While You Were Sleeping, The Senate Passed a Bill to Kill Art

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS' PARTNERSHIP

Orphan Works Opposition: Plan B

SEPT 27 Yesterday, in a cynical move, the sponsors of the Senate Orphan Works Act passed their controversial bill by a controversial practice known as hotlining.

With lawmakers scrambling to raise 700 billion dollars to bail out businesses that are "too big to fail," the Senate passed a bill that would force small copyright holders to subsidize big internet interests such as Google, which has already said it plans to use millions of the images this bill will orphan.

With the meltdown on Wall Street, this is no time for Congress to concentrate our nation's copyright wealth in the hands of a few privately owned corporate databases. The contents of these databases would be more valuable than secure banking information. Yet this bill would compel creators to risk their own intellectual property to supply content to these corporate business models. That means it would be our assets at risk in the event of their failure or mismanagement.

As David Rhodes, President of the School of Visual Arts has said, the Orphan Works bill would socialize the expense of copyright protection while privatizing the profit of creative endeavors. Copyright owners neither want nor need this legislation. It will do great harm to small businesses. We already have a banking crisis. Congress should not lay the groundwork for a copyright crisis.

--Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Illustrators' Partnership

NOW FOR PLAN B

We MUST try to stop the House Judiciary Committee from folding their bill (HR5889) and adopting the Senate version.

PLEASE EMAIL CONGRESS TODAY.
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Click on the link below, enter your zip code, and take the next steps.
Thanks to all of you who heeded the call to action yesterday.

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321

With Councilman Goode, Let's Tackle the REAL Issue Here!

Has anyone out there realize that the problem with Corrupt Councilman Goode ISN'T racism?

It's irritating seeing everyone who paid a little attention to this focus on the race factor. It's great that the entire "reverse racism" argument is being thrown out the window, awesome even, but it's only a SMALL part of the larger problem.

As was reported days ago, the guy fucked a staffer while having beer with her on City Time! COME ON! HE FUCKED HIS STAFFER! Isn't that more interesting than the stupid hand-scrawled signs? Isn't that the BIGGER issue? Or the fact that he's basically used $13,000 in raises for Latrice Bryant to keep his, ahem, "policies in line"? The guy is drinking on tax payer time, has a corrupt office, and instead of cries to fire him, what do we get?

"Well, he shouldn't use the race card and should fire her."

No. Not quite. Fire HIM at the same time. He needs to go! 

We Need Another FDR!

If FDR was alive today, I'm sure he'd be glad to run for a 4th term, and if his mental state held up well, I'd sure as hell vote for him!

Franklin Delanore Roosevelt did something that needed to be done; Get America Smart!

This is a gross oversimplification, but FDR created "The New Deal", an agreement that stated that the government needed to help the citizens of this Republic when they needed it, and cut back spending as well. His plans helped America get out of the Great Depression and made us, by the 1950's, an economic powerhouse.

Right now, we need him.

I don't want to hear another politican talk about Tax Cuts. Fuck it. I don't need them anymore. A tax cut would kick ass, but right now, we're fucked. We are so fiscally fucked this isn't an economy, it's sodmoy on a daily basis! This is, without a doubt, the WORST economic situation since The Great Depression and we're looking at the possibility of a sequal right now dead in the face.

In fact, shut about which politican said what. Right now, let's look at the RAW FACTS:

John McCain has suspended his campaign to go back to Washington to deal with this crap.

Barack Obama has said he wants to continue with the debate Friday.

You know what sucks? The first thing we all think is one of the two; McCain is actually putting his money where his mouth is, or that the fact that he said he's not good at the economy is REALLY bitting him in the ass. Frankly, I think it's both. I think McCain just saw that this economic disaster is worst than he imagined. I think Obama is seazing the moment to boost himself up and, in turn, make McCain look bad.

Me? I don't fucking care!

I don't care WHO says it, but the first person to say, "Look, I know I said I wanted to cut taxes. But because our economy needs all the help it can get and we have to help so many folks, we can't do it. Sorry, folks, no tax cuts." First person to say it get's my vote, PERIOD! It shows one simple thing; they understand that you can't cut back spending anymore and you can't get something from nothing. 

