This revealing and touching film asks, What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians -- punk rockers -- become society's ultimate authorities: dads?
With a large chorus of punk rock's leading men -- Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Rise Against's Tim McIlrath -- THE OTHER F WORD follows Jim Lindberg, a 20-year veteran of the skate punk band Pennywise, on his hysterical and moving journey from belting his band's anthem "F--k Authority" anthem to embracing his ultimately authoritarian role in mid-life as the other F word, father.
Other dads featured include skater Tony Hawk, Jack Grisham (TSOL), Art Alexakis (Everclear), Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Tony Adolescent (The Adolescents), Fat Mike (NOFX), Lars Frederiksen (Rancid), and many others.
For the World to Live "Columbus" Must Die Russell Means, Program #MEAR003, recorded in Denver, CO on April 27, 1992 LISTEN TO AUDIO. For too many of us, for too long, the indigenous peoples of this continent have been curiosities that existed somewhere over the horizon between fantasy and reality. The popularly crafted images were of medicine men [mostly women], squaws, peace pipes, teepees, tom toms, tomahawks, war bonnets, war paint, war whoops, and war parties. The only Indians we knew were named Tonto, Geronimo, and Crazy Horse. In recent years a lot of these cliches have disappeared. The American Indian Movement has done much to break down the conventional stereotypes. AIM articulates a program of self awareness and pride. It promotes treaty and land rights and religious freedom for Native Americans.
Russell Means, an Oglala Dakota and a prominent voice in the continuing struggle for indigenous rights, is a founding member of AIM and one of its leading spokespersons. He is Chief Executive Officer of the American Indian Anti-Defamation Council, an organization which monitors anti-Indian racism in the media and politics, and has organized and lectured throughout the world.
"Where Next Columbus?" Crass Another's hope, another's game Another's loss, another's gain Another's lies, another's truth Another's doubt, another's proof Another's left, another's right Another's peace, another's fight Another's name, another's aim Another's fall, another's fame Another's pride, another's shame Another's love, another's pain Another's hope, another's game Another's loss, another's gain Another's lies, another's truth...
Marx had an idea from the confusion of his head Then there were a thousand more waiting to be led The books are sold, the quotes are bought You learn them well and then you're caught
Another's left, another's right Another's peace, another's fight Mussolini had ideas from the confusion of his heart Then there were a thousand more waiting to play their part The stage was set, the costumes worn And another empire of destruction born Another's name, another's aim Another's fall, another's fame Jung had an idea from the confusion of his dream Then there were a thousand more waiting to be seen You're not yourself, the theory says But I can help, your complex pays
Another's hope, another's game Another's loss, another's gain
Satre had an idea from the confusion of his brain Then there were a thousand more indulging in his pain Revelling in isolation and existential choice Can you truly be alone when you use another's voice?
Another's lies, another's truth Another's doubt, another's proof The idea born in someone's mind Is nurtured by a thousand blind Anonymous beings, vacuous souls Do you fear the confusion, your lack of control? You lift your arm to write a name So caught up in the identity game
Who do you see? Who do you watch? Who's your leader? Which is your flock? Who do you watch? Who do you watch? Who's your leader? Which is your flock? Einstein had an idea from the confusion of his knowledge Then there were a thousand more turning to advantage They realised that their god was dead So they reclaimed power through the bomb instead Anothers code, another's brain They'll shower us all in deadly rain Jesus had an idea from the confusion of his soul Then there were a thousand more waiting to take control The guilt is sold, forgiveness bought The cross is there as your reward
Anothers love, another's pain Anothers pride, another's shame Do you watch at a distance from the side you have chosen? Whose answers serve you best? Who'll save you from confusion? Who will leave you an exit and a comfortable cover Who will take you oh so near the edge, but never drop you over? Who do you watch?
(Chastrie) Police riot (provoking by strategy, brutality, and with undercover provocateurs) because they can't beat peace. All they need is an excuse. Rioting is what they train for with the help of consultants, lawyers, the FBI, and PR firms. Police want rioting.
