the imponderable when we're ticking off that shopping list! everybody expects a millionaire lifestyle as a basic right. yet, despite our relative luxury, freedom & privilege, this lifestyle remains essentially unsatisfactory. so this recession is what we need to crush our collective self-rightousness & sense of entitlement.

the main problem, i think, is that we've tried to construct an identity out of our patterns of consumption for way too long now. we say this is me, this is my boyfriend, this is my look, etc. these are my nikes or this is my mac. in fact, we even take it further & say this 80s look is really me today, those pumas are so you, these raybans are so him, these marc jacobs are so her... we say, i'm totally unique because i am me & i'm in the know & i'm cutting edge, i only smoke this brand & only eat organic, or like this kinda furniture... i drive a prius because i am me & nobody else. then we meet someone who smokes the same brand & drives the same car, & we're delighted because like us, they are totally totally unique & original. or we feel angry that they have copied us!!! we try to establish ourselves, our originality in this confined way, then expend way too much energy on maintaining our terminal uniqueness, teaching it, updating it, advertising it... phew! how exhausting!!!

no matter how hard we try, we can never get enough of whatever it is we think we need: money, clothes, drugs, food, sex, vacations, recognition, fame, status,... we might get some, but never does it bring us lasting happiness or security, so we go looking for more & more & more & too often keep hitting the same walls. or we might look for a relationship, the support of a boyfriend or girlfriend, someone to love, someone to make us feel whole. and that may be nice for a while, but eventually our relationships bring their own problems, and may even become a complete pain in the ass!!! we keep making the same mistakes while expecting different results. that, my friends, is pure insanity!!! that's what Albert Einstein said. trust!

sooner or later, try as we might to avoid it, we are confronted with the stark fact of our heroic, ironic & tragically neurotic & unsatisfactory existence - we are left with ourselves, which is why so many of us have that old joke question, or a version of it, echoing in the back of our minds... "yeah," we say, feeling very cheated about the lack of reward for all the effort we keep putting in, "just who the hell am i & what is the point of all this???" and since we've all become too accustomed to having our needs met and our desires & interests continually serviced (or so we think), we notice a curious lack of response in this area. and we would really really like to know the answer. really!!!

i have now been clean of all & any mind altering substances for a while because that is what i needed to do to move forward, and it is finally becoming crystal clear to me that until i address this joke question & start working on the answer, all issues of wealth & value are totally meaningless. and so today, i meditate. i stop acting. stop speeding. slow my roll...

SIT & DO NOTHING!!!

i listen to the universe, which speaks to me through my gut instinct, my friends, my peers & everything around us. what a gift that is. i highly recommend it, or the change that is happening all around us will simply pass me by & i will keep making the same mistakes & get the same old results.

meditation is the greatest source of strength & basic intelligence in my life. it connects me instead of setting me apart. and if you're at a loss here, just get enough sleep...

"SLEEP IS THE BEST MEDITATION."
(the dalai lama)

and don't forget to...

"DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING,
LOVE LIKE YOU'LL NEVER BE HURT,
SING LIKE NO ONE IS LISTENING,
AND LIVE LIKE IT'S HEAVEN ON EARTH."
(william purkey)

ok, lets lighten this up with a Monthy Python clip:

just in case you don't know what to do tonight, THIS is where it's at! do a "Lykke Li" search on this blog to get to previous posts with pix of her & free MP3z...

i've shared several versions of Little Boots' "New In Town" in some of these posts. i really like her too. here's the video: