Lifelike

Life is what you make of it …or paint of it!

(updated: 27 July 2025)

I saw my late maternal grandmother, Ina Rose at the Tel Aviv Hilton in November 2009 with my mum. I recorded an interview with her during the morning of the 25th. I saw her again that night after TechAviv after a lift back there from Boris.

In our discussion, she describes her meeting with Albert Einstein in the USA sometime between 1945-1947. It was her being an artist that sparked Einstein’s interest to meet her.

During the war, Ini was freed from an internment camp and ended up hiding in Toulouse, France. There she learned French and followed the painting style of French Impressionism. Ini went to the USA after the war to meet her mother and sister.

[ Einstein ’46 | Ina’s WWII story | Australian naturalization ’56 | Marriage to Frederick ’47 in Melbourne ]

Ini mentions Fred (my grandfather) and Toulouse in her 2000 postcard to Luke and I below:

They met in Toulouse and even spoke French to each other at home in Australia as the norm. My mother, Jacqueline, speaks French very well to this day. I learned it for 3 years but struggled with it, unfortunately.

Anyway, my immediate family actually lived in an apartment down in the dip of Washington Street (but before I was born) before we moved up the hill to #38 that was sold in 2006.

[pic 2 – 2006 | pic 3, 4 – early 2000’s]

Continuing, Ini’s second home in Melbourne overlooked the ocean in Alimart Court (she actually named it after her children), Brighton, where she lived for many decades.

I have fond memories of going there a lot as a child.

Watching National Lampoon's Vacation in late 80s (Wally World)

I rode a two-wheeler bike there for the first time – in an Austrian ski helmet, ghostbusters tee, no socks and sweat-band watch.

[ 1984? ]

… I ain’t afraid of no ghost!

Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters - Iris Face Remaster

So the house was filled with her art and that was her main line of work for many years.

She held a couple of exhibitions over the years, one even well into her nineties.

The last time I saw her was in July 2013 back at the Hilton (below left) and to her, Israel was fantastic and that was a great realization. She had gone to Germany a few years prior and that really stirred up negative memories.

Also, the first and only time I met her mother, Elizabeth Kaplan was in January 1986, in Boca Raton, Florida.

Elizabeth had a concentration camp number tattooed on her forearm and survived it by being enslaved as a translator for the Nazis. Also, that trip took us to Disney World and EPCOT in Orlando, which was a very fortunate experience to have.

17 years later in 2003 I reconnected with the late Stewart Springfield again in New York City who was Elizabeth’s grandson from Ina’s sister Rita, and a really nice guy – at least he was to me. He was walking with a limp but I didn’t ask him about it.

Wait, isn’t that VP Kamala Harris schmoozing Hillary Clinton behind me? That’s not a photoshop either.

In the 80s he sent us a box of sunglasses for no charge as that was his line of work.

In 1986, Stewart told me that his mum was listed in the phone book as “R Springfield” and ended up getting a lot of phone calls from female fans looking for Rick Springfield and he ended up hanging the phone up on a few.

But ladies were checking Stewie out anyhow down at the beach when I went down there with him in Florida, and he popped off his shirt too. Later in the day he showed us cable TV and we settled on WWF.

Stewart’s mother was Rita (blue pocket below, and striped shirt) and father was Steve.

I think he committed suicide around 2010, but in truth, I don’t know the full story as yet. I may be out by a few years too.

src [ link inactive July  2025 ]

Anyway, at Venice Beach on Superbowl day, (26 January 1986) some sort of street comedian pulled me out in front of a crowd and said I looked like Dan Quayle (“Who was that?” I thought) and then people cracked up laughing because I was Australian. I was an instant hit.

[src]

The wild thing was that as a result, Andrew saw me and came over and said hello, and he was in the extended family (below, red tie.)

The four of us only had 2 nights in LA waiting for a connecting flight and the Challenger space-shuttle blew up around the time we were leaving the country although I’m still somewhat perplexed as to the final sequence of cities eventually reached.

I remember it being really cold in Florida and being told to “put on layers,” and that the weather ended up taking its toll on Challenger.

Also, on that trip at either Vail (Westin) or Copper Mountain (Club Med,) someone pulled out a dollar bill and showed me the “All Seeing Eye” and warned me about it, yet I didn’t really get the gist of all his fear.

It was a lot for a young guy to take in. He could’ve given me the dollar bill too, I would’ve taken it.

[ 1993 ]

I also met some guys making a ski movie in the lounge and they wanted me to intro “Teton Gravity Research” or some words very hard for me to remember and I kept messing up as they filmed me. Was TGR even a thing back then – it couldn’t have been that!? I might’ve ended up on a bloopers reel.

This was a few seasons before China Bowl officially opened to skiers – but perhaps backcountry skiers made the trek as I saw badges and T-shirts for sale with that name on it.

It may be worth mentioning that a couple of years later I met some Americans in India – there was Maximilian, a few years older than me, an only-child and with his single mum, ranting about how Def Leppard was the best band ever and Pour Some Sugar on Me was the best song and he mimed it on a dancefloor and attracted a bunch of girls after demanding the DJ play it… something like that anyway.

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me - (In The Round In Your Face (HD/1080p)

I ended up buying the cassette. Okay, so they weren’t Metallica.

In the dining room I met a manager from Chrysalis Records, he asked me “What bands do you like?” I told him “Huey Lewis and the News” and a couple of others. He went beserk. He rattled off some other names and I said I knew them. He also mentioned Was (Not Was.) He was so thrilled he ended up sending a box of 30 CDs back to Melbourne for us to play on our new CD player including the entire Huey collection up until Small World, David Sanborn, The Proclaimers, Vinnie Vincent and The Pursuit of Happiness. Very generous and cool guy – a lot of kind people in the USA – great with box shipping too! It could’ve also been guerilla marketing.

Anyhow, back to Venice Beach – the fellow that took us to Venice Beach was an African-American guy who was waiting around the airport working as a city guide: quite a random encounter. I don’t remember much of Venice Beach except for Muscle Beach.

Danny Trejo on Muscle Beach 1986

But I also remember a large T-shirt shop with screen printing which was new to me. It was wall-to-wall with different t-shirt images. I may have even encountered Sky Ferreira’s future dad there – did his shop exist then? Was he old enough? I think there were a number of t-shirt shops in a row. Whoever he was, he demonstrated in front of my eyes how to run a flood-and-stroke T-shirt print.

Our tour guide’s name was Michael – I remember because I personally knew another Michael at the time and of course MJ. Strange stuff. I have my old passport somewhere so I Don’t Forget.

Don't Savanna (2017 + 2022)

So, a couple of years prior to Ini’s passing in 2015, she made this toast after relocating homes – but her art (and husband) came with her!

