1. This site was meant to be a place for information about the hardcore/punk/etc. shows and goings-on in West Michigan– most specifically– Grand Rapids. Due to the nature of said events and their inherent tendency towards exclusiveness or just general elusiveness, the idea for this site was born, in hopes of expanding our small scene and hopefully bridging some serious gaps in communication that seem to be the root of the small scene in the first place. For the most part, THIS HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL! I have been absolutely impressed with the way shows have gone in the last year or so in our area, and very very happy with the direction things seem to be moving, the most important one being the increased DIVERSITY I’ve noticed in show spaces, the types of shows happening, the touring bands that have come through, and most importantly the increased diversity in those attending the shows in the first place. If any of these things can be realized through this site, then it is worth it’s continuation.

2. So the UNDERLYING purpose of the site has always been to promote COLLECTIVE action. In the most general sense that means that through contributions this site can essentially run itself. While obviously moderators are necessary for posting and other up-keep, the more stuff people contribute THE BETTER THE SITE IS AND WILL BE!

These things include:

- Columns

- Photos

- News

- Show Reviews

- Flyers (i.e. for the Michigan archive)

- Information about shows you are doing or know are happening that aren’t already listed on the site

- ETC!

So hey! While I’m on the subject… let me go slightly off topic for a minute. I am one of the primary “shit poster” on this site. And most times it goes very smoothly EXCEPT when I get stuff that is just typed into e-mails! IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT ANYTHING CONTRIBUTED TO THIS SITE IS SENT TO ME AS AN “ATTACHMENT”. This prevents me from literally having to re-type and re-format entire entries. If you need more information on how to do this PLEASE contact me and I will be very happy to help you figure it out for whatever computer system you’re working with. It’s a minor effort that helps things run much more smoothly!

3. In addition to all this contribution stuff I have realized over the last few months that not having one consistent e-mail address for contributions is perhaps causing some stuff to fall through the cracks. Because of that I am currently in the process of getting a separate e-mail address entirely for the site which should be able to be utilized within the next week or so. This hopefully will remedy some of the issues with who exactly to send stuff to. In the meantime, my e-mail is clairerevenge@riseup.net and you may send things there. OKAY!

4. One more thing! We’ve experienced some haggling in terms of people wanting us to post their stuff automatically or whatever and in terms of that, we are only two people. And two very busy people. We post as often as we can. No threats PLEASE!

5. This site absolutely will always remain a positive INCLUSIVE place. So duh NO FUCKING BULLSHIT PLEASE! (Though for the most part refraining from a message board has kept that in check so yay!)

That’s pretty much it for tonight and what’s on my mind in terms of the site. PLUS! We always are looking for people to help with larger projects like re-sizing photos and updating archives etc. And I could really use someone to clean out my computer or at least show me how. Okay.

Love,

CVG

As anyone who has seen my room at the Suicide House can attest I love records.  There is barely enough room to walk in between my bed and dresser due to a cascade of vinyl that has long overflowed my meager shelf space.  I don’t mind, there are still 100’s, 1000’s of slices of exciting music out there to discover, capture and drag back to my lair.

Among the discs and cassettes rising in stacks around my clothes, books and stereo are Krautrock reissues, girl group 45’s, Indie Rock classics, minimal classical experiments, Soul gems, Punk and No Wave originals, Doom and Speed Metal dirges and Michigan underground records of the small and large varieties.  Among other things.   My interests are broad which hopefully will make my take on the Punk, Metal and Hardcore records I review here more interesting.  It also means that I don’t have quite the extensive knowledge of these genres that many of you who read The Screamer do.  So bare with me, challenge me when you need to, correct me if you have to.

I decided when I started reviewing records again that I am old enough not to worry if I occasionally offend with my opinions.  They are, after-all, just that: opinions.  These reviews are meant to give you my thoughts and impressions of music and those impressions aren’t always good.  This can be tricky in a small community like GR/ West Michigan.  I might be handed a record by a friend that sucks and I will say so.  I might stumble on a record by a band I can’t stand and love it.  My request is this: read these reviews and share your opinions but don’t take this shit personally.  Just make better music.

ATTENTION SPAN- Faceless People CD (Homesick Records 2010)

This new CD from Grand Rapids punks Attention Span wastes no time getting to the point; fuck you and get out of the way.

