Happy New Year…Bitches!!!!

Seriously, Happy New Year. I hope all of your wishes and dreams can be fulfilled this year. Last year was a tough one all around and the fight this year will be harder……But what of that…We must always combat the forces of racism and bigotry that this administration is trying to foist on us. We must always fight the constantly growing devide between the haves and have-nots, between colors, religions, and our brothers and sisters, because there is only one path and that is the path of equality, freedom and love.

So in the Spirit of in with the new and out with the old, we (LordRifa) decided to team up The Trouble with Monkeys and Marylin Mitchell to put on a New Years alternative show a few days later that doesn’t contain all of the hype, faux glitz and cash requirements, but all of the joy, fun and hope that New Years should bring!!

Let’s have some fun!!

Selah

the rev

Marching to the Sound of War

I will not let up about this.

I will not stop in my belief that our current wanna be dictator would re-make our amazing country into his own image.

I will not bend to the terrible truth that even though there was a massive voter rebellion against this tyrant, he still pursues the ways of a fascist.

Proof you say?………Fine, but understand that proof is truth and truth needs to be believed otherwise it’s just words on a page. Like the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Magna Carta.

Words on a page.

The Tyrant says he does not believe the intelligence placed before him about the murder of Jammal Khashoggi. Maybe yes, maybe no…but either way he is not going to ruin the economy of the world because of it. The world economy! Forget the millions of dollars his personal businesses have received from the Saudi royal family over the years. Forget the fundamental rights of a human. Something that America has fought many wars for. Not even a single word of protest. Forget the truth of one of the worlds biggest intelligence networks in creation. It does not even come to bear. He-the Tyrant- Does not believe. That’s all that matters.

The Tyrant says our judicial system can no longer be trusted to adjudicate fairly-In his favor-so he wants to change that. He is now going to a court-the supreme court of the land- which he has appointed 2 of the 9 members for a verdict. The Tyrant has been trying to discredit every part of the system of checks and balances we have built-into this great nation. Now he is taking on our justice system. Even John Roberts-Chief Justice John Roberts, a very conservative justice is at odds with him.

The Tyrant as given the military the option to use force against the migrant caravan. People fleeing terrible regimes only to find a worse one waiting for them across a border with armed guards and swastikas.

They Tyrant says there is no correlation between the rise in hate crimes all over this country and his words, because his words remain above reproach.

We MUST depose this Tyrant before he becomes too powerful to contain. History demands it, Freedom Demands it. We must impeach, we must press charges where charges are warranted. We must give no quarter to this tin pot Tyrant because they grow up all too fast.

Selah

the rev

Faith and War

We are in a civil war- just the beginnings mind you- but in it we are.
I wasn’t sure about this “fact” until I ventured back to this life’s homeland, ( cough, cough, hack, fur ball stuck in throat…….) New Jersey. Where the red flag of patriotism sits on the pole next to the cross. Things that are real don’t matter any longer.

Facts are of no use and figures are only good on women.

Most buffoons that sit on one side on the isle in the Senate and House can’t grasp this single idea and the ones that can, are leading our American jihad all the way into a fundamentalist regime.

The Confirmation hearing on Butthead has revealed the true inner thoughts of our fearless white male leaders. Women’s lives don’t matter. Black lives don’t matter, Brown, Yellow and especially Red Lives don’t matter.

All that matters is the financial and emotional health of the white man.

We are so FUCKED!!!!
This civil war is not based on politics but on faith. On belief. My god is better than your god. My savior is better than yours. And guess who is considered a savior??
I am reminded that it only takes a single man to be the face of a movement. King, Hitler, Gandhi, Lincoln, Kahn. They were polar opposites in belief, but were the same in function. They motivated mass amounts of people to do what they believed was correct.
Faith…
I know it well.

I have mostly stayed silent on the politics of the current time because to be honest, I don’t know enough to make an educated argument for my position. Especially in light of the fact that government is an imperfect beast.
But who is perfect?
I really don’t have that great a grasp of finance or macro economics, to understand why folks are so happy about an economy that favors a single class of people. They parade around “facts and figures” that substantiate their claim, but they seem wispy to me. Much like and old spider web.
The folks I see and know on the lower end of the financial spectrum are terrified about a runaway economy. They don’t understand that our great stock surge is mostly fueled by five or six companies.
They fear the plunge. Much like the big earthquake they know is coming, but not when.
And for the life of me I could not understand the lack of desire for a real national health care system.

Until now.

Sure it’s money, lobbies and differences of opinion. But at the root of it is a faith based concept that god will take care of his own and fuck the rest.
“God took care of me and made me wealthy, so I can afford any health care I want, so….
Fuck the rest of you! God wants it that way”.

Fuck the rest….

It should be the new battle cry of the New American Jihad.

