Arcana Absurdum

Shattered windows and the sound of drums

2009-03-23T00:57:00.003-06:00

I recently was exposed for the first time to Viva La Vida by Coldplay and quickly fell in love with the song. Some friends recommended that I try to get into the rest of Coldplay's discography, but try is the key word. I really couldn't seem to actually produce any fondness for any of their other musical works and, as such, my love for Viva La Vida baffled me, until I realized that it was a completely different genre from their usual alternative mainstream stuff.

It was Baroque Pop!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Baroque Pop. I've been a fan of this genre for as long as I can remember, thanks mostly to being a kid who lived solely on Vivaldi, Bach and Beethoven. Bands such as Rasptutina, The Decemberists, Broken Social Scene, Of Montreal, and the like have dominated many of my playlists throughout the years and the sound of a cello playing alongside drums always plucks my heartstrings, so to speak.

Well, this new song discovery led me to want to finally create a Baroque influenced band, not just producing songs of the pop affectation, but also rock, rap, and what have you. I want this to become an experiment in taking the sounds of the Old World and introducing them to the beats and energy of the Modern Era, all the while maintaining a unique and distinctive tone. If you're interested in helping form this band, do let me know. Currently looking for vocalists (female and male), violinist, cello players, guitar and bass players, and of course, a drummer. Any other unique/eccentric instruments you may play are also welcome.

From that nice musical tone, here's some disturbing news:

1 in 7 people believe that women who wear sexy clothing should be attacked.

What the hell? Ever since my dear friend Dominique posted this story to her Facebook, it has sat in the back of my mind, outraging me from time to time. However, what's worse is that " similar number believed that it was all right for a man to slap his wife or girlfriend if she is “nagging or constantly moaning at him”". So, wait, let me get this straight: If my partner decides to complain about something to me, a portion of the populace believes I should hit them for "nagging"? This is pure madness and a sign of gender disrespect in modern society and what a long way the Feminist and Gender Equality movements have to go before this sort of thinking is reduced to insignificant percentages or even better, completely removed from the demographic landscape. For now, however, the battle continues.

In less-outraging local news, I recently attended San Antonio's so-called independent arts festival, Luminaria. While indeed it was fun to pose for photographs (as I wore my Neo-Victorian outfit to the event while my dear friend James wore his Roccoco-inspired outfit) and take a look at my city's modern art and performance community, it felt extremely commercialized and, as I like to call it, "beerized". The event to many people seemed like another excuse to get drunk on my city's streets, as if Fiesta and any Spurs victory wasn't enough. Really now, here's an attempt by our esteemed Mayor Hardberger to reinvigorate San Antonio's art scene and Budweiser has found yet another way to capitalize on it. Now, I don't mind the drinking, but it seemed like one of its main foci sadly enough. I hope next year I actually see more art (especially independent, uncensored and unsponsored art), more performances, more walking art works (like yours truly), and of course, more community interaction. If you really want to drink, go to the Riverwalk. Really now, it's there to look pretty and house some of our finest bars and restaurants.

Oh, and for fans of the not-so-whipped-cream-topped-yet-equally-delicious-as-the-dessert band Cake, they will be performing in Austin on the 28th of April at Stubb's. I'm forming a group to go, so let me know if you'd like to come along. Tickets are $30 and you can get your ticket here. You don't want to miss Cake if you haven't seen them live, I hear they're quite excellent.

In personal news, I of course saw Watchmen at the midnight premiere at the Palladium and if I'll say one thing about it, it'll definitely be that I loved it. It was an amazingly faithful adaptation of the comic with an improved ending catastrophe and kudos to Zach Snyder for not letting me down yet. Tyler Bates also put together an amazing soundtrack which truly impressed me beyond words in the unlikely yet perfect placement of the songs choices and the regular original composition were not bad either. If you haven't seen it, go see it. If you have, go see it again and catch the easter eggs I have from seeing it again multiple times. However, most of all, buy the graphic novel. It's definitely more in-depth than the movie on the issues it tackles and it'll be one the best purchases you'll make book-wise in a while.

