Monday, August 16, 2010

well, that was a scary couple hours, eh?

Before we get to the good stuff: PUNK ROCK TUESDAYS at Risque Cafe tonight!!!!!!! There will be cheap tacos! 3 buck fancy drafts! Punk Rock! Someone acting sketchy! Naked chicks! Shotgunning contests! The hour of Power (at 9!) and more! This shit has been super fun the last few weeks and I'm glad that y'all seem to be enjoying it! Let's get a beer or something, eh?
On clark at Sheffield.

Okay, onto the daily drivel:


hola.
Hi kids. You all are real nice. Seems you not only went and bought me a 'puter in my hour of need, but also took the time to weigh the pros and cons of doing something like this for someone who can (presumably) afford such a thing already (you know, in terms of global/socio economic ethics and all that). Well, here's my two cents:

1) You guys are awesome. I'm touched and it's a real cool gesture. It's also worth pointing out that I wasn't gonna be buying a computer any time soon, and not just because of money issues either. I have two kids, and as I said, that shit takes a lot of time and energy. As a mister mom, I get very few moments on this earth to do things like relax, whack off, watch tv, read books, sleep, eat food, sit quietly and shop for things. I'm out of pants. I still haven't seen inception. I've got three pairs of socks to my name and I haven't bought a new book in seven months (which is technically fine since I've got tons of books in this house that I've never read, but the point remains, buying a stack of books used to be one of my greatest pleasures, up there with random glory hole analingus and now I don't hardly ever get either. Sigh). (At this point I should mention that yes, yes, of course having kids is my own doing and raising them is my responsibility and NO, I'm not complaining about the time crunch in my life like it's unfair or anything like that. Wouldn't have it any other way. Just simply stating the truth.)
SO, my point here is that I have lots of shit to do, and plunking down some money (which I don't really have) for some crappy computer that's not the 'real' computer i 'really' want just wasn't on the horizon. I was simply NOT gonna just buy a computer just to have one. There was NO chance that it was gonna happen any time soon. SO, if in fact the rumors percolating in the Sock Drawer (of you guys doing a pool and buying me a computer) are true, then you, Socks, Dogs of War et al. have done me a great favor/solid and you have indeed contributed a wonderful and worthwhile gift to me, your overlord. I wouldn't have done it without you, and as a result the wonderful day waster that is BSC would have probably suffered and/or not been as regular. Y'all are real sweet and you didn't have to do that (can't state this enough. Y'all really didn't have to do that and just to be clear, this is an entirely unexpected and unanticipated outcome of this whole deal) , but since you did, gotta tell you, I'm real stoked. You kids are all right. And my mom says you're nothing but perverts! What does she know?
Listen, dude who is in charge of this: Just email me at the addy that's linked on this page and we can sort it all out. Shit. Y'all are the best.

2) Concerning the notion that I can buy my own computers and that people don't need to do this kind of thing and if they want to be altruistic they could do something that makes a real difference instead of giving some gross old man a computer which he can use to beat off and rant at the rest of us via this here blog: Yeah. Totally. That's true. It bears mentioning though, that it's a really nice thing to do and lots of very nice things to do technically come at the expense of doing something nice for someone who needs it more. Now, this is a slippery-as-shit slope since I'm essentially defending the notion of a bunch of strangers buying me something that's not cheap, but um...I dunno. Hear me out.
It's very hard to think globally and do anything at all. Buying shoes often means that you're supporting (however indirectly) a pretty fucked up system in which people are exploited just so you can walk around on a cushion of air. Buying fruit and meat at the grocery store, ditto. Now, it's easy to get defeatist when you begin to think like this and say something like "well, fuck it. What can I do? I gotta have food. I gotta have shoes and unfortunately, I don't live in some dipshit hipster mecca where environmentally sustainable shit is available to me, and I'm too poor to be vegetarian and not just eat fries and mac and cheese all the time, so fuck this. I'm doing none of it."
This is obviously defeatist, lazy and not a cool way to go through life. You do what you can for the things you believe in and you must at some point decide how far is far enough for you to go and be comfortable with that line. For some, it's real far. For others, not so much and there's lots of disagreements that arise as a result. This is why even though your shoes are canvas and you're eating locally made hummus, the anarchist girl in your sociology class still thinks you're a half stepping dildo. This is also, in essence, a very simplified allegory that works towards explaining why radical religious fundamentalists hate infidel sodomites like myself. People have different ideas about how far they're willing to go for what they believe in, and once you start pointing to your line in the sand and saying it's the true one and thumping your dick about it, you're gonna look like an asshole to (and bum out) everyone else. Now, maybe you're right. Doesn't change the fact that people all figure out their own line in the sand and they're not about to adjust where it is because someone calls them names. It's never EVER worked.
Okay, so I'm off topic, but lemme see if I can steer back a bit.

