Six Words

Six words to carry with you throughout your life:

"Wait till you're asked...

                                   OR TOLD."

Time Travel

Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Fucking America. You know, that country that the entire human race looks up to like little kids look up to their cigarette-smoking tattooed older brothers? Karl showed me the subject matter for this next rant.

So, Kansas is passing a new bill. Guess what it's about? THE QUEER MENACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYBODY RUN FOR COVER! TAKE UP ARMS! THE HOMOS ARE COMING!!!!!!!!!! The human race makes me sick. And it's because of things like this, which stick in your brain like a fucking tumour. They mutate your world view, and force you to realise that you're living in a world of inequality, genocide, segregation and all-out mass rape.

So, as I was saying, The state of Kansas is passing a new bill, which will, to put it bluntly, recreate black history in America. Only not with blacks. Because beating on the black is too mainstream now, you see. Played out. America's already done it to death. 'So what's the next minority we can tie to the whipping post this time?" The Kansas government asks, embodied by a fat Southern man standing coolly with one foot on his large mahogany desk. He takes the cigar from his quadruple-chinned mouth, and winks his impeccable yet malevolent wink. And with a thunderous laugh, he comes to his decision. "Them abominable queer homo pervert faggots!" And with that, it evolves.

So let's look at what this bill entails. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's exactly what America looked like fifty years ago with the blacks. Fuck, it's what Australia looked like fifty years ago with the Indigenous. Here's what the LGBTQA community will face if the bill is passed.

• Individuals, groups and private businesses are legally allowed to refuse service to gay couples
• Private employers can actually fire gay people solely based on their sexuality
• Stores can deny gay couples service
• Hotels can eject gay couples, or deny them entry to begin with
• Business providing public accommodations (theatres, restaurants) can turn away gay couples at the door.
• If a gay couple sues for discrimination, they'll lose.
• After they lose, they have to pay the opponent's attorney's fees.
• GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES CAN LEGALLY DENY GAY COUPLES SERVICE.

Let's look at that last one a bit deeper. That means gay couples can be banned from public parks, public swimming pools, anything run by the Kansas government. STATE HOSPITALS can deny gay couples treatment and even entry. Gay guy gets stabbed by a neo-Nazi in the street, but the hospital is too religious to help any. Gay guy gets curb-stomped and sexually violated with a beer bottle as happens in Russia, and the hospital can still deny them. Not only that, but the police won't help either. Know why? Because police are government employees too. That's right. THE MOTHERFUCKING POLICE can refuse to help a gay couple, regardless of the urgency. Now that's fucked up.

It pisses me off when Christians bitch and complain about how their numbers are declining. Entire fucking states are being run by THEIR propaganda. Nothing to do with the community interests, but just one religion. One vague, easily misinterpreted passage from a book written, not by God, but by human beings. I mean, how can people so easily devote their lives to a God who doesn't even love all of his creation? Would you want a father who disowns you if you're gay? So why should you want a God, supposed father of humanity, that does the same? Why should he play favourites? He took sides during wars, he committed genocide for trivial matters several times. If we're worshipping an Old Testament god, then fuck it, I'm out, goodbye. So what puzzles me about Christianity is how it's really worshipping two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT gods. God from the Old vs New Testament is completely different. I mean, he completely swaps from fascist to anarchist when you think about it. New Testament God just says "fuck you authorities, stop paying taxes, just chill, drink wine, be groovy, love each other, and yeah." Old Testament God is like "what? You need glasses? Kill him."

And so that's why I hate humanity. Sure, there are plenty of good things. But it just gives you so many reasons to hate it, you can't help but feel ashamed. People with such dogmatic bullshit in their heads, they inflict it on others. As Filter say, "I hate it when you preach your case, it makes me want to stick my dick in your face". Anyways, have a good night.

The article that Karl sent me: http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/02/13/kansas_anti_gay_segregation_bill_is_an_abomination.html

Axis of Symmetry?

OK, so in math today I decided that I'd had enough of hearing the term "axis of symmetry" without doing something about it. Whilst not political, this is pretty fucking awesome, and sort of defies the laws of an album so I guess you could consider it musical anarchy. Basically, to create "Axis of Symmetry", take the first two tracks from Hendrix's 1967 album "Axis: Bold as Love", which are EXP and Up From the Skies. Then take the first track from Muse's 2001 album "Origin of Symmetry". Then alternate, much like Radiohead's "Ten" thing. Your last track should be "Bold as Love". See how you go, because there are some pretty cool transitions. It's not as great as Ten, but come on, Ten was intentional. This wasn't.

