Xentrix - False Ideals
Xentrix - False Ideals may have been censored from YouTube for promoting conspiracy theories.
© The Weirding, 2019
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Xentrix - False Ideals
Xentrix - False Ideals may have been censored from YouTube for promoting conspiracy theories.
© The Weirding, 2019
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Friday, March 30, 2018
Acumen Nation - Father in the Wall
Acumen Nation - Father in the Wall
Acumen Nation - Father in the Wall may have been censored by YouTube. It is available on Amazon Prime.
© The Weirding, 2018
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Britons Unimpressed with Guns n Roses' Behavior at Leeds
Fellow performers decried Guns n Roses' defiant behavior at the Leeds Festival as "disrespectful" and "boring." Guns n Roses ran over their allotted performance time in 2002, and were told before they even came to the show that, if they ran over again, organizers would pull the plug -- which is exactly what happened. The band continued to play acoustically, with Axl Rose singing through a megaphone. Rose loudly criticized organizers and demanded an apology to the fans. He later reiterated his frustration on Twitter.
Other performers called Axl Rose and Guns n Roses "a joke," and one told them to "grow up," but stunts like this are exactly what today's rock music is lacking. Rose's defiance was not meant to anger, inflame, nor disrespect fellow "artists" (which I use very loosely), it was a message to the organizer, and others, that Guns n Roses is The Talent, and they damn well better be afforded such lofty status because, without them, there would be no show; without the band, there would be no festival, nothing to promote, nothing to manage, nothing to organize.
OTOH, I absolutely see the other side of this debate. Showing up an hour late, then making fans wait half an hour for the band to take the stage is bad form, but in this particular case, I think Axl Rose was making a point more than just "acting-out." I could be wrong -- wouldn't be the first time (though it is rare) -- but that is what I took from the numerous reports I've read on the matter.
Today's rock n roll needs more "fuck you" defiance; more of a point than simply appealing to the masses and making money.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Other performers called Axl Rose and Guns n Roses "a joke," and one told them to "grow up," but stunts like this are exactly what today's rock music is lacking. Rose's defiance was not meant to anger, inflame, nor disrespect fellow "artists" (which I use very loosely), it was a message to the organizer, and others, that Guns n Roses is The Talent, and they damn well better be afforded such lofty status because, without them, there would be no show; without the band, there would be no festival, nothing to promote, nothing to manage, nothing to organize.
OTOH, I absolutely see the other side of this debate. Showing up an hour late, then making fans wait half an hour for the band to take the stage is bad form, but in this particular case, I think Axl Rose was making a point more than just "acting-out." I could be wrong -- wouldn't be the first time (though it is rare) -- but that is what I took from the numerous reports I've read on the matter.
Today's rock n roll needs more "fuck you" defiance; more of a point than simply appealing to the masses and making money.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Coca-Cola Accused of Attracting Children with Porn
Coca-Cola was accused of what amounts to corruption of a minor when a Facebook advertising campaign for Dr. Pepper referred to the "2 Girls, 1 Cup" YouTube video -- which is disturbingly pornographic -- on a 14-year-old, British girl's account. When the girl read the message, she searched for the video. When her mom found out about the whole thing, she was "absolutely fizzing with rage and disgust," as she posted on Mumsnet, a social network for parents. She asked Coca-Cola for an apology and full explanation.
The campaign allowed users to sign-up with Coca-Cola (Dr. Pepper), which then sent embarrassing status updates from their accounts. A winner was to be announced and awarded a cash prize. The corporation said it is looking into what happened, but one of the other status updates from the campaign was, "Never heard it described as cute before." Coca-Cola admits that they had approved the offending message without realizing its true nature.
Coca-Cola offered the mom a hotel room and tickets to a live show, which she refused.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
The campaign allowed users to sign-up with Coca-Cola (Dr. Pepper), which then sent embarrassing status updates from their accounts. A winner was to be announced and awarded a cash prize. The corporation said it is looking into what happened, but one of the other status updates from the campaign was, "Never heard it described as cute before." Coca-Cola admits that they had approved the offending message without realizing its true nature.
Coca-Cola offered the mom a hotel room and tickets to a live show, which she refused.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Friday, July 02, 2010
Shrek Stageshow Headed to London
Shrek the Musical is headed to London's West End. The stageshow, which garnered a Tony for Best Costume, opens in May, 2011. Tickets go on-sale in October of this year. Shrek the Musical ran for a year on Broadway before closing due to falling ticket sales.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Brits Lead Prude Patrol
In a somewhat weird turn of events, the British have taken the reins from American Conservative morons, becoming ever more vocal in their calls for the censorship of all things comics-related.
Some years back, the Brits pushed for -- and got -- a censoring of classic Tom and Jerry cartoons (the story was covered here in a drafted post, never published), claiming animated, anthropomorphic images smoking cigarettes lead children to do the same. My rebuttal was: Even retarded children who have no adult supervision are capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction.
Just this week, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) had to defend its rating of the Dark Knight, due to more than 80 complaints from slack-jawed "parents" and Conservative "Christians." While the board has yet to cave-in to these prigs, the backlash may have some effect on later ratings -- we will have to wait and see.
