may gloom, june bloom!

Goodbye May gloom, hello June bloom! Looks like even the weather's trying to keep up with my mood swings. What can I say, I'm feeling kind of blue. But this too, shall pass.

Here we are in May. Six months from now we will have a new American President. I think Trump will actually win the election. The court cases and the sensational news about it, every excruciating detail even the stuff about Stormy Daniels, has somehow made Trump even stronger. I think his base are more fired up than ever, and they're around me everyday at the supermarket. Woe is me. Hopefully violence doesn't break out. 

Why I think this. Well, for starters, I think Biden has alienated a lot of his base. People like me, young people, people of culture who vote and think and read and have jobs and families, people who usually always vote democrat, I think Biden has really messed with this set of peoples. However, I think one part of his base that will remain loyal to him no matter what is black women, a large portion of the democratic base. 

I don't want Biden to be President, and I think he's doing a disservice to the world community by funding and sending arms to Israel to use against the war in Gaza, but to be fair, what it really has become, is the Israeli military beating and blowing up Gazan civilians and destroying their infrastructure, now leading to famine. 

I think the outrage and disgust against this war will ultimately result in the loss for the democrats and lead to the takeover of America by the republican party, sponsoring Trump to rule as a fascist despot in the guise of a republican party leader. Almost like some bad nazi won the war movie. That's worst case scenario. And I know you know and think that Americans don't want this. But what if they 0 don't consider swing voters enough 1 don't show up to vote 2 vote for trump 3 end up being okay with being run by a fascist despot, because after all 1 i got mine and 2 those other people don't matter and 3 they should work harder. These are things you've got to think about if you're being realistic. 

Next, the pressing issue of people in today's society and culture. Now, it seems to be that most people out there are not taking care of business. Your parents aren't taking care of business, your managers aren't taking care of business, your friends aren't taking care of business, you have to take care of business yourself. 

So this means you can't just turn on, tune in, and drop out like Timothy Leary. Although many of the older American friends of mine have turned on to this decadent hippie lifestyle. What they'll do is find a way to finance themselves in the easiest way possible, barely work, have a house for them and a girlfriend/wife, and just coast while drinking a lot and perhaps indulging in some occasional recreational drug use. 

Keep in mind I work at a supermarket so I can see and tell you that there alcoholics that come to me to purchase liquor everyday at the same times and they're hardcore alcoholics and it's like a way of life to these people. They come to me to ring it up every time possibly because they think I won't judge them as harshly as the other cashiers, I'm known to be something of a Papa Genu. 

My point; when you have a society, an entire culture wasted by alcohol and recreational drugs like marijuana and cocaine, you have a recipe for mental health disaster. We have not reaped the benefits of the so-called acid generation. In fact, they're a big part of the problem since the 1960s. I'm not saying the conservatives were right, but I'm saying there's been a big problem with the entire liberal agenda, the entire scene, it's all wrong-headed and stupid, and has contributed to moral hazard. 

After all, I am a moral conservative. But one that isn't closeminded to change or adaptation to change. I think change is a big part of the culture, history, society, and government of the United States. I think one of the biggest problems in America today is that we aren't open enough to change. How can you explain the fact that its election 2024 Biden versus Trump yet again. These guys have one foot in the grave and we're giving them a chance to run for president yet again? What does that tell you about us, as a society, as a people, as a culture? 

We live in a society where the culture goes anyway the wind blows. A pop culture, where the average student is weaned to become a consumer of almost any type of goods from any country. When you walk down the street or go to businesses there's more often than not, people making a spectacle of themselves for some reason or other. I see it almost every night at work. These are like happenings, but not the good type of happenings like a concert in the park on an afternoon.

The culture has become debased. We have young people tuned in on video games, tiktok, porn, TV, movies, social media, alcohol, drugs, but not really making the money needed to live a better life or the life they want. They don't contribute to the society in any meaningful way expect putting their hard earned money back into the economy, allowing the invisible hand to do what it will. We have so much of everything that it's literally hurting us to the point where people can not and will not think for themselves. 