I recently bought The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Münchhausen role-playing game from my local game/comic shop, Dragon's Lair, and let me say that after reading through it and playing a round, I absolutely love it. It's written as if the dear Baron composed this game himself and even if you don't play the game, it's a fun and entertaining read with many humourous moments. The gameplay is simplistic yet fun and the objective really is to have tons of fun telling ridiculous and wild stories with friends as personas from the 18th/19th century (or whatever you prefer). You can read more about it here. It makes me want to watch the delightful 1988 Terry Gilliam film once again and if you haven't seen that, you should!

As for what you should do with your Sunday evenings or free time online, there's a simple one word answer for you:

Kings.

If you haven't seen it yet, go watch it on Hulu or the NBC website, where you'll be amazed by the top-notch acting and further surprised that a great monarchical drama loosely based on the Biblical Book of Kings and inspired by the concept of modern monarchies wasn't made in U.K and that good television might actually exist in the USA outside of HBO.

In fact, I'm going to stop writing this blog just to rewatch the first episode again and hope they put up the second episode soon, which was fantastic by the way. Enjoy!

Und mir auf Reu und Leid

2009-02-11T15:14:00.002-06:00

Dreams are an interesting thing, but nightmares even more so.

I feel that dreams and the like tend to be our travels to some sort of astral realms, whether they exist only in our minds or are actually present somewhere in this universe or another. These astral realms, however, tend to be reflections of ourselves, our lives, our hopes, desires, pains, regrets, and most of all, our imaginations.

Yesterday night was one of those nights in which I found myself awaking repeatedly, which caused me to have about five different dreams and so, I thought, what better excuse is there to update my blogs and journals than to tell you about my dreams?

First Dream

I was riding a camel in a vast desert, wearing what seemed to be Bedouin garb and I was on some sort of trade mission and I remember being very determined. However, I cam across some ancient ruins and decide to explore, thinking I'd find treasure or the like. However, the deeper I went into the ruins, the smaller the passageways and rooms got until I was crawling through one particularly small passageway. Once I reached the other side, I was in a gladiatorial arena and had to fight off a whole bunch of warriors, which I did with a combination of Wushu fighting maneuvers and European swordfighting. Once I had defeated them all, the ruler/patron of these fights stood up and pointed at me, about to speak, and then I woke up.

Second Dream

Texas was undergoing some sort of internal revolution against American rule, but for some reason, I could care less. There was a sizable monarchist faction I was a part of, but apparently I was too busy to do anything (Did I hold a high position? I was dressed to the nines...) and instead, hosted large masquerade balls. During one of those masquerade balls, the flag had been lowered in a nearby plaza so I left to raise it again against all odds, but was distracted and instead seemingly kidnapped by my friend Alexa. She drove us to some sort of abandoned town up in some remote mountains where only about 3 people lived. We ate tons and tons of food and then we had tons and tons of sex, which was interrupted by a swarm of large ants, which we ran away from after killing half of them. While running, we fell off one of the mountains, tumbling down in sheer pain, and then I woke up.

Third Dream

I don't remember much about this dream at all, except that involved my friends Dan and Mel wearing various masks and casting magic spells at each other. Also, we were on a boat. That's really about it.

Fourth Dream

There was a large parade and I was the member of a heavy metal band, with my friends Dan, Ric, Wes, and Ryan and we were all on a float shaped like a duck. Apparently, all that happened in this dream is that we were rocking so hard that it started a riot and and few building to collapse, then we flew away on our guitars to the Atlantic, where we apparently had a concert to perform in Atlantis, but we kept stalling in our green room or whatever for ages for no real reason. Then Wes caught on fire and I woke up.

Fifth Dream

I was running through a desolate landscape, in which a severe thunderstorm was going on but there was no rain, being chased endlessly by the Maenads of Greek mythology, who also happened to be every single one of my ex-girlfriends. Eventually, the dream ended, but after some terrifying 28 Days Later type ordeals.

Feel free to interpret them. Dreams are always fun to play around with.

