[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Gareth's LiveJournal:
| Friday, February 7th, 2003 | ||
| 2:47 pm | You gotta have soul You gotta have soul By Tom Robbins Mental Bungee-jumping may not be your sport of choice, but there's a cerebral ledge that sooner or later each of us has to leap off. One day, ready or not, we glance in a mirror, cuddle an infant, attend a funeral, walk in the woods, partake of a substance Nancy Reagan warned us to eschew, chance a liaison, wake in the night with a napalm lobster in our chest, read a message from the pope or the Dalai Lama, get lost in Verdi or lost in the stars - and wind up thinking about our soul. Yes, the soul. You know what I mean. Popular culture to the contrary, the soul is not an overweight nightclub singer having an unhappy love affair in Detroit. Nor, on the other hand, is it some pale vapor wafting off a bucket of metaphysical dry ice. Suffering, low-down and funky, seasons the soul, it's true, but bliss is the yeast that makes it rise. And yet, because the soul is linked to the earth (as opposed to spirit, which is linked to the sky), it steadfastly contradicts those who imagine it a billow of sacred flatulence or a shimmer of personal swamp gas. Soul is not even that Cracker Jack prize that God and Satan scuffle over after the worms have all licked our bones. That's why, when we ponder - as, sooner or later, each of us must - what exactly we ought to be doing about our souls, religion is the wrong, if conventional place to turn. Religion is little more than a transaction in which troubled people trade their souls for temporary and wholly illusionary psychological comfort (the old "give it up in order to save it" routine). Religions lead us to believe the soul is the ultimate family jewel, and, in return for our mindless obedience, they can secure it for us in their vaults, or at least insure it against fire and theft. They are mistaken. If you need to visualize the soul, think of it as a cross between a wolf howl, a photon, and a dribble of dark molasses. But what it really is, as near as I can tell, is a packet of information. It's a program, a piece of hyperspatial software designed explicitly to interface with the Mystery. Not a mystery, mind you, the Mystery. The one that can never be solved. To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the Mystery, and everybody secretly yearns to expand the connection. That requires expanding the soul. These things can enlarge the soul: laughter, danger, imagination, meditation, wild nature, passion, compassion, psychedelics, beauty, iconoclasm, and driving around in the rain with the top down. These things can diminish it: fear, bitterness, blandness, trendiness, egotism, violence, corruption, ignorance, grasping, shining, and eating ketchup on cottage cheese. Data in our psychic program is often nonlinear, nonhierarchical, archaic, alive, and teeming with paradox. Simply booting up is a challenge, if not for no other reason than that most of us find acknowledging the unknowable and monitoring its intrusions upon the familiar and mundane more than a little embarrassing. But say you've inflated your soul to the size of a beach ball and it's soaking into the Mystery like wine into a mattress. What have you accomplished? Well, long term, you may have prepared yourself for a successful metamorphosis, an almost inconceivable transformation to be precipitated by your death or by some great worldwide eschatological whoopjamboreehoo. You may have. No one can say for sure. More immediately, by waxing soulful you will have granted yourself the possibility of ecstatic participation in what the ancients considered a divinely animated universe. And on a day to day basis, folks, it doesn't get any better than that. By Tom Robbins Esquire, October, 1993 (page 164) Current Mood:  dirtyCurrent Music: none | |
| Monday, December 9th, 2002 | ||
| 4:35 pm | "you are so beautiful to me . . ." Poor Aunty Sawah, stuck in DC, surrounded by fighting and babies and 2 year-old terrors. Unable to enjoy the finer things in life like a warm comfortable bed, Indian food, quality dank, multiples and 'Molto Mario'. Fighting back the tears she holds her head up , but quietly counts down the seconds til she is free to get back on the road and leave the madness behind. Pride and loyalty rank high on her totem pole. I miss the hugs and kisses, warm beds, great meals, massages, support, companionship, smile, laugh and affection. Hopefully this will dry up her tears and put a smile on her face. *smacks that ass* Yesterday I was at the Cat House to watch the Panthers put up a franchise record 52 points to beat the Bungles. Fuck Clint, he is a hype. Current Mood:  hornyCurrent Music: not a damn thing! | |