My mother now paints, and I’m starting to get restless hands myself!

[~’92 | ’93, grandfathers Fred and Oskar | ~mid ’00’s after leaving Brighton]


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pics
www.pinterest.com.au/pin/164311086394226917/
✓ 2 weeks ago

Brutish Affliction: Part 1 (Australia)

Some short anecdotes where I have been physically targeted by strangers – in all instances I have been by myself.

update: 2 March 2025

(April 2006)

1) Late 90’s: I was walking along Chapel street near Revolver in loose khaki pants and a singlet. The street was fairly busy but a group of guys in their car wound down the window and yelled “f__g__t” or some other homophobic abuse to my bemusement. I stuck up my finger and said “f___ you.” I drove off in my car but they followed me in their car. At a red light in High street, one of the guys jumped out of their car and I could see him approaching me (running lowly) in my passenger-side rear-view mirror. I sped off and managed to get away.

(I drove a ’96 silver Hyundai Excel for many years.)

2) Early 2000’s: At night in the Byron Bay beach carpark, I got out to play my Djembe drum and was charged-at by a guy standing about 25 meters away. I managed to get back in my car and drive away before he reached me.

3) Early 2000’s: I was swimming in a rough ocean in an empty Noosa National Park when a 40-50 year old man entered the water asking “Do you mind if I swim next to you?” By that stage I was already paddling to get out of the water. I made it to my sandals on the beach and turned around – he was walking after me. His vibes were extremely angry. Once I got out of his sight, I sprinted away.

Note the blurb of “Blood Sugar” (2022):

“When Ruby was a child growing up in Miami, she saw a boy from her school struggling against the ocean waves while his parents were preoccupied. Instead of helping him, Ruby dove under the water and held his ankle down until he drowned. She waited to feel guilty for it, but she never did.” – src

And who knows what happened to Harold Holt either?

4) Early 2000’s: Early Sunday morning in empty Brisbane streets, I was followed by two early-teen indigenous boys. I got around a few corners and ran. Later I turned around and they were around the same distance away. This happened a few times but they were closing in. I eventually found a taxi and got away.

5) Early 2000’s: I was at a Bboy night at a club in Collingwood. I was watching the dancers but also dancing in a way that distracted them and/or the audience too much – or else I just didn’t look right. As I was readying to leave, and at the door, I could see a bunch of the dancers and their crew gathering and sitting nearby watching me with glee. I walked out the door and sprinted to my car that was about 10 meters away. I started it, did a U-turn and drove off. In my rear-view mirror I could see all the guys outside looking around aimlessly. A school friend Dave later told me the main-dancer is known for causing trouble.

6) 2000s: I was walking in Surfers one night and a couple of teenage boys started following my friend and I. Once the other person left, they started jogging, maybe running toward me. I jumped on a nearby tri-cycle taxi and just said “go, go, go.”

7) 2010s: I was at a free-campsite near Port Douglas next to a highway. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard footsteps on the stones outside my vehicle. I turned on my cabin light and didn’t move. A minute or two later I stood up through the sun-roof with my torch and looked around the vehicle but didn’t see anyone. I then got into the driver’s seat and drove off. Earlier in the day an elderly man approached me who was waiting for his son and camping about 50 meters away – he was the only other camper. He was an elderly fellow originally from Poland and I had told him I was Jewish.

8) 2010s: I was camping on a family property near Port Douglas and as I was looking to leave, the gate was locked and the key was gone: the first time in many days of camping. Moments later someone from the property came in their car and had to leave as well. I followed them out, never to return.

9) 2010s: As I was swimming at “The Boulders” in Queensland, a group of guys struck up a conversation with me. They eventually left with my $100 leather thong-sandals in hand. A couple of guys from the group tailed me as I left – I think they didn’t want to get any blame if it came down to it.

10) 2020: An unhinged woman and her teen son (or friend) appeared aggressively out of nowhere at Big W South Yarra accusing me of stalking them. I walked up to the checkout (to have people standing around) and a big scene was then made by her, she was angry and hysterical. In hindsight, that could well have been an act.

[src]

Up at the counter, I asked the store manager for the police to be called as the son(?) had his hands in his tracksuit pockets, with one pocket pointing at me as if he was holding a knife within and ready to stab me. He was also giving me a deathly stare. I was escorted out by a security guard (Bruno?) who arrived at the scene after about 5 minutes waiting and into a taxi on Chapel Street.

I told Bruno:  “IF I was a stalker, which I’m NOT, why would I want to stalk her?” and we both sort of laughed it off, but he was still keen to speak to her soon about it. He also took a photo of my ID and I said “let me know if  you have a problem.”

Recalling now, I remember the son looking at me multiple times as I was walking up the street. I was slowly eating a schnitzel while putting pieces of beetroot in rubbish bins on the way to the shopping complex after leaving Schnitz.

So at some point they walked passed me and I saw their backs. I never saw the woman’s face though, only the son’s face from afar about 2 or 3 times with a mischievous grin. So when in the supermarket about 200-300 metres ahead inside the same complex, when I said “I have never seen you in my entire life” to her and the crowd of onlookers, it was true. I had never seen her face or front. I also wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings as I was more interested in the schnitzel.

Also, due to the stress of the situation I really didn’t recognise the pair at all. If the son(?) had started yelling instead, I may have recognised him although I wouldn’t have agreed that I was stalking them. He remained silent throughout and she whispered something in his ear at one point while we were up at the counter and they were standing about 6-7 metres away. She also said something like “why do you stalk vulnerable, single mums” (how ridiculous) and something else like “if you didn’t do it, why are you leaving.” In hindsight, I am of the view that they may well have wanted me to recognise them in the store in order to have me counter-accuse them of stalking myself to lead into an altercation or something else sinister.

At this point, I am of the view that they were stalking me for reasons yet known to me, although this was not done from the rear at first, but then from the front as they stayed ahead of me while stalling for time. If it would have registered that they were following me I would have jumped in a taxi as I was on foot to avoid the tram ride home. One never suspects a mother and son to do such a thing unless it were a crime family. The security guard said people do things like that in order to distract people in a store, while another party shoplifts items.

This happened in South Yarra and I’d be curious to see where she came in from that day. Also, the pair made their appearance to me in Big W – I was there to look at mobile phones as I had just bought one that day from JB Hi-Fi Prahran (1.3 km up the road) was on my way home, and wanted to check what they had.. did I miss out on something? If I didn’t walk into the store, what were her plans if I was supposedly stalking them? Why not just ask for mall security prior to that? But more disturbing, what would’ve happened if I walked into a side street as they followed me from the front within their world of make-believe and/or deception?

