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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Saturday blew as I slept through the afternoon and was up after three o’clock in the morning.


Nothing to do that early in the morning. I did start to do things. For example I have to create the covers for the positive mandate and the slip in plates for the rotating display. We have to get ready to issue another version of The Fortress. Start contacting our points of advocacy when everything is ready and just see where all that takes us.



Some of the Positive Mandate for Humanity take home kit!


This is all about change through ideas. Take a look at how long this takes. I was almost purpose built for what I am doing now and yet it has taken an entire lifetime. Or, maybe our lives are just too short. But unlike the movies, by the time the hero or protagonist gets what he wants he is this old guy and not the younger one you see in the movies. And the story takes longer than two hours or so. Not so much action either. Our lives in the end are boring no matter how you cut it. Drudgery for the most part. You spend the first twenty years just growing up. Then you experiment with lifestyles. Like when I got out of university I decided to try the permanent girlfriend and then marriage thing. Actually got married and bought a house and even had names for our unborn kids. Well that went poof in the end but it took five years and there was a chance to get back into it just before the end if I wanted. The telling part is that I didn’t go back, and that was it. From 35 to 42 I was back to experimenting with lifestyles in fringe groups and from 42 to today it was all FOF and IAIJ – and there is my entire life for you…..


Really, I was never a part so society. More so when I was young but once those character traits are set it is almost impossible to change them. When I look at society I don’t’ see it from within, I see it from the outside – as an outsider. In fact after my divorce I jumped from fringe group to fringe group where I was actually able to find some kinship. And from some groups you would never think would let a guy like me in. Birds of a feather so to speak. Anyway even though I was schooled in philosophy and business, it was these people who showed me how society really works. So my version of change is from the perspective from the outside looking in. I think it will always have to be this way. If you are a member of society with wife/kids, and a job and status and using all the organs of society – you have opted In. You have endorsed the current way society operates, sure, you and your kind may tweak things – but society is working for you, so why change it? Society didn’t work for me so I come bearing change. And sometimes change is necessary especially with a rapidly changing technology that changes society. And that is really what is going on here. The outsider, the loner and truth be told – an outlaw just like in the old westerns. Outlaws have no stake in society and thus can’t be controlled like a typical citizen. Sometimes they are in it for themselves and this flies in the face of laws and customs and they become a pestilence on society. But there are others that don’t buy into society but don’t create problems either. They live on the fringes of society, sometimes harassed by the police if they gather under some philosophical belief and sometimes they are just tolerated. The more extreme versions that are purely intellectual can even exist inside society but these are mostly loners, once an organization that lives together outside of societal conventions it is generally isolated and pushed outside of regular society. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that real change comes from outside of society. And that real change can only come from outlaws because it is they that ignore the laws and thus, can change the laws. They may make change or even become leaders, but they are watched regardless in this uneasy relationship between the leaders and the followers. It will always be lonely at the top and now you know why…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One thing I concealed a bit from this blog of sorts was my personal life, but you were never missing much because I haven’t much of a personal life anymore. The orgs and such have taken whatever I have away over the years. Maybe only 25% of me is left and the orgs own the rest. The only parts of my normal personality left come out in hobbies and such – like the car stuff. For example on Sunday morning a wanted to check out some car and took another drive up north and even just the drive to the dealerships got interesting:


“I took my car for a ride up north. I was in a hurry so I snuck up behind the car that was going faster than the others. Long story short this car got to “uncomfortable speeds” but slowed way down to see who was shadowing their car. It slowed down so much I had to pass and to my surprise it was this chick and she was busy eating a McDonald’s breakfast (must have be up to something last night) she followed me off this off ramp and came up beside me at this stop light. And we looked at each other but I could not be bothered to roll down the window and start something. I’m way older than her but don’t look it. She followed me a couple of stops more and gave up. I know I’m the biggest wimp.”


That is just a posting to some other gear heads but this is what passes for what is left of my life and it isn’t too exciting as you can see. I did check out the car I was interested in and it was this Callaway Corvette that puts out 750 horsepower as you can see below:










Already sold, but like I’m going to get the dream car now that I have another 30 years to go……










I did check out another interesting car a few days ago and it was this Camaro ZL1 which has the supercharged Corvette motor putting out 650 horsepower. The cool thing about this car is the aerodynamic package which has wings on the front bumper and a hug spoiler on the back. This car goes to 198 mph so in this case the over the top areo pieces are actually needed and functional! Just more car porn for those into performance cars.










