Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Why do flowers open their buds towards the sky? During the day,      they struggle to reach the sun. Come nightfall,      they fall short of caressing the moon. They can only bathe in light’s glory. The day will come, When their petals, Brittle with age, Detach from their source of life Drift to the ground Decompose in the soil Their stems, weak with the weight of time, Bend towards the Earth. Until at last, they lay flat.Their seeds scattered by the wind, by bees that seek pollen and by hummingbirds seeking nectar. Now they will have their final rest. All the heaven’s light Showers upon them no more.

A buddy mine stated that Tool is weird and unique. I never viewed them as anything more than just another rock band. I listen to too much extreme metal to consider anything Tool does as weird or unique. This right here is Demilich. They only released one album: Nespithe. That's an anagram for "The Spine". All of their riffs sound like they where written by aliens. And they frequently have more than one going on at the same time. There's also no verses or choruses. The sectio ns of the song sort of just run into each other. Then there's the vocalist. What the fuck? A croaking demon frog? A man with a serious gas problem and has to burp it all out? Sounds kind of gross. All of this sounds like a recipe for disaster. But there's a certain jazz-like groove throughout the songs that you can rock out to. And despite the melodies and riffs sounding eerie, they're still kind of catchy. You get the sense that they work with each other to create this weird a...

Epitaphs and Cenotaphs Crushed beneath the waves Crumbling like rocky mountain sides during an avalanche Effigies and Tombstones Shattered by the opening of the Earth Splitting apart like lightning bolts across the sky A flash of light descends from above to set the world ablaze A hungry fire consumes all that was once revered as sacred The entire country side weeps as it watches the ashes of holy creations float away Towards the stars that utter laughter The galaxies mock every living thing that resides below All are pleading on their knees ”Our lives here today... they end too soon! They end too soon!” This land... Where once gardens of flowers grew Where feathered and furry creatures played atop branches of oak Where rivers ran free and strong Bathed our naked bodies Cleansed them free of sin The flowers have decayed The only thing left of those once living Are their bones Rotting upon dried bark that groans in agony For its leaves have long sin...

You will run through flowery fields Collecting enough so that their stems fit firmly within the palm of your hand You will carry them over green hills That roll like ocean waves      upon misty shores You will head deep into the forest That hides mysteries very old      within its leaves You will descend into valleys below Which contains the waters      of renewed life You will climb the mountain Which aspires to rake its hand      across the heavens      Such a long journey      to deliver your blossoms      to your most beloved A beautiful woman Long dark hair stroked by the breeze Eyes, a pleasant tone of brown That reveal a world of wonder Resting behind them You will frolick toward one another Holding your blossoms tight Ready to present these tokens of love unto her And pour yourself into her bosom.

I listened to the new Tool song, Fear Inoculum. My opinion of them still hasn't change. The song sort of just plods along for ten minutes and finally ends. It's utterly inconsequential. And of course, the lyrics are deep and meaningful but nobody understands what the hell they're trying to say, but you can interpret them any way you like so it doesn't matter. Maybe that's the point. To just assemble words and phrases in a way that sort of makes sense but doesn't really mea n anything so people can feel smarter about themselves for listening to progressive music. Same goes for the assembly of riffs, melodies, and rhythms. To their credit, they tie everything together well enough so that it isn't just random non-sense. Honestly, I'd rather listen to "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed. That's right. I think a sappy and utterly simplistic radio rock song written by what can be considered a Christian band is more worth listening to. The song...

Actually, as much as Mexicans love to believe that they where Aztecs, they where most likely the slaves to the Aztecs. Hell, they probably helped Cortez destroy Tenochtitlan. Come to think of it, the Aztecs weren't even native to Mexico. They came from somewhere up north. Utah, perhaps. They arrived, colonized, conquered,and enslaved dozens of other tribes. It was these subjugated tribes that joined ranks with the Conquistadors. So there you go. The Aztecs where evil colonizers and oppressors and the Conquistadors where liberators. Stop larping as an Aztec and start larping as a Conquistador.