The argument was essentially that since I'm an employed man with a wife who's also employed that the idea of strangers buying me something is absurd. There are people with no fucking plumbing for fucks sakes! There are kids in thailand who have to literally suck old wrinkly penises for pennies and the dollars that were put towards this computer (which, the argument goes, I ultimately would have bought myself) could actually make a difference in one of those kids' lives and get the dicks out of her mouth forever or at least until she meets someone she genuinely wants to blow and how dare we sit here in the first world and buy nice things for strangers when people have it so bad and we have it so good.

Yeah. True. I mean, there's no way to argue against that. BUT at some point you gotta live your life and you gotta do what makes you happy and you gotta do things that you think will be nice for your friends. I just bought my wife a robe that she desperately wanted but didn't buy and then kicked herself for. Using treachery, I found the name of the place where she saw it, called em, asked them if they remembered her, had them put aside the appropriate robe and send it to us. When she got it she was really, really happy. It was a surprise. There was no real reason for it other than I like her and I like when she's happy and when she's in a robe there's usually not much on underneath, so my lecherous purposes are served thusly. Sure, I could have done hundreds of thousands of other things with the robe money that would have been more meaningful or effective or helped out people in need more, but man, I love that girl and I want to see her in the robe that she wants and I shouldn't have to look at every single person on the earth who's got it worse than me and need to justify to myself or anyone why i got someone I like something they want. Is that shitty? Some say yes, some say no. It's all about your line. My line leaves me pretty comfortable buying my wife something that she wants for no reason other than that I like her.

Now, let's reiterate that this is different. I didn't ask anyone to buy me a computer and you all aren't my wife or anything. Presumably you're all just a bunch of people who read this blog when you should be working, anywhere from everyday to only when I mention Tom Gabel and it gets picked up as news. The gesture was unprompted, unexpected and supported by a group of people who all chipped in a little. To me, that sounds like a groundswell idea, so what the fuck? It's not a bad thing to do something nice for someone who produces something that entertains you in hopes that it'll prolong said entertainment. I mean, I don't need to tell you that I've never made a penny off this blog, and I don't even really do it for any other reason than I like it. It's probably the purest form of expression I've ever dealt in honestly, because there's no end game. there's no notion that I'm gonna parlay it into anything and there's no glory in blogging. It's nerdy. Period. SO, the fact that you guys like this drivel enough to come back day after day after day and read this and comment and have a community here and care enough when the going gets tough to take it into your own hands and help me out, fuck. That's great. That's punk rock, innit? That's the community coming together and doing something for the guy who does something for the community. That's why I got into punk rock in the first place and I'm flattered and humbled and so so SO happy to be a part of shit like this (even if it is on a dumb, nerdy blog).

Now, let's be transparent here: Yeah, I'm a grown man and if someone had come to my house and demanded, gun to my head that I buy a computer asap, I could have pulled it off. There's no doubt about it. I've got money. BUT, I don't have much money and I have a lot of things to spend it on and as I said in topic 1), I had no plans to do so on a computer....SO, I just have to say thanks to all of you that hooked it up (provided that this is really happening. If not, I'm gonna feel like a real heel), and to the uh...naysayers: Yeah, you've got a good point, but really, this is small potatoes in the world of misappropriated funds and people living their lives in ways that are counterproductive to society. In the time it's taken me to write this someone has started a meth lab using about a hundred bucks. A bunch of kids each chipping in a ten so they can continue to have reading material while they shit at work hardly seems like a place to aim your crosshairs. And if that doesn't sway you, how bout this: You all get my records free and I've never had a problem with that even though I used to sell that shit for a living (now I'm a bartender); it made me money. money that could have gone to zimbabwe or montenegro or somewhere where there are people with real, legit problems. Instead it went to me and you got music in exchange. Now my music is free. So's this. I've got no problems with any of that. The universe sometimes works itself out. It's called galactic poetry.
thanks for the gesture. It won't be forgotten.
xoxoxoxo

44 comments:

Unknown said...