Things don’t phase believers.
The most corrupt American government in modern history, with more indictments and plea deals than a mob bust, and people just don’t care.
Because they believe in HIM.
A second rate TV host/businessman/huckster.
“Come see the naked girls on the tight rope”.
“Excuse me sir, there are no naked girls in there and there is no rope, only a line drawn in chalk on the floor”.
“Kid, those fine girls are naked under their clothes and that “line”is a two dimensional version of a rope”. You just gotta change the way you look at things.
Now get outta here you bother me”.

I can battle faith because I have faith. Faith enough to share. But much to my consternation is there is no real winner in the short term of this war and we won’t know what we have wrought for years to come.
But I will fight,  because I believe.
Not in gods or icons. Not in charismatic figures or religion. But in the greatness of who we are as a people- no…better than that- who we are as individual people. Left alone out of the mob mentality we are different. When not carried along by the river of hate and authoritarianism. The flow of bigotry and violence. We are a peaceful species. Just trying to live a life worth living in world that’s sometimes much too harsh for words.
In our hearts we are Jesus, Buddha , Muhammad, Moshiach and all of the rest.
We just need to believe…..

And act.

Selah

the rev

Very Scary Halloween Benefit for NorCal Fires!!!!

#lordrifa, #bottomofthehill, #NorcalFiresrelief

The Bad Reverend!

That’s me, to the core.
I used to want to believe that I was a good man, a good man with bad traits or a lost soul who has no clue searching for the truth. But sadly, that not true. I’m just a bad reverend with spit and vinegar running through his veins instead of love and light. The plain and simple fact is….that’s how it’s always been. Spit and vinegar has run through my families veins for millennia.

So you ask;
“Well rev, what brings this up? Why now are you coming clean with us now after all of these years”?

As of late, a few readers have told me how much they love my florid sermons. The ones with deep thoughts and no cursing. The ones where I use the English language to its fullest,  it’s most eloquent forms. Where I bathe in the luxury of language. But that’s not me really. That’s just me trying to be someone else.

I am a Brutalist. (Look it up)
I read flowery posts from folks and I want to throw up. I find the “California hug” insufferable. I eschew vapid emotional outbursts for the sake of showing the community that you care, that you’re in love……
I take pride in that as well. As fucked up as it is it’s true. My veneer of concrete will never be broken.
A true story:
In a different lifetime, I had a girlfriend who had many sisters. One of the sisters had a young son who had some emotional issues at the time. I need to point out before I resume, that this child has turned out to be a wonderful man who is kind and responsible. The goddess would be pleased and proud.
As I was saying the child had a few issues and was prone to fantastically overblown outbursts of anger. Now his mom would do her best to help the child, but as it takes with some folks, time and wisdom were needed to be present to help him make the changes needed to become the man he is today.
We went out to dinner one night, some place where they still had those wonderful comfy booths back to back and Killer (we used to call him “Killer”) was having a hard time at dinner when all of a sudden he sat up, turned around on his knees facing the booth behind and at the top of his lungs with machine gun precision shouted out; “FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU”.

He turned back around and sat quietly for the rest of the meal.
Needless to say everyone was horrified: everyone but me. I was rolling in the aisles almost breathless from laughing so hard. The table behind us was in a state of disarray and disbelief. It looked like the Caribbean after hurricane Irma! The man’s toupee was in his pasta, bowls were overturned, clothes strewn everywhere, children were crying and the mother was shouting something at us which sounded like English, but I couldn’t really hear her over the sound of my own laughter. But from then on, every so often, Killer would let the fuck you’s rip, always out of nowhere, always when he couldn’t find the right words.

Now back to the blog:

I have never let go of Killer in my head. When I read those flowery posts I think FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU as if he was right next to me in that booth, both of us on our knees screaming. When someone whom I don’t really like or even know comes up to me and tries to hug me I think; FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU.
I can’t help it, lord knows I’ve tried but it comes soaring out of the back of my mind with ballistic speeds.
I, of course, respond in reality with all of the proper decorum one should have, let alone someone who pretends to be a man of the cloth. I use the correct “like buttons” on Facebook or nod my head and smile that inane vapid smile. I make the small talk that says “I’m here making contact” but am actually sitting with Killer in that booth. I try to get away as fast as possible from the hug but when cornered I allow it to happen.
Still I hear Killer, screaming-not knowing what he’s doing is socially wrong. Not knowing that in one moment he is breaking apart long-standing traditions of grace and decorum.
FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU.
Sometimes it’s the only thing that conveys the correct emotion.
I’m a Brutalist and I call it as I see it.

Selah
the rev

 

LordRifa Live!!

Hey Y’all,

Lordrifa has a few gigs coming up and some new Video’s to share. First off we are playing with Kandur and the Blind Bandits, Saturday September 16 at the Neck of the Woods club in the Richmond in SF. It will be deep!!

