Appriciation of the Rugged Individualism that was American Hardcore

When I was younger, being a skateboarder defined me. It defined the way I looked, the way I dressed, and mostly the type of music I listened to - hardcore/punkrock.

Looking back at that era in my life I find myself shocked at something that I never hear talked about when others reminisce on the movement of early to mid eighty's punk. That is the entrepreneurial spirit of what was basically kids who played the music, ran the labels, booked the shows, made the fanzines, created the art, and supported the bands in countless other ways.

Put aside the fact that you practically HAD to write an anti-Regan song to be considered "punk." Or the fact that many of the bands politics at the time are what one would expect of any young kid - Liberal. But what's really interesting to me is such clear examples of rugged individualism and the free market at it's very best.

I don't want to get into the history of punk music so I'll stick with the first bands I became aware of at the time. One of the first bands I ever heard was Black Flag and the first album that I heard was from them was "My War." To this day it's one of my favorite records.It was released on SST records. SST was a label formed by Greg Ginn, Black Flag's guitarist and founding member of the band, to release music from his band. His brother Raymond Pettibon did the amazing artwork for all of Black Flag's releases.

Black Flag toured relentlessly. They basically hit every nook and cranny of the US and elsewhere playing abandoned buildings, churches, basements, and party's, leaving their mark town after tiny town.

Wherever they played a dozen bands sprung up following in their footsteps creating quite a scene in unexpected towns across the US. Different bands with different sounds creating an amazingly diverse sound, putting out their own music on their own labels.

They inspired me and others like me to start fanzines, writing about these bands and attending their shows. More often than not these shows would be held at all ages venues. Allowing people who weren't old enough to get into the clubs to attend their shows and probably doubling the audience in the process.

This was able to happen because where there was no market for this music, innovative youth were there to create it.

The bands themselves may loath the idea of marketing their brand to a certain demographic to increase revenue and make a living playing music, but that's what they did. They created a brand, a sound, and a look and took it to the consumers who were happy to part with their cash to buy into being a "punk."

In fact one of the more self righteous guys to come out of this scene, Ian McKaye, ran Dischord records not unlike major retail chains try to do today - reduced prices equals more sales which brings more revenue.
Dischord put out records from D.C. area bands and kept the price of their albums as low as possible. Sure, one could argue that it's a principled thing. And I'm sure it was. But in a free exchange of commerce for goods, it's always in the long term best interest to offer bargains. Dischord had a flat price for all of their records. So when I would walk into a record store with $10 in my hand, I would be able to get two records from Dischord for the same price that would cost me to buy just one on another label. It worked. Needless to say I pretty much had Dischords entire roster.


It's easy to take for granted these days or to even forget if you were there, due to the sheer amount of choice that we have now. But quite frankly because of these little labels like SST, Frontier, Alternative Tentacles, Twin/Tone, Dischord, and Plan 9 we have some of the most interesting, experimental, diverse, and influential music that has ever been recorded.

Bands like: Black Flag, Husker Du, The Replacements, Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Butthole surfers, St. Vitus, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Minor Threat, Soul Asylum, Bad Brains, etc... have inspired untold amounts of other artists.

Where at one time the idea was to form a band and wait around for a label to sign you and make you famous, These people decided to wait for no one and forge the path themselves and on their own terms.

That is the very definition of rugged individualism and the basic principles on which our country was founded.

I don't believe this could have happened in any other country.

Learn To Be Articulate, Like Alec Baldwin

I know, he spelled Bachmann wrong. That's why I didn't title it "Learn to Spell From Alec Baldwin."

Now most people understand that Hollywood is filled with very smart, articulate actors who's worldview is filled with intellectual diversity. This is how Baldwin is able to communicate so thoughtfully.

Check out the way he is able to "raise awareness" to the issue of childhood self esteem by using his 12 year old daughter:



Love him or hate him, the man has a way with words. The words "thoughtless little pig" obviously come from a man who's life experience certainly makes him qualified to have his political views taken seriously.

As Bachmann was goofin' around in college working towards a law degree, Baldwin was bringing a touch of class to Knots Landing as the character Joshua Rush.