The wind caresses my hair as I stand by the lakeside The sun rises at it’s edge As numersous waterfowl awake After having their nightly rest I watch the swans drift aimlessly in the water Casting ripples as they move forward Their reflections Tinted hues upon a wavy mirror Reflecting images of all my passions and desires Diamonds glittering as the rays of the sun Fall to the surface I throw rocks onto the water Some are made of frustration and a few of despair, Others are made of pain and sorrow All that I once kept abreast Shatters and dissappears in the waves The birds are startled by this They span their wings And prepare to take flight As they fly towards me They merge into the fair figure of an angel Flowers sprout spontaneously Over the ground around me Butterflies emerge from their corollas And swirl around us The trees shake and shower leaves that morph into hummingbirds As the wind blows gently from every direction The flowers release their petal...

Behold the majesty of the night sky Behold the light of a thousand stars As it pulsates across the mantle of darkness Behold how the moon rises gently above it all Her pale face glowing with passion How many dreams reside within the temple of your soul?      As countless as there are flickering lights hovering above us How deep are the desires that rest within your heart?      As boundless as the deep purple that stretches out before us We sit here gazing at luminous orbs above us Wondering if a moment on Earth can grasp the universe within the palm of its hand Waiting for the flowers of eternity to open their buds and release their pollen of secrets As a comet rips the sky... Carving a trail of smoke, dust and debris Leaving a temporary scar upon the velvet blanket. A violet gleam sailing across the sky fills our hearts with a joy determined by the brightness of the moon Looking, Seeing, Smiling Curious feelings of contentment swim...

Tool's music is on the overrated side. It's not particularly bad, but it's not particularly good either. It's sort of just rides the indifference curve.   The problem with these progressive bands is that they like to insert a long chain of riffs (in the case of Tool, they're really not all that complex) without actually building towards anything. They meander about with no direction. It gets tired and boring.  The lyrics are actually interesting. But be honest. You don't understand what the hell they're talking about. I always have doubts whether these bands (not just Tool) even had any intent behind the lyrics. But that's okay, because it's open to interpretation, right?   It's too easy to dismiss bands like Tool, Dream Theater, Meshuggah, and a bunch of others as just music for low-life losers with philosophy degrees. They haven't accomplished anything in life. But smart people listen to progressive music. I listen progressive music, ...

I'm not big into live albums. It's a lot of hit or miss. Bands have good nights and bad nights. Hell, bands have good performances and bad performances of particular songs within one night. This particularly affects the singers. Especially if they smoke and drink. Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East is excellent. It's a wonderful summary of everything they accomplished throughout the 70's (except Rocka Rolla, but it's no big loss). But when I first heard it, something seemed off for some reason. Rob Halford seemed a bit restrained somehow. I couldn't put my finger on it. He hits all the right notes, but I felt like something was missing. Later on, I would discover that the vocal tracks where dubbed. That's right, the Metal God himself admitted that the original tapes where damaged and Halford had to record vocals in the studio and then dub them into the live recording. Hence, why some people jokingly refer to this as "Unleashed in the Studio...

What is it that bothers me? Sorrow flows through my veins and fills my heart with sadness But I don’t know why Could it be      that the sun has failed to shine its brightest? Could it be      that even the birds drown themselves in sorrow? Could it be      the song of misery they doth chirp away praying the sun will heed their lament? All these dark birds now rush from the river Racing towards the clouds Merging into a uniform mass of spectacular patterns As they disappear into the horizon Leaving behind them a collection of painful memories Scattered upon the water Drifting along with dried leaves To where the river meets the ocean      No one will care to recollect any of them Neither the sun Will care to recall Who stands alone above it all As it witnesses All those miserable lives being carried out below Without a care in the universe As it travels from one end of the sky to the other With tot...