Now, the British are upset over a Barbie doll in Black Canary's outfit. The Barbie, from Mattel's Black Label line, is suggested for "the adult collector, age 14 and older," but that is not good enough for the Christian Voice, which also calls for the death of alleged murderers based on "overwhelming evidence" alone - "overwhelming evidence" for Christian Voice means two eye-witnesses. There is a similar organization in America with the same name, but the two claim not to be affiliated. The American Christian Voice openly advocates the discrimination of homosexuals.
If this sounds familiar, it should: other organizations have made the same denouncements based on similar religious grounds. Again, it is important (to them) that we point-out Christian Voice, as well as its American counterpart, claim no affiliations - regardless of the similarities.
The Black Canary doll, which ships in September, is only one of several DC-based superheroines to get the Barbie treatment. Other versions include Supergirl, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman.
To Mattel - and Barbie's - credit, they have fought against the doll's image being improperly associated with adult contexts in the past. We can only hope they do not cave-in to these fascists.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
UPDATE: This post was hijacked by the Far-Right (US, ISraeli, and UK military). Hopefully the links have been corrected (for now). - 2018
Some years back, the Brits pushed for -- and got -- a censoring of classic Tom and Jerry cartoons (the story was covered here in a drafted post, never published), claiming animated, anthropomorphic images smoking cigarettes lead children to do the same. My rebuttal was: Even retarded children who have no adult supervision are capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction.
Just this week, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) had to defend its rating of the Dark Knight, due to more than 80 complaints from slack-jawed "parents" and Conservative "Christians." While the board has yet to cave-in to these prigs, the backlash may have some effect on later ratings -- we will have to wait and see.
Now, the British are upset over a Barbie doll in Black Canary's outfit. The Barbie, from Mattel's Black Label line, is suggested for "the adult collector, age 14 and older," but that is not good enough for the Christian Voice, which also calls for the death of alleged murderers based on "overwhelming evidence" alone - "overwhelming evidence" for Christian Voice means two eye-witnesses. There is a similar organization in America with the same name, but the two claim not to be affiliated. The American Christian Voice openly advocates the discrimination of homosexuals.
If this sounds familiar, it should: other organizations have made the same denouncements based on similar religious grounds. Again, it is important (to them) that we point-out Christian Voice, as well as its American counterpart, claim no affiliations - regardless of the similarities.
The Black Canary doll, which ships in September, is only one of several DC-based superheroines to get the Barbie treatment. Other versions include Supergirl, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman.
To Mattel - and Barbie's - credit, they have fought against the doll's image being improperly associated with adult contexts in the past. We can only hope they do not cave-in to these fascists.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
UPDATE: This post was hijacked by the Far-Right (US, ISraeli, and UK military). Hopefully the links have been corrected (for now). - 2018
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
GorBLIMEY!
This comment got me to thinking earlier -- hey, you've got to do it sometimes, so why not today, right?
At any rate, I wanted to take a moment to make sure that I piss everyone off that I've yet to offend:
Alan Moore is overrated.
Yeah, I said it. You heard me. I'll say it again:
Alan Moore is one of the most overrated names in the industry.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like some of Moore's work - I like his work in general, in fact - but that's a far cry from his being the new Stan Lee or something, the Stephen King of comic books, or whatever. And I really think part of this urban legend stems from the fact that he is British.
Now, I love the English - prefer them, in fact, to us Americans - but let's be honest about this: no matter how bad the fare is, if it's done by English folks, it automatically gets a better rating than the same crap from American creators. Take sit-coms, for a perfect example:
I love Brit-coms - prefer them, in fact, to most American sit-coms - but let's be honest about this: most British sit-coms are no better than the American ones. A lot of them are worse. The only difference between, say, Are You Being Served? and Three's Company is that one's British. Keeping Up Appearances is about as mundane a sit-com as you can find on any dial, and yet it's a PBS staple. There are some absolutely brilliant Brit-coms, but the truly great ones can be counted on one hand. Let's think about it:
There have been some others along the way, but that about rounds out the list of the truly good British sit-coms. American TV has that beaten by a country mile, yet unless it's on HBO, it doesn't get much mention and it sure as hell isn't going to be shown on PBS! Those Brits have us beaten when it comes to dramas, though - hands down.
Still, this is true about everything to which the Brits turn their collective hand, with the exception of Jazz. Punk rock (Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains -- the best, no question -- but they're sidenotes to crap like The Clash), heavy metal (granted, Black Sabbath literally invented the field, but it was done better by Americans), plain vanilla rock n roll, poetry... the list goes on and on!
At any rate, when it comes to comic books, I really think the Brits have the same sort of thing going. Alan Moore is good, no question, but he's no Frank Miller. I personally don't even think he's as good as Dave Sim (apt, as the two are good friends, but not exactly fair, since Sim is a Canadian, and we're largely concerning ourselves with the British and Americans), but unless you're talking about independents or their semi-famous discussion, you're not very likely to hear both names in the same conversation.
