Cell Phone's Dead

Beyond suicide bombers... they're zombie terrorists!

Party's over for these 'zombies'
Six Minneapolis revelers jailed on suspicion of carrying fake bombs
- from St. Paul Pioneer Press 07/25/2006
"Zombies" lurching along a downtown street tend to cause a stir. When the living dead carry duffel bags and backpacks with what look like wires sticking out, the cops step in.

This horror show unfolded Saturday evening in Minneapolis, where officers arrested six ghoulish revelers in thick makeup who police said were staggering along like zombies near Sixth Street and Hennepin Avenue.

"They were arrested for behavior that was suspicious and disturbing," said Lt. Gregory Reinhardt, a police spokesman.

All six were booked into the Hennepin County jail under a post-9/11 Minnesota statute making it a felony to "simulate weapons of mass destruction."

Dressing up like characters from the movie "Night of the Living Dead" might have been OK, but toting bags with what police said appeared to be protruding wires apparently crossed a line.

A friend of the group said the arrests were overkill and that the suspicious devices were homemade stereos.

"This was just kids trying to have some fun," said Helen Hicks, who said she has attended similar "zombie" gatherings in the past." """
A similar story, 'Zombie dancers' spend their weekend in lockup, appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, along with a follow-up, 'Zombies' want apology from Minneapolis police...
""" "They [the police] instructed us they'd shoot us in the head," said 'zombie,' Ralphi Rechitsky.

And Jamie Jones also wants police assurance that they aren't going to shoot members of the group.

"We want a written apology. Our constitutional rights were taken away," she said.
...
Rechitsky said: "Police are supposed to be public servants. They shouldn't be terrorizing people." """

...that's the zombies' job! (or at least it is according to the stereotype!) All they wanna do is dance. Zombie rights! These zombies were lucky they weren't from the Middle East. In honor of these oppressed, undead, so-called 'terrorists,' listen to their theme songs: The Misfits - "Astro Zombies" and The Zombies - "Time of the Season".

Protest music for hipsters

Here are some of my favorite songs that have helped keep me distracted from politics lately:

The Silver Jews - "The Frontier Index". David Berman is a fucking poet...
"When I was younger I was a cobra
in every case I wanted to be cool
Now that I'm older and sub-space is colder
I just want to say something true."

The National are a solid rock band whose songs remind me of high school and of college in LA. They bring up strong emotions in me, but in a nostalgic way, where I remember having those feelings and wish I could still feel that sort of passion without critically distancing myself from it. But at the same time feeling distanced from that wish, since I see through the superficial intensity of those feelings. So, for nostalgia's sake, try... The National - "Abel", "Mr. November", and "Karen".

This song is a real pick-me-up (in the vein of Hayden): "I wish there was a place where I could go, where I don't feel like an animal... to you... and yours." - The Standard - "Unicorns and Chemicals".

It may take you a few listens to begin to appreciate these songs by Why?, since the singer's voice is annoying at first and the lyrics are surreal. But I recommend giving it a try, since it's one of only a few discs from last year that I still listen to regularly. Why? is working along the lines of what Outkast gestured towards with 'Hey Ya' (and The Roots with 'Seed 2.0'), an integration of hip-hop and indie/folk rock, but more whiney and poetic. Why? - "Gemini (birthday song)" and "Whispers into the other".

Probably the most important statement on Arab-Israeli situation is the song "Smash Your Head" from Girl Talk's "Night Ripper". The mash-up of Elton John and Biggie is totally a metaphor for Israel and Hezbollah (and the Smashing Pumpkins/Three-Six Mafia mash-up represents Israel and Hamas (since the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh's, is well known for his propensity for sip-sippin' on sizzurp)).

Keepin it crusty!

Capitalist Causalties are on tour. If you live in any of these cities, you'd better fucking let them stay at your mom's house. They will cook vegan food for her and modify her bike.
Tell your mom to learn the lyrics to these songs: losers and shut the fuck up.

a scanner darkly

This movie is rad. Here's the trailer. Some reviewers have called it disjointed and lacking a coherent narrative, but they were either too high (which might be fun) or weren't paying close enough attention (which is understandable, since the dialogue is very fast and often crazy, especially that goofball Robert Downey Jr.). Much like Waking Life, this movie is chocked full of philosophic ideas, complemented with the rotoscopic animation technique. The main characters in the movie are all using a drug called Substance D, which impairs their perceptual abilities and causes wierd hallucinations - lots of big bugs. The way the film is animated allows the audience to experience the characters' perceptual adventures. Not only the shots from the characters' perspectives but the whole movie is animated this way, which causes you to feel as if you are also on Substance D and blurs your perceptions of the distinction between the movie and reality. You might be thinking, 'woah dude, red pill or blue pill?' and yes, this movie picks up on The Matrix's critique of the façades of modern culture, but unlike The Matrix, this science fiction forgoes the pseudo-religious bullshit and and self-conscious computers. This dystopia is very similar to contemporary Orange County, except for a couple futuristic gizmos that Phillip K. Dick probably thought up on his own adventures with 'Substance D' (such as a coat that constantly shifts Keanu's appearance between a million different patchworked facial and bodily identities). And even these gizmos are not so futuristic if you interpret them metaphorically. I have one hint that gives nothing away but may enhance your understanding of the movie: as you're watching, reflect on the meaning of the title, 'a scanner darkly,' in relation to the characters' perceptions of the world, each other, and themselves - constant suspicion, desiring to 'scan clearly' behind the appearances.
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Nietzsche.
"My mind's playin' tricks on me." - The Geto Boys
The movie ends with a Thom Yorke song in which he says "fuck" a lot (in homage to the sidesplittaz' "i'm not a father, I just fuck a lot"): black swan - Thom Yorke.