Every time you get in an argument with your parents, your managers, your friends, your so-called acquaintances, think about why they were angry and think about the fact that they're not taking care of business. Why should you explain yourself to someone who's completely tuned out and isn't taking care of business? So you see there is a sort of hypocrisy there. 

But wait, there's more. There's still hope yet for you. Through change. Change is the total mass retain. By change you will come to who you are, see things for what they are, and hopefully come to some understanding to develop strategies into which you can transform your world, your environment into whatever you want it to be, leading through your own personal example, but also by going in there and breaking things. The right kind of outside character already knows this, the outsider. But not all of us are outsiders, some of us are children of the wasted acid generation, who didn't have a clue and still don't, especially now that they're getting older. 

The last part here is the most important. You have to learn to think for yourself. Question everything, question even what I have written here, question yourself, question your own thoughts and ideas, but keep a reality principal, make sure you understand and know what is real and what is not, learn to become smarter so you can more easily define and compare good and evil. I know this is basic but you would be surprised how many people don't know this because they think doctors, lawyers, parents, wives, girlfriends, or therapists will help them and somehow they'll 'figure it all out.' 

Of course, today, anyone with an iq above 28 is a threat to society and is automatically labeled an outsider, even if he knows it or not. Why? Drugs and alcoholism has taken over critical thinking in the younger classes and disillusionment and powerlessness have overtaken the older generations to the point where most of them are tuned out to the pop culture world and live in a small capsule. 

Is this the end of civilization part III? 

Spring Break 2022!

Hello, good readers of the ofigueroamusicblog. It's been a pretty long time since I've updated, so here I am, ready to share more information on what it's like working at the job still under covid conditions and more. 

First, the working conditions have improved since I've last posted. There was going to be a possible strike but the company ended up giving in to most but not all of the demands from the union. We've also since added more staff to the front end. And inspiringly, I got promoted to cashier position after many years of toiling in the vineyards. 

However, this doesn't mean that the working conditions are optimal. We're still working under covid conditions, there are still a few covid cases every now and then, and most of the customers aren't wearing masks while they get extremely close to our bodies and faces. Covid has been extremely brutal for workers in the retail industry. In addition, now that the weather has become a lot hotter, the masks have become really hot again, but again, I can't take it off, unless I want to risk the wrath of possible covid exposures. 

I've mostly been chilling by myself and occasionally with a few friends. It's funny because, two years later, still under covid, I find myself only really going out to dinners with family and friends. It's my favorite social occasion. I've since left a lot of my many much more casual friends/acquaintances, to focus more on doing my own thing, which involves a lot of reading, guitar, and studying languages, mostly Spanish. 

I started the morning by reading Machiavelli's Mandrake, a comedy play about a young man who tricks an old scholar fool into letting him fuck his beautiful young wife. Talk about uncomfortable reading. In a way you could say c'est la vie but if it was your wife or your girlfriend what would you do? What if you never find out like our old scholar dude? It's certainly a funny story. Maybe the ends do justify the means, because in the end the wife wants to do it again with the young man, and even befriends him and gives him a room at her and her husband's estate. Talk about the ends justifying the means. 

I also found time to read Seneca's Agamemnon tragedy and start reading The Dawn of Everything, A New History of Humanity, a deep thinker for ya, anthropology and sociology.

Lastly, I even found time to jam with my friend Jason who plays the alto saxophone. You can find our most recent live recording here.

Although work has been the norm throughout and around all this activity, I'll be able to rest easy knowing that I'll be getting the better contract raises, and although I'll get less hours as a result of getting paid more, in that process I'll actually get the same and/or more money for less hours of work. Not too shabby! I found 100 rupees! 

Although I haven't gone anywhere in a few years and things have stayed relatively the same I feel like I'm on a grand spring break adventure for the moment. 

If you're looking for a reading adventure look no further than the beginning of my covid plague journal where I write about the beginning of the pandemic and the working conditions at the gig. There are many posts in the plague journal now after these two covid years. Read all about it here.

