Chillin' out, maxing.....

...relaxing all cool.

Drunken Texting

If i'm bored, i'll waste time on any number of websites, but one of my favourites is mydrunktexts.com
So in the spirit of that website, here's a sampling of my extremely drunken texts from friday night.
(Luckily, I was out of credit so none of my friends actually received these texts)

03:19am I might call my first album "Eskimo Breast Milk".
03:24am Blank message sent to Tasha' work phone number
03:30am Chilling out dr
(clearly I thought that was enough explanation anyone needed)
03:45am Send a fax like a boss....
(sent to 4 different people)
07:44am Spaced = Greatest comedown show ever.

This is why I don't ususally have credit.

Little green men and human lab rats

There's been a story floating around for a while now, i first picked it up on Crikey but it's been reported in a few places since then about how a SF lawyer has filed suit against the CIA and the US Army on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans of America and six former American soldiers who claim they are survivors of classified government tests conducted at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland . These tests, happening between between 1950 and 1975 involved all sorts of chemical mayhem, including but not limited to VX, tabun, soman, sarin, cyanide, LSD, PCP, and World War I-era blister agents like phosgene and mustard.
US Soldier before and after classified tests

This lawyer, Gordon Erspamer, alleges that almost 8000 soldiers were used as lab rats for these unhinged experinments after "Suddenly, they stopped using civilian subjects and said, 'Oh, we can get these military guys for free. The government could do whatever it wanted to them without liability."
Don't get me wrong, this type of shit is not kosher at all, and we here at the Trim in no way support this type of behaviour on anyones part, least of all government agents. There's no way they know how to throw a good party, what are they doing giving away LSD?
However, I want to focus in on one particular piece in this article, about the Vietnam veteran Frank Rochelle.
To summarise, Frank is 20, in the army, and sees a notice for the Edgewood program. it promises "relief from guard duty, the freedom to wear civilian clothes, three-day weekends, and, upon completion, and a medal of commendation". All he had to do was cop some chemicals. Dude signs the secrecy and liability papers, and then proceeds to catch 3 rounds of "nonlethal incapacitating agents like DHMP and glycolate, both of which act as sedatives that produce hallucinations".
Again, couldn't imagine a worse place to be than with government agents while really high. Possibly in jail, but that would be about it.
According to Erspamer's complaint, "Over the next two to three days, Frank was hallucinating and high: he thought he was three feet tall, saw animals on the walls, thought he was being pursued by a 6-foot-tall white rabbit, heard people calling his name, thought that all his freckles were bugs under his skin, and used a razor to try to cut these bugs out. No one from the clinical staff intervened on his behalf".

Now, i'll be honest. I'm no stranger to some of these chemicals myself. I've never touched any WW1 blistering agents, but to quote Jackson, i've had a visionary experience or two in my time. I've never thought my freckles were bugs, but apparently thats par for the course with ice addicts, and I can see how someone would eventually make a connection like that if they were mad high all the time.
Now, i'm betting that Frank was in no way expecting to feel like he was 3 feet tall, or to see a 6 foot tall white rabbit, and that's inherently where the problem is. If Frank had been fully informed prior to taking these crazy chemicals, he probably would have had a great trip. Instead, he ended up with something like this...
"Frank, meet Frank. He'll be stalking you for the next 72 hours..."

Now, if Frank had been allowed to chill in front of the TV with his buddies and watch Bee Movie (trust me, it's the bomb) he would have laughed his arse off and enjoyed the animals coming out of the wall. Instead, he was with some CIA Squaresville chumps, subjecting him to a battery of nasty tests, and ruining his high. who wants to be out of your skull, and have someone taking readings and questioning you? That type of shit would be scary enough if you were totally sober, so i'm not getting at Frank for cracking under the pressure, that can happen to the best of us, and probably would.
My point is simply that all "mind expanding" drugs are totally reliant on your surroundings to define what kind of trip you have, and a government testing facility is no place for a person to trip balls. It just isn't. I
The lesson here, the government still has no idea about why people take drugs, and also, you can't learn about Acid from tests.
Also, anything or anyone that has anything to do with the government will totally blow your high.
Peace

More commentary....

