No one should be surprised that Emo's have come under attack.

It appears that Emos in Mexico are falling prey to ALL other subgroups, or more correctly, mankind as a whole; "...punks, rockabillies, goths, metalheads and basically anyone who’s not emo."

If you got Rockabillies picking on you, you're pretty low on the totem pole.

I think it's some kind of strange quirk of human nature to group together against anyone who is different, and the Emo's "helpless and hopeless" attitude certainly qualifies. I don't really want to empathize with them, but I've been on the receiving end of the violence, so I know what it's like to take the long way home just so you don't run into 'trouble'.

Perhaps it's part of the Earth's natural healing system? Perhaps humans just have an innate need to act out aggression towards others, and what safer target than Emo kids? It could even be as simple as Jagged Spiral say in their latest song, "God Hates Emo".

Regardless, as much as I rip on Emo, I'm taking this opportunity to clarify my position: I've nothing against Emo Kids. I'll continue to make fun of them the way I would make fun of anyone else, and the way they are free to make fun of me; the way my sister and I continue to harass each other to this day.

HOWEVER(part 1)

I don't endorse violence against Emos. They are free to dress and act however they like. You are free to make fun of them. They are free to tell you to fuck off if you don't like it. Ad nauseum...

HOWEVER (Part 2)

Before you think Mr. Zero has grown a bit soft, let me lay your fears to rest. The Emo genre of music, and it's brother Screamo, are atrocities not only to music, but humanity. Therefore, the War against Emo stops here, and starts anew as The War On Emo Music.

Thanks to J-man for the story link.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Cultural Observation, Emo Sucks

This film is one of the "Films to Die For" from the 2007 Horrorfest. The main character, the aptly named Ian Stone, dies over and over, eventually realizing that each of his bleak existences (and deaths) are being arranged by some outside force. It's a Gothic cross between Groundhogs Day and The Jacket, with a splash of The Matrix for good measure.

Not really a must-see, pretty much average in all respects, although the sfx were well-done, and more importantly, not overdone. (Except maybe the masks towards the end...)

I tried watching the "Miss Horrorfest 2007 Pageant" in the DVD bonus features, but it's all apparently online for free, and I'd say it's hardly worth the price. Like hockey or football, it's something I'd rather experience than watch.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: movie reviews

Don't believe the mediocre rating on imdb.com, Gabriel is a pretty amazing film. Great storyline, and fantastic set design, on a budget and tight schedule no less. Ah well, what movie doesn't cry about budget restrictions when they *only* have two-hundred grand to make a feature film? Ha! In Australia, no less.

The story takes place in Purgatory, where a group of angels is sent from heaven to battle against a group of demons for dominance of this middle-ground. The angel Gabriel arrives only to find that the angels who came before him are doing Very Poorly: those who haven't succumbed to their pathetic humanity have disappeared completely, and several powerful demons are in complete control of purgatory.

Fans of gothic films like Blade Runner and The Crow should definitely see this film. And filmmakers will want to watch the "behind the scenes" on the DVD, which are Real Behind The Scenes, and not Production Crew Kissing The Director's Ass.

It was great to see the guy who wrote the music score for the film whine about getting ONLY ten grand and a year to do it! They should have talked to me, I scored a feature film in a month, on a budget one-ten-thousandth of his!

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: indie movies, movie reviews

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Stuart Davis. He played acoustic folk music at coffee shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul. And once upon a time, I stumbled across his first recording, "My Baby Is A Snake".

Once upon a time, I was hooked.

I loved the music he made. It was intelligent AND catchy, style AND substance, ying AND yang. I became his biggest fan. Rarely missed a show, and snapped up every new release: "Big Energy Dream", "Self Untitled", "Nomen Est Numen"...

What inspired me most was that he did it all himself. He had occasional guest musicians join him onstage, but it was just spice, he certainly didn't need them. He was able to write great songs with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. Stuart Davis was one of the people who inspired me to become a singer/songwriter. I had lunch with him on two separate occasions, once at Fabulous Ferns and once at Sgt Preston's, each time trying to tap into the secret of what he was doing.

