Sing us the song of the century,
that's louder then bombs and eternity.
The era of static and contraband,
leading us into the Promised Land.
-Greenday
I began the decade married (what??!!). There was the Y2K Problem that never happened but earned consulting companies Billions of dollars in the 90's. Coupled with the advent of the Internet, a capitalist country that was over 220 years old was growing at 8% like China does now. In a word; unsustainable. The 2000 election is stolen by the Bush family but old man Kennedy had dead people voting for JFK in 1960, so i guess we're even. Halle Berry becomes the first black woman to win an Oscar and Barack Obama becomes the first black American President. The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 shock the world. The US declares war on both Afganistan and Iraq. In the end, there is nothing to link Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and weapons of mass destruction are never used by nor found in Iraq. The Patriot Act is passed, which throws 225 years of civil liberties out the fucking window. On March 11, 2004, the Atoche Train Station bombing in Madrid kills 191 people and wounds 1,800, 3 days before the general election. The Aznar government tries to blame in on the Basque separatist group, ETA, but word soon breaks that it has Al Quaeda's fingerprints all over it, who protests Spains role in Iraq. The socialists and Zapatero are swept into power. At 00:58 on Dec 26, 2004, a massive eathquake in the Indian Ocean causes a tsunami that kills over 230,000 in 14 countries. It's only about 12:00 on the 25th on the East coast. The previous day, to the best of my recollection, is the last Catholic mass i have ever attended. Some people start to smoke when they enter church. Sometimes the temple curtain rips, or so some book says. I'm not going to risk another cataclysmic event, so i'll never attend one again. We're talking about global safety here. Besides, i've been Buddhist for over 20 years now. On Oct 17, 2006, Sue and i decide to separate and divorce. On Oct 18, i lose my job. I decide to go to Madrid and teach English. On November 23rd, in California, i find out that Sue is preggers and that i may or may not be the father. I have to drive with her to and from Las Vegas that weekend. The trip back to LA takes 8 hours, is the longest trip of my life and is the only time I ever seriously considered taking my own life by drowning myself in the toilet of an IN AND OUT BURGER. Facebook, YouTube, and reality television become phenomena. A steroid scandal rocks baseball. But we all knew it long before that. January 7, 2007, i leave for Madrid. I'm still here. Kurt Vonnegut dies on April 11, 2007, the same day Annie Marchese Greco is born. APril 23, 2007: I found out that Annie is not my child and a collective sigh is exhaled across the east coast of the USA. On March 8 2008, our divorce is official. Later that year, an earthquake in China kills 84,000. Beijing later hosts the Olympics, but no gives a shit. September, 2008 sees the collapse of the American banking system and throws the planet into an enormous recession. March 22, 2009; I am mugged by three junkies and fight them off, but sustain a fractured skull and lose the hearing in my left ear. Doctors are amazed at my recovery. Only the good die young, so i will never die. Life goes on, i still play drums and for the most part, am functioning under normal parameters. And there are solutions for the ear down the road. December 31st, 2009; my second and last New Year's Eve in Madrid. 92.8% sure i am leaving in July for good. What will the next decade bring? I have absolutely no idea. Probably more of the same. Pleasure, pain. Joy, sadness. Hope and despair. How would you know the good times if you didn't know the bad times?
A happy, healthy, good karma 2010 to you all. Will we say "twenty-ten" or "two thousand ten?"
All will be revealed
-Led Zeppelin
I began the decade married (what??!!). There was the Y2K Problem that never happened but earned consulting companies Billions of dollars in the 90's. Coupled with the advent of the Internet, a capitalist country that was over 220 years old was growing at 8% like China does now. In a word; unsustainable. The 2000 election is stolen by the Bush family but old man Kennedy had dead people voting for JFK in 1960, so i guess we're even. Halle Berry becomes the first black woman to win an Oscar and Barack Obama becomes the first black American President. The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 shock the world. The US declares war on both Afganistan and Iraq. In the end, there is nothing to link Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and weapons of mass destruction are never used by nor found in Iraq. The Patriot Act is passed, which throws 225 years of civil liberties out the fucking window. On March 11, 2004, the Atoche Train Station bombing in Madrid kills 191 people and wounds 1,800, 3 days before the general election. The Aznar government tries to blame in on the Basque separatist group, ETA, but word soon breaks that it has Al Quaeda's fingerprints all over it, who protests Spains role in Iraq. The socialists and Zapatero are swept into power. At 00:58 on Dec 26, 2004, a massive eathquake in the Indian Ocean causes a tsunami that kills over 230,000 in 14 countries. It's only about 12:00 on the 25th on the East coast. The previous day, to the best of my recollection, is the last Catholic mass i have ever attended. Some people start to smoke when they enter church. Sometimes the temple curtain rips, or so some book says. I'm not going to risk another cataclysmic event, so i'll never attend one again. We're talking about global safety here. Besides, i've been Buddhist for over 20 years now. On Oct 17, 2006, Sue and i decide to separate and divorce. On Oct 18, i lose my job. I decide to go to Madrid and teach English. On November 23rd, in California, i find out that Sue is preggers and that i may or may not be the father. I have to drive with her to and from Las Vegas that weekend. The trip back to LA takes 8 hours, is the longest trip of my life and is the only time I ever seriously considered taking my own life by drowning myself in the toilet of an IN AND OUT BURGER. Facebook, YouTube, and reality television become phenomena. A steroid scandal rocks baseball. But we all knew it long before that. January 7, 2007, i leave for Madrid. I'm still here. Kurt Vonnegut dies on April 11, 2007, the same day Annie Marchese Greco is born. APril 23, 2007: I found out that Annie is not my child and a collective sigh is exhaled across the east coast of the USA. On March 8 2008, our divorce is official. Later that year, an earthquake in China kills 84,000. Beijing later hosts the Olympics, but no gives a shit. September, 2008 sees the collapse of the American banking system and throws the planet into an enormous recession. March 22, 2009; I am mugged by three junkies and fight them off, but sustain a fractured skull and lose the hearing in my left ear. Doctors are amazed at my recovery. Only the good die young, so i will never die. Life goes on, i still play drums and for the most part, am functioning under normal parameters. And there are solutions for the ear down the road. December 31st, 2009; my second and last New Year's Eve in Madrid. 92.8% sure i am leaving in July for good. What will the next decade bring? I have absolutely no idea. Probably more of the same. Pleasure, pain. Joy, sadness. Hope and despair. How would you know the good times if you didn't know the bad times?
A happy, healthy, good karma 2010 to you all. Will we say "twenty-ten" or "two thousand ten?"
All will be revealed
-Led Zeppelin