As a kid, I was never that interested in sport, and i'm still not. Well, I like Slamball, but there's just not enough network coverage to be a real fan. I just didn't really care, I can watch Football if others want to, but to quote Tony Martin i'm pretty much a sporting dyslexic. I can appreciate the gladiatorial nature of the activity, but I can't really discern between a good player and a bad player at all. All football looks pretty much like the same game being played over and over again.
However, I did kind of want to be a commentator. I loved (and still do) Roy and HG calling pretty much anything, and after many hours of listening to Get This, Rex Hunt is just too funny to hear.
A great commentary can lift sports above a boring show of strength, and a great commentator can be insightful, funny and poignant all at the same time.
Like this guy here.


Dennis Cometti is funny as hell, and pretty much an improv genius. He's been a commentator for almost 40 years, and i'm more than happy to watch a whole game of Football just in case there's some comedy gold slipped in there on the sly.
Here's a collection of some great Cometti improv.

"Scotty Cummings alone in the square, jumping up and down and waving his arms like they're playing My Sharona"

"A couple of big touches from Clive Waterhouse, who was battling up until about 5 minutes ago, in danger of becoming Clive Waterboy."

Dermott: And the ball spills free to Kickett...
Cometti: Troy Cook you mean?
Dermott: Yes.. well, they do look rather alike.
Cometti: How so Dermott?
Dermott: (realising that sounded rather racist.) Umm, well, they are both..er..
Cometti: .. Midfielders, yes Dermott.

This one from Melb v Coll last year:
Healy: Word is this guy is the most reliable kick for goal in the side. They say down at Collingwood if you had to have someone kicking for your life, Tarkyn Lockyer would be the man
Commetti: I'd prefer my mum
(silence)
Commetti: Not a great footballer, but at least she'd care.

"Ashley McIntosh, like a good hair spray... capable of a subtle hold"

"Barlow to Bateman, the Hawks are attacking alphabetically"

"Carl Steinfort looking more like Robert Walls than Robert Walls"

"Bell bringing the ball out of the back line..... looking for wide runners..... passes to Walker... a contradiction in terms, really"

"The only change to the Eagles side is that Rowan Jones has had a haircut"

"Farmer may have an injury to his calf........ hmmm, a farmer with a calf problem."

Dennis: "Dear shoots... waiting on the goal umpire.... he's kicked a behind. A wry smile there from the goal umpire, certainly a sense of the dramatic."
Don Scott: "He's the danger man, Dennis."
Dennis: "Who? The goal umpire?"

"It's a goal! A dream start for Hawthorn. Spider had both his legs taken out from under him - leaving only the other six to balance on....."

"I love that surname Fixter. Sounds like something from a Batman movie -The Fixter? but I digress..."

Last night when Richmond kicked up the middle towards Ray Hall:"Richmond attack through the corridor, in this case the Hall."

Tony Liberatore had just gone into a pack as he is wont to do and come out with blood gushing from his eye: "Libba went into the pack optimistically and came out misty optically."

I think it was the Freo/Pies game last week and Dennis, after describing the second of 2 easy dropped marks says, "the Tale of Two Sitters".

When Mark went up for a mark: "... and the Mercuri is rising..."

Dermie: "Why do you suppose he went side on to take the mark?"
Dennis: "He probably was trying to impress the Russian judge."

"Richardson contests the ruck.... without much conviction. Well, he may be the best player on their list........ well, certainly Matthew thinks he's the best player on their list at the moment...... mind you, that's a bit like being the best Centre Half Forward in Czechoslovakia....."

"Almost a touch of synchronised swimming about that mark..... minus the peg..."

"Ball in dispute, Lamb, now Yze the meat in the sandwich. Really Lamb should be in the sandwich."

"If it was a set play, they copied it from a Portugese bus time-table"

"Great stuff by Caracella - moments before McIntosh had treated him like a rent-a- car".


Peace.

Hey kids,
I gotta put the blog on pause for a hot second, the computer's getting packed up while i move out to the East Side, but i'll be back soon! Hopefully before this time next month, shouldn't be more than a few weeks.
Keep checking back periodically, as i'll try to post if I get a chance, but if not i'll see y'all on the flip side.
If you're jonesing for some tasty blog action, i'd recommend:
North of the river
The Meaning Of Dope
The Essential Elements
Here's todays minimix from the Empire, featuring beats from around the world.
Enjoy,
Broke.

