There's A War Going On!

The war will go on and on and on
If U do not wish 2 be in the war U should leave now

We are about 2 challenge what U believe
If U do not wish 2 be challenged U should leave now
Saturday morning awaits

Dig up purple people, I've got something on my mind.  I've spoken about retrospeculation before and that's what I'm doing right now.  Flash backward to 1998 at Paisley Park.  Prince was performing live and the crowd was listening to what would later be released as The War.  Now in this 45 minute sonic adventure (26 minutes would later be edited and released), Prince asks if we would be willing to let the government place a microchip in our neck. He talks of an underground metropolis, a paradise where there is plenty of food, clean air and no worries.  But the admission is letting the government place a microchip in your neck.  Seemingly to track and control your every movement.  Would you go? "Would U stay on top of the chip and await your fate?"

Now take a look around at the world we live in today.  We have people starving around the world, hatred grows everyday and our leaders haven't got the first clue how to lead.  We have designed our computers to get smarter and smarter so that now they are designing themselves using their own languages that they have invented.  The original computer programmers no longer know what they are even saying because they can't understand the language.  Our world has become interconnected and solely reliant on the internet so that if you take down even a small section of it, corporations come to a grinding halt.  AI is the wave of the future and the future is now but is the human race ready for the next step? Are we ready for super intelligent hybrids? Humans with computer enhanced brains or worse, computers that are sentient? Then comes a company like Three Square Market who is wanting to install RFID microchips in it's employees.  That's right, this company wants to place chips into its employees saying that it will allow them easier access to the building, logging onto their computers and even making purchases in the break room.  Could it also be used to track employee movement? Can it be tracked outside of work? After all, you have essentially lo-jacked your employee.  What's to stop you (or some nefarious group) from using this for other means? 

So after nearly 20 years, it seems that Prince was nearly right.  Except, instead of the government micro-chipping us, it's the private sector but I am quite sure there is some government interest.   So what would you do? "Would U stay on top of the chip and await your fate?" Would you let them lo-jack you? Before you answer, listen what Prince had to say on the subject of computers:

So there you have it world. At least that's my take on it.  It's up to you to make up your mind and free yourself but the war will go on and on!  Until next time.....peace and be wild!

Time? It's a trick!

Time. What is time? That precious commodity that we never seem to have enough of when we need it? Is it an illusion? Douglas Adams said, "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so!" St. Augustine said, "There are three times; a present time about things past, a present time about things present, a present time about things future. The future exists only as expectations, the pasts exists only as memory, but expectation and memory exist in the present." Physicists from Einstein to Barbour have debated its existence and true meaning for years! 

What i found interesting was this essay that Prince posted on his old Love4OneAnother website back in the day concerning the concept of time. Here's what he had to say (copied from the website verbatim):

Time & Space: The great separation ILLusion

ONcE upon an eternity, the notion of "time" did not xist.... 

time: the origin of the term is the word 'tide', which comes from the Greek daiesthai, 2 divide.

Time is an xpression of separation, a means used 2 segregate life in2 individual portions instead of a whole. 

There r many who pull themselves apart by tying their health and sanity 2 a clock - the stockbroker monitoring the tickertape, hoping the market closes b4 his ticker does... the partier measuring the years since her day of birth as if rings on a tree, developing more rings under the eyes as she does so. 

When we dream, worlds xist without time or space. The mind accepts without judgment because the mental censor which filters r thoughts is turned off. A dream lasting minutes can feel like hours, and easily flows from one location 2 another as if the same... there is no separation. 

When doing things we injoy most, the sensation of time stops. When in love with life - when r minds and spirits r ONE and act in unison - there is always enough 'time.' Though the day may fly by, much is accomplished. Alternately, where there is conflict within the self - friction due 2 SEPARATION between one's inner knowing and outward actions - 'time' turns 2 drudgery, stretching endlessly with little fulfillment. 

When we all choose 2 live in the spirit of oneness, looking within rselves (instead of 2 outside, separate sources) and acting upon what r hearts reveal, we will also b united with one another. Living this way will free humanity from the hands of the clock 4ever... there will b no more desire 2 judge pure love, beauty and joy by putting increments on it because they r endless! The kingdom of love is upon us!

Uhhhh, okay brother! Why don't you play me another funky guitar solo and leave the quantum theorizing to someone else? Oh lawd! Somebody help him! 

Open Book?

So there are plenty of books out there about Prince, from bios to picture books. Here are two that I picked up recently.

The Most Beautiful - My Life with Prince by Mayte Garcia

Gold Experience - Following Prince in the 90's by Jim Walsh

So check them out!

Can I Play With U?

What's up Purple People?!?! I know it's been a minute (more like months) but what can I say, I've been busy!  I just wanted to do a quick drive-by posting to show off this awesome new release from Sabotage entitled Can I Play With U?