"Riot" (Dead Kennedys) Rioting, the unbeatable high Adrenaline shoots your nerves to the sky Everyone knows this town is gonna blow And it's all gonna blow right now
Now you can smash all the windows that you want All you really need are some friends and a rock Throwing a brick never felt so [darn] good Smash more glass Scream with a laugh And wallow with the crowds Watch them kicking peoples' ass
But you get to the place Where the real slave drivers live It's walled off by the riot squad Aiming guns right at your head
So you turn right around And play right into their hands
And set your own neighborhood Burning to the ground instead
Riot: the unbeatable high Riot: shoots your nerves to the sky Riot: playing into their hands Tomorrow you're homeless Tonight it's a blast!
Get your kicks in quick They're callin' the National Guard Now could be your only chance To torch a police car
Climb the roof, kick the siren in And jump and yelp for joy Quickly, dive back in the crowd Slip away, now don't get caught
Let's loot the spiffy hi-fi store Grab as much as you can hold Pray your full arms don't fall off Here comes the owner with a gun
CHORUS
The barricades spring up from nowhere Cops in helmets line the lines Shotguns prod into your bellies The trigger fingers want an excuse, NOW
The raging mob has lost its nerve There's more of us but who goes first No one dares to cross the line The cops know that they've won
It's all over but not quite The p[olice] have just begun to fight They club your heads, kick your teeth Police can riot all that they please
P. MacPherson, D. Seven, A. Wells, CC Liu (Wisdom Quarterly)
A Japanese punk scene across the sea later created cyberpunk masterpieces that focused on punks and freaks of all kinds (cinemastrikesback.com).
LOS ANGELES - Punk rock made me a Buddhist. A few hot spots in America (Boston, NYC, SF) gave rise to the American version of "punk," now devolved into pop-punk and bubblegum rock.
But it was once a rebellious act -- something that would get you arrested, beaten in Hollywood by riot police (LAPD/OCPD Gone Wild with a license to assault, jail, beat, and even shoot).
OC police now engage in brutality as bad as that of their brothers in blue next door -- killing for sport. RIP Kelly Thomas of Fullerton (abclocal.go.com).
I always thought police hated punk rock. But it seems what they hate are kids, freedom, rebellion, youthful exuberance.
Police/paramilitary troops (many back from active duty in the military killing freely in Afghanistan and Iraq) stand stiffly wielding sticks, covering their badges, deploying all sorts of "toys" -- Tasers, concussion grenades, choke holds, mace, tear gas, non-metal projectiles (that cause serious injury and death while claiming to be nonlethal, but lethality completely depends on how they are used), horses, military assault rifles, shotguns, revolvers, mace, and secret stuff (using microwaves and infiltrating provocateurs).
What's it to do with Buddhism? Like the liberating Dharma itself, punk goes against the stream. I didn't join Noah Levine in his movement. I didn't wait for Keanu Reeves to make a movie about it. And I was no Brad Warner fan, nor even a student of "Zen," except as articulated by Alan Watts on KPFK, the city's only free speech radio outlet. Their were genius front men like Jello Biafra, the person with the most integrity, to be inspired by. There were the Buddha's own words to go by, particularly the Kalama Sutra.
Steven Blush has documented what the music was really like at the time:
"Hardcore is a Complete, Legitimate California-born Music Form" In his 2001 compendium, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, New York writer and former promoter Steven Blush all but dispensed with your dad's glamorized spit-scabs-and-safety-pin punk, instead focusing on hundreds of DIY, anarchic hardcore bands from the scene's peak between 1980 and 1986, proving that this was one genre of rock that wasn't fun and games, especially when the crowd is trying to light the singer on fire.
While Blush interviewed the music's usual suspects, including the Dead Kennedys, Misfits and Bad Brains, a substantial amount the book is not surprisingly dedicated to SoCal, from Hollywood to Orange County to the South Bay of Black Flag and SST.
Or, as Blush rightly identified, where "American hardcore was born..." (Bad Brains singer H.R.'s interview in the accompanying 2006 Sony Pictures Classics documentary took place at Griffith Park with a quinceanera in the background).
