This blog is now 15 years old

Wow, time has flied so fast!

It was 15 years ago when I started this blog.

I wrote about the circumstances that led me to start this blog on my one-decade anniversary blog post which you can read at 
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/10/1-decade-anniversary-of-this-blog.html


Anyways, lots of things have changed in those 15 years!

Back then,  things like YouTube, facebook, twitter didn't even exist yet! But now, they're the center of many news reports and basically the center of mainstream life!

Back then, the word "viral" still focused on diseases! The word now refers to anything widely shared on YouTube, facebook and twitter (as I mentioned, didn't exist yet when I started my blog).

My blog was basically something I shared with friends. 

I was also thinking, just in case I become a celebrity, my blog is my one-stop shop for people to hear my side of the story! 

I'm still not a real celebrity [  still working on it 😉 ] but you never know when it's going to come! In this age of "viral", people become celebrities when they least expect it! At least with my blog, people don't have to guess how I really think about things, they can just refer to my blog! 

And now that we have facebook and twitter, I could use those tools to advertise my blog post and bring it to a larger audience.

And with facebook, long-lost classmates/friends/co-worker can be updated on how I think about things!  And yes, they read my blog posts! 

And with YouTube, I have another way to speak to the world. I could speak to people who aren't interested in reading long blog posts but are willing to watch a video!

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Also within the 15-year time-frame, my life circumstances and some opinions do change.

Back in 2003, I was 23 years old and still an undergraduate student at UH-Manoa.  This "real world" that older people talk about? What is that?

Since then, I've started working different jobs in very different work environments, with the main one being a substitute teacher (that one started in 2005). That means I had serious role model responsibilities, for which I really had to mature! Some perspectives, attitudes and behaviors had to change! 

Which was why some former classmates were shocked when I no longer had the same attitudes and opinions that I had when I was a student in high school.

So yes, you might notice that some blog posts from 2003 and the few following years will have opinions that are different from what I express in recent years.

Part of that is growth & maturity, but part of that is also the changing world around us.

Back in 2003, we were only a few years after 9/11 so the trauma was still recent. Also, the president was George W. Bush, who while pursuing an aggressive foreign policy, also advocated for a more lenient immigration policy.  Because I was appreciative of his advocacy of a more lenient immigration policy, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt! For that, I was accused by some of being "conservative" even though I was more of a semi-libertarian even though I was a product of various government programs. As you could tell, it's hard to put a label on my socio-political viewpoints. 

Fast forward 15 years, and we now have Donald Trump as president. Whereas Bush wanted a more lenient immigration policy, Trump's opening statement of his campaign demanded a stricter immigration policy and demonized Latin American immigrants with some weasel words said afterwards.  Racists felt empowered by Trumps' rantings. Abusive immigration enforcement has increased! Also, add that Trump has been exposed as a sexual predator, and that doesn't bother his supporters at all! 

Needless to say, I have become more pessimistic about USA's direction over the past 15 years.

I have become a supporter of Hawaii's independence.  Totally different from back when I had USA flag pin on my shirt after 9/11. 

Some opinions stayed the same over the years.  I still believe people should be judged as individuals instead of as members of groups (ie. race, gender, etc).  I still want more lenient laws on marijuana, gambling and prostitution and I still want more harsh punishment for violent criminals. I still have the same opinion on abortion & gun policy.   I still think capitalism is a great though imperfect economic system.  


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Some people might ask "why you put so much stuff on your blog, aren't you worried about how people might react?"

What do you mean "so much stuff"?

Actually, there's so much stuff I was planning to blog about, but haven't had the time to add it to my blog!

Of course I think of how people are going to react. Everyone does! 

But you have to take risks in life! You can't satisfy everyone! 

If you're not telling your story, someone else who don't have your best interests at heart will tell the world your story from their point of view.

That's not something you want to risk in a "viral" world, where people have their 15-minutes of fame when they least expect it!

People can write what they want about me, I can still write my side of the story! 

comments on #metoo (race card edition)

If you've been outcasted for any reason (could be race, culture, orientation,  gender, etc) wouldn't you use that experience to make sure future generations wouldn't have to suffer what you went through?

