Sick Of It All

It's been a long day and I really just want it to end.

I was supposed to meet a friend of mine at 4:30 and they had to cancel at the last minute. It didn't help that they have been kinda leaning on me for everything and they have begun to drag me down into their ever-increasingly-bad life. After they canceled, it was downhill from there.

I got a mention on another local blog for that poster yesterday and I wanted to address what someone said about, although I think I did already... if so, I just want to repeat it because people on a forum I go to don't get this idea: I don't want attention for not doing something good. I had a phase where I wanted attention for pretty much anything and everything, and it's something I'm willing to admit. When you have no close family, friends that can be hard to reach, and live in a house by yourself... well, who wouldn't need some attention?

But I realized how dumb and self-defeating it is. It's pointless to do, and it's stupid. I finally met someone who I can be myself with, someone I'm happy with, and for the first time in a long time, for the first time since that election, I actually feel happy with myself and who I am as a person. My friends have given me a ton of support, and I really have to thank them for putting up with me this year. It's been a rough one, and you need good friends for times like these.

Today got rougher when I decided to get done my Christmas shopping and had about 10 different homeless people spread out over a good 1-mile radius ask me for everything from money to food to using my phone while I was taking an emergency phone call within a 30-minute span. It wasn't rough because some of them were rude when I said "no', although that was part of it. No, I want to help, I really do. I got a job that I love, great friends... all in all, I really feel like I hit some sort of jackpot and I'm thankful for everything I have right now. I want to do more to help the homeless, and I REALLY wish I knew how to help more and more directly.

I'm tired, I'm stressed, and I really am trying to change, be a better person, and do some good. I don't want people to assume I post things for the attention, although posting is an attention-getting thing, isn't it? I guess the best way to put it is I'm just doing this to inform my friends what I think and, maybe, help someone else who feels the same.

Well, have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow!

The Reaction and Outcry to "Why Philly Blogs Tend to Suck"

I couldn't resist.

In response to what I wrote yesterday, I saw this:

JOE: I’ve been saying for years that the media really needs to stop living in the past. Shit, anyone can report on things that have already happened. I want my news filled withall the possibilities of the future and wild speculation!

Because, as we all know, asking someone to report on a planned event is "wild speculation!"

But, thankfully, someone saw the point:

RYAN: Actually, I agree with him in spite tarnished reputation due to his mayoral race hijinks. Most Philly news/infotainment blogs are pretty bad at pumping up cool events in the city, a lot of newcomers I talk to are at a loss for what to do. It isn’t that there aren’t cool events, or that the blogs just don’t outright list them, but there isn’t as much of effort to sift through the dozens of weekly event listings and sift out the pieces of corn amidst the pile of shit.

Ryan, thanks! That's a pretty good way of putting it. I've lived here my entire life, but I won't lie... I'm a reclusive guy who spends all his time watching TV and wasting his life posting on a blog. I go to The Troc's website as much as possible since I go to shows there, and whenever I can or remember, I either pick up one of the local alt-weekly papers to check out shows or The Electric Factory's and TLA's website.

But there's always more. Take the Punk Rock Flea Market, for example. I didn't find out about it until Wednesday, and that was after all the tables were gone. It would have been nice, VERY NICE, to go and sell some of my art there. Who couldn't use a few extra bucks right now? Or how about not finding out a band you like came to town or did a show the day of or after its happened? These things are planned well in advance, at least a month or so.

It seems local blogs are to content with trying to seem "hip" that they forgot about being "Cool", "Fun", "Informative", and above all, "RELATIVE".

Eh... then again, I'm willing to admit I write all of this stuff for myself. I try to stay humble about it because, frankly, I'm just some dude who posts on a blog. If I build a following, I'll start writing for them. Soon, people will complain I became the same thing I hate... and they might be right.

For now? Courage.

So People Paid Attention to Something I Wrote...

