315 Hardcore

Post taken from the lovely Jeff meyer.

Here is the deal yo…

it is Unfortunate that the liability insurance, a flipping grand o’ $700, only limits us to:

200 runners
50 skaters
50 zombie shamblers

Why? Because the cost comes from the Skaterboard aspect of the event. A normal run would cost about $200-$400 tops with about 200-400 participants. I’ve checked with many liability insurance companies and most won’t event touch a skate/run. The two I did find each gave me a quote of around $700 with stipulation to keep the number of participants under 300 or they would charge up towards $1000. Sucks, but such is life.

This all means:

EMAIL ME ASAP FOR A REGISTRATION FORM STARTING TODAY TO BE SURE TO HAVE A SPOT IN THE FUN RUN/SKATE AND WALK.

jmeyer007@hotmail.com

You have to mail it back to me or stop by the IMAX and drop it off with payment. All participants have to sign two waivers one for liability and one for conditions of the race. What you get in your email is 2 pdf files:
1. An info Pack
2. Registration form with map and conditions

It is going to be a fun and awesome time. The first ever of it’s kind in the the U.S. Everybody has to dress up as a zombie or at least attempt it to make this work. We want the town of East Syracuse to remember the day 200 zombies ran, skated and shambled through their village.

This event will be posted on the Fleet Feet website calendar the first week of May. Meaning: you all have the opportunity to register first and be guaranteed a spot. Once it gets posted on Fleet Feet over 10,000 runners will have a crack at it.

Kwicky Mart and I put together some awesome prizes for best looking Zombie for the Walk. Top 3 skaters will get gift certificates from Black Mamba Skate Shop in Mattydale. We haven’t decided what the top 3 runners will get. Regarding the Zombie shamblers; before you walk you will have the chance to win a prize. Here is the contest:

Best Moan
Best Shamble
Best looking Zombie

Once you do those three together you go about your walk on the route in East Syracuse. At the end of the walk you will find out if you have won. If you dress up as a zombie to run or skate you won’t have the chance to win for moan, shamble or best looking, you compete to see you gets to the finish line first to get a prize.

Granted some of this will change because of unforseen stuff, but this is the plan for now. We are doing the run/skate/walk and that is it.

We have some goals to reach for the Golisano Children’s Hospital. Lets raise some money!!!

MAP

Nothing to do this weekend? BULL SHIT!

Who says there’s nothing to do in Syracuse?

Associated Press, Michigan - At last night’s show in Grand Rapids, Michigan, world famous metal band Slayer shocked crowds when they covered “Firestorm” by recently reunited hardcore pioneers Earth Crisis. The band sped through the song at nearly twice the speed of the original, only slowing to play a crushing breakdown. That breakdown was then followed by an even slower breakdown. At least 6 people died in the aftermath. Crowds were baffled by the cover to say the least. Earth Crisis, a band that is anti-drinking and drugs as well as pro-animal rights, wrote the song about the war on drugs and alcohol. An awkward cover to say the least for Slayer, who has toured before under a sponsorship from liquer company Jagermeister. An interview with guitarist Kerry King after the show yielded some answers. King says that after reading the lyrics they were under the impression that the song was about “poisoning babies and throwing them into fires”. The head banger blunder was caught on tape and is making it’s way around the net. We have a clip for you, just watch the video located below.

I am prefacing this by saying. Yeah, I know I sound like a blowhard hypocrite juvenile.

It seems as though there has been this open-ended definition given to hardcore and punk. Oh, it would just be too crazy if hardcore and punk actually had definitions. Then my favorite bands and my shitty ethics wouldn’t fit where I want them to and I’d have to go to church or Hollister where I truly belong. That being said, it’s a complete copout to say that hardcore and punk have a different meaning to everyone and that no one person is right. This isn’t an avant-garde free form jazz scene. Its hardcore punk.

Hardcore/Punk is forward thinking, angry, against mainstream culture, which preaches exploitation and personal gains at the cost of others, consumerism, conformism, sexism, and a whole host of –isms. Hardcore punk is about “tearing down walls”, individualism, and kicking and screaming against any sort of authority that dictates what we should be or who we should be.

Oddly enough, the content of this diatribe isn’t about what hardcore punk is; it’s about what its not. A few things come to mind and I’ll go into them in some detail. Christianity and pro-life have no place here. Being a bum and doing nothing to better your own life or the less fortunate around whilst bitching about all the atrocities that befall you. WOE IS YOU! Get over yourself. Lastly, the hypocrisy behind the “Support your local scene” phrase that is constantly thrown around.

Christianity…there’s no way around it. It’s weak. It’s controlling. It’s manipulative. It doesn’t belong here. Its backward thinking, outdated, and exploitative. The only sin in this world is not living your life to its fullest in whatever way you wish. Christianity is completely opposed to individualism, self-determination, and hardcore punk. If you think otherwise, you are warped. Take your bad Christian metal (leave me Stryper and Believer). Pro-life? I can’t understand how or why this is the new “hip” label to start throwing around as if there are 4 x’s now? “I’m vegan straight edge and pro-life.” That’s cool; I have a dog and two cats. What better way to oppose individualism and freedoms than to restrict personal choice. If you are against abortions, cool. Good for you. Here is a statistical fact: There are 874 billion children on this earth that should never have been born. “Do what thou wilt” “Love is the law”