Wait… could it have been a hit job or some other type of targeting to give me a criminal record?

I only say this because after months of thinking about it, I may have possibly seen the pair pass ahead of me prior to entering Schnitz, and if so they were waiting for me to leave. I am not certain that this is the case, my memory is not clear, but it is possible. It was up around Oxford Street a block up the road.

I should have taken a photo of them in Big W, or would’ve the young fellow charged at me!? I asked to be escorted out because they were both so menacing. That was an act of self-defence. Also, how can you stalk someone on Chapel Street and be so certain about it as she was? Yet “stalking” can mean different things to different people.

Moreover, I was stalked, or rather hunted in Brisbane (see 3 above) also for reasons unknown to me. Maybe if I was an ice addict, I would’ve done something so idiotic as to stalk someone on Chapel Street on a busy day for no reason at all, but to satisfy some ‘stalking urge.’ Good thing I went into Big W and didn’t take the tram home as originally planned, they could’ve followed me back there too.

Interestingly, a week or two earlier I went out to my vehicle to leave in the morning, and the hazard lamps were blinking for some reason. I never switched them on in the night prior. Yet the battery wasn’t flat – they probably were switched on by someone a few hours earlier through the small air gap in the window. Weird… am I missing something? I never park with the window open at all.

Nefarious or not, I’ve heard some killers are afraid of karma so they do little things to their targets to be able to say to themselves later that their victims “could see it coming but ignored the warnings: they brought it upon themselves.” So these little intrusions are not about sowing fear, they’re about deflecting ultimate responsibility. Like a mosquito saying, “you heard my buzz, bad luck – your fault for this bite.”

11) 2020: I was walking along a footpath outside Flinders Street railway station and a man was standing there rolling a cigarette. As I was about to pass him he pushed his hands into me and he dropped his cigarette. He was angry about this and asked for money. I told him I have no money and just kept walking. He started yelling and I ignored him and kept walking. Then he started walking slowly after me. I started running – I suspected him to be an ice user at that point – there are many in Melbourne. (I was recently asked for money from a guy who ended up trying to follow me into a club after I said no.) As I was running, my yellow Austin Powers cap dropped and he must have picked it up. I turned the corner and slowed down. Some moments later I turned around and he was coming after me with a friend. At that point there were some train-station police officers I started talking to. He gave me my cap back and was told to go in the opposite direction. Perhaps I should have given him some money at that point – still not sure. Anyhow, I didn’t take any chances and then escaped along the Yarra River bike path. I don’t think the cigarette fell to the ground by accident – and you can’t tell an ice addict what to do. Maybe he (and his friends) thought I then owed him money for my cap.

12) 1997: Kicked in head when working as a busboy at a nightclub by guy dancing on a podium. It actually wasn’t a proper kick, more of a direct nudge. That night the mirror of my car was smashed outside.

13) 2019: I was on Great Keppel Island and spoke to some drunks guys (4 or 5) who took issue with me taking photos of some females in the surf (as I walked passed both groups) who they themselves were staring at as they drunk outside a pub near the beach. I had been taking ten’s of photos that day – it’s so picturesque. And I ended up almost getting into a serious altercation with one of them later that evening outside a supermarket in Yeppoon as I stumbled upon them again by chance, but managed to escape by yelling at the top of my lungs “Call the Police” so that the 3 hid behind some shelves back inside, maybe hoping I would attack them and it would be caught on film. I made my escape to my car and drove off – not from the police, but from the drunk group. I think all the guys got into a fight on the second ferry back from the island but thankfully I took the first ferry. More details include a police helicopter from earlier in the day.

src (1984) 2

14)

(updated 2 March 2025)

2021: A plastic bottle was thrown at me (it landed at my feet) while walking up Commercial Road, Prahran by a crazed man yelling “Asshole” to no-one in particular.  He then yelled something at me for crossing the road. I ran and he followed me. I went around the block and as I approached the Prahran Square car park entry to reach my car, he appeared and yelled again.

[ 1 Jun 2020 ]

I went into a supermarket and then moved across to the nearby Chapel Street JB Hi-Fi store and called the police from inside.

On the phone, after dialling 000 and providing my name, I asked to be escorted to my car, but the officer (Constable Ellis) couldn’t assist in person because I only heard the bottle and didn’t see the guy throw it, and he said I could re-attempt to reach my car and to call back if there was a further problem. They were also extremely busy. By chance, I took an alternate route into the car park about an hour or so later.

[ 1 Jun 2020 ]

At the ticket machine [ 1 above,] I stared up the walkway and I am pretty sure the crazed guy was waiting in the entry area of the car park (I didn’t want to get too close to properly check.) He was sitting in a chair [ 2 above ] staring intensely out a large window into the square [ 3 above ] – presumably waiting for me to enter to “greet” me. Where did that chair come from? It’s normally an empty space.

So I was located about 20 metres down the end of a moving walkway, and I fumbled to buy a carpark ticket because I was doing it almost lying down so that the person wouldn’t see me. I was also extremely worried and kept inserting too little money – it was about $8 and the woman behind me was starting to think I was a weirdo as she stepped back. That added embarrassment to the situation but it may have saved my life – who knows? Then, as I drove away, I ducked my head in case he saw me and also my registration number. Ellis had told me that that area was known to have problems. I’m almost certain he was on Ice, and if so, I don’t believe I overestimated the danger posed.

Yet in hindsight the story makes me think how easy it’d be to target someone by following them in a car and letting out a “crazy guy” to do all the work who was in fact only acting crazy and then ready to jump back in the car when ready. My 000 call should be on record, and footage of the incident could probably be retrieved from the car park and also JB.

“All warfare is based on deception.”

15): (published 13 Nov 2024)

2024: I am not sure if this was a glitch or an actual targeting.

On 11 Sep, after installing my SIM in a new 4G phone in the days prior, I found my phone wasn’t getting any service all of a sudden. I went to a nearby Telstra shop and found that I had no more charge left and a completely new phone number. The Telstra guy (also named Adrian) attempted to get the old number back, but couldn’t because it was locked out from us. This was a problem because not only would people be unable to reach me, but that number was needed for 2FA like with Youtube. Anyway, below is the recharge history of the SIM that failed.

The payments looked too frequent, I took the photo and later confirmed it didn’t match my Paypal records at all – so those weren’t my payments. At the shop, it was impossible to drill down into each payment for further details.

The other Adrian had difficulty believing the phone number shown on the screen wasn’t my own and part of the problem was that before entering the shop I deleted all my SMSes from my phone that would’ve helped convince him, yet I did take a screenshot of my Google 2FA number at the time.

It didn’t match my “new” number – obviously.