Extra credit? "Not only am I NOT going to cut your taxes, but I am creating an incentive to have the U.S. People buy Bonds. This helps them, their neighbors, etc... then, down the line, they get the money back with interest!" I love universal health care, America needs something close to it, but right now... We can't afford it. Say that, you got my vote.

The first one of these two to say that, to say "I know I promised you the stars and the moon, but right now, we need to get back on our feet first. When we do that, I'll give it to you. But right now, we've got to handle this. If you vote for me, I'll do just that."

Obama, McCain... I honestly hope one of you just say this. We need another FDR.

Councilman Goode, Lock Your Doors! The Citizens are PISSED!

Beer.

I've seen a lot of crap come from City Council members, I've seen them do a lot of shady crap. But this... wow, this takes the case.

As shown by Fox29 Investigators, Councilman Goode, on tax payer time, went home with his legislative aide, took her out to lunch and... brought back beer. It's obvious that Latrice Bryant, the aide in question, got more raises than one now last year. In fact, she got $13,000 in raises this year. Apparently... well, you get the idea.

I'm calling for Goode to be Impeached. Quickly. He needs to be tried and hung out to dry for this! This isn't lying about a blowjob, this isn't licking cream off the breast of a wife... this is freaking flat-out illegal! You have proof that Latrice Bryant only recieved raises, or at least in part, because of a relation she had with her boss. In 99% of America, that's illegal!

Goode, lock your doors. The citizens of Philly aren't fucking happy!

VIDEO OF THE REPORT

The US Economy: This picture says it all.

Actually, the full thing is here:

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2938

Wendy O. Williams On Sex

You have to go about 30 seconds into this, but it's just hilarious!

What if the US Government Gave US The $700 Billion Bailout?

$700 Billion.

That's how much money the White House wants to give failing insurance companies and investment banks to save their businesses. $700 Billion dollars. That's the single largest government bailout in US History, and the question being raised is who's going to pay and if it will help us in the long run.

To that end, since we already know we, the US Public, are going to have to pay for this... why not just give us the money?

Yes, yes, I know; we got a check not too long ago. And, you know, $300 - $500 isn't bad. It's enough to... well, fill your gas tank, pay a bill. Maybe. Not enough for even ONE mortgage payment, that's for sure. And we all know that a large part of why this economy is so bad is because, you guessed it, a lot of loan defaults.

So how about the US Public get's $700 Billion dollars. How? How would that happen?

Well, first off, let's do the simplest part; divide it EQUALLY over the entire population. So, at about 305,000,000 people, that means we all get... $2300. Who's included in that? EVERYONE. Men, women, kids, grandparents, government workers, prisoners, homeless people, the rich... EVERYONE who lives in the US.

So the next thing we do is eliminate anyone under 18. That's roughly 80,000,000 people. SWEET! That makes it 225,000,000 people! People in prison are next! That's 2.2 million people, so BAM! They're gone, they're in jail. We're now down to 222,800,000 million.

Now, let's just say that the government deserves a bonus this year. OK, now that your done laughing, let's instead of giving the folk in the higher echelons of government the money, we give it to the people who are barely making enough cash to feed their kids, let alone themselves. Seriously, people who work in Social Security aren't exactly happy folks.

Getting the number of people who work in the higher-echelons isn't easy, NOT EVEN CLOSE! There's 100 Senators, 440 people in the House of Representatives, 50 Governors! Hell, the federal government is compromised of 4 MILLION people! That means going in and trying to find who's the working slobs are and who's in the FBI and CIA. Then you have all those LOCAL governments! UH!

OK, so, for the sake of argument, we're going to say 4 Million people in this country are making lots of money a year by being a "public servant" by being President, Mayor, Governor, City council, State Rep, etc...

We're now down to 218,000,000 people.