| Friday, December 6th, 2002 | ||
| 3:10 pm | "Jackie is a spoiled biotch" Day 3 without power and I need a shower! There was no hot water when I went to my apartment at lunchtime but both of the fishys are still alive. Since its going to be 20 degrees tonight, me and the fish are going to Montibello for the night. My sister's friends, who are also without power, will be there so we can have a slumber party. Sarah is away in DC and is struggling. But she needs to keep her head up and stop stressing, then before she knows it she will be back in NC and spoiled as always. I will have a magic suprise awaiting her if all works out this weekend. I am craving a Wendy's Jnr bacon cheeseburger (no tomato, easy on the mayo, plenty of kethcup) right now, might have to make a stop on the way down south. 19 more shopping days til Christmas, what do you want ? Anyone that gets me something will get two presents in return. | |
| Thursday, September 5th, 2002 | ||
| 4:41 pm | Neunundneunzig Luft Balloons Spent the last few days shopping for some needed items around the house. First, to the head shop (Cigars,etc) for a new bong to replace my old one , that has since been retired to the Bong Hall of Fame. Always a hard choice to select the right bong, too many choices so I didn't decide on one just yet. If my brother hooks it up this weekend from Boone, then I might have to go back and but this sweet red one. Then we went next door to Infinity's End, where Sarah was mesmerized by these twirling plastic strips and I had to drag her away from them repeatedly. Might have to pick up a couple of them sometime, to keep her occupied. We also went looking for a coffee table so that people won't keep putting their drinks on the floor and knocking them over, especially my brother Ronan. Found one for $50, but I'm going to check out the Goodwill store across the road before I buy it. Gotta keep my spending down after spending $750 on my weekend in Chicago. Chicago is such a cool city, with the lake and the breezes and the hot boys and girls. After losing our game to Denver, we were free to party down for the weekend, only pausing to eat some Gino's East deep dish pizza and visit the aquarium. After watching the sea otters, my friend Dave is trying to figure out how to convert his basement into an Alaskan environment suitable for keeping otters. Wanted to check out the Art Institute as well but too many people and not enough time, too much guinness and Jameson to drink. Gotta come back to the windy city and stay somewhere downtown, we were stuck in a hotel over by midway Airport, $30-$40 cab rides into downtown are no fun. And the traffic sucks ass and Chicago has some of the worst drivers I have ever seen and I have been in Rome. I need a proper vacation, but I am split between going to Jamaica, going to Amsterdam for the Cannabis Cup in November or going back to see everyone in Ireland. I have a frequent-flyer ticket to use from my parents for my birthday last year and i have close to two weeks vacation time I can take. Anyone got some suggestions? Current Mood:  mellowCurrent Music: none , only the drone of the HVAC | |
| Wednesday, July 31st, 2002 | ||
| 4:43 pm | Dirty Drinking To all those Guinness drinkers in the Charlotte area .... This Saturday, August 3rd from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, the Charlotte GAA club is having a fundraiser upstairs at Connollys on 5th Street. The event is $20 per person for all you can drink Guinness or Harp for the 3 hours. We will also have door prizes that will be raffled off. Please come Saturday evening and if everyone brings a dozen friends each, we will have a successful fundraiser. Thanks We need the money to buy plane tickets to and hotel rooms in Chicago for the North American Championships that will be held over Labor Day weekend. Wish us luck! Current Mood: amusedCurrent Music: none | |
| Wednesday, July 17th, 2002 | ||