However, some people use their sob story to not to help others but to  deter criticisms of their own bad behavior.

It's the attitude of "I don't like to be abused, but I can abuse whoever I feel like abusing".  

It's the attitude of "if you judge me by my character, you are a racist guilty of perpetuating abuse of people of my race."

That's the attitude of Dan Inouye, Bill Cosby, R Kelly, Russell Simmons and Tariq Ramadan.

Earlier this year, I mentioned about the r Dan Inouye (former senator from Hawaii)  in my blog posts

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/02/comments-on-metoo-al-franken-and-dan.html
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/03/dan-inouye-was-rapist.html

Dan Inouye was a young adult Hawaii when the attacks on Pearl Harbor happened. He had to deal with a lot of anti-Japanese racism that was magnified of that incident.   

Later in life, Dan Inouye sexually abused a hairdresser who was sent to his apartment for an errand.  That hairdresser Lenore Kwock, who went public about her experience, was later told by Japanese-Americans to "please don't do this to our hero". 

Excuse me? 

So just because Dan Inouye suffered racist discrimination he should be allowed to get away with sexual abuse?

But it's not just Dan Inouye!

People like Bill Cosby, R Kelly, and Russell Simmons had multiple accusers who say those men sexually abused them.  All 3 men (and their defenders) used the tragic history of their ancestors (plus unrelated incidents in modern times) to put their accusers and critics on the defensive. As if it's "racist" to judge African-American men by the content of their character. 


The words "Emmett Till" has been used to deter criticisms of African-Americans accused of sexual abuse.

Emmett Till was an African-American teenage boy in the 1950s. He was from Chicago and was visiting family in Mississippi when he was jokingly whistled at Carolyn Bryant, a  European-American woman.  Instead of just brushing that off as a silly act of juvenile immaturity, Bryant told her husband and exaggerated details of the incident to him.  The husband and his friend later confronted Emmett Till and brutally beat him to death.  The killers (Roy Bryant and JW Milam) was acquitted by an all-white jury, then later bragged about getting away with murder.  

European-American women who accused Bill Cosby (and other African-American men) of sexual abuse had been demonized as just another case of Emmett Till.

African-American women who accused African-American men of sexual abuse have been demonized as "not being loyal to the black community", "race traitors" and "putting more black men in jail".

As if arresting & convicting sex offenders is somehow equivalent to the police stopping and threatening African-Americans for merely existing in European-majority neighborhoods.

As if arresting & convicting sex offenders is somehow equivalent to the government's excessive laws against minor sins (ie weed smoking, gambling) that are enforced more harshly against African-Americans as compared to European-Americans.


Even worse, there are some African-American men who defend Cosby/Kelly/Simmons/etc by  using the same exact talking points that white supremacists use to dismiss concerns about abusive policing against African-Americans.

Elizabeth Adetiba, “R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, and the Black Community’s Hypocritical Approach to Accountability,” Medium, April 19, 2018
https://medium.com/@elizabethadetiba/r-kelly-bill-cosby-and-the-black-communitys-hypocritical-approach-to-accountability-2fe2e057b6d1

The excuses we make to defend those accused, and the lengths we go to make women, particularly Black women, responsible for their own assaults are eerily similar to white America’s responses to accusations of racism. As a social scientist in training, I often peruse the comment sections of news articles, social media sites, and blog posts dealing with news related to race relations, as well as issues of gender-based violence, to get a better sense of what — and how — society thinks. While some prefer to focus on what celebrities, politicians, and television personalities have to say on these issues, there is much more at stake at the grassroots level. As a result of what I’ve seen, I can honestly say that the playbook that white people use to avoid confronting the existence of white supremacy within society might actually be the same one black people use to avoid acknowledging the sexual and physical violence that is so often perpetuated by the men in our communities. Here is a breakdown of the strategy:

1. Deny the existence of the problem, even when evidence is present — i.e. “fake news!”/ “these girls are setting him up!”
2. Refuse to acknowledge the problem without an unrealistic amount of evidence — i.e. “we don’t know what happened before the camera started recording!”/ “she doesn’t have any proof she was raped!”
3. Question the integrity of the victim — i.e. “what did he expect to happen when he ran from the police?”/ “if she didn’t want to have sex with him, why did she leave with him?”
4. Blame the incident on the supposedly deviant and pathological nature of the victim — i.e. “he looks like he was up to no good!”/ “she looks like a thot anyway!”

