Last VisualAngst Rant
I try so hard not to think about politics, the law and rights, but they keep slapping me in the face with it. So here we are again, at least those of us in Texas and surrounding states, having to worry that our highest court, as the Supreme Court hears fewer cases these days, is going to swing to the Bork. The vacancy, which has been there for years is now a judicial crisis, and Bush is trying to shove yet another fellow ideagouge through hearings by blaming the Democrats for not approving any of his judicial nominees. Never mind that two separate Clinton appointees, never got hearings, or that democrats have approved more bush appointees than Republicans approved Clinton appointees, it is unfair if we don’t all agree with his view of justice, and judicial conduct. After all, why shouldn’t the rest of the country want the same quality justice we have in Texas. You know the type, where it is ok if your public defender sleeps during your trial, where big business always wins, and polluters never pay, and having abortions is wrong, but beating your kid to death is not. I don’t understand any of it, but then I grew up in the real world, the one where you earn a living and take responsibility for your acts. All this hypocracy just makes my teeth ache. Real life is full of lose/lose choices, you live with them, because there is no choice. When you are broke, you don’t keep spending like nothing changed, and you treat people as fairly as you can, because you might need their help some day. Why is this so hard for politicians and CEOs to grasp, I suppose because they never pay the piper. So here is my challenge to all of you today. Walk a few miles in the other guys shoes, before judging them or stealing their future. That means, you CEOs, treat your employees with respect, and give them the loyalty you want. All you yups out there, sell that FUCKING SUV that never goes off road, or justifies its shitty milage. Stop laying more guilt trips on women who choose to have an abortion, until you are willing to raise that child yourself. Most of all to those believing themselves above the rules, you will come to some sort of a reconing somehow, someway, someday, so ease up on the rest of us.
What is going on in so many of the digital art web communities these days. When did art stop being about expression and start being about collecting the most comments, most votes as favorite, or worse a contest to see who can post the most pieces in the shortest period of time. It gets worse, now you are measured by how many comments you make on other's art, whether you have something to say or not in any way beyond "nice pic dude" or "I like it" or "It sucks/you suck". The reason that I have submitted a relatively low number of comments, is because I don't comment if I have nothing to say, and I can also spend only so much time looking at things to find something to say and still spend time on creating, web design and all the other projects I am working on. I enjoy getting feedback and comments on my work, they help me improve or just make me feel good, but, I refuse to troll for them, or be guilted/extorted into balancing the numbers. I am also unwilling to change my style, method or media to increase how many votes my work receives. A long love of abstract art prior to doing it myself, made rejection or dislike of my style easier to accept. Abstract art does not appeal to everyone, in fact more people find it disturbing/unsettling or baffling than find it appealing. It an art of mood or feelings more than things, and moods and feelings are things that not a comfortable subject to dwell on for many people. Back to the main point. Rome was not built in a day. The mona lisa was not painted in a day. Great music takes time to write, as do novels. True journalists spend time writing. Good critics review a small number of things, to devote time to analyzing and organizing their thoughts. So Take your time creating your art, and say something when commenting on it. We all gain so much more that way.
VisualAngst Rant
Just when you think things can't get worse, or at least not much, they do. Welcome to round 2 of rights? Who needs Rights? Our wonderful administration has decreed that the FBI gets to return to their good old days, as in they are getting a free reign that they have not had since the days of Hoover and McCarthy. For those of you who don't remember, that was the era of those nasty commies, who were a threat to our way of life and needed to be rooted out and neutralized so they could not contaminate us all. Fun times, of course with the FBI spying as they pleased, on whom they pleased, and destroyed anyone they wanted to. Now it is under the pretense that they must be proactive in stopping terrorism. Ummmmm, people, this is the same FBI that despite tight restrictions and controls in recent years, went nuts in Waco and other places, almost screwed prosecuting the Oklahoma bombing on technicalities (not providing documents to the defense), wants to snoop email, and your computer (probably already are), missed all signs leading to 9-11, had a top agent turn out to be a traitor, and on an on ad nauseum. So why does no one seem to care much that despite the fact no sane person should trust them farther than you can throw them, do we gladly hand these cretins more power and require less accountability. Must be the American way. Oh yes, it is the Bush plan to save us from ourselves, from deciding, freedom, privacy or choice. Better be careful what you say on the phone, in email, or anywhere, as you may find yourself the focus of an FBI investigation. Fun fun fun. It is a shame that neither Bush, nor the inner circle is likely to provide us with clear evidence for impeachment/dismissal before the next election. So wake the fuck up meantime and think before you vote. Research their pasts and never again waste your crucial vote on the green party, as those who voted for Nader are directly responsible for letting Bush into the White house. Thank you so much for caring so much about the environment you put the worst possible environmentally savvy man in office. Gore is no saint for sure, really he strikes me as a twit in many ways, but at least he seems to be a human twit, and much more honest on his worst days, than Bush on his best. Wish Tom Clancy would run, he has some strange ideas, but seeing as real life is stranger than fiction, and alas, uglier in so many ways, maybe true fiction would improve real life.