In 1988 Bachmann may have received an LL.M degree in tax law, but Baldwin found time to star in four movies that year! One of them being the critical favorite "She's Having a Baby" starring Kevin Bacon.

Bachmann may have worked for the IRS, but surely at some point Baldwin must have played an IRS agent. If he didn't I bet his character in "Miami Blues" certainly knew how to outsmart one.

So although Bachmann was a tax attorney, served as a State Senator of Minnesota, and now as a sitting US congresswoman running for President, she may have closer ties to Hollywood than one may imagine.

At one point Bachmann began providing short-term care for girls with eating disorders who were patients in a program at the University of Minnesota.

I'm pretty sure the PSA that Baldwin made with his daughter was also trying to raise awareness to the very serious issue of a young girls self image regarding weight. Why else would he throw around the word "pig" so casually?

Politics involve very complicated ideas. Actors seem to be very selfless when it comes to understanding that we need them to translate policy for us. I, for one, am glad that the dude from "Married to the Mob" is around to publicly state their political views.

It must take a brave soul to be a liberal in Hollywood, you're a true individual standing out in a crowd.

Chris Wallace Still Under Jon Stewart's(thin) Skin.

So it's been about two weeks ago that Jon Stewart sat down with Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace. It was an entertaining interview that got a bit heated when Stewart claimed that Fox news viewers were the most misinformed "consistently, every poll."

Poltifact clearly debunked this.

Stewart copped to his mistake, of course by pointing out what a bunch of lying jerk faces they are.

So tonight Stewart shows just how much that Wallace interview got to him. Still trying to defend himself, he had to show what a bunch of lying jerk faces they are again!

Wow, this is obviously personal for Stewart.

Seriously, this guy has 99% of media personalities kissing his ass and fawning all over him. Mostly because they’re afraid of the Daily Show mocking them.

I think it honestly bothers Stewart that there are some people who don’t necessarily think he’s the smartest guy in the room at all times. He’s been worshiped by a long, long time from these people.

This Fox thing is making Stewart look hilariously petty.

Bill Maher Offensive? No, Just Very, Very Predictable.

Maher has lost all of his edge.

He knows that once every week or so make(very easy) jokes about Palin or her daughters that are outrageous. He tries to make them offensive enough that people will talk about it online or on cable news. He gets the publicity for the conservative backlash, which makes the liberals defend him, which then adds to his unwarranted reputation as an edgy comic.

Maher's latest Palin knock-knock joke via Mediaite.



Note to Maher: Making fun of conservatives in front of an insufferably liberal west coast audience or in Hollywood is not edgy. It's the easiest thing one can do. He's not shocking people or challenging them, he's reaffirming his back patting audience's already deep held beliefs. It's as boring as it is predictable.

Unlike Carlin, who would perform shows on the West Coast and mercilessly mock liberals to their faces on environmentalism, or Rickles, who would take jabs at nearly everyone in attendance, or Pryor who seemed to take delight in mocking people in any position of authority, Maher goes for the easiest laugh possible.

Maher is the equivalent of a prop comic. I rarely watch him anymore. Not because he's offensive, but because he is so lame. When you're able to figure out every punchline and instinctively know EVERY position he'll take on EVERY issue, why bother?

The real joke here is that Maher is hilariously seen by some on the left as a rebel. Maher is about as rebellious as wearing a tye dyed shirt at a Phish concert. You can't tell him apart from the others.

After Rachel Maddow praised Gary Rizzo's Oscar winning speech for Inception's sound-mixing because he gave a nod to his "union" crew in tribute to the Wisconsin union protests, I started to think about all of the great non union Roger Corman flicks. Why? Not because they're great or Oscar worthy, or even good for that matter. No I thought about all of the young directors and actors cutting their teeth on film for the first time on one of Corman's no-budget, non-union, exploitation films.

Maybe you've heard of some of these young talented folks given the opportunity to take risks and work for practically free. They include Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Joe Dante, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Jon Sayles, etc.