I'll just make this brief:

I'm both shocked and amazed that my little rant went as far across the Blogosphere as it did. As such, I just want to explain why I wrote it and how I found out it caught on like the flu it is:

It's been a little frustrating not finding out about events until it's too late. The nightly news does it, and with blogs, I set the bar a little higher. Events that I would like to attend or plan to go happen from time to time around here, and maybe, like, a weeks notice would be cool. But as just some guy, I never know where to go, really. So in the last post, I vented my frustrations. I said to myself, "Well, no one reads this damn thing anyway, and if they do, I'm sure they'll understand it was just blowing off steam, nothing more, as well as a cry for help on where to get this info."

I think the reaction can best be described as "mixed."

I still love and go to these blogs I mentioned, and I still love reading them. I don't have a following, and really, I don't care if I get one. I stopped trying months ago to get one and I'm happy just using this place as more of a journal to vent and see if anyone agrees with me.

So, imagine my shock when I checked my computer and saw some 50-odd hits by 10AM, which is rare. Most of the links were from Twitter, one from Facebook... I guess it spread from there. I didn't even tell anyone about it, I just thought it would sort of float around like everything else I've written.

So thanks for the folks leaving comments, and informing me of Phawker and the Philebrity Listings to shut me up. :) Also, The Clog is awesome and so is Philadelphia Will Do! Keep up the good work, can't wait to read what happens next!

KREATOR EXODUS COMING TO PHILLY! Metal Fans Rejoice!

Kreator with Exodus

Trocadero

Philadelphia, PA
Thu, Apr 9, 2009 06:00 PM

SOURCE: The Troc!

Why Philly Blogs Tend to Suck; Event Notification

Well, this is going to win me friends, isn't it?

I go to 3 Philadelphia blogs on a daily basis: Philadelphia Will Do, Philebrity, and The Clog. All 3 of them had at least one story about me. All 3 of them will never talk to me again.

The main problem I have with all of them is one thing: NOT TELLING YOU ABOUT EVENTS UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE!

There's a lot of problem with all three blogs respectively, and one day soon I'll go into detail about it. For now, it's this.

When it comes to Philebrity.com, there is advertising for R5 Productions, The TLA, Johnny Brendas, and P.O.P.E., and a few other places you never heard of or could care less about. In turn, your finding out the real problem with the site in terms of informing you of events. The site says it isn't for "hipsters", but the seemingly non-stop parade of bands-you-never-heard-of-but-we-think-are-cool never ends. Need proof? Ever hear of a band called Faux Slang? Me neither., but they seem to think they're worthy of a post. Need info on some band that plays shitty Indie Rock or some funk faux-punk band? Check out their nightly wrap-up of city events! Or don't. Whatever's more ironic.

The main plus is that, yes, there is some advance warning. But if you did want The Pros From Denver play a show tonight, they'll tell you... a good 5 hours before the show.

Philadelphia Will Do? Next to non-existent. It's basically comes down to Dan, if he feels like it, coming to the blog and posting about the event, making jokes about it, and letting it go from there. Sometimes it's before the event, sometimes it's not. The last event I can think of was when he posted a flyer for an event by Philly 52 the day before the thing was supposed to happen. To make fun of it. Classy.

Then you have The Clog. They do a sort of Catch-22; they tell you about the event... when it's too late. For example, there was an awesome story about Home Movie Day... the day of the event. Oh, and the day before an event to protest Prop 8, they mentioned the protest that told people to "Call In Gay". Yep, one WHOLE day!

These blogs, all-in-all, SUCK when it comes to telling you about upcoming events in Philadelphia. These blogs are, frankly, fairly big outlets. Philadelphia Will Do is run by Philadelphia Weekly, The Clog is run by City Paper, and Philebrity has garnered a large, respectable following in it's own right. They seem less interested in informing people about events in the city they would care about than anything else. These aren't entertainment blogs, that's for certain, but they do serve a purpose of informing people since they do have a rather large audience.

