area43: March 2008

Nat Geo goes 'Inside' Straight Edge sub-culture on April 9 - Smallscreen

Nat Geo goes 'Inside' Straight Edge sub-culture on April 9 - Smallscreen:

On the surface, it’s a positive ethos that would make any parent breathe a sigh of relief, right?

Not quite.

There is another side of Straight Edge: The militant minority that believes violence is justified in order to revolutionize the world. Notable episodes of violence started in Boston’s club scene, where members brutally attacked drug dealers.

Over time this militancy spread across the country to places like Reno, where members used brass knuckles in ambush beatings, or Salt Lake City, where a stabbing took the life of a 15-year-old boy. In at least one state, law enforcement now classifies the Hate Edge Straight Edge-rs as a certified gang.

Narrated by Sonic Youth band member Thurston Moore, the documentary asks, Is Straight Edge a safe refuge or a militant subculture that feels justified in committing violence to disseminate its beliefs?

Wait... Thurston Moore?
Can't wait to see how this turns out!

YouTube - CBS Exposes Hillary Clinton Bosnia Trip.

``I remember landing under sniper fire.''

YouTube - Emos vs Punk DF

"punks" vs. "emos" vs. Krishnas?!

Sounds unbelievable - but it's true!

I don't normally, in this blog, write about myself - or even write much at all.
I do however, have to at the very least type about the masthead image above.
I've changed from the previous image because this world has lost one of it's greatest authors and one of my most inspirational human beings.

Arthur C. Clarke was not just a science fiction writer. "Sci fi writer" is far too limiting, he was a visionary, a shaman for the future, guiding us on vision quests into the stars. His writing and ideas bordered on the spiritual even though he was an atheist, he took us on journeys into the impossible, even while grounded in science.

I first found out about Clarke in 3rd grade after reading Bradbury's "martian chronicles" and saw Clarke praising him in a review or some such thing.
4th grade logic won out, "if this guy likes that guy, maybe his stuff is good too"
Before long, Childhood's End, 2001, Rendezvous with Rama, etc. all became my new favorite book.

I won't say that I shed tears for someone I didn't personally know, I think it's hard for us to do that. I do think that we shed tears for ourselves and the death of a part of our life. When 'celebrities' leave us, we see another mile marker on our life course, another reminder that life is short.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke no longer shares an existence on this planet, however, much like the star child - he's transcended his physical manifestation, and his ideas and thoughts have spread to millions of other sentient beings, souls, and minds.

RIP - you helped me dream, may you continue to do so long after your passing.