Sunday, August 31, 2008

Portraits Of Past: reunions NYC

The NYC reunion shows went off crazier than the Bay Area shows apparently.

It was like 90degrees, Rex was dry-heaving, Grimace's shoes were soaked, the drums got knocked over, and fun was had by all.

I had hoped to post an interview with POP by now. Sorry. Hopefully I will still put up a little something from the guys.

(good lookin' out Grimace!)
(photo lifted from Damian Hade.)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Avocado

I am glad Anthony is my friend and I am glad he is in the powerhouse HC unit, Ceremony.

He sure does the damn thing.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

United Nations: "mid-'90s screamo revivalists"

United Nations = a supergroup making decent music (members of Thursday, Converge, & Glassjaw)

They admittedly borrow heavily from bands such as Orchid and Nation Of Ulysses. (They sound more like a contemporary/more aggressive yet poppy Portraits Of Past if you ask me.) Very heavy on the Nation Of Ulysses aesthetic... but do they possess the same intent or direction? (I would hope they do actually have the intention of revolution.)
The members remain anonymous due to being under legally constricting contracts.

This all begs the questions:
Is this being influenced by - or co-opting a "style?"
Are you a revivalist if their is no corpse?
If you stay true to the supposed ideals of Nation Of Ulysses or Orchid yet progress the revolutionary dialectics, isn't that Baader Brains? And haven't The Young Tigers warned of the coming of dubious imposters?
Does free music sound better?

READ THEIR WORDS (a VERY interesting interview I must say!)
POLL

(If United Nations actually live up to their words, I will withdraw my reservations. I will also take Glassjaw, Converge, and Thursday off of the list of those to demand revolutionary taxes from.)

Pigs raided Berkeley Long Haul!

On August 27th at around 10:30am, 5-6 police officers from three agencies made their way into the Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley, broke down every door, and confiscated all computers on the property. Computers taken included those used by the Slingshot Collective and East Bay Prisoner Support. Police also broke into cabinets, cut locks, and went through mail.

People arrived after being informed of the situation, and demanded that the police show a warrant. The police said they would show one once they were done, and they did. Both CopWatch and The Berkeley Daily Planet were there to cover the incident. The departments involved were 4 UC Berkeley cops, 1 Alameda County Sheriff, and 1 Federal agent. The police stated that the computer equipment "may have been used to commit a felony." This is the first time the infoshop has been raided.

link:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/27/18530407.php

(thanx Harjit)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

unimportant

pure insanity

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Arsenal V. Fulham

This weekend, my 2 favorite football clubs played eachother: Arsenal V. Fulham at Craven Cottage.
So I hosted a viewing of the match with pie and mash!

READ MEL'S BLOG FOR THE AWESOME DETAILS

Arsenal were lackluster and played unimaginative football. Fulham played exceptionally solid and pulled out a 1-0 win!
Amazing.

Thank you to Pranjal for bring trifle!

Ho bust

$200 from Juxtapoz

Anyone want to buy me one??
__

Frank Kozik has done busts of Mao and Stalin in the past. With the addition of Uncle Ho, I wondered about Kozik's politics (especially since these busts are so expensive and limited).
Kozik grew up in Franco's Spain but moved to the US and became a Republican.

Kozik on Shepard Fairey:
"Content-wise, it is what it is. I disagree with him politically, but seeing what he does with his work I don't think he's taking the revolutionary side of things that seriously anyways, if so, he'd be the first one they would shoot. "

Ian Brown- Illegal Attacks

Friday, August 22, 2008

Highest Paid CEOs

Associated Press

The 10 highest-paid CEOs for 2007 at Standard & Poor's 500 companies based on calculations by The Associated Press. The total pay figures are rounded, and are based on the AP's compensation formula, which adds up salary, perks, bonuses, above-market interest on pay set aside for later, and company estimates for the value of stock options and stock awards on the day they were granted last year.


1. Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp., $84.6 million

J2. ohn Thain, Merrill Lynch & Co., $83.1 million

3. Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp., $67.6 million

4. Richard Adkerson, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., $65.3 million

5. Bob Simpson, XTO Energy Inc., $56.6 million

6. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., $54.0 million

7. Kenneth Chenault, American Express Co., $51.7 million

8. Eugene Isenberg, Nabors Industries Ltd., $44.6 million

9. John Mack, Morgan Stanley, $41.7 million

10. Glenn Murphy, Gap Inc., $39.1 million

_____

Note that 5 are "industrialists", 1 heads a media corporation, and 4 are in finance. If that means anything to you, cool. So, how much are you getting paid? As a public school teacher in Daly City, I'm pulling in $44,000...that's $39,056,000 less than the lowest paid person on this list, Mr. Gap. I wonder if they trip about rising gas prices? To quote Linkin Park:
"Like they understand you in the back of the jet / When you can't put gas in your tank".
-sergio


(I basically lifted this from sergio but I figured I couldn't deliver it any more eloquently. Thanx serg.)

Guardian Angels in Oakland

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has invited punk-ass vigilantes, The Guardian Angels to The Town!
Dellums is saying “Bringing in the Guardian Angels is part of the city’s comprehensive plan to provide additional security for Oakland’s business corridors.”
Plan?! Security!?

Do those folks in the red berets with obvious authority complexes make you feel safer? They are not from here. They travel here as outsiders to protect businesses… and our Mayor invited them!?
If the city wants volunteers to keep the peace on Oakland streets, the only organization I can think of maybe being able to do it is Fruit Of Islam (and not the Bakery folks).

I don’t know if I support any authority handed out to either group but I do pose this question:
We know the police are no good and I would favor a community that “polices” itself. At this stage, I ain’t opposed to some sort of organizing to achieve this. Who is doing that? Who has the ability to do that?

If/When The Guardian Angels show up, let's make them feel as unwelcome as possible.

Ossetia: Russia vs. Georgia

A lot has been going on between Georgia and Russia in Ossetia as of late. I think it has left most Americans confused or uninterested. I think it has left most radicals and progressives wondering who, if anyone, to support or condemn.
This is an inter-imperialist conflict with no good guys to rally behind. As one might guess, the USA is heavily involved. Thus, it is our duty to expose and attack the US role in the conflict. (This is not because the US is “worse” than any other side but because we are the US and it is our imperialists we need to critique and toss out.)

First some background:
- Ossetia is a region inhabited mostly by ethnic Persians.
-When Georgian SSR became Georgia, the region of Ossetia was split: 1/2 in Russia and 1/2 in Georgia.
-Ossetian citizens wanted self rule from the increasingly conservative right-wing Georgian government.
- In 1992 Ossetia and Georgia had a civil war, and finally a cease fire.
- Georgia recently started an ethnic cleansing of Ossetian Persians.
-Russia invaded Georgia on the grounds of stopping ethnic cleansing.
-Since Georgia committed troops to Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq, and are trying to join NATO, they have become US allies.
-The American media is demonizing Russia and overlooking Georgian ethnic cleansing.
-The USA is directly involved by supplying military transports to airlift Georgian troops back to Georgia to fight.
-Abkhazia is another "breakaway" separatist autonomous region in Georgia. -In 1992 and 1993, the Abkhaz people began an ethnic cleansing and expulsion of ethnic Georgians in Abkhazia, and Russia and America help to make a peace treaty that would allow the Abkhaz people the most autonomy possible inside Georgian borders.
-As the Ossetian situation exploded, the Abkhazian cease fire deteriorated.


