073105


members of the south korean punk band, couch, expose their gochus on live television:

in an unprecedented affront to korea’s conservative mores, two members of a punk rock band lived up to their music’s history of subversion when they exposed their private parts on live tv during family viewing time on saturday. punk rockers rux were performing at about 4:15 when two members of another band named couch including a 20-year-old man identified as oh appeared on stage and took off their pants, one prancing all over the stage naked while the other had his trousers around his ankles. the cameras caught some four seconds of their display before panning away to the audience. the two couch members were arrested, as was the rux lead singer for inviting them on stage, and are being investigated for violating public decency.

crying like a bunch of emo kids after doing something punk fucking rock is so not punk fucking rock.

072705
a screening of buster keaton's 1927 classic, the general, at "the arts at marks garage" this saturday ($5 / 7 pm).

go check it out.

072405
the funeral for the last prince of chosun, yu gu, held today in seoul:

yu gu (b. 1931) was korea's last imperial prince, the son of crown prince eun (1887-1970) and princess bang-ja (1901-1989) and the final heir to the chosun dynasty's imperial mantle. his life's ups and downs closely followed the fortunes of modern korean history. at his birth in tokyo, his father was king in name only of a country that no longer existed. receiving a modern education in japan, he was 14 when korea was liberated but could not return home, because the new powers no longer wanted him. he got help from u.s. general douglas macArthur, the commander of the allied occupation forces in japan. in 1950, he went to m.i.t. to study architecture. working for a new york firm of architects after graduation, he met julia mullock, a woman eight years his senior, and married her in a church in new york in october 1958. after the fall of syngman rhee, he returned to korea in 1963 with the help of the new president park chung-hee, moving into the nakseon hall of the changdeok palace with his mother, princess bang-ja. he lectured on architecture at seoul national university and yonsei university and also ran a business. when that went bankrupt in 1979, he went to japan to earn money. in 1982 his wife divorced him; his mother died in 1989. in november 1996, he made what he hoped would be his permanent return to korea. "from now on, i'm just yu gu, with no connection to the royal family," he said at the time. but it was not to last. showing signs of a nervous breakdown, he was unable to adjust to life in the motherland. restlessly going back and fourth between japan and korea, he eventually died abroad.

071405
public enemy will be performing at kapiolani community college (a.k.a. hell) on august 19! tickets are $25.



too bad it's on the same day as the 86 list / the knumbskulls / the sticklers reunion show (pipeline cafe / $5 / 6 pm).

070905


070605

"when the rich make war, it's the poor that die."

- jean-paul sartre

070405

070405

"dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

- thomas jefferson

 

we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed—that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

070405
this one's an oldie—but nevertheless:

"what the american flag stands for" by charlotte aldebron the american flag stands for the fact that cloth can be very important. it is against the law to let the flag touch the ground or to leave the flag flying when the weather is bad. the flag has to be treated with respect. you can tell just how important this cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment. nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. a homeless person can lie all over the ground all night long without anyone picking him up, folding him neatly and sheltering him from the rain. school children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning. no one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. no one has to promise that people will get a fair wage, or enough food to eat, or affordable medicine, or clean water, or air free of harmful chemicals. but we all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth. betsy ross would be quite surprised to see how successful her creation has become. but thomas jefferson would be disappointed to see how little of the flag's real meaning remains.

070205 radiohead - there there

"as for politics, i'm an anarchist. i hate governments and rules and—fetters... can't stand caged animals... people must be free."