What else…..


Yes, I also got two whitehead pimples - one for each nostril – and that was a sight to behold. They are still there making my nose look ridiculous. Another part of my private life you really did not need to know about. And I’ll leave it at that. Me, personally is a boring trip, but there is a man in there somewhere. A part of a man I guess. But that is what is left and at my age there isn’t much after you take away the companies and orgs. That is sad in a way and I’m not sure it could have gone any different.

So a new week and stuff will get done. I up my exercise program and after today we shall see if I can go one whole week without Starbucks!


See how boring my private life is…..





Goodnight.....






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3MhS_TzPbA&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The positive mandate presentation kit is coming along nicely…..





Above it the report in bound form and that will go with its published report in The Fortress. Below is the rotating display with the positive mandate name and so on there to remind you of the mandate!





So things are coming along nicely. I will probably just burn copies of the DVD shows and set that up first just to have a complete presentation kit ready to go. I am really rushing this as I am salty to start pitching and contacting people and nations about the idea. I know the reality of what I am trying to do – but the fact I made it to this point is really exciting and satisfying.


I know the probabilities and all the rest. You just have to appreciate the feeling of accomplishment to have built an organization and strategically positioned yourself to make this type of play. Even before I start contacting member nations it is a win for all of us at this organization, and a win for me personally. We are doing what I envisioned we should be doing, promoting creativity and letting the ideas be disseminated at venues that matter and have influence. And that was the plan all along, so if we get further than that, then it is all gravy from here on…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 12:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one because I had to do things before it rains…..




DVDs of our TV series!



First is that I burned all the DVDs for the TV series which the mandate is based on. I will label them and if you see the photo here above then it is done. Then all that remains is the cover letter and I am ready to start to contact places like the Holy See and see if I can talk to the people there. And by people I mean the head people and that is where we are aiming for.


I’m going for it, all the head people. Some may laugh but you have to have the gumption and sureness to ask for such an audience. If you start lower nobody takes you seriously. The folks at the top are just plain humans at their core and what they have on the rest of us is why they have the positions that they have. But a good idea is always of interest to everyone and I think we have one here with the positive mandate. So we go for the brass ring and if we don’t get that we see just how far down the ladder we drop till we get our say. But you aim for the top is all I am saying.




Three of my BP readings today!



Next is the health kick thing. So it turns out the lump is not cancer, but they were worried about my higher than normal blood pressure readings as I was in the chair waiting for surgery to remove a suspicious lump that may be cancer. I don’t know about you, but maybe the guy is nervous about the lump/cancer/surgery and that is the reason for the high blood pressure. Anyway I started monitoring my blood pressure. As a novice it was in the 130 systolic and high 80s to 90s diastolic. Then as I got used to the thing checking my pressure that lowered to the 120s and mid to high 80s or into the 90s. Then I started to get low 130s with mid 80s. Today it went even lower with the first at 97/82 to which I thought there must be something wrong with the machine, so I took it again and got 103/85 and those were sitting up. I tried another reading lying down and got 114/79 which looks accurate and just gets me into the normal range (120/80). The systolic is really the more important one and to go below 100 or just above is really good for my age. So to celebrate crossing the BP off my critical list of health concerns, I ate a handful of potato chips I was weaning myself off of, and then went to Starbucks bucking the oath never to go there again and had a mocha with the whip cream on it. All that was just me giving the middle-finger to the world and surviving. Then I looked at some cars and went to Staples where I found a keyboard for my iPad on sale and treated myself to that to finish celebrating.




My iPad in the keyboard case!



So that is it so far. Next up in health is cholesterol and then colonoscopy but all that can wait. If I still pull good numbers living on junk food, then I think I will ride this experiment to its end. I may get dementia later in my old age - but that is not on the horizon for this experiment. In other words, everything is green to give the mandate my all might now. And that is the update so far…..


Oh, and check out the bleed in on the LCD blood pressure monitor at the edges. That is a new device and look at what is happening to the screen. These things are not cheap and to have that happen really pisses me off! I just had to mention that.....


Later…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGXejiDkFy0&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2JZSSaFhIo&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is a very busy day so this will be a quickie…..



The Pope at the Untied Nations in New York City!