Some further basics:
- Some of the most important resources in the world are along the southern tier of Russia: the Caspian Sea oil and the natural gas of Kazakstan.
- The U.S. has tried for half a century to peel that strip of countries from Soviet/Russian influence, and gain control of it.
- Russia has (similarly) sought to control the oil fields tightly since the start of the 1900s.
- These resources are landlocked. To get to markets they need to travel by pipeline: either over Russia, or Iran, or over Georgia to Turkey.
-The U.S. seeks to disrupt Russia's pipe lines (i.e. unrest in Chechnya). And Russia seeks to disrupt the U.S. pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan via Georgia and parts of Turkish Kurdistan.
-Both Russia and the U.S. have been leaning on, arming, financing, and promoting various clients along the pipeline routes.


(thanx Harjit & Nick 7G)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Ghost Prisoner: Aafia Siddiqui ( عافية صديقي‎)

This is an illustration of what is done in our name.

Today I read the Yahoo! News Headline:
"FBI Arrests Most Wanted Woman in the World:Evidence found in M.I.T. graduate Aafia Siddiqui's purse suggests she was plotting assassinations."

Intriguing!
So I had to find out more about this dangerous woman.

Turns out, it is likely that she has been a "ghost prisoner" of the US and Pakistan for the past 5 years!
Siddiqui reportedly
-had one of her kidneys removed while in captivity;
-her teeth had been removed
-her nose had been broken, and improperly reset
-had lost part of her intestines


One of her Prosecutors, justified withholding medical care because she was a "high-security risk".

On top of all that, it is speculated that her children (who are US citizens) are being held in custoday as well.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Why LA Galaxy drives me mad

I know this is not a football (soccer) blog but I do try to highlight popular culture through my perspective as an anarcho-socialist.
Ever since I read Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas were on the out at The LA Galaxy, my mind has been blown and I have been extremely intrigued by the spectacle of The Galaxy.

I could write a lengthy indictment of The LA Galaxy (and I did but then deleted it). Instead let me make a few points and then suggest a few sources of more info.

The LA Galaxy is owned by a company of right-wing Christian fascists who intend to (re)shape the cultural landscape in favor of Christian fundamentalism. MLS bends rules to accomodate The Galaxy. Beckham's role is not to play football or improve his club or this league. Beckham's role is simply to sell t-shirts and make little girls squeal.

The LA Galaxy is a disastrous organization that knows nothing about actually playing good football.
David Beckham's entourage and schedule make the team unmanageable.

Now I highly suggest you take a listen to World Soccer Daily's 8/13/08 episode at about 30min into the program.
(decent thread about the episode HERE)

But be sure to get to the 8/21 game to see the new Sugar Ray perform!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

How Wrong Can PETA Get It?

PETA is offering the US government money to place advertisements promoting veganism on the US/Mexico border fence.

Not only is PETA now offering to directly fund the racist imperialism of the US but is, once again, showing a serious lack of empathy towards people of color. It is these same people that the ads intend to romanticize.

Now I don't doubt that a traditional Mexican diet is healthier than a contemporary bourgeois US diet, but I don't think PETA has it correct insinuating the diet forced upon the "Third World" by US imperialism is even a choice. (It isn't vegan either!)

It sure is popular with the Animal Liberation crowd to objectify and romanticize poor people of color subjected to imperialism.

Complain to PETA HERE
(I did.)


(thanx Mel)

Monday, August 11, 2008

Catching Up

I have been lagging on posts, in part, due to some computer issues.

My Google Reader, which I have fallen in love with, won't work. All I get is the top navigation bar loaded and nothing else at all. I think this might have to do with running Mac OS 10.3.9 (and associated browsers).
If anyone can provide me a solution, I will be ABSOLUTELY GRATEFUL!
(I already unsuccessfully tried to install Mac OS 10.4.8 on my sorry ass eMac. -Thanx Neel)
_____

This is a stupid line up but Rival Schools is reuniting!!


_____

So... A scientist working for the government is allegedly responsible for sending anthrax out right as the government needed fear at an all time high to help justify their imperial efforts.
Then the government tells us that charges were to be brought against this scientist... and he happens to have killed himself!

