Dolphins don’t do shit like that…

In a little, tucked away alleyway in the art district of HK, there is a barber shop that transforms itself into an intimate jazz night on occasion. It’s called Visage One.

I went there one night in the summer with a handful of close friends, perched on the open staircase, on the floor and each other’s laps.

Wine was served at a makeshift bar by the door: a wooden plank with just a few bottles on display. Red wine, of course.

The room was dim, lit only by candlelight and a few beams that snuck their way inside from the out.

A breath away from our personal entertainers.

A jazz crooner and guitarist.

Just for one night.

Silence in the room but it was full. Full of baited, excited breath and wonderment and awe.

Awed by the music. Awed by the sounds. Awed by the romanticism of it all, and the melodies, the harmonies – bebop notes hanging on invisible lines in the air, entering our ears.

So beautiful at times, it hurt. And we all choked together.

We might as well have been in the south of France or Barcelona, sometime when there were speakeasys. Or at the very least, in Paris… hanging with Hemingway, Picasso and Dali.

Afterwards in reality, the cool evening air injecting us awake, the lights of 7/11 and the streets and the cars blinding. I blurted out my conclusion after a bit of reflection:

“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve experienced in a while. So intimate… so personal… so romantic… People amaze me…”

I struggled for a while to find the words.

“Dolphins don’t do shit like that!”

I dare you to walk at midnight

I dare you to walk at midnight.
I dare you to step outside and take a breath of fresh air.
I dare you to feel the air get sucked in by your lungs,
so thick and textured its existence makes you feel alive.
Usually you don’t even notice you’re breathing.

Many people these days, they say just take the drugs.
Pop a pill, chew on leaves, “inhale that green shit”.
They tell you to try the fungus, growing out of the ground.
It’s magic, they say. Surreal.
You will experience things like you’ve never done before.
The world sings for you and colours dance.
Energy moves you and you play with it.
The vibrations are crystal clear and the meaning of life also.
It tastes, so good.
You know it.

I dare you not to blink though.
Just keep your eyes wide open, until they start to sting.
At first there is discomfort, but once the glaze comes over,
then think.
You’re disconnected now and funny
how the trees seem bigger.
Crowns: fuller.
Funny, how their leaves move
when a breeze is nowhere in sight.
Who does that?

People these days, they are so used to the world
they forget every day is the same sort of miracle.
Have you ever noticed how much a tree wants to grow?
When they are lined up in a row,
they’re the limbs of the universe making itself known.
When you close your eyes and hear yourself breathing,
don’t you think it’s the same sort of sound?
Don’t you feel the earth breathing when it lifts up its leaves?
Don’t you hear that it’s alive?

I dare you to walk out at midnight
and take a good long stare at that tree.
It never asked for anything, just grew.
Reaching up to the moon
for no apparent reason
just that it was something to do.

The world has veins like you do.
Water runs it, too.
But people these days they forget in the light
the simplest things are often right.
Just because you know it,
doesn’t mean you are it.
In fact, you’ve never been so far from it.

Some people these days, they’ll dare you
to take a short route
cut out a line.
So you pump yourself with adrenaline
just to feel that you’re alive.
But I hope you remember to take a walk sometimes
especially when it is midnight.
When the streets are bare
and you’re strolling out there it’s better sometimes
you’ll find.
The whole world is one big miracle.
It’s a miracle we’re alive.

Don’t let your habits fool you.
Please don’t ever lose your sight.
Take the time to walk with nature.
Even if it’s done at night.

When Deep House meets Fight Club…

“I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives.”

This is what happens when Deep House meets Fight Club… You get an incredibly powerful message. Read the words. Watch the film. Enjoy the music. Choose whatever medium works for you. But don’t let the message escape you. It’s an important one 😉