Category Archives: arts and entertainment

Stop Sucking

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[stopsnitching.jpg]This must be one the stupidest, most asinine things I have ever encountered.

"PITTSBURGH — It was not the first time prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini had been enraged by the sight of the T-shirt with the traffic-sign message: STOP SNITCHING. But this guy was about to wear one into court, with matching baseball cap."

"Worse, he was a witness — her witness — and the intended victim in an attempted murder case that had brought him, her and the defendants to court that day last fall."

"This was Rayco 'War' Saunders — ex-con, pro boxer and walking billboard for a street movement that has sparked a coast-to-coast beef involving everyone from professors to rappers."

"Pellegrini, thinking 'witness intimidation,' told Saunders to lose the hat and reverse the shirt. Saunders, crying "First Amendment," refused. He left the courthouse, shirt in place. Case dismissed. 'In almost every one of my homicides, this happens: 'I don't know nothin' about nothin', ' the prosecutor says. 'There is that attitude, 'Don't be a snitch.' And it's condoned by the community.'"

"Omerta, the Mafia's blood oath of silence, has been broken by turncoat after turncoat. But the call to stop snitching — on other folks in the 'hood — is getting louder."

"Is it an attempt by drug dealers and gangsters to intimidate witnesses?"

"Is it a legitimate protest against law enforcers' over-reliance on self-serving criminal informers?"

"Or is it bigger than that?"

It's freakin' retarded is what it is. We're not talking about hiding innocent people from a police state. We're talking about covering up for street thugs and hoodlums – drug dealers, murderers, and the like.

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LibriVox

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I promised I’d write about this a long time ago. Sorry, Jim.  Mea culpa. From The Life and Times:

"I am always amazed to find something new and really useful on the internet, and how that changes how we can entertain ourselves. This find is one people should know about. Recently I came across librivox.org which is a volunteer collaborative project to make audio recordings of books in the public domain. access to these recordings is free. They read from texts of books in the public domain from another great website http://www.gutenberg.org/ which has already put 2,000,000 ebooks on line and 17,000 of those are available free. Anyway, back to librivox, some of the recordings are by single readers and some are collaborative efforts with multiple readers. Quality can vary, but some of it is excellent[…]"

"Is anyone out there interested in collaborating and/or coordinating a recording the ‘Lectionary’, the readings common to many christian religions on a three year cycle. The church year begins the first week of advent, so we could start now for a December release of the next cycle. The readings are short, but best with three different voices for each week. We could also do different biblical versions to accomodate different religions or nuances. Perhaps they could be released on a weekly timetable, so it would not be too much work at any one time."

If you are interested, reply to this LibriVox forum post

Crucifixion in Vogue Again

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[crucifixiongame.jpg]

NISUS WETTUS: Next. Crucifixion?
PRISONER #1: Yes.
NISUS: Good. Out of the door. Line on the left. One cross each. Next. Crucifixion?
PRISONER #2: Yes.
NISUS: Good. Out of the door. Line on the left. One cross each. Next. Crucifixion?
MR. CHEEKY: Ah, no. Freedom.
JAILER: Hmm?
NISUS: What?
MR. CHEEKY: Eh, freedom for me. They said I hadn’t done anything, so I could go free and live on an island somewhere.
NISUS: Oh. Oh, well, that’s jolly good. Well, off you go, then.
MR. CHEEKY: Naa, I’m only pulling your leg. It’s crucifixion, really.
NISUS: Oh, ho ho.
MR. CHEEKY: Heh heh heh hehh.
NISUS: I see. Uh, very good. Very good. Well, out of the door. One–
MR. CHEEKY: Yeah. I know the way. Out of the door.
NISUS: Line on–
MR. CHEEKY: One cross each. Line on the left.
NISUS: Line on the left.
MR. CHEEKY: Heh heh.
NISUS: Yes. Thank you. Crucifixion?
PRISONER #4: Yes.
NISUS: Good.

From BoingBoing:

"Players who misbehave in the Roman online role-playing game Roma Victor will be punished by having their characters crucified and displayed in public spaces for other players to mock and throw things at….Crucifixion is to be used as a form of player ‘ban’ within the virtual world of Roma Victor, with the length of the ban reflecting the severity of the punishment."

Music Review: “Pax Romana MMV” by Brother (2005)

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cd-prmmv-music.jpgAs promised, here’s my review of Brother’s Pax Romana MMV. The grading scheme is as follows.

  1. Really Bad
  2. Bad
  3. OK
  4. Good
  5. Excellent

1. Photograph

This band’s sound at the start of this track, particularly the guitars, is reminscent of their 1997 release Digging Bone. The up-beat bagpipe-drive bridge harkens back to Black Stone Tramp. The talking bits (something about a cocoon) are lame but not as bad as they are on Urban Cave, though they get close. This is a simple 4/4 rock tune with a singable chorus and a fun danceable bit in the middle. It anticlimactically trickles to an end, though. All in all it’s a rather forgetable song. Score: 3/5

Update 04/24/06: Brother’s MySpace page has a radio edit of this song that I’d give a 4/5 to.

2. Take Me Down

I like the penny whistle and the driving, urgent beat. It’s a pretty singable song with nice harmonies. I really did not care for the lyric "got to get my shit together". It’s mild profanity, but it’s just so out of place for a band that to my knowledge has never used any and never needed to. The speed up and fast talking/singing at the end is cool. The overall sound of this track strikes me as a blend of The Digging Bone and Your Backyard. Score: 4/5

3. Jericho

I really dug the middle eastern chants. Unfortunately, like some of the best songs on Urban Cave, this is a cool song that’s far too short. Why do they tease me like this? Score: 4/5 (lost a point for brevity)

4. Oh, What a Lovely War

This is a rather boring trippy hippy song. The first verse is nearly unintelligible. The second verse is spoken. Lame. The tune for the remainder isn’t particularly catchy. It’s essentially a decent poem ruined by mediocre music. Political music is fine, fellas, but at least make it entertaining. Score: 2/5

5. Still Wind

This track reminded me a little of the music from the orginal Prince of Persia video game (which I very much liked). The sound is very dark, brooding. The treatment of middle eastern sounds is much better here than on "Elbauta" (track 8). Ultimately, the song doesn’t go anywhere, which is disappointing considering how much potential it had. Score: 3/5

6. So Not Real

This ballad starts off sounding a bit like "Purple Haze" (Your Backyard) or "Believe Again" (i you you me). The choir of children is a nice touch, but bordering on cheesy (like "We are the World"). The song’s a bit repetitive, having little lyrical substance. Score: 3/5

7. Hang On

What the heck?!? When I saw this track on the listing, I got excited. "Hang On" is one of my favorite tunes from Brother’s post-Fergus repetoire. I was fooled, though. This a boringly arranged 1-minute snippet. Where’s the full song, guys? It’s never been on an album, which is truly a shame. Score: 0/5  Download the demo version here.

8. Elbauta

Ok, more middle eastern beat. I guess that’s the theme of the album. It’s too bad it’s so dull on this track. The spoken samples gave me awful flashbacks of the worse moments of Urban Cave. This track is repetitive, boring, and goes nowhere. Perhaps I’d like it better if I were a stoner. Score: 2/5

Album Score: 21/40 (52.5% F)

This is another disappointing album from one of my favorite bands. While none of the tracks are as jarringly bad as the worst of Urban Cave, at least that album had more enjoyable tracks. This album is easily summed up as "forgettable". I eagerly await their forthcoming greatest hits compilation. I’m sure it won’t be as good as my two disc compilation, but at least I’ll be reviewing something worth listening to.