I am working on the positive mandate cover letter which is fairly straight forward, but I have to nail down some things. First of all is the official designation and greeting to the Pope. We will have two chances here and the first will be through the Vatican. I believe some different rules apply but I am just going by memory and I have to know for sure. My mother was Roman Catholic and was buried as a Roman Catholic almost three years ago. But I am a nobody religious wise. I did marry a Christian and got married in a Christian church and all. But I as an individual remain a religious enigma….. Also I need to know what is proper like can I send the thing in English or in one of their official languages (and I believe English isn’t one of them). Getting things right goes a long way to getting anywhere internationally. So that is where we stand on the advocacy front. There are two more contacts with one being somewhat of a mystery and I’ll keep it that way for awhile.








I also have to rush out and pick up the Twenty6Hundred CD work order. Like I said before it is always a Kodak moment to check the job for the first time and I will be leaving after I post this update. Then we upload files onto iTunes and the streaming music services world-wide and release the music officially!


That is about it for now. The crappy weather we have is an actual consideration as to what I can do. That is normally only an issue in the winter. But I still live under that cloud as spring has not arrived yet where I live…..




Later…..





www.youtube.com/twenty6hundred
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On Thursday I picked up Twenty6Hundred’s latest album “Until The End” at the plant!




The CD manufacturing plant!



That is the plant above. You park the car and go in the shipping door and see the lady that handles the orders and this guy looks for the boxes and fishes your order out. When he returns with the order on this wheeled tray you sign off on the order and take it to your car. I was surprised that the Mustang’s trunk took the larger of the boxes – but anyway – in the boxes went. I then opened one and took a look at the whole package and was pleasantly surprised – no issues.




The first opened CD!




So I texted Michael and wondered if he was home as the plant was not far from his house, but he was at work so I left a package of CDs for the band and would bring over more at a later date.


I’ll leave it at that for now. We have to upload the songs to iTunes and the streaming services and all the rest before the official release. It is amazing how making music properly is as complicated as it always was, except now there is even less money. So why do I continue to do this? Because it supports the positive mandate, and the other general concepts of our organization devoted to creative expression of all forms - because it makes us happy. The music is expensive and our FOFSTOCK concert was one of the most expensive projects at FOF; but I would not change a thing. It was all a great experience and even though I swore up and down I would never do another concert, well, I may be truly considering it now. I love the big outdoor concerts. Woodstock (both of them) is like the ultimate. Big towers surround the stage and a sea of people as far as you can see. That is living large. The fact that you can put on this event by yourself and at the end of the day see performers and crowds happy – and think: I did that! It’s just a great feeling! Of course you don’t think that at the time it is going on. In fact FOFSTOCK was one of the longest days of my life and just one crises after another and then loading Big heavy Marshall amps and a drum kit and so on in the middle of the night. Even getting on the Skyjack in the middle of the night to take down the FOFSTOCK banner was an experience! And then everyone (including police officers) wanting to bang that gong Twenty6Hundred asked for – the same one used by Nazareth back in the day! But when time passes by, nostalgia kicks in and you consider the previously unthinkable – and that is FOFSTOCK 2….. I guess it is like child birth; the actual birth is this miserable painful thing – but when it is over you quickly forget that and want to do it again. Maybe the analogy is right and maybe it is wrong as I never gave birth. But you get the idea…..




FOFSTOCK prior to the start of the music festival! The gong is on the right of the stage.



FOFSTOCK from the stage!



FOFSTOCK at night!!


As for the positive mandate update - well- I was just making sure our NTSC based DVDs would play in countries that use PAL. So far it should. It is playing PAL based DVDs in NTSC countries that seems to have problems. We don’t have to worry about region codes like big blockbuster films do. So I may just stick with the DVD case of the TV series that the positive mandate is based.


Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59RbGzho9w&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZceAQSJvc&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This weekend will be a shut-in weekend due to bad weather. Anyway Friday brings in a new recruit…..




Shooting into the mirror at the photo shoot!



That is me and Veronica shooting photos of Twenty6Hundred’s latest CD: Until The End”; which will be released shortly. That shot was into a mirror as we were taking a break (the reason the camera looks "weird" is because I have a professional lens and pro flash on this teeny tiny consumer DSLR). So Veronica will be a production assistant and staff member throughout our organization effective immediately. I will let Laura make the official announcement over the weekend. But for now we will get the informal introductions out of the way and get Veronica used to having her mug appear all over our websites with absolutely no control over what and how that material is presented. Our FOF form of frosh so to speak.




Pose like an egyptian!



