We in America have just had another holiday. This means, of course, that it's time for me to post another one of my ethno-centric articles regarding the holiday in question and how it relates to our lives. I'm nothing if not dependable.

On a weekly basis, I visit my family no less than three times for a free meal and to take an opportunity to spend time with them. They drive me absolutely batty half the time but, hey, it's a free meal and the conversation is horrible. Thanksgiving is the mother of all meals, though. Allow me to give you a little insight into how my family celebrates.

The first thing you can expect to see is my mother doing her best impression of a Dervish whilst stirring things, checking the oven, setting the table, etc. You'll discover my father laid out on the couch, probably watching television. We'd lift a finger to help her, but we've long since learned that it's easier to just not get in her way. No matter how much she claims to desire our assistance, I think she'd much prefer to have adequate space in which to prepare the meal.

About five minutes prior to the actual serving of dinner, there will be a barrage of complaints about my mother's cooking prowess, all coming from her. We smile, nod our heads, and suggest that everything will be fine. It always is. Despite what she may argue to the contrary, my mother is a rather excellent cook. Then again, I am her son, and I'm required to say such things.

Once the turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry salad, rolls, green bean cassarole and sweet potatoes with apples hit the table, there comes a moment of truth; The prayer. I think that it would be no small victory for my folks if I were to actually say grace before the meal, but it hasn't happened since I stopped being afraid of them. I don't suspect it will happen again any time soon.

Then, we dine.

My family has a long history of taking in strays. My grandfather did it for all of my uncle's friends after the Vietnam war. Took them in, gave them a place to sleep and eat until such time as they were self-sufficient. My mother did the same for a friend of mine when I was in high school. As a result of this, any time one of us hears about somebody having no place to go to Thanksgiving dinner, they invariably have a place setting at our table. In past years, my dining room has been graced by the likes of AKpCEP'ers fishstyx and Requiem2501, among many others.

This year, our only guest was a Sudanese refugee who had been staying with some neighbors of my parents' until they moved a little over a year ago. He and his brother were picked up by the Catholics and deposited into our land in order to recieve an education and a real chance at a life that didn't involve running from people with very large guns.

Spending time with this young man always reminds me of all the things I've taken for granted in my life. Here he is, within six months of recieving his high school diploma (having only been in this country for three years, and learning sufficient English in that time), and he doesn't know how old he is. He thinks it's somewhere under twenty years of age. I suppose you don't spend too much time dwelling on when your birthday is while avoiding eye contact with that lion so he won't consider you prey and rip your throat out. You may think I'm making some sort of uninformed statement regarding Africa being uncivilized. I'm not. Ask the guy yourself.

I bitch about America a lot. I look at all of the things we're doing wrong, and I complain about it. I vote, I talk to people, I try to sway opinions. I'm trying to make it better. It's days like today, when you talk to a person who knows full well that the so-called "democracy" in Kenya is nothing but a sham because he's fucking been there, that you can shift your focus away from the things that we're doing wrong to the things that we've done right. This country has granted me nearly limitless potential to achieve my goals, and I'm going to be outrun someday by an immigrant who's never known such opportunities in his life and plans to take full advantage of them.

God bless America.

So, maybe today isn't your holiday. Maybe you had to work or go to school. Perhaps this day means nothing more to you than another day at the grindstone, something that you'll have overlooked by the time you wake up in the morning. All I can ask of you is to take just one minute and think about how good you really have it, and to be thankful for those chances you've had and for those people who were a part of them. Do it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

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Name: Robert Cummings.
D.o.b: January 12, 1966 Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Robert Cummings moved to New York at the age of 19. In NY he worked as a bike messenger, a porn magazine art director and a production assistant for the children TV-show, 'Peewee's Playhouse'.
Rob Zombie worked on his dream, White Zombie in the meanwhile. The band was formed in 1985, the year he moved to New York. One may best describe White Zombie as a 'bizarre hybrid of hardcore/punk aggression, New York art-damage and hard rock thunder'.
(Thank you www.musicphase.com)

The visual part of Rob Zombie and White Zombie as well is greatly inspired by classic horror/sci-fi movies.

