Thursday, June 25, 2009

Let's go all the way!

Hello. Good morning. Welcome to BSC, Thursday edition. My baby woke up at five thirty this morning for some ungodly reason. It was nightmarish. By the time he finally woke us up, he’d really gotten himself pretty worked up crying and sputtering and shit. We kind of passed him back and forth a few times, thinking that maybe he’d just go back to sleep, but no such luck. Eventually I just hung out with him while my wife caught a few last minute z’s. Right now, I’m tired. I haven’t been to work in almost two weeks because I had that wedding and then we recorded those songs, so I’m ALMOST looking forward to getting back in there, making some money and feeling productive. ALMOST. The only problem is my exhaustion and my high stress level due to all the billion zillion fucking things I’m doing that require my full attention but do not, in any way pay me money. Well, that’s not entirely true, but you get the idea. It’s a struggle, man. And nothing is fucking easy. Never. Every time something seems like it’s just gonna work out great, along comes some asshole just grinning and pissing everywhere. Sometimes it’s god, yes. And other times it’s some meter maid or some shit head agent or some irritating acquaintance or your mom or your critical wife or your irritating boss or your dumb manic depressive Chihuahua…it’s enough to make me want to move to some tiny little island paradise and rent boogie boards to people on the beach and just die out there after a while. That seems like a pretty cool way to go. Sock away some cash, eventually get a jet ski. Rent that shit out. Grow your business like that. I could dig that, man. Really, truly, I could.
Only problem? Skin cancer. That and irritating tourists talking to you like you’re an idiot. No shows. Someone stole all my boogie boards and then smoked a joint and pissed all over my little beach hut. Dumb asshole down the way has nicer boards and he constantly gives me the stink eye. AND he’s fucking scary. Okay. Fuck it. Back to Chicago. What’s the problem here again?
Man, someone asked a good question in the drawer yesterday. They took my tirade against faith from yesterday’s post (You are all unique individuals!) and held it up to my tirade against calling people posers and shitting on people’s enthusiasm. What’s the difference, dude asked, between that and what I’ve been doing here regarding faith.
Good question. Here’s the answer.
I’m not shitting on enthusiasm. I’m shitting on the idea of faith period. And, I’ll get back to what the important difference is here, but first, a word or two about faith, belief and the supernatural (or whatever the fuck you want to call it). I believe in skepticism, I believe that I do not possibly possess the mental capacity to understand the innerworkings of the universe and I believe that there’s big, huge shit afoot out there that we can’t possibly grasp with our minds. The idea that there are people out there so arrogant as to have claimed to have figured all that out, and that they’ve done it just by believing in something they’ve never seen, heard, touched or even really read about in anything other than a constantly rewritten hodge podge of a book that’s in essence ancient creation myths mixed with morality plays and obviously made up shit is just offensive. And I’m talking about Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism here folks. It’s all stupidity masquerading as “all the answers”. Sorry. But it is. But back to the question.
I don’t like when someone gets involved in something and people call them posers. There’s no one (except Jesus, I guess) who’s just born into whatever cool subsect they’re part of. At some point, you learn about something and you get excited about it and then you get involved and this is when people already involved tend to call you a poser, or generally mock your lack of knowledge. This is shitty, because it’s nothing more than insecurity masquerading as hazing and it’s completely ignoring the fact that these ‘veterans’ of the scene were themselves at one time newbies who wanted nothing more than the acceptance of the people already involved. In religion, this would be like shunning a new member of a congregation, in neo nazi-ism, this would be like mocking the new guy’s shitty teenager-style see through Hitler mustache. Within the confines of whatever dumb, xenophobic group you want to talk about, there’s potential for this to happen, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like the blanket that it’s happening under. I don’t like cops. I’m sure that old cops are total shit heads to young cops, and I bet it sucks. Doesn’t mean I have to like cops. I don’t like Juggalos, but fuck, go down to the Gathering and see if there aren’t some deep rolling old timey juggalo soldiers mocking the new guys and the way they don’t know how to properly spray Faygo, or chant “show your tits”. I guess my point is, Juggalos, cops, religious people, Nazis, they all have one thing in common. They have this idea of what’s cool that completely sucks. So there you go. That’s my answer. Jesus I’m tired. Okay, see you people tomorrow where I’m gonna compile a great list of things to do over the weekend or something.
xoxooxox

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just find it all so offensive against Juggalos. Have you heard of integrity?

Scott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Timothy said...

