If I tell you not to argue Animal Rights with me...

You should shut the FUCK up and listen to me. A few days ago, I took to Twitter to remind the universe, as I usually do, that the slavery and killing of animals for the uses of cheap food is simply wrong. as far as I’m concerned. As a result, Internet “blogger”/troll Izzy Nobre was so offended at the fact that I don’t eat meat, that he took to his Twitter feed to cry and ask his followers to coddle his balls. Apparently coddling and gargling his balls is what they do best. This is someone who had been friendly to me on Twitter, and who I’d followed for quite some time. However, his bait-tweet of “WELL THEN, WHAT MEAT CAN I EAT??”, was met with one response from me: I will not argue this with you. I kind of like you, and I’ll nuke you if we argue about this. He refused to get it through his tiny little blogger skull, and proceeded to not only “take offense” to what I was saying, but also take each word personally. Now, he’s from Brazil, so perhaps there was a language barrier, but I’m more convinced it was simply his ineptitude and need for attention, as most trolls flourish on. His feelings on the matter seemed to be that it’s ok that animals are enslaved, because “That’s just how it is”. And, of course, never mind the fact that he used the common shitty reasoning that “Killing a plant is the same as killing an animal, so it doesn’t matter” – that’s when I knew this guy was a fucking moron. I proceeded to nuke him to the ground, and then was forced to block him, as he took to his Twitter followers and apparently implored them to tweet pictures of bacon to me. This is the best you dumbasses got? Let me explain something to you; you can eat anything you want, I am not telling you what to do – but if you insult what I do, or the fact that I choose to live a life in which I work to minimize how much I destroy the earth because I was put here by not eating animals and acting like an entitled piece of human shit, I will happily tell you to fuck yourself. The fact that you’re such a small person that your so-called sensibilities are offended because I told you that animals raised for food live in slavery, proves that you are a failure of a human and obviously a waste of space. I will not explain myself to you, I will not compromise my views, and I am not wrong. Meat eating is destroying this planet. Enslaving an entire race for the use of food is wrong. If we didn’t raise animals on factory farms for their meat, we would have pushed entire swathes of the animal race into extinction by now. There is no way that what is currently considered “food production” can be considered sustainable. 100 years ago, you could never have eaten meat every single day for the cost that you can purchase it for now. $.99 for a 1/4 pounder? No. Do you know how and why that costs what it does? It’s because of slavery. Plain and simple. An entire race of creatures lives in slavery for their meat. They are raped, their children stolen from them, they are beaten, kept in cages, tortured, and killed. They never live a life. They are the receivers of all of man’s anger at the fact that he feels that he still needs to be a “caveman”, yet lives in an industrialized, modern world which he has no control over. They have no rights, no justice. They are commodities, mistreated so you can have a cheeseburger and never think about how you got your food. They are murdered so that you can continue your existence of playing video games and working a shit job because “That’s just what you do, now”. They receive no peace. They die in anguish, and you never have to see any of it, save for what’s on your plate. You need to think about this. This is wrong. If you believe this is ok, you are wrong. So, Izzy Nobre, you were the one that goaded me with your tweet stating, “What meat CAN I eat?”. You were the one who egged me on after I told you I wouldn’t argue animal rights with you, because I liked you (kinda), and you were the one that thought the conversation was about you, because apparently you’re so special that every conversation would be about you? It wasn’t, you sad, tiny little man. The conversation was about the earth, and the creatures on it. You are a waste. You are a small, sad little man, and your slew of Twitter followers isn’t enough to make you a viable addition to the planet. I will not relent, I will not stop, and I will not feel bad for my views. If you don’t like it, walk out the fucking door, and don’t talk to me. You’re part of the problem, and I have no interest in talking to you.

How to brew K-Cups with Keurig VUE Coffee Maker + Solofill V2 Reusable filter by Aromacup

My latest work with Aromacup coffee maker reviews:

acids and basses and spark_gap reviews

On Friday I made it out to Hunab Hookah for a little bit to catch some of The Acids and Basses electro jam, with guest F/M from Santa Fe. Trippy, Ambient and experimental, quite enjoyable to just sit back and listen to. F/M consisted of two technicians, Martin Back and Frank Rolla, a lute, two macbooks and a contraption which I will name the "random paddle", a large standing instrument with many wooden paddles jutting from it, and small motors which randomly would cause a hammer mallet to play one of these paddles. Think Japanese ambient, with some folk rock intertwined. Acids and Basses, making use of 512 Software's (located right here in Albuquerque) Audio Sequencing software, Numerology, makes ambient soundscapes great for film or just cooling out to. It's that kind of music that you don't hear in your head until you hear it being played, and then you realize it's always there, you just might not know how to channel it out. An enjoyable night, followed by one sad bit of news; it is my understanding that Hunab Hookah will be closing at the end of July. I never got to spend too much time at Hunab outside of Throwing Spark_Gap there for awhile, but I did enjoy the place when I was there. It's very hard to make a Hookah Lounge last in Albuquerque, I would imagine.

Then, last night, I re-opened Spark_Gap at The Agency, with the intention of continuing its tradition of live electronic jamming and IDM. Well, it was half there. We opened the night with a set by I Heart Teo , A young DJ from L.A. who has made his way out here, who dropped an hour set of heavy electro, and did very litterally blow me away. Myself and Clint had set up our rigs on stage, and were waiting for some of the other players to come, which unfortunately didn't happen - and so Spark_gap turned essentially into an hour and a half long set from myself with backup by Clint. It was fun, but it wasn't what I had planned. I had to have something to give people who came out (about 11 of them, including the ever vigilant Adric, to whom I am eternally grateful), so I thought that it made the most sense to just throw a set. There was a little jumping around, which was good, but it certainly wasn't an improv electro night.