But Alan Moore is always talked about in reverential terms, often by the same people who talk about Gene Roddenberry in the same tones, and I just don't get it. What is it, exactly, that Moore has ever done that's so damn great? I don't mean really good, I mean GREAT? Because whatever it is, I guarantee you I can come up with three things Frank Miller has done that are simply, flat-out better - not just as good, but better!
And before you even start, just stop. Watchmen was good, but it wasn't the watershed comics event most fans make it out to be; that distinction would belong to Elektra: Assassin and there's simply no two ways about that. And who did Assassin? Who else? Watchmen wasn't even as good as Miller's venture that same year -- what was that one called... let me think, OH YEAH: Dark Knight Returns. V for Vendetta? Again, good, not great! You want a retro superhero in a dark future, try Ronin by... who else? And Ronin honestly wasn't even that good.
Don't misquote me, Alan Moore is a definitive talent within the entire field, and it's unfair to compare anyone to Frank Miller whose only true, living, peer is Stan Lee (and time and history will prove me correct on this) -- really, Miller is second only to that cat what did The Yellow Kid (whose name escapes me, presently), and that's only because that was the first real comic strip. But Moore is not The Voice of Comicdom, as many have asserted for 20+ years now.
Although, I freely admit, I would love to interview Moore one day, just because he really is infinitely fascinating and the amount of research and effort he puts into his work is evident in them all.
UPDATE: I realize GeoCities hasn't been around in more than a decade, but I left the link JIC in reroutes to an archived form. - 2018
At any rate, I wanted to take a moment to make sure that I piss everyone off that I've yet to offend:
Alan Moore is overrated.
Yeah, I said it. You heard me. I'll say it again:
Alan Moore is one of the most overrated names in the industry.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like some of Moore's work - I like his work in general, in fact - but that's a far cry from his being the new Stan Lee or something, the Stephen King of comic books, or whatever. And I really think part of this urban legend stems from the fact that he is British.
Now, I love the English - prefer them, in fact, to us Americans - but let's be honest about this: no matter how bad the fare is, if it's done by English folks, it automatically gets a better rating than the same crap from American creators. Take sit-coms, for a perfect example:
I love Brit-coms - prefer them, in fact, to most American sit-coms - but let's be honest about this: most British sit-coms are no better than the American ones. A lot of them are worse. The only difference between, say, Are You Being Served? and Three's Company is that one's British. Keeping Up Appearances is about as mundane a sit-com as you can find on any dial, and yet it's a PBS staple. There are some absolutely brilliant Brit-coms, but the truly great ones can be counted on one hand. Let's think about it:
- Monty Python's Flying Circus
- The Office
- Coupling
- Little Britain
- Father Ted
- Absolutely Fabulous
There have been some others along the way, but that about rounds out the list of the truly good British sit-coms. American TV has that beaten by a country mile, yet unless it's on HBO, it doesn't get much mention and it sure as hell isn't going to be shown on PBS! Those Brits have us beaten when it comes to dramas, though - hands down.
Still, this is true about everything to which the Brits turn their collective hand, with the exception of Jazz. Punk rock (Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains -- the best, no question -- but they're sidenotes to crap like The Clash), heavy metal (granted, Black Sabbath literally invented the field, but it was done better by Americans), plain vanilla rock n roll, poetry... the list goes on and on!
At any rate, when it comes to comic books, I really think the Brits have the same sort of thing going. Alan Moore is good, no question, but he's no Frank Miller. I personally don't even think he's as good as Dave Sim (apt, as the two are good friends, but not exactly fair, since Sim is a Canadian, and we're largely concerning ourselves with the British and Americans), but unless you're talking about independents or their semi-famous discussion, you're not very likely to hear both names in the same conversation.
But Alan Moore is always talked about in reverential terms, often by the same people who talk about Gene Roddenberry in the same tones, and I just don't get it. What is it, exactly, that Moore has ever done that's so damn great? I don't mean really good, I mean GREAT? Because whatever it is, I guarantee you I can come up with three things Frank Miller has done that are simply, flat-out better - not just as good, but better!
And before you even start, just stop. Watchmen was good, but it wasn't the watershed comics event most fans make it out to be; that distinction would belong to Elektra: Assassin and there's simply no two ways about that. And who did Assassin? Who else? Watchmen wasn't even as good as Miller's venture that same year -- what was that one called... let me think, OH YEAH: Dark Knight Returns. V for Vendetta? Again, good, not great! You want a retro superhero in a dark future, try Ronin by... who else? And Ronin honestly wasn't even that good.
Don't misquote me, Alan Moore is a definitive talent within the entire field, and it's unfair to compare anyone to Frank Miller whose only true, living, peer is Stan Lee (and time and history will prove me correct on this) -- really, Miller is second only to that cat what did The Yellow Kid (whose name escapes me, presently), and that's only because that was the first real comic strip. But Moore is not The Voice of Comicdom, as many have asserted for 20+ years now.
Although, I freely admit, I would love to interview Moore one day, just because he really is infinitely fascinating and the amount of research and effort he puts into his work is evident in them all.
UPDATE: I realize GeoCities hasn't been around in more than a decade, but I left the link JIC in reroutes to an archived form. - 2018
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