5 Albums I forgot I owned

So I sometimes forget that I own albums, they get lost in the rotation of my Iriver or I purchase them at the same time as another album which gets more spins, so I forget about some great music that's in my collection. But I just reloaded my whole Iriver with new stuff, and so I ran through my CD's to make sure I didn't miss anything, and came across some gold that I had totally forgot about.
Here's a bit of info on these dope pieces, and then there's a D/L of a selection of tracks from each album for you sampling pleasure.
Enjoy kids!

1. Bombay The Hard Way: Guns, Cars And Sitars
This sweet mash-upesque album features the music of Indian composers Anandji and Kalyanji, who composed and conducted music for the "Brownsploitation" films from 60s and '70s Bollywood.
Every track on this record sounds as though it's straight out of a 70's blaxploitation flick, but with an Indian twist to it like a jammin' sitar lick instead of wah-wah guitar.
This funky joint is the work of Dan The Automator, (Dr. Octagon, Handsome Boy Modeling School) with additional beats credit going to Josh Davis, better know as (say it with me now....) DJ Shadow. Some tracks play to the hip-hop influences of the producers, with the boom and the bap emphasized and laid out over sitar loops, flute solos and heavy string and moog accompaniment. Other tunes on the record hold truer to their original forms, with emphasis on composition and instrumentation.
Super funky, and well worth hunting out.

2. Oh No - Exodus into Unheard Rhythms

Exodus is a production project based on the catalog of Galt MacDermot (most famously known for being the man behind the musical Hair). Eothen Alapatt (Stones Throw General Manager) is the connection between Oh No and the man behind the music from Hair. Dating back to his college radio show at Vanderbilt University, Eothen has made a habit of digging up long-forgotten music legends, and he continues to do so at Stones Throw.
Galt's work has proved familiar sampling ground for Stones Throw's artists since Eothen's arrival at the label. But while the original connection isn't his, Oh No's sheer enthusiasm is the catalyst behind this record.
The original idea was to have Oh No make a couple tracks based on Galt's work. He came back with a couple dozen, and the result was a dope ass album with tight beats and great rhymes from a laundry list of M.C's.

3. Ahmad - Self Titled

An excellent lyricist with a smooth voice and great flow, Ahmad (who was only 18 when he made his debut album) delivers an upbeat, laid-back album with classic 90's beats. I can listen to this album any time, but it's super cool for a warm evening on the porch with a few cold ones. Back in The Day remains a stone cold Hip Hop classic, even 15 years after its release.

4. Ivens - Sounds To Expire To

Melbourne’s Awakenings crew has never made conformist hip-hop. In fact there releases are about as far from the stereotypical Triple J Aussie sound as you can get, and this album is no different.
Ivens has been working hard behind the scenes in Melbourne for some time now. A founding member of the Awakenings crew, he locked himself away for twelve months with production whizkid Plutonic Lab, and Sounds To Expire To is the result.
Each and every time Plutonic Lab steps into a studio he (IMO) excels himself. on Sounds to Expire to, he has orchestrated some bizarre futuristic movie soundtrack, haunting and melodic while also dark and moody. A lot like the first two Aesop Rock albums, with Blockheads minimalist style but a less grimey flavour.
Ivens lyrics are very Aesop-esque as well, with some crazy imagery and clever word play making repeat listens a must.

5. Lewis Parker - Masquerades and Silhoutettes
Lewis Parker is seen as the cream of the crop when it comes to a lot of things. Producer-MC's, British Producers, Sample Based Producers, he pretty much reigns supreme over all these catalogues, and this is (mainly) because of this album. Super short (only 8 tracks) but super dope, it pretty much put Britain on the Hip Hop map, as noone could discount this album as a classic. Atmospheric beats and strangly imaginative lyrics make this an album that will stay on high rotation from now on for me.
Well worth hunting out, if anyone ever sees it on Vinyl buy it immediately and i'll buy it off you the same day.
Well, enjoy the sampler kids, remember to support the artists.
Peace

5 Albums I Forgot About Sampler Download

Damn it feels good to be a Gangsta.....

You know that those German stores stay selling that cheap ass candy.

The Japanese are Coming!

And they've brought their giant fire breathing robot baby with them!!