So, what would I do differently? Well, I think I won't have a stage next time. I don't think it's fitting for spark_gap to have a tall stage, unless I have some featured artists - which is the other thing I'll do differently. I don't think I can keep the improv jam thing going right now. If I can't get a consistent number of players out to play (and I'm totally understanding of that, Saturday is also not a good night for something like this), I can't really do an open jam. So, I think I plan to have one DJ, one featured act, and perhaps anyone who wants to jam, in the next Spark_gap, and play it up as a dance party with some improv jamming. I'll have to see how it all plays out, I'm still learning with this thing, but I want to keep it going.

I also have to say thanks to Trace for coming out and throwing visuals for the night. He very literally helped me to make the night 100% better. Without visuals I really would have felt deeply failed at this outing, but having the bouncing lights on the giant white wall of The Agency really helped out. Seriously man, thank you.

So, that, as they say, is that. I wasn't entirely happy with last night, I will say that, but the moral of the story is to look at what you're doing and figure out what you need to do differently. I'm seeing some of that, so I'm going to work on it, and as with anything, I'm going to take whatever help I can get for it, because I simply can't do all this stuff on my own.

One Day as a Lion is the new side project from Zack De La Rocha, lead singer of Rage Against The Machine. He’s been a bit anti social in the years following the demise (and now recent return) of RATM, but he’s got a side project now with Jon Theodore (former Mars Volta). I’m quite impressed with the sound, being that it’s only two guys. Their Myspace page lists Zack on Keyboards and vocals, and Jon on Drums, but the sound is very much that of RATM, especially from the “Evil Empire” days. Heavy and political, and that’s what I like to hear. It’s about fucking time, is all I can really say.

http://www.myspace.com/onedayasalion

There’s only one song right now, “Wild International”, driven by a grinding snarl of keyboard hook and dry crunchy drums, with Zack’s signature lyrical style on top of it all. Their debut EP is due out on the 22nd of July, from Anti-Records (the home of Anti-Flag).

I’d suggest listening, especially if you’re tired of hearing sappy sweet bullshit all the time (not that I expect you’d be listening to that, but you always run into it no matter what these days).


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Listening to: Rage Against The Machine - Without A Face
via FoxyTunes

filmfilmfilm

Over this past weekend I had the pleasure of acting for Spork Films again, for the 48 hour film project. It went quite well, I got to play a role I had some fun with. If you want to check out the film, I suggest going to the 9:15 showing of the entries tonight at the KiMo theatre. Vote for Sport Films, please!

Now some reviews:

Hellboy II

Visually amazing, this is what Hellboy I should have been - like a comic book on steroids. Guillemo Del Toro obviously cares about this project immensely, having turned down projects like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and I am Legend to make this tilm. This time, though, he could do what he wanted to, thanks to the budget he's managed to amass with Pan's Labrynth being so popular. The film was pretty phenomenal, fun to watch, and well-written, but still goofy in a comic way. Ron Perlman is amazing in the lead roll, Selma Blair is hot as LIz, and my only disappointment was that David Hyde Pierce didn't return to reprise Abe. Beyond that, I'd give this film 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Charlie Bartlett

Cool and Unassuming, this film was fun, and hit on a lot of the small trials that face most teenagers in high school. The characters were well developed, but not too much so. A fun script drove the whole thing, and combined some typical story features with some not so typical ones. Robert Downy Jr. is great as always, channeling a bit of his addictive nature into his character, and Anton Yelchin is great in the film's title role. 4.5 out of 5.

Sex and Death 101

Quite an odd film, a man (Simon Baker) receives a list in the mail of all the women he'll sleep with, generated by an all knowing "oracle" machine. Hilarity of various kinds ensues, the "death" part of the title got me a bit, but it rolled to a good close. Winona Rider plays a killer, which is always a nice thing to see, and she's got a great haircut. 3 out of 5.

That's about it, I dunno why I feel the need to review stuff lately, I just do.

the agency record swap review

I just got back from the Agency's Record Swap, and I had a lot of fun at it. It was nice to walk in and see quite a few people at tables with their big boxes and stacks of vinyl set up, as well as record players, books, and various other wares for sale. Raven Chacon of SickSickSick distribution was there, with his mass of noise and experimental music in tow, as well as my friend Adric and his many boxes of vinyl. I walked away with about 15 new records, and I know I need to go down there next time with my own stuff to sell.

Which, speaking of which, this is a great venue for bands to come sell their music. Because it's not the flea market, people are actively searching for music, so your chances of selling are much better. I encourage musicians to consider coming out for the next swap, which will be the 2nd sunday of every month.

The other night I had a dream that someone was trying to steal my dog, so I got into a fight with them with tranquilizer gun.

I managed to throw the guy into a passing truck bed, or something, and then I was in a car with Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans of Future sound of London. They were playing me their new album and telling me I was the first to hear it.

I watched "Hancock" over the weekend and liked it, for some reason.

I have been trying to wear contacts, which is very odd. Being able to see without stuff on your face is pretty cool, but putting them on and taking them off sucks. Perhaps I'll get the hang of it. Here's hoping.

The Diverje gig in North Carolina was canceled. I wish morons weren't allowed to be promoters.

Here's a fact; in the music business, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but you also need to know when to shut up. You shut up just when people think you're annoying. If a promoter can't even begin to be squeaky, they're not going to have anyone come to their event.

Learn it, people.