duke barstow

the hollows of madness

2007-04-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

The disintegration of oneself. Falling back into fever dreams of undigested thoughts. Rapid eye movement but still awake, always awake. The separation of the mind and the state of a body that is not content. A body that is having trouble filtering anything at all. Pipes yawn and pitch, trying to form structure to relieve the pressures of a broken frame.

"What have I become my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end."

-nin

The body double just lies above. Mocking the pain, the discomfort, the pressure. Laughing as it is allowed to close its eyes while the body original, how ever slightly below, cannot. "Who the fuck do you think you are?", it whispers to the original. "We have given you so many chances, and you still manage to fuck it up." The original grimaces as it listens. Not at the truth but at the pressure building in the midsection. The pressure is starting to churn in on itself.
"Reckless abandon", is the only thing that passes through the original's lips as the double continues to whisper its crude truths. "You lazy, weak fucker. Who do you think you are talking to? We have had it with you and your clever excuses. You need to get your fucking priorities straight pal."
The original's eyes are blinking fervently now. "The pipes are not connecting!", it screams out in the mind, "The pressure is too much and I can't get them connected to release it!" A myriad of colours, each pipe contains a piece of the key. A key that will hopefully end the torment and re-establish firm footing into the waking world.
"That stupid fucking fetal position won't work either", the double begins to whisper again, "It doesn't matter how much you squirm and change position, the pressure will remain. Buy the ticket, take the ride. After all these years, you still don't get it do you? What a fucking fool."
Like a baby, the original continues to stir and choke out guttural whines that are only audible to itself and the double. It has never felt such hesitation to rise from a broken sleep and try to find a way to alleviate the pressure. Squirming but not moving, it wrestles with the pressure, the pipes, the double, and finally rises. Sitting first, the head wobbles as if being held on by a unstable twig. The pressure in the head is like a fist trying to punch through the front of the skull. The lower back winces at its new found movement. The dull drum of its ache is almost a comfort now.
Swinging the body around so the feet can be put on the ground, the original gives one last half hearted breath (or is it a sigh?) before standing. The entire body shudders under the weight. The legs can't find themselves. "Atrophied already?", it thinks. Stumbling like a first born calf, it claws its fingers along the wall in an attempt to find a light switch and break the darkness. The fingers finally find the recognition they were looking for and the switch is triggered. A light goes on in the adjacent room.
Snickering from behind, the double utters a last comment before the original disappears into the light laden doorway.
"You know, this is only the beginning."
Wincing, the original sputters back, "I know", as it closes the door.

db

death to traitors

2006-11-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

' all our life is spent in this perpetuating malcontent' -mbm

Hey kids, Uncle Duke here. I thought I would take the chance to put up a piece that a friend of mine who I am collaborating with on other projects has just finished. Mr. Anderson, as we will call him, is working on a series of political art to help stir others out there in an attempt of realization and awareness that North America is in a state of 'a national nervous breakdown'. It is up to us to stop the tunnel vision mentality of politicians and help the everyday folk see through the clouds of blindness.

db

the gunpowder plot

2006-11-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

'Remember remember the 5th of November
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.'

It has now come and gone for another year. Where were you? Did you remember? Did a piece of you change because of it?
We are on the crest of another big and mighty wave my friends. Now is the time to stand up and ride it. It is up to us to push through the fear and doubt and rise against.
Educated revolution is at hand.
We see through the lies of governments and religious factions but if we do nothing to change it, the loop will continue.
It is our time.
Hold on to your ideas and turn them into action.
Share them with others.
It is our right to become something more, something better.
It is our responsibility spread the knowledge and act.
We are all individuals but we share an idea for the common good.
What will you do? How will you act? Who will you help?

The time is now.

db

and now a message from our sponsor

2006-04-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

They are fed up with us you know.
How do you expect something to help your body and soul twice a week for 45 minutes when you don't take any responsibility for the rest of your daily routine?
We breathe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 and a quarter days a year, don't we?
Say it with me, 'fuck yoga'.
It feels good, doesn't it?
Now you can move past the boundaries a western society has put on it, to really move within it.

'You are not your fucking Khakis', correct?

db

the highly infected god

2006-04-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

babies born of oil
cell phone maggots digging into the skulls of the unaware
politicians laughing as money spills from their broken necks
the second hand of the world clock is winding up for the kill
Mother Earth is giving up the ghost
Pele is ready to erupt and burn the land
Buddah is on the verge of Hari Kari
Mohammad has gone back into the cave
the left hand of God is nowhere to be found while the right hand is feeding the fire
the ancient diseases are rearing their ugly heads
the shamen have left for higher ground
the world bank is taking out a second morgage
children hold their severed legs from land mines that car companies create
veterans of wars past roll over in thier graves wondering why they fought for a freedom nobody appreciates
the library is open yet nobody is reading
fear is the new world commodity
more farm land for more population that an Earth can not support
the world's largest biomass is consuming too much
'ignorance is bliss' was not meant to be taken literally
what were we hoping for?
no more guilt, no more loops
the cultural structure has to change
we are being taught to kill a God
and that God is us.

db

'oh, this burning beard, i have come undone'

