Life and Soul

Ecuador -Part 10

Guaiquil is the second capital of Ecuador, a port city on the southwest coast. The sprawling industrial city & commercial port of Ecuador, it is through Guaiquil trade flows to & fro with the rest of the world.
In the past this has been a very dangerous place for gringos, it still is if you venture off into the suburbs at night, although the city now seems cleaner & safer than Quito. I am told that recently a new governor was voted in; you can see the improvements in policing, cleanliness, hygiene & pollution. Quito at present has no police presence giving the blaggers a free run of the city. Before both cities were completely corrupt, officials getting rich while chaos reigned on the streets.
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Ecuador -Part 9

I felt it necessary to stop smoking the herb while in South America, the last time I had been there 3 years before I had been eager to try the local weed, mainly fresh Columbian. On one of the first nights I had gone out with one of Cecelia’s friend to score, returned half an hour later with a ¼ which had cost a mere $5 ($60 in England). After 4 days of smoking I felt my control or awareness of situations slipping away.
I stopped smoking completely, wanted to stop smoking! This was most unlike me.
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Ecuador -Part 11

One part of Ecuadorian culture that still seems to thrive is the family run bus services. Each family/company might have a few buses servicing certain routes. There are hundreds of different companies with each one’s busses decorated in a different way; all are different colours, sizes or states of repair, quite a sight.

A trip usually works out to $1 per hour, so you can travel round Ecuador & S.A easily & cheaply. The quality of the ride varies completely so check out your bus before buying the ticket. The drivers are a little mad, possibly the thought of getting pulled over & robbed, although this only happens on occasional overnight journeys or falling many feet to your death off the side of a mountain.

The roads are untrustworthy, windy & mountainous; heart stopping if you are crazy enough to be watching & worrying about it. The pumping Salsa or Merenge music is there to keep your mind distracted & your spirit lifted.
Whenever the bus stops at a junction or at the lights people jump on & off, most trying to sell you something, anything; water, sweets, fruit, chicken (yea sure it’s chicken) on skewers, home made cake, sunglasses, razors, cloths, etc the range is endless. Read more »

Ecuador -Part 15

My reason for leaving work within the music industry were based on conclusions that soon became apparent after a couple of years working as tour manager & Foh sound engineer mainly for WEA & EMI
Head down, listening, learning; I was keen mostly paying attention to the people I was meeting, their personalities, trying to fit in and understand their world.

Welcome to a world that’s dominated by self importance, obsessions with power & the fame names of association. The record companies are well at fault, they lead new artists into a world of designer cloths, shoes, limousines, fat jewellery along with many other extravagances. The management, agents & promoters play along; they are in the club & are getting very well looked after, thank you very much.
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Ecuador – Part17

With no care or thought for the inevitable consequences of their actions or their effect on natural life & surroundings they push on, exploiting anything they can in their quest for profit & wealth. Far too much quantity is taken at a time, causing massive upheaval for the locals & surrounding natural life.
Look at any indigenous tribe see how they care for there resources, animals, plant & surroundings. Labelled primitive or savage in there understanding & ways of life, they are the ones who should be seen are more highly evolved & more civilised.

Our leaders past have much to answer for, only now are we taking the time to watch, learn & understand the natural & spiritual aspects of their lives & cultures. What have we seen? They live within a balance of order & harmony, with themselves & with nature, no greed, no excess, and no ego. Read more »

Ecuador – part 15

Back to the streets, it’s a shame that the ones lucky enough to prosper in life soon loose their feeling & compassion for others. Why do we loose touch with reality?

Is it because we worked so hard to get there??
“Why should I give away my hard earned cash?”
“I worked hard to get where I am today”
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Ecuador – ver 4 pt 1

I can’t do it, I am unable to happily pretend that everything is OK, True & Just; that our present path as a so called civilized race is one that leads us ‘ALL’ to peace & happiness. I take it that this ‘Peace & Happiness’ is indeed what we desire above all else……well I think not, not here in the West, the mighty hand of capitalism & consumerism has reached out & re-programmed millions if not billions of people.
All lost, mindlessly consuming each new product or the explanation of a situation, soaking up the implications of playing up to ego, vanity, material success, fame & money.
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Ecuador ver4 Pt2

I’m tied, tied of work, tied of putting up with the restraints & restrictions of living in a society that is organised, governed & exploited by those “privileged” enough to have attained to seats of money, fame or power.
Bigged up idolised & revered by the masses these so called “stars” or “celebrities” enter a world of fantasy where everything around them becomes false, set-up, cut, edited, affected & exaggerated to the extreme. Nothing is real, nothing has any soul, and most times there is no spirit to be found; the wants become material & the vision shallow.
Surrounded by yes people who themselves savagely guard their overblown pay-packets; circles, interests, wants & needs. All changes as you are accepted into the club, “the club above the rest”.

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Ecuador -Part 3

So I find myself on yet another plane journey, this time thankfully of my own choice not a flight out to work but one to relax. First I have 17 hours on one of the most trying airlines there is, Continental. Overfed air-conditioning, gross pre-packaged, pre cooked food attempts & over happy, over sized, non-helpful hostesses.

Finally after 17 hours flying we arrive in Quito the capital of Ecuador, South America.

First let me tell you of our change of planes in Houston, Texas.
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