Keira Knightley's toy boobs

Keira Knightly said she is unhappy that her action figure for Pirates Of The Caribbean bears little resemblance to her.
"It's nothing like me. She's got tits, for a start! I don't have tits."






(thanx Mel)

Burnt Ramen: show review...of sorts

I went to Burnt Ramen in Richmond. Burnt Ramen reminds me a lot of 924 Gilman circa 1991. I am not a big fan of that place.
It is in a poor neighborhood which serves to keep away the more normal weekender kids that all go to Gilman these days, but it is also packed full of wasted teenagers smoking cigarettes that incidentally are all probably banned from Gilman.

I went to see Bad Reaction and Broken Needle. Both great bands full of great dudes. However, the bands are pretty much secondary to this "review." Just as the bands are most likely secondary to getting drunk for the Burnt Ramen crowd.
I mean- I love punk and I am all for kids not buying into what mainstream society feeds us, but what about not buying into the bullshit trap that punk equals nihilistic hedonism?
Anyway...

It only took 1 song for me to get beer spilled on me. It also only took 1 song for my lungs to be overcome by cigarette smoke (I don't miss the days of being sick from second-hand smoke at every show). It wasn't much more than 1 song when the entire floor was covered in beer. Unlike me, those kids had no problem going off on a slick surface.
Some tiny drunk girl threw an empty beercan at BenEdge's head during the Broken Needle set. I shoved her and Ben said he wanted to fight whoever threw it but all we got out of her was "that's what you get at Burnt Ramen."

By the time Burnt Ramen heroes, Warkrime, were getting ready to take the stage, the police were rolling by deep. Everyone was forced inside. Inside, 2 completely wasted teenage girls were rolling on the floor making out. Very sketchy. I was more than uncomfortable with all these young (and not-so-young boys) enthralled by the girl-on-girl action. Sure they seemed (somewhat) aware of what they were doing but I don't think they were aware of the situation they were potentially creating. Another girl threw beer on the 2 but they kept at it. They attracted a fair amount of attention. I introduced myself to another young girl who seemed to know the 2 on the ground. Her name was Dharma (I think) and I told her to make sure the 2 knew what they were doing, watch out for them, and if the situation needed any help to not hesitate to get me. She said she was on it.

Warkrime's guitar player finally showed up as his band waited on stage for him. Apparently he was playing with his other band and this was his lst show with Warkrime. Before I knew what was going on, the obnoxious singer, Brace, punched the guitar player and it was like a full-on brawl.
As this was happening, the pigs returned and were at the door. Something was going on. If the Warkrime brawl wasn't gonna end the show, the pigs sure were. Apparently someone broke some neighbors' windows and the police were looking for him.
Outside, Warkrime's guitar player apparently was going off on Jews just to compliment his awesome night.
The police closure also put an end to the 2 makeout girls whose clothes were torn (from eachother) and filthy from that floor.

Burnt Ramen may not be having shows again for a while. Fine with me.

Another snitch!?

Stanislas Meyerhoff was sentenced to prison today.
He is a fuckin snitch and working with the Feds to give info on ELF and ALF activities from 1996 to 2001.

He still got terrorist status as his co-defendants probably will too.
That will add 20 years to a sentence and stick with you for the rest of your life. It also allows the Bush administration to say they have been successful in prosecuting terrorists.

___________

Speaking of ALF...

Someone want a target?

Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons is wrapped up in a big dog-fighting scandal and he is less than apologetic.

pop culture today

Well, we have more-or-less finished our move to Oakland and now I can start to blog full force again.
Apparently the USA is officially destabilizing Iran and making threatening moves, but let's look to entertainment:

The Lost season finale was pretty exciting. My personal favorite scene was when Sayid pulled a dope jiu-jitsu move and Sawyer finally did NOT believe something an 'Other' said.
So who was in that coffin?!
_____

Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, has a trailer online:

Looks good.
_____

The trailer for Control the Anton Corbijn film about Ian Curtis is also online.

(just ignore the French subtitles)
The whole look fits perfectly and it is amazing how well suited Joy Division's music for a score.

good-bye Gather

Yesterday was Gather's last show.
It was at 924 Gilman and it was pretty much perfect.