A Day of Mourning

2009-01-08T03:48:00.002-06:00

Today we mourn the death of His Imperial Majesty The Emperor Norton I of these United States of America and Protector of Mexico.

In honor of his death, I am linking you all to my old blog on the great Emperor so that you may read more about His Imperial Majesty's life and death here:

http://arcanaabsurdum.blogspot.com/2007/01/on-emperor-norton.html

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality

2009-01-03T03:36:00.002-06:00

I recently attended a New Year's ceremony organized by the local Soka Gakkais here in San Antonio. Having spent the last six or so years being the best of friends with one, I've been exposed to their beliefs and attitudes many times and have experienced the legendary (and sometimes infamous) kindness they show each other and newcomers. I've always admired the work of President Ikeda of SGI (Soka Gakkai International) and many (though not all) of the ideas and beliefs he propagates. Well, during this ceremony, a video was shown from President Ikeda to his followers and I must say, I was so touched by the positivism and the way foreign leaders interacted with him that I had to try hard to stop a stream of tears from running down my face for sheer joy.

At the moment and during the day, I ascribed it to being a spiritual experience (and still do, as it didn't just rile my emotions but something ... deeper) but upon having some time to think and meditate on my experience, I've decided to stick by the facts that I have sorted in my religious life:

1) I cannot agree with some of the beliefs of the SGI, such as reincarnation (which I have a particularly hard time believing), but I will always support the work of SGI and President Ikeda, as they are a force for good and optimism that is rarely seen these days.

2) I still have slight trouble returning to organized religion of any kind, no matter how loosely organized. Currently, I'm on a personal spiritual quest and wish to keep it that way until I truly find out what it is I can believe. The best I can do is say I am a Deist at the moment.

However, I will attend more of these SGI meetings, as it is an excellent community and I wish to aide them in their missions, along with the selfish fact that I feel so good when I'm at one (and chanting is so calming and meditative). I know this might come off as rude to some of my SGI friends and if it does, my sincerest apologies, but when it comes to all faiths and belief systems, as of the current time, I need to study, experience, and contemplate in order to find where I stand. It's truly a long journey, but a fun and important one. My guides are Reason and Romance and when the two meet at a spiritual crossroad and take the same path, I'll have finally reached my home.

On a completely seperate note, I'm taken to enjoying the work of Johan Soderberg, especially his Read My Lips stuff. Go to his home page and click on "Read My Lips"; 3 is my favourite while 7 and 10 are also quite excellent. I've also recently seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Valkyrie, and The Spirit. Button was a touching allegory of death and living which lasted for three hours and slightly reminded me of Forest Gump, in a good way. It could very well be a contender for best film awards, so be sure to catch it. Valkyrie is the first time the dramatically epic story of Colonel Count von Stauffenberg has been told in film form in the States and Bryan Singer has done an excellent job. I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat even if I did know the tragic ending and felt wonderful chills run through my body whenever "Sacred Germany" was mentioned, showing that not all nationalism is bad, as is usually portrayed these days. The Spirit was absolutely horrendous, but not in a Batman and Robin way, but more in a Hellboy movie series sort of way. It was delightfully campy all throughout and did not ease up, but what makes this sad is the fact that Frank Miller meant for this to be taken as a serious movie. Sorry, Mr. Miller, that would be utterly impossible, especially with Samuel L. Jackson doing some superb camp acting.

Just me, my dignity and this guitar case

2008-12-26T05:38:00.004-06:00

It's been quite a long while since I've written one of these, but I do believe it's time to get back in the habit.

2008 is ending and it has been an eventful year, no doubt, with new people, exciting events, rattled emotions, and the usual adventure that is this thing called life.

I've decided to try and adjust my libertine lifestyle with my stoic philosophies and my romantic emotions, but as you can imagine, I've been drilling in a field and no oil gushes yet. I've made strides here and there, but it is a sign of failure in regards to my self mental conditioning when I start feeling these primal human emotions such as jealousy, hate, worry, and fear recently at a constant rate, whereas I have not felt them as strong as I do these days in years. Reading Epictetus does help though, his Discourses are really insightful into the situation and remind me that I cannot control everything, even if I wished to. There are things even beyond my grasp and I have to learn to be fine with this and carry on. "Keep calm and carry on", as the old saying goes.