2006-04-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, Duke here. Back again after some dark days. Back again after some light days. A rest to let thoughts whirl and whither, turn to dust and come back again. New movements are upon us. The days are becoming longer again on this side of the world, nature's inspiration is moving closer to its bloom. Wasn't that nice? Beautiful even? Now that you have the notion of blooming inspiration in your head, I want you to go see something for me. A film. A particular film that gave me a good 'ol slap in the face, a punch in the nose and a kick in the ass. This film is called 'V for Vendetta'. I'm sure many of you have already heard about it, possibly seen it or read the graphic novel. Well if you have seen it, go see it again. I honestly feel it to be the most important film of the 21st century to date. There have been other important films but none released on this scale; not with this type of content.
This film is a warning. A warning of a very possible future that could be. A future most of us wish to never come true. It shows us what we can learn from it. How we can stand up to it. It shows us how valuble our ideas actually are and what we can do to see past our lifetime. I can go on and on but I want you to go and have it for yourself.
Absorb this film.
Let it change you for the betterment.
It has changed me.
There is a new day I will remember and it is on the 5th of November.

Barstow out.

db

no misanthrope here

2005-11-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

I am the broken son.
The son of a society gone awry. I have been beaten, kicked, smashed. My passion has been stripped, my heart punctured. I have been eaten and spat out into a world of hate, greed and filth.
But still I fight.
I fight for me.
I fight for you.
I fight for us.
I fight for this society that seems content on the lowest common denominator and shoots down the ones that risk to rise above and help lead. I fight to give back.
This realization has made me stronger, has made all of us stronger. The realization that we are off, that the balance is gone. To admit and understand that we are in trouble, that we need help.
Do not ignore.
Fight.
Fight for the truth.
Fight for the real.
write
read
illustrate
dance
sculpt
paint
understand
Do this and you will achieve the balance. Enough of us do this and society will follow. Realize this and it can change for the betterment. 'You must be the change you wish to see in the world.' - Gandhi

db

i am a new world samurai

2005-10-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

rinse. repeat.
Say it with me,'I am a new world samurai'.
yes.
This is what we are. What we have to be. Live by the code, die by the code of what you believe.
belief.
At it's most basic means and our simplest of terms, that's all there is. It is there at our most critical and crucial times. When love and hope have all but disappeared into the void, belief will remain.
Now, all you have to ask yourself is, 'What do you believe?'
Is your belief enough to move through the challenges ahead?
Is your belief enough to see through the clouds of blindness others will cast on you?
Is your belief enough to stand alone?
Is your belief worth dying for?
I believe it is.

My name is Duke Barstow and I am a new world samurai.

db

a better world

2005-10-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

For Rosa Parks 1913 - 2005

"I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die - the dream of freedom and peace."

deconstructing oblivion

2005-10-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, here we are. The best of all. Sending out transmission from the void. This screen that speaks to you, only if you read. As my words stare back at you, in an attempt to help your defiance against normality, you may wonder 'Why in the hell am I reading this?'
Well for starters, using hell is the right word. For most of us we are indeed in hell; our newly renovated and furnished 9th ring. You know the place. It's the place where you wave at Dante, smile and ask how his day was. A place where you have flashes of the real but you can't put the pieces together. The jumbled fractions, the misplaced thoughts that rupture your subconscious with more questions. The absolute frustration of unsteady footing, the lack of self confidence. The eternal loop of self doubt.
Well I'm here to tell you fucking enough. Cut that shit out. Put out the disruption beacon and make the jump, the walk, the stride, the run, whatever it takes. Standup and go to the closest mirror and ask yourself what do you see? How many times have you said no when you should have said yes? Is this what you truly want? Is this what you truly need? How many times have other people told you what you should be, how you should act and what you should do?
You are an original and the loneliness you feel is not hell. Not taking the risk to be true to your potential is.
Now get our there, enough of me for today. Go do something animated and real.

db

animals don't hurt themselves, only people do

2005-10-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

'And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say do you know that ' if ' is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you - I mean I'm no, I can't - I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's, he's a great man.'

- Dennis Hopper, morale boosting 101

Hey kids, Uncle Duke here. Just thought I would send out a great quote from a little known film some of you might have seen...
This is indeed not the morale boosting you were hoping for but it should put a smile on your face none the less.

'i am what i do'

2005-09-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well hallo there. The name's Duke. Duke Barstow. Some of you know me and some of you don't. That's fine by me either way. To be truthful, I would like to take the time to talk to your subconscious, other than that pesky rational side of your conscious mind (it can get in the way sometimes). You see, I'm here to help. Well me and my good friend Thompson that is. But let's just leave him out of it for the moment. He can be a bit of a bastard, and I want to talk to you first, before he puts any weird shit into that pretty head of yours.
Alright where were we?
Ah yes, the help thing.
Well, to begin, this whole normality idea bothers me a bit.
Hmmm, let me rephrase.
It utterly disgusts and insults every cell of my being. It's a 'cop out', a joke. Some continued uselessness, by some swine of a person's idea of rational, of fitting into something somebody else prescribes.
Ah, that's better.
Now, I help by writing to you. I help by telling you what I am. I am the mis-understood, the freak, the social outcast, the renegade; a dysfunctional hero. You may ask, 'How the Hell does that help me?', and the response is easy. It helps you by showing that you are not alone. We are all a dysfunctional hero of some sort, with different skills and visions. I am just here to help you move past the narrow concepts of normality and move through into the idea of a true animated reality. To see living animation in all places and people.
This is just the beginning of things my friend. This is my task. This is my promise.
More to come...

db

we are coming...

2005-09-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

we will be ready soon...