Man, the weirdest things happen to me. And the things that happen to me are never quite what I want. I thought that somehow I would continue drumming here in some capacity, but I had no idea how to go about it. I wasn't even sure it was realistic.

So it's just so weird that I ended up today in a drumming group – more like a marching drum corps – in the big park across the street from where I live. All snare drums and a leader on a big bass drum. Definitely not what I would have predicted if someone told me I would continue drumming in Taiwan.

Even weirder, they're the drum "corps" for a political group, and not one I would be affiliated with. Political group supporters go on marches to protest other political groups, and they make a lot of noise while doing it. One way is by having a drum corps.

Oy, what have I gotten myself into.

Anyway, politics are a mess in Taiwan. I won't go into the details, but I align myself with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The DPP was the most successful opposition party to emerge after the ruling Kuomingtang (KMT) party lifted some 40 years of martial law in the late '80s.

There's a lot to not like about the KMT. Especially for "native" Taiwanese, those who were here before the KMT lost the war against Mao Tse-tung and the Communists and invaded Taiwan because they had no where else to go. My family is considered "native" – Chinese who came over from the mainland several centuries ago. The truly native Taiwanese are ethnically Pacific Islanders, not ethnic Chinese.

But for people stridently against the KMT, it would help to recognize that Taiwan as a nation would not exist even as it is without the KMT. Whatever little international standing Taiwan has is thanks to the KMT.

Anyway, this drum corps is affiliated with the "New Party", which I'd never heard of before, but they described themselves as the little brother of the KMT, so I'm thinking they might be some sort of branch reform party.

All I knew is that I want to continue drumming in some capacity, and I was walking through the park and heard these people hitting things with sticks. Next thing I knew, I had a snare drum slung around my waist and having my traditional grip skills put through their paces.

I'm not a traditional grip drummer, but fortunately I had put some time practicing it before I came. I also never learned how to read drum music, so how I ended up working through the patterns on sheet music astounded even me. It actually gave me a lot of confidence. I'm apparently more versatile than I was giving myself credit for!

And strangely, the only drum stuff I was able to bring were sticks and a practice pad, basically all I need to practice this stuff before the protest march on Sunday. Oy, what have I gotten myself into? Like politics anywhere, if you align yourself one way, you're lining yourself up to be hated by someone else. The least you can do for yourself is be hated for something you believe in. I'm only doing it for the drumming.

I can't describe what a twisted kick it was to be marching around a well populated park, practicing these patterns. However, I'm not shy about public performance as long as I'm in a group. And my concentration was focused on the sheet music I was trying to follow, while trying not to knock it off the drum head while playing. I was cross-eyed and dizzy by the end.

Why is my life so fucking weird, and why can't it be fucking weird in a way that I want it to be?

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Sparks of the Tempest (Kansas)
2. Sugar Mice (live) (Marillion)
3. Los Endos (Genesis)
4. Midnight Lullaby (Tom Waits)
5. Nevermind the Enemy (Archers of Loaf)
6. Little Bird/Little Boat (Bill Perkins - ultra lounge)
7. My Girl (The Temptations)
8. Security of the First World (Public Enemy)
9. Droned (Phil Collins)
10. Pale and Precious (Dukes of Stratosphear)