So, let's not forget the rich! OH YES! The filthy rich folks! The TOP 1% of America who own 32% of America! So that top 1% is 3.2 million people since we're going from that top number of 305,000,000. Now, we can go on and on about where the cut-off should be for what's "rich". That's where it gets hairy. We'll just cut it off at the Top 1%. Why? Because 68% of the US population makes less than $50,000... You know what? Screw it. We're going to make sure that the top 15.73 percent, those making a wonderful $100,000+ don't get this money.

So that's 47,976,500 from the TOP number of 305,000,000. That's 170,023,500 people!

That's a pretty good number! Hell, we've nearly shaved off 135,000,000 people who can't use the cash! We're now dealing with US, the people who NEED this money the most! US, the people who can't pay their bills, afford decent health care, and the people who owe these banks the most cash.

And we just got a check for $700 Billion dollars.

That means we get... $4117.07 each. OK, round that down to $4100. That extra $17.07 per-person can go to back to the government. How much is that? $2,902,301,145! HOLY CRAP! I just found a way to save the government nearly $3 BILLION dollars!

$4100. WOW! Crap, if I had that kinda cash, I'd pay off as many bills as possible! No, it isn't a butt load of cash, but it's nothing to sneeze at. Some people don't even make that much in two months! $4100... for me, that's a few mortgage payments, all my utility bills, and any other debts I may have. Not enough to cover all of it, mind you, but a nice bit.

Now, can we honestly say that giving these massive houses this money could be better? If we're the ones who owe the money to them, if WE'RE the one's that are causing them to lose money... shouldn't we be the ones to pay it back? The government isn't going to wipe OUR debt away, is it? No, we're still stuck with those bills! But for the over 170,000,000 Americans who NEED it, the people who may not have even needed to pay taxes in their lives because they NEVER made enough cash... THEY get the money, too. We ALL do!

Me? I think this is a better idea than anything else we've got right now. We're the ones suffering the most and we're the ones with the debt. I don't see our parents more than happy to cut us a check to pay off all our bills; they need help themselves.

So start writing everyone you can about this, spread this idea like wildfire, and start getting the ears of your local government! I did all the crap work, you just need to send it out there!


REFERENCES (Because for something like this, you need them!):
Population total is an estimate based on the US Census Data.
Number of people under age 18 based on rounding down the numbers. Combined with an estimate of total population, my ballpark is pretty good. Data is here at the US Census.
The number of people who work for the US Government came from Wikipedia, but considering that the overall number is next to impossible for me to get, 4 Million is either a gross over-estimate or under-estimate. We're going to go with it since, when you account for the local governments, it does look like a lot.
The number of people in prison is based on a 2006 number. It most likely is higher.
The number of people making more than $100k a year is from Wikipedia, but those numbers are based on a TON of research.
That awesome cartoon is by Stuart Carlson. That guy rocks!

Sex, Race, and Politics: How Councilman Goode Just Woke Up Philadelphia

"Don't you ever disrespect a black woman that way!"

With those 8 words, Philadelphia City Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr, woke up the citizens of Philadelphia to everything that's wrong with their local government, myself included. With those 8 words, Councilman Goode alerted the public that City Council was back in session after taking their summer vacation. With those 8 words, Goode did something that needed to be done; He woke up the media.

Why did I pick those 8 words to start the story? Because they were given a much more harsh light because of what the aide held in her hands at the City Council meeting and, in turn, ignited the firestorm to begin with.

On a piece of paper, she scrawled the words "Jeff Cole: KKK".

There was so much intriguie as to why this happened that the reporter, Jeff Cole, became part of the story and a discussion, not about race, but about corruption in the halls of our government. In fact, the only people in this entire debate who have the aide and the Councilman himself.

For the past few weeks, Jeff Cole of Fox 29 has been following an aide of Philadelphia Councilman Wilson Goode. According to sources, the reporter found out that the aide, Latrice Bryant, was going to the gym on taxpayer time. The story would have been a standard story was it not for where it goes... She was found buying bear and going to the Councilman's house... and spending the night there. It's worth noting that we were, as you may have guessed, foot the bill for this as it was all done on taxpayer time.