So to start things off is a photo that should have made it into the dust bin but which I love because the sum of the photography mistakes becomes greater than the whole. The pose is great and I turned the camera sideways to accentuate that profile to the right and it worked. Just a glowing shadow outline on both sides would just ruin the thing but this actually works despite all the odds. When it’s an error laden wreck of a photo you just rock with it the way it is so there she is with underarm sweat and bruises on her arms and pimples and zits – and yet – the photo friggin rocks! If I shot this in the studio there would be no shadows or I would make it more deliberate and stylized. The body marks would be erased and even the smile lines in the corner would be gone. She would have no underarm sweat as they jump into their outfits just before they hit the lights and even have toilet paper in the pits to keep it all dry. There are some laughable outtakes from some famous personalities where the toilet paper is still in the arm pits as they go live on the air, etc…




A typical "boring" shot for use in an announcement!



But I like the photo regardless. The photo I shot that we will probably use for the FOF intro is the one above. No flash burning into the background. No shadow, and no zits either! So that is the boring shot we will use but I like the other one better as that is how humans come from the factory!




Samantha Blackwell



So a new face joins the ranks. But remember I have others that have spent considerable amounts of time working with me. Take Sam for example. Almost half her life has been spent as a member of my gang. Yes almost 14 years or half her entire life! Here is a recent photo (about a week ago) of Sam, my red headed girl and “right hand woman”. Boy, how time can connect you to these kids – or – young adults as they grow up and I just get older. 14 years…..


Anyway, welcome aboard Veronica!



In other news from FOF Records:





Shane Murphy and Kiko from Megadeath!



Shane met and interviewed Kiko from the band Megadeath! I think we will do a write up on that one. Stay tuned!





Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzcgZ_p3CMM&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, it’s a wintery. Cold, snowy wonderland in the middle of April…..


That didn’t stop me from going out to my neighborhood dive bar and having a drink after eating a McDonald’s supper. How many people do you know have a glass of red wine after a quarter cheese burger combo at McDonalds? But that was me and I just got home about a little before one in the morning. So a busy week in the end. I did snag Veronica for the orgs. I know you guys out here will probably think it’s all about a good looking woman but in the end it was up to her and something about this reality I created made her join up. In that respect she is ours and not the first as many of you long timers know.


Laura wrote:
FOF Welcomes Veronica Fade to our Office!



By Laura Tommasone,

Fortress of Freedom Inc.
FOF RECORDS Inc.
FOF Entertainment Inc.
International Archiving of Independent Journalists Inc.
More Vision Inc.






Veronica Fade



The IAIJ-FOF Group of corporations is pleased to announce that Veronica Fade was offered and has accepted an office staffing position at the organization. This position took effect immediately as of April 13 (2018). Her duties will include general office duties and occasional support in the field during media events.


I’m sure I can speak for all at this organization in wishing Veronica all the best in her new position!




FORTRESS OF FREEDOM: BRINGING THE MASS MEDIA TO THE MASSES!



Can I blame her, criticize her, chastise her for taking an interest. I know, she is a woman with boobs and a vagina all that. But since women bring people into this world, this reality; can I criticize her, or deny her, the chance to be a part of setting up the world those children will enter? Remember, what we are doing here precedes religion and faith. I am messing with the machine at its core elements. Nobody wants to talk about it, but have you ever wondered what your reality, or in fact everyone’s reality is based on? The reality that keeps us out of that abyss of anarchy because each individual is brought into the world with a reality that is not consistent – anything goes. The result is anarchy that dooms humanity to extinction. Some form of common reality is better than none. My version of this base kernel reality is one based on happiness. I chose happiness as that is what we want, that is what we desire, and that is a prime motivator. And, by making that as a basis for reality I then have a reality that is as hard as hardened steel and as resistant to nefarious influences as you could possibly get because everyone wants to be happy – and is anyone going to argue that…..


At this organization we do creativity and free expression as that makes people happy, but we also do the advocacy and use the creative environment as the base argument to appeal for change as in the positive major mandate at the UN. There is nothing wrong with being a part of this. So we just keep recruiting at all corporations. It is harder than you think as just based on my optics people are distrustful of the organization. That was a given when I started and one of the reasons we need change. You just push and push and push. People are sort of like walking hard drives and you can reprogram things if your arguments are compelling enough. I think my ideas are compelling enough and that is the reason we are on a mission to advocate nations at the UN for this mandate.


Ok, enough of the dry arguments.




