Life and Soul

Ecuador -Part 5

Only a few days ago I went to see “We were soldiers” at the time it was all that was on worth a look, I had my doubts, war, not really my scene.

It was “in fact” a very well made, un-bias & fair film re-creating the realistic pointlessness to war. The film focused on one particular battle of the Vietnam war, the first, where American troops & the Vietcong met in combat.

It portrays the senseless pursuit of the Americans from the outset of the war. It exposes the big reason/cover-up/excuse as “Communism”. Hugh propaganda was created by the American government to rally the US people round the action for war, war against the “evil communists”. Now in 2004, some 35 years later they still use the same religious garbage to sanctify war on “the axis of evil” America should look deep at its own ruling elite to understand the experience that is “evil”
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Ecuador -Part 4

Anyway, back to the bar in Houston airport. I found my way out of the airport & over to a nasty, windy, paved corner area where the smokers were forced to hang out, I lit up, sucking hard and fast to get my hit, I chatted with a couple of other sub humans.

Then I walked back into the airport, feeling surprisingly dizzy, I take my place as I cue up at main security to the entrance of the departure gates. Security was at an all time high due to Sept11. (Don’t get me started)
The security guards stand glaring at me with searing eyes, me an unbalanced man, big smile, with no hand luggage just a small disposable lighter which I am asked to place in the tray so it can go through to be x-rayed?.
I smile, portable metal detector is run over my body & I return to my seat at the bar still dizzy. I repeat this process 3 more times before I board the plane to Quito.

During my second beer at the bar a very Texan looking Texan turns to me and asks quite out of the blue.
“So what do ya think of George Bush & Tony Blair’s stance against Iraq?”

I don’t think much could have prepared the poor man for the onslaught of retort that was my reply.
“All Texans & especially G.W.Bush just want to control & sell as much oil & as many arms as possible & damned with the consequences. Blair is just stupid enough not to see the truth and weak enough not to stand alone without America & paranoid that without Americans “Special relationship” Briton would pale into insignificancy on the world stage & our influence disappear.”

The Texans face was a picture as he asked “Do all you Brits feel the same way?”

You could see the waves of relief as I explained that the British people were also too lost or concerned with there own ambitions & self interest to even know let alone know or show they care. ”

The Americans are worse in my opinion, so wrapped up in their constitutional rights. All living the so called “American dream” in the best country in the world, unfortunately most is totally uneducated to anything outside good old U S of A.

Over 95% of the population don’t have passports & have never been outside the US.
Don’t you find this frightening given how fair & bias the media reporting in the US?

At present in Iraq, G W Bush is following in his father’s footsteps trying to oust Saddam, trying to get their hands on Iraqi oil. Their excuse to enter the country against the wishes of the UN Security Council was “Weapons of mass destruction!”
Most of which were conceived, designed, engineered, funded & realised in the US using US tax payer’s dollars.
Now supposedly in the wrong hands, (I ask who’s are the right hands?)

Recently it was reported that America had separated the most deadly flu virus to date, with NO known cure or antidote, why should they need to follow these routes, our playing will on day result in disastrous consequences.

We are now still in Iraq acting as law enforcement, overseeing the transition to an elected Iraqi government. Times are very unsettled with much resentment rising within the Iraqi people, much focused on the ways of the American military. Having captured Saddam & killed (murdered/assassinated) his sons, the country is in turmoil; there is a lack of belief in an American occupation, they do not feel the liberation that was promised.

As they entered into the war pushing for the green light they had no idea what they were going to put in place to get the country back on its feet in the aftermath. They seem more interested in which companies from which countries are going to profit hugely from the securing of commercial contracts to rebuild the devastation of the service infrastructures caused by the massive allied bombardment. Why do you think it is we like to blow shit up so much? Yes, we get paid to rebuild it.

We need to wage war, test our weapons systems, and show our might to the world. The companies & shareholders involved in the design & the manufacturing of all weapons & munitions stand to make huge payoffs when a war is sanctioned.

Who do ya recon owns the shares, sits on the board of directors or is the company chairman? Who stands to make the money?

Going by America’s past history, only a short one of some 400 years, if any country should be disarmed & or sanctioned to comply to UN agreements & law amendments it should be the US.

Nuclear arsenals, chemical & biological weapons, black ops, election rigging, assignation, the whole shi-bang comes out of the US. So much potential for peace is lost& replaced by paranoid misplaced beliefs. Quite rightly so, the motivations of most American businesses is only money, self interest & dumb greed, “Nada mas”

Why it is so hard for most to see through the veil of lies that is the United States of America. They are masters of deception & cover-up, scapegoats & dead ends, they want power, nothing more and nothing less will do.

Ecuador -Part 6

One small example of how we can all effect individual companies or products, it must be nearly ten years ago at the beginnings of my sound engineering journey.