When Councilman Goode was confronted with this information, he refused to answer his question. The local media, in a show of either unity or, even better, force against a corrupt
Councilman, than began to ask the same questions Cole had tried and he answered them. You can watch the video here and, frankly, it tells the story better than I can.

This entire mess stems from one thing: Time sheets.

According to the records attained by Jeff Cole, time sheets show that Latrice Bryant was clocked in for hours before she was spotted going to the office. It is worth noting, because it ties into the overall story, that Latrice Bryant dresses in rather, ahem, REVEALING clothing on a daily basis. A visit to her MySpace, which she made private after a local blog found it and posted images and photos from it, show's racy photos and reveals that her dream was to become a state represenative. Because of her actions, it is very likely those dreams will never come true. And, admittedly, these photos will come back to haunt her.

But this woman aside, Councilman Goode also highlighted his horrible new bit of legislation: By having one-party rule.

Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. wants to eliminate one at-large Council seat for the minority party, amending his original proposal that would have reduced Council from 17 members to 15 members with two less at-large seats. Philadelphia Metro

In part of this story breaking, he's alerted us of this. He's reminded us that, despite a mayor who is trying harder than any I've seen before to clean up this government and make sure Philadelphia shines again, that out our City Council still have members hellbent on destroying it and making Philadelphia the same culture of corruption it was before.

It also showed that the local media, as a whole, have been far to warm to City Council and, in part because Nutter has done so much good on a whole, has become latheargic and lazy about covering the events of the city and, in turn, have not done their job. Which is why I think the citizens of this city should be so thankful for Jeff Cole.

I would like to thank the following people for all the research:

Fox 29 Philadelphia for reporting on this. Philebrity.com for posting the MySpace Page.
And, most importantly, thank you, Daniel McQuade of Philadelphia Weekly! He alerted me first to the story and inspired me to write this. Dan, thanks a million and please, keep up the awesome work!

Disconnect / The Destruction of a Person

I feel alone.

I've felt this way before, a million times or more.

I've felt the ripping pain and agony and wanting to not exist.

I've felt the strains of sanity tear and break.

I've felt the hopelessness, emptiness, darkness, bleakness.

But now, I feel it all and I feel nothing.

This "alone" is an exile.

I was a freak... I am a freak.

But now I feel nothing.

I hate my freak clothing, my style... myself.

The being that is, the being that was, me.

It no longer seems to be me.

I have stepped away from everything,

I have stepped out of what I was.

I have stepped out of what I believe I am.

I see, for the first time, the outside of my world.

The goths, the punks, the metalheads... I see outside my protective world.

See them all as a large group where I belonged.

Where I used to belong.

Where I think I belong.

The exile I've entered is one that I wonder is self-imposed.

The only one who could have sent me away was myself.

Or it could have been a new sense of maturity, although I doubt it.

This exile is painful, lonely, and heartbreaking.

This exile is not being alive.

This exile is a suicide.

And I am in exile.

-Larry West, 9/18/2008

8-Album Mind: I've Already Died

System of a Down - Toxicity ♠♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - Steal This Album! ♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - Mesmerize ♠♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - Hypnotize ♠♠♠♠♠
Tenacious D - Tenacious D ♠♠♠
Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny ♠♠♠♠
Terror - Always the Hard Way ♠♠♠♠
Metallica - Death Magnetic ♠♠♠♠

Let me get this out of the way first: I was so god-damn psyched about the new Metallica album, it's nothing short of amazing that I didn't crap my pants while waiting for 10AM to come and I could buy the album. Despite that, I'm not doing a review tonight and I'm just going to say this: BUY IT.

System of a Down is a band I greatly admire and love, but it hasn't been easy; in 2005, Casey Chaos, the man behind AMEN, announced that he was angry that he didn't get a writing credit on the album for writing the Grammy-Winning song "B.Y.O.B." Being a major fan of Casey, as well as wanting to make sure he received the royalties he was due (which, at the time, he wasn't)... well, it was hard. I found out late 2005, after I had seen them live and right after "Hypnotize" came out. I decided to do what I could to not support SOAD... at least until they did the right thing. They did, and it's history, but Scars of Broadway... no, I can't listen to it. That was Casey's project, and I wouldn't feel right.