The first thing that grabs me when listening to these 8 burning tracks of youthful anger and alienation is the balls-out vocals of Trent Dirkse.  Dirkse goes hoarse spitting vitriol for the people he feels want to control what he thinks or how he lives.  There is nothing new about the sentiments here but lyrics like “They sell us lies, they sell us violence/ they try to take my voice and sell me silence/ They sell us war and their version of peace/ sell us crime then sell us the police” have a freshness that make this not just another 15 minute disaffected punk rant.  And again, it’s the voice that really sells it. I don’t feel for a minute that he is faking distain to sound “punk as fuck.”

But all of that would be for nothing without the buzzing guitar, point punching bass and burning drums propelling the vocals.  Matt, Tim and Ben grind through this disc with a old-school hardcore sound that has real life in it (which is not as easy as it sounds).

The last two tracks are live recordings which – luckily – capture the energy Attention Span wields in the basements and underground venues of GR.  The vocals are echoed out and the instruments sludge together but don’t lose their acidity.  These tracks sound distinctly different from the first 6 tracks on the EP (all decent studio recordings) and that is a good thing.  They prove that Attention Span make noise for real.  I just wish that I could hear all these details when I see them play.  Goddamn not being able to hear vocals at punk shows.

VARIOUS ARTISTS- Welcome to 1984 LP (Reissue) (Maximum Rock N’ Roll Records 1984/2009)

I have spent all of about a year getting acquainted with 30 years of Hardcore so excuse me for not knowing my shit.  I’ve set myself on a crash course with the huge mass of Hardcore recordings available by hitting up friends, record stores, mp3 blogs and Ebay but boy do I still have a lot to learn…

Luckily I have come to own and love two records that together offer a first-rate mid 80’s (mostly political) Hardcore education.  Both of them are coincidentally from 1984 and due to their sheer number of tracks and worldwide focus they give newbies like me a quick leg-up.  The first album, the legendary P.E.A.C.E./ W.A.R. comp (R Radical Records 1984) is only available to those with an Ebay account, cool friend or Internet piracy know-how.  It should be reissued right now but I’ll save that argument for another time.  The second album, the equally legendary Welcome to 1984 comp has thankfully been repressed and is now available in all it’s glorious red vinyl awesomeness.  And it comes at us straight from the original source, the venerable Maximum Rock N’ Roll.

Welcome to 1984 is actually the first record released by the classic newsprint magazine (it’s MRR 001) but was until last year only attainable at a collector’s price.  Thankfully you can pick it up for $10.50 ppd in 2010 and you should – it is absolutely essential.  The back cover graphic sums it up pretty well “23 bands, 17 countries” and even the least memorable tracks here are worth a couple listens.

Heavy, angry, anti-nationalistic Hardcore comprises the guts of Welcome to 1984 much like the aforementioned P.E.A.C.E./ W.A.R. comp. Featuring bands from 5 continents this record proves that 1985 wasn’t the end of anything and the collective love-affair with “American Hardcore” is but a wet dream many have yet to wake from.  Hardcore was not and is not owned by any one country or color of people and anyone who tells you different lives in a fucking hole.

The stand out tracks for me are “What a Strange World” by Australia’s Depression (how can those Aussies always sound so fucking EVIL!), “Fish in a Pool” by the female-fronted Electric Deads from Denmark, “No SS” by France’s Kidnap, and “Annual Report” by one of the best groups Michigan ever puked upon the world, The Crucifucks. I could keep going, but the point is that this record is crammed full of your favorite Hardcore songs that you haven’t heard yet.

I’m glad that MRR didn’t mess with the original packaging of this record, I hate when reissues are “updated” with new artwork (I’m looking at you Bridge Nine Records with your shitty new cover for Agnostic Front’s “Victim in Pain”).  The inner sleeve is a highlight with the original typed/handwritten lyrics and band descriptions that I assume were designed by the bands themselves.  They still have the long-defunct telephone numbers and P.O. boxes even.  Awesome.  Do yourself a favor and just buy this already.

STATE- Nihil Ex Nihilo 7” (Punks Before Profits 2009)

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I designed the sleeve and labels for this EP which was released by my friend and housemate Ryan.  I just thought I should get that out there…)

State has been on a tear lately releasing what seems like a record every 5 or 6 months.  This is a testament to their standing as one of the few first-generation Michigan hardcore bands that exists to create, not perform for crowds wanting to relive the glory days (even if those people weren’t even born the first go-round).  They are one of those rare bunches that never gave up on the power of punk to cause trouble for the comforted and comfort the troubled.  Not that they make feel-good records, it’s more that while they can seem imposing in front of a swirling pit with vocalist Preston barking in German, mangling the microphone with ripped arms that put this doughy reviewer to shame, there is never a feeling that he is aiming his anger at the people in attendance.  There is a sense of camaraderie, a sense of “Us” when State plays that is what punk is at it’s best.