Adrian must’ve asked me about 4 times: “So that’s not your number?” “You’ve never had that number?” “Are you sure you’ve never seen that number?” “That number’s not familiar to you?”

We tried calling my number from his phone.. no luck.

So maybe the SIM was reassigned to another person’s account rather than some “reset number” function that was run against it and thus collected its own number and payment history from another person, whilst dropping mine.

[ the original SIM that was compromised ]

Anyway, after a few tense moments, I purchased a brand new SIM card and assigned my normal phone number back into it which had become part of the available pool.

Success. Adrian said that it was “extremely rare” for something like that to happen.

  • Was it an attack on me? State-level? AI Overlord?
  • Could this happen at Optus?
  • Is there a “reassign history,” “block number” or “change owner” function part of the backend?
  • Is Telstra compromised in some way, either by an employee or weak system security?
  • How would someone know an account was mine – could they search for my surname at Telstra or would they get my phone number from a website with 2FA first (like Youtube) and then search for it at Telstra?
  • Was someone expecting to grab my specific number that morning that I snagged back first? Was a spoofing attack being planned?
  • If someone tries to call/SMS me or vice versa, how do I know the phone is going to work?

I left feedback for Telstra in the days afterward using their automated feedback email but never received any follow-up for clarification, in fact in the subsequent weeks I received another identical one to fill out which I deleted.

I actually left a negative score (maybe it’d get some attention that way?) yet the other Adrian was actually really helpful. We solved the problem, but the problem should’ve never appeared in the first place. Adrian who was from China told me he named himself that, and it was a “wholesome name.” Thumbs up on that!

16): 2024: As embedded in 1992: Spellbound from take to mistake!, the Pierre video from Zermatt had to be reuploaded on 12 Nov 2024.

youtu.be/qw8WvrPidQU

The original version (which was slightly different) was originally uploaded around 15 June 2024 (youtube.com/VOuplIQ7g9) but was deleted at some point prior to 12 Nov 2024 unbeknownst to me.

  • Was this done by a hacker who got access to my account? State-level? AI Overlord?
  • Did the attacker also mess with my Telstra SIM at the same time? (#16)
  • Was the video deleted around 11 Sep? (#15)
  • Was it done through an “official channel” as part of an operating policy?
  • Shouldn’t have I got a message about it?
  • With my SIM card being compromised in #14 – was this vid deletion related to my entire YT channel being undesirable and hence my access to it with 2FA also being undesirable?
  • Have other videos been deleted unbeknownst to me?
  • There are 507 videos listed as of 13 Nov 2024. Can these numbers be trusted?

pics
www.carsguide.com.au/buy-a-car/all-new-and-used/all-states/all-locations/all-bodytypes/hyundai_excel/
pixabay.com/illustrations/cocaine-speed-amphetamine-pep-4051118/
✓ 8 months ago

2013: Mashups

3 tracks reached 1000 downloads and then the account was nuked.

(last updated: 21 February 2025)

I started making mashups in Jerusalem using Sony Vegas on Windows in April 2013 as a byproduct of creating Heartcarve videos. I did this for a few years and made 100+.

These ones made 1000 downloads:

LSG (Keith Sweat) - Curious + 2Pac + Destiny's Child [Aianda 2014]
Aaron Hall - Don't Be Afraid + Heavy D + Keith Sweat + OutKast [Aianda: Sep '14]

[ * ]

Al B. Sure! ‎- Nite & Day + 2Pac, PM Dawn, NSync, Destiny's Child, Donell J, Left Eye [31-12-14]

I stopped making them in October 2015 for a few reasons. One was that the new speakers I bought gave a poor balance and hence the production value went down. Also, I started over-thinking them and started thinking about key-signatures and then listenability lowered. Also, many unique song combinations had been used-up by me. My SC account also got terminated and that didn’t help either.

People liked them a lot – yet few commented.

(pic 3 list: 31 Dec 2014)

For me they were a way of finding flow, focus and creativity and even led into film storyboarding a couple of years later.

Occasionally, I dream music – I’ll never hear anything better!

Many can be found below.

Playlist: mashups: '13 - '15
Playlist: mashups: '20 - '21

While tracks were being made in this apartment, disturbances of any kind were succinctly avoided!

On a few occasions, I played mashups to the street.

50 Cent - In Da Club vs Notorious BIG vs Kanye West vs KRS One [March, 2014]

Then in 2022, I started making mashups again the easy way using RaveDJ.

Playlist: mashups: '22 + '23 (RaveDJ)

I borrowed a friends guitar in 1997 and took lessons for a couple of months… perhaps I should go back to it?



*


✓ 5 years ago

Israel Revisited – from exile to exodus (part 1/2)

In Australia, they say you should either be earning or learning. I chose yearning.

(also see: 2005: Up Periscope! and part 2)

In January 2005, I went for a drive to South Australia. I don’t fully know why I went – I just did.

I was only gone for a few days as I had a terrible sleeping arrangement in the back of my vehicle – but I had the taste of freedom that I yearned for – both physical and mental.

A couple of months later, I started a Monash law degree (to be my second degree) but I soon dropped out. Law camp was fun, but when it was time to start studying, I couldn’t focus at all. Also, one of the heads of Mannix College bid me farewell after I worked for the college on their IT setup and as an IT tutor:

Interestingly, from 2000 through graduation in 2001 (with Information Systems,) and until that point, I had been researching and writing about spiritual, esoteric and religious concepts at home (including Kundalini) out of my own volition.

Choosing to study law as a second degree was my attempt at decompartmentalizing my mind: and it failed.

So a few weeks later in March, I headed north from Melbourne and made Port Macquarie by about 10pm. The following day I kept driving as planned, eventually through Burleigh Heads where Yumi Stynes from Channel V was walking around asking people about their experiences with G-spots. I declined to answer and the guys in front of me straight out ignored her.

I made Surfers Paradise in good time and in the back of my mind I was thinking “what am I doing?” and I realised I was on holiday – some type of working holiday quest – and it felt great. I would never go back to the old way of planning my life in a cold, deliberate fashion – and I don’t think I could if I tried. It’s about holydays, not holidays.

Moreover, there was an IT recession at the time and work and investors (for GrooveTip) were hard for me to find. I was actually planning to live in Surfers, but like with my trip to South Australia – I just couldn’t get comfortable so pretty soon I headed back to Melbourne through Newcastle and Canberra.

However, when I passed through Byron Bay, the most amazing thing happened as I was almost asleep – a voice from deep within me cut through my awareness and said “GO TO ISRAEL” !!!

People back in Melbourne were surprised to see me and it felt awkward, but at least I had a way forward: to keep decompartmentalizing my mind… in Israel!