And actors? How about Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Talia Shire, and Peter Fonda just to name a few.

Oscar nominated director John Sayles said of Corman and his company, New World "I wrote three screenplays for Roger and all three got made into movies. That's why he is really so incredible. You get the learning, the writing, the story conferencing, and all that. But you also see the whole thing translated into a movie."

Now imagine if you will the liberal wet dream of equality. Equal pay, workers rights, and righteous power in the hands of the exploited worker against the profit hungry vampires that are out to make their duckets on the back of the little man. Would we have a Godfather, Raging Bull, Apocalypse Now, Silence of the Lambs, Titanic, or even a Gremlins? You don't have to answer that as the directors of each have stated that "No", without Corman and the experience on his films it would be likely that they would not have had the chance to be noticed.

Now the taxman is out to get you......

Add Barbara Streisand to the list of annoying liberal activists who demonize people who support lower taxes/less government, yet in their private lives shelter millions from Uncle Sam. You see being conservative is evil, thoughtless, greedy, and stupid. Not to mention racist too! Paying taxes is patriotic don't you know?

But they're different than the rest of us because they provide us with countless hours of entertainment. Let's rally round this enlightened Little Focker, and cut her a break:
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/02/barbra-streisand-transfers-millions-dollars-vegas-property-hubby-james-brolin

She joins a couple of her other liberal crusaders accused of evading taxes like Alec Baldwin:
http://nation.foxnews.com/alec-baldwin/2011/01/24/alec-baldwin-chased-tax-collectors

John Kerry:
http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1269698

R.I.P. Gary Moore!

My favorite version of this song.



Rock legend Gary Moore was found dead Sunday in a hotel room in Spain, where he had been vacationing. The Thin Lizzy guitarist was 58.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2011/02/07/2011-02-07_gary_moore_thin_lizzys_legendary_guitarist_found_dead_in_spanish_hotel_room.html#ixzz1DL5rlRim

Badaases that make you proud to be conservative

Clint Eastwood. American Original, Badass, Conservative/Libertarian.

"Abuse of power isn't limited to bad guys in other nations. It happens in our own country if we're not vigilant. Those in power get jaded, deluded, and seduced by power itself."

1997 Playboy interview- "How would you characterize yourself politically?" Eastwood replied: "Libertarian... Everyone leaves everyone else alone."

2004 USA Today - when asked about same-sex marriages. Eastwood replied: "From a libertarian point of view, you would say, 'Yeah? So what?' You have to believe in total equality. People should be able to be what they want to be and do what they want -- as long as they're not harming people."

I don't know if I can tell you exactly when the pussy generation started. Maybe when people started asking about the meaning of life.

I'm not one of those guys who's been terribly active in organized religion. But I don't disrespect it. I'd never try to impose any doubts that I might have on anyone else.

We live in more of a pussy generation now, where everybody's become used to saying, "Well, how do we handle it psychologically?" In those days, you just punched the bully back and duked it out. Even if the guy was older and could push you around, at least you were respected for fighting back, and you'd be left alone from then on.

You wonder sometimes. What will we do if something really big happens? Look how fast -- seven years -- people have been able to forget 9/11. Maybe you remember if you lost a relative or a loved one. But the public can get pretty blasé about stuff like that. Nobody got blasé about Pearl Harbor.

"It makes me mad when people try to use politics or charity for publicity."

Says AC/DC's singer Brian Johnson to Melbourne's Herald Sun. "When I was a working man I didn't want to go to a concert for some bastard to talk down to me that I should be thinking of some kid in Africa. I'm sorry mate, do it yourself, spend some of your own money and get it done. It just makes me angry."

Johnson said that his own band prefers to make their charitable contributions in private.

"Do a charity gig, fair enough, but not on worldwide television," he said.

AC/DC turned down a slot at Live Aid in 1985.

"I do it myself, I don't tell everybody I'm doing it," Johnson said. "I don't tell everybody they should give money - they can't afford it."

Good for him. He was referring to celebrities We are all getting sick of. One of the worst is U2's Bono. Recently it was revealed that his charity ONE, named after that shitty song, had given around ONE percent of it's donations to actual charity.