On this EP Preston’s vocals are as intense as ever and Art, Keir and Jeff kick out the tight brand of rock-heavy Hardcore State is known for.  I have to admit, not all the tracks here have an equal amount of punch, but there is enough on these seven inches to make it worth picking up.

On first listen I thought the A side ruled the release but after a few more I realized it’s the B side that shines brightest.  There is something perfect about a song decrying the charlatanism of religious fundamentalists (Evangile) being followed by a track calling out a “emerald-eyed demoness prowling the wilderness” (Vixen).  However, one thing that brings Nihil Ex Nihilo down for me is how rhyme-y the lyrics are at times (especially when you read along with the record).   Lines like “I’m sick of your false morality/ a liar proselytizing me/ beneath your saccharine sanctity/ is ravenous rapicity” (I Hate This Society) sound forced like high-school poetry.  At least the  rhymes will help you sing along when Preston points the mic into the pit.

1. PA system
2. FOOD FOR THE BANDS
3. OPENING BANDS
4. FLYERS
5. PLACE FOR THEM TO STAY
6. CHARGE CHARGE CHARGE MONEY

For some this may seem like a lot, but these are must haves for any show. It is a lot for any one person to take on I will admit that. I hate doing shows alone. Really it makes me want to stop doing shows. Because one person has to all this work just so nobody shows up and nobody gives a shit anyway. You make food and people are not even in the band come over and eat your food. Then you ask them for 5 bucks and they look at you like you are a fucking asshole. It’s all on you and nobody else fucking cares because it’s your show.  The idea of one person doing events like this is such an American way of doing things. In this country that’s what we do we want all the glory and credit so we run with the ball all by ourselves. In the world of punk it makes no sense that we don’t run everything as a collective. Think about the effects of a group of people doing shows. One person makes flyers one person cooks dinner for them one person gets them a place to crash and so on so forth. This works, and when I realized how much it works I was in Europe about 5 years ago.

My old band I OBJECT went to Europe for 2 months. Before this I still always cooked bands food and took care of them, but like these people did. Every night a group of people would make you food, then in the morning another group made you breakfast. You sat around and ate with the locals BEFORE THE SHOW not like in the US where maybe somebody will have some food to cook after the show at fucking midnight. Each had awesome flyers, and people working together to hang them all over the city you played in. It was truly awesome to see people working together like this. They also had huge squats to sleep in all ran by a collective. This is when I realized how fucking awful it is to tour in the US. Don’t get me wrong we have some great people and every time one of my bands goes on tour we get treated very well, but I just don’t see the collective aspect. I see one person busting ass to make it all happen, and that sucks. Europe treated me to the time of my life. It make me realize if you can’t cook food if you can’t do all things listed above then DON’T DO THE SHOW or ask for help its really that simple.

I am not trying to direct this towards anybody, but rather offer advice as a show promoter and a person who runs a label, and this site. I am burnt out on the world of punk and hardcore in this country. When I started this site it costs almost 400 bucks to build which Bob a columnist on this site did for me. And that is a huge deal. Most sites like this would be three times that at least maybe more. So thanks to Bob for making this happen. After it was built I did a benefit show at my house. I cooked food and had some bands play. I collected 35 bucks from that. So after I cleaned the yard and paid for the food, then gave the money to the out of town bands I lost money. My point being it all fell on my back nobody else.  An old friend of mine used to put on all the shows in Daytona Fl. He also did a yearly fest called THIS IS FOR YOU FEST. This was the best HC punk fest I ever went to. Each year I had a killer time. My old band played 4 years in a row. A couple years back POSITIVE NOISE was invited to come down and play it, but this year Billy had stopped doing it. It was also in Orlando Fl. This was the final year of the fest. It just did not have that awesome feel to it like the years past. Billy was at the fest that PN played so I asked him why did you stop doing the fest and shows in general. He said the best thing he could have “I love punk and hardcore and I hate fucking cops, and that’s what I was a cop who walked around picking up trash telling people not to drink telling bands they need to go on doing this and doing that” He also said “ I am 39 years old I want to go skateboard/hang out go to shows I don’t want to police them anymore” This to me makes the most sense. If Billy had a collective behind him I am sure things would have been way different. Now today the fest is gone in FL and that sucks. Now you just have THE FEST sponsor by Miller beer FUCK THAT! THIS IS FOR YOU FEST was the fuck you to THE FEST in Gainesville because THIS IS FOR YOU FEST was a real HC punk fest put on by a real hardcore punker, but it’s just too bad he was alone.

