Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

Well the purpose for FOFSTOCK has now been changed for 200 bucks.



Basically the first purpose was to be a music festival, and secondly to advocate for musicians and indie music organizations, to today's purpose that brings the two together.



Now, I read somewhere that you could request pre-clearance for a purpose aimed at becoming a charity and I didn't like it. I believe the purpose of an organization should be formed totally within the organization with no external forces. For this latest purpose I did it on my own. The purpose stands on itself whether we get charity status or not. FOFSTOCK is a music festival from its start in 2011 to the 2024 and 2025 attempts, those were all music festival submissions. But FOFSTOCK also advocates as showed many times in the news feed. So its purpose reinforces all that. The only thing that points to a possible charity is the first few words about increasing the appreciation of the arts - the rest is all FOFSTOCK. We have it all there and it should meet CRA definitions, but there are lines I will not cross - crossing these lines can not shape the purpose to something weaker if we did it before changing it officially (i.e. using pre-clearance). However it may make us reject charity status if it crosses those lines, like we have to only be Canadian and not international, or you can't be political and we are not as we are outside that and totally global - but you never know how the CRA will look at it.



Anyway, I would rather make our own purpose without influence from the CRA then to save 200 bucks. I would rather make a purpose that is our honest intent and then defend it to the CRA if they have issues. Like keeping humanity lower case in the purpose was correct, the way we made the current purpose was the correct move, even if it costs us charity status.....



Oh, if anyone is interested in what I just happen to be listening driving home from work - here we go:



Hyperdrive, Jeff Lorne's Fusion (Jazz)



Play Destroy, Poppy & Grimes (social statement pop?)



Living in a Box, Living in a Box (Sophisti-Pop)



And there you go, in the order for full songs - what I listened to on my drive home. I'm all over the place and best suited for an all inclusive Music Festival like FOFSTOCK!



Honourable mentions if curious in the last hour of the list:


Feeling Groovy, Harper's Bizarre
Up, Up and Away, Fifth Dimension
Deacon Blues, Steely Dan
The Boy, R.B.M (Ralph's Hard Core Mix)
Big Time (Original Mix), That Kid Chris



You get the idea - all over the place - then there is the Metal Stuff..... Hahaha.....



Ok, I'll throw some tame metal your way and it's in the mix: Dark Night of the Soul, Crypta





Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/sFyYi1xX3do?si=8R9HQmucXkX8bYBG



https://youtu.be/k8XVZ65JEB0?si=1VyopJ0Ab8SjEJtH



https://youtu.be/WF9SUO3iOSY?si=EKkFMFXUz1ctsM0F



https://youtu.be/tRK5MH8SP4I?si=f9ffd7BMuLBcRmv1

[Maurice Ali]

I might be headed to the UN sometime in July for the High Level Political Forum. I have registered but need to have that endorsed by the United Nations. I applied to speak but good luck with that! We did enter a written statement so we are involved already. We shall see how it goes, but I also need that UN grounds pass so a couple of things happening there.







Work on the charity continues on the FOFSTOCK charity application. We may only need the budget and then be able to start the submission process. This takes like over half a year and your application has an actual progress bar - that tells you something right there..... I may make it a goal to officially submit by the end of next week as I have it off. Remember that we don't have to have charity status, it makes the music festival more of an annual thing - but in the end it is not a necessity - 50/50 chance.







Also, Canadian charities can operate in the United States and we could probably keep our original EIN Number - but I'm not totally sure about that?




AAVRY KNAPP



More music from Lucifari as normally that would be an album - but these days it plays out as singles for social media.







Oh, now that we are also getting possible Ebola cases in Canada - anyone still laughing at me getting those masks like last week?




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/SQNtGoM3FVU?si=QqddZJv7ZolcWIsz



https://youtu.be/KDZZXK1BZ6U?si=7z8lf5eKRKB77lb0

[Maurice Ali]

Eric Schmidt speaking at the WSIS+10!




Yes, I was in the "nose bleed seats" and he was at the high table, but still - in those chambers and you could wander around at the end and meet people.



The kids at university were recently booing Eric Schmidt formerly CEO of Alphabet - Google talking about how great AI is. Times have changed and back in 2015 at the WSIS+10 Review I ended up in the same room with the man and after the speeches I could have just walked up and introduced myself and shook his hand. Truth be told, I was too nervous back then. Here was this guy heading one of the largest companies on earth and worth 10 Billion (44 billion in 2026) at the time.










