Cogs can think.

Neil Young’s newly recorded protest album “Living With War”, including a song calling for the impeachment of President Bush, will be posted for free Internet streaming next week, his label said on Friday.

Starting April 28, fans can log onto Young’s Web site, and listen to the 10-track collection in its entirety, free of charge, said Bill Bentley, a spokesman for Warner Music Group’s Reprise Records.

Now that’s where music will be heading in the future. You see, in the Western world, a lot of people are too cheap and lazy to actually buy music the way it’s supposed to (either via an iTunes-like online shop; or the real way, via the record store). Those people just download off of p2p, don’t give anything back to the artists, and generally suck ass. Now, these people stand in a shrill contrast to real music lovers like myself, who will buy music no matter what; whether CDs are €25,- or €15,-. People like me will always buy music the legal route, because we understand that artists need to make money too, and that by buying an album you show your gratitude towards the artist. You give credit where it’s due, so to speak.

That other group, however, will not be buying any music anytime soon, because music off of the internet will always be cheaper. Now, the most sensible ting to do, then, as an artist, is to make your music available for free on your website, so that you can market other stuff, i.e. merchandise.

Hey Blogsome is Irish.

The woman is a highly socially-practised
master in body language, dab-handed actress
She’s calculating all the mad facts and the figures
While you’re pretending to listen staring at her tits

That’s Mike right there. I deny everything, of course.

There are certain developments in my country that really worry me. One of the biggest is, how insignificant it may sound, the apparant urge to prohibit the burka, a piece of mostly Islam clothing that covers the entire female body. There is a considerable amount of parties inside the parliament that are in favour of this, and even several ministers of the government are openly in favour.

This bothers me a great deal. I can understand that in certain job areas, clothing like the burka is simply not possible, and companies should be free to state their own rules for the workfloor. This is nothing new; it’s the same as i.e. not being allowed to wear unprotected shoes in factories, or short skirts in a shop.

However, the moment my government is telling what and what not to wear in public, is the moment my government is totalitarian. As simple as that. We allow fags to prance around in thongs through Amsterdam, no shame there, but a burka should be forbidden because of… Don’t laugh… Security reasons (not being able to see what’s under it)? What the fcuking fcuk?

Those last couple of days rushed by like a whirlwind, really. I spent the last three days in Amsterdam, out partying. Let’s just say that…

In order to borrow 6 knives at the university restaurant, you need to fill out forms;

Nadia found a way to make me (me!) stop talking;

Arsenal beat Villareal with 1-0;

Levi found out you’re not supposed to shoot Amaretto, but sip it;

I found out I’m not the only Martini guy at my study;

Annemarie finally saw a feasant in Amsterdam North;

Nadia, Levi, Marco, and yours truly are going to see The Streets live in Paradiso on 28th May;

I made an already classic remark: “I’m not drunk enough yet to fcuk her”;

Me and Martin fell in love with a woman named Lotte all over again;

Beer mats lend themselves well for drawing maps on;

Tuesday night I realised I’m really not that weird at all;

Me and… Someone (don’t know his name) lost with 2 games to 1 from Marco and Levi with foosball, but only by two goals;

Doing 150 down the A9 with The Prodigy blasting through the speakers rocks.

Yup, and my harmonica is here.

Just saw The Passion Of The Christ.

Easily one of the most intense pieces of art I have ever seen. I already respected Mel Gibson much after Braveheart, but The Passion stands on a whole different level. It’s not a film– it’s… More.

And I’m not even Christian.

—

I feel uneasy at the moment. What an instense experience.

Dear lord, turns out my car crash yesterday did in fact hurt me… The muscles in the middle of my back, all the way up to just underneath my chest, hurt like hell :(.

Now this is why companies and governments suck ass. It doesn’t matter whether the headquarters has Apple, Microsoft, or Dutch Government on it– they just don’t give a fcuk about us as individuals. It’s the same reason I hate politicians and government officials. They aren’t people; they’s just sucking their boss’s cocks as hard as they can, and us individuals don’t mean a thing.

It’s kinda pathetic, in the end.

I’ve just had a pretty major car accident with me mum’s car… It wasn’t my fault though. Let me give you a sketch of what happened.