These reactions often come to light in the wake of high-profile events like police shootings or, in this case, allegations of abuse at the hands of Black male celebrities. But the misogyny that is spewed in response to these incidents is just as violent. A few weeks ago, when word got out that rapper Fabolous had been arrested for assaulting his longtime girlfriend and children’s mother Emily B, hundreds of individuals rushed to social media to declare that she deserved her abuse for staying with him despite their tumultuous relationship. Other rappers chimed in with Play #1 and disputed the allegations, saying that Fabolous was too gentle for such a thing. Days later when video showing an enraged Fabolous being restrained from lunging at Emily by his own bodyguards, the conversation quickly shifted to the aforementioned Play #2: many were quick to point out that we, the public, had no idea what Emily had done before the cameras began rolling to make Fabolous angry.

As if there’s anything one could do to justify getting one’s teeth knocked out by a spouse.

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Shanita Hubbard wrote an article for the New York Times about her experiences as a teenager being catcalled by young men, the same young men who also experienced being victimized by abusive policing due to their race. 

She says that the community is quick to defend African-American men who are being abused by the police, but is reluctant to stand up for African-American women being sexually abused by African-American men. 

Shanita Hubbard, “Russell Simmons, R. Kelly, and Why Black Women Can’t Say #MeToo,” New York Times, December 15, 2017, 
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/opinion/russell-simmons-black-women-metoo.html

 This state-sanctioned abuse at the hands of police evoked, and continues to evoke, a community response that literally and figuratively calls for the protection of these young men, and rightfully so. A community is right to fight against over-policing and brutality. It should encourage victims of police violence to speak up and put pressure on local politicians to take a stand.

But when your community fights for those same people who terrorize you, it sends a very complicated and mixed message. Even worse, sometimes the community members fighting back consist of young women who were once the little girls walking home from school doing their best to be invisible in hopes of avoiding what nobody ever called sexual assault. This sends the message that your pain is not a priority. It tells you that perhaps you are not a victim, because those who are harming you are also being harmed and we need to focus our energy on protecting them. After all, their lives are at stake.

#MeToo is triggering memories of that corner that I’ve tucked away for 20 years because I’ve been taught there are greater needs in the community. Perhaps this is part of the reason studies indicate only one in 15 African-American women report being raped. We’ve seen the unchecked power of white men ravish our communities, and we carry the message of “not right now” when it comes to addressing our pain if the offender is black.

Maybe this is why more victims of sexual assault within the hip-hop community have not come forward. Is it possible that black women who work in hip-hop are silent victims, with pain they have been conditioned not to prioritize? I suspect this is true — but I can’t say with certainty.
How can these women who live at the proverbial intersection of race and sexism, who grew up crossing that corner, ever be a part of the national #MeToo conversation when they can’t be heard in their own community?

The intersection of race, class, sexism and power is dangerous, and the most vulnerable women among us must navigate it alone. They are terrorized, then expected to fight for those who terrorized them because a seemingly greater predator is at large. Their faces will never grace the cover of Time magazine, and in some cases their silence will never be broken, if they hold the same false notions of power and victimhood that I once clung to when the cognitive dissonance became too strong. 

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And of course, the response to the Cosby/Kelly/Simmons/etc allegations include "but what about Woody Allen and Roman Polanski? Why nobody criticizes them?"

But the reasons those 2 names come up is because they already faced TONS AND TONS of criticism. 

At this point, those 2 are more famous for their scandals than their movies. 

I don't even think I've seen any of their films because they're marketed to an older demographic. And I'm 38! So that means there's already 2 generations that came after mine that know nothing about Woody Allen and Roman Polanski except those scandals. 