Then we want to invite all of you to watch and comment on our new video “Toxic Love” from our last album, “Playland at the Beach”. A scathing commentary on the government/corporate alliance to make you believe there are no problems with our environment. Contrary to the facts!

We are also playing at the Bottom of the Hill on Saturday October 28th for a very terrifying Halloween show with Sam Pace and Stang.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t forget to watch our last video “City of Dis” made by the amazing folks at Ikeibi Films!

This revolution is televised!!!!!

 

Selah,

the rev

More Than Ever!

Make America White Again#$^%#@$%^#$

It’s actually:
America for the rich again
America for class separation again
America fucks the poor again
America back to the 50’s, when everything was just peachy and we could go down to the local diner in town and have a vanilla shake and see Biff and Joe and Buffy (well not Buffy-she’d kick their ass!!) and all our white pals sitting at the counter where people of color are not allowed. Where we gently dismiss the concept of color because it’s not spoken in proper circles.

I hate that America. That America had us on the Brink of Nuclear war for years.
I hate that America. That America was still lynching people of color-All color!
I hate that America. Because it abused it’s role in the world.

In this lifetime, I grew up in these towns-in this world and I ran as far as I could away from all of the hate. But it’s now found me again. It’s found us all.

I am sick and tired of this whole White American/Christian Jihad thing. You know it’s unfounded, annoying and utterly a spoiled brat cause. Poor little white christian folks lost power in the last election (Not really) and because of this, an de-evolution has occurred in our society. It’s now OK to obliterate the last 20 years of social progress towards equality and freedom, of taking care of the sick and the poor, of creating a society that can lift everyone and not just the rich.

“Burn everything if we can’t have it all”.

It’s absolutely OK to stand up in congress and tell the American people that global warming doesn’t matter because god will take care of it!! It’s now OK to advocate for this.

It’s now OK to combine church and state (only if it’s the Christian church of course) It’s now OK to be a racist, fascist, oligarch. It’s now OK to act like a banana republic where nepotism is allowed and a crone plutocracy is installed.

America first….in a world that is global in nature, in a world where we as a super power have gone in and raided smaller countries for their wealth (undercover of course). In a world when our president and his cronies have massed huge amounts of wealth by investing and takeing funds from other countries, the hypocrisy is stifling.
America first is bullshit.

I miss the America we created where all people are striving for equality, even if it was hard. Where it’s NOT OK to brandish hate placards and sentiments of segregation and misogyny. Where disdain for science did not exist and being poor was not a disease.

As a white man, I despise what we’ve become.
As a Reverend, I’m ashamed to tell Jesus who we are.
As someone who has lived thousands of lifetimes across this earth, I am tired of this battle yet again.

Selah,

the rev

LordRifa Album Release Party!!!!

Hey Y’all.

 

          We are thrilled to announce the release of our fifth album:

                          “Playland at the Beach”.

It has tales of terror, humility, humanity and of course DJT!! (What album these day would exclude him?).

We are coming to the Neck of the woods on Saturday, April 29,  2017 8 pm to play it all for you. We are lucky to have a wonderful opening act called the Rad Dads.

http://www.lordrifa.com/upcoming-gigs

Clear your calendars, tell your friends and get ready to revolt!!!

The American Spring

I get up every morning read the papers front to back,
Not missing a single word.
I like the way it feels folding over in my hands.
a relic of the past.
My future is past

The papers sing me stories of things I can’t control or stop,
Swearing it’s from god.
I drink my bitter coffee, conversing with my friend-
My version of the creator.
He’s my favorite god!

And I feel helpless against the tide of liberty’s decay.
I feel helpless against the tide of political betrayal!

But underneath it all are excuses that I tell myself,
The excuses of my story.
My wife she holds the purse and my shame seems to never end,
The shame of my story.
There’s no jobs to be had!

And I feel helpless against the tide of liberty’s decay.
I feel helpless against the tide of political betrayal!

 

It takes more then a ribbon to show you care,
More then a flag on your chest to be aware.
Serving your country can be done in many ways,
You don’t have to die so other will say.

“He’s a true patriot, god rest his weary soul.
He died on a cross or was it under the sole,
Of a boot still worn by a our butcher of choice.
He gave his life to defend my voice”.

Lord, lift him to heaven, god rest his soul
but his family and his neighbors got to get off the dole……….

Don’t just stand and wait for the American spring,
Don’t just be idle but sing the praises of the free.
Freedom is not the right to be white,
It’s the right of dissension, and the will to fight.

I’m gonna run and find our American spring,
I’m gonna get on my knees and pray for this thing.
I’m gonna find you and dance and sing,
I’m scream and shout our American spring.

You gotta fight for the American spring!
You gotta die for the American spring!
You can’t hide from the American spring!
We all long for the American spring……

Selah,

the rev