For the book's second edition, which includes more interviews, flyers, and a new chapter, Blush hosts a readings/discussion at Book Soup today, with Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), Tony Cadena (Adolescents), Lisa Fancher (Frontier Records), and photographer Edward Colver. Before he left the frigid cold for sunshine, we caught up with the author and talked local pride:
How did the book come about?
I started in the mid-'90s when the punk revival had happened with Green Day, Offspring, and Rancid. Everybody was talking about hardcore, but it had never really been documented. There was never any written lore other than fanzines, and some great ones, like Flipside in the L.A. area and Maximumrocknroll in San Francisco, notably.More
LOS ANGELES, California - This city officially has too much to offer, "too much good stuff" as a silly commercial boasts of its outlets. The City of Angels (El Pueblo deNuestraSeñora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula) really does.
Buddhist Pope cancels L.A. appearance The 14th Dalai Lama -- who only represents a former theocratic kingdom/mountain empire (that in ancient times extended its influence west to Israel and south to Bangladesh), which follows a small but very influential brand of Buddhism called Vajrayana or sometimes Lamaism -- was on his way to Los Angeles when his doctor grounded him in Tokyo, a great place to recover from any mysterious illness. Eh-hem. Well, we can only hope he's safe. Will he make it to USC by Tuesday? Probably not, students, so get ready for a stand in. (Are these tickets refundable a some sort of show is still put on?)
The Pope, a Saint? There is no "avalanche of halos" the way there is at the Vatican since Pope John Paul II started handing out blessedness and sainthood (canonizing more people in one papacy than in all the papacies before him combined) making the Church more cosmopolitan but also making the faith more irrelevant. We obviously do not have more "real" saints, just a cheapening of the label. Los Angeles Catholics were blase -- unless they were in Rome for the beatification -- over the dead pope's new title "blessed."
We cleaned the Los Angeles River This might be the riverPorciúncula, the city's famous namesake, which is cleaned periodically by thousands of citizen volunteers, good stewards of the planet. Saturday was all about pulling plastic from the flood control wash since most of the burned out VWs and heavy duty garbage was removed a few years back. The Doodah Parade and Books The precursor to the more famous Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena is skewered on the same massive boulevard, but its date seems to get pushed further away each year. Maybe it's morphing into a Spring Fest in honor of Esther and Dionysus, given all the revelry, Paganism, and general good humor. The L.A. Convention Center's Lea, L.A. ("Read, L.A." or the city's first Spanish book fair, after the Guadalajara Book Fair) rivals The Los Angeles Book Fair (held this year at nearby USC).
Permaculture Convergence Three days of hippie camping in Malibu to talk all things organic, gardening, farming, and green living -- now that sounds like a great time if it weren't so cold at night. But it's great by day!
CRASS tears through town Britain's own anarcho-punk collective blew the windows out at the Glasshouse in the Pomona Arts Colony the night after it scared the chickens at the Fox Theater (a block away). We'll review the show soon because Eve Libertine's doppelganger (Carol Hodges) was FANTASTIC! The crust's delight. We stopped talking about the rescheduled shows because it was generally assumed Steve Ignorant was simply going to sing all the male vocals and skip the best of Crass. But Hodges made it the full CRASS experience (minus Penny Rimbaud).
MAY DAY! See photos from celebrations around the world. It's International Worker's Day on our day off -- and the marching will go on in spite of LAPD crackdowns in the past that reveal that we live in an Orwellian police state with a lot of Huxley influences. Smaller crowds rally on their only day off in downtown L.A. under tight police control.
The Amazing Glut of Anniversaries Shakespeare's birthday, Hitler's birthday, Japan's nuclear disaster monthly remembrance, King James' version of the Christian Bible (a pro-monarchy translation that became the world's most popular though far from its most accurate)... there are simply too many to track, but we'll add to the list to recognize some amazing coincidences.
"May you live in interesting times," the ancient Chinese compliment/curse runs.
This revealing and touching film asks, What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians -- punk rockers -- become society's ultimate authorities: dads?