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Now on to Tariq Ramadan, a professor who is a  Swiss-born descendant of Egyptian Muslim immigrants. He is a prestigious professor and writer with expertise in religion and philosophy. He is also a sex offender with multiple allegations. 

Mona Eltahawy, “Muslim Women, Caught between Islamophobes and ‘our Men’,” New York Times, November 29,2017, 
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/opinion/muslim-women-sexism-violence.html

Given the global reach of such claims, you would think that when the Swiss-born Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, now on leave from teaching at Oxford in England, faced (and denied) accusations of rape and sexual assault from at least three women, that report alone would have reminded everyone that sexual harassment and worse can exist in any community.

For Muslims, however, the reports have instead served as a reminder that we Muslim women are caught between a rock and a hard place — a trap presenting near-impossible obstacles for exposing sexual violence.

The rock is an Islamophobic right wing in other cultures that is all too eager to demonize Muslim men. Exhibit A is President Trump, who has himself been accused of sexually harassing women and was caught on tape bragging about it. Nevertheless, he has used so-called honor crimes and misogyny (which he ascribes to Muslim men) to justify his efforts to ban travel to the United States from several Muslim-majority countries.

An ascendant right wing in European politics meanwhile jumps to connect any reports of misconduct by Muslim men to their Muslimness and to Islam as a faith rather than to their maleness and the power with which patriarchy rewards it around the globe. Witness the aftermath of a sexual assault against women in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve two years ago, in which the men’s faith and ethnic backgrounds were highlighted as explanations of the assaults.

  “Many Muslim women have been reluctant to discuss this Tariq Ramadan case because in part they don’t want to feed into elements of the media’s Islamophobic and racist framing of these allegations,” Shaista Aziz, an Oxford-based freelance journalist, told me. “This does nothing to encourage women to report sexual violence.”

The hard place is a community within our own faith that is all too eager to defend Muslim men against all accusations. Mr. Ramadan’s defenders have dismissed the complaints against him as a “Zionist conspiracy” and an Islamophobic attempt to destroy a Muslim scholar. Too often, when Muslim women speak out, some in our “community” accuse us of “making our men look bad” and of giving ammunition to right-wing Islamophobes.

But they get it wrong. It is the harassers and assaulters who make us “look bad,” not the women who have every right to expose crimes against them. Mr. Ramadan’s case is also a reminder of the veneration of Muslim male scholars that gives them incredible and often unchecked power.

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I don't know about you, but even though I have Latin American ancestry and I've heard the president and his defenders demonize Latin Americans of bringing "drugs and crimes" and "being rapists",   I feel ZERO solidarity with actual sex offenders who just happen to share my ancestries and face the same racism I faced! 

Locking up Latino sex offenders is NOWHERE NEAR EQUIVALENT to the way the government is abusing Latino families in immigration detention centers!  

Defending the rights of Latin@s, African-Americans, Muslims and other marginalized communities requires a demand that we all be judged by the content of our character.

When I mean "judged by the content of our character", that means we should NEVER hesitate to hold sex offenders accountable! 

It's NEVER ENOUGH to just demand respect from European-descendants, especially when most people are violated by members of their own race! 

The idea that "we should hesitate to hold sex offenders of our race accountable because we are being oppressed by larger society" is JUST STUPID! 

The idea that non-white women should accept being abused by members of their own race is JUST STUPID and DISGUSTING! 

racism is about more than just institutional power

This how the dictionary defines "racism"

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/racism

noun

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine culturalor individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right todominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

and for the word "racist" 

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/racist

noun

1. a person who believes in racism, the doctrine that one's own racial group is superior or that a particularracial group is inferior to the others.

All that has been common sense for decades.


However, in the Twitter age, many angry people with Non-European ancestries express hatred of "white people" and then scream "non-whites can't be racist because racism is about institutional power".

That is one of the most stupidest crap that's ever been said.

Those angry folks (for whom I refer to as the "woke" SJW pansies) only want us to look at the 2nd listed definition of racism, and act as if the 1st and 3rd definitions don't exist!

And about this crap about institutional power?