| 5:37 pm | It's all about the Heather One of Sarah's friends, indeed her best friend, is the wonderful Heather Demaris J* . She is a very shy and reserved lass, who rarely speaks to me in person, but is always loquacious on MSN messenger. She has multiple piercings, including a tongue-ring (Woo-hoo), but recently she took out a fresh eye-brow piercing because of her responsibilities as a nurse. Her dream would be to be locked in a cage with the freak Brian from Placebo and Johnny Knoxville. She's an only child of a divorced marriage and has a lovely poodle puppy dog named Biscuit, that likes to bark and growl at me. She hooks me up with prescription drugs (note her lj name junkiegurl) and I hook her up with dank and alcohol. She is going to the Moby concert with me next wednesday, hopefully she will find a ticket. She has a heart of gold, but is a heartbreaker, with an unhealthy infatuation for English blokes otherwise known as wankers. She needs to have more fun in her life and leave the cesspit that is Burke county. Hugs and Kisses. Current Mood: cheerfulCurrent Music: none , only the drone of the HVAC | |
| Friday, July 12th, 2002 | ||
| 3:11 pm | "Every three years, me, my partner John Acquaviva and people associated with my label, Plus 8, throw a party in a lodge deep in the northern-Michigan forest. Those parties would put most people to shame. We don't discuss those evenings. You either live it or don't hear about it." Richie Hawtin aka Plastikman  -this is a picture taken on a single piece of film at the same place and time every day for a year, that illustrates the effect that the earth's rotation has on the path of the sun in our sky. Just thought it looked cool. Current Mood:  workingCurrent Music: tiesto | |
| Tuesday, July 2nd, 2002 | ||
| 4:48 pm | Big up to Ronan for getting us an eighth of dank from Bonnaroo. We smoked up and watched Southpark: Bigger , Longer, Uncut . So now I've been singing , 'Shut your fucking face , unclefucker' , all day at work. Went and had lunch at Bombay Cuisine where they always hook up it up for their lunchtime buffet. Now I gotta go run around in the hundred degree weather for a couple of hours, playing pickup Gaelic Football and soccer....mmmmmm football . Still don't have a birthday present for Dave, looks like he will be getting another bottle of black bush. I've been saying this for ten years now; thanks to Brian Murphy on espn.com page2 Immediately, a ban on all American use of the words "world champions." This is no breaking news, but it is news that bears repeating. Kobe Bryant is a three-time NBA champion ... but he ain't a world champion. The Lakers are NBA champions. The Patriots are Super Bowl champions. The Yankees are champions. Brazil is world champion. Don't even start. I tried once, in Europe, 10 years ago to defend the use of "world champs" with the same, tired act you've tried: No other country plays basketball at our level. No other country plays American football like we do. Of course we're the best in the world. Put a sock in it, chief. I was eventually shamed into silence, and into the knowledge that there really is no need for us to put the word "world" in front of our sports champions unless the world is involved. It's a pretty simple concept. The Lakers play in the NBA, the Lakers won the NBA, the Lakers are NBA champions. Brazil played in the World Cup, Brazil won the World Cup, the Brazilians are world champions. Any questions? Current Mood:  hot | |
| Thursday, June 27th, 2002 | ||
| 4:42 pm | "You wanna get high? . . .does Howdy-Doody have wooden balls?" "Shock waves from the latest US corporate crisis have knocked €1.4 billion, or about 3 per cent, off the value of the Irish stock market. The disclosure of a $3.8 billion (€3.85 billion) accounting fraud at US telecoms company WorldCom sent stock markets around the world tumbling, wiping billions of euros off the value of shares." Taken from the Irish Times website. I don't see how anyone can have any faith in American companys as scandal after scandal rocks the economy. American corporate lies, greed and avarice will bring down this country faster than anything that the Al-Qaeda can dream off. And as you can see from above, the shockwaves are felt all over the world. For those with an interest in the NORML Report on Sixty Years of Marijuana Prohibition in the U.S. Hopefully Ronan will come through with a half for the lads. | |
| Wednesday, June 26th, 2002 | ||
