SxE Link of the Week [9.30]

Naj One | foeknawledge: destroy babylon

The Commercial Nightmare before Christmas

It's not even October yet and many stores have already put their Halloween items on sale and moved them to the clearance racks, replacing them with Christmas items when Christmas is still three months away. It used to be that the day after Thanksgiving was when they'd bring out their Christmas stuff. Now this pisses me off so much. I can't stand when Halloween is overlooked and overshadowed by Christmas.

It's my favourite holiday and deserves more. I'm also pissed because as a Jewish person I'm offended by the In Your Face of Santa, don't get me wrong I certainly don't have any hatred or even dislike for Christianity, but their holiday commercialism is just disgusting to me. I'd think that it would be disgusting to them too as it shows no honour or praise for what is supposed to be a religious holiday.

So speaking of Nightmares before Christmas, Tim Burton's fantastic masterpiece is being re-released in 3D and it should be amazing. Thankfully a theatre in Park Slope in Brooklyn has all new digital projectors that my friend actually installed, which will be able to show it in the full glory it deserves. It comes out on October 20th, check out the trailers.

Something More Than Ink

Just take a fucking good look at just what you did.
You set a raging fire in the heart of a kid.
Your words, and the message you sent,
are held in my heart as they burn inside my head.
It burns, burning inside my head.
Even if you chose a different path to tread.

I guess it was something inside,
it was something more to us

You took a different path than the one you once set.
But that's the cycle of life, so take your steps ahead.
That doesn't change one thing in my life.
I'll never cease to keep your words alive.

I still believe in what was said.
I'll hold on to the last thread.
I still believe in what was said.
You're absence doesn't bring my values' death

I guess it was something inside,
it was something more to us
A hero's fall will never change what I think.
'Cause at the core of my heart, this is something more than ink.

Something more than ink.
On a page, on a shirt, on the back of my hand.
Something written in stone, words we wrote in stone.

"Something More Than Ink" ~ Have Heart

I don't know the meaning behind this song, but it makes me think about Ray Cappo. Despite his choices in life, it is his words before he broke edge that still hold meaning to me. I don't care about his personal choices, I'm SxE for me, but I take his songs to heart, since they are more than the ink of my tattoo and the X on my hand. I listen to this song and I listen to Youth of Today and still believe in what was said, it is my path to tread.

SxE Link of the Week [9.22]

xREPRESENTx

Why Advertising Execs Should Be Shot Like Drug Dealers

So a new energy drink has hit the streets to give people masive amounts of un-needed caffeine and sugar. SxE by the core definition doesn't say that caffeine should not be consumed, but in the amounts that energy drinks provide goes beyond moderation (get the joke here relating to a previous post?) I drink beverages with caffeine but understand that it's a drug that can affect your body. I'd rather not drink caffeine but I enjoy tea and some teas have it, and it's not worth it to me to avoid all teas for the amount of caffeine I consume with it. But I digress.

My main point here is about the new energy drink Cocaine. WTF! is up with the name. I think it's a horrible idea to use a name that is the same as a dangerous illegal drug. I can't comprehend how someone would actually think it was a wise idea to have their product be related by name to something that like that. I wonder if they'll start to refer to their shipping trucks as mules as they use the term dealer to refer to merchants. Once that happens can I shoot dealers of Cocaine? Can't wait to see who will be their celebrity spokesperson, Lindsay Lohan perhaps, she always looks like she's coke'd up.

*Note: I do not condone actual shooting of ad execs.

Punk Goes to the Movies

This Friday American Hardcore opens here in NY at the Angelika. It looks to be a great movie. I can't wait to see it. Unforunately I'm not sure I'll be able to see on friday, but once it goes to more theatres around the city at least it should be easy to catch. I definately am interested to see what amount of the film involves Straight Edge. I don't want it to be a passing phrase that's barely uttered and whispered. It seems that the stigma behind SxE has made it into something it's not. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Also coming out soon is the film Punk's Not Dead that will take on the more recent punk scene as opposed to a historical documentary view. This will be a film I am very interested to see since I didn't grow up in the hardcore scene or the early punk scene, being born during the start of punk I didn't quite experience it, so I have a more current interest. Hopefully it will be worth the wait, since no release date has been set yet.