The nonprofit took in $14,993,873 in public donations in 2008, the latest year for which tax records are available.

Of that, $184,732 was distributed to three charities, according to the IRS filing. That's about ONE percent.

8 Million was spent on salaries. The rest was spent on things like filling gift bags for celebrities with expensive crud at events filled with famous do-gooders showing the rest of the world what great people they are. Celebrities favorite method of proving their worth is the liberal's classic "raising awareness."

Of course there is also the other charity with his name attached to it, Global Fund:

The Associated Press reported today that the $21.7 billion Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a fraud where at least two-thirds of the funds were “pocketed,” and donated medicines were sold on the black market for profit.

The prestigious development fund is backed by celebrities like Bono, politicians like French president Sarkozy, and a cool $150 million from Bill and Melinda Gates. The AP wrote, “The fund has been a darling of the power set that will hold the World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain village of Davos this week.”

I don't mean to pick on Bono, there are plenty of other jackasses who like to tell us how we should live. Al Gore is another favorite of mine. His electric bill is a perfect example of what one should expect from an asshole not only telling people how to live, but trying to legislate how we live.


In 2006 Gore's gas and electric bill for his 20 room mansion was more than 20 times the national average. In one month his house burns twice as much as the average family burns a year. His heated pool alone is $500.

Same with Sting and his multiple mansions. The Eco warrior and Human Rights campaigner also played for Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov. Enemies of the brutal Dictator have been shot in the street and one political opponent boiled alive, Yes, boiled alive.

So thank you Brian Johnson. I hope you enjoy your well earned millions. And as a paying concert goer once heckled Barbara Streisand after a long anti-Bush diatribe...

Please, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND SING!

Bad Ass People Who Make You Proud To Be Conservative

Frank Zappa - American Original, Conservative.

"The '60s was really stupid ... It was a type of merchandising, Americans had this hideous weakness, they had this desire to be OK, fun guys and gals, and they haven't come to terms with the reality of the situation: we were not created equal. Some people can do carpentry, some people can do mathematics, some people are brain surgeons and some people are winos and that's the way it is, and we're not all the same. This concept of one world-ism, everything blended and smoothed out to this mediocre norm that everybody downgrades themselves to be is stupid. The '60s was merchandised to the public at large... My pet theory about the '60s is that there is a sinister plot behind it... The lessons learnt in the '60s about merchandising stupidity to the American public on a large scale have been used over and over again since that time. "

Atlas Shrugged part1

FreedomWorks will host the premiere of the Atlas Shrugged trailer at the CPAC(Conservative Political Action Conference) on Feb 15. That's interesting. I wonder if they're going to go for a grass roots marketing deal, knowing the target audience.

It is a small film with a reported budget of 15mil and a cast of relative unknowns.

According to Variety, The Godfather (1972) producer Albert S. Ruddy spent years trying to bring the novel to the big screen, attracting the interest of Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway along the way.

I couldn't imagine if Robert Redford had been in the film that it would resemble the book at all. I'd imagine it would somehow turn it into a film AGAINST big business.

IMDB notes that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were also involved at a certain point. Again, strange.

The release date is set for April 15(Tax Day) and the movie is rated pg-13. Will the critics be kind, or will it be written off as movie catering to tea party folks?

Oh No, There Goes Tokyo!

Ex husband of PMRC co-founder, Al Gore recently explained our harsh winter on what else of course? Global Warming, of course! Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post columnist and Fox news contributor responded on the Friday broadcast of "Inside Washington."

“Look, if Godzilla were on the Mall this afternoon, Al Gore would say it’s global warming because the spores in the south Atlantic Ocean were – you know, look everything is, it’s a religion,” Krauthammer said. “In a religion everything is explicable. In science, you can actually deny or falsify a proposition with evidence. You find me a single piece of evidence that Al Gore would ever admit that would contradict global warming and I’ll be surprised.”



from The Daily Caller:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/04/krauthammer-thomas-spar-global-warming-years-extreme-winter-weather/