Punch, Set It Straight, Risen, and Seven Generations were all handpicked to open. All the bands created one of the most positive and progressive atmospheres I have seen at a show. Much love to all those bands (especially Megan of Punch for representing women, Chris from 7G, and Mr. Kurt "Cause One" Catalyst)!

Gather took the stage and before any song, Eva spoke about what made Gather special and what what/who was special to Gather. Their whole set was a relentless thundering of love and rage; exactly what people have come to expect from Gather.
Gather has never been about being 'cool' and, to some degree, this has hurt their popularity. Gather had also rarely played local shows which stunted a local fanbase. As was evident from people coming from faraway, Gather DID have a strong and very loyal and radical fanbase elsewhere.
As Chris from 7G put it: Gather represent what punk/HC can and should be.
The show climaxed with an onstage pile-up that engulfed all of Gather (except Randy who seemed to be standing atop his bass amp).

On a personal note; Gather are some of my closest friends and comrades. I have often been very critical of Gather but only because of that bond. I guess any band that is worth being a fan of generates just as much hate or disdain from those that it should.
The 'fifth member' of Gather has always kinda been Katie. It was nice to see Katie there (and lend guest vox) in high spirits. As I told Katie; A lot has always been said in HC about friends and unity. I think she has displayed that in the most honorable and brave ways with Gather. Ways that I don't know that I would be brave enough to do.

I am certain that the love and rage channeled into Gather by each member will not be lost and will find equally revolutionary (or greater) avenues to be expressed.


(Big ups to Timm for coming down for the show. Always nice to see you. BTYC forever.)

her last words

"I basically want to start my life over."

I had no idea how true that would ring.

movement

As I continue to go through all of my old files, folders, and possessions, I have come across an entire box dedicated to the early-to-mid 90's fight to defend affirmative action. A fight largely lost in legislation, academia, as well as the public consciousness.

This was a fight before endless wars, before 9/11 as they say.

There was such mass mobilization. There was such strength. There was such numbers. Maybe most importantly, there was such optimism.

(It was a different day when major hip hop magazines ran articles about sellout Blacks and over 2,000 students took over the suburban streets of Concord, CA.)

It was the struggle to save affirmative action (to maintain race and gender as a factor in University admissions and then later against the so-called "CA Civil Rights Initiative") as a survival tool that 'turned' me into a radical. I may have known the bankcruptcy of this system before but it became crystal clear after.
During this struggle I witnessed blatant lies in news broadcasts and saw why the masses were never won over. It had not to do with our efforts or the actual facts/ideals. The cards were stacked against us before we even began.

Imperialism learns its lessons well. Imperialism has perfected adaptation.

It seems any movement now is too locked in its own defeatism or avoidance of confrontation due to increased consequence (at least it would seem so here in the belly of the beast).
I hope we see another upsurge of action combined with optimism soon.

a bunch of cool stuff

No more MySpace or YouTube for US military.
The official word is that it takes up too much bandwith. Ya, it probably has nothing to do with stifling anything but the official word about US military actions. So, no more embarrassing blogs on MySpace nor any unofficial YouTube videos showing occupation forces.
_______

Another write up on Steve Aoki.

I must say- I don't know many "famous" people. Moreover, Aoki is the only person I have known prior to celebrity status and seen rise through the celeb ranks. So, maybe I don't know how it is or how it goes. I am also willing to attribute some of what I read to the authors/editors. However... wow, reality?
_______

Y'know who isn't a celebrity or rich?
MLS footballers! While Beckham is getting $5.5million, 91 players are making $17,700 or less.
______

Did you see those pigs in LA goin' on a rampage?

If not, that is because it isn't top news. Paris Hilton is top news.
Anyway, LAPD has asked Northern Ireland pigs for help. Afterall, if someone knows how to fuck up a crowd it would be Ulster pigs.

I Am Spoonbender: live 3 years on

This weekend, I Am Spoonbender performed live for the first time in 3 years. I was there. They blew my mind yet again.

