Gothic…but not a Goth

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Ogre‘s been running a “Kill Your Idols” week on his journal this week, asking people to take their favorite musician, filmmaker, author, and artist down a few notches. To wrap things up, today’s topic was ‘your scene‘, which prompted this brilliant post by chrisbynum that absolutely nails much of why I’ve never self-identified as “Goth”.

Goths, in general, are kind of pathetic. Goths over 25 are really pathetic. As a public service, you should all be made aware that there is a difference between conformity and just growing the fuck up.

The worst offense is self-identifying primarily as “a goth”; it is my biggest pet peeve: “Hi, I’m Vyxqwynn! I’m 29, I’m from Seattle, and I’m a goth…” I think “goth” should be an aspect of who you are, not what you are. I have been around this scene in Seattle for nearly a decade. I think I have a sincere appreciation of fundamental gothic principles and ideals, and many of my good friends are gothic in their styles and attitudes, but, hell no, I’m not a goth! More of a gothic cowboy, if anything, with a healthy does of old-school geek thrown in. After all, I own a horse and 19 seasons of Star Trek on DVD, but I do not have razor blade scars on my wrists. And besides, if you were really all that goth, you wouldn’t have to go around telling people all the time, now would you? :P

So be as gothi_c_ as you want to be — in your beliefs, your style, your self-expression, whatever — but, please, don’t be a goth…

To me, goth means two main things: 1) that subjective experience in any flavor is to be valued (this is actually a classical romantic ideal…), and 2) that settling for mediocrity is an affront to one’s own existence. These are the two principal gothic ideals I can really get behind. I think many self-professed “goths” have never considered either one of these issues and are simply too caught up in the superficial trappings of this fucked-up scene or in their own maladjusted affinity toward darkness, self-pity, and insatiable lust for attention of any kind to actually live gothic.

Y’know what the number one thing I hear goths talk about whenever they get together is? Fucking clothes.

Don’t get me wrong, I love clothes — including gothic clothes — but I’m not deluded enough to think my compulsion to own every expensive black leather or PVC Edward Scissorhands wearable I can snipe from someone on eBay somehow makes me superior to a guy wearing Dockers™. If I had a nickel for every really deep conversation I’ve heard between two goths in the last three months, I couldn’t park on Broadway for 10 minutes…

So keep on keepin’ on, batcavers, but, please, consider giving drama for drama’s sake a rest, and turn the attitude down a notch or so. I promise you’ll still be having plenty of fun, and you may actually have more energy to pursue the dark and important things in life that actually matter…

Damn straight. Yes, I wear primarily black, I listen to a lot of dark music, I’ve been hanging around the gothic scene for years, and I spent years DJing at goth/industrial/alternative clubs in Anchorage…but I’ve never wanted to lay claim to the title of “Goth”. Gothic, sure, occasionally — but not Goth.

For one thing, I’m not depressed enough.

I don’t write enough bad angst-ridden poetry, either. ;)

Unless James is reading this, in which case I’m still too goth for your punk ass, buck-o.

iTunes “Black #1” by Type O Negative from the album Bloody Kisses (1993, 11:15).

It’s only domestic violence if you’re straight

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More news from Ohio regarding their ridiculous approach towards domestic violence. The law is being updated to close the loophole that limits domestic violence charges to married couples, which sounds good — but all’s not well yet.

A state lawmaker from northeast Ohio says he’ll introduce a bill this week to close a perceived loophole in the domestic-violence law created by the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Democratic state Representative William Healy of Canton says his bill would define domestic violence as an act committed when individuals reside together, regardless of marital status.

[…]

However, the change in the law will only affect heterosexuals in non married relationships. The domestic abuse law will not apply to same-sex couples because of the constitutional amendment.

Admittedly, better than last week — if you’re straight, of course — but still a long way from where it should be.

Regardless of your stance on gay marriage, a person’s sexuality should have absolutely no bearing on domestic violence cases. Whether you’re straight or gay, married or unmarried, or just roommates, the potential for abuse at the hands of someone you live with is something that everyone should have equal protection from under the eyes of the law.

Grrrr.

(via Terrance)

iTunes “Madskillz/Mic Chekka” by BT from the album Movement in Still Life (2000, 4:52).

Camp Tomato!

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Plans for April 30th are afoot, courtesy of Mr. Jason Webley…

Camp Tomato!

An afternoon of fun and games beginning at Woodland Park and ending with a concert in Ballard. The day begins with a potluck picnic at 1 pm. Various tomato activities will follow. After a dinner break, Jason will give a concert at the new Paradox Theater. Tomato, tomato, wheee!

The Paradox Theater
1401 NW Leary Way
8 pm – All Ages – $9

iTunes “I Am Calling Out (L’Alta)” by Master Musicians of Jajouka from the album Brian Jones pres. the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka (1995, 5:54).

Search Engine Wars

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Statcounter has introduced a new section to the statistics they track titled “Search Engine Wars” — it’s a graph of how much traffic your site gets from each search engine. Out of the last 1,100 hits to my site, here’s what it shows me:

Search Engine Wars

Admittedly, my site isn’t representative of the ‘net as a whole, but from where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like much of a battle.

iTunes “Injected With A Poison” by Khan, Praga from the album Pragamatic (1998, 5:06).

