Tag: #Import 2025-04-25 15:23

All in a day’s work

‘”What happened in Japan is better left a blameless situation,” began Strike Anywhere vocalist, Thomas Barnett. “We were informed that we didn’t have the proper visas and were under house arrest for 48 hours. We couldn’t talk to anyone we knew.”

This was an eye-opening experience for the members of Strike Anywhere. They were stuck in a foreign country in which most of them hadn’t been before. They could barely communicate with the people that held the keys to their freedom.

To top it all off, they were completely powerless to do anything about the situation.

“As an aside, when you’re under house arrest in a foreign country and they take your passports and plane tickets, you’re really under a lot of stress,” said Barnett. “Being in this limbo where you’re a persona non grata is chilling. You don’t realize how much it can put you through. It gives you a realistic sense of empathy for the economic imbalances that occur with immigration into the States.”

It’s a feeling to which few people can personally relate. In addition to being put through the mental anguish of it all, the band’s tour dates were cancelled and they could neither promote their upcoming CD, “Exit English,” nor could they make the money to feed themselves, since they were already living hand-to-mouth on tour.

“When you come to a foreign country with anything that has the word ‘tour’ on it, they expect you to have some money,” he said. “That’s the punk-rock phenomenon, we were all broke. Even a credit card would’ve helped the situation.”

Is the band sorry for the troubles they were put through? Wasn’t it ever so frustrating to be stripped of your liberties over a small misunderstanding? Not at all. The members of Strike Anywhere are more than pleased with the story they have to tell and the people they met. Also, they’re glad that they could have a taste of injustice with which they can empathize.

“We got a taste of what we put the rest of the world through when foreigners try to come to America,” he continued. “As a result, we have a lot of love for what little we know of Japan. They really did a lot to help us when they didn’t have to. It’s a big bureaucracy and the guards have no reason to care. They could have just kept doing the job they were taught to do.”

The “nice immigration officers” ended up helping the band get out of Japan. Once the officers figured out where the band needed to go, they found them tickets to Brisbane, Australia. The band had to pay for the tickets. It landed them in the country eight days before their next show. It was a penniless but eventful vacation.

“I have relatives in Sydney,” said Barnett. “So, we got to stay with my uncle who was arranging a nationwide teachers’ strike. That was cool to see. He introduced us to Cindy, who was the Aboriginal Welcomer for all officials. It’s a formal ceremony that happens on all events, like the Olympics. She welcomes the non-aboriginal Australians who have been there for over 200 years. It’s spectacular and shows some sort of cultural understanding between the two peoples there. It was a great experience that helped balance out what happened in Japan.”

The tour continued, and now the band is back in the States for a tour that won’t require visas or the threat of deportation. The album comes out this week, and things are continuing to look up for the band. They’ve certainly learned from the experiences they’ve garnered on the road.

“During a previous tour, we were held up at gunpoint,” said Barnett. “So, we’ve definitely dealt with some drama on the road.”

http://www.romnation.com

‘”ROMs?” you ask.

Yes, ROMs. For those unfamiliar with the term, in this instance, a ROM is a version of a video game available for play on your computer via the use of an Emulator. An Emulator is a program which allows you to run a particular game file. For instance, if you download a Nintendo ROM, you need a Nintendo Emulator to play it.

ROMNation, like many other similar sites, provides its visitors with both. While the site offers interesting features, such as Neo Geo and Playstation Emulators and a ton of Atari ROMs, the main draw of the site is its grab bag of Nintendo goodies.

Nintendo, the New Kids on the Block of gaming systems, transfers well into emulated form. There are many types of Nintendo Emulators as well, including the more popular JNES and Nesticle.

Once you download the program and the games, they can easily be unzipped and stored in whatever is the most convenient place on your hard drive. They take up little room but can kill a lot of time.

“But that sounds illegal!” you interject, interrupting this article for the second time.

There’s no need to be skeptical. These gaming geeks have found some loopholes in the system. The standard rule of thumb is if you own the game, you can own the ROM. If you don’t own the game, it should be deleted from the computer within 24 hours.

Although the NES police may not be after you for an illegal download of Bubble Bobble, we don’t advocate breaking any laws. Well, we don’t advocate getting caught, anyway. Right, McChesney?