I have begun to look outside of the world of punk to find that community I miss so much. In no way I am done with punk and hardcore, but as far as putting on shows I am reaching my limit. I am sick of the bare minimum in the scene. I love places like the DAAC, but I see almost no flyers for events. What about a team of cooks to provide food? What about making this town the coolest music town in the country today? It’s so possible, we have all the resources to do so we just don’t use them. I truly believe Grand Rapids Michigan could be the best punk town in the US today if we could only work together. Look at this site look at these awesome columns. Look at these bands/people/venues/zines/labels it goes on and on. If anybody out there ever wants to do a show collective/label collective/flyer collective contact me, but please only if you are serious.  Please take time to check out the LA scene these days. They are running a record store/label/show collective and more from one scene of punx.  Check out www.myspace.com/rawponxla

One last thing I will comment on is the new Comp all the bands recorded for. At first I was stoked but then I thought about it and I said fuck it I don’t want to do this alone again. The last one was cool, but this not my scene it’s our scene so we should do this comp together. In my opinion the comp is dead, and can only be brought back to life by a collective of people.

PUNKS BEFORE PROFITS is still going I have a new record coming out this week from a band called DRAIZE from Boston… killer hardcore. I have a bunch of new projects I will be working with after my film LOCALLY BUZZED comes out August 21^st.

Until next time let’s see what we can do together!

I was incredibly nervous. It all seemed so easy but how could it be.  This was a major company and a four star hotel.  How could they not have the means to know the minute that a ill gotten bill hit my pocket from out of their till. As nervous as I was there were images that were dancing through my head.  I thought about chicken rice, about how I was going to get gas money to go see my girlfriend, about how I was going to buy supplies I needed at school. I thought about the time that I would put in on the job and the reward that I would reap and thought that I was worth more. I took ten dollars. My heart raced all night. I was certain that the eyes of my superiors were upon me. I went to the bathroom and folded the bill as small as I could and hid it in my shoe. At the end of my shift my register was tallied up and I was right on.  They said good job and I was out the door.  I did it. I filled the gas tank in my red Geo Metro (you could fill it for 10 dollars then). I was excited about what I had done. I struck a blow to a greedy corporation. I would do it again.

As time moved forward I pushed my limits. I developed new strategies to increase my haul. My bosses liked me because I would work so hard and move so fast.  They didn’t know that I did this so that my station would always make more money than the others even after I removed the money that I stole. For the first time in my life I had disposable income. My bills were paid and I could really do things in my spare time.  It was amazing.  To a young and budding punk I was given ample excuses for what I was doing.  In Grand Rapids there was no better example of the establishment than the company I was working for. I fashioned myself as a Robin Hood type character that was taking what life owed him and delivering it to others. I did things for my friends. I bought meals and occasional garments.  What I did was right. Did they owe me a living? “Of course they fucking do” my mix tape would reply. I bought tons of music and went to every show.

That summer I went back to my hometown. I got a job at a convenience store working the third shift.  What do you know, the very same techniques I employed in GR worked here too.  There were no security cameras and an inept inventory done every month that assured me of easy times.  Sometimes my friends would come in at night and sit in the cooler and drink 40s until late in the evening.  No one was there.  Who gives a shit?

I continued this pattern for the next few years.  Finally after years of getting everything I wanted. I stopped. How I never got caught I will never know. But it was so easy.  Just a minimal amount of basic math skills and a calm disposition made it simple.  But I stopped anyhow.  I knew that everyone gets caught eventually.  And with the amount that I had taken over the years I was looking at substantial trouble if it happened. So I decided that from here on out I was going to live on my paycheck alone.  The real money I made was better now and I lived with my girlfriend so sharing responsibilities made it easier to adjust. But when I looked back my feelings about myself had changed.

