The Typical Arts student. |
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Some punk loser rants on about life in general (not the MxPx album).
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Monday, March 29, 2004
Punknews.org I soooooooooooooooooooo have to get this cd. Strong bad is everyone's hero. In the whole world. If you don't know who he is you die now. die. Thursday, March 25, 2004
Susan Kare User Interface Graphics This chick is sooo cool. Check out this page and relive the memories... I know I did. it's my birthday~! I'm 20. It's crazy. Nat gave me the coolest presents. I will put up pics soon. I went to dougs houyse today, it ti cool. Had lost of fun sitting around doing not much. Dougs car overhead a few times. Oh, and he has heap sof really crappy mp3s. Speaking of Mp3s, bryan went and got heaps of them. 90 cds. Yayness. Daniel is meant to be coming online later tonight but I don't think I can wait that long!!!! Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
A Bush Surprise: Fright-Wing Support I ripped the article from the nytimes site, check it out. I still think a consevative punk isn't a punk at all. A Bush Surprise: Fright-Wing Support By WARREN ST. JOHN Published: March 21, 2004 ith his mohawk, ratty fatigues, assorted chains and his menagerie of tattoos — swallows on each shoulder, a nautical star on his back and the logo of the Bouncing Souls, a New York City punk band, on his right leg — 22-year-old Nick Rizzuto is the very picture of counterculture alienation. But it's when he talks politics that Mr. Rizzuto sounds like a real radical, for a punk anyway. Mr. Rizzuto is adamantly in favor of lowering taxes and for school vouchers, and against campaign finance laws; his favorite Supreme Court justice is Clarence Thomas; he plans to vote for President Bush in November; and he's hard-core into capitalism. "Punks will tell me, `Punk and capitalism don't go together,' " Mr. Rizzuto said. "I don't understand where they're coming from. The biggest punk scenes are in capitalist countries like the U.S., Canada and Japan. I haven't heard of any new North Korean punk bands coming out. There's no scene in Iran." Advertisement Mr. Rizzuto is the founder of Conservative Punk, one of a handful of Web sites and blogs that have sprung up recently as evidence of a heretofore latent political entity: Republican punks. With names like GOPunk, Anti-Anti-Flag and Punkvoter Lies, the sites are a curious blend of Karl Rove and Johnny Rotten, preaching personal responsibility and reflexive patriotism with the in-your-face zeal of a mosh pit. When he's not banging his head to the Misfits, the Vandals or the Bouncing Souls, for example, Mr. Rizzuto spends his time writing essays denouncing Michael Moore and "left-wing propaganda," and urging other conservative punks to join his cause. "Punk has been hijacked by an extreme left-wing element," Mr. Rizzuto said. "It's blame America first. Everything is America's fault, and everything is Bush's fault." Mr. Rizzuto said his goal "is rallying conservative punks and getting people to vote." By their own admission, conservative punks constitute a small percentage of their particular subculture. Around 200 liberal and left-oriented punk bands have come together under the banner of Punkvoter, a coalition founded by Mike Burkett — a k a Fat Mike — of the band NOFX, with the stated goal of organizing punk fans to vote against President Bush in November. Mr. Burkett started Punkvoter with $100,000 of his own money and has recruited crossover bands like Green Day and the Foo Fighters to his cause. "Our goal is to anger the youth of America, and to show them how the Bush administration is bad for them," Mr. Burkett said. While Conservative Punk does not have a roster of bands exactly, it has inspired the interest and involvement of a consortium of conservatives with proper punk credentials, like Michale Graves, a former singer for the Misfits, who writes a column for Mr. Rizzuto's site. Mr. Graves regularly performs wearing a skull mask and is known for belting out lyrics like: "A fever rots/The brain goes numb inside/I feel a blackout coming/The boiled blister pops inside." He allows that he doesn't fit the profile of your average red-state Republican. "I look like someone who should be hanging out with Marilyn Manson — in fact I have hung out with Marilyn Manson," Mr. Graves said. "It doesn't affect what my morals are." "I think George Bush is a wonderful, competent leader," he added. "And