I'll try to post a review or some such later but for now, if you get the chance, grab this one! You won't be disappointed!

Retrospeculation with NPGMC

Wow, I can't believe that it's been a month since I've posted here.  So much has gone on that you would have thought I would've posted something. Anything.  But nope, not a thing.  Hmmm... well time to remedy that.  Since my last post we found out the actual cause of death for Prince but I don't want to discuss that in this post. Maybe in a later post I'll broach the subject but I am here for a specific reason. Let's see, what else has happened in the last month? Oh yeah!!! The BET Awards kept their promise and gave us a tribute worthy of his Purpleness unlike that other awards show.  Yeah, I'm talking about you Billboard and your weak @ss Madonna tribute that wouldn't have made it in a third-class karaoke bar.  But, I'm not here to talk about the BET tribute either.  No, like I said, I am here for a specific reason.  I am here to retrospeculate on the NPGMC.

First off, let me say, I know that retrospeculate is not an actual word but hey, it's my blog and I like the sound of it.  Besides, it describes what I am doing perfectly.  I'm speculating what might have happened if certain events had happened in the past in a different way.  Anyway, it's not like I invented the word.  I stole it from Prince and the NPGMC.  Track down the commentary Freedom, Pt. 2 from the 2003 version of the NPGMC and you will see Prince used it first. So there!!! Oh lawd, I sound like I'm in third grade! Once again I digress. Or maybe I regressed in my digression? Huh? Okay, forget all that noise and let's get on with this retrospeculation thang!

So, on February 14, 2001, the world (at least all the Purple Party People and True Funk Soldiers) was introduced to the first version of the New Power Generation Music Club.  It was basically a download manager/media player that gave you access to various media made available by the club. Looking back at that first incarnation, I'm astounded I actually joined.  It was pretty lame but then again, by 2001 standards.... hell, who am I kidding.  It was Prince's website! I was joining! And join I did.  I was a loyal member of the NPGMC until it closed in 2006.  I bought the music, the merchandise and the tickets.  Especially the tickets.  Afterall, members got the best seats, didn't we? I know when I got my Musiclology 2004ever tickets through the club, I was on the front row.  That is a show I will never forget!!!! So yeah, I'm like sailing along doing the whole club member thing like a good little soldier when 2006 rolls around and POOF!!!!! It was gone!!! (Side note: I think this is first time I have ever typed the word poof, much less used it on a blog post! So don't judge me! Now back to my regularly scheduled rambling.) But what if that hadn't happened? What if Prince had kept the club open and not lost interest in it like so many of his other projects?

Would we have gotten  more music through the club than we did in real life? Maybe a few more live videos? How about a concert snippet or two from the 21 Nights in London concerts? Or maybe a live album from the 3121 residency in Las Vegas? I know, we could have gotten a concert video, a la Lovesexy Live, of the Welcome 2 America tour! Yeah, he could have released 3121 and Lotusflower through the club and...and...uh...hmmm....wait a minute. So in this alternate timeline that I am retrospeculating on, Prince hasn't lost interest in the NPGMC so he may not have come up with 3121.  There may not have been a Lotusflower for him to release.  His journey would have been greatly altered and may not have even crossed the path of...say....Welcome 2 America or Welcome 2 anything for that matter.  It's that whole Butterfly Effect theory playing out in my purple universe! Instead of Schrodinger's Cat, I have created Schrodinger's Purple Yoda! Oh wow, I think I have officially lost it now.  

I guess this has made me realize that it was probably a good thing that the NPGMC closed down when it did since he moved on to so many other things that are essential in the Purpleverse (that's the Purple Universe. Get it? Of course you do. Why am I explaining things to you? You are obviously all very intelligent since you listen to Prince. But not too smart if you actually read this stuff. LOL!). Wait...there I go with the regressing digression again! Let me try to wrap this up since I have rambled a lot longer than I meant to when I started.  

Yesterday, princeonlinemuseum.com went live and they offer a virtual walk-through of Prince's various websites from over the years.  The site is run by the same people that brought us these sites to begin with and are a great document to Prince's large on-line presence over the years.  If you get the chance, I strongly recommend you visit the site and take a cyberstroll down random access memory lane. I spent hours reading the various commentaries Prince wrote that were posted on the different sites. Matter of fact, I will probably write a post or three at a later date about some of the articles he wrote and posted.  But while reading all the stuff he posted on the NPGMC, I started to wonder what it would have been like if the club was still around. And that's how we ended up here...wherever here is.  Just kidding, I know where here is....it's in the opposite direction from there. What??? Nevermind. Just ignore the man behind the curtain who may be a little senile and sleep deprived. Now, quit reading and head over to princeonlinemuseum.com and remember the Days of Wild!