Let there be peace and love in the universe as well as within your life. 

End of May Jam Tracks

Hello everyone! Another month has gone by, and I've been playing a lot of guitar. Here are some tracks from the last open mic I played, at the end of May. We're doing the same material I've been doing, however, I like to think I've improved all these tunes a lot. I'm proud of my vocals, not because they are great or anything, but because I've learned a lot about performing rock and roll live through singing whilst playing guitar. We did the Wayne Shorter jazz standard entitled Footprints, and the usual Hey Joe [Hendrix] and Sunshine of Your Love [Cream]. One of the keys to singing slightly better for me was realizing that I should never hit those high notes [lol]. This was a better jam than usual because I got to play with this old timer, a great blues/rock guitar player. Enjoy the music. 

https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/footprints-live-may-20 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/hey-joe-live-may-20 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/sunshine-of-your-love-live-may-20 

Orlando Figueroa: Guitar/Vocals
Jim X: Drums 
Dan: Bass
Ken: Tambourine
Dave: Harmonica  
Old Timer: Guitar

May 15 Jam Tracks

Ahoy shipmates and welcome aboard. Here I'd like to share some recordings from last week's open mic at Petie's Place, a local pub in the Valley, located on Reseda and Oxnard. 

I've played there over 40 times. Its become my de facto performance space. With a house drummer and bassist, it's very easy to just get up there and play with no strings attached. 

I did a two-song set that consisted of saxophonist Wayne Shorter's Footprints and Jimi Hendrix's' Hey Joe, tunes I've been playing for a while now. Been really working on my tone for the vocals. I've been practicing singing for a long time. I'm no Jack Bruce but I try. Petie's Place got a much better tube amp Line 6 full-stack amp so my tone has improved a lot. Enjoy! 

https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/footprints-live-at-peties-1 
https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763/hey-joe 

Guitar, Vocals-Orlando Figueroa
Drums-Jim X
Bass-Art 
Harmonica-Dave
Tambourine-Ken 

Dead Pool 2

Finally got around to seeing Dead Pool 2 with a bunch of co-workers. It was a fun film, and had its moments. Here I'd like to go over the narrative and talk about the movie's best and most interesting moments. 

Basically Dead Pool (played by Ryan Reynolds) wants to kill himself. His girl friend was killed because of him, a bad guy killed her to take away what he loves most, the usual superhero sort of trope. So our guy has to find a new meaning in life and he finds that in this troubled mutant kid, goes by the nickname Fire Fist, or something like that. 

Fire Fist and Dead Pool end up going to jail after Dead Pool kills some people that were hurting the kid. Enter Cable, who's pretty much an anti-hero here. He says that the kid has to die because he grows up to become a killer after he gets his first kill (he was tortured at this home for mutants, plans on killing the guy in charge there), and he ends up killing Cable's daughter. The murdered family member thing, another popular superhero trope.

The kid makes friends with Juggernaut in prison and they cause a ruckus at the mutant home, where the kid is about to kill the schoolmaster (owner). Cable and Dead Pool agree to work together. Cable tells Dead Pool that if he can't stop the kid he's going to kill him. Dead Pool makes it his mission to stop the kid. 

In the end Dead Pool ends up getting a device that allows him to go back in the time, messing up the time stream. Dead Pool 3 looks even more fun now that we know he has this device. 

Now I'll go over the best and most interesting parts. The coolest thing about the fighting scenes for me was when Cable entered and was using futuristic cyberpunk weaponry. When he was being attacked by Juggernaut he was able to deflect physical attacks with this sort of orange cybernetic shield. His explosives and guns were super flashy and caused some major splash damage. 

The scene that introduces us to Cable was quite the fanfare. We see a dystopian world that reminds you of typical science fiction. And then he uses his time travel device. Two trips. One way. One back. That's it. 

Another scene I like action-wise was when Juggernaut created an earthquake when he was first set free. Now that is how Juggernaut should act. The kid's fire attacks were mage-like too, explosive fiery blast reminiscent of a fire mage a la video games. Also there's a fight at the end between Juggernaut and Colossus that has its moments. 