Comedian DL Hughley says in an interview with DJ Vlad that African-Americans can't be racists because they're not in a position to deny you a loan.

Really? As if there are no African-Americans in the financial industry?

And do you think Reginald Denny (European-American male attacked by African-American rioters in the LA riots) should be satisfied that his attackers couldn't deny him a loan?

Some will say that the Reginald Denny incident is "old news from the previous century".

Let's talk about this year then!

In July of this year, Rodolfo Rodriguez, a 92-year old man of Mexican ancestry was brutally attacked and needed reconstructive surgeries! During the attacked, he was told "go back to Mexico"

When this was first announced, the identity of the attacker wasn't mentioned in the article titles nor in the first paragraphs where readers are most likely to pay attention! 

This gives people the perception that this hate crime was committed by a white supremacist! It was seen as something inspired by Donald Trump's election, empowering racist white people to do harm to people of non-European ancestries. 

But you can't hide important facts forever!

The person who committed the hate crime against Rodolfo Rodriguez was Laquisha Jones, an African-American woman!

Whether Laquisha Jones was in a position to deny Rodolfo Rodriguez a loan is 100% pure irrelevant!

Whether Laquisha Jones was in a position of institutional power is 100% pure irrelevant!

What is relevant was that Laquisha Jones had the power of size, age and aggression to brutally attack a 92-year old man just because he was of Mexican ancestry!

Photo by Daily Beast

screenshot and annotations by Jing

Elisha Brown, “Woman Arrested After Allegedly Beating Elderly Man, Telling Him ‘go Back to Mexico’,” Daily Beast, July 11, 2018, 
https://www.thedailybeast.com/woman-arrested-after-allegedly-beating-elderly-man-telling-him-go-back-to-mexico



Also, the only time most "woke" SJW pansies even acknowledge wrong-doing by a woman is whenever a European-American woman does something wrong (or even have a minor disagreement) with a woman of non-European ancestries!

OK, some might be quick to scream "Emmett Till" when a woman accuses an African-American male of sexual assault!

But they are silent about Laquisha Jones committed a brutal attack on a Mexican man!


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Most of this talk about "institutional power" is irrelevant to most people anyways.

I work in the schools, so I have institutional power over my students at the school. 

But once I leave the campus, NOBODY CARES about what power I do have on campus! 

That's the same for most people! 

I remember back in 2003 when an insurance executive of European ancestry was attacked by three Native Hawaiian males at a beach park in Waimanalo! 

"Woke" SJW pansies would be quick to point out that the European-American man was an insurance executive and therefore has institutional power. Yes, when he was at his workplace, the other workers have to answer to him. Yes, when he has to deal with unsatisfied customers angry that the insurance didn't cover this or that!

But once he steps outside of his workplace, his position as an insurance executive means 100% pure nothing to nearly everyone he walks by!   If you didn't use his insurance services, never worked at his company,  he has ZERO power over you! 

So at that moment at the beach park, ABSOLUTELY NOBODY cares if he's an insurance executive. At that point, he was just another "haole" to be confronted and attacked! 

learn more at
Debra Barayuga, “3 Men Convicted in Beach Assault,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 6, 2004
 http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/03/06/news/story4.html

Officially an Adult for 2 decades: I'm 38 today

Yes, it's true!

As of today, I've been an adult for 2 decades! 

[note: Hawaii officially recognize a person as an adult at age 18! You're eligible to vote, join the military or get sent to adult prison. But have to wait until 21 to be eligible to get a handgun or drink alcoholic beverages.]


Besides the legal stuff,  there's the physical changes.

I already developed a bald spot (got to be the European side of the family, my Native Mexican dad start losing later in life as compared to the men on my mom's side of the family), so I constantly shave my head so that my lack of head hair is evenly distributed! 

Some of my facial hairs turned white, though it doesn't seem visible on this photo. But when I look at a mirror, I see a few! 

Metabolism must've slowed down too! I exercise as much as possible, though self-discipline when it comes to eating has been a struggle.  Plus, getting the flu earlier this year and not being able to exercise heavily during that time sure didn't help with my weight either! 
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Am I where I'm expected to be right now? Have I accomplished all that I expected by this age? No!