And in a more academic sense if:

In the classical literature of Kashmir Shaivism kundalini is described in three different manifestations. The first of these is as the universal energy or para-kundalini. The second of these is as the energizing function of the body-mind complex or prana-kundalini. The third of these is as consciousness or shakti-kundalini which simultaneously subsumes and intermediates between these two. Ultimately these three forms are the same but understanding these three different forms will help to understand the different manifestations of kundalini. ~ Kurt Keutzer 2002

… then perhaps I am (and was) just seeking to maximize Shakti?

I recorded a monologue in Jerusalem in early 2007 at Yeshiva Ohr Somayach detailing my life leading up to my arrival in Israel, that is, this exact story.

(continued: part 2)
✓ 4 years ago

1990: Challenged? Yes. Beaten? No.

After minimal auditions at school, I ended up on Australian Double Dare.

(last updated: 16 February 2023)

In 1990, a rep from Channel 10 came to our school and auditioned the class for Double Dare. Then in either April or May, with Tom Jennings as host, it came my turn to play and around 8 teams from my school went in that season.

A week’s worth of shows were recorded in one day at the ATV-10 Nunawading studios. I played with a girl who had black hair and pony tails, who I never saw again…  but we won! At one point, we were down 90 – 310, but we came back to win 350 – 310 in an amazing comeback. Our team was called The Untouchables and we ended up with 6 (out of 8) prizes in the final obstacle course.

At the start of the show, Tom asked me what my favourite sports were and I said skiing and tennis and then he asked me what my favourite tennis swing was and I said the drive shot. I meant forehand so it might’ve gone over his head, though.

The recording I had of the show on VHS is long-gone, but this is a clip with Tom as host with other kids from my school (both in blue) including Daniel who was a great tennis player – at least back then and I once met his coach, Solly.

Double Dare - Australia - The Double Devils Vs The Zero Heroes

I am glad we won. That’s all I really cared about. We should’ve won all 8 prizes. DAMN IT!
✓ 8 months ago

2000: Kundalini – the untold tales.

Looking back, I think some my collected tales were exaggerated or even lies – they were the tails!

(updated: 23 December 2022)

A week ago a new series started called “The K Files – Kundalini Secrets Revealed” and this reminded me of the late 90s when I became highly interested in the topics of eastern religion, metaphysics, mysticism, New Age, health and Ascension.

What really interested me back then were tales of true Kundalini awakenings whereby:

In personal accounts of the rising of kundalini, there is an endless array of emotions, strange thoughts, and visions, but descriptions of physical signs and symptoms or actual sensations are rare.

source: Sanella M.D. (1976) Kundalini – Psychosis or Transcendence? [page 7]

Back then I was under the impression that:

When allowed to progress to completion, the Kundalini process culminates in deep psychological balance, strength, and maturity.

source: Hansen (1995) Schizophrenia or Spiritual Crisis? On “Raising the Kundalini” and Its Diagnostic Classification

So in early 2000 I setup a website and published actual accounts of awakenings collected from forums and over email. I also had a links directory and wrote essays, with one being Evolution Revolution.

[ pic 3 – links at March 2005 | pic 4 – links at June 2006 with added Jewish section ]

I received lots of solid feedback from the guest book including:

Andy: Very informative page! Good to share these experiences without risking being treated as psychotic. I believe that mainly the subconscious is doing this... (May, 2004)

Christine: I deeply appreciate this site.. I can find no other like it... (November, 2002)

Mike: Thanks for the kind words and interest in my experience. It means a lot to be acknowledged like that. (June, 2002)

The work I was doing back then was a major reason for me to travel to Israel… to get more of a Jewish perspective on the metaphysical.

In other words, I went from reading What is Enlightenment? in Byron Bay regarding ‘Differentiation with Integration‘:

[src]

whilst also listening to Bashar in Melbourne:

Bashar :: Dare to Dream - Highlights

to hearing Rabbi Geller at Aish Hatorah in Jerusalem alongside Jacob Winkler who had also ventured to Israel in a similar vein:

Rabbi Avi Geller - Are Men and Women Equal?

I even told Rabbi Geller about Bashar.

I met a number of Jewish students in Israel, mostly from the USA and mainly guys. At one point in 2006, I must have had around 40 phone numbers in my phone. That was just prior to Facebook becoming popular.

The chap below was from England, I don’t remember his name but “Snowgums” was the ski lodge I stayed at growing up (see his jacket brand), and drove to in a Jaguar with my grandfather.

The fellow at left below, I don’t remember his name but came on Birthright Israel. A lot of Birthrighters are Jews and have little conscious Torah understanding and maybe have few or no Jewish friends and really seek meaningful connections more than anything else. Some aren’t even strictly Jewish. Below right is Harav Nota Schiller of Ohr Somayach with Larry Flisser. With Rav Schiller, I made a point that some of the most important people in the Jewish world are not the best teachers and brightest minds, but the facilitators and administrators behind the scenes that get no glory. He appreciated that, and after I met Larry, for a moment he paused and then said I blessed him and we were instant best friends… at least for that moment.

 

And the real crux of the matter is that there is a vast chasm between “good” Kundalini awakenings and “bad” ones. So for those that go about trying to awaken the Kundalini, one has to wonder why on Earth would you want to do that? I mean, do you feel lucky punk?

Dirty Harry 1971 - Do You Feel Lucky Punk?

But now in 2022, I recently heard about a healer who is having trouble stimulating Kundalini in her sick patients and is also scaling back her practice. So maybe it’s not about luck anymore, it’s about need and survival. Also, with pandemic and mass death at the forefront of people’s minds, perhaps it’s time to take Ormus King more seriously which sees both of these themes throughout, including death as a fuel for longevity and ecstasy in OK4.




✓ 2 years ago

Social Proof, not Social Goof!

It’s about balancing the goofiness with precision … but don’t fail, though.

last update: 28 February 2025

I heard Lenny Kravitz for the first time with Let Love Rule on the car radio, probably around 1990 on PBS. I think my brother was sitting next to me and my dad was driving. Our car was passing a cemetery.

Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule (Official Music Video)

Really, I think LK should put acoustic guitar to bass/drums/organ more often, if I may suggest.

I was thrilled no one changed the station during the song and thought it was one of the coolest tracks I’d ever heard. Then I recognised the music again at a friend’s place a number of months later and it all clicked and I bought the album.

In 1992 (above left) I owned the Digipak edition of LK’s 2nd album (middle) and in 1993 I owned the Digipak of album 3 (right.)

My dad’s first reaction was to his name – okay so he must be Jewish!

However, one of my cherished Kravitz CDs ended up severely scratched after I lent it to Tim in 1993.