| 10:29 am | 'It is better to have smoked and run dry, than never having smoked at all' Just five more work days before I head up to Cbus for a well-deserved vacation. But in the meantime, I got to attend a wedding this weekend. Now normally I would want to go to a wedding if invited, just for the reception and the open bar after the ceremony. This may be the exception since the groom is from Eygpt and , from what I've been told, frowns on the use of alcohol. I hope he likes the giant hookah that I got him as a wedding present. The Charlotte Gaelic Football team got hammered again last saturday, again by the team from Atlanta and again I don't even know what the final score was. I remember we scored our first point halfway through the second half and i had to leave the game with ten minutes left after I experienced a cramp in my left calf muscle. I was in no mood for the post game entertainment and libations. I took out my frustrations on Manna in tennis on monday, slapping him around as I won 6-3,6-0. That boy needs some work on his game. I'm taking him to the airport for his return to New Jersey, just to make sure that he gets on that plane. Current Mood: optimisticCurrent Music: 'rapture' by iio | |
| Monday, June 24th, 2002 | ||
| 4:25 pm | Its the one with 'Bad Motherfucker' on it
| |
| Thursday, June 20th, 2002 | ||
| 11:01 am | Don't call it an update! I am now able to work only 5 hours a day and still get paid for 8. Instead of working 9-6 with a one hour break, I sneak in around 10, take a two hour lunch break from 12-2 and then leave at 5. So far no one has said anything to me and that's fine with me. I should be at a beach somewhere, not stuck at a desk in a dark room. If anyone comes across any good deals to the Caribbean, let me know. I hear the mushroom tea is very good in Negril Bay. This is where I spent all my summers as a kid This last weekend was crazy, two of my friends came into town and we had a great time full of drugs, alcohol, good food, world cup soccer and nude Greco-Roman wrestling in olive oil. Thanks to Sarah for making some kick-ass quesadillas. | |
| Thursday, June 13th, 2002 | ||
| 3:03 pm | Moby Just secured tickets to see Moby in Charlotte. Its going to be a smallish crowd around 3,000 , plus it's general admission so I can make my way up close to the front, I'm also going to try and get backstage. I had to guess the presale password on ticketmaster, but they don't try and make it too difficult. Hope someone decent is opening up for him. Just call me butter, coz I'm on a roll. Beat Manna's ass again in tennis, I was making him run all over the place. Halfway through the first set with the score 4-2 in my favor, Manna declares that we are playing the best of 5. So I fucking tear into him and beat him handily, even though he fucking tried to cheat by calling some balls out that were definitely on the line. He is such a whiny little bitch, right John John? Manna just told me that Billy might be coming up this weekend and bringing a little something something with him. I gotta call him this evening and see what the story is. Should be a good weekend. Current Mood: workingCurrent Music: Led Zeppelin I | |
| Wednesday, June 12th, 2002 | ||
| 4:22 pm | hump day "I start this song without any words, I got so high I scratched til i bled . . ." So Ireland are through to the second round of the WC and they are preparing to face Spain at 7:30 am Sunday. They come into the game as underdogs which is they're favored position. The Spaniards have been tagged as chokers in previous world cups so hopefully they will live up to their billing this time. I gotta remember to buy Moby tickets tomorrow, although I'm not too sure about '18', his new album. Seems like Moby needs to do more drugs and increase the tempo in his songs, seems like he is unwilling to stray from the Play formula, having learned the hard way in the past (see 'Animal Rights'). I only downloaded it yesterday so hopefully it will grow on me. I'm about to go kick Manna's ass in tennis this evening, last match I won 6-0,6-1. Its too damn hot outside to play tennis; Sunny 97°F Feels Like: 98°F UV Index: 4 Low Wind: From the West at 8 mph Dew Point: 61°F Humidity: 30 % Visibility: Unlimited Barometer: 29.90 inches and falling I suck at spades. Jesus was a leprachaun. Current Mood:  sleepy | |
| Monday, June 10th, 2002 | ||
| 3:21 pm | Guess what was living in this woman's ear? ATHENS, Greece - An Athens doctor who examined a 33-year-old woman after she complained of headaches, removed a spider that had made its home in her ear, a Greek television station said Sunday. Private Star channel reported that Doctor Evangelos Gollas removed the spider and showed video footage he had recorded of the spider inside the woman's ear. "When I examined the patient, I was surprised to find a spider's web and then I saw there was movement," Gollas said. "The woman drove a motorcycle and she had suddenly felt a strange feeling in her ear ... It appears this was the time the spider entered her ear. The patient, who was not identified, suffered no injury from the incident, the doctor said. "The spider found itself in her ear, and because the temperature is ideal there, it stayed," Gollas said. | |