But that aside, Mesmerize/Hypnotize is THE GREATEST Double-album in this decade! PERIOD! Normally the second disc kills an album, but it worked well here! Meanwhile, Toxicity is a classic, period, and I'm glad to see it still holds up great. Same with "Steal This Album!"

Proof that Philly Bloggers Tend to Suck

They TEND to at times, myself included. I'm not saying that all Philly Bloggers are stupid, inane, and petty 100% of the time... but, yes, we do tend to suck. Myself? I try not to point out the humor in something; we live in an age of irony, where self-deprecation is celebrated at the expense of achieving anything meaningful. Instead of simply trying to find the small bit of humor in a situation in a serious world, we've instead created a world seemingly devoid of seriousness. By constantly going after nothing more than a quick chuckle or laugh, we lose any sense of depth and meaning.

Of course, the exception proves the rule. George Carlin had a talent for doing just that, and because he, and a handful of incredibly talented comics, are able to doesn't mean any two-bit blog writter can, or should.

On that note, I'm going to point to a few friends. These folks kick-ass, and I have nothing against them. Consider this a nudge that, yes, we can all stray from what we want to do when we write these things, a reminder that we can go into our own selves and self-indulge in ways that are kinda sickaning.

Philebrity recently did a piece on Johnny Gootimes and his Quizzo thing and, I agree, Quizzo is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. The smartest conversation I've ever heard in a bar was either drowned out by everyone else talking, incredibly loud music, or slurred to the point where the person talking thought pointing out how hot a woman was was the equivelent of writing a Shakesperian play. But because of some stupid comment about the writer, Joey Sweeny, who is, without a doubt, an AWESOME guy (I've met and worked with him in the past, and he helped me a lot last year) by Johnny in his column for the Philadelphia Metro, the result was a very sad flame war:

1. Johnny Goodtimes Says:
   September 11th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

   This is no kind of job for a grown ass man? Uh, dude, you’re pretty much my age and you’re a professional blogger. I mean, seriously.

2. tips Says:
   September 11th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

   Is that off the Quizzo Hosts Talking Points sheet, Johnny? Please. Now here’s my answer sheet. Can you send the girl around with some more peanuts?

3. Johnny Goodtimes Says:
   September 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

   Sorry, the peanut girl says she refuses to serve people who wear skinny jeans and don’t wash their hair.

4. tips Says:
   September 11th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

   All you need is a brick wall and shoulderpads, and you’re a regular Paula Poundstone.

8-Album Mind: Correction, I Need No Direction!

SUM 41 - Half Hour of Power ♠♠♠
SUM 41 - All Killer No Filler ♠♠♠♠
SUM 41 - Does This Look Infected? ♠♠♠♠
SUM 41 - Chuck ♠♠♠♠♠
SUM 41 - Go Chuck Yourself ♠♠♠
SUM 41 - Underclass Hero ♠♠
Superjoint Ritual - Use Once And Destroy ♠♠♠
Superjoint Ritual - A Lethal Does of American Hatred ♠♠♠♠
Symphony X - Paradise Lost ♠♠♠♠♠
System of a Down - System of a Down ♠♠♠♠♠

10, count them, TEN ALBUMS! AWESOME day!

SUM 41 is amazing, and despite my fears that "Underclass Hero" would still suck after over a year of not listening to it... I was pleasantly surprised. I had written before that the album was pure shit, but instead it proved to be... well, different. It's a concept album in a sense, and the music direction is stripped of nearly any and all metal leanings and instead relies on the same pop-punk done by Green Day and Blink-182.