So, if the situation is legal and you miss playing Metroid, head over to ROMNation and begin the downloading frenzy. Just don’t mind the ads for the cartoon porn. We don’t advocate those either.

http://www.welovearnold.com

‘Yes, they make fun of the time-travel issue. Yes, they make fun of the orgy and the “inhaling and exhaling everything.” They also make a joke out of “Total Recall.” It’s a website about Arnold Schwarzenwhatever. The jokes, like him, are simple.

You know what the sad thing is? From coast to coast, I would be willing to bet that more people are familiar with California’s gubernatorial candidates then they are of the potential candidates for the 2004 presidential election. It is unfortunate, and most likely true.

We Love Arnold is a satirical look at one actor’s campaign for governor. It’s a harrowing tale that includes an in-depth view of Arnold’s words and how they can be humorously used against him. The site also includes a variety of statistics, most notable being Arnold vs. Reagan.

This tale of the tape points out the similarities and differences between these actors-turned-politicians. Some interesting facts include: “Most Famous Movie Role: Reagan: Starring next to a chimp. Arnold: Starring next to a robot” and “POLITICAL EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR: REAGAN: President, Screen Actors Guild; Friendly witness, House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities; After-dinner speaker, General Electric Company. ARNOLD: Participant, Kennedy family barbecues; Organizer, successful campaign for California after-school programs.”

The statistics speak for themselves. Arnold is well over-qualified for the position of running a state most noted for Hollywood and its expose-style documentaries shown on E!. The race should be tight, considering he has a lot of competition from a whore, a smut-peddler, and a never-turned-adult child-actor whose only hit co-starred a coke addict and a thief.

On second thought, the sad thing is that no jokes are necessary. The truth is funny enough as it is.

s/t

“The cover art looks like it is some Ian Svenonious-led project like Nation of Ulysses or Make Up. The guitar work is just as loud and noisy but the vocals are much different. It’s much higher-pitched, giving the band a much different sound than NOU. Like NOU, or Make Up, the Black Eyes also fit perfectly on Dischord. It’s quality art noise to play pretty for baby. High points: Ian MacKaye produced, leaving little margin of error. Low points: It’s too stereotypical. While being on Dischord separates their sound from most bands out there, the band does very little to separate themselves from other Dischord bands.”

the devil isn’t red

‘One can only imagine that this CD is the soundtrack to one of Les Claypool’s wet dreams. The guitar and drum work sounds lifted directly out of something he had a hand in himself. It’s anything but ordinary. This is instrumentalism in a looser sense of the word, noise in the more traditional sense.

It’s a different way of thinking, a creative and original way of structuring songs. This is how Jackson Pollock would have written music – multiple crescendos of sound spattered, one on top of the other, across the musical canvas of an album. I picture the two band members looking like a cross between Ed Harris and They Might Be Giants. That comparison has little to do with the sound but, hey, if they can assume what color the Prince of Darkness isn’t, I can assume what they look like.

“The Devil Isn’t Red” is that piece of art about which the reviews are split equally between “brilliant” and “I don’t get it.”

This has to be a California band. Nobody in the rest of the country would think to write music like this. Nor would anyone else use the word Hella.

File this under misunderstood geniuses, lovers of performance art or ?bermodernism.

It’s good, I think, but maybe it’s just the pressure to appreciate that which I cannot understand.

Best song title: “Welcome to the Jungle Baby, You’re Gonna Live!” Take that, Axl Rose.

summer fling

‘Oh to be a teenager again, when nothing but energy, catch hooks, and the occasional Moog mattered.

If that was the plan, the Red Hot Valentines have got it down pat. This is music to dance to. It’s music to put on a mix tape for the girl you like that isn’t quite into “that scene.” You can win her over and get her to like “that scene” with any of the songs from “Summer Fling.” It’s “4 Minute Mile” for a slightly younger generation.

It may be just the similarity in names, but this band sounds a lot like a dumbed-down version of Charlie Brown Gets a Valentine and a less obvious version of early Anniversary. The songs are not as intricate and the maturity is not there like it is with CBGAV but both bands are equally addictive. Once you hear “Summer Fling” the reference to the Anniversary is obvious. Then again, a lot of bands that use similar keyboard and synthesizer effects can easily be lumped together.