Originally a VisualAngst Guest Rant
I'm sick of all these DJs spinning in clubs and at raves who sit around and fuck off during sets, letting the same tired Oakenfold-brand Cheese Trance record ride for 10 minutes and then skimping out on a 10-second mix. This is a disgrace, DJ'ing is a *JOB* and our job is to entertain our audience and expose them to new music and mixing styles and to push ourselves to the limit every time we're up in front of people. Don't sit back there and smoke a fucking cigarette and stare off into space or hit on that cute girl on the other side of the turntables, fucking GO AFTER IT and lay down a set the likes of which no one has ever heard. Pour your heart and soul into it, every minute of every set. If that's too much to ask then get the fuck out of the DJ booth and turn it over to someone who's heart is really in it and whose abilities deserve the attention of their audience. Case in point: Bad Boy Bill, as fucked up as he may get before his sets, lays down track after track after track in rapid succession every time he plays out. The motherfucker is about as big as we DJs get, and he still lays it on the line every chance he gets. I've heard him on four turntables for5 HOURS pumping out mix after mix like someone didn't bother to tell him it's supposed to be hard to spin that well. On the other hand, Sasha gets up there in front of a crowd of 50,000 and despite his amazing DJ abilities lays down a set that can only be described as a minimal effort. Success has obviously gotten to his head, but nowhere near as badly as Oakenfold. The "World's Most Popular DJ" packs every venue he plays whenever and wherever it is, and lets records ride and die while he stands in front of his adoring audience with his arms raised in the air like DJ Jesus delivering his disciples to salvation. If he really fucking cared, he'd get back behind those turntables and spin some fucking records and leave the Idol Worship to no-talent hacks like DJ Irene who happens to be the plague of the rave scene in my humble opinion. A DJ who caters to an audience of pre-teens on too many E pills and plays music that sounds like it was made inside of a trash can is no DJ at all. She's a joke. Much props to those of us who still carry the Faith and push forward to develop new sounds and push ourselves to the limits to please those who listen to us, and fuck the rest of you.
First VisualAngst Rant
This subject that a biggie for me. Freedom and what few rights and protections we have left under the bill of rights. Here we go again, those who would decide our best interests based on their hypocritical values are attacking our rights and our freedom. No, I am not talking about terrorists, and the cowards who brainwash and use them, I am talking about our government, Primarily Bush and all his fascist pals. They are using the terrorists as the latest lame reason to strip away our freedom. They prey on the public's fears, and exploit the common persons poor education to offer safety in exchange for freedom, while in reality offer an illusion of safety in return for true safety. To those who actually study or studied history, and understand government there is only bad outcomes when freedom is surrendered for any reason, but for "safety" worst of all. It was not all that long ago the entire free world paid the price for the empty security Hitler offered Germans if they gave him their free will to decide right and wrong for them. It was even more recently demonstrated again in Cambodia, and so many other countries. We already lost so much to the "war on drugs" by allowing our fourth amendment rights to almost cease to exist for nothing. Well not nothing, as our prison population increased %1000, and billions of our tax dollars got redistributed to people that most of us wouldn't willingly let within 100 feet of our children, wives, girlfriends, etc. The only thing you should "just say no" to, is the policies our current administration wants to shove down our throats. I hate to point out the obvious, but a shit sandwich is a shit sandwich, no matter what you call it, and it will taste like shit, no matter how many people tell you otherwise. Bad enough that we got stuck with Bush and Co. under normal circumstances, but about when people were starting to understand what these hypocritical, thieving liars intended to do, while still saying that they were not doing it, along comes Al Queda, pulling this monstrous cowardly act, which if not bad enough on it's own, provided a smokescreen and "reasons" for Bush to hide behind and then justify his lies. I live in Texas, so I knew what his being president would mean. This is a man who's leadership turned Texas into a state who leads the nation in executions, prison population, ranks at the bottom in education, child services of any sort, mental health care, justice of any sort for anyone not able to hire a real lawyer, and yet people still believe when he says he cares. Newsflash folks, the only children he cares about at all, and that isn't much are his and his friends kids. He supports the law for everyone, except him and his family and friends. If his daughter were poor and black, Mexican, hell not one of his waspy circle, he would have been the first screaming to throw her in jail. His youthful mistakes are the same things he preaches zero tolerance about for the rest of us. He has no respect for anything, but lining the pockets of his friends and himself. Wake up, pay attention, and speak out, or one day you could be the next victim of his type of safety, security, or values.