"Art is the proper task of life." -- Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes, friends, it is indeed that time again, when my mind is curved and coiled in a strange labyrinth of questions, queries, investigations, examinations, contemplations, meditations, ruminations, over-biased opinions, diatribes, rants, raves, and all varieties of gentle euphemism, analogs, correlations, and brutal verbal equivalents. Indeed. To the meat!
EMPOWER YOURSELF
Anyone who reads this blawg with any regularity might remember the last time I constructed a quick feast (for those of us who suffer from any sort of attention deficit disorder) where I scribed a bunch of quick paragraphs and centered one on the idea of RESPECT. Well, recent activities have jolted my consciousness to a state of urgent lucidity. Allow me to clarify a thing or three. Now, I still believe any decent living soul should offer respect to all those who have EARNED it, but if I may elaborate on that to state that this gift should be rescinded if the other entity is not reciprocal and their behavior violates your liberty.
A few nights ago, we dove heart-first into the crusty bowels of the bible belt where sisters are porked, Jesus is white, the earth is flat (& only 6000 years old), Bush is right, Jagermeister & chewin' tobacky are essential food groups, denying scientific truth is celebrated, overalls are formal wear, fear tactics brutalize and influence the weak, and (of course) on every tongue is an undying belief that the world is safe (and pure) as long as free-thinking & free expression are smothered to a minimum.
It was a Sunday night in Abilene and the promoter of the show had moved us to an outdoor stage in the back of the venue. It was a last minute addition to the tour (to replace the cancelled Lubbock show after the club lost its liquor license) so we weren't expecting a huge crowd but the outdoor stage looked like it would be fun and we were ready for anything. About an hour before the show, we were told the cops had warned our Tour Manager that we were to keep the volume down and no cursing was to be allowed on stage.
I listened, I smiled, and a devilish twinkle flashed in my American eye.
I remember walking out on stage and seeing the hopeful faces of our audience. I remember feeling their warmth, overcome by the power of their screams, touched by the passion for our music. And I remember looking out and seeing the dark shirts of the mustached, cropped-haired police officers, their eyes (filled with fear and disgust) shooting daggers at me in icy stares that sought to destroy me with every passing moment.
The show erupted with the first song and any hope the "official authorities" (aka moral police) might have had of a peaceful, god-fearing, safe-fest ended quickly and violently. Before the second song began, I addressed the crowd and told them what I knew of the limits and restrictions that were placed on us. I told them, "I understand that Abilene is supposed to be the big ole buckle of the Bible-belt, but this is still f--king America!! Land of the FREE! And though I am not a Republican or a Christian, I am still a certified, card-f--king-carrying, proud American citizen protected by the f--king First Amendment of the United States Constitution which governs FREEDOM OF f--king SPEECH!"
Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression.
Ratified 12/15/1791.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
(Writers Note: It occurs to me that this entry is a grand paradox as the editors of this blog tend to censor curse words. Oh, the horrors of contradictions! Well, feel free to leave all the smug, pug-ugly comments you want. It seems, in this case, to be extremely and excessively warranted. But I digress.)
Well, they didn't like that one bit and soon cut the PA speakers. I noticed the sound level drop so I kicked over the monitor speakers (that we use on stage) toward the audience and we finished the show. It might have sounded like a local band at a State Fair, but we did the best we could with the circumstances presented to us. The cops came looking to intimidate us -- but we had the law on our side and in the end, we were victorious.
"We're here, we're weird!! Get used to it!!"
I am proud of everyone who came to the show despite the best efforts of the moral police. Feed your head everyone. Know your rights. Know and VOTE.
Empower yourself.
CROOKED SPOONS
A new video, you say?? Crooked Spoons on every wall, you say??? INDEED FRIENDS!! We are proud to announce that a new video for Crooked Spoons will be unleashed on May 15th! We are honored that Headbangers Ball will be the first to WORLD PREMIER the video! It will include live footage and dramatized expositions from the new film by Thomas Mignone called ON THE DOLL. We are very proud of this video and this song is one my all time favorites.