When I started I thought that my actions could be justified. I was working for greedy capitalists in a system that sets the worker up for failure. How wrong could it be to better myself? To take an unnoticeable bit off the top and make my life a little more like theirs. Wasn’t I deserving?  But what did I do with their money? I didn’t change anything.  I didn’t do one positive thing.  At some points I was stealing upwards of 700 extra dollars a week.  There were so many worthwhile causes that could have used that. But I wasted it on trivial junk.  Most of the things I bought I don’t even have anymore. None of it was used as a down payment on a house or to pay my own student loans. It was just for me to waste. I thought of the company itself. I thought of who I really hurt. I sold 5 dollar beers in plastic cups to regular people. People at basketball games and concerts.  The money I took off the top didn’t hurt my bosses because they passed my theft along to their patrons. That beer cost them less than 50 cents. The extra 4.50 was to make up for me. I wasn’t smashing any system I was aiding it. I was growing it. I was leeching off the people I was serving. And the things I did with the money are just what the people who run the place would do.  Waste it on little things to amuse themselves instead of investing it in people.

For all my talk of radical politics and punk slogans for those years I was the system dressed as a punk. I was the personification of greed and excess. I was walking capitalism at its worst.

I still wish I could steal from these places. I just wish that I was a better person with the gains.

Over the years, I have seen a lot of calls for punks to “get involved” and to “do something,” but sadly there have often been few ways to get directly involved in anarchist politics. All too often, there is little discussion about what it means to “get involved” and folks interested in doing that are often left hanging. In many cases, “getting involved” means working with “progressive” groups that may have some overlap with the punk scene’s values and beliefs, but often are coming from radically different perspectives. While some cities are lucky enough to have a punk community that is politically active, punks wanting to “get involved” in Grand Rapids have generally had to choose between working with “progressive” groups or trying (often in vain) to work with a small number of anarchist groups that have existed over the years.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many existing projects to get involved in right now. For punks that want to “get active,” doing so in Grand Rapids will take a lot of hard but ultimately rewarding work. I would love to be able to list off a number of amazing anarchist projects to get involved in, but sadly this is Grand Rapids and there isn’t a whole lot going on right now. However, rather than look at this as a negative, it can be a positive: there is a blank slate on which it is pretty easy to make an impression. In Grand Rapids, it doesn’t take more than a few people to shake things up and because the city is generally pretty conservative, simple things—like graffiti, banner drops, marches, protests, direct actions, wheatpasting, tabling at shows, distributing anarchist propaganda, etc—can often have a surprising impact.

That said, I’m going to give a list of resources that will help with some of the “how to” aspects of anarchist organizing. It’s pretty clear that the world is beyond messed up, so this list primarily collects resources that I think would be helpful for anyone seeking to get involved in political work. I’ll leave the case for anarchism to others who have made that argument far more eloquently than I ever could.

The list:

• Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook (book) – This book—released by the Crimethinc Collective back in 2004—is an essential anarchist organizing manual. It includes well-written and easy to follow guides on 62 different topics including squatting, organizing collectives, street art, Food Not Bombs, antifascist action, black blocs, and more. The guides are frequently accompanied by accounts of the ideas in action. It’s a great source for inspiration and ideas.
• ACTIVATE “How To Guides” (Website) – ACTIVATE was a mostly anarchist anti-war group that existed in Grand Rapids from 2006-2008. As part of its activities, it produced a series of “How To Guides” on a variety of different subjects including forming affinity groups, banner drops, wheatpasting, advertising, dealing with the police, etc. They are helpful generally but are particularly helpful to folks in Grand Rapids as the information is often tailored to Grand Rapids. Also, check out a piece they wrote on working with the media and the misplaced idea that anarchists should narrowly tailor their activities to appeal to the media.
• Build Those Collectives! (Zine) – This is a really good zine that explains how to organize an anarchist collective. It covers all the steps from the how and why of building anarchist collectives to the nuts-and-bolts of running a collective. It also includes some material offering historical perspectives (on the role of anarchist collectives in the Spanish revolution) and contemporary analysis of the anarchist movement (somewhat dated but still good).
• How to Organize a Protest March (Website) – This guide was posted on the Grand Rapids Anarchists blog and it gives a good overview of how to organize a protest march. It draws on experiences of folks in Grand Rapids, making it a valuable resource for anarchists here who wish to organize a protest march.
• Organising Communities (Zine) – A lot of what you can find on the Internet or in books about community organizing often doesn’t apply to anarchist organizing. This zine shares a number of lessons that can be learned from community organizing, told through the writing of an anarchist community organizer. It’s older (1993) but it is worth reading as many of the arguments can be helpful in developing an anarchist strategy.
• Security Culture: A Handbook for Activists (Zine) – Anarchism is a movement that challenges the state, so it isn’t surprising that the state actively works to disrupt anarchist organizing. One way in which anarchists resist state repression is by observing security culture. Security culture defined means “a set of customs shared by a community whose members may engage in illegal or sensitive activities, the practice of which minimizes the risks of such activities being subverted, or targeted for sabotage.” Basically, it is a way of trying to stay safe and minimizing the risks of repression.
• Anti-Oppression Principles (Website) – An essential aspect of anarchist organizing is doing anti-oppression work. This means working to confront and address sexism, heterosexism, racism, classism, ablism, and other forms of oppression that exist within the larger world—and all too often within the anarchist movement and the punk scene. There are a lot of resources out there and anyone serious about doing political work should work to understand oppression, albeit with the understanding that it is a job that is never done.
• Zine Library (Website) – Zine Library is a website that contains hundreds of zines and pamphlets on all aspects of anarchism and anarchist organizing. It’s a great source for more information on the topics above and a wealth of other topics.

