Not to be contrarian, but I fail to see how you are the Henry Rollins of conventions. I have never seen you wear black shorts (and I mean only black shorts) to a convention. As such I am also unable to comment on whether you are covered in tattoos. Your neck muscles are of a normal size. You don't write dark, angry poetry or highly confusing and experimental post-modern novels. I do not believe I have ever heard you yell, excepting when we perform "Sandwich". To my knowledge you have never performed in a film with Charlie Sheen or Michael Keaton.
As the guitar player in HW, I'd like to politely point out the hilarious irony of the fact that Trae doesn't play Guitar Hero (or guitar on Rock Band), because he's not very good at it. To be fair, though, most great GH players have no real musical talent, so he's got that going for him.
The new version is weird. It takes a video that's supposed to be about you guys being weird and turns it into a pseudo-serious memorial to a frozen fish. I was amused that the guitar kicks in when Topher pours the ashes into the river.
My super duper Firefox Alexa toolbar has you ranked at 333,112, fyi.
I learned long ago that most of the video game press is not to be trusted. I remember when Nintendo Power was hyping Body Harvest for the N64 as the coolest, most expansive game ever, and then I bought it and it sucked hard. From that point on, I basically only paid attention to fan reviews and a few trusted game journalists.
Also, how about us almost having a show tomorrow if we had practiced ever? Pretty weird.
Thor's right. Haribo gummi bears are *real* German gummi action, whereas Black Forest are just marketed to be so. Also, the sheer variety of Haribo products make the brand vastly superior - you haven't lived until you've had Twin Cherries.
Also, was I supposed to talk to Kev about drumming? send me a message if I was.
I swear, your remix of "Loud Guy on a Train" sounds for all the world like a damn B-side off of "The Downward Spiral" or something. It's insane, and I'm quite fond of it.
Damn it, Trae, now you have me addicted to that Pandora thing. I had long since stopped using Yahoo! Music's internet radio thing, which was similar in theory but way crappier in practice. Now you show me a good one. Thanks a lot, bud.
Man, there's an awful lot of me embarassing myself in this entry. Although I suppose I spend a lot of time embarassing myself in my day to day life, so that's not really surprising.
I can empathasize with the difficulties of long-distance relationships. It's really hard for me every time Moriah leaves when she's visiting me or vice versa. In the end though, I'd argue it's worth going through the being apart to make it work.
"Davenasaur" was always my favorite TSZN song to play. Moriah, being the musical contrarian that she often is, also claims that it's the band's best song, and says "Song We Wrote Last Night" is "kind of boring".
Congratulations again on the graduating. I don't "wooooo!" for people at graduations, because I think it is tacky, but know that I was spiritually "woooo!"-ing at the ceremony.
Gemuetlichkeit is a really obnoxious word to translate. It represents the good feeling one gets from social gatherings and being with others. Roughly translated I would say the name of that restaurant means "Restaurant for Enjoyable Gatherings."
Are you aware that this video isn't showing up on YouTube anymore? I already watched it, so it doesn't matter to me, but I just wanted to make sure you knew.
I liked this video. It was simple, but also fairly introspective at the same time.
"But I found I've gotten a little bored with RHPS over the years..." Maybe because, objectively evaluated on its own, it's a shit movie. There, I finally got that off my chest. That's right, world, I think RHPS is fucking lame and I'm not afraid to admit it.
I suck at Halo too. I still get suckered into playing it sometimes, though. I should really know better.
Not to be overly introspective in your comment section, but isn't it interesting how much can change in what is (relatively speaking) a short amount of time? Sometimes I think about where I was and what I was like 2 years ago and seems so...different. I think change interests me, and that's why I liked this entry.
Thank you for answering my boring and overly long questions.
Incidentally, I would argue that he was also not cool in the in-between period - it was during this point in time that he became a "born again" Christian (hence the satanic comments about Danzig) and played in a Christian band called "Kryst The Conqueror" (which is properly prononouced "Christ the Conqueror") which fused "fantastical Barbarian imagery with Christian messages and themes" (thanks Wikipedia). While I'm all for people doing their own thing, this conduct was just unbecoming of the man who played bass for The Misfits.
See, I know all kinds of useless crap. I was just looking for more opinions on the matter.
I'll echo Kitty in saying that I think this is my favorite vlog entry so far. Although I really do like content, I swear; I'm just a big fan of randomness and random humor.
Questions: 1) This question may be too boring to bother to answer in your video, but what program do you use to edit your entries? I'm just curious. 2) Jerry Only - is he cool or not? I mean, he innovated the Devillock and was extremely important to the Misfits' development and sound, but he was responsible for the horrendous reunion tours, wrestled in WCW, and tried to get Misfits fans to not support Danzig, claiming his new band was, and I quote, "satantic". I'm torn on this issue, and you are pretty much the only Misfits/Danzig fan I know.