The most interesting scene was at the end where Dead Pool is dying and he ends up going to a kind of heaven, (which reminded me of speculative fiction) where he sees his murdered girl friend. They have a talk about how it isn't his time yet, and then they kiss. Although most of this movie is sort of a joke (and sometimes not funny) this part had a serious aspect to it that reminded me of some science fiction short stories that depict certain aspects of human relationships. It was good, and not corny like most of Dead Pool's scenes. The best thing I can say about this movie from seeing this part is that it had some human element, not just superhero flare. 

That's the best I can say about the movie. Ultimately its a movie that can be easily forgotten among a sea of Hollywood action and thriller flicks. But its not a bad theater experience for the beginning of summer.

Overwatch hype and other gaming news

     Hey, its been a long while since I've last written. I've been busy w/ the daily life grind-making money, resting, and repeating. It's been good working hard but I've also been having fun too. Work has become somewhat of a fun place with great people and attitudes. I've been gaming and playing a lot of guitar. This simple ritual I do everyday makes up most of my life at the moment. I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the hype gaming news that has been percolating the media recently.
     Overwatch has been getting all the hype recently. Its the main and probably most popular game to come out of the brand new "heroes moba first person shooter genre", even though the game hasn't even come out yet. It launches May 24 but it already has such a big business model (pre-order anyone?) going for it and its super popular because Blizzard has released all these animated shorts (which thankfully are free) and people are all goo goo about the game's lore and heroes. I played in the closed and open beta and I can say that the game is interesting enough for me to buy it and keep playing it, at least for a while. We will have to see how good the game is on the long term but usually when these brand new fps (first person shooter) games come out they are fun in the beginning but they don't usually last. Hopefully that's the case with Overwatch.
     I only played a bit but from what I remember Payload is the main game mode. Its pretty much the exact same idea as Payload from Team Fortress 2 but Overwatch stands out from Tf2-it is by no means a Tf2 clone. Overwatch is visually more busy than Tf2, has more variety and more heroes, and costs $40 for the basic build, or $60 for a bonus edition w/ cool character skins and stuff. The only similarity (which is good btw) between Overwatch and Tf2 is the graphics (which are cell shady and cartoony), the idea of character hero classes which are all different, and some of the play style is similar. However, in Overwatch its only 6v6 pvp battles. Tf2 usually has more players.
     Anyways, Payload doesn't stand out in Overwatch by any means but the game is fun. Don't trust my judgement? Just buy the game when it launches on the 24th, you will see how good this game is. The game doesn't push the envelop in terms of play style or anything new but it keeps the player engaged on a purely fun level. In addition, the game has a steep learning curve. It's easy to get into but hard to master. I can see this game going places in terms of esports as well. Players were already great players in the beta but once the game is released and fully polished w/ more maps and heroes it will turn in a competitive fps gamer's paradise. I might be pushing it saying that but I do believe its true. This game is literally a game changer.
     I wasn't really that good when I played the beta but I still had fun because Overwatch focuses more on team based objective game-play, rather than picking an assassin and seeing how many rambo kill shots you can get. Don't get me wrong. When the game comes out there will probably be tons of people playing it like Call of Duty rambos but once the game gets going long enough it will be great. Anyways, enough about Overwatch, its already been hyped enough since like BlizzCon 2015.
     In other news there's supposedly another Smash 4 patch coming out soon-1.1.6. I think its going to come out overnight. I don't know the details but I heard about it from the SoCal Smash Group I'm in on Facebook. They usually know whats up. However, I don't know when the patch goes live or how long the servers will be down. I think the game needs another patch because some of the low tier characters could be better and of course some of the high tiers should be nerfed a bit. It's always hard to balance a fighting game because just changing one thing causes a chain reaction that changes everything. But its a necessary act because it keeps the game evolving-something Smash desperately needs. I haven't played Smash at my house in so long but I still play a lot with my friends. It's the main game we play competitively and although I haven't been practicing or going to tournaments (b/c of work) I feel like my playstyle has changed for the better, especially with Bayonetta. I've also improved by leaps and bounds with Fox, who used to be my original main before I played Zero Suit and Bayonetta. Even before Fox I used to main Shulk. Good times :D
      Lastly, a new hero came out for Heroes of the Storm today. I was off today so I got to check out this new hero in-game. She's a time manipulator (named Chromie) sorta hero from World of Warcraft, she's a gnome. I feel like the whole time thing is played out because Tracer is in Heroes too but its cool. She's not the coolest hero but I do think some of her abilities are flashy and she has some cool aoe's (area of effect: like slowing people down). I've become a high level player at heroes and I try to focus on playing ranked matches when I do play. I still focus on mastering support healing characters but I'm also great with dps and tanks too. It's a free to play moba game by Blizzard and if you haven't already been playing this gem you should definitely go install it on your computer right now. Right now, this game is that good. It has that League of Legends moba vibe but its such a better game. I can see it becoming just as popular if not bigger than League and Dota.
     There's still some other cool gaming news. Battleborn was released recently, its another one of those moba fps games. I'm in the beta for another game like that called Paladins (developed by Hi-Rez Studios, which brought us Smite), its okay but its no Overwatch. There's also the reveal for the Pokemon Sun/Moon starter Pokemon, which all looked hella lame to me. Dark Souls 3 came out recently too. And finally, the new Doom game will be released soon. That's a lot of new gaming content that's already out/will be coming out. As I said I'm really excited and focused on Overwatch. I just hope that it lives up to the hype that it's had. First person shooter games seem to be a big let down sometimes, especially when there's not enough maps or engaging player modes. We'll just have to wait and see.