I gotta love when you bring up Juggalos, everytime you do, it brightens my day even more than a new BSC post.

myassisapipebomb said...

you don't know the scene. you weren't around in '77 or '82. you ever heard of a band called Black Flag? obviously you don't know or even have the capacity to understand the depth of angry counter culture music. youngster.

when you were growing up going to shows around Chicago, did you ever see the 40ish dudes wearing an absolutely tattered D.R.I. shirt just verbally pissing on everybody's faces about how the scene is shit and how nobody knows anything about hardcore or punk rock these days cause they weren't around in the 70's and 80's? i've always wanted to tell those guys to bite a dick because Chicago was the epicenter of ass in the 80's and early 90's with industrial music, undoubtedly when those old bat shits were my age. Ministry...Wax Trax records...and the like.

FAskies said...

Ok so say a guy listen to these pop bands like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte for fucking years and callse himself punk, you at first kindly explain to him thats not punk, he still does not get it. Is it than ok to call someone a poser.

TheEvilNarwhale said...

Dear BK, I was wondering how you feel about the Dear Landlord LP coming out, being as they are from chicago and all. Personally, I'm digging it quite a bit.

Scott Juniper. said...

why not let them call it whatever the fuck they want?

Gautham Ganesan said...

I'm going to have to concur with TheEvilNarwhale. That record is off the proverbial heezy.

rjkdb8 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
James said...

Andrew - your a poser. you don't know what its like to be a fan of Dear landlady

Owner Operator said...

faskies. don't care what other people call them selves. care what YOU do, how YOU act, what YOU say... it's all about YOU and how YOU are as a person.

Robb said...

That's an interesting point, RPJ, but it's usually not quite so simple. The biggest issue isn't so much the inherent "craziness" of holding such beliefs and convictions without empirical support--it's the rationale and thought process behind it all. If it were always as simple as: The man in the park is clutching a bible and spouting about his beliefs--oh, but he's also rolling around nude in his own feces--it's an easy, "Aww, poor crazy guy. That's too bad." Bam, open-shut case. But it's usually:

An otherwise perfectly intelligent and rational person (out of fear of death, the "great unknown" and often, the impressionability of youth) latches, like a suckling infant, onto ONE SPECIFIC be-all/end-all set of doctrines and "rules". In the process, they consciously "shut out" any outside ideas that conflict with said doctrines, AND throw out all faculties of logic and reason--but ONLY regarding this particular belief. The same logical faculties which they still exercise in EVERY OTHER aspect of their daily lives. In a nutshell, intellectual dishonesty of the most despicable kind. Worse STILL--most are aware of this dishonesty, but choose to suppress that dissonance out of...well, lots of shit. Unwillingness to at least face all those "scaAary" possibilities (e.g. the concept of zero cognisance after death)...yada yada. You have no problem seeing the big bad wolf and jolly St. Nick as fabrications, but ohh!--NOW we're dealing with death and mortality! It's a whooole 'nother ball game, baby~!

And re: the whole scenario wherein you're raised under a certain faith right from the womb--there eventually comes a point where if you don't, at the VERY LEAST, take a long and deep questioning look into what you've been brought up to believe...well, you're just being a big Gerber baby. Goo-goo.

Robb said...

...And I guess we now know what tomorrow's big topic will be. And yet, it would be kind of awesome if you didn't even bring it up at all.

james said...

religion is so sketchy, man. i dont get how they (im talking bout christians atm) say theres hell and you will go if you sin and do not seek forgiveness and what not. But, when you go to funerals they say they are in heaven now, even though that deceased person may have never ever believed in that shit... Shouldn't the priest or pastor dude be like, "We've come to mourn the death of ... and he is burning in hell right now, according to my beliefs, thanks."

Anyway there is ZERO proof so fuck off cunts, stay away from my doors.

cya.

james said...

Also, i think tomorrow the subject line will maybe include a reference to the king of pop? just maybe. that's my ten cents on the future.

Ted Yang said...

I don't think Brendan can mention Michael Jackson since he didn't bring up that the Black Eyed Peas gang-raped Perez Hilton...or whatever happened.

anthony said...

well, i brought it up in the other sock drawer, but someone told me to take it over here.

http://ads.publicdisgrace.com/imagedb/6415/v/h/320/hires/6415_7.wmv

LINK IS NOT WORK SAFE. it's a chick getting tied up, slapped around and fucked by a bunch of people/machines in a dungeon.

the dude sitting in the background, wearing a greenish gold jacket type thing.

IT'S FAT MIKE. it's gotta be!!!

can we get a word from mr. kelly on this?

bert said...

if anyone needs help spotting fatty, 4 seconds in, when it's a close up on the face of the chick with the mask, pause it. far right behind her. wearing the gold suit jacket and black turtleneck. easier to spot him later if you know what to look for.

THE SWAYBACK said...

strictly tinkle.