Halloween 2010

As always, this panda and her peeps had a Halloween party/ reunion. This town stresses out enough to make us want to dress up and go out... To the Katsura.

The Katsura is a japanese restaurant in Juarez. We deiced to meet there for dinner... in full getup. I dressed up as a Guardan Devil. Yeah, that's me on the red cape and horns. Mr God is the one dressed as a monk (or a mexican jedi, whatever gets you through the day) Siky is the witch, Adi is Misses Mia Wallace and Ish is the ostrich man. We met at the Katsura with Miss Liliana (who was dressed as a UTEP student jajajajjaja) and ate yummy sushi. After that, it was back at the Octopuss' Garden to watch a spooky movie.

The movie in cuestion was ALONE, a Corean movie about this girl who has a twin joined at the tummy who kills her because she falls in love... it was sort of sweet. After that, it was decided to go to Adi's place to play Rock Band... 3!!! :D I was very happy!!! I love Rock Band, I LOVE Rock Band 3 --- mainly because it has more songs I know and can sing to. So far, I have made "Just Like Heaven" another Rainy classic!!

I am vesy psyched about the game. Loooove the graphics!!!

Also, NaNoWriMo started a couple of minutes ago. I already submitted some of the words I have written -- yeah, before you start on "that's cheating!", let me just say that everybody does it and it's not like the thing is even half way through! i have to work very hard on it still... and I can't just start rambling word after word! I have to make it sound good! I have a reputation to keep here peeps!!!

So, Halloween 2010 was happy, --- oh! I almost forgot to tell the story about the candles!

Turns out that I went to Rio Grande mall to buy some quartz on the little store that was left open. where they sell candles and incense. Turns out that they sell candles, incense, quartzes... well, let's just say they sell a lot of the stuff I use for my stuff... when the lady at the counter says "You know, we have candles for the santisima...." and in my lingo, this means "The Santisima Muerte". So I just nodd politely and say "thank you, but no...." and then she starts going on about how we should all pray for the violence in juarez to stop. "Well, I have an altar for my saint, you should pray to whomever you pray to... and I think that amongst us all we can pray for the peace in our town! We should join forces... pagans, christians, catholics, and all --- we should join forces and we can move mountains". I was looking at this lady with a look of "poor crazy lady" but then i realized she was talking serious,. It did not sound bad coming from her --- let's join forces so we can pray to our saints, devils, angels, gods, and goddesses.... I am sure that one of them will listen, take a peek and help us out.

Summer Tour

Hello my fellow Monkey Jov Fans!!!

This tour has made this panda a bit tired. Last night I had a serious discussion with the band's manager. I told her that she had taken me out of China with promises of fame and fortune, instead I'm being delivered in a box and fed a little stick of bamboo because according to her, out of the 10 bucks we made in our last gig, 9 went on to fixing the drum set and 1 was left to pay for my box cleanage.

Monkey Jov has been touring all over Europe this summer. At first I didn't want to go because last time we toured I was so happy and excited when they told me we were taking a plane and then it turned out that they don't allow pandas in the plane (or at least that was what the road manager told me) and I had to travel in a wooden box with a lot of holes that later on turned out to not only be my means of transportation to every city we went, but my hotel room as well. Anyways, I was a little skeptical about it but then Sukiina talked me into going beacuse we were going to do a photo shoot for the album cover and I was all in. This time, I traveled in the passanger seat and I almost pooped mah pants when I peeked through the windows. Now I know, pandas and plane windows do not mix.

Adrianne and Ish were not coming along though. They decided to take time off to relish on their love and relationship and are right now in San Diego-Tijuana. It has become an issue of weirdness between me and Sukiina and Dave, since they have to hire a new bass player and a roadie for each gig and somehow I end-up  hooking up with either one. I really liked Josh, the guy they hired for the Berlin gig. He had nice hair. But I couldn't keep him around because the gig things are for one stadium at a time. No one stays long. Adrianne and Ish are irreplasable. Easy for Sukiina and Dave to say, they actually share a room whereas I have to spend the night on the launge chairs down by the pool...

But Berlin was cool and so was Paris. I did not enjoy Ireland because a magazine guy said we were doing something called overdrive and we had to prove that we were the real thing? Sukiina insisted on playing songs that were hard for me -- and yes, I am a good drum player, but I was still jetlagged from the trip and it was such a mess! Then the band manager was upset because the performance was not "five stars". I got no bamboo. I did, however, get to go shopping in Berlin and got new outfits and pretty silver chains in my wrist. That made me happy -- so much that I forgave the bad-quality bamboo I found later on my launge chair next to the pool. Berlin has cool stores and cool fans that wait for you outside the bars and sing along with you. Oh! and the photo shoot was scary! I think I came out looking like someone was chasing me... but the photographer said it was a good enough picture and they are going to use it on the album cover.

Yesterday we got a new roady, his name is Diesel... he seems all tough and all, but he is afraid of spiders. I will get a rubber spider on our next day off and will tease 'till he cries like a little girl. I only wish that they decided to stick with a bass player like they have done with Diesel! I feel lonely with Sukiina and Dave taking their day off for themselves and I am left to either soak in the pool or to go by myself around the city. That is why I liked Josh, because he was kind enough to show me around Berlin... aside other fine attributes! ;) 

I think we go back to the States tomorrow or on Wednesday. I cannot wait to get back home! I miss my cat, my dog and my own bed. I love the pools in the hotels, but I sometimes fall asleep in the pool and that can be quite dangerous. Life on the road is not easy, but it sure is a lot of fun! :D Oh, and before I forget, the album comes out in January so be ready to be taken by the storm that is Monkey Jov. We have taken the raw sound we have on stage and place it in vynil. I was wondering why we had to do it in vynil, and Dave explained that the best rock groups always recorded their legend in vynil... I believe him, mainly because he sounds convincing when he explains it.