I'm also trying not to make my interactions so forced, trying not to seem too much like a hollow shell, which I'm afraid I come off as sometimes. I'm always a tumultuous sea inside, but outside, I'm calm and social and for the most part, ignore myself and present the image most preferable to the situation and setting. It's quite the bad habit, but it's going to loosen up and does around certain people, of course, but not all of them. I guess these forced interactions also lead people I've known to believe that I am some sort of liar, perhaps through some "tell" I don't mean to have so even the truest and simplest of things come off as lies, or so I've been told. Perhaps it's a joke? I don't understand really, never have for the most part.

Well, I've lost my cathartic train of thought, though on a unrelated note, MGMT makes for good driving music and so does Grateful Dead. I catch myself singing, even if I can't sing, and trying to seem like a music connoisseur even if I can't play an instrument for the death of me, but I guess that's what life is all about.

Don't worry about what you can't do, but on what you can and can enjoy.

Beyond your flowers of flaming truths

2008-06-23T02:40:00.005-06:00

To those wondering when my entries on my voyages to Washington and Austin will be up, please stay tuned. I've been a strange kind of busy (and lazy when not) as of late, so I promise I'll have them up sometime this week or so.

On an interesting note, a newspaper from Denver recently gave me a call, as they seek to interview me and do some sort of photoshoot, due mostly in part to my heavy involvement with Senator Obama's campaign and the grassroots efforts throughout my state. Needless to say, I'm quite flattered and when I receive more information in relation to the publication of said news story, my trusted readers will be the first to know of course!

If you're into roleplaying like I am, you probably know that yesterday was Free RPG Day, where the various game companies provide your local game emporium with endless amounts of booklets usually consisting of quickstarts and other material. In my case, that emporium was the wonderful locale known as Dragon's Lair, right off Fredricksburg road and the game I was there for was Hunter: The Vigil and man, oh man, did it not disappoint. White Wolf is creating what seems to be a fantastic game with Hunter: The Vigil, where you hunt the beasties that you usually play in the World of Darkness line, with little more than human ingenuity and whatever else we can steal from the supernatural creatures of the night (and day in some cases). I have the quickstart demo in my possession, so if you'd like me to run you through it so you can get a feel of the game, let me know, as I'd be more than happy to.

Also, another game that caught my eye was the Savage World of Solomon Kane, a RPG based on the pulp era story of a cold and distant world-wandering Puritan seeking redemption for his past sins through the destruction of evil wherever he can find it. While you don't get to play as the title character, you create your character on the assumption that either you've been inspired by him or tales of Mr. Kane or you're independently trodding along a similar path of light in shadows (sorry, I'm still in Hunter mode, as I'm using the catchphrase for the game here). While the book costs $50, it definitely looks well worth it and once I have some cash to throw around willy-nilly, I'm quite prone to getting this little gem.

Oh, for those that know me, you'll be glad to know that I've begun cleaning my house (GASP!) so that I can have people over again and show off my new High-Definition projector, which will not disappoint unlike my old and decomposing former projector. So, now would be a good time to give me your schedules, to see when I can have some of you over and if you'd like some "Pablo only" time, do please let me know of that also.

Mr. Vazquez goes to Washington!

2008-05-06T19:59:00.001-06:00

Greetings citizens!

It seems your humble blogger will be in Washington D.C from June the 8th to June the 11th on an all-expenses paid trip, courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union. While the catch is that I have to attend the civil liberties conferences and socialize with/charm politicos from across the nation, most of you know I am not a man without a sense of adventure, so of course I'll be taking my fine nation's capital by storm.

Here, dear reader, is where you come in! I am in need of suggestions as to places I must visit, scenes I must see, people I must heckle, restaurants I must dine at, and so on and so forth. Do feel free to even name the obvious, as knowing me, I might end up forgetting the obvious.