Doing political work is an ongoing process in which you are constantly learning from your friends, comrades, other organizing groups, and the struggle itself. However, the aforementioned resources will give you a good foundation from which to build. They will help you to start a collective or affinity group and give you ideas for what to do once you start.

Most importantly, I just want to remind folks that it isn’t that hard to act. In most cases, it’s just a matter of overcoming our own internal barriers and the cultural barriers to political involvement.

DEFINITION : POSI IS SHORT FOR POSITIVE —- pronounced : posi

first introduced to me by zach meier

i want to feel positive. and i want everyone around me to feel positive. not in a mushy way. or in a slap happy “hey betch i am a fecking cheerleader” way. (it’s cool if you are/were into cheerleading. just needed a visual) i grew up in grand rapids. then i left for four years. then i moved back. and it feels like a no bake cookie that has just the right consistency but needs a glass of milk. (soy if you prefer) (or almond breeze, which i prefer)

i have found beautiful things to fill my days.

FARMERS MARKET.

BRICK ROAD PIZZA COMPANY

HEARTSIDE GALLERY AND STUDIO

POTLUCKS

DANCE IN THE ANNEX

RIDING MY BIKE

throughout all of these positive things i have found in this thriving city i am still missing something. i can’t keep thriving on my own energy. i will get tired. i am already getting tired. i get bummed out. and so do my friends.

POSI SUMMER(ALMOST FALL)LIST 2010 :

let’s be better at asking each other out for coffee instead of beer. or to go on a walk instead of play video games. or play non-violent video games and drink local beer with a friend! let’s talk less about one another to other people, and talk face to face to each other more often. let’s do work out videos together and adopt animals rather than make mac n cheese and talk about how we wish we had dogs. let’s cook more fresh foods together, and ask each other how our days were. and visit each other at work. and volunteer together.make someone a mix tape! better yet, make it for someone you barely know or work with. it might be the start of something great. walk to work one day instead of riding or driving. you’ll notice more buildings, people, and goodness. get rid of your clothes and trinkets. purge purge purge. you know it feels good to get rid of that stupid dress you haven’t worn in three years.

check out g-rad.org : it has the best calendar of things to do in gr, and anyone can add to it! attend an event you normally wouldn’t dream of going to. write someone a letter. a real one. snail mail. you know you’ve been wanting to.

MORAL OF THE STORY FOLKS :

TALK LESS SHIT. DO MORE STUFF.

most importantly, i am at the beginning of all of this. the beginning of even WANTING to make an attempt to start leading and living a more positive lifestyle. i’ll keep trying, but i’ve heard a lot of other people wanting this too. and i think it can work if we all help each other out.

mgcp.

I’ve been setting up punk shows and letting bands stay at my house for six years now and I’ve picked up a few things that are helpful and harmful when it comes to everything outside of “the show.”

1. Always be grateful. You should be happy that you don’t have to pay for a hotel room, or worse, sleep in the van. Before a show once, I made a bunch of food for the band that I knew was going to be staying at my house that night. I spent money on the food and took time out of my day that I could otherwise be watching Seinfeld with so I could help out a band with some home cookin’ after the show for a little taste of home. Instead, when I brought this up, out of the 6 dudes, only two of them said they’d eat it. The others turned out to just be really picky eaters. They asked me questions like “are the onions sautéed or just raw?“ When I told him they were cooked and then blended in a blender with some potatos so that he wouldn’t even know they were in there unless I told him, he just said “I’ll try ONE noodle. Is there a gas station near your house?”