Update: You are, in fact, not a heel:

*** status / check it ***

Anonymous said...

If any rogue suburban socks like myself will be at The Menzingers show this saturday in West Chester, I will probably be proudly sporting my BSC t-shirt. For the rest of ya, have fun at The Fest next month.

Owen said...

135% raised eh. Donate that extra 35% to the pakistan floods or something yeah? Or use it to buy beex a burger. Whichever settles the hipsters most.

Brittany Strummer said...

Yay! More reading material for when I'm pooping. I love people.

Gregory said...

I love this place and I read every day. We love you dude!

Owner Operator said...

im stoked that, even though i was willing to pitch in money that i really didnt need, all you guys raised a shitload really fast and i didnt need to hit up my paypal account.

thanks guys. you not only helped out bk up there above us but you helped me out cos today im having sushi for lunch and not boring old peanut butter sandwiches!

im sure there are also other readers who love this blog but wernt in the position to donate so maybe youve helped a few kids. even 20 say. way to show true altruism! 10 points

Nina said...

I, too, love you people.

Jesus said...

If I wasn't broke as balls I would have actually donated, and I'm not saying it for shits and to try and look super cool in front of the 'Dogs that did donate. Props to all y'all, and thanks for keeping this shit running!

peter said...

glad to hear it man, the "there's somewhere better this money could be going" argument is kinda stupid because as you said it's neverending.
can anyone here help me - does a lawrence arms song use the lyric "we said we'd smoke this city to its filter, and empty every bottle"?
i know it's in smoke or fire's filter but do the arms use it too? it has been driving me insane for a week. thank you..

James said...

BK used it on the split with Joe McMahon. See: Blood Meridian.

Owner Operator said...

it's in a song on the bk/joe split

Owner Operator said...

wow. too slow. i had the answer then went looking for the song title cos i couldnt remember and got side tracked. my bad. i hope some young guy comes on here and tells me how it is.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

i'm really happy we did it, really really happy.(honorable mention goes to you Johnny, good job)

i'm also one of those that got your records for free years ago and dude,those records changed my life.no matter what,i'm in eternal debt.

ps: do any of you socks have a good "clear" flying sand clock design image to hook me up with?i've seen some on the internet but are too small or are already tattooed and i need it as clear and "alone" as possible (for my tattoo).hope you understand what i mean.
thank you, i love you all.

Jerky said...

This is amazing, thank you to everyone who donated. I really would have chipped in, but I was too late. So that's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna donate the 20 bucks I would have given for the computer to a project in Pakistan, in the spirit of this whole project here. So BK's writing actually (indirectly) helps people in real need. I hope that makes some of the altruists happy and I hope even more some people join me (no pressure, it's just an idea - everyone's free to chose).

Let's never fight again, fellow socks.

Sean said...

I wish I wasn't too late to donate. That's the last time I go away for a weekend and miss something like this...

I guess I can always buy Brendan a beer or somethin' after I turn 21 in october... beer at shows is usually like $10 anyways, right?

Candice said...

i love you, brendan. now you and i have matching netbooks and i feel closer to you than ever before!

nice work, socks!

Maggie said...

it's awesome that everyone rallied for a good cause. I'm a "maybesayer" on the whole thing but you can't really deny the kindness of the gesture.

Also, Owen is right... extra 35% should go to flood victims or whatever. That's a pretty solid compromise.

Kyle said...

Let's keep the donations thing open all week and then mAybe we can get brendan a computer that won't crash from all the porn he looks at. I'd throw in an extra 10$

Eric said...

lets raise money for beex to bone a craigslist hooker... he needs a release!

Jayzilla said...

6 hours of battery life?!? thats like 1 hour of blogging, 5 hours of porn -- awesome!

Scott said...

i still pay for music. There are still some of us out there that do.

Unknown said...

hahaha...montenegro doesn't need it...i just came from there...lots of people that are janitors in the states through money around over there to look fancy...BUT thanks for mentioning it! finally someone other then the James Bond movie gives note to them...

Anonymous said...