[ Note, LK Digipak in bedside table under Branford Marsalis CD. ]

I think it was Let Love Rule because Sitting on Top of the World never played past the second bar without getting stuck in a loop.

He later said that the CD was passed around in the unit without him knowing and he mentioned some other people. It ended up on the wood floor somehow. Accidents happen. But people return favours in different ways. A few people told me to clean it with tooth-paste. Why not?

At least Stain remained …unstained.

[April?, 1993]

Blize (2014 + 1993)

Later that year the whole year group helped clean up after a flood – really puts things into perspective seeing people dealing with their whole material lives being washed away. I think it was Seymour.

Helped us see-more.

That said, speaking of messups, I took the woodshed 2 steps forward and 1 step back (or was it vice-versa because people couldn’t leap up onto the roof anymore) by making it bigger and higher in the rear but with a little less overhang in the front so it was more work to stack it out of the way from the rain. I think it was an improvement, but not by much.

[ the original boiler woodshed ]

Later, the unit master suggested I should’ve done more planning and there was nothing wrong with the original shed but he wasn’t around while the work was done. That was done towards the end of the year and no one really complained.

With Jun by my side, a bunch of guys stood around as I drove in nails – it wasn’t like I did it without any sort of tacit approval either, or formality.

Anyway, during this time LK wasn’t really hard, manly or grungy enough to be universally accepted, at least at my school. It could have been the falsetto, who knows? I just liked his music. Image was secondary to me, if not completely irrelevant.

Anyway, on 12 Feb 1994 I saw LK in concert and I even bought a long-sleeved t-shirt – but that’s over now.

At school, it was strange because I think a bunch of girls liked me (as they liked Lenny) but I didn’t really know that – female competition and jealousy was probably a deterrence.

At a house party, I took a skateboard taken that I had carefully constructed in 1994 during woodwork (in the Deaf School) and many years later it appeared at someone’s place with serious mileage on it. A chap I knew quite well, Rikka, (Mark) mentioned some other names that gave it to him and they were my buddies anyway. Strange situation, we were both stressed, and I let him keep it as it was so banged up and possession is 9/10 of the law. Did I have a choice though? I didn’t think about the police at the time.

Also, I thought deep down that having the board disappear meant it might well have saved me from having an accident on it. I was more into skiing and blading and designed a pair of skis that were built in late 2012 for carving (but very strangely ended up great in powder too.)

2013 (Zermatt)

They were never stolen, but I haven’t seen them in years though. I hope they’re still around.

So I found these skis to be extremely safe – I only took one fall in ~20 days of skiing and that’s because I was testing their limits. So these Heartcarve skis are for endorphins, not adrenaline. And due to the lack of pain and fear, skiing becomes a much more social experience and I ended up talking to many more people on the chairlift and simply overall. The biggest challenge was finding a pair of boots that fit well, because so much g-force is taken by the tongue.

Note, like downhill mountain-biking, my upper body is facing in the same direction as my skis.

Back in 2008, on off-the-shelf slalom skis after having worked on Heartcarving since 2002:

Carving Blackcomb 2008

(also vid 2007 – Tirol)

1 2 3

2007 – Little Buller Spur | 2007 – Summit Slide  | ’08 + ’08 (Whistler)

Today, I think the style could be comparable to an e-unicycle.

INMOTION V13 (Full Send Street Riding) Technical Fast Electric Unicycling

The whole “always keep upper body facing downhill” thing is a paradigm to me that causes tension and pain in the body. Even today’s modern carvers still do it to a large extent.

I suppose no matter what the skis or technique, one can always numb it all down later apres-ski. I’m centred in my heart… isn’t that goofy?

So all boots have a pain point when fitting in the shop and that has to be on the front of the shin because after a few days of skiing, the front of the shin develops a muscle to counteract that force. For me that was the Garmont G2 – a miracle find because it was for bony, narrow feet.

Anyway, back to the skateboard, in one way I was happy for Rikka because he was a really good skater and I hold no grudges. In the news, there are so many stories about small disputes escalating into serious offences, it’s important to keep things in perspective and this is why condemnation as a mental device (also mentioned here and here) is problematic as it leads to disproportional, emotive responses. I should have kept a closer watch on the board at the party instead of long hair and smiling faces. But it also shows I made a good deck because he said a number of people had used it.

It was a Magnusson deck (~1988) that I cut down.

I used full-size large wheels from another board I owned, tightened the trucks, loosened the wheel nuts – like one of today’s cruiser boards, perhaps. Ollies were hard, yet it was fast and stable.

No wonder it disappeared. And I thought people would think I was a weirdo.

It’s worth noting that that board had nose-to-tail, hell concave and I initially bought the whole thing second-hand at Huntingfield Road for about $25 from a friend of a brother of a friend.

He didn’t like the concave, and it was still in pretty good condition. It was my first “professional” board.

The board I had prior to that was an el-cheapo and it was slow and unwieldly but got me tinkering around with it to try to make it better.

And I’d already been building Lego for years prior to that.

So on the Magnusson, I removed the rail and tail sliders it came with, and would stop by rolling onto sidewalk grass or s-bending on the road.

Like my skiing, I didn’t care about tricks and wasn’t too good at them either, I just wanted to cover distance in style – as with life.

To this day, I think it was a great design because my feet could stay over the trucks and this kept the board parallel to the ground rather than bending as with a longboard.

[ src ]

Perhaps I should see it as me having “lost” it rather than having had it “stolen.” I just forgot about it long-term because it was so new to me and I was so focused on school work.  Thus, the whole time it had a “borrowed” status among some of my school friends. But I never did tell anyone “here, that’s yours now to keep.”

On the other hand, maybe it was straight up stolen or taken as “ownerless” one night at the party – maybe it was dumped and picked up. And Rikka was most probably right, I did last see someone using the board at full pelt up and down the street at that party. Or was that a different deck?

It was on that night that I turned to a couple at one point and said “love is a beautiful thing” and they both laughed.

I could’ve said it to the skater. Finders, keepers, right?

A lot of people ended up there that night, in Toorak in late ’94 or early ’95. Eden was there. And that’s probably it right there with Mark:

… or not.

So at least it got good use! The whole thing has a sexual connotation too.

Anyhow, I really wanted to go to my school formal with someone I had met at a party that had been at my house, P, whereby Luke met her randomly shortly before it (with her friend S also coming to the party.) Luke thought they were hot and I chatted with both of them in the back garden with Mike around where Desmond is below.

So then in 1996 out of the blue P appeared outside South Yarra train station as if waiting to speak to me, and I spoke to her for a bit, but being into my walkman and schoolwork, my mind was too linear for me to pop the question. Well spoken, she had been on an ABC television show that year too. Frustrating.