I believe that he is bringing this country on a right and just course and he understands the true nature of evil." Andrew Wilkow, a conservative talk show host for WABC radio who has written for Conservative Punk, said that when he discussed the site on his show he was inundated with calls from people saying, "We thought we were alone." "It turns out there are a lot of people who like a certain music and like to dress a certain way, but who want to think for themselves politically," he said. "They were being told by their favorite bands they couldn't think this way, but they did, and they still liked the music." Traditionally a subculture of anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian leanings, the punk world has never been monolithic in its politics. The Sex Pistols preached nihilism and anarchy, while bands like the Clash, which headlined Rock Against Racism events in London and New York in the late 1970's, espoused leftist views. At the same time, punk came out of a frustration with what many urban youths saw as the ineffectualness of hippie-style liberalism, and embraced an inflammatory iconography — like swastikas and military leathers — as a statement against the peace movement, and everything else mainstream for that matter. Joe Levy, a deputy managing editor of Rolling Stone magazine, said punk politics have always been a bit confused. "The whole idea of punk rock and politics was a mess from the beginning," he said. Jake Herrle for The New York Times POLITICS AS UNUSUAL Andrew Heidgerken, founder of GOPunk. ARTICLE TOOLS E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Format Most E-Mailed Articles Reprints & Permissions Single-Page Format TIMES NEWS TRACKER Topics Alerts Music Apparel Republican Party Richard Perry/The New York Times JUST THE TICKET Michale Graves, a punk performer, watches two of his heroes, Bono and President Bush. He writes for a conservative Web page. Norman Y. Lono for The New York Times CAPITALIST PUNK Nick Rizzuto, the founder of a conservative Web site and a vote for Bush. A Bush Surprise: Fright-Wing Support Published: March 21, 2004 (Page 2 of 2) Even so, conventional conservatives, he said, have been few and far between among punks. "By and large the people who are attracted to this music, both listeners and artists, share a loose set of anti-authoritarian, pro-individualist and usually very left-leaning values," he said. There have been notable exceptions. Johnny Ramone, the guitarist for the Ramones, has been an outspoken Republican for years, and some skinhead bands have blended the punk aesthetic with their extreme right-wing views. But conservative punks say their beliefs and, as important, their attitude, square neatly with the punk tradition, especially, they say, when — pardon the oxymoron — mainstream punk, as represented by Punkvoter, has coalesced into a single, liberal-oriented movement. Andrew Heidgerken, the founder of GOPunk and the proud owner of metal-spiked leather jacket with "G.O.P.," "N.R.A." and "U.S.A." on the sleeves and a portrait of Ronald Reagan on the back, said he took special pleasure in the unpopularity of his views among other punks. "I can tell you the part of punk we like," he said. "The willingness to speak out even if it annoys people, shouting at anyone who'll listen." Mr. Heidgerken is not beyond using traditional means to annoy people; he's currently running for committeeman from his Chicago neighborhood. In some ways, the punk world has become consumed by the same sort of angry right-vs.-left feuding that has divided the rest of America for years, complete with venomous name-calling, charges of betrayal and treason, and the occasional death threat. On the message boards of GOPunk, 2,000 or so angry postings from both liberal and conservative punks testify to the punk affinity for annoying others. Mr. Graves said he receives "an incredible amount of hate mail." Some left-leaning punk fans have been dismayed to learn their punk heroes are conservatives. Thorsten Wilms, 32, a punk who lives outside Cologne, Germany, and who runs the punk Web site www.FiendClub.de, said he was a fan of Mr. Graves until he learned through Punkvoter that Mr. Graves was writing pro-Bush columns for Conservative Punk. In response, Mr. Wilms added a page to his site depicting Mr. Graves beneath an appropriately punk screed of profanity. One of the few printable lines on the page is "Conservative Punk! How sick is that?" "We wanted to polarize as well," Mr. Wilms