Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Virginia Tech Shootings (Columbine Re-visited?)



Yet again another shooting occurs ata place of learning in the US. (look here).


Lonely, insular, psychotic and with delusions of grandeur and the desire to be remembered, Cho Seung Hi unloaded round after round int innocent victims at Virginia Tech.


Point 1: Guns, and the ability to freely get hold of guns and ammunition will only result in tragedies like this one.


Point 2: The hierarchy of 'cool', lack of inclusion and the scorn poured on individuals of Cho's social status, (inherent to US educational institutions) will result in fucked up individuals like Cho.


Point 3: We have to take ownership for creating individuals like Cho. They could not exist without the experiences that made them. Perhaps all he needed was someone to extend the hand of friendship or listen to him when he needed someone to talk to. Hard to swallow I know.



Point 4: Videogames will in some way be blamed for this, rather than the brutality of the society in which we live.


Point 5: My thoughts and prayers go out to all the individuals affected by this tragedy.


Here are the lyrics to a poignant track by US rapper Ill Bill, called "The Anatomy Of A School Shooting"

[Verse 1]The anatomy of a school shooting, shotgun under my trenchcoat

Columbiners did it, dead spoke - bloodred soaked

My mind consume the doom as I walk through the school

15 people killed and over 14 wounded

My name is Eric Harris, I was forever harrased, an outcast

You fuck with us and now me and Dylan is pulling out gats

I've been wantin to murder people

Suicide is played out, if you gonna die, take people with you

We've been planning this before the kids from Jonesboro did it

And I wanted the world to know when people died why we did it

I even killed myself but don't feel sorry for me

Feel sorry for your seads as we spread the diesease

Another bloodbath coming soon to a school near you

Smalltown killing-spree that's organized by the youth

Fuck the media, them fags be disguising the truth

Dragging my name through the mud when televizing the news

A bunch of ticking timebombs y'all, is more like me

Overflowin with hate, bullied to get raw like me

They constantly get picked on and shitted on like me

You'd probably get your head blown off by a kid like me

I put my mind to it and what I accomplish's frightening

The right thing, no matter what you idiots might think

Check it, I did that shit so idiots might think

This ain't a game, the nerds that you be fuckin with might flip


[Chorus: repeat 2X]

It's like this, what's more fun than slice wrist?

Kill that teacher that you hate, spray 25 kids

You'd be famous just like me if you did what I did

This is the anatomy of a school shooting


[Verse 2]I see dead people, it isn't my fault that they were evil

Fuck a favorite I hate everybody equal

Bitch I warned y'all, didn't I?

Now everybody wanna talk shit and cry asking why-

Two geeks picked up guns and turned murderous

All of y'all under beneath me you don't deserve to live

Two nerdy kids is that a crime?

why I've gotta be one of the cool kids just to walk by-

without being tripped, thrown down on the ground and kicked

Insulting me for no reason, I was treated like shit

The teachers let it happen

I've even seen some of them teachers laughing

That's why I had a smile on my face when I started blastin

I wasn't crazy - all of y'all were sick

I was the nicest person in the world - y'all were dicks

Don't even try to analyze me now you have no chance,

back then- maybe you could've been my friend


[Chorus]


Thursday, April 19, 2007

808 State - In Yer Face

Enjoy this trip into my past! Happy days!

MC Tunes Vs 808 State - Tunes Split the Atom

WOW! Round about the time that the world was discovering that white boys could rhyme via Vanilla Ice *cough!* ...
one MC Tunes AKA Nicky Lockett was smashing it and representing for Manchester, backed by the incomparable Acid House pioneers 808 State.

I had the good fortune to spend a large chunk of the nineties with these people and looking back it was quite a ride! LOL! :)

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Resident Evil: Code: Veronica - Dreamcast!

One of the best/most frustrating games I've ever played on the Dreamcast.

The visuals and story are fantastic, but stupid things like for getting to pick up a fire extinguisher in the first hour of gameplay can hamper you 20 hours later! Still a GREAT game! The second title of the franchise that I played to death, I've actually stopped very short of completing the game! This video shows the last 'cut scenes' that I haven't seen...

The Illuminatus Trilogy





The first time I ever heard of the Illuminati (that shadowy Masonic organisation that controls big business, politics and the judicial system), was through the classic psychedelic opus "Illuminatus!" co-written by Bob Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.






The book remains one of my favourites to this day. An acid fuelled novel encompassing inter-dimensional travel, Woodstock Europa, Nazi Zombies, Hagbard Celine (a modern day Captain Nemo - complete with his own vast Yellow Submarine) and corrupt New York cops. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, all thoughtfully, originally and wittily written. Read about it here.


Buy it! Read it! Love it!

Funky Goes To Hollywood: Rock Me Daddy!

Continuing my trend for showcasing eighties inspired dance music, here's Funky Goes To Hollywood with 'Rock Me Daddy'. There was a time (about 10 years ago) when I would dance like that for eight hours straight, with eyes like saucers and love for all those around me. Now I get a sweat on just watching it!

Crass - The Punkest Of All Punk Bands!


At the start of the 1980s I was thirteen. Having missed the first wave of Punk, heralded by The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Damned (amongst others), I was just old enough to get into Crass.


Crass were the quintessential Punk band. True anarchists, pacifists, vegans and feminists. They lived the DIY ethic, living communally in a co-op squat. Their music wasn't always easy on the ear, but their political message was inspiring and has shaped my political outlook to this day.


What was particularly great about Crass was that you could write to them and they would write hand written letters back, in which they would put in the occasional flexi disc, badges or sew on patches.

Receiving one of their letters felt like Christmas and the care they took of their fans made them the best band to be into, more so than the music.

Best single for me was Bloody Revolutions b/w Person's Unknown by label mates Poison Girls.

It's both amazing and gratifying to see they have a visible presence on the Internet, as few people seemed to know about them at the time.


Even though they sold a good amount of records they never charted because they sold their records below retail price out of loyalty to their fans. Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbaud, B.A. Nana, Eve Libertine and all the other Crass boys and girls, this old punk salutes you!