In many ways in the passage of ten years - me getting a photo of myself shaking hands with Eric Schmidt with a big smile on my face would not hold me in good stead with the 20 somethings now. The internet is forever and that photo would always come up when my honesty and integrity was tested with the Worldwide Vote and that new global layer for the Positive Mandate for humanity.



As an aside, Eric sure looked like he was wearing the same make of suit as I wear (no it's obviously not the same suit or color in that room, but the maker seems the same to what I have in the closet). If he did it is understandable as the suit makes geeky guys like the two of us more athletic and it travels well and does not wrinkle. He also lets his tie dangle from the collar like me and those cuffs - again just like me - except I'm not worth 10/44 billion dollars! Now if I still had my Rolex watch on me, you could really be just like all those movers and shakers - until the car and house and company equity made its appearance. But in those chambers with no security around him or his staff, it becomes a great equalizer which is something I love about the United Nations!



Again, being up close and next to all these "important" people has the effect of enabling and empowering you to believe that "you" can change the world.....



Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

i just watched Marty Supreme.....







The ending - was premature but whatever. I bought the movie because my dad was district champ at table tennis so guess who got forced to learn table tennis as a kid? My last paddle was a Stiga 2000 that I still have.



I was also a snooker player - by choice - and had one of the best cues in the world back in the mid-eighties, an Adam's CQ3. It has a crack at the screw in joint. I may go to Dufferin Cues and see if they could correct the cue and all that. They probably won't but what the hell. I use a signature cue now that replicates my old Adam's - so it can wait but I'll call them and find out.


I slept most of Saturday as it just rained throughout the day. I did decide to get the hardest part of the charity application started. That in the history of charity like services as a demonstration that we are worthy of charity status. That may be the killer right there as in three years we have not done a FOFSTOCK. We tried but that is the reality. I can show past events under the for profit corporations putting the music festival and bar events and all
that but it may not count. So In drop the chance of becoming a charity to 35%. We still apply - but don't get your hopes up.....



Anyway, the vacation has started.




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/ZdfdilTPaeo

[Maurice Ali]

Second wasted day of the vacation - but I have caught up with my sleep.



Time is running out on that new Canadian government bill that collect data and store it via the telecoms for a year. Anyway, I figured I would go over my privacy phones and see if anything needed changing. I figured - what the hell - and I would put Lineage OS on my Nord N30 since everyone said it was a Linux privacy phone. Anyway it's not a true Linux phone but a forked version based on the Android open source project - sort of like Graphene OS but not as good. I l wiped the phone to install the OS and started to get reports of issues with the phone and bank apps and the usual. I already have the Linux Pinephone that is useless and Graphene OS loses privacy when you start installing Google Play on it. So at best Linkage OS is a mild "de-googled" phone - and seriously - it is not worth it to have that and then buy another Android phone as a backup. Even reading various comments questioning Lineage OS for privacy when Graphene OS exists - and of course I already have Graphene OS, so why bother. But I already wiped the device and so I had to add all the apps and services back. It's mostly back to usable but more work adding back all the email accounts and all that. I gues in a way it was good to review my security situation with the phones before government privacy policies change the privacy landscape again. Some VPN companies say they will leave Canada along with Signal I think but not sure of. However, why this had to happen on vacation is a bit of a waste.



I will try to salvage the weekend with work on the more miserable parts of the charity application. So I guess there is that. Lots of work on both houses has to be done - it just never ends.



Some personal lonely moments - you wonder what your life would be like if.....



If you are young, you don't know how lucky you are! The open future filled with grandious lifestyles and luck. A future worth living for! Fast forward a couple of decades and your future is written - and that is the best outcome. It could always be worse.....



So today I boldly tried something and had to go back to where it was before. All I wasted was time. But I am running out of time. Others that have families - you could think they have it made - but maybe they don't. I was watching this guy bitch about his kid and that he took early retirement to keep the family together - yikes! Maybe he looks at me and says "that's the life fulfilling your reams and ambitions. But I face a wall of rejection and defiance. Nobody wins it seems.....



Anyway, I have to get the application off to the CRA and draw attention to myself and my taxes again - what could possibly go wrong there? But it is worth the go - true musicians can't do what I can do so it's on me to do it. See how life is?