***NOTE: This giant fire breathing baby is actually the work of sweet ass sculptor Kenji Yanobe. Pics courtesy of Pink Tentacle
Please don't attack any Japanese Exchange students over this, there's a 99% chance that this baby was made as a sculpture, and not for world domination.
But keep an eye out nonetheless.
Peace

The hunt continues....

Hey kids,
the posts might be a little light on for the next little while, i'm mad busy looking for a new crib. I'll try to post at least once a week, but no promises.
But fret not y'all, The Trim shall continue to grow to internet domination status, I just need a little while to get shit together.
In the meantime, check Drab Art for some dope new work, and dig through the archives for stuff to keep you interested 'till i'm back on a regular posting schedule.
Peace,
Broke

I'm getting me a flying car!

'nuff said.

If I get locked up tonight.... (Updated)

Then it's been good to know y'all.
Leaked Australian government secret ACMA internet censorship blacklist.
I've made my feelings on this bullshit known. If you missed it, here it is

***Update***
OK, So it's now in question whether this is the actual ACMA blacklist (See HERE for the relevent article) however i'm more inclined to believe wikileaks than Comm's Minister Stephen Conroy (AKA the guy who's running this BS) as to the validity of this info. Even if it's not the actual blacklist itself, it definately came from a government source, and after a quick gander at the pages listed on it, it seems to be the type of gear that would get hit by this filter.
The interesting thing, as mentioned by a few news outlets today, is that there appears to be some sites that are totally undeserving of being listed. To wit, about half of the sites on the list are not related to child porn at all, and include a slew of online poker sites, YouTube links, regular gay and straight porn sites, Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions such as satanic sites, fetish sites, Christian sites, the website of a tour operator and even a Queensland dentist.

***Update part 2***
The links been re-upped, however if you're still iffy about peeping this gear,
here's a secondary link which is apparently safer.
Secure Wikileaks internet censorship article
Peace

Kaufman you are not, my friend.

So the Joaquin Phoenix debate took another turn today, with Mr. Phoenix nearly physically attacking a fan at his latest "rap" gig.
But let's take a second to step back from the whole thing and look logically at the situation.
For the uninitiated, about 6 months ago Joaquin announced he was quitting acting to become a rap star, and less-famous-than-his-brother Casey Affleck would be documenting the whole thing. He performed a series of disasterous gigs, repeatedly garbling his way through songs and occasionally falling off stage.

Now after about 3 weeks of this type of shit, people started questioning whether he was for real, or whether this whole thing was one big prank, in the style of Andy Kaufman, or more recently Sascha Baron Cohen.
Add to this a disasterous appearance on Letterman, and everyone was asking the same questions, to wit "Is he high, is he crazy or is he kidding?"

I was skeptical from the start, but this Letterman appearance confirmed it for me, for a few reasons.
Watch Joaquin carefully, many would assume by his attitude and demeanor that he was high, or losing his mind. Not true. Having spent an inexorable amount of time around people in various stages of drug dependance, I can tell you his behaviour is way too calculated for someone on drugs. He is purposefully trying to give off the air of someone nervous and ill-at-ease, but a few minor slips prove his mind is in place. Specifically, when Paul laughs at him, he jumps on the opportunity to push the focus off him onto Paul, and his line "are you serious, with the maniacal laugh?" sounds too controlled, like he's milking the audience for the laugh, not really the actions of an an insane or drug affected mind.
His constant looking down at his fingernails is obviously an affectation, you can see he forgets to do it on occasion, then remembers he's meant to be acting high and goes back to picking at his nails and avoiding eye contact.
Lastly, when Dave is introducing the clip, Joaquins whole act falls when he says "OK, you're doing fine..." This is too coherant a statement for someone who's losing their mind, or exceptionally high. Suddenly, all his behaviour makes no sense. He is flailing wildly between the actions of someone truly fucked up on PCP or crack (acting like he doesn't understand simple questions, ignoring Dave etc.) to someone totally sober (milking the audience for sympathy when Dave disses his music, cracking jokes etc.) It's all too strange for a truly collapsing mind.
Believe it or not, those of us who's minds are falling apart actually behave a lot more predictably than this. Either we're coherant, or we're not. We're either avoiding human contact, or we're doing everything possible to have all attention on us. Joaquin is swinging between these two extremes like a pendulum, showing that he is a lot more in control of his behavior than he would like us to believe.
His ridiculous act was pushed a little further today, with a near-physical altercation at his latest gig, of course caught on camera by Casey.
Joaquin Phoenix attacks crowd member at latest gig
Again, this doesn't seem to be the actions of someone who is out of control. It seems to be the actions of someone who wants to appear crazy, and it would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if security didn't step in. I wonder if things would really have escalated, or whether you would have backed out.