I was on the way to a gig with a friend Ezer another sound engineer. Sometime during the journey I needed petrol and pulled into the first garage that came along, which happened to be a Shell garage, I had given it no thought. As we pulled in Ezer asked “why had I stopped at a Shell garage?”

“Its petrol init” I replied.
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Ecuador -Part 7

We landed in Quito around 10.30pm, Ecuador’s mountain capital is in the north of the country high up in the Andes (2800m above sea level) the mountainous views are outstanding, boasting three visible (on a clear day) active volcanoes. Cotopaxi the largest, towers to 6000m above sea level, shaped like an enormous funnelled cone covered on the top third by snow, a truly wondrous sight.

Quito seems to sprawl out to fill all the available building gaps between the mountains, from the old town in the south through and on into the new towns & its suburbs to the north.
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Ecuador -Part 8

Life is certainly cheap, the people have always been poor and the politicians & big business have always been corrupt. They rush around the city “As if they own it” in the big American blacked out 4×4’s, police escort, sirens wailing.

The locals call them “cabrones” the thief/rat.

The majority of the Latin people seem humble and genuine, possibly a result of not having too much in life like the west, great value is placed on family & friends.

When my ex Cecilia first moved to England from Ecuador around 7 years ago her first impressions were, I Quote
“You English you’re so cold, you have no respect, no love. All you are concerned with is money & status”
She went on to explain in disbelief about how we treat our parents when they get old. “You just send them away to a home when they are too much trouble, this would never happen in our country” You know what, she’s dead right; you would be hard pushed to find a nursing home in Latin America. Read more »

Ecuador -Part 10

Guaiquil is the second capital of Ecuador, a port city on the southwest coast. The sprawling industrial city & commercial port of Ecuador, it is through Guaiquil trade flows to & fro with the rest of the world.
In the past this has been a very dangerous place for gringos, it still is if you venture off into the suburbs at night, although the city now seems cleaner & safer than Quito. I am told that recently a new governor was voted in; you can see the improvements in policing, cleanliness, hygiene & pollution. Quito at present has no police presence giving the blaggers a free run of the city. Before both cities were completely corrupt, officials getting rich while chaos reigned on the streets.
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Ecuador -Part 9

I felt it necessary to stop smoking the herb while in South America, the last time I had been there 3 years before I had been eager to try the local weed, mainly fresh Columbian. On one of the first nights I had gone out with one of Cecelia’s friend to score, returned half an hour later with a ¼ which had cost a mere $5 ($60 in England). After 4 days of smoking I felt my control or awareness of situations slipping away.
I stopped smoking completely, wanted to stop smoking! This was most unlike me.
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Ecuador -Part 11

One part of Ecuadorian culture that still seems to thrive is the family run bus services. Each family/company might have a few buses servicing certain routes. There are hundreds of different companies with each one’s busses decorated in a different way; all are different colours, sizes or states of repair, quite a sight.

A trip usually works out to $1 per hour, so you can travel round Ecuador & S.A easily & cheaply. The quality of the ride varies completely so check out your bus before buying the ticket. The drivers are a little mad, possibly the thought of getting pulled over & robbed, although this only happens on occasional overnight journeys or falling many feet to your death off the side of a mountain.

The roads are untrustworthy, windy & mountainous; heart stopping if you are crazy enough to be watching & worrying about it. The pumping Salsa or Merenge music is there to keep your mind distracted & your spirit lifted.
Whenever the bus stops at a junction or at the lights people jump on & off, most trying to sell you something, anything; water, sweets, fruit, chicken (yea sure it’s chicken) on skewers, home made cake, sunglasses, razors, cloths, etc the range is endless. Read more »

Ecuador -Part 15

My reason for leaving work within the music industry were based on conclusions that soon became apparent after a couple of years working as tour manager & Foh sound engineer mainly for WEA & EMI
Head down, listening, learning; I was keen mostly paying attention to the people I was meeting, their personalities, trying to fit in and understand their world.

Welcome to a world that’s dominated by self importance, obsessions with power & the fame names of association. The record companies are well at fault, they lead new artists into a world of designer cloths, shoes, limousines, fat jewellery along with many other extravagances. The management, agents & promoters play along; they are in the club & are getting very well looked after, thank you very much.
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Ecuador – Part17

With no care or thought for the inevitable consequences of their actions or their effect on natural life & surroundings they push on, exploiting anything they can in their quest for profit & wealth. Far too much quantity is taken at a time, causing massive upheaval for the locals & surrounding natural life.
Look at any indigenous tribe see how they care for there resources, animals, plant & surroundings. Labelled primitive or savage in there understanding & ways of life, they are the ones who should be seen are more highly evolved & more civilised.

Our leaders past have much to answer for, only now are we taking the time to watch, learn & understand the natural & spiritual aspects of their lives & cultures. What have we seen? They live within a balance of order & harmony, with themselves & with nature, no greed, no excess, and no ego. Read more »