First of all, there were 2 supporting acts.
One was a DJ that created ambient/abrasive sounds to cheezy neo-psychadelic visuals.
The second act was what I can firmly declare is the worst band in existence. I don't even know their name so I can't warn others to avoid them. Basically, it felt like watching hipsters jam different parts unrehearsed in hopes that it somehow fit with a vocalist that randomly talked into the mic or sang inane shit while looking like some 1979 retard.

IAS were amazing and worth the wait.
The costumes/uniforms, lighting, choreography, subliminals, and telephones. Not to mention that the guys playing drums are tight as hell and some of the best technical drummers I have ever seen.
I hope IAS plays live again soon.

"...look at me, dreaming in sequence..."

new Hulk

The new film of The Incredible Hulk seems to be moving along (I can't remember if I have blogged about it). Hopefully it will be better than the previous shitty movie or the comic which is tending to be shitty too.
We have Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, and now Tim Roth as the villain- The Abomination.

Insane Zionism

I stumbled across these banner ads (while on a Smashing Pumpkins fansite?!):



Needless to say, I was curious what they linked to.
Turns out to be some insane Zionist website that advocates Kahanism. It is full of insane barely-coherent diatribes against Arabs, Leftists, and anyone else that isn't a Zionist wanting the genocide of Arabs.

I also saw these on the site:


Can't someone disable this Kahanism Zionist garbage of a site? haha

"emo scene kids"

To be honest, I couldn't even atch all this bullshit.

I don't know who is more clueless; the reporters or the fuckin kids.

CSI: Dischord

37 years ago National Guardsmen opened fire on students at Kent State University.

The only known recording that includes the complete 13 seconds of gunfire (one can allegedly hear a National Guard officer giving the order: "Right here. Get set. Point. Fire") was given to Ian McKaye to analyze by a survivor dedicated to investigating the shootings.

I am not sure what they are furhter analyzing or further investigating.
Pigs shoot people. Pigs especially shoot dissidents. That is no mystery.

River Of Lust

Cool Dudes. Cool song. New video.
BELLAVISTA "RIVER OF LUST" VIDEO

new Bad Brains

Samples of new Bad Brains songs are up on their official MySpace page.

Marx biopic

A young Karl Marx gets a biopic co-written by Pascal Bonitzer ("Lumumba").

old paper

Tonite, I went through a lot of old paper.

I needed to clean out all my records/files/letters in my file cabinets. The paper had piled up from my fear of being audited by The Feds for my political affiliations, my formerly massive debt, and a desire to keep correspondence that was, at the time, very close to my heart.
It was difficult. I got a lot sadder than I expected. Stupid shit like seeing evidence of when I was unable to pay my bills to concrete evidence of my marriage and its divorce.
Throwing away a lot of that paper was no different than throwing away pieces of my past. I am usually one who holds the past in a stranglehold... but not tonite. Out with the tears, out with the paper, out with the past.

Strictly 'Town Biz

We got the keys.

We are moving to Oakland. This move is significant for me because I feel like it is a step more fully into my second life. I have occupied this apartment in Berkeley for over 3 years. That is the longest I have ever lived in one place since moving out of my parents' house.

I had grown to dislike this apartment not just because of its cold and the mold but for what it also represented to me. I moved into this apartment in a rush. I moved here with what little money I could scrounge together during my financially devastating divorce. I practically pressured a good friend into moving here with me. The first nights were spent sleeping on the hard freezing floor drenched in night-sweats. So this Berkeley apartment represents the first painful steps to separate myself from my now-ex-wife, whereas this move to Oakland represents a step towards MY future.

It does strike me as funny how ever since I came to CA I wanted to live in Berkeley. I never could due to money. Now, I am actively leaving Berkeley to move (back) to Oakland: maybe the city that I have the best memories living in.

Get ready for some SERIOUS decorating and its unveiling at our housewarming jam.

MAYDAY

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS' DAY

in memory of the Haymarket Martyrs!
for all working people the world over!

Here is a little treat:
Rage Against the Machine reunion from Coachella

more

Aoki. whoa.

hhmmmm...