Topher says something about a "Jacques Cousteau documentary, or a Michael Moore documentary". This line is from 2nd Squashing of America, near the beginning, if I recall correctly.
"Mother"? Really? You could've at least used some Misfits-era Danzig, like "Where Eagles Dare" or something.
I like the video blog. Although I may feel differently if I were currently in a position where I were hanging out with you in real life, because it does distinctly remind me of just hanging out with you, albeit a little less random. I encourage you to continue.
Yeah, the university's flipant disregard for the 2nd part of the Establishment Clause (you know, the "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" part) is pretty appalling.
Regardless, Housing's argument isn't and has never been based on the Establishment Clause. You're using it as a straw man. Housing's argument is that it makes RA's less accessible to students. And you're seriously arguing that an RA having an orgy in their room is going to be less offensive and less distancing to most students then an RA practicing their religion? I strongly question that.
The other thing I don't get is the argument that the RA can just go next door and participate in one. The students are still going to know, so they might still feel uncomfortable, right? Oh, well, maybe RAs shouldn't be able to participate in religious activities in the dorms. OH, but this RA has written on her posted schedule that she goes to a religious group of some sort on a certain night of the week. What if that makes them uncomfortable? Should they not be allowed to participate in religious activities at all? It leads to an obvious slippery slope, and I wouldn't be surprised if it started were the policy reinstituted.
Bottom line: RAs are people, not the constant voice of housing. People get to practice their religion. This is guaranteed, ironically, by the Establishment Clause you've brought up before. Housing, a government organization, is prohibiting students from practicing their religion. A clear violation of the Establishment Clause is at hand, but it's not the one you're thinking of.
The lawsuit is retarded. I'm not even going to comment on that dumb shit. Filing a lawsuit after something has been changed (temporarily or not) is just cashing in. So that's not what I'm talking about.
You can use CAPS all you WANT, but you still haven't convinced me that it's a state-provided office. And if the problem is that they're employees of the state on state property, then why is it still ok for them to go to someone elses room and have one? Or to use a room in Davies for one. The same argument applies: a state employee on state property is practicing a religious activity.
The problem for me still lies in the fact that I fail to see the violation of the Establishment Clause. It seems like an over-application of what it's intended to defend against. The state isn't attempting to establish a religion; state employees are trying to practice theirs. I don't see how that could be construed as a violation.
I'm pretty disappointed with you resorting to the "you don't know what it's like to be a minority" line. It's such a cop-out. Do you remember the early days of the Flip Side? Do you remember how constantly I had to defent my religious view from the atheists, agnostics, and other non-Christians on that paper? I admit I don't know what it's like to go day-to-day in a minority role, but I know what it feels like to have people try and push their religious views on you.
For as much as you talk about people respecting your religion, you seem to have a really hard time respecting other people's right to practice their religion. If an RA is bugging people on their wing about the religious activity, there's a problem. If they simply post a notice somewhere that there is one, that shouldn't pressure anyone to become involved. If they feel that way, they're being overly sensitive.
Also, you should really quit framing this solely in terms of Christianity. It betrays your biases. This affects all religions. The fact that the debate has been framed in such a way in the local media is completely irresponsible. It's a domino effect: if one religion is prohibited from practicing their religion, the others eventually will be too. It's like that quote from the Holocaust, the author of whom my brain sadly cannot remember: the one about how he watched and said nothing as the rights of others where taken away, and then there was no one left to protest when they were taken away from him.
If this offends you, I apologize beforehand. It's my honest analysis of the situation.
Please. An RA's room is their "government-provided office?" Then where do they live? RAs are not payed anywhere near enough to work 24 hours a day. There must be a time at which an RA's room is just that: their home.
Should an RA engage in a religious or political activity while he or she is on duty? No, because then they are on the clock. RAs are people too; they're not mindless automotons working 24 hours a day for Housing.
Whether you understand/like it or not, for people in many religions (for once again, this does reach beyond just Christianity), gathering together and discussing their religion is an important part of practicing their religion. Not allowing them to do so in their rooms violates their rights to practice religion.
And don't even bother with the "they can just go somewhere else" argument. They shouldn't have to. It's unfair to say that a certain group of university employees aren't allowed to practice their religion where they want.
And seriously, is ANYONE stupid enough to actually think that just because an RA practices a religion, that implies that Housing thinks said religion is better? That's just asinine.
You had to go and bring Lichtenstein into it. I don't know what you're bring Lichtenstein into, but you had to do it.
As if German-speaking countries don't have enough problems with Nazi jokes, you have to besmirch the name of one of the only German-speaking city-state. Thanks a lot, jackass.