At the end of the day, none of this is really that important, and i'm kind of playing into Phoenix's web by even posting on it. If everyone ignored this behaviour, i'll guarantee the dude would get bored with this charade pretty quick and go back to making (mostly) decent movies.
But it frustrates me to have people saying he is pulling a Kaufman-esque prank. This self-indulgent BS is nowhere near the genius of Andy Kaufman. Joaquin could never come up with pure comedic gold like this.

Andy Kaufman performs Mighty Mouse - watch more funny videos

And Joaquin, here's how you truly fuck with an audience. I have a feeling that you planted the homie you attacked in your audience, just like Kaufman had Jerry Lawler in on the act here.

The main problem with Joaquins act is that he admits that he has someone filming it. Unlike Kaufman, who was a comedy star in his own right and used the air time he gained from that to fuck with people, you have someone apparently filming a documentary about your decline into psychosis. What kind of a friend would stand back and film a man losing his mind and destroying his career? Even Steve-O's mates got to a point where it wasn't funny any more, and they knew their buddy was in trouble, so they slammed him into rehab against his will.
I'm not saying Casey Affleck is the sharpest knife in the drawer, but if this isn't an act, he's a pretty callous dude to let you ruin your career, and possibly your mind, just for a documentary.
Peace out y'all.

Allow me to reintroduce myself... (Re-Upped)

My name is Broke.
This is why.


These are my films, documentaries and TV Shows.


These are my Music DVDs.


This is my music, and music making equipment (Some CD's belonging to the B-Double).



I've been collecting for nigh on 10 years now, and it's my second biggest addiction.
Like i've said before, I don't play.

The Face of Evil

OK, things have been kind of negative over the past few days here on the Trim, but this needs to be broken down for you simple motherfuckers.
The man pictured above is Bernie Madoff. Today Bernie admitted to perpetuating the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, pleading guilty to charges that he had defrauded his investors of almost $65 billion.
$65 Billion. Once again, $65 Billion.
Here's how he did it.
Bernie ran a Wall Street firm called Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, which at last check was worth well over $100 billion in liquid assets. This firm has an Assets Management division, responsible for taking peoples money and investing it, then paying dividends on those investments. Who's money was he taking? Try Stephen Spielberg, Elie Wiesal, possibly 50 Cent and definately Sterling Equities (the investment vehicle of the Wilpon family, which owns the New York Mets baseball team) among 4,800 others. That should tell you that the average investor can't just up and decide to give their cash to Madoff, you have to be in the know to get in on the deal. And rightly so, since Bernie's inverstors had been enjoying returns ranging from 15% to 22% for the past 30 years. Surely this is a safe bet, well known firm, big name investors, The Securities and Exchange Commission even gave Madoff's company a clean bill of health in early 2000, there could be no problem here. Right?
Wrong.