His incredible visual sense gave Rob Zombie the tools to design and create every merchandise for White Zombie, album art, T-shirts, stage shows and music videos. These things never occurred to Rob Zombie as work, but as his life.

The hard work paid off in 1990 when White Zombie signed with Geffen Records.
Soon thereafter the band was ready with their first major label album, 'La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1' - issued in 1991.

The album soon became a major hit and ended up selling two million copies. And the song 'Thunder Kiss '65' was nominated for a Grammy.

Then in 1995 'Astro Creep: 2000' hit the stores. This album was what everybody had been waiting for and it made the Billboards Top Ten for two months. And again they had a Grammy nomination with 'More Human than Human'.
'Astro Creep: 2000' was certified triple platinum.

While on tour Rob Zombie had a couple of side projects, as making a scene for 'Beavis and Butt-head Do America' (the one with Beavis hallucinating).

Rob Zombie was also contacted by The King of All Media - Howard Stern. Stern wanted to make a duet-song for his movie 'Private Parts' - They created 'The Great American Nightmare'.

Then in 1998, the world was once again dragged into Rob Zombie Land - as he released his most ambitious album: Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International'. Listening to this album is a wild ride into Rob Zombies mad mad world. He comments 'This is a full-blown evil ragging beast - a total Zombie extravaganza'.
(Thank you www.robzombie.com)

Soon after the release Todd McFarlane contacted Rob Z. An Action Figure was made - this was one of the most successful ever made by the company.

In April 2002 Zombie began to work on ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ (Universal Studios). This is Rob Zombie’s writing and direction debut in the movie-world. Sadly, Universal Studios discovered that the movie is ‘too dark and disturbing for release under their releasing guidelines’ This delay did not at all slow Rob Zombie down, he jumped into the studio and began to make his most recent album: ‘The Sinister Urge’

This masterpiece of an album has a nice list of guest players as; Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee (ex-Mötley Crue drummer), Kerry King (Slayer guitarist) and Beastie Boys Mix Master Mike.

Thank you for reading this and get your ass up and get some of Rob Zombie’s music!

Peace

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Well, darlings, it's finally reached that point with me. I sat back and realized that I now hold the same opinion of the internet that I do with the "real" world: It'd be a whole lot better if there weren't any fucking people on it. There are many folks out there that I truly enjoy the company of. If it comes down to having to take the good with the bad, well... I'm sorry. You've all got to go. The ovens are to the left.

I'm not entirely certain why I did not hold this opinion long ago. I've certainly been on the internet long enough, and there was no shortage of absolute morons littering it's landscape even back in the "old days". Frankly, I look back and think that things aren't really all that different now than they were five years ago. Sure, there's more marketing, pop-up windows and l33t sp33k. There's a lot more people. On the whole, I think the ratio of people who are tolerable to people who aren't has remained pretty much the same.

Is it because it was something new and exciting? Perhaps. I think my continued presence here has more to do with being unable to find anything my time would be better spent upon than out of any fascination with a revolutionary medium for communication. After all, there's enough ways for people to call each other names and tell dead baby jokes. Who needs another one? No, the real problem here is that I'm happier being miserable but occupied than ecstatic and bored.

So, don't think of this as goodbye or anything. I'll be here for you, baby. At least, as long as something better doesn't come along.

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This is a strange poem I wrote when I was feeling quite alone and vengeful. I'm not sure what to call it and I'm not sure if it'll even make sense to anyone but me. I don't usually show people my poetry, this one just rather confuses me.

darkening cavern
engulfing systematic
endorphines decline
children slide

simplicity demands
friday's tears
leaden saturday
crossing chasms

eating foil
sipping cyanide
grip's slipping
consumed turmoil

empty words
meaningless sentence
futuile education
pointless messages

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You never stop hurting me, do you?
You never really stop loving to walk all over me?
You cant help yourself, its just something you have to do.
There is nothing wrong with that, I'm just sorry that I have to be the one taking all the crap from you. Have I ever done anything to hurt you - is this payback of some sort?
Can I improve and thereby make you stop.
I hate it. Oh, my god I hate you.

