Today is a good day. It’s a great day. This is the first day of the rest of my life. Wow, wtf does that mean really? Hell if i know. hahaha..
Life is a twisting, turning story that will leave you guessing until the end.
It will mold you, shape you, twist you, pull you, push you, shake you, love you, hate you, inspire you, ignite you, incite you, delight you.
Tonight, you.
It’s on!
This morning, I rediscovered the ultra-fine music of Betty Davis; it had been a few years since I last listened to that tape I had copied from my ex-gf (a domina / stripper / musician).
Anyway, if you’ve never heard Betty Davis, go LISTEN NOW or be officially de-funked!!!
From CD Universe: “Despite an abundance of talent, a crack back-up band (which included most of Graham Central Station), and some of the most stinging funk tracks of the era, it’s really not all that surprising that Betty Davis never became a star: the girl was a stone-cold freak, and her self-titled 1973 debut more than illustrates that fact. Second wife to Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix’s former girlfriend, Davis is often credited (by Miles himself in fact) with steering Miles toward the sounds that would give rise to his fusion period, and one listen to the acid-tinged wah-drenched guitars on the album’s opening track, “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up,” makes it clear that Betty was on a decidedly different trip than almost all of her contemporaries. The album can be quite odd, yet Davis is so unhinged and brimming with such confidence (particularly on the cult fave “Walkin’ up the Road”) it’s impossible not to be amazed. Frustratingly, Davis remains in relative obscurity to this day despite providing the template for the sexually confident female performer that has been used by Lil’Kim, Foxy Brown, and Kelis, among others.
2007 digitally remastered reissue of the 1973 debut album from Funk diva Betty Davis (not to be confused with the actress Bette ‘Mommie Dearest’ Davis). In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli to Ludacris have rhymed over the intensely strong but sensual funk of Betty Davis. One can hardly imagine the genre-busting, culture-crossing musical magic of Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, or even the early Red Hot Chili Peppers without the influence of this R&B pioneer. In addition to the restoration of the incredible original cover art, the albums feature compelling and heartbreaking liner notes written by author and respected soul music scholar Oliver Wang (O-Dub/Soul Sides) and include her second interview in decades, making these essential reissues for any soul or funk-rock collection. In 1973, Davis would finally kick off her cosmic career with an amazingly progressive hard Funk and sweet Soul self-titled debut. The album was recorded with Sly & The Family Stone’s rhythm section, sharply produced by Sly Stone drummer Greg Errico, and featured backing vocals from Sylvester and the Pointer Sisters.
Personnel: Patryce Banks, Pointer Sisters, Kathi McDonald, Anita Pointer, Annie Sampson, Sylvester (vocals); Doug Rodrigues, Neal Schon (guitar); Skip Mesquit (saxophone); Jules Broussard (baritone saxophone); Greg Adams (trumpet); Michelle Gillette (trombone); Hershall Kennedy, Merl Saunders, Richard Kermode (Clavinet); Doug Rauch, Larry Graham (bass guitar); Greg Errico (drums); Victor Pantoja (congas); Pete Sears (unknown instrument). Audio Remasterer: Dave Cooley.
The Wire (p.43) – “Davis gets over on pure attitude alone. The obvious comparisons are to Madonna, Lil’ Kim and Kelis….The music on BETTY DAVIS is as loud and nasty as she is…”
CMJ (p.46) – “Every word hisses and slithers out of Betty’s chompers like a cobra leering and ready to strike…”
Down Beat (p.62) – “The grooves of her music still have power after 30-plus years….This stuff is upside-down funky, and tilts toward the raw side…”
No Depression (p.86) – “She doesn’t sing her originals so much as attack them, sometimes like a 300-pound bouncer, other with ninja-like stealth, and always with powerful impact.”
More: http://www.lightintheattic.net/releases/bettydavis
I have definitely experienced the emotional detachment that you are describing after my experience with Mount Bachelor Academy. Poker face to the max, I realized after the first few days that I couldn’t trust a single person I talked to in there. I saw people who were really good friends betraying each other right off the bat. That’s the kind of rifts that attack therapy creates in people in a residential setting. There was always an unspoken understanding that we may be friends now, but in group it’s another story. You’re on your fucking own. I primarily watched my own back. I had a huge advantage going into it however, and that is my acting experience. I am as a result of my acting experience a good public speaker and fast on my feet.
After a few months it got to the point where I understood the the dynamics of how group worked so well that I was able to avoid trouble, mostly. It’s really a very simple system. Someone is going to have the barrel of the attack gun pointed at them. If no one brings any requests to group, they can usually just harass someone on a self-study or who has bans or who is new. When that person gets defensive, yell at him until he or she agrees with the group. It’s preferable if they start crying. If they are crying, inform them of their punishment and then when they get angry, yell at them some more. When emotions are running high, shift the target to someone else who will with the help of a few cues from the facilitator become the new object of all of the group malice that has been artificially created by this process. A good way to connect the two is by turning to the next victim and saying something like “And you! Aren’t you his friend? Why haven’t you been holding him accountable? You’re supposed to be your brother’s keeper. I think you’re negative and underground.” That would do it for just about anyone.
Remember in $tr8 how you had to learn to anticipate your own emotional reactions to staff and the group or be submitted to their will ?? You had to be just that much quicker in order to strike pre-emptively, you know, talk about it in group and be able to demonstrate some measurable change or something, like you were struggeling with something but you were workin your program. And you had to play a poker face so hard that you lost your ability to be spontaneously emotional. You know like when everyone around you throws their head back in laughter but you, because you’ve become so objective or something, so concerned with monitoring your spontaneity in order to protect yourself from the mind-rapists. Every subtle psychological reaction had to be self monitored and controlled so as not to reveal any secret hidden places within the mind, sanctuaries of sanity, which were fiercely defended…the assault was so relentless and brutal, it was pretty much a psychological serial rape.
Little Fat Fucker woke me up early this morning. The sun wasn’t even up yet and the jerk was screaming at me to get the hell out of my bedroll. He kept hollering at me until I managed to get dressed and pack up my roll. This wasn’t fast enough for him and he dumped all my gear and clothes onto the ground. To piss me off even more he kicked my stuff all over the place.
Instead of packing it up in under 3 minutes or less I sat down on one of the rocks and told Little Fat Fucker to go fuck himself. He started screaming and yelling some more. Oh god.. i wanted to kick him in the face so damn much. I almost did but out of the corner of my eye I could see Rancid Cocksucker sort of hovering in the background. Rather than pack up my gear I just sat there on that rock and ignored all the yelling and screaming.
It wasn’t to long before Little Fat fucker grabbed me by the arm and pulled me off the rock. he started screaming that no damn kid was going to sit on one of his rocks and refuse. I sat down on my sleeping bag instead. Rancid Cocksucker ran over and pulled it out from under me. With these to people hovering over me it didn’t take a lot for me to figure out they were trying to get me angry.
It worked to.
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