The problem was, there was no need for Madoff's company to show how and where these returns were coming from. The way they described their investments was to say "The "New York people" have a system whereby they place a series of instant trades — at once with futures, currencies and stocks — and out of this magic recipe fell a tiny 1% guaranteed, no-risk profit for the group. You do that 20 times a year, take away management fees and, voilà, a steady 15% return" (lifted from Time Magazine, minor changes). Madoff was supposed to have some "black box" model that signaled when to buy and when to sell, making Madoff's investments apparently a sure thing.
In other words, we take your money, buy stocks, wait until those stocks rise by 1% (which when you're buying stocks by the millions happens almost instantly), sell them again and there you have it, a 1% gain. Do this 15 or 20 times a year, and you're golden. No risk 15% returns for all.
Sounds too good to be true. And it was.
What was actually happening was the worlds simplest investment fraud, even more basic than your average Pyramid Selling scheme.
Maddoff was running a Ponzi, a massive, unbelievably stupid Ponzi scheme with no way out, except total and complete bankrupcy for all involved.
A Ponzi scheme is an investment scam that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned.
To break that down even simpler, lets say I give you $1000 to invest, and you say i'll get a 10% return on that. Then the homie BigDubbs from NOTR (shouts and respect) wants to get in on that good action, so he gives you a G-stack too, and you say the same thing to him.
Now instead of investing that scrilla, you hold the dough and when it comes time to pay our dividends, you use my cash to pay Dubbs his $100 dividend, and use his cash to pay mine.
As you can see, noones actually made any profit, and eventually this bad boy's gonna collapse in on itself. Which is exactly what happened to Madoff and his crew. They used new investors money to pay off massive dividends (we're taking in the millions) to older investors, and they just kept digging themselves deeper and deeper into a financial quagmire.
As it turns out, Madoffs investors hadn't even invested any cash for years. They were just paying people off with other peoples money, until one day about 3 months ago, Madoff just admitted it. He actually told his sons that the Assets Management arm of his company was "one big lie". Remarkably, or possibly in one of the most forsighted moves ever, his sons told the feds. The next day, Madoff went down. Hard.
And the stock market went to shit quick smart, as people realised that their money suddenly wasn't there any more. Their money which only existed in abstentia, now didn't even exist there. It was all gone. All of it.

The amazing thing is, well, actually there's a lot of amazing things about this. The first amazing thing is that this got to be this size without anyone questioning how a company can steadily pay up to 15% dividends, year after year. Hello, SEC...? Isn't it your job to make sure this type of shit doesn't happen?
Secondly, if it wasn't for a $7 billion dividend payment that they couldn't make, then this fraud would have continued until god knows when.
Thirdly, Officials at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority told The Post that after examining more than 40 years' worth of financial records from Madoff's now-defunct broker dealer, there are no signs that Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities ever traded shares on behalf of the investment-advisory business at the center of the scandal.
Once again, it's possible that THIS MULTI BILLION DOLLAR SHARE-TRADING COMPANY MAY HAVE NEVER EVER TRADED WITH ANYONE.

So there it is kids, hopefully you now understand a little more about how Bernie Madoff ripped off Charities, schools, banks, NFP organisations, not to mention the thousands of individual investors who have now lost everything.
I promise to make the posts a little lighter over the nesxt few weeks, noone likes to focus on the negatives of life, but I think it's important that people understand this junk, as it might one day make you think twice if someone offers you money for nothing.
Because believe me when I say, there is no money for nothing in this life.
Unless you grow weed.
Peace.

There is no death.......

So today is the anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks. It's been 15 years since the great man died, and I thought i'd spend a little time expounding on the reasons he is important, and why the world would be a better place if more people thought like Bill.

I got into Bill Hicks the same way most 15 year olds do, having a mate lend me a CD and being told that "this guys swears a whole lot, and talks about fucking". And for the first little while, that's all I really knew about him. I knew he was funny, but it was more of a knee-jerk reaction to the crudity of the pieces and the incessant swearing than an appreciation of the ironies and satirical nature of Bill's comedy.
And let's be honest, Bill was the king of crude humour.

Having sid that, the "crude humour" tag follows Bill incessently, but if one really breaks down his act there isn't that much crudity in it. A lot of swearing, yes, definitely a LOT of swearing, but the base, graphic "Dick Jokes" are kept to his famous Goat Boy routine, and of course, graphically descriptive discussions of pornography. Apart from that, his act was much more about using shocking images to create a scene, or as a juxtaposistion within the joke.

Once I had grown up a little, and had started to hear Hicks' routines for what they were, I noticed how much you heard Bill's words and thoughts echoed in everyday life, even years after his death. Most political stand up loses its punch as the politicians change and retire, but Bills work stands strong, because it isn't about particular politicans, it's about the concepts of freedom and democracy. 15 years ago Bill denounced George Bush (the first) for "selling unstable nations weaponry, and then running on a platform of "The world is still a very dangerous place". These very sentiments were echoed in countless protests against the Iraq war early in the new millenium. In fact, pretty much all of Bills pieces on the Gulf war can be updated for our times, by replacing "Gulf War" with "Operation: Iraqi Freedom".