Yes, I've been able to last 13 years as a substitute teacher (note to self: that's as long as I've been a student through the K-12 system) so there's some pride in that!

But I still haven't landed a full-time library job that I was hoping to land by now, but I'm pretty much established as a reliable volunteer with the Friends of the Library of Hawaii! I'm basically present at many of their events, especially the First Friday at Books@Mark's, as well as the annual booksales that take place at McKinley High School and Washington Middle School.

I'm also working as a digital musician under my alias Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior!  In case you didn't know, I specialize in making instrumental tracks of various genres.  As noted in my previous blog post, earlier this month, I have released a heavy metal instrumental album Urban Honolulu Metal Industries! 

Also this month, I'll be releasing a single that isn't associated with the album!  This single will be a dark ambient instrumental with a Halloween vibe!

cover art by me

Slow Walking Through a Haunted Castle

check the video for "Slow Walking Through a Haunted Castle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GiO492G68M

You can help me with my music career by going to iTunes, Google Play or CD Baby,  look under Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior find some tracks you like and download them! Or you can buy the physical CD at CD Baby! 

(note to Honolulu residents: I have a very limited supply CD copies of Urban Honolulu Metal Industries, contact me, we can meet in public and I'll sell it to you! )

And for DJs out there, I encourage you to play my tracks at your events. I also encourage film-makers to use my instrumental tracks as part of your film score.  Don't forget to pay my music publisher (that would be CD Baby Publishing and ASCAP) 

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As for plans?  Continue to work on my music, continue to search for library-related opportunities in Honolulu, be more disciplined with eating & exercise, and continue my path to greater maturity! 

And of course, continue to share ideas on my blog!  

Urban Honolulu Metal Industries

It is finally here!

Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior has a new album out today! 


Back in July, I had a blog post about producing an instrumental album of experimental metal tracks!

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/07/coming-soon-to-stereo-near-you.html


That album is titled ...........

"Urban Honolulu Metal Industries: an instrumental album"

The official album description

Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior grew up in urban Honolulu in the 80’s and 90’s  fascinated by the aggressive, energetic sounds of heavy metal. He even thought of starting a rap-metal band but recruiting difficulties and other responsibilities got in the way.

With digital technology, Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior has become a one-man band making instrumental tracks of various genres.  He has created the Urban Honolulu Metal Industries, where he mixes heavy metal with  classical music, dubstep, industrial, Caribbean, polka, brass, hip-hop and more to manufacture some amazing instrumental metal tracks. 

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 The tracks were made using the Magix Music Maker softwares (Music Maker Jam  and Music Maker Live 2016). The artist has bought the Audio Pro Unlimited license to professionally sell tracks made with Music Maker softwares!

The album is being distributed and published by CD Baby.

CD Baby is also selling physical CDs and mp3 downloads for Urban Honolulu Metal Industries! 

check it out at
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/pablothemadtigerwarrior8
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The album is also now available for digital downloads on iTunes and Google Play

iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/urban-honolulu-metal-industries-an-instrumental-album/1436253773

Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Pablo_the_Mad_Tiger_Warrior_Urban_Honolulu_Metal_I?id=Beowhhhjxf4i3ysr6lkdr4glwh4

For streaming users, the tracks are also available on Spotify, Apple Music and  Soundcloud.


===========================

You can learn about the production of the album from my July blog post titled "Coming Soon to a Stereo Near You"
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/07/coming-soon-to-stereo-near-you.html


Since that blog post, I have made it my mission to give great titles to my instrumental tracks, to make sure the titles are attention grabbing titles that match what the listeners envision while listening to the track

Here are the track listings

1. Factory Machines in Motion  

2.Wobbly Metal and the Flame Thrower

3.Heavy O Railroad         

4.Midnight Ride Through the Tunnel       

5. Music for Motorbike Speed Chase      

6. Music for Motorbike Stunts   

7.Motorbike Racing Down Mountain Road           

8. Metal & Orchestra for Skydiving Film Scene    

9. Ride Through the Rough Terrain           

10. Brassy Bassy Instrumental Metal       

11.  Tropical Frog     

12. Reggaeton Metal for the Tropical Moped Ride            

13. Heavy Metal Carnival Accordion

14. Metal with Strange Sound           

15. Metal with Bear Yawn   

I think I did a much better job with track titles than I did with my previous 2 instrumental albums. 