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/OyCDicG0tDs?si=3PU0U7Ph3OGT66bv

[Maurice Ali]

The Android phone is completely set up and can take over if the iPhone gets destroyed. It even hooks up to my car and plays my music and all that. The problem with Lineage OS and other distros like that is that these ones never completely work as well as an iPhone or Google Android phones. Problems with banking apps, no digital wallet that works reliable. Then cameras are not optimized so photos can look crappy. The video is sort of crippled and this is a known issue on my phone. Even making a phone call can result in dodgy connections and crackling audio - they will say: "Who uses the phone as a phone" but you get the drift.



So I'm back to iPhone, Android, Graphene and Linux - and there it will stay.



I'm adding in screen shots of FOFSTOCK's corporate info into the application essentials. It's humming along as expected. All we can do is submit and try. This weekend I may give another go to Meta. Even Apple needed a second attempt.







The air conditioning has been restored at my dad's place. I was sure they would sell us a new unit but this brown guy shows up and looks at the ginormous unit that was previously installed and he was impressed. So what he did was replace parts in line that blew with a power surge to the unit. This also included opening up our new furnace and replacing a fuse there. Now it all works and he's said everything else was fine and the freon was the correct pressure and all. I really liked this guy.



Now I'm off to the mall for a walk and to clear my head before it's back home and cleaning and back to the charity application. I've also decided to add the idea of side events at bars and clubs leading up to the main event at SanKofa Square - if we get charity status all this is possible.....




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

Tuesday was a good day.




Everything new - including the case!



After the air conditioner was fixed I took off in my own and went to Solo Guitars in Concord. I told them about my issue with the reflector falling off a button on the new Gibson Flying V. You can't get those knobs anywhere now but the store had their own line and the reflectors looked hen same. Looked the same? They were exactly the same and mutilating then 5 buck knob had the reflector fly off and fit in the original knob fine.




Done - now I have a new guitar!



That photo show it to be a perfect fix - that was nice! I also went to Sunrise music at the Promenade and bought the Woodstock movie to keep me in the mood. Then off to a Long & McQuade nearby just for kicks and back home. I also bought some luthier tools at Solo but got the wrong truss rod tool and will have to return that. However it was a nice afternoon!


More work on the charity application.



I'll hose out all the salt in my garage and we will clean out my dad's garage before the end of the vacation. I'll pay some property taxes and check the brake shoes in the Mustang and see if they need replacing. Vacation stuff if you aren't going anywhere.




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

First draft of the hardest part of the charity application is done!






The Mustang gets its brakes worked
on. Over 120,000km for a sports car is commendable. The garage got cleaned out on Wednesday. Plus I returned the truss rod tool I bought by mistake and got a guitar rest instead!




Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

The brakes finally got done.....



I was still amazed at how long those brakes lasted and I still had no issues at all - but nine years, it was time. Anyway this young brown kid was working on the car. I looked at the actual pads and they had worn down to almost to the wear marker - so it was time. The kid doing the job was adamant to get the rotors replaced as after all the brakes were nine years old with no servicing. Also I wanted them to change the brake fluid as it had turned dark brown. The boss came with the estimate and it was high and he took it down slightly but noted the kid was buying powered coated rotors and stuff like that. I noticed a highly modified Mustang on the lot which was probably his. This has happened before as mechanics with performance cars pick their favorite cars to work on them (Mustangs in this case) as the jobs come up. They always did right by me in the past so I just decided to let the kid work his magic on the brakes and take the cost up the ass.



The brake job was proper. I took a plastic straw and took some brake fluid and dripped on some tissue and clean and yellow as it should be. Drove it around and everything perfect - the kid did a solid job. I actually like the powdered rotors as they won't rust up like the OEM rotors and look better with the open wheels performance cars always have. Plus no dings or scratches hat always happen when I take the car to the dealer. This was a major thing I got done this week - it's done.....



Other stuff like charging up batteries in the office. More work on the charity stuff and off to the grocery store with the family. I have to remember to note in the application that the music festival will have side events along with the main stage event. We have literally tons of experience there!



The vacation is running out but all the vital stuff is done.....




Goodnight.

[Maurice Ali]

So Friday I took the Buick Enclave in to change the oil and radiator fluid. The lube guys did their usual crappy job and missed replacing at least four push button pins that held the cover on. Those pins were under the wiper blades ready to fly off - but they are on now! I'm the end both cars got necessary servicing. I started cleaning up around the house as that has to be done.