PILLS & PANACEA
Many have asked, and now it is known. Art has saved me and this is truth. But there are times when I have succumbed to my own fears and frustrations, slipped into a strange world where if one pill could do the trick, then 6 must be better. A place where it is easier to numb my affliction than actively work on making it go away. It is no secret that I have had my bouts with anxiety and depression. Nor is it any secret (though, at times, disappointing) that I sometimes enjoy (a little too much) the bliss the pills can conjure. We are told to pill our pain away, a quick fix for a systemic affliction. On every channel, on every hour, we are saturated with commercials and promotions of new medications and narcotics that can swoop in and save the day! The song Noose & Nail (on our new album) describes my plight (and certain members of my family) with this conflict. It is a typical American story of self-medicating and over-medicating. I am not proud of it but it, too, is truth.
MALLS & HOT TOPIC
When we tour our off-days become holy days where we finally find time to ourselves and can turn off the world and just exist. The guys do their thing while I (usually) seek out a large shopping mall (with a bookstore and a GNC) so that I can walk and walk and walk (be anonymous) and be alone with the emptiness of consumerism. I will usually find a nail salon and get a manicure (short and shiny - no color) and pedicure (tour feet are not a pretty sight) then move on to GNC for a quick check of protein powders, aroma therapies, and all varieties of health food. If I'm lucky, there will be one of those chair massage kiosks and I will spend 22 minutes getting my back and neck worked on to combat the rigors of ritualization. Next, I enter the Shangri La of my day -- a book store. I will spend hours seeking, searching, feeding, feasting, and escaping in the words of poets, philosophers, authors, et al. Here, I find bliss. Words feed my head. Kisses on my soul. Spiritual intercourse just for me.
If the mall has a Hot Topic, I will give it a look for any new jewelry or novelty items they may have (and to see if they carry our album and shirts). I know some of you wisenheimers have a strong distaste for Hot Topic, but I deem it admirable. What other national retail chain supports, endorses, and focuses (solely) on the counter-culture? None that I can think of. Hot Topic helps bands get noticed when (most of) these record labels do little to nothing with regards to promo or exposure. Is there a risk of trivializing the culture? Sure, but it's worth the risk if some squiggle in small town USA wants to break free of the square mentality. And as we slip further into the sick of a pop-vomit culture, at least there's a store out there where you can get a spiked bracelet, high-heeled sneakers, a Nirvana t-shirt, some Family Guy doodads, a nipple ring (or 3), hair dye, a velvet vampire journal, goth pants (with those weird hook-on strap type thingies), a skinny black tie, skinny black jeans, overly colorful shirts and blouses, living dead dolls, domo-kun, patches, zombie devil duckies, wickedly witty buttons with phrases like "THE ONLY BUSH I TRUST IS MY OWN", cheap corsets, fingerless gloves, SWEENEY TODD tote bags, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE accessories, plaid mini-skirts, neon plum nail polish, INVADER ZIM shoelaces, sweet scene-ster bandanas, suspenders, & sunglasses, 4 foot wallet chains, and (of course) all sorts of A Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise, thinga-ma-bobs, whatcha-hoozits, and doohickies. I mean, seriously. It's gold, Jerry. Gold!
OTEP TOUR - THE CIRCUS OF DEMOCRACY
May 10 -- The Whisky, Los Angeles, California (8 p.m.)
May 11 -- The Boardwalk, Orangevale, California (6 p.m.)
May 13 -- Club Underground, Reno, Nevada (8 p.m.)
May 15 -- Rock N Roll Pizza, Portland, Oregon (6:30 p.m.)
May 16 -- El Corazon, Seattle, Washington (8 p.m.)
May 17 -- The Big Easy Concert Hall, Spokane, Washington (8 p.m.)
May 18 -- The Big Easy Concert Hall, Boise, Idaho (8 p.m.)
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