The Red Hot Valentines suffer from a 24-hour catchy writing disease. The songs will get stuck in your head but only temporarily. Unlike many other catchy bands they lack the permanent ability to infect you. It’s a typical sophomore effort. In a few years, these guys will learn how to do what they really want to do.

The only word of warning is to skip “I Want To,” one of the album’s middle tracks. Plain and simple, it’s crap. Slow, acoustic, poorly written, and might as well be the new Staind single.

All standard contradicting terminology applies, depending upon perspective: poppy, punk, catchy, edgy, typical, atypical, rough, smooth, awful, awesome, and so on.

Don’t expect total enlightenment from this record. Just look for a good time and you’ll be satisfied.

http://www.psychoexgirlfriend.com

‘A good majority of relationships come to an end eventually. Even in the worst of relationships, it is still difficult to make a huge change in your life and fill the gap now left by someone who was so close to you.

It’s difficult, but the only rationale option is to just walk away. What else can be done? Save the occasional post-breakup make-out sessions, when a relationship ends, it is really over.

Some people just don’t get that though. Other people have overwhelmingly malicious intents. Those people are the ones that make you wish you never were in a relationship. Scary, very scary.

How do you deal with a person, who just doesn’t go away, even after you’ve long since agreed to part ways? Some pretend not to be home no matter what. Others are forced to call the cops in fear of their own safety. One guy made a website just to show how psycho his ex-girlfriend really was.

His case was strong and convincing. Anyone can learn a lesson from this site: never date this girl — ever.

Psychoexgirlfriend.com is horrifying. Listen to the voicemails. There are over 50 psychotic messages left over the course of three weeks. It’s creepy to the point that it sends shivers down your spine. The voicemails are so scary that it makes you look over your shoulder out of fear that this girl is sneaking up behind you.

“I’m done chasing you… You can only do this so many times and than it becomes fucking old,” she says on her first message. Twenty-two days and fifty-two messages later, though, she is still there. Can anyone psycho? This guy certainly has earned the right to.

This site is truly a testament to how relationships can make people mentally disturbed. It is also the perfect rationalization for spending a few extra bucks a month on caller-ID.

Psychoexgirlfriend.com provides little in the way of content. Most of the site is based around the voicemails this guy received. Outside of that, there are two interesting features to the site. It has a “Reader’s Write” section where visitors to psychoexgirlfriend.com can share their personal tales of being burnt and being stalked. Also, there is a test called “Is your girlfriend psycho?” The test is a bit ridiculous and no matter what answer is chosen, the same response comes up: “Based on your answer, our complex mathematical formula has determined that YES your girlfriend is psycho.”

So, boys and girls, take a lesson from this man’s pain, hardship, and exploitation and be careful of whom you date.

use your voice

‘Bob Dylan, hey, is that you? Or is that Woody Guthrie? It’s so hard to tell.

Don’t sing about moonshine. It’s an incredibly transparent thing of you to do, Mr. Generic Singer/Songwriter. People who drink moonshine don’t have management teams, booking agents and well-designed Web sites. There’s nothing authentic or rustic in your claims of “Keepin’ it Real.” So you like to drink. Hop on the bus.

Sorry to call you out on this. Can we still be friends?

http://www.homestarrunner.com

‘The public has spoken and the resounding and unified voice is loud and clear.

Numerous emails have poured in, co-workers have suggested and even band members have labeled Homestarrunner.com as one of their favorite Web sites.

The people want their Homestar Runner, a fully functional flash site that is difficult to describe as anything but cute. Awwww…. Homestar Runner.

This site is your typical cat and mouse type setup, consisting of the naxefxbfxbdve and overly nice Homestar, who always seems unknowingly pinned up against the cynical time-to-conquer-the-world Strong Bad. It’s the Ren and Stimpy or Pinky and the Brain for a computer age of cartoon watchers and web surfers. All things considered, with the amount of characters with cameo appearances, this site is probably more like Space Ghost without the random celebrity appearances.

While the site does have an abundance of mildly amusing anecdotal range cartoons, this is one of the weaker qualities of this overloaded site. There is a ton of material to keep you busy for weeks of web browsing. The only problem is just distinguishing one thing from another, or finding a link you clicked on just five minutes ago. To the late night post-bar hopping user, this site may be a nightmare to navigate.