Talk to you later! I have to get ready for my vet visit! 

Love,
Miss Panda
The drumming diva 

There is no Rockband in Heaven...

Today, me and my friends went out to eat 6-bucks fatties, and it wasn't until an hour or two later, on our way downtown to buy some yarn, that the conversation turned into the day.

It's Ash Wednesday. Translation: we shouldn't have gone to eat fatties. Why? Because we looooove them fatties with pork. Asadito and pork. Yeah! We had them and enjoyed every SINGLE bite out of them. One of my friends (S, the one who acts like our spiritual conscience once and a while -- and we luuuuv her for it) was gasping at the realization of the day. "It's Ash Wednesday!"
"Yes," I said. "And you're going to hell."

The subsequent question was the "WHY?" Because of the pork, of course. We are going to hell because of the pork... but me and Mr God -- we already knew that we were going to hell in the first place, me for being a pagan and him for being a red-communist atheist, right? So, we're telling her how she is going to go there, eating fatties while festering on the pot next to ours.

She wasn't all that thrilled. She wanted to go to heaven, she said. Then, the conversation turned into "heaven is boring." All the cool people are in hell. Lennon is in hell, Harrison is in hell... Hendrix is in hell... and-and all the gays you've ever love? They're in hell too!Probably the only main-stream artist who has died and is NOT in hell is Michael Jackson because then you would have to send all those pedophilia priests to hell too or else it just wouldn't be fair. So MJ is in heaven... "because he likes children".

She then stated, "but I want to be where God is. And God is in Heaven!". At to which I pointed out: "well, technically, God is EVERYWHERE -- so, God's in hell too!!" and even if this IS a good point, she still wasn't convinced of the stature of hell. It was still too enticing to see herself jumping around from cloud to cloud, flapping her pretty little angelic wings. Then, I said. "There is no Rockband in Heaven."

 True. Rockband is the Devil's tool. It makes your spirit and  brain sell itself to satan's music (basically). So, there is no Rockband in heaven... hell, there's no BEATLES Rockband in heaven because Lennon is in hell. Maybe you'll get a christian Rockband, but then again, one cannot sing "Foreplay", or "Carry on my Wayward Son," or "You Oughtta Know," or "Paranoid," in that version of the game.

There is no rockband nor vodka. There is no sensation of feeling ALIVE because there is no fear. There is no VH1, not Junk TV and no porn. There is no sense of self-encouragement and no self-esteem (because you don't need it). There are no six-bucks fatties. There is no place for questioning faith nor no place to ever doubt the word of the Lord as something that CAN (and has) failed. There is no expectations because you already know that bliss is around you and you do not need to find it, there for there is no meaning to existence. There is no sense in being the best at something, and there is no need to feel anything. All you feel is love. And all you ever are is happy. And with light all around you, how can your soul shine if there is no darkness?

There is no rockband in heaven, my darlings. And for that, there is no ash in my head today.

There is no Rockband in Heaven...

Today, me and my friends went out to eat 6-bucks fatties, and it wasn't until an hour or two later, on our way downtown to buy some yarn, that the conversation turned into the day.

It's Ash Wednesday. Translation: we shouldn't have gone to eat fatties. Why? Because we looooove them fatties with pork. Asadito and pork. Yeah! We had them and enjoyed every SINGLE bite out of them. One of my friends (S, the one who acts like our spiritual conscience once and a while -- and we luuuuv her for it) was gasping at the realization of the day. "It's Ash Wednesday!"
"Yes," I said. "And you're going to hell."

The subsequent question was the "WHY?" Because of the pork, of course. We are going to hell because of the pork... but me and Mr God -- we already knew that we were going to hell in the first place, me for being a pagan and him for being a red-communist atheist, right? So, we're telling her how she is going to go there, eating fatties while festering on the pot next to ours.

She wasn't all that thrilled. She wanted to go to heaven, she said. Then, the conversation turned into "heaven is boring." All the cool people are in hell. Lennon is in hell, Harrison is in hell... Hendrix is in hell... and-and all the gays you've ever love? They're in hell too!Probably the only main-stream artist who has died and is NOT in hell is Michael Jackson because then you would have to send all those pedophilia priests to hell too or else it just wouldn't be fair. So MJ is in heaven... "because he likes children".

She then stated, "but I want to be where God is. And God is in Heaven!". At to which I pointed out: "well, technically, God is EVERYWHERE -- so, God's in hell too!!" and even if this IS a good point, she still wasn't convinced of the stature of hell. It was still too enticing to see herself jumping around from cloud to cloud, flapping her pretty little angelic wings. Then, I said. "There is no Rockband in Heaven."

 True. Rockband is the Devil's tool. It makes your spirit and  brain sell itself to satan's music (basically). So, there is no Rockband in heaven... hell, there's no BEATLES Rockband in heaven because Lennon is in hell. Maybe you'll get a christian Rockband, but then again, one cannot sing "Foreplay", or "Carry on my Wayward Son," or "You Oughtta Know," or "Paranoid," in that version of the game.

There is no rockband nor vodka. There is no sensation of feeling ALIVE because there is no fear. There is no VH1, not Junk TV and no porn. There is no sense of self-encouragement and no self-esteem (because you don't need it). There are no six-bucks fatties. There is no place for questioning faith nor no place to ever doubt the word of the Lord as something that CAN (and has) failed. There is no expectations because you already know that bliss is around you and you do not need to find it, there for there is no meaning to existence. There is no sense in being the best at something, and there is no need to feel anything. All you feel is love. And all you ever are is happy. And with light all around you, how can your soul shine if there is no darkness?

There is no rockband in heaven, my darlings. And for that, there is no ash in my head today.