Veronica with glasses


On Saturday it was shut in time due to the elements so I started getting the images for the CD update article for Twenty6Hundred. We also had to select the photos of Veronica for the different orgs. We used the one I picked for the FOF companies as it is more the usual attractive fun type of person. But for the journalist org we needed something more subdued. So I got one of the photos with her wearing glasses with her head tilted a bit as if questioning something and cropped out the red shirt with “bite me” on it.




Veronica with glasses X2


I also had another where we had her looking a bit more nerdy and desaturated the shirt to make her look more like this introverted intellectual. But in the end we went with the first one. See all the angst that goes into making a simple personnel announcement!


For Sunday we should have the CD manufacturing update done and posted. I am also taking care of things in my house since I am shut in because of the weather. And that is about it for now…..



Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well shucks, me and Shane got together and made our own little article about making a CD album in 2018:


Shane Murphy wrote:
TWENTY6HUNDRED’s “Until The End” CD Production is Finished!



By Shane Murphy, FOF Inc. / FOF Records Inc.



The Fortress of Freedom and FOF Records corporations are excited to announce that CD production of TWENTY6HUNDRED’s latest album Until The End is now finished manufacturing.




The CD manufacturing plant!




The first opened CD!



We picked up the special run of CDs at a plant call Microforum located in Toronto’s west end. Above is a photo of the first package we opened to inspect for defects. Luckily there were none and we now have CDs for presentation, promotion and for those audiophiles that can’t accept anything but the best of 16 bit full, fat music files as mastered by the band! What follows are some photos of the genuine article:








The front of the CD!






And the back of the traycard!







This is the inside of the extractable four panel insert!






And the dedication panel!






Finally here is the actual CD as mounted in the CD tray!





So all of us at FOF and TWENTY6HUNDRED are pleased and proud of the CD production. A lot of work, and I mean a lot of work goes into the manufacturing of an actual CD. From the files alone that make the music to the artwork and formatting and dealing with intermediaries and the plant. It all comes together to produce a product. Yes, CDs are an actual product with manufacturing labeling and all the rest you see on every product you buy off the shelves.


Many say the days of physical media are practically dead. But music you can hold in your hand. Artwork large enough to properly behold and information about all who had a hand in making the album is part of what making music is all about. Much of that is lost in a digital download/stream with just a small jpg of the front of the album and nothing less. So we at FOF keep producing CDs as the death of physical media is not quite dead yet!




http://twenty6Hundred.com
http://fofrecords.com





FOF RECORDS: CUTTING EDGE MUSIC!



So the CDs are made and next thing to do is digital distribution. I just sent the files off to the digital universe and when it all goes on-line is up to anyone’s guess. All we do now is wait and then officially release the album! What is it now – 12 years with this band? Yup, twelve years since Michael created it back in 2006. My how time flies! Look at me – I’m an old man – some say I don’t’ look it but I see it. Perhaps a bit better preserved than others, but nobody dodges the grim reaper’s sickle. The Fates have given me the health and vitality to see the mission through. The Mission….. Whoever wrote this plot that is my life is a real gambler. How I got to any position, to any striking point, to any realistic strategy for success; is a mystery to me. But here we are…..


The weather sucks and the car stays a home today. So I have been busing it. I was the only one on the bus yesterday as conditions were so crappy. The bus driver was happy that I was his last customer and he got to go home after he dropped me off. Even though the bus was an express he nevertheless let me off on my street because we were the only ones on the bus (he called it a legitimate limo service). Anyway the weather has me down but things are a happening at the mighty FOF and IAIJ! Sure it sucks to be making these plays at my age but I doped it out and they (the kids) can’t do it on their own, they can’t do it as I tried that myself in my late 20s. If I gave up any ideas of kids and family and wife then maybe I could have shaved off 4 or 5 years but that is the bare minimum to get where I am now. 54 as opposed to 58? At least those years answered the question in my mind about living the “everyone’s life”. It didn’t’ work for me. I could have suffered the rest of my life for the family but I had other plans. So this is about as good as it gets. The kids in their twenties and early thirties are just going to have to accept the fact that their future hinges on aging fossils like me going to bat for them.