Once upon a time, Stuart Davis moved to California and shaved his head.

These things happen, and I didn't feel bad about it. We weren't friends, and there were other local heroes waiting to be discovered. I did feel bad for Stuart, thinking that there was no place in Hollywood for a Bald-Coffeeshop-Folk-Singer-Songwriter, and I doubted I would ever hear from him again, but he would surprise me with the occasional "Anti-Christmas" show at the Fine Line.

When I saw the show listing for a Stuart Davis CD Release "Something Simple" at the Varsity Theatre, I was surprised. Turns out one of his songs was used in the soundtrack for the new "Drillbit Taylor" movie. When I saw him perform live, I was even more surprised.

There he was, the Stuart Davis I knew from years ago (sans hair) wielding his acoustic guitar with as much energy as he ever did before, and full of his trademark witty banter between songs. Only now he was accompanied by a drummer, bassist, and lead guitarist. A full-on, overcompressed band.

While his songs still had all the hook and energy of his early days, the band steamrolled over any intricate nuances in his work. Saddest of all was the song "Universe Communion" which might be Stuart's best song, involving some amazing guitar work lost beneath the din; a glittering jewel packed in mud. People were surprised when I Booed after the song was finished. They'd obviously never heard the original. It was like eating a Wolfgang Puck Frozen Pizza; after having the real thing. I suddenly sympathized with the people who booed Bob Dylan offstage for using an electric guitar.

So did Stuart 'sell out'? Or did his music evolve into this?

I'm happy for Stuart, seems he finally got his big break. The room was packed, and I can't say his songs sucked. I'd like to think the full-backing-band was his own idea. But I'm sad for the people who will hear Stuart Davis for the first time, and write him off as a lite version of "Foo Fighters", because he is so much better than that.

Interested parties can read about Stuart's sordid past on his blog: http://www.stuartdavis.com/blog?page=1

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Concert, music reviews, new release

You might be tired of me going on and on about how visionary and cool Trent Reznor is...

...I'll stop going on about him when he stops giving me reasons. Case in point:



Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Call To Action, indie movies, NIN, Ubercool

This Friday, March 14th is a holiday known by math geeks as "PI Day".

Um... 3-14. Get it? Don't feel too bad if you don't. You also won't understand why 1:59:26PM is called the "PI Minute" (although it should be AM if you ask me)

Anyway, check here for the official website and here for the wikipedia entry.

Does anyone know what the hell we're supposed to do on PI Day? Drinking I suppose, maybe 3.14159 Litres of beer? I will be studying for a Computer Networking Exam, doesn't get much geekier than that.

Well, except maybe this:



Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: holidays

When my monitor of almost ten freaking years went kitty-wompus, I saved my pennies and splurged on a nice 22-inch LCD monitor. Of course I was eager for something to test it out.

Sifting through my pile of unfinished video games, I came across Portal, a member of Valve's Orange Box. Wicked addictive fun, it was; and from what I read after completing the game, it drew higher praise than the other components of the Orange Box.

Portal is a puzzle-style game. Your character doesn't have a truly offensive weapon, simply a Portal Gun, which opens teleport planes to allow you to move things (most importantly yourself) from place to place. The physics of the game are great fun, and often necessary to solve the puzzles and advance to the next test area.

The best part of the game is the dialog of the computer construct which tutors you as you go through the various 'tests'. The dialog for the game is as quotable as any good movie. Reprinting it here does not do it justice. The affect and tone are just as important as the lines. The promises of "cake" for completing puzzles is hysterical.

I won't spoil the ending, and I won't tell you if there truly is cake at the end, but there is a song that is quite funny. The game took me about 6 hours total to finish.

Thanks much to Saveau for the Portal tip. It was a great distraction and a good test for my new monitor.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Video Games

After the inital carnage of Nine Inch Nails new release, 'Ghosts I-IV' I forked over my $10 (Plus $6.99 for, um, Shipping and Handling, er, I meant "Shipping" and "Handling"...) and downloaded all 36 tracks.