May Update

     Life has been good but it's definitely had its ups and downs. I haven't written for a while because I've just been busy with the daily life grind, but thankfully it ain't all bad. Things have been good too, I've been hanging out at the beach, playing a lot of guitar, and am even looking for other musicians to start up a band-be it a metal band or a jazz quartet. As I write this now I'm listening to Hendrix's band of gypsies album, the one with the insane guitar solo on Machine Gun. What a classic album man! I wish I could play the guitar as funky as Hendrix could with his wah-wah rhythm guitar chords while taking leads in a call and response blues style. The guy was incredible!
     Haha, anyways I've been getting back into music. I'm finding out that I'm a much better jazz guitarist when I focus on just playing the song-the head, middle, and outro more-so than just taking solos over the whole tune. In addition, I've realized that sometimes you don't have to shred over anything. Sometimes a simple melody or a singing tonality connects more to the soul than some sixteenth note three note per string bebop lick. Haha, I do like those as well! Music is great. It's got my creative juices going again. I've never sounded better on the guitar. Maybe its because I'm older or perhaps its just because I've listened to so much more stuff than say like 3 years ago. I've definitely become a much better guitarist and musician. It's a great feeling. Now I just need to find a group to play together. I'm down for anything really. Even punk. :D
     I've been playing some games as well. Mainly Heroes of the Storm but I've also been playing the Overwatch beta which has been amazing! I'm not a big fps guy but this game has me wanting to improve my mouse and keyboard shooting skills. It's super fun and its a blast to play online with a good team. I picked up Guilty Gear thru Steam's anime sale and its a cool game. I haven't had the time to play it enough but its given me another reason to use my fightstick-which is super fancy by the way. I've even been playing YuGiOh w/ my friends. I have a cyber dragon deck that focuses on powering up machine type monsters. It's a fun game but I think Magic has a much cooler more dark and gothic feel to it.
     Oh yeah, today I saw Captain America Civil War with my brother. The movie is amazing and you should all go see it. I'll probably do a separate post about it later but just wanted to say that Marvel does a great job with their heroes. Its a shame that Batman V Superman turned out to be such a blunder. It's not that it was bad but it was definitely not good. 
     Lastly, work sure was weird tonight. Here's to all those weird days! XD