Superjoint Ritual was actually a double-surprise: I wanted to sell "Use Once and Destroy" for a while because the album always felt WAY too long (it clocks in at over 55 minutes) for a punk/metal album. Instead, I discovered things I never did before. In contrast, "A Lethal Does" didn't age as well as I thought. I loved the album for the longest time after it came out... but now, the album can start to wear on after a while.

But THE biggest hit today is very simple: SYMPHONY X.

I had the album for over a year and hadn't really listened it more than once. Today, I discovered why I'm an idiot for not listening to it more! The album is a concept album based on the epic poem "Paradise Lost". Imagine Dave Mustaine of Megadeth playing the guitar for Nevermore and the singer for Yngvine Malmsteen into the mix. The reuslt? THIS ALBUM.

And, as always, System of a Down delivers an incredible album. In 1998, while Rage Against the Machine were more than happy to cave into capitalism, a group of Armenian metal heads came to the US with just one agenda: Make political metal GREAT! The result is a debut album that triumphs and towers over that of Rage's, taking on subjects such as the governments use of mind control, the World Helath Organization, and exposing to the world the horrors of the Armenian Genocide. This is a band not hell-bent on destroying the government; they want to make it better and make the citizens more aware. For that alone System of a Down is worth the world, so guys, thanks for the album!

Obama Says Lipstick, McCain Screams Foul, and Obama Makes A Dumb Issue Dumber

Every single election, we deal with some dumb comment or two and these things or easily forgotten. I'm sure if you think about it, one or two things that were said this election, the other side said it was wrong and, in turn, it's normally forgotten in a day or two.

So when Obama mentioned "Lipstick on a Pig" and the Republicans called it sexist, I rolled my eyes, saw it as stupid, and just ignored it. 

Obama didn't.

Instead, Obama took the issue, issued his own press releases and, in turn, made a stupid non-issue a bigger one than it should have been. Depending on who you want, it's either one of two things: Brilliant because what better way to show your enemy is dumb than by pointing out such a naive flaw? Stupid because it comes off as desperate when your no longer in the spotlight and your poll numbers are slipping, so is your popularity.

This is just a really dumb, really big diversion, and Obama, the man screaming about change, is taking the same-old same-old route by focusing on this. 

8-Album Mind: Why I Can't Listen to SYL At Work

Stray Cats - Greatest Hits ♠♠♠

Suicidal Tendencies - Join the Army ♠ (SOLD!)

Suicidal Tendencies - How Can I Laugh Tomorrow, If I Can't Even Smile Today? ♠♠♠

Static-X - Cannibal ♠♠♠♠

Strapping Young Lad - Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing (2006 Re-Issue) ♠♠♠♠

Suicidal Tendencies - Lights... Cameras... Revolution! ♠♠♠♠♠

Suicidal Tendencies- Still Cyco After All These Years ♠♠♠

Strapping Young Lad - No Sleep 'Til Bedtime ♠♠♠♠

Strapping Young Lad. Without a doubt, the 6 albums I have by them are THE most dangerous thing I own. When I listen to SYL, I'm not me... I'm rage encarnate. Me listening to the majesty that is Devin Townsends insane guitar work and lyrics and compositions, channeling every single ounce of rage I may have, wringing out every single bit of it out of me... Strapping Young Lad is as voliatle as plutonium. 

Everything thing today kicked ass. The only thing that annoyed me was "join the Army", so that's being sold.

NO CASINO IN THE GALLERY MALL!!!

Honest to god, I can't believe I have to explain this one:

Foxwoods Casino has agreed to work with state and city leaders to move its long-delayed slots parlor planned for the South Philadelphia waterfront to the Gallery at Market East, The Inquirer has learned.

Two sources familiar with the agreement, struck between Foxwoods and Gov. Rendell and Mayor Nutter this week, said the plan was to revive a vision for a downtown casino built over the Gallery.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity before Rendell and Nutter were scheduled to announce the plan at a 1 p.m. news conference today at City Hall.

Although the Gallery was once considered a prime site for a downtown casino, the latest plan would still face a variety of obstacles, including potential neighborhood opposition.

SOURCE: PHILLY.COM

Seriously, HOW is this a good idea?

