Clear Away The Clouds – 5th January 2024

Live to sleep, to inject death
Into every day and forever keep
A dying breath along the way

Your body goes, follows the mind
There’s no return, God only knows
You cannot find, cannot learn

Clear the clouds, your time is fixed
Give it worth and raise the shrouds
Before you’re nixed from this earth

inspired by a quote from Marcus Aurelius


Today I’m feeling:

A little tired but in a good mood.  I’ve been waking up before my alarm quite often which is a little annoying as I know I’m not getting quite enough good sleep.  This morning as I was dozing and waiting for my alarm to go off I wondered if it was because I was excited to exercise.  That was quite an interesting thought for me. 

I moved on to Intermediate leg exercises this morning and got through it pretty easily.  I don’t think I can move up to Intermediate arm exercises yet though.  I still don’t have the strength in my back, shoulders and arms yet and I’m still waiting for my right shoulder to fully recover before getting back into even the Basic exercises that I normally do.

Today I’m grateful for:

All the drivers that let me cut into their queues so that I could get to work a little quicker this morning (actually every work morning!).  Traffic is getting busier and busier along the bypass now and the dumb traffic light systems they have in place frustrate everybody. 

Anyway, I will let people in when I am in a similar situation and see other folks being in a hurry.

The best thing about today was:

Getting paid!  But now I have to be really careful with the reduced payment again this month.

Can I stick to no more than two coffees a day and nix the third that I have every other day or so? Buy less snacks, no candy for the kids, no meat sticks for the pups….?

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

As soon as I got paid I settled my account with Gui at House.  That was just over 1000 baht! Gah! 

He has offered to let me pay once a week before but I told him I didn’t want to do that because I can fool myself by only paying 130 baht a day, convinced that that amount is acceptable.  But seeing 1000 baht a week…..that I can’t rationalise!

Something I learned today?

Today was Baitoey’s birthday.  I only taught her a little bit last year and she was quite quiet in class but she is always friendly and playful with me since then.  I gave her 5 baht as a gift because that was the only money I had in my wallet!  My last 5 baht!

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

My old student Noah was complaining about T. David this morning and then in the afternoon, after they had a class together T. David complained about Noah and her attitude.  So I thought I would message her and see what the story was. 

She said she has given up in his class because he goes too fast and she doesn’t understand.  When she told me that other students do understand I encouraged her to ask them for help (though I know she has struggled to make good friends in this class).  I told her not to give up and that I will help encourage her as much as I can.

Kru Ning talked to me a little after our classes about some of the grade 7 students we share as they sometimes don’t show up to her class, or do little or nothing whilst there. I confirmed that they were a little difficult to get motivated and gave her my suggestions though I struggle with them too. 

It was nice to actually have a Thai teacher ask my opinion, or for my help, with our students.  I guess usually they don’t because perhaps they don’t want to admit that they are in that situation or admit that perhaps a foreigner might have another angle or useful idea.

I took this picture because when I got home I found a package from Ryu in Tokyo with his Stacked State CDs and t-shirt plus his solo CDs. I will listen to them tomorrow. A weekend of furious fastcore.

Struggle Session – Sudamérica Ruido y Amor – 4th July 2019

Cat #: 198TZM

“33 shows in 37 days, the numbers seemed unreal as we set off screaming through 7 countries, crossing an entire continent. It was a tour we’d dreamed about, some of us for years others for just the past six months, excited about new places to explore and new people to meet, different languages and different cultures. An utterly DIY tour that we’d planned and booked ourselves; we slept on floors, played in houses, in squats, in burnt out buildings, anti-fascist boxing gyms, and on the street. We played with amazing bands in cities we’d never even heard of before. We shared food and philosophies of life. We got free tattoos, free CDs, and free beer. We didn’t sleep for days on end. We ran out of clean underwear. We got tired and worn down, we fought and got sick, yet had no choice except to continue. We met amazing people and fell in love, with new friends, and with life. We may have even learned something about the world, each other, and ourselves. As the days flew by, each felt like a lifetime, each city a whole world onto itself. The tour became too much to take in all at once, its totality became a blur, while each individual memory burnt itself into our minds and our hearts.