The vacation is coming to an end but stuff got done. The air conditioning can be a life and death thing for really old people and I'm glare that is done. The car stuff got done especially those brakes on the Mustang. Those beautiful powder coated rotors now have the brake surfaces ground down a bit as it beaks in. Getting stuff like this done always requires a day off so getting it done on a week off makes sense. Finding that exact replacement reflector for the knob on the Gibson Flying V I got was just good luck. I also got some more luther supplies. Nobody cares about my guitar skills, but I can pass as an emergency tech on the site.



I also got some new hiking boots - same as the old hiking boots - and they will soon be in rotation.



Mowing lawns and searching for movies. I may just do that now before the store closes and finally do some hard braking to really brake the brakes in.



I didn't do any work on the charity application. Maybe later but since we kind of meet the standards I want to do it proper so no regrets later.



Goodnight.....



https://youtu.be/B8sEMmddib4?si=IAtby7GDyBbWBM1m

[Maurice Ali]

The vacation is over.....



Instead of recapping what I did it is easier to recap what I didn't do.



i was going to take my first decent snooker cue (an Adam's Cue CQ3 in ash with a ton of beautiful art work on the butt with the new fibre tip - plus, it is a completely straight cue with wood grain that lines up. Wickedly expensive back in the eighties) to be fixed. Anyway, Dufferin Cue now has their cues made in China now so no joy there and yes - the quality is not there anymore from what I hear. The one small company making cues here in Toronto doesn't do store front business anymore, so that went out the window. I also looked into how fixable was it and how much. It ended fast, I needed a new joint and there was a crack going up the front end of the shaft. That's usually a death sentence as the front shaft is the one that really impacts the ball and I shoot ash for its elastic abilities - but you need straight wood and a crack disrupts that "resonance" making it useless for serious play - this was all my fault and I guess it will just stay in a case as a sentimental thing.


My current cue is a a signature model. I hate those but this one came closest to what I had before in ash and even extenders! I have it in a lockable aluminium case but I really don't play anymore. I could hold my own back in the eighties. I pattered myself after Joe Davis (who got the first 147 break in snooker) back jn the day. Anyway, I digress but I was into it and bicycle racing in those days.



The charity application did not get done as planned but we are way more ahead in addressing the hardest issues and I will continue this now even after the vacation.



I don't know why I went in a snooker rant. We have a table at my dad's and event Super Chrystalate balls I bought back then. Those were the days. I also mentioned table tennis last week but I was also a decent chess player but only in school tournaments which always ended with me matched against this one guy - always the same guy - that would lull you into a classic game and such that you just gave up. He would move and sit back full of himself - and it was over (I did it to others and force the moves till you win - some got really angry at this). I did play the famous "Grandmaster Bum" at Ryerson many times back in the day (late 1970s). He would always win - we used the clock and when we stoped hitting the button the game reached "crunch time" even worse with a crowd around you. He did at one game note that I was getting good - and that was the only positive thing that ever came out of his mouth to me. He was written up in the local papers a few times so if you remember him - look him up!






Found him: Joe Smolij!





Goodnight.....

[Maurice Ali]

A short one.....


Just as a lark, I tried to find my original Adam's CQ3. These are made in Japan in the 1980s and were endorse by people like Canadian Cliff Thorburn. So a Canadian endorsement and that's why I bought it. So there you go. He sold that very cue he made the maximum 147 break with and it was on sale as recently as 2020 for about 19,000CAD.




His is my very own Adam's CQ3 from the 1980s!



They are not made anymore like that and are considered "vintage" like some
would refer to me.....




Goodnight.....





Cliff Thorburn making the 147 break in competition using the Adam's cue like the one I got:
https://youtube.com/shorts/4wYdIRptsCM?si=GT2iGjpMQRsMqjz4

[Maurice Ali]

Well, this happened today:








As usual I was having a miserable day with lots of bad luck and then around quarter to five this speaking invitation popped up in my email. Read carefully that even if you are selected it is not guaranteed and further a determination will be made at the event from the pool. So no guarantees but there is enough here that you have to go!







So go I will and I'll just have to hope for the best. Aside from that speech in 2015 in July which was a General Assembly meeting - this one is up there also - especially what I am advocating for. So I'll read my submission and cut it down to two minutes and see what happens.








I was also going to submit the second request to meet with Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, but I'll wait till after this event and see where we all are before going ahead with anything ahead of that event. However, after all this if there is nothing - then it's back to Meta and Mark Zuckerberg.....










Goodnight.....