Complacency. “Punk is giving the middle finger.” A lot of good a middle finger does. Change is always a direct result of a middle finger. Sure, is. You can buy and read every zine in the world, you can buy all the records in the world, you can go to every show in the world, and you can give you finger to the establishment on a daily basis. You have not changed anything. I was scoffed at a show not too long ago for being a teacher. Apparently, all teachers teach “lies, all lies.” You want a change? Be a change. Do something to help people that need it. Take the Christian approach to changing the world and….go out into it! What a concept. Take your punk ideals and work towards change. I teach because I want kids to get something out of school besides anger and disappointment. I want kids to be able to see the injustices in the world, in their communities, in their schools. I want to support kids in believing in themselves not some bullshit character education sheep mentality. Writing zines is sweet but whom are you going to reach with them? Sure, there will be some younger kids being exposed but you are preaching to the choir. There’s a bigger world out there. Ramble ramble ramble

Lastly, “Support your local scene.” Bands, promoters, dudes, and dudettes say this shit all the time. Its one of those hollow statements with no conviction. It’s going through the motions. “Go to a show you wouldn’t normally go to.” Great idea! Hollow statement. How about “Go to this show because the bands/promoters/music is honest, full of integrity, has something to say, and supports the same ideals as you.” What local scene should I support? I’ll be damned if I am going to support a show full of bands who are more concerned with $150 jeans, Nikes, and all around characteristics unassociated with hardcore punk. You can support that. I’ll support hardcore and punk shows. What’s worse is seeing kids gloat about the scene and their bands and then flat out not supporting friends’ bands or shows. Lame.

What does all that mean? The hell if I know.

For some hardcore is a place to let out frustrations and angst. For most of us, I’m sure that is the initial reason we came here. It’s definitely a great outlet for that. For some, that’s the reason people leave; growing older and I guess accepting the daily grind. To say it’s all right to have polar opposite views within one scene for the sake of acceptance and to keep the civility only waters down the ferocity that hardcore should have. Fuck that.

There’s always a fine line between the reality of things and choices we make and ideals. Sometimes a struggle to adhere to our ideals, but you claim ignorance to forget them entirely.

Oddly enough, I got a new record in the mail with an insert with this quote on it….Seems fitting so I’m adding it to this:

“In the business dealings of today’s hardcore punk scene, principled stances feel like a hindrance to many, something to shy away from for the sake of peace. Ethics can be tricky things, offensive to some, and causing dismay and aggravation amongst those who don’t share them. This can lead to ‘misunderstandings’ and ‘wrong ideas’, which no one wants to have, at least, no one who wants any modicum of success in our underground. Those who do shy away from impolite political conversation are rewarded for not rocking the boat. Troublemakers are not. In keeping our alternative world’s engine lubricated with ‘no hard feelings’ and passive attitudes, the point of creating the option is rendered void.

We will accept no less than total freedom from what disgusts us. The misunderstanding and aggravation that erupts from those with waif-thin ethics and laid-back attitudes to what’s acceptable isn’t surprising. There has been a misunderstanding – you don’t understand. The social safety in the underground and expanding scumbag capitalist business sense that usurp our independence from mainstream values are the enemy. Any kind of goal or achievement must be labored for, and to keep it from slipping away, requires more work and commitment. That doesn’t mean its not within reach. This is our corner, and we’ll fight viciously to keep it. No negotiating, no surrender, no compromise” – John Fahy 2007

Do yourself a favor, pick up the Hombrinus Dudes / Merkit split. Good bands with good things to say.

I’ve been meaning to write this for over a month. Lots of plans, I had, for what subjects to touch on and I was going to draw a cool cartoon and everything. Instead, you’re getting this. My apologies up front.

Straightedge. Straight edge. The straight edge. Straight edgers. Whatever you call it, say it in front of the wrong person and controversy will be stewed . . . so have a bowl and a piece of bread handy.

Most recently for me it came up at work. A co-worker of mine is into hardcore and asked if I was straightedge.

Yeah. I am.

Ever since I claimed it at around 16 years old, my position on what staightedge actually is and what it entails has changed dramatically. Ask any two people in the world and they will have different answers. I used to be the kind of kid that was totally fine with all my friends drinking and doing whatnot. I was also the kind of kid that wanted to eradicate every beer company off the face of the earth while wearing my Drug Free shirt, depending on when you asked.

See, there’s a balance. If I eradicated every beer company, I’d surely be ridding a lot of unethical business practices and deceptive advertising. But I’d also be getting rid of many homebrewed (pardon the pun) businesses where people put their own work into something that people would enjoy, in the safety of their homes. And if I had no regard whatsoever for inebriation, then I may well be endangering people who got in too deep, or worse yet from personal experience, fake my acceptance to the point where it drove me to a nervous breakdown.

Not good, I tells ya.

Yeah, Karl Buechner went on Geraldo to talk on straightedge. “The discipline calls me to self-liberation.” That’s what I take to heart. I don’t declare straightedge to be a broken record and preach things, to wear clothes with x’s on them, or to sing along to cool songs. It works for me, plain and simple.

I’m sorry if my edge has gone dull and I don’t see the glamour to some one or two word term coined by a person whom, in the 1980’s, declared something as a guideline and nothing more, never intending it to be a lifelong commitment. Excuse me if I don’t see the big deal with a bunch of mediocre bands enclosing their names with two x’s, or slapping one of them right in the middle. That’s not to say that there is any inherent good or bad in the matter. For every person that thinks militance and gang membership is beneficial to bringing back the 18th amendment, there’s someone who heard of straightedge and got into it and had it get them escape from their evils. It all boils down to the person themself.

I have my conviction in my own matters, to make myself better. I have done that for myself in one way, but there’s always room for improvement. And there is no one out there that can disagree with that statement.

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