Sudámerica Ruido y Amor is about that trip. 33 songs speed by in under 10 minutes, one for every city we played. Each track recounts a unique moment, a shared joke, or a crystallized emotion inspired by the people we met, the bands we played with, and the cities we visited. Styles clash and collide as the days bleed together and cities come and go, yet through the chaos, a common theme appears, one of the kindnesses of strangers and the power of community. We hope that this EP will stand as a document, not only of what we’ve done but also of those who helped us along our way. We also hope that it serves as an inspiration for others to seek out all the vibrant scenes supporting DIY music both on and off the map, in South America or wherever the music takes you. Above all these are love songs to all those we met on our tour. Sudámerica ruido y amor!” 

Fanzui Xiangfa – Discography 2006-2014 – 3rd January 2015

Cat #: 164TZM

Coming at ya fast & heavy from Beijing (via Wuhan, Umea, Bonn, wherever else): FANZUI XIANGFA. First of all: you have to respect the grind (literally) of a band whose eight-year discography spins from start to finish in 35 minutes. That’s a lot of months per one-minute track. Recommended for fans of: late ‘80s American hardcore, very fast tempos, RIGHTEOUS FURY. Multinational corporations, racism, nuclear proliferation, the state apparatus, fitting in… these guys hate it all! I’m pretty mellow but these four have a knack for rekindling the angry fires of my youth. I can’t listen to this discography while walking down the street without sorta moshing and non-verbally daring everyone I see to confront me for being me so I can “Use [My] Fists” (gotta keep a lid on it though, ‘cause I’d lose). I swear I’ve listened to “I Am Not Like You!” so many times, my brain has blisters that will never heal. In a country just now getting into the whole mindless consumerism trip (and on a much, much more massive scale than ever before in human history), FZXF has been one of the loudest voices to say, “Fuck You”, “Fuck Your Flag!”, “Kill Your Television” and — here’s the real lesson, kids — “Destroy!”

FANZUI XIANGFA: polluting the Red Dream from within since 2006 with an alternative nightmare blacker than the guitarist’s t-shirt collection. Keep raging, boys. The New China and its smiling criminal minds are far too kind.

FANZUI XIANGFA is

狂骂 / Kuang Ma – Drums
逆反 / Ni Fan – Guitar
毛病 / Mao Bing – Bass / Vocals
冲撞 / Chong Zhuang – Guitar
六六 / Liu Liu – Lead Vocals

*活闹 / Huo Nao – Lead Vocals
**傻蛋 / Sha Dan – Lead Vocals

split 7” with Bad Nerve [2014]

Recorded and mixed by Hou Likao at Jishengchong Studio. Vocals recorded by Deng Chenglong and Tan Hang.

Fanzui Xiangfa 7” [2011]

Additional vocals by Robin. Backing vocals by Fanzui Xiangfa & Robin. Recorded and mixed by Huo Likao at Jishengchong Studio. Vocals recorded by Wang Meng.

split 7” with SS20 [2010]

Additional vocals by Fen Lie & Torbjöm. Backing vocals by Fanzui Xiangfa & Torbjöm. Recorded and mixed by Huo Likao in the summer and fall of 2009 at Jishengcheong Studio. Vocals recorded by Wang Meng & Jan Hansson.

split 7” with Daighila [2010]*

Additional guitar and bass by Kuang Ma and Huo Likao. Backing vocals by Jan Hansson, Mark and Fanzui Xiangfa. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Huo Likao at Jishengchong Studio in the summer and fall 2009.

Criminal Minds CD [2006]**

Recorded in Beijing, China. Additional guitar by Kuang Ma. Mixed and mastered by Huo Likao at Jishengchong Studio.

All music and lyrics by Fanzui Xiangfa.
Discography LP mastered by Fredrik Lyxzen.
Artwork by 猴子xvx

Thanks to: Fredrik, Hou Likao, Glenn, Bibi, Rico, SS20, Daighila, Bad Nerve, D-22, Mark, Alice, our friends and families, Genjing Records and all the other labels that have released us, everyone that has helped and supported us along the way and our previous singers Hou Nao and Sha Dan. Tack som fan! 真他妈的谢谢!

GR039
genjingrecords.com