Also, should you be in Washington D.C during this time and wish to get together for some tea, do let me know and I'll arrange something.

All abandon from this sinking ship

2008-04-11T02:29:00.002-06:00

Things have been perking up, personal news-wise.

First off, today I was elected Vice-President of the ACLU wing at UTSA, which is nice. Now, I shall be the first to admit that I have been slacking off and not attending meetings this semester, but I can also bring to my defense that I have also been quite busy, working and attending to social matters.

On a exceedingly more interesting and quite less political of a matter, I have decided to found the San Antonio Neo-Victorian Association. I do understand that some of you might deride me for this venture, but I follow as my heart dictates and I do believe that San Antonio is lacking an outlet for this important subculture. Following along with this topic, SANVA will be working on tinkering together a small convention for Neo-Victorian enthusiasts sometime this fall, so if you're interested, I encourage you to comment so that I can provide you with more information on the matter.

Further keeping with the topic, Steampunk, already a minor obession of mine, has begun steadily growing as I notice the different fashions and the vibrant subculture attached to it. I've begun working on a personal outfit of mine, a sort of Steampunk Baron Samedi, for conventions and for fun's sake, as I quite enjoy costumery. I shall keep my avid readers updated as to the status of the outfit and the items that blow my cranium in Steampunk.

Hello, ghetto, let your brain breathe!

2007-12-11T12:54:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows me and keeps tabs on the weather of San Antonio knows that yesterday was what I consider "perfect weather": Dark, heavy mist, and cold. So, of course, I went out and took a stroll as I always do in this weather and found an unpaved road near my house that was quite inspiring to walk down. I wrote a few poems, which I will be posting soon enough. All in all, a very relaxing night.

On a slightly related note, when I finally fell asleep, I descended into a strange futuristic universe where apparently I was an assassin sent to kill the Empress of Japan. Interestingly enough, Japan inhabits an entire planet in this future and so, I had to take a personal space craft (which is no bigger than a spacewalk suit) to Japan and there, I landed and was able to infiltrate the palace under the guise of being assigned to protect the Empress after stealing a guard uniform. The Prime Minister showed me into what looked like an elegant bathroom, but he pulled a tile away and entered the code "Medici", which caused that section of the room to become an elevator to the Imperial Throne Room. A side note, it seems all of the high ranking officials besides the Empress were more European than Japanese (perhaps they were Ainu?). When I go up there and took my position, about to kill the Empress, something overcame me and I felt massive remorse and realized she was too good a ruler to kill. As I made my way from Japan, I woke up, having had my most interesting dream in a while.

So, my pseudo-dream analyst friends, what's going on here?

At a windowsill in Constantinople

2007-09-23T01:19:00.000-06:00

Night greetings to everyone!

I write this blog, falling asleep, using it as my only way of staying awake for a tad bit longer. I've been spending most of my free time conducting two projects, one of them involving reading about every French monarch from the Franks to the last king before the republic re-emerged. The other project is currently classified, as per the request of other members involved with it. However, once we're at that phase, I'll be sure to post a complete blog about it.

The comic book which I have in mind will have to start at some phase of creation soon enough, I don't want to start forgetting about it. I'll have to schedule some weekend to meet with those involved and start work on it in some way. I've decided to get back into writing short stories and poetry, to get my creative mind a-workin' again. Give me ideas for short stories and/or poems so I can start on that too.

In smaller news, I cleaned my room and reorganized it today, finding $25 in the process. It almost felt like the Divine was paying me for my work, which felt rewarding since it took all day and was very very tiring.

Oh, Belgium is breaking apart in case you haven't been paying attention to European news. Wallonia will most likely seek to join France, but Flanders will seek independence. Let us welcome this new nation (though it's actually an old one) into the political scene! Long live a free Flanders! If you're wondering what the King of Belgium will do, he'll most likely go to Wallonia if it doesn't become part of France. However, Flanders might feel nice and make him king there. Also, talk of unification with Luxembourg has been running quite high for some reason.