I've got a WICKED hangover...
I think I might have to sit this Punk Rock Tuesday out... Although the Power Hour would probably help me kick this hangover.. Hmmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Oh, also more on the subject. The community here and everyone pulling together and loving everyone else really made me misty.

Well done all!
If only I didn't comment first and then work all day I would have been able to contribute to a part of BSC history...

peter said...

@James: thank you. I can go on living my life again!

Super Slim said...

At least the money isn't going to spreading the word of the juggalos

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/08/17/tila.tequila.attacked/index.html?hpt=T2

Bridgett said...

@Scott - I also pay for my music.

Ya'll are fuckin' nuts. In a good way of course. I read that post and there were 3 comments (mine being the 4th) and I come back and ya'll bought bought Mr. Kelly a goddamn computer. I'm feeling the love in here. Does it have a webcam? Are video updates in the future?

Brandi said...

Toto: What is your email? I've still got the image saved that I used for my tattoo.

Sickie27 said...

:)

Good job, all you people who have extra money!

upthepunxxx said...

Where can I get a BSC shirt?

Anonymous said...

@brandi,

Can you send me the image you used as well?

kevin.burnett@me.com


thanks!

Eric said...

AJ:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sleepysmile/t-shirts/5246505-2-bsc-t-3

Anonymous said...

@Brandi - it's totonotdead@hotmail.com
thanks in advance!!!!!!!!! (judgeing by the look of your chest piece it looks awesome!!)

Ted Yang said...

We should use the extra 35% to buy Brendan more socks (not readers, actual socks).

Candice said...

I'm pretty sure the extra cash went towards getting him a slightly better computer.

Garfield Roscoe said...

And there it is. I'm a bit late, but this is why the internet IS good. I hear all these gen-x, too cool for school pseudo hipsters (real hipsters love the internet) ragging on social networking and blogs and the such (likely on their typewriters at starbucks.) Sure, there are a ton of negative things that occur on the internet, but a great majority of these things were happening before any one of us ever typed a/s/l into an aol chatroom. The point here is that this type of community, this degree of unity, between a group of people who were otherwise complete strangers, prior to meeting here, was not possible prior to the internet. For as many bad things (that were already happening anyway) that the internet put a light on, there sure are some really great things happening as a result. Are there things about the social networking sites that are less than desirable/optimal? Of course. Is "social networking" an epidemic of sorts, destroying the fabric of actual social interaction? Hardly.
...
Does anyone know if the audio is available anywhere for the Against Me! acoustic show at JBTV?

No Jacket Required said...

RIGHT ON

James said...

Seeing as money was raised and product purchased before i could throw my dirty stripper money in, i have to say good on you fellow socks...

To the naysayers complaining about purchasing the netbook, dude its a netbook, its not like it was freakin alienware laptop or sumtin... chill, let us help the ones we want to help and you help those you want to help and everyone will be happy... no one can help everyone, but everyone can help someone and thats how it has to be...

Now BK, can we please have a discussion about the one thing the juggalos have done right since the inception of the dark circus or whatever stupid things they have goin on... link for those who don't know what im talkin about - http://www.wwtdd.com/2010/08/tila-tequila-was-pelted-with-stones-and-feces/

- The other James

upthepunxxx said...

Thank you for the link Eric!

limited nobility said...

Any thoughts on the Dr. Laura debacle?I hate that intellectually dishonest notion- "Blaaacks say the n word all the time why shouldn't I be able to get in on the whole deal when im at chili's and stuff"I mean if you're an adult who didn't work the nuances of that one out during Clinton's first term you are a fucking moron.......blaaaaaaaaacks

J said...

Late to the anti-criticism party, but still -

I am also adjusting to the batshit crazy that is life with two kids under three. I can't tell you how nice it is to put the kids in bed and then unwind at the end of the day with a beer and this blog, especially when it means relating to someone I respect so much.

I get the argument that there are more important ways to spend money, but this isn't the place for it. For all the amazing shows and songs that are on repeat endlessly and this blog, ten fucking dollars? I owe him much more than that. It was an awesome gesture for someone we all adore and I consider that a great cause.

Read here a lot more than I post, but you Socks are pretty entertaining as well.

I don't want to get off this soapbox but I need another beer.

Justin said...

@James,
They also pelted Method Man. Where is your God now?

James said...

@ justin - Im jsut sayin man... even the stupid kid in class gets a Star next to the one answer they got right on their test...