Most (but not all) of the songs are industrial sounding tracks that might remind listeners of Nine Inch Nails or Rammstein. (just don't expect me to dress in the gothic style 😃😃)

Track #1&2 takes you to the factory, putting the industrial settings on the track

Track #3 takes you on the railroad

Track #4 kinda gives the vibe of a Batmobile driving through the night

Track #5-7 are all about the motorbikes. You don't actually hear the motorbikes roaring, but you can definitely envision those tracks being used as film/game scores for scenes with motorbikes. Track #6 just sounded something like you would hear at a motorbike stunt show

Track #8 is a metal orchestra track that just sounds for perfect as a score for skydiving scenes

Track #9 kinda gives a Wild Western vibe where you can ride on a rough terrain, either on a horse, pickup truck or ATV

Track #10 (Brassy Bassy Instrumental Metal) has some brass instrument sounds that might remind listeners of Fishbone, the legends of mixing metal, ska, jazz, funk, punk and more!

Track #11 & 12 mixes heavy metal riffs with some Carribean dancehall & reggaeton flavor! 

Track #13 brings some accordions to heavy metal!

Track #14 and Track #15 are reminiscent of songs from my hip-hop instrumental album (Urban Honolulu Jams),  I just mixed some heavy metal riffs with soundpools I sampled for my hip-hop songs!

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For the future

I have already made a video for the 1st track "Factory Machines in Motion". I do plan to make videos for all the tracks. I can't afford big budget videos, so it's mostly going to be still images that I add via Movie Maker app! 

However, I do have other responsibilities so I can't guarantee that I will make x-amount of videos within a certain time frame. Though I plan to do them in a shorter amount of time than I did for the videos from the previous album "Sounds Like a Video Game"

As for the future of my music, I was seriously considering doing a vocal album. But I think that will wait! I'm not ready!

To contrast my current album of instrumental metal tracks, I plan my next album to have quieter, softer sounds! Relaxing music!

I already made a few slow jams. I will definitely experiment with multiple genres to make a classic album of relaxing instrumental music.

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Then maybe another album of hip-hop and electronic music? I made a few tracks already! But that will wait!

Until then, I hope you enjoy all the metal tracks produced by the Urban Honolulu Metal Industries!

Adventures with my new KeyOne

Back in October 2013, I finally joined in the smartphone revolution.

That was when I got my BlackBerry Q10!

I blogged about it at 
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/10/adventures-on-my-new-smartphone.html


Even then, the techie trolls were claiming that "BlackBerry is going out of business", blah, blah, blah!

But BlackBerry made the only smartphones that had a physical keyboard and I hate typing on touchscreens! 

If I'm going to spend hard-earned money on gadgets, I have to choose one that is right for me, not mindlessly follow trends!

BlackBerry is still in business and has made new phones since the Q10 I got in 2013.  They had the Passport (a square looking smartphone looking like a ........passport), the Classic, Motion (touchscreen only) the Priv (w/ a sliding keyboard), the KeyOne and the Key2!

My Q10 had been wonderful for me all these years. I can still text and call people on it!

However, the browser has become too outdated to access certain websites. It was OK for a while since I can always wait to go home to use my desktop!

But once I was unable to view my bank's website .......... that's it, I'm replacing my Q10! 

I'm still keeping my Q10 as a backup!

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But I still wanted a BlackBerry! I still wanted physical keyboards.

Back when the Q10 was released, the BlackBerry phone just used the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Some apps were compatible. However, since then, many app makers only made apps that were compatible with iOs (for Apple's iPhones) or Android!

So BlackBerry joined forces with Android so that their new phones can access Android apps! 

The Priv, KeyOne, and Key2 are all BlackBerry phones with Android operating systems.