Are there places dedicated to informing you about local events? Yes... but they suck. They're hard to navigate, tend to focus on more all-inclusive events, and less on anything interesting. While the local blogs have their problems, they all have their charm. They tend to be fun, not that serious when you want it to be fun, and fairly informative at times. But, really, the details are for another day.

I can't say I've been doing much better; I've ignored some really awesome metal shows coming to town myself. Then again, I'm just some punk who works a 9-5 job and can't afford to go to said shows. I'm going to TRY and change that myself. There's a new year coming, so why not?


EDIT: I want to add that this isn't a dig at any of these guys. I think The Clog has gotten better over the last year, I read Philebrity because it's entertaining to get a decent look at the city, and Dan McQuade is a good friend of mine. This really is more of a rant in frustration and a sort of "Hey, wake up!" thing for them. Thanks to whoever put this on Twitter, and R5 Productions is AWESOME.

THE PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET - HOLIDAY EDITION !

THE PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET - HOLIDAY EDITION !
What a great place to get those last minute holiday gifts! It's that time again for the semi-annual (twice a year) PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET. Our most popular reoccurring event/show/whatever (by far). All proceeds raised will goto the purchase of necessary equipment and supplies to ensure that all ages shows continue to remain a reality at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia - mainly the remaining payment for our new liability insurance policy. Do not let the name lead you to believe that it's just punk records, clothes etc. - it's a full on flea market with everything from furniture, to laptops / computers , to stereo equipment, to handmade apparel, to vegan treats, information from various non profit groups, book stores, artists selling their work, bicycles & skateboards and whatever else we can fit onto the ballroom floor at The Starlight Ballroom.

In addition to the normal flea market stuff there will also be a full bar and food service kitchen to make the day go by a little faster.

CHECK OUT THE 2009 HOLIDAY SELLERS LIST RIGHT HERE !
At The Starlight Ballroom
460 North 9th Street (Just Below 9th & Spring Garden)
Philadelphia, PA
$3 Donation To Enter
All Tables Are Sold Out - There Are No More Tables Left - Sorry !

Source: R5 Porudcitons

Non Sequitur: TD Says...

I want to add this as a new thing on the blog; Most days when I read Non Sequitur on MyYahoo, my bookmarks tend to line up just next to the word balloon. So I decided to just basically post it.

ENJOY!

Black Metal Fights Back: Behemoth's Frontman Sues for Slander and Libel!

According to Metal Portal, BEHEMOTH mainman Adam "Nergal" Darski has filed a libel lawsuit against the head of the All-Polish Committee for Defence against Sects, Ryszard Nowak. Nergal claims that Nowak slandered him in an interview with Gazeta Swietojanska (watch interview in two parts below), repeatedly calling the BEHEMOTH frontman a criminal.

Darski is demanding a written apology from Nowak, to be published in Gazeta Wyborcza, one of the Poland's biggest daily newspapers, and three thousand zloty (approximately $1,000), which Nergal plans to donate to the animal shelter Ciapkowo in Gdynia. Nowak, on the other hand, says that he has no intention of apologizing to Nergal, explaining that this would give all musicians worshiping Satan the green light to do as they please while performing on stage — to burn crosses, destroy the Bible or just offend Christians. "I'd rather go to prison," Nowak says.

Source: Blabbermouth.net

Here's a video of him tearing up the Bible:



And the interview with Gazeta Swietojanska about BEHEMOTH's Adam "Nergal" Darski:





Without a doubt, this is the best thing possible to happen to Black Metal, a sort of "Growing up", if you will. You have an artist fighting for his right to freely express himself in a relatively-young democracy and someone stating that no, he shouldn't. In turn, he's suing for $1000 and would give the money to an animal shelter.

So who looks bad here?

Photo From Revolver Mag.

Yes, Even Professional Artists Make Mistakes

I was on Kotaku today and saw this article about a mistake on the GTA IV poster:

As you can see, she has 6 fingers. So, yeah, even the pro's and screw up.

Thanks Kotaku!

HELLVETICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!