- charlie chaplin

i've nearly completed my collection!:

making a living, kid auto races at venice, mabel's strange predicament, between showers, a film johnnie, tango tangles, his favorite pastime, cruel cruel love, the star boarder, mabel at the wheel, twenty minutes of love, caught in a cabaret, caught in the rain, a busy day, the fatal mallet, her friend the bandit, the knockout, mabel's busy day, mabel's married life, laughing gas, the property man, the face on the bar room floor, recreation, the masquerader, his new profession, the rounders, the new janitor, those love pangs, dough and dynamite, gentlemen of nerve, his musical career, his trysting place, tillie's punctured romance, getting acquainted, his prehistoric past, his new job , a night out, the champion, in the park, a jitney elopement, the tramp, by the sea, work, a woman, the bank, shanghaied, a night in the show, burlesque on carmen, police, triple trouble, the floorwalker, the fireman, the vagabond, one a.m., the count, the pawnshop, behind the screen, the rink, easy street, the cure, the immigrant, the adventurer, a dog's life, shoulder arms, the bond, sunnyside, a day's pleasure, the kid, the idle class, pay day, the pilgrim, a woman of paris, the gold rush, the circus, city lights, modern times, great dictator, monsieur verdoux, limelight, a king in new york, a countess from hong kong

070205
the world's first photograph:



taken by joseph niepce... in 1826.

070105
the sixth declaration of the lacondon jungle part 2 and part 3 has been released. it's really long, so i'm only posting excerpts. you can read the translated letters in its entirety here.

from part 2:

"...capitalism of today is not the same as before, when the rich were content with exploiting the workers in their own countries, but now they are on a path which is called neoliberal globalization. this globalization means that they no longer control the workers in one or several countries, but the capitalists are trying to dominate everything all over the world." "are we saying that politics serves no purpose? no, what we mean is that THAT politics serves no purpose. and it is useless because it does not take the people into account. it does not listen to them, it does not pay any attention to them, it just approaches them when there are elections. and they do not even want votes anymore, the polls are enough to say who wins. and then just promises about what this one is going to do and what the other one is going to do, then it’s bye, i’ll see you, but you don’t see them again, except when they appear in the news when they’ve just stolen a lot of money and nothing is going to be done to them because the law—which those same politicians made—protects them."

and from part 3:

"and we want to tell the latin american peoples that we are proud to be a part of you, even if it is a small part. we remember quite well how the continent was also illuminated some years ago, and a light was called che guevara, as it had previously been called bolivar, because sometimes the people take up a name in order to say they are taking up a flag. "and we want to tell the people of cuba, who have now been on their path of resistance for many years, that you are not alone, and we do not agree with the blockade they are imposing, and we are going to see how to send you something, even if it is maize, for your resistance. and we want to tell the north american people that we know that the bad governments which you have and which spread harm throughout the world is one thing—and those north americans who struggle in their country, and who are in solidarity with the struggles of other countries, are a very different thing. and we want to tell the mapuche brothers and sisters in chile that we are watching and learning from your struggles. and to the venezuelans, we see how well you are defending your sovereignty, your nation’s right to decide where it is going. and to the indigenous brothers and sisters of ecuador and bolivia, we say you are giving a good lesson in history to all of latin america, because now you are indeed putting a halt to neoliberal globalization. and to the piqueteros and to the young people of argentina, we want to tell you that, that we love you. and to those in uruguay who want a better country, we admire you. and to those who are sin tierra in brazil, that we respect you. and to all the young people of latin america, that what you are doing is good, and you give us great hope. "and we want to tell the brothers and sisters of social europe, that which is dignified and rebel, that you are not alone. that your great movements against the neoliberal wars bring us joy. that we are attentively watching your forms of organization and your methods of struggle so that we can perhaps learn something. that we are considering how we can help you in your struggles, and we are not going to send euro because then they will be devalued because of the european union mess. but perhaps we will send you crafts and coffee so you can market them and help you some in the tasks of your struggle. and perhaps we might also send you some pozol, which gives much strength in the resistance, but who knows if we will send it to you, because pozol is more our way, and what if it were to hurt your bellies and weaken your struggles and the neoliberals defeat you. "and we want to tell the brothers and sisters of africa, asia and oceania that we know that you are fighting also, and we want to learn more of your ideas and practices. "and we want to tell the world that we want to make you large, so large that all those worlds will fit, those worlds which are resisting because they want to destroy the neoliberals and because they simply cannot stop fighting for humanity."