Which part of that fuckin' story do you expect us to swallow!?
_____

Jenny Piccolo are supposed to be playing some reunion shows with The Locust.
Do people care?
_____

The LA Galaxy fired Alexi Lalas and Ruud Gullit resigned!

I was blown away at this news. Gullit didn't even last one season! I thought for sure, despite the problems, LA would keep him on to save face.
It had been widely suggested that Gullit wouldn't last more than a season given the League's frustratingly odd management rules.
The MLS makes up rules just to help LA be some "super club" and it just illustrates the shortcomings of such bullshit anti-football tactics.
We shall see how Cobi does in the interim... a job no sane person would probably want.
_____

We named our cat Hiboux.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

new cat

Today, we adopted a cat. She came from the Tri-Valley East Bay SPCA in Dublin and before that she was most likely a stray.

The facility she was in was pretty plush. The cats had full on rooms. However, most animal shelters are nowhere near that nice. The sister shelter in Oakland had the cats in large cages and I think that is more the norm.

Visiting the shelters you see so many sweet cats and dogs who have been abandoned in some way or another. They are all so damn eager for attention.

If you want a companion animal for life, I highly recommend rescuing an adult cat or dog. (Although I am not going to push adoption on anyone that is not 110% sure they are ready for that!) The SPCA also takes donations. They obviously accept money but are also in need of items that you may have, throw out, or come by easily- such as: newspapers, towels, pens, bleach, and paper towels. (You can also donate pet food and litter!)

SPCA Wish List

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Portraits Of Past: night 2: 924 Gilman St.

I was really geeked for this show after having so much fun the previous night.
The line to get in to Gilman was long and stayed long through the first 2 bands.

Unfortunately, at the last minute, Yaphet Kotto had to pull out from playing. They were missing a member. People were disappointed but it was really more sad (for all involved including- I would guess- the guys who wanted to play) than upsetting.

At that curveball, POP rushed to take the stage.
Soon enough, the spooky slow pretty intro music began. Then, of course, people went nuts. I believe the set was identical to the 1st night and I ain't gonna complain about that.
If it matters, the sound was superior at Gilman than CellSpace. Also if it matters, Gilman security are zealous as fuck.
I tried to get to the front on my 2 favorite songs. I couldn't even get close for Bang Yer Head but on Journeyman I was right there climbing on top of everyone.

The beauty of the show(s) was not just seeing a band that I witness the genesis of in my neighbor's house in Fairfield, CA play as adults with the same genuine emotion 13+ years later. It was also the friends that I hadn't seen in forever who were at the show.

(Kent, Lisa, Brett, Quinlan, Autumn, Isaacson, Matt, Julia, Dan, Santos, and Rob, Rex, & Grimace)

(photo lifted from Damian Hade)

(coming soon: Portraits Of Past interview)

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Portraits Of Past: night 1: SF

8 August 2008. CellSpace, SF.
1st Portraits Of Past show in (I think) 12 years.

I will skip the 2 opening bands in the longest 3 band show I have ever been to.

It far exceeded my expectations.
The band was tight from practicing something like every day for the past 2 weeks. The crowd went nuts and the band went off. Rex was amazing to watch.

They played quite a few songs. I got to hear my favorites and they played the new song. Interestingly, the new song actually sounded like a BellaVista song with fast parts and screaming. I felt that is was more natural for them to combine the old with the current rather than try to just write the old.
The crowd was probably mostly kids who never saw POP live. Of course, I did see a good number of older faces (big up to the whole Fairfield crew).

When the show ended with everyone screaming and Rex removing one of Grimace's floor toms to beat upon with the audience, it felt right. It felt like the emotional catharsis that I associate with the genre and era of Portraits Of Past.

Now I am ready for tonite.

(I lifted these photos from Damian Hade)

Friday, August 01, 2008

Che: The Argentine

I heard the reviews were atrocious and I don't trust this film being made by anyone but a socialist.