For starters, let's acknowledge the most obvious fact: The Gallery is a haven to the homeless and the poor. Again: THE GALLERY IS BASICALLY A HOMELESS SHELTER! They sit in the food court all damn day, asking for change, not doing anything, and basically taking the place down a peg. So having a casino, which brings about crime and homelessness and begging, would make this BETTER?! I'm sorry, but has anyone thinking this is good had a recent head injury?!

What about the fact that this is connected to one of the most used train stations in Philadelphia, Market East Station? Or the large number of kids and teens who go there to shop? Or the fact that a casino where a lot of homeless people outside the mall converge would make the situation worse?

8-Album Mind: Suicide Machines

Static-X - Machine ♠♠♠♠
Static-X - Shadow Zone ♠♠♠♠
Static-X - Beneath... Between... Beyond... ♠♠
S.O.D. - Speak English or Die ♠♠♠♠♠
Suffocation - Human Waste EP ♠♠♠
Suffocation - Souls to Deny ♠♠♠♠
Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown ♠♠♠♠
Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies ♠♠♠♠♠

Yes, I'm in the "S's" and, yes, there is a new Dragonforce album in this list. I had it with me yesterday but didn't crack it open after 2 weeks until today. More later.

Static-X is, without a doubt, the most under-rated band to come out big during the 1998 - 2002 period when metal was mired in nu-metal copycats. Static-X was lumped into that mix, despite owing more to Ministry and Metallica than Korn and Public Enemy. Their brand of industrial and metal was a welcome relief and a great counter-point to the ultra-sleek and shiny veneer of late-90's synth-pop.

Despite the fame they did achieve, many critics have held the band, and their albums, in negative views. I, on other hand, no longer do that. Yes, until 2004, I was in the "Static-X Sucks" camp, although it's hard to know why. Most likely it was because of the timing, but still, the band was great. Machine was a great follow-up to Wisconsin Death Trip, and Shadow Zone was panned MUCH harsher than it should have. There's a lot of good songs on this album as it blends their ferocity with a bit of a more mellow edge.

Although, without a doubt, BBB (to be short) was not good. Not even close. A collection of B-Sides and Rarities (and it makes sense after 3 albums; they had done a LOT of soundtracks), the album fails for one simple reason; It's not a cohesive piece. Static-X works best as a machine; each track on an album is like a piece of that machine and each element, each tiny piece, works perfectly in sync with the others. When you have a B-Side collection, your basically taking assorted pieces and seeing what happens. Instead of building a killing machine... you've got some insane contraption made to fix your breakfast like in Back to the Future... only it doesn't work.

The new Dragonforce album, "Ultra Beatdown", is a good solid album, but not one worth noting much. Preaching to the converted more than anything, really. Meanwhile, SOD's landmark album, "Speak English or Die" still holds well, the first album to introduce crossover AND blipcore!

Finally, Suicidal Tendencies self-titled debut.... without a doubt, in terms of an album that can speak to nearly ANYONE, this is THE most important album to ever be released! At least, in terms of lyrics. It's hard not to relate to lyrics about suicide and a horrible life, isn't it?

8-Album Mind: 90's Rock DID Suck

Soulfly - Dark Ages

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Static-X - Wisconsion Death Trip

Well, not much to say, really, other than I am seriously wondering why I never sold two of these albums, and trust me, it's not the metal discs.

I've been spending the last week watching episodes of Daria... the entire series, actually. I'm up to mid-way through Season 4 so that means there's, sadly, only a season and a half let to go. All of this has made me want to remember the 90's, at least a little, and watching epsiodes with the use of music has made me nostalgic for what was, to a large degree, a better time.

I'll just say: Mellon Collie and The Infininite Sadness is THE most over-rated album of the 90's. Period. The album is the blue-print for every single whiny post-rock/indie rock band to come out since 1995. The album has a ton of highlights; "Tonight, Tonight", "Bullet With the Butterfly Wings", "1976", and a few others... but while there are some great tracks, it's 75% filler. Can you honestly say that the album would be any better if Billy never recorded "Where Boys Fear to Tread"? I keep it because of the history. I've never actually been able to listen to it more than once a year.