Strong Bad, the evil-minded antagonist on the site is the main source of humor. His capers are usually foiled and he is often left flat on his face for all to enjoy. The two best aspects of this site are Strong Bad’s knack, or lack there of, for song and his email section. Although difficult to find, the direct link to the email section is as follows: www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html.

On the email section, Strong Bad takes time out of his day to respond to the numerous queries from fans. The funniest emails are when he satirically rips into topics such as Anime, creating a website, and being “web savvy.” There is a large log of e-mails to browse and laughs to be had.

Finally, the third biggest attraction is its games. For the most immature of viewers, such as myself, you will enjoy the Homestar Talker and Strong Libs games. It’s so easy to crack yourself up.

The site is definitely worth checking out and is best described in Homestar’s own words, Homestar Runner “is dot com!”

Truly ‘built to last’

‘Critic Erick Pressman once described the band Sick of It All in an interview by saying, “These guys are like herpes – they never go away.”

It’s a fitting tribute to one of the longest-lasting punk bands in the scene today. They’ve made it through the straight-edge Shelter phase; they’ve survived the H20 GO! popularization of the music; and they will survive the scene’s peak, outlasting the likes of Thursday and Thrice.

Their name is synonymous with old-school New York hardcore, in an inextricably intertwined relationship in which SOIA is a perfect symbol of NY’s true-to-its-roots history. Their motto is perfectly summed up in the Robert De Niro quote from “Deer Hunter” which is used to open up their new album: “This is this. This is nothing else. This is this.”

“We are four guys who have no pretensions,” translated band front man Lou Koller. “This is what we do. This is who we are.”

Statements such as “I grew up on that band” are familiar to this group of musicians whose main claim to having evolved, according to Koller, is that they learned how to play their instruments better.

SOIA has an impressive track record that speaks for itself. At 38, Koller is still screaming his heart out on stage, most recently on the current Vans Off the Wall tour, as well as on record. Their most current release, “Life on the Ropes,” is their fifth release on Fat Wreck Chords and their eighth full-length release over the course of their 17-year history. It’s their self-proclaimed “most straightforward Sick of it All record in years.”

Since 1987, when their first 7-inch disc was put out, the band has watched the evolution, or devolution – depending on perspective – of a scene.

“The only thing that really bothers me now is that the scene is so separated,” said Koller. “Street-punk bands only play with street-punk bands – metal with metal and emo with emo. It was never that way growing up. We always tried to mix it up.”

A lot can change within an independently structured scene over the course of nearly two decades, and the amount of factors at play is conceivably endless. Bands come and go and styles have certainly changed, but what could cause such compartmentalization?

“I think that the look has taken emphasis over the music,” began Koller. “It’s really funny, even on this tour, you see fans of The Unseen disliking a band like Western Waste, who sounds not that different from The Unseen but they don’t get the same crowd response because they don’t have Mohawks.”

They have the music in their hearts and, to them, that is the distinction between a good and bad band. Koller cited bands like Strike Anywhere and Most Precious Blood as being some of the most passionate newer groups. They write songs because they’ve “got them in their hearts.”

For the band, it is more about the state of the world today. There are bigger issues to focus on.

“We grew up on British punk that was politically conscious and I guess that is most obvious on our newest record,” said Koller. “Ever since September 11 the world has been a strange place. It’s funny how, before that, Bush was a huge joke. Now he’s looked at as a hero. It’s sick. Look at the Enron scandals, too. Some of the biggest people to blame walked away unscathed. What does that say about our country?”

The band’s name, itself, refers to a general sense of being fed up with the state of the world. It may make you feel powerless – but the band is stating their case. Before even putting the new record in the player, that case can be seen as being represented through the design of the jacket sleeve. The pages feature photos of money and “corporate thugs” and corrupt politicians who have their strings pulled from above. The images are both powerfully moving and accurate concerning the world’s state of affairs.

SOIA has had issues with being swindled – even in their hometown of Queens. The rap group Mobb Deep (or, Mobb Sleep, according to Tupac) has attempted to steal the alleyway dragon, which serves as SOIA’s band logo. They claim it has been a symbol of the band’s for years.

“That particular problem has been cleared up,” according to Koller. “The only issue that still remains is that, every couple of years, a new Mobb Deep prot/g/ will pop up with the dragon again. So, we have to keep reminding them that it’s ours.”