KeyOne came out last year, Key2 was the latest!

Being that I don't have a big budget, I just decided to get the slightly older KeyOne instead of the more expensive Key2.

As long as it has a physical keyboard, phone, text, email, and access to Android apps, the KeyOne is fine with me!

photo copyright to BlackBerry

https://blackberrymobile.com/product/blackberry-keyone/

The KeyOne

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I bought my Q10 via the T-Mobile website. 

However, T-Mobile wasn't selling any more BlackBerry phones via its website lately, though I was able to buy some unlocked BlackBerry phones via the BestBuy website.

I was able to pick it up at the local Best Buy and took it to the local T-Mobile store (downtown Honolulu).

For some of the staff there, they said they have seen that phone in ads or in media reviews but it was the first KeyOne they saw in person!

It took a while to transfer some data (especially my contacts) from my Q10 to the KeyOne. The person servicing my phones Sean was very patient, knowledgeable and friendly! He definitely deserves an award for customer service.

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Anytime you're transitioning to a new device, there's always a learning curve. Even though the Q10 and KeyOne are both BlackBerry phones (and did I say both have physical keyboards 😉) being that I got them 5 years apart and that KeyOne is an Android phone means that certain things have changed!

Besides being able to access Android apps, just learning to use the Android system was an adjustment.

The KeyOne has a bigger screen (one female friend giggled about my Q10 screen being small), but it does have a smaller keyboard! The smaller keyboard could be a problem for those with big fingers!

The Q10 had a replaceable battery (and I replaced the battery a few times over the years) but the KeyOne doesn't. 

Good news ..... yes it is true, the KeyOne battery doesn't drain so easily! We can go longer between charging times!

Bad news ...........but if something goes wrong with the battery, I just can't take it out like I did with the Q10! 


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The power button for the Q10 was on the top. The power button for the KeyOne is on the side.  I think they had it right for the Q10!

I bought the Incipio phone cover for both the Q10 and KeyOne. The Incipio cover was just right for the Q10! The Incipio for the KeyOne was a disaster. It is too tight around the KeyOne, being that the power is on the side, the Incipio cover kept pressing the power button over and over again!

I just went to WalMart to look for phone covers made for phones the same size as the KeyOne. The phone covers made for SamSung Galaxy 9 can also fit the KeyOne just fine. I bought an Otterbox cover made for the Galaxy 9 and use that as the cover for my KeyOne. It was perfect for my Keyone! 😃 It was cheaper too!😃
Needless to say, I returned the Incipio cover back to BestBuy and got my money back!


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Whereas the Q10 had an opening from the back where you can insert the SIM and the micro-SD, the KeyOne requires you insert it from the side and you have to use the pointy metal thing that can fit into the hole to pop out the SIM/micro-SD jack!  I liked the Q10 way of inserting the SIM/SD better!

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The USB charger for the Q10 connects to the side.  The USB charger for the KeyOne connects to the bottom. The jury is still out for that one!

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Even with all those comparisons and adjustments, I'm loving my KeyOne. While I  do have a preference for and will miss some of the exterior designs of the Q10, I have to say the larger screen and the software for the KeyOne is a massive improvement from the Q10! 

I'm definitely going to keep the KeyOne as long as I can, and I will continue to encourage people to use BlackBerry phones!

Not only does it have a physical keyboard😃, it is also highly rated for cyber-security 😃

I am still #TeamBlackBerry  😃

coming soon

Coming soon to this blog post


1) Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior's latest instrumental album is coming out next week on October 1st.

I kinda sorta described it in a July blog post titled "Coming soon to a stereo near you"

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/07/coming-soon-to-stereo-near-you.html


However, I will have much more to say in my upcoming blog post about the album release! Stay tuned!

2) I recently replaced my BlackBerry Q10 with a BlackBerry KeyOne. 

As my fans would know, I'm a big fan of BlackBerry's physical keyboards.

I got my BlackBerry q10 back in 2013. 

Here's my blog post about it!


https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/10/adventures-on-my-new-smartphone.html


I will explain why I got a new BlackBerry as well as compare the 2 versions in a future blog post.