| Friday, June 7th, 2002 | ||
| 2:59 pm | 9/11 foretold? If one folds a $20 bill in three ways, this is what u get.  | |
| Thursday, June 6th, 2002 | ||
| 5:14 pm | 5 Questions What happens to you after you die? Would you want a perfect body or a perfect soul? What is your favorite drink? What is your favorite drug? Which came first the chicken or the egg?Explain your answer. Another day, another dollar. I got the grand total of $11.67 in my checking account, but hopefully I can get my hands on a sack tonight. I got my fingers crossed for some AK-47. We gotta meeting tonight for the Charlotte Gaelic Football Club, hopefully more than two people show up or else I think we should scrap the team for this year. I think Sarah will be very happy to see me whenever she returns. | |
| Wednesday, June 5th, 2002 | ||
| 11:14 am | 1-1     "this guy . . ., i love this guy here" | |
| Tuesday, June 4th, 2002 | ||
| 11:49 am | weekend update Friday after work , I go play tennis with John John and then go home and prepare for the night ahead. My brother came over and at 1:30 we went over to Connolly's Irish pub, where there was an after-hours party. I got heckled for wearing my orange adidas hat by drunk Irishmen, this is just an example of why hatred has caused the 'Troubles' in N.Ireland. For those not familiar with the history, orange is the symbolic color of the Protestants in N. Ireland. Ireland got off to a slow start and gave up a bad goal just before the half. But the team awoke in the second half and got a great goal from Matt Holland and were unlucky not to get another one. A great result against a solid team. Now we got to play Germany tomorrow morning at 7:30 EST, with the victor most likely making it to the second round. During the second half the 10,000 Irish fans were chanting 'Are you watching, Roy Keane?' The game ended around 4:30 so I headed to get some sleep before heading to Atlanta. We were late getting on the road after eating a nice lunch at Ciro's, but i made up the time on the road. The game was scheduled for a 5 pm kick-off, but the game was held at the Polo grounds about 30 miles outside of Atlanta, which we eventually found around 5:30. Not too suprisingly we were the first ones there. No one was looking forward to the game on our team , what with the late night and the long drive and the oppressive heat, but we got off to a good start and took the lead. However, after about 25 minutes our team wilted and the game was never close from then on. I was playing full back on defense and time after time I was faced with 5 on 3 attacks because our defence was too tired to get back and mark their men. That shit gets old fast. But Atlanta were hurting too, they just had twice as players as us. After the game the Atlanta team had some food waiting for us at the Harp pub, complemented nicely by a couple of pints of guinness. The plan was we were going to have a few quick pints and then meet up at Billy at his house and get ready to hit Buckhead. However Billy was working until midnight, so that didn't happen. Instead we stayed up til 6:30 in the morning watching World Cup Football games. Argentina is over-rated. Billy was nice enough to hook it up with a few bowls and stuff to take the edge off after the hard game. Billy sucks at NFL2K2 though. Next morning I got up around noon, had a wonderful shower and went to eat Thai food at the Thai House. I ordered this spicy meat salad (a lerb) that was very tasty but way too spicy for me as the waitress smirked as I started to tear up. They put two dried red chilie peppers in there. I coulda done with just a half ;) We got back to Charlotte around 7 after spending some time at the venerable adidas outlet. Just in time to watch the season finale of the Soprano's third season. Nice one Jackie jnr. Then I was ready to crash, but Sarah was having a bad day and needed some comforting. I got to bed at one, just in time to get up at 7:30 to watch another football game. After work I got home to find a nice meal prepared by Sarah, who was also nice enough to scrape a huge resin bowl, which we smoked before she had to leave for home. Now she will be gone for a long while, hopefully mending her damaged psyche. Good luck to her! Hopefully Ronan will call with some good news tonight. Peace Current Mood: lethargicCurrent Music: WP and Phish - 'Wish You Were Here' | |
| Sunday, June 2nd, 2002 | ||
| 10:07 pm | we lost the game, but we will win the war My insulting name is Penisbreath Poobrain! | |