said of his site. "You can't be a punk rocker and be right wing." He said conservative punks "could be the death of punk rock." Ian MacKaye, a founding member of the influential punk bands Minor Threat and Fugazi, suggested that such fears might be overstated. As an outspoken "straight edge" punk — one who does not drink or do drugs — Mr. MacKaye was sometimes mistaken for a conservative (he's not) and saw his message of sobriety seized on in the early 1990's by conservative Christian punk bands. Mr. MacKaye likened the punk aesthetic to furniture. "Once it's built you can put it into any house," he said. "You can be a lefty and go to Ikea or you can be a right-winger and go to Ikea." Punk, he said, "is a free space where anything can go — a series of actions and reactions, and people rebelling and then rebelling against rebelling." Mr. Levy of Rolling Stone agreed. "Broadly speaking," he said, "the idea of disruption was a punk aesthetic strategy. Tear apart your shirt, wear it that way. If you want to have an ugly guitar sound in the middle of your song, go ahead. And certainly spitting wasn't frowned upon." Mr. Levy suggested that posting conservative views online while much of the punk movement is engaged in earnest liberal political organizing might be the cyberequivalent of an audience member spitting on a band's lead singer during a show, "although it's a lot more hygienic," he said. So is there some hidden political information to be divined about the electorate by studying conservative punks? Frank Luntz, a Republican consultant said he did not think so. "I think these people are anti-establishment, and as funny as it sounds supporting George Bush is anti-establishment because a lot of people their age are supporting Kerry," he said. "I don't plan to do any focus groups with Republican punks between now and Election Day." Mr. Luntz, though, may be missing an opportunity to help his candidate. Jason Pye, 23, a conservative punk from Atlanta who plays drums for the band Style Over Substance and who describes himself as "a pro-life, pro-death-penalty, fiscal conservative who supports the war," said that when he's not playing rock or handling premature-death and dismemberment claims at the insurance company where he works, he's often proselytizing for President Bush. He's already converted his bass player, a former Kerry supporter, he said, and he's working on the singer. Mr. Pye said there are only a few small things he'd change about his candidate, Mr. Bush. "If he got some piercings and wore them with a studded suit, that would be pretty cool," he said. Monday, March 22, 2004
deviantART: muskawo Look what I got! there is hardly anything there yet, Put I'll just throw a whole bunch of art up soon. Friday, March 19, 2004
Today I got a really nice letter from Lesh. I think the only thing better than giving a nice letter is getting one. We've been friends for ages! It's pretty crazy, looking back, shes one of the only people I've known since I was that young that I still feel I can talk about anything to. It's funny, you think you're so grown up in year 7, but you're still just a kid! I feel younger than ever now and I'm nearly 20. A week to go. So she's known me from when I started my teenage life to when I ended it. Things have changed so much. Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Punknews.org | Fat Mike Clarifies Propagandhi Situation Hmm, It's good to see punk rock getting so political these days. I don't really know whose side I want to take, I agree with propagandhi, but I also think punkvoter.com needs all the support it can get, getting rid of bush is the first step in the right direction. However, Fat mike shouldn't really be walking alongside someone as bad as that Soros dude. It's so hard! uhgh, it was easier when I all I had to do was hate the government. Wow, you know that crappy pop-punk band mest? (they are friends with good charlotte) Read this (it's pretty old, but still...) A few weeks ago, this column profiled Tony Lovato, leader of Blue Island pop-punks Mest, as he celebrated the release of "Destination Unknown," the band's second album for Madonna's Maverick Records. Like many Chicagoans, I'm a fan. But the column prompted some disturbing e-mails and discussions on Internet message boards. Eight years ago, when he was 13, Lovato played drums in a band called Confederate Storm. Initially, the other musicians were skinheads as a fashion statement, but they came to embrace that controversial subculture's