Yes, that's 36 tracks, and not a vocal on a-one of them. Still haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet, but I like what I hear so far. It's the essence of what makes NIN so great. Layers. Textures. Tones. Things that most bands today can't even imagine, and what makes people like Pink Floyd, Marillion, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix masters in their craft.

The real buzz behind Ghosts is the release format. The first nine tracks are being given away online for free under Creative Commons licensing.

I could go on (again) about how the old Music Industry don't f**king work, and how I think it should be fixed, but this article from fool.com does a better job than I could.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: music, Music Industry, NIN

A Vote for Jagged Spiral is a vote for an Alpine Stereo System for Colin's Truck! Honestly, the man has a portable CD player connected via a cassette-tape-adapter-thingy! What's that? You haven't heard of cassette tape? Let's just say, he could use a new car music system from Alpine, and there is a simple, easy, (and free) way you can help!

Alpine has agreed to give Colin a brand-spanking-new car stereo system! We just need a few cool Jagged Spiral Fans to vote for our songs in Alpine's Rock The Dash contest. It's easy, just a couple mouse clicks, and no registration is required.

Simply go to http://www.rockthedash.com, use the remote to play the Jagged Spiral songs: "Let It Out" or "Not Enough Bullets", then click the "Vote For This Track" button. It's that easy. You can vote for as many songs as you want, every day until the end of May! If you're a real fan (or a psychotic, stalker fan...not that we mind) you can vote once per day from each computer you have access to.

Both our songs have been moving steadily up the charts! We just entered "Let It Out" and "Not Enough Bullets" two days ago, and they have already moved from their start at 320th place to their current location: tied at 126th Place!

The contest ends on March 31. If Jagged Spiral ends up in the top 5, BAM! Colin has a new car stereo, and our weekly trips to Chipotle can be uninterrupted by CD disk changes! Remember, less interruption while driving means less chance of Jagged Spiral exploding in a fiery crash while changing CDs on the way to our practice sessions!

So make it part of your daily internet-fix-routine thingy:

• check e-mail


• update myspace profile


• check www.vita.mn for cool things to do


• check/reply to latest blog posts at www.conradzero.com


• vote for Jagged Spiral at www.rockthedash.com

Jagged Spiral thanks you for your support!

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Call To Action, Contest, Jagged Spiral

In case you missed it, a few years ago the recording industry (known as the RIAA, and more specifically comprised of Warner, EMI and Universal) sued the shit out of file-sharing companies like Napster, Kazaa, etc. Last year, they settled for Hundreds of Millions of dollars of royalties they swore up and down were owed to their artists.

But the artists are still wondering where their money is.

Of course, the RIAA swears they are 'working on it' and that much of the money was used up in legal fees.

So, when the landlord asks for the rent, artists can simply say they're 'working on it'?

It's the hypocritical system I've made fun of for years. Anyone who has half a brain can follow this anti-logic:

-Fans (via retailers, natch) pay money to the Recording Industry
-The Recording Industry keeps the money
-Artists get squat, with the few exceptions of those who are uber-famous, or smart enough to hire their own attorney.

So tell me again how the music industry is faltering, and then cry me a fucking river. They are a parasite that people had to tolerate before, but we don't need them anymore. If I want the new Jagged Spiral album, I'll buy it from them directly, and the money goes to the artist where it belongs.

In the American Music Business, those who make the product (artists) need to recognize the RIAA for what they are: the middleman, someone who gets inbetween the artist and the consumer, takes all the profit, and provides little by way of value.

Time to downsize, and let them go. Make sure to sue them first.

Once those corporate execs at the RIAA are penniless and living under a bridge, and they come up to you asking for change, just tell them you're 'working on it'...

The moral of the story is that the only winners in this system are the lawyers.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Business Phenomena, Music Industry