She was supposed to stop for me, as you can see by the ’shark’s teeth’. She drove really slowly up until the teeth, so I figured she was going to stop; I shifted my attention towards the road on the right-hand side, to check if no one was coming from that side. At that point, I was doing the max. speed, 80kph.

Before I knew it, I saw her car (a big, black, Volvo V70 estate) NOT stopping for me; I stepped on the brake, honked the horn, but I already crashed full into her side. Jesus fcuking Christ, the sound was pretty loud.

It was her fault. I put my car on the handbrake, sat completely still for five seconds, and then started letting out my aggression on the steering wheel, saying nasty stuff to the woman– however, I was still inside, she couldn’t hear me. I immediatly knew she just miscalculated; so I regained my calm, acted British, and in the end I was calming her down. The right backseat-door of her Volvo was almost blown out; there’s a huge dent in the Volvo in any case; me mum’s car’s left frontend is completely trashed (though the car still drives fine).

I was calm enough to realize that the first thing we should do was drive our cars off of the road. I invited her inside my car, I phoned me dad, and I let her use my phone to call her husband. She was shaking much more heavily than I was (I kept my cool throughout it all, but by God I was pissed off and shaking).

Back at her place, we handled the paperwork, I got some coffee (ahey, something good did come out of it), and now me mum and I are going to drive the car to the dealership.

It may have not been my fault at all, but still. I’m very pissed off. Very. And of course startled; but I’m happy me and her are undamaged.

‘Cause this world swallows souls
And when the blues unfold
It gets cold silence burns holes
You’re going mad
Perhaps you always were
But when things was good you just didn’t care
This is called irony
When you most need to get up you got no energy
Time and time shit’ll happen
The dark shit’s unwrapping
But no-one’s listening your mates are laughing
Your brethren’s fucking and then you start hating
Your stomach starts churning and you mind starts turning
So smoke another draw
It won’t matter no more but the next day still feels sore
Rain taps on your window
Always did tho but you didn’t hear it when things were so-so
You’re on your own now
Your little zone
You were born alone and believe me you’ll die alone
Weed becomes a chore
You want the buzz back so you follow the others onto smack

Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive

Feels nice and still
Good thing about brown is it always will
It’s easy, no-one blames you
It’s that world out there that’s fucked you
You’re no less of a person and if God exists
He still loves you
Just remember that - the more you sink the further back from that brink
Maybe you’ve lifetime scars and you think tattoos might be more fitting
But who’s picking?
Searching for yourself you find demons
Try and be a free man and grasp that talisman
‘Cause you’re the same as I am
We all need our fellow man
We all need our Samaritan
Maybe I’m better looking than you though
Maybe I’ve got more dough - but am I happier… No
Get the love of a good girl and your world will be much richer than my world
And your happyness will uncurl

Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive

Stop dreaming
People who say that are blaspheming
They’re doing nine to five and moaning
And they don’t want you succeeding when they’ve blown it
And your idols - who are they?
They too dreamt about their day
Positive steps will see your goals
Whether it’s dollars or control, feel the gold
I ain’t helping you climb the ladder
I’m busy climbing mine
That’s how it’s been since the dawn of time
If you reach a cul-de-sac
The world turns its back
This is you zone, it’s like blackjack
He might get the ace or the top one
So organise your two’s and three’s into a run then you’ll have fucked him son
And for that you’ll be the better one
One last thing before you go though
When you feel better tommorow you’ll be a hero
But never forget today
You could be back here
Things can stray
What if you see me in that window?
You won’t help me I know
That’s cool, just keep walking where you go
Carry on through the estate, stare at the geezers so they know you ain’t lightweight
And go see your mates
And when they don’t look happy
Play them this tape

Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive

I hope you understand me
Just try and stay positive
I aint no preaching fucker and I aint no do-goody-goody either
This is about when shit goes pear-shaped
And if you aren’t or ever have been at rock bottom then good luck to you in the big wide world
But remember that one day shit might just start crumbling
Your bird might fuck off or you might loose your job
It’s when that happens that what I’m talking about will feel much more important to you
So if you ain’t feeling it, just be thankfull that things are cool in your world
Respect to BC
Positivity
Positivity

Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive
Just try and stay positive

“Stay Positive”, from “Original Pirate Material”. Astonoshingly good lyrics.