I have never left your side, I think and hope I have always been there to help you guide through life, even though it is supposed to be you doing that for me. But we are different - oh so fucking different. Once I was proud of this, now I am ashamed.

What do I have to do to make you understand that I don’t want to be a part of this anymore? I cant just tell you - I wont hurt you like you hurt me. You hurt me because of who you are and what you do to yourself. You had a pretty life once. But you decided to throw it all away, and some day to will throw me away as well. I cant stand this any more , but this I have been telling myself for so many years now. And I keep on helping, suffering, bleeding and crying with and for you.

When I fucked up - as young people sometimes do, you looked away, said you didn’t want me to contact you. Said I was nothing to you. I was pretty messed up in my head over this - but when you needed my help because you had been in trouble you called me - fucking me. You knew I would always be there for you and this time was no different. I hurried to get to you and make everything go away and take it on me.

And even as I write this I know that you only have to tell me where it hurts and I'll make it stop. I hate you for being like this, and I hate myself because I let you create me this way.

Peace

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Mike picked up the rat by the tail and looked at it disdainfully.
With a snap of his wrist, he tossed it into the glass case.
The snake lifted its head and turned to the direction of its prey. A second passed. Its tongue flicked in and out rapidly as it picked up the scent of the rat.
He heard the sickening thunk and a rustling of wood chips as the boa snatched its prey in its mouth and began to wrap itself around the rat.

Mike turned back to his friend. “Man, I still can’t believe that stupid bitch did that. God, I’m so fucking mad I could kill her and David both.”
His friend glanced at him and softly said; “Well, dude, you don’t need to act with discretion in this case. It’s all her fault anyways. His too, but she could have resisted and remained faithful.”
“No, man, forget that. It’s all said and done, anyways.”
He tried to look his strongest, even though he wanted to explode with rage, cry in shame, wallow in his self-doubt.
“You know, I really don’t know what she sees in him anyways. He’s a total fucking loser with a good job and a nice car.”
“No, no, he’s a total fucking loser asshole with a good job and a nice car.”
“Point taken.”
He turned back to the cage and watched the boa work its way over the rat’s head.
“All this time I worried about what I wanted. I worked so hard to secure things for myself, and in doing that I ignored what she needed. I just…man, I don’t know anymore.”

He tried to ignore the hot tears that were starting to well up in his eyes. He stood up, wiped his hands on his pants, and lit a cigarette. His friend eyed him warily from the couch. “So, what are you going to do? She’s got half of your shit.”
“I don’t know that, either.”
“Well, you need to figure out something. Nothing against you, but I can’t stay here all day waiting on you to make a fuckin’ decision.” He grinned and poked Mike in the ribs.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Just….I need some time to myself.”
“Sure thing, man. Just give me a call whenever you get your ducks in a row. I gotta get to work.”
Mike nodded, and slapped his friend on the back.
“Thanks for listening. It always helps to have someone lend an ear.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for.”
“Yeah. Take it easy and don’t work too hard.” Mike’s friend stepped outside, shutting the door. Mike sat there, in the glow of the heat lamp, watching the snake finish the last bit of the rat.

He got up and walked to the kitchen, pitching his cigarette butt into the sink. It extinguished itself with a slow hissing sound. He poured himself a glass of whiskey and stood there for a minute, looking out his window onto the street below. He sighed, and opened a drawer by his left hand. Withdrawing a bottle of pills, he popped the top and ate five of the little blue footballs. He tossed them down his throat and chased it with the glass of whiskey. The burning sensation rolling down his throat, into his stomach, calmed him. He sighed again, and poured another glass of whiskey, two times more than the next. He downed half of it in one gulp and shuddered from the taste. He refilled it, and walked to the bathroom.
He filled the bathtub and sat listlessly in the hot, steaming water for a while.

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Visit Site.

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