Also, another variation would be to start with "EXP", then make the second track "Plug In Baby". Then Up From The Skies, and carry on that way. After Little Wing (which should be track 11), go straight to If 6 Was 9. Then Citizen Erased, and carry on from there.

Quick Aside

Just saying, I'm getting really fucking close to snapping. If I see one more instance over the internet of three-word pop-punk/post-hardcore bands being referred to by all these abbreviations and shit, I'll break a fucking neck. BAND NAMES AREN'T MEANT TO BE ABBREVIATED, UNLESS THEY'RE REALLY FUCKING LONG. Do you see me going around, "I was listening to TSP, and I realised how similar they are to DK, and NYD, and KJ, and SLF! Omg, I need to see BR live!"

It just sounds fucking stupid, and makes you sound like a preteen fanboy/girl. Which you likely are anyway if you are doing that shit. Also, what the fuck is up with how Googling something to do with punk can turn up 50% pop-punk? That didn't use to happen. Fuck Google. Fuck everyone.

Bring Me Down

Two posts in one day! Crazy, right? Don't worry, it's not a rant. Just some lyrics I cooked up to vent more frustrations. Feedback? For an idea of the sound and tune, etc., think something along the lines of "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

Is there a side to me that you don't know about?

Is there a side that you refuse to know about?

Throw the blame my way and I will co-operate

Are you the type to justify your derision?

Or is your mind so cold you've lost all your vision?

My mutual failure's enough to demonstrate I'm a fuck-up

So tell me again why I'm so far-gone

Give me some more of that constructive criticism

And bring me down again

As I grow up I am afraid to be a man

With all the shit you give don't know if I can, what's the plan?
I'm second-guessing myself on a daily basis

For all the troubles that we've all come to adore
A hundred others wait outside of the door
My freedom lies in your hands, my future sits in your pockets

So tell me again why I'm so far-gone
Give me some more of that constructive criticism
And bring me down again
Bring me down again
Down again

Where Is The Line?

Here's a relatively new and strangely controversial topic for me: sexism/feminism. I'm going to start be giving my personal position on the spectrum of FEMINIST - CHAUVINIST. Personally, I'm nowhere. I don't use terms like feminist because, to me, feminism doesn't exist. It's a broad claim to make, but here's my reasoning. Feminism WAS a thing, but I believe that it, much like the punk ideology, has been dead for a long time. See, it was about equality with males back when it began. Since the women were so oppressed, it was a revolution, a movement to bring the female status to the same level as the male status. Undoubtedly, to some, that's what it still is. The reason I say the concept of feminism is dead is because of all the stretching and tugging that's been done to it. Now, I'm in support of gender equality. In that sense, some might call me a feminist. But it seems to me that feminism is a bit like a tree. It was a trunk, but as you go higher and higher (and time goes on and on) you hit branches, and now you're just at a shitload of divergences. However, the trunk ends. That's what's happened to feminism. Now that the gap between male and female is so close to being bridged, it's become more difficult to determine where the line is between equality and female superiority. 

I don't want to come off as one of those guys that says feminism is unfair. It's just that over the years, especially with the rise of the internet and Tumblr, it's too common to see "feminists" who are pretty much preaching the destruction of males. It's also a bit like Christianity. While the core basis is the idea of believing in God and Jesus Christ, there are so many different people doing different things under its label that it becomes hard to distinguish what it truly means to be Christian. You have Westboro Baptist Church, for example, who brandish hateful, anti-Semitic and anti-gay flags in the name of God. So to me, feminism seems to have stopped being about achieving this goal, and become just a clusterfuck of different people doing different things under its label. Some good, some bad.

One thing that strikes me, is the idea of the friendzone. See, it all really started as an internet joke. Another callback to punk here, I'm sorry, but many jokes on the internet were created as a way to offend certain people. Just like punk did in the '70s, these jokes were supposed to bait people into hating them, all for the sake of pissing people off. Friendzone was one of those things, a joke created by random people which would cause a stir. Whether they believed it or not, it was a joke on the internet. After a while, it became a highly debated topic between feminists and randoms. Many people, predominantly males, put across the point that girls often complain about never finding nice guys to date, but turn them down when they appear. Feminists counter that it's not a girl's responsibility to date a guy just because he asks, and has treated her like a human being. In my opinion, it's a concept that's been half-thought up and nobody even knows what the fuck it means. 