racist attitudes, and the group's songs included white-power lyrics. I returned to Lovato to ask him about this, and he welcomed the opportunity to set the record straight publicly for the first time. "Kids bring this up all the time, and the record label and publicity people are like, 'Let's not address it,' " Lovato says. "But I'm an honest person, and the more honest you are with your fans, the closer they feel to you--it's not like you're some singer who [messes around with] little girls, then turns around and acts like he's a Christian." Lovato says he grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood, and his first girlfriend was African-American. Then his family moved, and he found himself isolated until he was drawn into the skinhead scene. Eventually, he started to think about its poisonous attitudes. He then split and paid the price, being ostracized and getting involved in fights. (He compares his experience to the film "American History X.") "When you're 13, you don't think for yourself, and you just go with the flow with the kids you hang out with," Lovato says. "The scariest part about Nazi skinheads and that cause is that they get you at a young age, and they warp your mind. After two years of that, I was like, 'This just isn't right.' It wasn't like it wasn't cool anymore, and that's why I got out of it. I realized: 'This is [messed] up, these people are [messed] up, and I am being ignorant and rude to people.' " In the liner notes to the band's first Maverick album, Lovato writes, "Sorry to everyone I hurt in the past from my ignorant ways--I hope you can forgive me." Now, the group tours with representatives of Anti-Racist Action, and he steers fans to their information booth from the stage. "Because of what I did in the past, maybe I can turn this around and do a positive thing," he says. "The truth is, I hung out with these kids for a few years, then I had enough brains to realize it was wrong, and I hope other people can learn from my experience." ******** Hmmm, you've gottat wonder about someone who could even lean that way, though.I guess he found out that being rascist wasn't cool anymore and joined a pop punk band instead. Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Well, my birthday is coming up, so what better time to talk about all the crap you should be buying me? Here we goooooooooo! sorry, the o key stuck. 
This Diesel sweeties shirt. I also want the whole indie rock pete pack. 
I want this button. it's only a dollar. yay. Nothing feels good. want want want want want! 
Want these too. Very cool. 
I wanna go red this time. My old ones are so dead. Thats all for now. More later. Thursday, March 11, 2004
eBay item 2993176814 (Ends Mar-16-04 14:24:53 PST) - CHRIS CARRABBA'S SOUL!! DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL WOW RARE LMAO! Wednesday, March 10, 2004
BILLBOARD Hmmm, maybe not so much sellout. but still kinda sellout. At least they are still underground here. And I mean underground, we watched them in a basement, LOL, har har har. Tuesday, March 09, 2004
MTV.com - News -Dashboard Confessional To Spill Their Guts In A Customized Civic can anyone here say, SELLING OUT? The car is pretty cool, but, hrm. Why? *sighs* Monday, March 08, 2004
A life less ordinary... I wish dan had little comment boxes on his blog like I have on my blog! It makes it so much better, cause you can talk about each post to the person. I keep thinking of things to write on my blog, but never get time to these days. I've nearly downloaded the whole rem covers thing. Its pretty cool. I don't know what album I would do if I was on that show... something short and punk, LOL. If anyone lives in Canberra, please take a photo of the cotton on ad that is on the back of all the buses up there. I want it for my folio. I should be up in a week or two. Friday, March 05, 2004
A life less ordinary... OMG, so ugly!!!!! LOL, just kidding, good work dan, but it will take you awhile to figure things out, blog code is odd in some places. Well, I've been to busy to update, but I will soon and you will all love me again. I've had lots of freelance work to do, lots of hugging chris, lots of going to melbourne, lots of hugging Chris, lots of travelling to far off lands (burwood), and did I mention I HUGGED CHRIS CARRABBA!!!! WOOOT! I'm gonna do a long arse recount of that beautiful, wonerful weekend soon, but until then, you can all sit with your fingers in your arses. Try it, it's fun... ummmm.... I've *heard*.... |