These are the things hosts remember, people. You probably won’t end up at my house again. And if you do, I won’t be making any stupid food that you won’t even eat.

2. Do the dishes. Bands that help out around the house while they’re staying with a punk host rule. When we first get to my house and I’m running around getting blankets and pillows (so you can sleep well since you FORGOT yours) , cut me some slack. Ask questions about the sleeping arrangements, instead of just plopping down and un-raveling your sleeping bag in the middle of the kitchen while I’m trying to do stuff in there.

When the food is gone and everyone’s going into food coma‘s, do the dishes. I know, I know…you’re hands MAY get clean. I realize that not showering or cleaning in general is super punk when you’re on tour (and not on tour for that matter), but the host will love you for doing something that they don’t have to worry about.

See, the hosts’ life still goes on. They have to go to work, deal with irritable roommates, and  drive their sister to the dentist, while all you have to worry about is finding whatever pop that city is famously-known for having around town.

3.Pretend you were never there. This isn’t quite as bad as the saying “make it cleaner than how you found it.” Just make sure you take care of your candy wrappers, remember to take all your sleepover stuff back with you ( I don’t especially like sending medicine or records that you forgot in the mail to some place you’re going to be in 3 days and then never get reimbursed) , and if you knocked over that tall boy, clean it up right away (even if your host seems like the kind of person who doesn’t care about spills, they may be.)

These are not hard things to do, people! I had a great band stay over at my house the other day. We got to my house, they did their dishes after they ate the food I made for them, they weren’t loud, and they were very organized. ALL of them set their alarms for the next morning, instead of the one person in the band who happens to be the deepest sleeper (and also the one that slept in a room separate from the rest of the band) and I woke up thinking that I didn’t even hear them when they left in the wee hours of the morning (I‘m a super-light sleeper. These are the sort of things I cherish).

I mostly get along with any band that doesn’t have spoiled brats in them. This isn’t your mom’s house. Stop raiding my fridge. It’s not hard to leave a city in happy moods because of the experience you had the night before. It really isn’t.

I do like having people over, and meeting people whom I would have never met otherwise. It just makes everything more easier if you could just help me out a bit. I’m doing you a favor.

With that said I will get on to a real column. Progression is good, but it always leads to an end. So all these things are for the worse, in my opinion. They may be worthy of awe, but they are killing us from the inside.

Certain people believe a theory that is called Technological Singularity. This helps to explain why the advancements in technology, while created for entertainment, could easily become a problem. I suppose it sounds a little paranoid or space age-y to some, but it seems rational to me.

“Theoretically, if a machine built by humans could bring to bear greater problem-solving and inventive skills than humans, then it could design a yet more capable machine. If built, this more capable machine then could design a machine of even greater capability. These iterations could accelerate, leading to recursive self improvement.”

This could possibly ensure that there is no place for humans on earth. If a machine can learn, and does not have to worry about emotions, disability, death, or old age, what would be the point of the human race? There would be very few wealthy members left, and the work force as we know it would be automated. The individuals who used to fill the positions will be dead. Every employee could be replaced and the job would be done more efficiently. Not to mention, it will eventually be cheaper than an on going wage.

Also developments in psychology could lead to a complete understanding of the human mind. We have already discovered that the brain works through very detailed radio waves, once we can translate this “brain language” all emotions and thoughts can be influenced or changed. Even if this is not a goal, it is an inevitable by-product.

Already rats and bulls can be influenced greatly by remote radio control implants. Right now the technology is very primitive and the receiver requires high risk surgery to implant, but you can imagine that it is a top priority to change this. As with all technology, it gets smaller, safer, smarter, and easier to use.

The problem here is no satisfying end goal can be achieved by either wealth, capitalism, or new technology. There will never be a point in time where anyone says, “alright this is good enough, I have enough money, enough stores, and enough fancy gadgets.” So, no one really knows what we are working towards. Eventually this will cross the line of helpful and begin to be very dangerous. The most dangerous factor is these three things seem to be a driving force behind even the most “aware” or “sustainable” people I have met. Even if you claim you don’t support capitalism or frivolous wealth, you do.

It is very easy to lie to yourself and not be aware of it. Also it is very hard to question beliefs that you think you have your mind set on. When we were all young we were influenced by punk bands to question everything that seemed normal, but we still have never questioned the ideas we were turned on to, even now that they seem normal.