My interpretation is that it's a guy who gets to know a girl, likes her, decides to ask her out then gets turned down purely because he is too nice and she doesn't want to risk their friendship. This response is understandable and certainly wise. However, as previously stated, males often dislike it because the same girls sometimes complain about the lack of nice guys available. The understanding many feminists have is a case of a guy liking a girl, and so treating her nicely with the intention of asking her out in the future, and then guilting her if she declines.

Needless to say, there's a stark contrast in these ideas. Which brings me to my long-winded point: it's a pointless argument that's being focused on WAY too much by everyone. Much like this post itself, things like the friendzone take up a lot more space than necessary, when there's a greater point to be made.

Due to the internet, feminism has lost its way. While it was about equality, it's quickly morphed into a bizarre mass of contradictions and faux superiority. It seems to me that the internet has caused insignificant things such as the friendzone to appear much more important than they are. If feminists want to ever truly bring about enough change to level man and woman, it's not going to happen by putting all their effort into arguing pointless shit like friendzone. Feminism has become less about ultimate change, and has instead become an exclusive club, where people sit behind computer screens and debate semantics. Step outside the internet, and look at the whole scene. People arguing over an internet joke. Internet jokes are just stupid, irrelevant pieces of code. Arguing about them won't do anything except make the trolls posting them giggle as they get what the reactions they seek.

I should add a disclaimer. Like I said before, I'm not against feminism. I just don't believe it's either trying to do or doing what it was intended, which was to change things. It's now sort of just a police force against any slightly sexist internet jokes. 

I think that, if you're as devoted to bringing about the desired change as you put across in your arguments, you should probably shut down the computer and do something different. Something that isn't being done by half the white females in the world already. Internet arguments, no matter what the topic, are pointless. They're good for a laugh when it's Matt Mreulje or Jesse Marguglio, but that's about it. You won't change any minds through it. Instead, we need actions.

The Punks of the 21st Century

It's been a while since last post, mainly because I just haven't been too angry recently. But here's one thing that pisses me off nowadays: pop punk. Yeah, that's right, I'm going purist here. But what the fuck is up with pop punk? It makes no sense to me. That's not to say you're a bad person if you listen to it or anything, but it's just a total contradiction. I mean look at the definitions and ideologies of each:

Punk

• Individualism
• Separation from the trends that were rife within society
• Generally anarchist/leftist views expressed in lyrics
• Anti-corporation
• Anti-authority
• Anti-money
• Anti-mainstream; challenged mainstream ideas
• Placed fans above labels; continued playing cheap pub/club gigs during fame

Pop Punk

• Feel-good power chord progressions
• At the command of major labels
• Relationship problems expressed in lyrics
• Generic subject matter
• Evident signs of wealth; dressed in expensive clothing, driving expensive cars, producing high-budget music videos
• Play high-cost stadium gigs
• Work with major corporations and occasionally the government
• No elements of individualism or anything in the punk section

And so that's pretty much what pisses me off about pop punk. It's really just pop music with spiky hair, which has nothing to do in itself with punk. See, some might say, "you can't call pop punk out for all having a similar look with spiky hair and shit, because punk had the same thing". Fair point, but the thing is that in the days of punk, that was actually original. It was also varied. You had the liberty spikes, simply dyed hair, mohawks, skinheads, and just plain ordinary. now people just use some hair gel to spike up their fringe and wear a hundred-dollar trench coat, and suddenly they're punk. 

But that's not even the part that most shits me. It's the fans. The fucking fans. Like I said before, you're not a bad person to listen to pop punk. You know, preferential music, etc. But the general fanbase of pop punk bands make me want to go on a killing spree. I'm pretty much fine with the ones who say "I like pop punk". Then I just have that little "oh" moment, but I'm more or less cool with it. However, it's the ones that say "I love punk music". Fuck you. Fuck the fuck out of you. Just fuck off right now, you fucking piece of fuck. You are not a punk because you listen to a band created by a major record label purely to make money. You are not a punk because you bought the $200 piece of band merchandise from the label's website. You are not a punk because you had a green streak put in your hair by a swank salon. And you are not a fucking punk because you spit on old ladies. That's the other annoying part. People who try to be punks by dressing up in expensive "punk" clothes, and then being dicks to random people for no reason. It's fucking ridiculous.

In essence, anyone who likes pop punk because they think they're punk has missed the point of punk completely. Punk is pretty much dead.

Also, by pop punk, I mean bands such as Green Day, Blink-182, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Fall Out Boy, and pretty much every recent band with a three-word name (which is weird, because they're nothing to do with punk, I don't know why so many of their fans think they're listening to punk when they listen to that stuff. I guess it's the weird gap in the evolutionary line from hardcore punk to this.)