His discussions of JFK, and how the wool has been pulled over our collective eyes is not so much about JFK, or even the events surrounding his death, it is about how people seem happy to accept the simple answer, no matter how ridiculous and impossible it is, rather than the more uncomfortable truth about life. JFK and his unfortunate death is simply the most memorable and poignant example of what Bill saw as an endemic problem with the American people. They didn't want the truth, they wanted a simple lie, and more Gladiators on TV.
And that idea really lies at the core of Bills political work. Bill saw that the problem with America was not the corrupt politicans, it was the citizens who let corruption run rampant without a word. It was every person who closed their eyes, rather than ask questions. Bill wanted to slap everyone on earth in the face with a massive dose of reality, and scream "Remember this!? Remember reality?!? This is what's important! Not taxes and schools, not gays in the military, but the fact that we now fear the people we chose to lead us!!" He didn't have an issue with politics, or democracy, or even with any particular politician. When he said that he believed that "GW Bush is the son of Satan", what he meant was.... well, no actually, Bill did really believe Bush was evil. Turns out he was right on that one.

But political satire was only part of Bills genius. His thoughts and observations on drugs and their role in our evolution and society are incredibly acute. I can't sum up Bills thoughts any better than he can, so I will merely quote:
“They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference.”

“Today a young man on acid realised that all matter is just energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather”

"Three weeks ago two of my friends and I went to a ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas, and took what Terence McKenna calls a "heroic dose" of Magic Mushrooms. Five dried grams. Let me tell you, our third eye was squeegeed quite cleanly. Wow! And I'm glad they're against the law, 'cause you know what happened when I took 'em? I laid in a field of green grass for four hours, going "My God, I love everything." The heavens parted, God looked down and rained gifts of forgiveness onto my being, healing me on every level, psychically, physically, emotionally. And I realized our true nature is spirit, not body, that we are eternal beings, and God's love is unconditional 'n' there's nothing we can ever do to change that. It is only our illusion that we are separate from God, or that we are alone. In fact the reality is we are one with God and He loves us. Now, if that isn't a hazard to this country... Do you see my point? How are we gonna keep building nuclear weapons, you know what I mean? What's gonna happen to the arms industry when we realize we're all one. It's gonna fuck up the economy! The economy that's fake anyway! Which would be a real bummer. You know. You can see why the government's cracking down."

These quotes alone, which are only a handful from hours of material, show a man who was not out to get fucked up, but to really experience life on all levels, and hopefully discover profound truths about himself and the world in the process. Yes, for many years Bill was an alcoholic and a coke addict, but those negatives fed off each other, and eventually, "I woke up one day and thought, I can keep paying people for things that will slowly kill me, or I can laugh my ass off with my friends by ingesting a natuarally occuring substance". And with that, he walked away from 15 years of alcoholism and drug abuse, and never touched another hard drug or drop of alcohol again. "Don't take drugs, but I have no problem with them. I think it's a personal choice". Many would do well to heed this advice.

Material like this (obviously) did not work well for television, and Bills last recorded piece for The Late Show was pulled due to censorship issues, and has only this year been resurrected and aired. To go into the whole story here would be too long, suffice it to say Dave pulled Hicks' stand up minutes before it was to air, with many speculating it was due to Hicks' pro-life material upsetting advertisers. I highly recommend taking the time to watch the full interview with Bills mother, as it serves well to contextualise the type of man Bill was, and how important his artistic integrity was to him.

Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUbB_D-dYp8

Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yTVDoSRKq0

Part III
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBC1dKGO2_A


There was an anger inside Bill as well. He could turn in a moment from a man pleading for unity and oneness amongst the human race to a raging demon of hatred. A massive, whirling hurricane of obscenity and vitreolic anger. There is nothing like seeing Bill go head to head with a drunk crowd member, as evidenced in Bill vs. Female Heckler.

His anger was truly righteous (adjective: arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality), in every sense of the word. He was furious that people would have the gall to interrupt an artist at work. He was furious that morons walked the earth, never having to answer for their actions. But most of all, he was furious that people didn't get the message.
And at the end of the day, that was it. He really wanted people to hear what he was saying. Not in a self-satisfied, moralistic way, but in a truly humanistic way. Bill didn't want people to listen to stroke his ego, he wanted them to listen because he was trying to help. Just like Jesus, and Gandhi, and Mother Theresa, and every other great person to walk the earth for too few years, Bill was trying to help. He was trying to get people free, to get them out from under, no matter how uncomfortable the trip might be. Bill, in his own strange way, was trying to free us from the Matrix of our own lives, and make us see the real world.
"The Message" was his red pill.
And even now, 15 years later, the message is right on point.