Soundgarden... honestly, I'm being harder on Superunknown than I should. It's a good album, very solid, and really heavy. It's a great listen, and I guess Badmotorfinger (which I loved watching the videos on Beavis & Butt-head, but never the album) left a bad taste in my mouth. It's a good album but the depressive nature of the album and a lot of grunge, really, just isn't for me anymore. 

Really, when you look at the 90's, it's kinda interesting: The 90's was basically a strive for the aging baby boomers of the 60's and 70's who preached free love to realize that they became the same capitalisitic pigs they once hated. At the same time, since these hippies now controlled pop culture and the media, a return to their free-love movement was brought back. What countered this? Grunge.

In fact, it's cool; You had the shiniest, glossiest pop imagineable with broups like Aqua, Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, etc,... and meanwhile, groups like Nirvana and Alice in Chains depressing everyone. I'm kinda surprised that this entire nation didn't go on drugs.... wait a minute.

Well, let's wrap this up. Static-X Wisconsin Death Trip is an INCREDIBLE metal-disco album by the band that invented the term. Ironic, isn't it, that Wayne Static met Billy Corgan in 1994. Meanwhile, Soulfly released the realization of 10-years of mixing Brazillain music with metal: Dark Ages. Hands down, best album they ever did.

Back to Normal... Almost

Well, to put it simply, life for me has been a living hell for the last month. I had to do a lot of things I didn't want to, and I had to make a lot of personal sacrafices and it was just a nightmare. Really, things didn't start to spiral out of control until the last two weeks, but right now I think the worst is over.

I'm still not back to normal yet; there's a few things missing from my house that I need to get back (guitars, mostly), and I still need my Central Air fixed for winter. Apperantly, the City of Philadelphia does it for free... more on that later.

Look for a return of 8-Album Mind tomorrow. I won't list what I listened to since the last one... which is a shame since it included Slayer. Well, that's life.

Also, the website I'm working on is on hold since I need to take into account Google Chrome. A feature or two isn't working in it, so I need to fix that.

Sarah Palin: Vice President I'd Like To Fuck

And how!

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Hurricanes and Republlicans: Can We Just Shut Up?

I've been a junkie for 24/7 news and pretty much any coverage about Hurricane Gustav hitting New Orleans, LA, and the entire Western Gulf Coast. At the same time, I was excited about the Republican National Convention and seeing the coverage for it. The reason for that was two-fold; I avoided anything dealing with the Democratic one because of the basic non-stop "Obamania" thing that was going on with the media about it. At the same time, it's going to be hilarious to have to watch Keith Olbermann to try and be fair in his coverage of a party he absolutely hates.

But with this hurricane, the reaction, not by the press, but by people who hate the Republican Party, has been pretty damn sick.

Again, I am a registered Republican right now, but I've basically am so I could vote for Ron Paul back during the PA Primaries. I've been meaning to become an Independent again. I wanted to point that out for full disclosure of who's this is coming from.

I'm not a fan of the Republicans, but a lot of the comments have been really, really sick. Michael Moore, who I own all of his films and think is awesome, was thankful for the storm to hit since it would delay the convention. I got the joke, and he immediately realized how wrong that was to say, but still just sick. A lot of people are glad to see that the Republicans may have to shortened their convention and not do a lot of things because of the storm.

On the flip side, I can't imagine the outrage these same people would have if the Republicans said the same thing if the Democrats were in the same mess. Two sides of the same coin, really.

One idea being floated around, and I honestly hope this happens, is that the RNC becomes a telethon to help the residents of the Gulf Coast. That's honestly is a great idea because they have a massive national stage for which they can do a lot fo good.

I think that, right now, we need to put politics aside. There's a national emergency right now and arguing and debating the Republicans at this degree detracts from that right now. Let's focus on this Hurricane, make sure that everything works out... THEN we can go on about how horrible the Republicans are.