Straight Edge Link of the Week [9.15]

xxX Seventh Dagger Xxx

Grow

Digging through some old stuff I found a flyer for a Straight Edge band my friends had in high school. The band was called Grow and contained the members Ray (who is currently in Carpenter Ant), Sean and Brian (who is in the photo on the left.) I wasn't part of the Lehigh Valley Hardcore scene when I was younger but they were my friends and they have influenced me to this day. Their demo was to come out in January of 1994, the year we all graduated. The flyer had the lyrics from two of their songs:

Disease You're something that I don't need / Why Must you make us bleed / You're something that was in my hear / Never thought we shall part / You should always be aware / Of friends that have cared / These lies you now portrayal / I have failed / This problem shall never be solved / Now I wish I never got involved / This disease caught in my mind

Conflict As Open as the wind / As free as a cloud / You watch us grow / Knowing we grow wild / Can't grasp our feelings / Can't open our eyes / Hate what you feel / This is the deal / Laughing at your remarks / Caring not in our hearts / Exploding from within / You won't realize / Taking us for granted / Wishing you would die / No crave for acceptance / Cause now I can fly

Note: I edited the songs to be spelled and grammatically correct.

Dirt and Scum

I've been trying to dial down my anger lately, but sometimes I just can't help it. I have friends that smoke and it doesn't bother me so much. But when I see people discard their cigarette remains on the street it offends me, but today it angered me more than ever. Some ignorant woman flicked her cigarette and it barely missed me! WTF! I mean people have no respect for other people any more. I could care less that she had no respect for own body by smoking to begin with, then it went beyond being angered at her merely trying to flick it on to the street into potentially striking another human being.

Maybe I'm just annoyed at the lack of people NOT voting today. Sure it's just a primary, but when people say they don't know who to vote for in the general election it's cause they didn't make their voice heard in the primary. arrgh! I hate this planet sometimes, when do we start terraforming Mars?

Everything in Moderation is a Cowards Way Out

How many times have you heard someone tout the adage "Everything in moderation"? I think it's a weak way to look at life. I think as a human you need to be able to take a stance on things and be able to know what is not worth having in your life. If everything in moderation was something worth living by, then heroin in moderation would be fine, grain alchohol in moderation is okay, sex with prostitutes is good. Where do you draw the line? As long as you don't over indulge in these things then you're fine right, according to the axiom.

So you're probably thinking that I'm going over the edge (no pun intended) to make a point by talking about things that a "normal" person wouldn't say they would do in moderation. But even alchol or marijuana or cigarettes, things done by the "normal" people, in moderation is still something that harms your body and mind. Despite what people say about a glass of red wine being good for you in some way, it also has it's bad qualities. Alchohol is a depressant and can become a crutch and easily abused even when used in moderation. Marijuana effects the mind and dulls the senses, and cigarettes are addictive, controling and kill you. But I guess a slow death in moderation is okay.

Now I'm not the kind of person to push my beliefs on others or say I'm right and you're wrong. This is just my forum for discussing my beliefs. If you think I'm wrong about this or anything else, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

SxE Link of the Week [9.5]

How's Your Edge?

Threatening

Threat is a super low budget film about the streets of New York and centered around the life of Jim a homeless 20's something and his Straight Edge friends. I personally would've appreciated a more positive view of SxE than the "One Less Drunk" crew, but at the same time, there truly is that aspect of SxE in reality. Many of us do feel there needs to be one less drunk around.

I enjoyed the dialog in first half that brought out the characters and even had a slightly Clerks like vibe. But I felt it was too drastically different from the violence infused second half. The violence of the second half was graphic, jarring and felt realistic. The fight that stemmed the violence seemed to start completely out of nowhere and lead to extreme acts of violence upon innocents that didn't make sense to me.

I liked the hand drawn comic transitions through out and thought it helped bring a very indie feel to the film. Now the thing that got me most was the final scene with Jim and Kat on the street. I thought it was very thought provoking and really should have been the point of the film. The fight and struggle of the working class should be brought to the level of the upper class, so that they will take notice.

As a side note there are also 2 soundtracks for the movie. The one I appreciate the most is Threat: Music that Inspired the Movie which is a unbelievable mash up of great straight edge hardcore with industrial and hip-hop flare. It's truly a masterpiece and worth owning whether you liked the film or not.