Some months later I saw her at schoolies in Noosa (Rolling Rock) and we spoke again by chance at nearby Funkies, funnily enough where Tim’s good friend Sarah worked who I also knew quite well from school, and later that pair wound up in the back of the Nissan at some point as we went clubbing in early 1997. Just needed to find a Kravitz concert to complete the night.

So to P, I said “there’s no sign I’m not compatible with” (Prince – Kiss) and she said “bull.” She was with a friend and that was the end. I should’ve just said, “hey, let’s all meet at Silvers tonight” as it was in the same building, and come to think of it, I did see P once at Silvers in I think early 1997 but we never spoke. She either ignored me or I ignored her, who really knows in those chaotic places? So a few weeks or months later Lucy (and Noah,) who Luke knew, would’ve been over with her upright bass.

Right about that time I started delivering pizzas for Giardino which became Vintage Cellars and was a few doors up from Fuji where Toby was dognapped.

src | 2 | 3

Michael Todd of the Australian Ballet (1978) (above-right, bare legs) was a waiter and said he felt I had a shielded or guarded personality and should loosen up … something like that anyway. I didn’t really agree with him – but he may have had a point – I don’t know – I was serious a lot of the time. Perhaps I should’ve popped on a clown suit. Good guy though, and we had some interesting discussions. He looked at my hair, touched a few strands and said in a professional tone that I should cut it really short, which I eventually did (but only years later) or else grow it long.  Dreadlocks would’ve been ideal.

He was at the tail-end of his career and had trouble finding work in ballet in his late 30’s – he had to move into choreography at that point. It must’ve been tough for him to transition from an acclaimed dancer into someone who some people would treat condescendingly at a restaurant. Every job has its downsides and my car was starting to smell like the restaurant.

One rare regret I have from the years 1997-2001 is the lack of photos I took of my fashion choices of the day.  All my clothes were thrown away from that time too. So my biggest tip while doing deliveries was a $20 bill for a $13 pizza and to “keep the change.” That was from Brian Blythe (1939 – 2022) of Spotless at the doorstep of Coonac, Melbourne’s most expensive home.

I wasn’t just grateful, but also in awe. But how would deliveries get me there permanently? I did take some shots outside Coonac in 2020.

Photo deliveries?

Anyway, I did some additional delivery runs for a pizza shop in the Balwyn area in place for Zoltak.

Interestingly, during my time at uni, but I’m not sure when – most likely 2001 – I had the idea to run a meditation class. But it wasn’t really a meditation class. It was just about getting a whole heap of people in the same room.

The idea never moved beyond the image above, I had no qualifications, and people could get the same feeling at a cinema just as the lights dimmed. Maybe it’s something people will do in 2050 …for whoever remains. A meetup in its purest form. I still think it has potential: expect nothing, receive the universe, charge anything.

Maybe a group-sleep could work like in kindergarten but for adults in a retreat setting.

src

Wait don’t people do that on aeroplanes? Maybe in hyperbaric chambers or sensory deprivation tanks? Too Goofy?

So in early ’97 at uni I momentarily met P’s younger sister P2 (and her friend E) on the tram who later brushed passed me after she saw me laughing out loud in front of the commerce building – during my conversation with Robbie about clubbing. Kind of gnarly to think about it all now. It must be quite common, a person is friends or even an item with someone, and really they should be hanging out with the sibling.

So Robbie lived around the corner from me and Jun met him one night and Robbie said Jun was a “top bloke.” Jun, Robbie, myself and I think Peck were in a taxi going to Crown Casino, and we passed the Arcadia Hotel and I saw a homeless/derelict person outside and I said “Can I have a dollar?” to him and we all cracked up laughing. I highly doubt the guy heard over all the background noise, and I said it facetiously to take the piss out of us all – not him. Anyway, if he gave me a dollar, I could’ve tried to turn it into 10 for him at Crown minus the carried interest!

These days I’d have to wonder who are the real parasites – the super poor or the super rich? Speaking of which:

Gary nails it—this rentier economy has turned ownership and hard work into relics of the past. Like Yanis Varoufakis points out, this isn’t capitalism in its original sense; it’s a parasitic system designed to extract wealth rather than create it. The middle class is being squeezed, not because they’re lazy, but because the rules of the game have changed. We’re forced to rent everything—homes, jobs, even our futures—while the owner class rakes in profits from systems they didn’t build, exploiting our labor and resources. And then they preach about ‘hard work,’ as if it means anything in a rigged game. This isn’t progress—it’s neo-feudalism, and it’s dismantling the social contract piece by piece.

Gary’s Economics | top comment | 6 Jan 2025

I’ve seen the behaviour up close personally with the leeches of the fashion industry as mentioned here. And the same in Hollywood, from my experience. What’s theirs is theirs and what’s mine is theirs. It’s the international money mafia, baby!

Yet from my understanding, Hollywood A-listers don’t have full control of their money, and they can only spend on certain things. That was according to one internet personality (now inactive with many videos offline for many years.)

If so, then Steven Spielberg can buy a superyacht for himself, but couldn’t buy one for me, even if he wanted to. That personality also spoke of R Kelly being innocent, with his convictions being drummed or even fabricated so he could be used as a sexual misconduct scapegoat, and also as part of some type of revenge thing – although that was for a case in the 2010’s so just a continuation of that?

[drums switcheroo] R Kelly - Flirt (2007 + 2016)

Speaking  of A-listers, why is Harrison Ford still working? Is it a clone? Why is Lenny Kravitz back on tour in 2025, is he on a hamster wheel? How does he hear anything anymore? Why did R Kelly, Lenny Kravitz, Bruno Mars and Kanye West all lose their mothers early on in their careers? The rules in the beast-system are different and clandestine. But once you’re on the “freedom train,” there’s no turning back.

Lenny Kravitz - Freedom Train/Always On The Run - live 1994

Gary from Gary’s Economics was on the finance trading floor for 5 years before retiring a multi-millionaire with great resistance. How many Hollywood A-listers or pop stars have even been able to retire at all, let alone after 5 years?

It’s like there’s a centralized ledger of who has what amount of money, and people have to request for a voucher any time they want to buy or sell something of any value. Actually, I have no idea if there is a system like that in place, but it wouldn’t suprise me. I think Dave Chappelle said to be careful of being paid too much – something like that. The last thing I’d want is to be more valuable dead than alive with the value of a song catalog rising as a result, the negation of royalty payments, the avoidance of fading glory and the freeing up of fans and fame for new acts. Same with film. And there’s also the risk of failing mind-control and the slipping of “secrets.”