Of course, lurking in this aging fossil of a man is the same 28 year old with the same aspirations I had back then. I took my orders from him at the start of this and didn’t dismiss them and - look – we have a chance. A chance and things may go bad from here on. But nobody truly knows the future save for the mythical Fates. I guess it was worth it to make this play. Right now the only thing holding me back is myself – yes myself….. Others face outside pressures but mine at this moment are all within my ability to act. That is a good place to be. I won’t drone on and on about this; but I just wanted to document that I made it to this point and that I really should have no regrets. Out of billions and billions of people I really have no right to bitch about not having it all. Family spells the end of this advocacy. Almost everyone goes the family way but maybe a handful (or less) out of all those billions are doing what I am doing. So this was the correct path for me.


There! That gives me some piece of mind. We move forward…..


Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6yeHn9WEw&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



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Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

More craptastic weather, more snow and ice everywhere. I only mention this as it has an effect on your disposition and emotions. With that set of grey tinted glasses we continue…..





Lo and behold Twenty6Hundred’s album “Until The End” is now at iTunes! I checked and it was there late last night. Everything is correct and the graphics especially pop – Congrats to Amy May! And congrats to Twenty6Hundred for another rock ‘in album! I quickly downloaded some songs to check them out in my iPhone 6s Plus. Everything works as is should. So with that out of the way we should go into all the other stores and streaming services with no issues. The iTunes placement is the most critical as it is the only place where you can still make money selling music. You will make nothing, nadda, didly-squat from streaming and the others. As much as artists bitched about record labels using and abusing them for profit back in the day – those memories are now just a warm and fuzzy utopia compared to artists in the music industry today. Artists keeping all the royalties means artists keep a few pennies and get the shaft every which way to do anything. In essence the listener paid to keep the music industry going and now the artists are the ones that pay. Except at FOF where we still support our gang with hard cash, but we are unique. Our music becomes a part of the fabric for a cause and a mission to help improve humanity. It is not a sole financial business venture, for if it was we would have gone under years ago. But give our music a listen, and if you like something download it and get it into your playlist while supporting your artists in their craft!





We may actually be the last indie left standing that has any claim to a legitimate business designation. Check the bottom of the iTunes page for the album and you will see credit to Fortress of Freedom Inc. and FOF Records Inc. and the only place you will see multiple corporate designations is in the big catalogs of the big three record companies. Most were snapped up by acquisitions but we came into the industry with an ulterior motive and still stand. We still stand and now the people we do business with don’t seem to have a default classification for indie record labels. They call us the “artist” in some places. And that is what the industry has come to…..


Anyway getting the music distributed leads me back to the positive mandate and bugging the nations that matter for endorsement and support. Then there is the TV stuff. You may have forgotten about it but not me. That is still in play with many broadcasters.




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is the first day since Friday that I can have any semblance of normality. My first urge was to go to a Starbucks and look at some cars. But I was forced from Starbucks due to weather and I was supposed to cut out Starbucks, and there was controversy over treatment of Blacks in stores – so – I am drinking coffee at my place and then venturing out…..


What else?


Well – we are checking digital distribution points for our music as they begin to get populated. iTunes came fast but here are all the digital distribution points for Twenty6Hundred's latest album “Until The End”:


iTunes. Apple Music, SimfyAfrica, YouTube Art Tracks, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, MediaNet, VerveLife, Tidal, Gracenote, Shazam, 7 Digital, Juke, Slacker, KKBox, Akazoo, Anghami, Spinlet, Neurotic Media, Yandex, Target Music, Claromusica, Zvooq, Saavn, 8Tracks, Q.Sic, Musicload, Kuack, Boomplay Music, Pandora (but they decide if you are worthy), Amazon On Demand (CDs).


It may take a while but those are the stores the music will be sold in. It’s not all about music. All sorts of stuff happening around here. I won’t get into it all, but man can this place consume all of your energy!


The thing that bugs me the most is getting old. Seeing more grey hair. For example I used to just have 3 grey hairs on my left arm right on the wrist where you can see it. Now there is 8-10. I know that is minuscule and I won’t even get to the grey on my head. But in small ways like this you see that time is passing by and you are getting older. We are in a drag race to finish projects and ambitions. But like so many people state on their death bed. It is not work that you will miss but the interpersonal relationships. And I am a guy that has few of those. And even there I lost my mother and best friend of 40 years recently. I fear that when things get resolved and settled down there will just be this big hole, this abyss that will be the life I never really had. That bothers me when things quiet down. It’s too late to change that and life is what it is. You just have to deal with those cards life gives you. Being a brown guy with a Muslim name has dogged me in North American society since I was born. The dark skin was one big thing. But I never saw the massive impact religion has on your life and especially with women. That last name! It was death to my social life and I never really knew why at the time. People are thick that way. But the corollary is that you can program that out and things can change. And yes the qualities I use today are a direct result of my past and the hardening I needed to survive. But yes, a simple name and whole segments of women are not available to you. Then add in the fact you are black in a white world – well then it just sucks the big one!



Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOHPuY88Ry4&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one today as I slept in…..


Time to tidy up things with the music. When we have availability in the major stores we will officially release the ‘Until The End” album at FOF. If possible we may have a get together to deliver the bulk of CDs to the artists and maybe a few interviews and such. Then I can go back to concentrating on the mandate again. There is more going on but that is mostly resolved; so I can continue without this multi-tasking quagmire I was under lately.


And that is about it for now…..



Later…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We may and I repeat – may –have a CD release event on Sunday for the official launch of Twenty6Hundred’s latest album "Until The End” now available to sample or purchase through all the usual sources.


I am going back to the positive mandate advocacy getting the organizational structures of those we aim to advocate first. I am literally flogging myself to keep pushing forward as there is much going on here in the sidelines that you could be distracted – but you just keep chugging ahead. You always have less time than you think you do and that is almost a universal law of nature. Things are actually closing up on me faster than I know so you just have to go for it…..


In other news:


The weather is finally warming up so I may rinse off the salt from the car (again) and get into a more positive mood. I back slid with my pledge to quit Starbucks. Funny thing is they actually served me quicker than the others before me – probably due to some nastiness that happened in the States to two black guys at a Starbucks because that never happened to me before…..



Me with or first issue of The Fortress almost exactly 14 years ago!


You want it all to continue. The growing organization, the open future, the hope for something better. All this that we made so far. It will not make up for the loss me and others like myself suffered in this Canadian environment. It really bugs me that my best friend died not having much of a life even by my standards. He isn’t the only one. All that grew up like me are damaged goods with very few married with kids and more likely social misfits doing nothing productive. Will what I am doing be productive? We don’t know yet – and the truth is that I am just trying my best with what I can do because I can’t change the world from the ground up. You change it from the top down, and I need the UN and member nations for that. So the advocacy continues…..




Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKLnmMacEB4&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHA0H8peZ0&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one as I had to get out and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine…..


The weather had its effect on me with snow after a month of no snow. I’m just doing the car thing and exercising as per my health kick thing. Right now I listening to some Death Metal; I hate Death Metal or I hated it but I am getting into it a bit. This is coming from a strictly pop oriented guy most of his life. Hell, I even listened to “How Much is That Doggie in the Window”….. I just followed a regimen of evaluating music giving it a couple of passes or even forcing myself to give it a couple of passes and surprisingly you can get hooked into a Death Metal song. The latest is “Eye of Chaos” by “Once Human” – a band created around an attractive thin girl who can sing. Now understand that women who can truly sing are as rare as hens’ teeth and are not thin as a rule. So when you find one you build the band around them. Finding guys for this is just like putting your finger up in the air and the lineup starts…..



Once Human


So I played it a few times starting yesterday and now after about 120 plays it is still going on strong. Usually 40 plays without listener fatigue is hit song material so this is a winner but handicapped by the genre and the stigma placed on it by the general public, but it is what it is. I figured Death Metal was created by the Britney Spears/Justin Bieber pop direction years ago. That is what created the Death Metal backlash in my mind. You wonder what happened to Rock? Well it is still there but it is really Heavy Metal and Death Metal. Real drums and guitars and such – just like before! Most of the Heavy Metal I listen to is new music as in present day. Things evolve but when we don’t even try to get into something new, then we make ourselves irrelevant - may as well head off to the old folk’s home I guess…..



Later…..



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AkLE4X-bbU&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHA0H8peZ0&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a quickie as I have no time today and have to pick Shane up and head over to the Twenty6Hundred CD release party!


This morning we decided to petition some Royalty that push their own advocacy at the United Nations. These people would be especially favorable to our cause as they don’t have to worry about optics as much as the politicians and are still working within the diplomatic arena. I already have a short list of people as you notice or run across them occasionally as speakers. It was at that moment going over the music and TV stuff and advocacy, that Sue wiggled it out of me that perhaps all the hassle and time and money involved was worth it no matter what happens now.


I suppose so but we keep moving the bar and doing more. Anyway that is what happened so far. I could muse about more happenings especially on Saturday, but I have to go. More later - I promise you…..



Later…..
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