You might have a job, you might want to own a business, and you certainly like to buy things. So what makes you different than anyone else? Is it what you are buying? What you are selling? Is your brand of capitalism helping in some different way? Most likely it is just your own personal style of what you claim to work against.

I am gonna assume most of you who are reading this live, breathe, and create in a massive economy, so everyone is a part of any problem that is claimed to come from these three things. Many people look down on others for not subscribing to the same remedial techniques they do, that they are some how worse than you or more at fault in some way. Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess.

While I am not trying to say any effort is useless, I am saying many efforts are justifications, not solutions. They are proof to say “I cared when you didn’t” and nothing more. Ultimately this boosts the individual ego, not the community. We are all familiar with the saying: Picking battles wins the war, and this is very relative in today’s society.

May god bless you in this life and the next,

-Michael Andrew Bussler

Animal neglect and imposed suffering really gets my mind working. Oppression is all linked and I can’t see any differences between speciesm, sexism, racism, homophobia, nationalism… Support your local animal shelter, support herbal and natural remedies, educate yourself and learn from those around you and dive into and explore the idea that we are all connected. A simple, yet often avoided idea!

We’re all so self-righteous, aren’t we? We all know what’s best for everyone else … but never for ourselves. My fingers typing this on a late afternoon in the middle of summer are no exception. Obviously I am above all of you, if I’m writing this … except when I’m lying face-down in a gutter in the rain, crying, without any shoes on, and don’t remember how I got there. Because how could I be above anyone else when I’m that fucking low? Yet, here we all are: still judging everyone (but ourselves) for their mistakes, their regrets, their misgivings. Kicking each other when we’re already down. I’ve got news for everyone, myself included (because I really do remind myself of this every single day, no lie), judging people ain’t cool. Now, there are exceptions, because the world isn’t black and white and neither is any issue, no matter how badly we might wish it so. There are grey areas to everything, I promise (just look at my eyes). I mean, if you rape someone, you’re a fucking asshole, scum-of-the-earth, piece-of-shit mother-fucker and I hate you forever and dream of cutting your penis off to sacrifice to the female goddesses who reside under the ground and in my heart. There’s just no getting around that. So yes, there are certain situations that warrant judgment and possibly ostracism. That being said, can we just  stop judging each other already? What a wonderful world it’d be if we could find the fucking good in each other and maybe even (GASP!) let each other know those good thoughts when we think them. At some point we’ve all got to stop checking behind our backs to make sure no one’s crouching there with a knife, right?

While I’m on the subject, can there also be put into effect a sort of statute of limitations on grudge-holding? Don’t get me wrong: if someone killed your dog on purpose and with malicious intent, go on ahead and hate that sick fucker forever. But, if someone slipped up a few times, stepped on your toes, said something mean to you once, hurt your feelings twice, or shit their pants on accident in front of you, GIVE THEM A BREAK AFTER AWHILE, EH?

Everyone’s got a problem with everyone else. I understand if you genuinely don’t get along with someone, fine. Just pretend they don’t exist, don’t talk to them, don’t WORRY about their life. Get over it! You don’t like them, so why do you care? I’m not asking for rainbows and smiley faces and fucking unicorns galloping in the wind while everyone gets along and sucks each other’s dicks all day. I don’t want everyone to get along, because it wouldn’t be natural and it wouldn’t be REAL. Not to mention, it will never happen. Some people just don’t click. And that’s okay. A little controversy, a little honesty, and a few wild night children can get the party started and keep things interesting, as long as there’s no bullshit drama trailing behind them.  There’s a difference between bullshit drama and honest, straight-forward REAL TALK.

Oh yeah, if you didn’t read the rest of this, at least READ THIS:

If you hear a rumor saying Person A did this to Person B and they should be publicly executed as a result, please fucking do your research, find out if its true, maybe, oh I don’t know, ASK THE SOURCE?  Before you a) judge them for it and b) go around telling other people about it.

I feel like I’m in high school all over again writing something like this. Because this is the type of thing I wrote WHILE I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. Scratch that, middle school. At least in high school mother-fuckers had the balls and ovaries to say shit to each other’s faces.

People aren’t good. People aren’t bad. Everyone has a reason for doing what they do. If you don’t understand it, here’s an idea … why don’t you ask them to explain? If you still don’t get it (or they tell you to fuck off because its none of your business), that’s okay, maybe it isn’t meant for you to understand. Just try to be mature, honest, humble, and REAL.