I've been reading the Meditations of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and some excellent Sufi poetry, all real interesting stuff.

I can't wait for the winter to come at full force.

Blog session over.

On the Emperor Norton

2007-01-23T18:36:00.001-06:00

I have decided to begin my blog with a little educative tribute to an unsung hero of American history, Joshua A. Norton, First Emperor of these United States of America and Protector of Mexico. What follows is His Majesty's proclamation of the start of the Empire of the United States of America:

At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last 9 years and 10 months past of S. F., Cal., declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S.; and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in Musical Hall, of this city, on the 1st day of Feb. next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.

NORTON I, Emperor of the United States.

Little is known of the Emperor Norton's early life, but what is known is that he was born in England around 1814 (some claim to the songs and trumpets of the Heavenly Hosts) to successful Hebrew Jewish merchants whose lineage comes directly from, get this, Bethlehem in what is today the present-day State of Israel. The family emigrated to South Africa in 1820 and the young Emperor Joshua spent his days studying and involving himself with his father's businesses.

After 20 or so years had passed, on 1829, Joshua A. Norton stepped foot on what was to become his home and empire, with a large inheritance from his father's estate to back him financially. He made his home in the Imperial Capital, known to many as San Francisco in the State of California, and with his wise dealings in the local real estate businesses, was able to raise his fortune to $250,000, a very high sum for the time period. However, the illegal republic under which our Emperor had to suffer at the time brought about its own demise by its highest courts ruling against the Emperor Norton when he sought to bring a large rice shipment from Peru to feed the starving people of America, since China had banned any shipments of its own rice outside its borders.

Of course, such a cruel and illegal action towards both the people of our nation and the future Emperor caused many great problems, with minor famines on the west coast and our Emperor having to declare bankruptcy after all his money was lost on the rice venture, which was foiled by corrupt lifelong bureaucrats in the Congress. As such, the Emperor left San Francisco and legend will tell you he went into the wilderness much like Christ did and did discover his true purpose in a revelation from the Divine. When Emperor Norton returned to San Francisco after his soul-searching journey and mythical adventures worthy of an epic saga, he had become fully disgruntled with the vicissitudes and inadequacies of the legal and political structures of the United States' corrupt and republican government. On the most holy day of the seventeenth of September in AD 1859, he took matters into his most capable hands and distributed letters to the various newspapers of the city, proclaiming himself "Emperor of these United States" in the Imperial proclamation shown above.

Emperor Joshua Norton I did reign for 21 years and the people of the Imperial Capital did rejoice for the entirety of His Majesty's reign, even though the corrupt Congress has continued to disobey his demands and edicts to this day, making it illegal in all shapes and form. The Emperor has been known for his genius engineering designs (San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge), his expert peacemaking abilities (Anti-Chinese Demonstrations of the 1860s, where the Emperor Norton I did save many Chinese from radical Nativist attacks simply by reciting the Lord's Prayer while blocking the assailants' way and he granted complete freedom of worship plus forbade religious sects from attacking each other), shrewd diplomacy way ahead of his time (The Emperor called for the formation of a League of Nations), and friendship and even romance with the respected leaders of the world (His Majesty was to be engaged to Queen Victoria, much to the dismay of the President of France, who advised him against it, even though his friends Czar Alexander II and Emperor Pedro II were very happy and congratulated him on his upcoming marriage).

When His Imperial Majesty died on the eighth of January in AD 1880, the whole of his faithful subjects and friends the world over did mourn, with as many as 50,000 people present for His Majesty's somber funeral. The newspapers of the Imperial Capital did run the headline "Le Roi est Mort" ("the King is Dead") and His Majesty was mourned as follows:

"On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moon-less night under the dripping rain…, Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life"

May the Emperor Norton's soul rest in peace and may God grant him repose among the saints of Heaven. Let it also be noted that he had converted to the Roman Catholic faith many years earlier, some assume during his time of self-imposed exile. If you wish to make a pilgrimage to His Imperial Majesty's tomb, he is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California. His tombstone, humble as requested, is hard to miss.