Rest in peace, a great man who is still sorely missed.

And the winner is.....

PLUS

EQUALS


Rest In Peace.

Puking is involuntary... mostly.

Well well well, once again a city council oversteps the line and gets pulled back from the brink of actually doing something somebody cares about.
In case you missed the scoop, the City of Port Phillip were going to run some ads on TV about draining the lizard or revisiting lunch on the sidewalk.
Now, this may sound pretty innocuous, and it is. Really. I mean, if you watch the ad, you can kind of see how someone may feel a little voyeouristic watching a girl drop strides in the middle of a party...

My favourite bit is when someone hands her a drink from off camera. It's such a casual gesture. Presonally, I don't have a problem with this piece of advertising, I actually find it quite effective, if not arousing in a weird way.
But my real beef is with the following companion piece....

And my issue is this. A chunder is (90% of the time) unintentional. It's an involuntary discharge of the stomach's contents through the mouth. And sometimes the nose.
I can understand telling people to wait until they get home or at least into their front garden to take a quick slash, but if I need to puke I can't really put that on hold for 15 minutes while I grab a cab back to my place. And noone is letting me into a bar with the line "i'm just dashing in for a quick vomit, then i'll be right out again". The gutter is usually my only choice, and I should be applauded for choosing the gutter (or a handy garbage bin) as my receptacle of choice. I could just as easily have puked on the bottom of the escalators at Parliament station, so it got spread all the way up to the top, and stunk up the place all day.
I'll bet then the gutter doesn't look so bad.
Peace.

Celebrity Update.....

Yes indeed, the celebs have been going wild this week, so I thought i'd give y'all a quick update on the happenings, so if you run into some airhead who actually cares about the comings and goings of vapid, self-serving, inarticulate wankers, you'll have something to talk about.

So, firstly.... the MJ auction.
A wild bunch of crazy shit from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch is up for sale come April this year.
More than 2,000 items are going on sale, let's take a look at some of the wilder stuff.

How about a golf cart, complete with airbrushed picture of Jacko as Pater Pan on the hood... Ballin'.


A sweet royal protrait of the King, i'd like to get a portrait like this of myself done.


For some reason, MJ had a pair of the prop hands Johnny Depp wore in Edward Scissorhands. Sweet gift for a gothic friends birthday.


Man, how I want these gates.

See the full breakdown of items for sale Here

Secondly,
Travis the TV Chimpanzee attacks owner
This article is loaded with gold, just jam packed full of crunchy nuggets of comedy.
Example:
"He could eat at the table, drink wine from a stemmed glass, use the toilet, and dress and bathe himself."
Good start....
"Herold, whose daughter died several years ago in a car accident, fed the chimp steak, lobster, ice cream and Italian food."
Getting there.....
"Police said that Travis was agitated earlier Monday and that Herold had given him the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in some tea."
There is it.
And finally,
Steven Seagal to star in reality cop show
You couldn't make this stuff up. I can't wait for this one, if only to see Seagal's receedinhg hairline. It'll be pure gold!

And to close it out... the new Simpsons HD intro. For those that missed it, the Simpsons updated their intro for HD TV... oinly a few minor changes, but it definately reflects the changes in the show over the past 20 years.



Peace,
Broke

It's been a while...

But i'm back from the coast, and I have 2 announcements.
Firstly,
HAPY BIRTHDAY PMM.
Yes indeed, another year older, and marginally wiser.
Cheers bud, hope you live to be as old as this guy here.


Secondly,
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY KIDS.
No real happy sentiments to add here, as I don't know who will be reading this, so i'll just include a photo of 2 gorillas hugging.
Enjoy.

I'll be back soonish, need to put together next weeks radio show.
Peace

On the 2 turntables I would say i'm nice....

Hey Kids,
so for those that tuned in to the show today, or even for those who didn't, here's the minimix from the end of the show today.
Hope y'all enjoyed it, tune in next week for more of the same. Only better.
Minimix 1
Peace,
Broke