Funeral Music

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Prairie just pointed out this list of the top ten favorite funeral songs in Europe:

  1. Queen’s “The Show Must Go On”
  2. Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”
  3. AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”
  4. Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”
  5. Mozart’s “Requiem”
  6. Robbie Williams’ “Angels”
  7. Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever”
  8. The Beatles’s “Let It Be”
  9. Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”
  10. U2’s “With or Without You”

I’m finding the mental image of a full congregation of mourners standing in a cathedral, colored shafts of light cast through the stained glass windows slowly moving across their faces, sadly and somberly intoning AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ to the accompaniment of a church organist and choir far too amusing for my own good.

iTunes “Firemission” by Noxious Emotion from the album This Hallowed Ground (1995, 5:27).

Jello Über Alles

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About a week ago, Mike Whybark attended a small event involving local performer Jason Webley), and subsequently posted a video of fellow accordionist Aaron Seeman leading the accordion class in a rousing rendition of the Dead Kennedys‘ ‘California Über Alles‘.

In an entertaining little bit of synchronicity, while driving around on Saturday afternoon Prairie and I happened to catch the last half of this week’s This American Life show on the local NPR station. The show (at least in this latter half) was a fascinating look at Michael Guarino, most notorious for being the prosecuting lawyer in the 1986 obscenity trial against Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys over their _Frankenchrist_ album and the H. R. Giger print included with it.

From the Alternative Tentacles website:

When a San Fernando Valley mother complained that her 13- year old daughter had purchased the record as a gift for her 11-year old brother (at a Wherehouse Records outlet in a large mall), the LA City Attorney’s Office decided to prosecute the case. Deputy city attorney Michael Guarino, the prosecutor in the case, admitted they chose to prosecute the DKs because it would be a “cost-effective” way to send a message to other musicians, record companies and fans. Guarino had been considering prosecuting several other groups when this case came along, and he thought he could win this one.

…

Charged in the case were Biafra, and four others, including the 67-year old man whose company pressed the Frankenchrist disc. Conspicuously not charged were Wherehouse Records which sold the offending album. They had agreed to stop selling Frankenchrist and all other Dead Kennedys albums when the controversy first surfaced.

Biafra and the others decided to fight the charges of distributing harmful matter to minors, and set up the No More Censorship Defense Fund…

Finally, after months of delay, during which Biafra’s time was taxed enough that he had no time to work on his music, the case went to trial. After a week-long trial in which witnesses such as Greil Marcus testified on the group’s behalf, and a respected art teacher attempted to show how the poster was an integral part of the Frankenchrist package, the jury came out deadlocked (7-5 in favor of acquittal), and the judge dismissed the case.

Jello has talked about this case many times over the years at spoken word performances, some of which have been recorded and released as albums. I first learned about the case from Jello’s spoken word album No More Cocoons, and have heard it referenced quite a few times over the years since.

Apparently, though, Mr. Guarino has come to see his zealous attack against the Dead Kennedys as a mistake — and has since come to gain an appreciation for the causes that Jello supports. From a 1997 Music News of the World article:

In fact, Guarino, whose son is a big fan of Biafra, said he now appreciates a lot of what the punk poet has to say in his spoken-word rants.

“In retrospect,” Guarino, the Director of Clinical Programs at JFK University in Orinda, Calif., told ATN last week, “I think it’s more important for (District Attorneys) offices and US Attorneys offices to focus on the tremendous amount of conflict of interest at the top, the accountants, the lawyers, the politicians, and get out of the area of freedom of expression.”

…

In one of life’s great ironies, Guarino said his teenage son “idolizes” Biafra and constantly listens to the punk poet’s CDs of spoken-word rants. “I keep trying to tell him that there’s much more to all of this than what Jello talks about, but he is definitely right about a lot of stuff,” Guarino said about Biafra’s conspiratorial rants. “He’s an interesting guy, but he only sees what he’s in a position to see and he can’t get beyond a quarter-inch or so of what’s going on. In some cases, it’s much worse than he could ever imagine.”

Towards the end of the This American Life segment, interviewer David Seagal (sp?) has called Jello and gotten the two men to talk. Not only do they end up talking about the nearly two-decade old case, but they go on from there, finding more common ground than might be expected and chatting like old friends.

It was an incredibly interesting bit of radio to randomly stumble across. The show (Know Your Enemy) isn’t available online yet, but according to the This American Life website, it should be downloadable in about a week or so. Consider it highly recommended listening.

iTunes “California Über Alles” by Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, The from the album Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury (1992, 4:13).

How many times were you a minor?

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On a lighter note, while this news story isn’t really something to laugh at, it has a wonderful example of bad writing that made me laugh:

A 35-year-old educator in Douglas County has been arrested on charges that she allegedly had sexual relations with a 16-year-old student who is a minor more than once.

So he was a minor more than once, huh? Just how many times can one be a minor? Is it a cumulative thing encompassing everything up until your 18th birthday? Are you a minor 18 times? Or once for each month/day/hour/minute? Just how is this figured out, anyway?

iTunes “I’m Going Straight to Heaven” by DJ Zero/MC 900 Ft Jesus from the album Hell With the Lid Off (1990, 4:03).