So maybe the fashion heads want to reciprocate… but can’t! No one wants to be “deactivated” and thrown off the train.

src

Also, status is bestowed to those who inspire the next and that should go to someone important like an heir.

Not a goofy outsider.

[ 23 Apr 2018 | 10 July 2018 | 7 Aug 2018 ]

Yet at the same time, according to Primal Status Elevated, one challenge “new money” has is maintaining and monopolizing primal status within their sphere of influence and greater society. As with Hollywood fame, companies (and families) can also seek their own type of fame to create inter-generational wealth (“old money.”) This is outlined in this video. I don’t think Marta Ortega has a very good fashion sense myself – how is she going to uphold a fashion dynasty for decades to come? But does it matter? People can gravitate toward their strengths anyway.

If I publicly had over $100 Billion, I would look at aiming to hide the bulk of the money from the public anyway, like the Wallenberg family (apparently) over the course of decades.

[11 July 2018]

It depends on the context of course – in France I could pitch myself as the second coming of Napoleon but I still might need a private army and prison.  In North Korea, it’s either life as a serf or a soldier… is that what the West has to look forward to? If the super-rich are squeezing out the middle class today, then won’t the ultra/invisible rich eventually squeeze those out tomorrow?

So it may be an interesting strategy to create the appearance of being a billionaire to elevate status, and the nepo babies need help – and so do their parents if they want to turn their surnames into long-standing brands. Who do they let into their inner-circle?

Anyway, Peter Thiel recently alluded to the notion that to lift billions out of poverty would require whole new energy sources. Interestingly, that may end up lowering birth rates. Also, perhaps those futuristic energy devices exist but are purposely hidden through a lack of love.

The Lost Century: And How to Reclaim It

It’s interesting to note how restrained Thiel is in pushing the envelope. That said, according to one theory, JFK wanted to use his platform to rein in the Federal Reserve and look what happened to him. No one wants to be first to invest in anything too disruptive. Anything too good is siphoned away into a breakaway civilization for the chosen few, right?

So I read about a very wealthy guy that started to buy up radio stations in the USA and he was “put to sleep” as well. But at some point you’ve gotta fight the good fight, but if you hit people in the wallet they tend to swing back. Prince sung “What’s the use of money if you ain’t gonna break the mould? … All that glitters ain’t gold.”

prince 'Gold' RARE Extended Alternate Music Video 1995

So another girl at school told me I looked like Joaquin Phoenix or Daniel Day-Lewis.

Anyhow, in Newcastle, Daniel Johns was bashed because he wasn’t masculine enough, and his music was already pretty heavy.

Silverchiar- Daniel Johns Interview pt. 2 (of 3)

They were the cool guys, we were just the others guys that were in a band that wasn’t as masculine. (1:00)

So back to Kravitz, in May 2018, I took this photo in Atlit, Israel and by September Lenny had his album cover on the shelves:

Fast forward to October 2023, LK’s newly announced album Blue Electric Light seems to have followed from my April 2019 pics from Innot Hot Springs.

src

And I read an interview in the 90’s about Lenny re-recording Tony Breit’s basslines from jam session tapes and not giving him songwriting credits and that caused a lot of tension. Unfortunately, I don’t have the exact quote on hand. This was from 1993, however:

src | screenshot

[ IG ]

So I do remember going to my CD at the time and looking at the album art perplexed.

src

Breit’s only listed playing on 4 tracks. Chad Smith got writing credits on Blood Sugar Sex Magik and he was “just” the drummer. But they’re a “band” so it’s different, right?

Has Breit written anything with Lenny? He plays guitar too. Maybe I’m over-reaching but I lost some of my innocence at the time.

Best of luck to them anyway and maybe what was written was garbage.

Or not. I think it was Me’shell Ndegéocello that said she wouldn’t even step into the same studio with someone with her instrument unless there was a contract in place. And re-recording parts is nothing new. On Guns ‘n Roses’ 2008 Chinese Democracy:

"According to Ferrer, he is the only drummer on the title track; the rest of the album features drums by Brain and Ferrer, using Freese's arrangements. Bassist Tommy Stinson stated he had to rerecord his bass parts with each change in drummer." - src
Brain said Freese played on 30 songs before he split with the band. While Axl Rose admired Brain's feel, he was set on the patterns that Freese had played, so he had Brain replicate Freese's parts note for note. - src

This made it the most expensive rock album ever produced – $13 million.

Brain on Chinese Democracy

And Coco Chanel said that creativity is the art of concealing your sources, non? But it shouldn’t have to be this way and what goes around comes around.

In the 80’s, I remember listening to Genesis on the radio and turning up the volume dial only on the 2 and 4 and muting the rest – I realized I could do that on any song.

The rest is just filler anyway, right? It was so easy to record stuff as well onto tape.

When it comes to my playing, I could see how someone would want it optimized, as there is a sloppiness and unpredictability to it but also taste and groove. My timekeeping, at times can be discernibly off. Yet one could also use quantizing – Grohl’s bass drum on Nevermind was quantized, well that’s what someone told me when it came out.

Chess Bloom (1991 + 2015) [full]

However, I’ve got excellent hearing when it comes to placing notes in relation to a pulse – that happens looking at a screen, not at tom-toms.

For example, with my drumming “switcheroo” (enabled by AI track separation) of It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over, Kravitz may have liked it, but recognized the imperfections, and then re-did it to his liking.

Playlist: drums switcheroo

Well, I highly doubt it, but it’s worth understanding the temptation in these situations. It’s about balancing the goofiness with precision. Or in more opportunistic settings, being able to conceal the sources. It’d also be possible to take the best bars and loop them.

Anyway, at the start of this clip, I am keeping time on the hats and laying out a fill at the end of the section.

Funktion View (1997 + 2015)

Same with Krav.

Lenny Kravitz - How Long Have You Been Blind (Harry Belafonte Tribute)

Very generic stuff, but I think RaveDJ quantized my drums and was able get the drum overlap right, and, Krav put out his track about a month after I first released mine (30 March 2023). RaveDJ have since made my mashups unavailable on that site.

Also, following on from the Phoenix/Kidman film from 1995 (mentioned above) is a new Kidman/Dickinson film almost 30 years later.

OK, so back to 2020, and today a rainbow literally appeared in front of me through the trees as I started playing this on drums, and it dissipated by the end.

It’s in my squint at 0:29 … It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over… yeah… tell that to the Social Goofs who stare at the rainbows that no one else are yet to see!

pics
www.etsy.com/nz/listing/590425852/vintage-90s-1993-lenny-kravitz-universal
sg.carousell.com/p/arthcd-lenny-kravitz-are-you-gonna-go-my-way-limited-edition-digipak-cd-poster-147322884/

✓ 8 months ago