…flipside addendum.. (Confessions)
I didn't take this picture.
For those of you who missed this comment on the last post because it was held in the purgatory that is the spam filter:
l.a. punk at that time, especially the early 80s, was a number of different things — exhilirating, frustrating, brilliant, mind bogglingly stupid, violent, cathartic, dangerous and often very very scary. “normal” folk viewed you as something wholly alien, the t.v. portrayed you as ice-pick wielding serial killers impervious to pain or human emotion, and others simply wanted to wipe you off the face of the planet (if you’re male, put on your mom’s sluttiest dress and take a stroll through the mall during peak hours and you’ll get an approximation).
inside the punk scene you could run into some of the stupidest, most violent morons you can imagine, but…some of the most creative minds, the most eccentric personalities, and the most screwed up people on the planet were able to congregate, interact and create what felt like a utopian oasis in the midst of reaganomics, rick springfield and a society insisting on conformity and pining for the good ol’ days when the suburbs were the future and everyone knew their place. punk in reality was far from utopia, especially by the early/mid-80s when factionalism and gangs started spoiling the fun, but it was real, it was angry and it wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power.
the important thing, though, is to keep in mind that it isn’t a thing of the past. it has seen change, yes, and some of the same stupidity can still be found, but the scene still exists with no shortage of great, “real” bands pushing the envelope and challenging the status quo. bands like blink-182 and avenged sevenfold are no more representative of what’s out there than 50 cent and fergie are representative of the breadth of creative expression coming out of hip hop. and it remains rooted on the Do-It-Yourself attitude of “who says i can’t ____?” the key is to DO. as flipside so eloquently put it for more than two decades, “be more than a witness” — make a zine, start a band, paint, make a movie, take a stand, write a book, recreate yourself in your own image, don’t take “no” for an answer, question everything and blindly accept nothing, take an active part in your own life.
-Jimmy Tumors
This guy Jimmy is one of my many gurus and I’m sure you can see why. I was actually fervently hoping that he’d see the last post and say something about it. THANKS, JIMMY!!!
Now, my darling dears, are we taking an active part in our own lives? Are we standing idly by complaining about the status quo and the shit we don’t like instead of actually doing something to change it?
I can’t say that I always do, but I am tired of holding things in for the sake of being polite. I’m about as tired of that as I am with the idea that I’m approaching this life thing too passively. We’re supposed to be GETTING IT IN in 2010!
Methinks I may need to start a new project to deal with this lil’ issue o’ mine.
*tents fingers*
Is there something you’ve thought about doing and shelved because of hateration and/or holleration? How about we make an e-pact to just do whatever it is that we’ve been thinking about doing? Who cares if we’re good at it? I know I can’t sing for shit, but damnit, I want to start a band…and be the singer. If someone tells me I should learn an instrument, I’m going to say “fuck you, dude. YOU play an instrument. My fingers are too short and I WANNA SING!”
Ok, I probably won’t do that but I do kinda want to start a band.
So, what do you say? Let’s go the O.G. punk route, and DIY it up. Who says you can’t? Fuck them. ALICIA SAYS YOU CAN.
NOW GO!
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15 Responses to “…flipside addendum..”
Right on, Jimmy Tumors. Right fucking on.
.-= Ev`Yan || apricot tea.´s last blog ..learning to be thrifty & DIY-y, in spite of my wants. =-.
yes. go do instead of just talking about it!
that’s not just what punk is about, it’s what LIFE is about in my belief
by the way, loving the new banner, and the photo in it.
.-= sui´s last blog ..groceries and accomplishing the mission: 2010 =-.
I’ve always wanted to start my own zine.
/love for Jimmy Tumors
It made me feel swoony to read that.
(And I love your new header, sweets!)
.-= Ashe Mischief´s last blog ..IFB Presents: Links á la Mode =-.
CHHHUUUUUUCCCCCHHHHH.
.-= Danielle´s last blog ..Radical honesty =-.
so i love this Jimmy Tumors guy. that last paragraph… genius. i want to quote it all. i think music was the purest in the 80s… even looking at hip-hop… they were all rebellious, artistic, ORIGINAL expressions in raw form.
seems everyone is a clone now. and boring ones at that. lol.
i’m so with you on just doing sh*t because you want to and not letting anyone define or stifle you in TwennyTen. Life is too short for coulda woulda shoulda and can’t won’t don’t.
…i’d so be in your band btw. let’s do it. i have long fingers and i like guitars.
i’ve been reading a lot of beatnik generation writers, Jack Kerouac being the main one and the freedom in which he and the others wrote with and the blatant disregard for political correctness was just so gangster and can def be applied to life, even today. “you’re a genius all the time. be crazy dumbsaint of the mind.” etc…
so send the ‘haters’ a message from the makers of EFF YOU … helping people get over themselves one finger at a time.
-a Muze quote. lol
Love the Jimmy Tumors comment. I say let’s go get em in 2010! Life is definitely too short to let the haters and naysayers keep you down and keep you from doing whatever you want to do. I will definitely join your e-pact!
.-= Sheena´s last blog ..Post-Holiday Treat for Me: Wendy Brandes Juana Skull Necklace =-.
oh I so needed to read this today. That last quote from Jimmy is the motto of my new life. I’m not sure why but 2010 already feels like the year where I’m growing more comfortable with myself, saying what I want, and doing anything I want to do!
The spam filter must have thought such a long comment had to be from Ed the spammer or the Uggs people who keep hitting me.
.-= WendyB´s last blog ..Seeing Blue =-.
diy it up, eh… funny you should mention that… (fingers tented…)
my dining room is covered with chains. want a surprise??? you’re probs on your way to making one anyway, but i got something for you. (BUT i forgot your address, resend it to me, please? note my new email.)
ALSO, a couple posts down… for some reason i’ve always thought black eyeliner all the way around made my eyes look small. i loves the under eye liner only!
YEAH!!!!
.-= Felicia´s last blog ..Inspiration =-.
“…recreate yourself in your own image, don’t take “no” for an answer, question everything and blindly accept nothing, take an active part in your own life.”
Damn…that’s good stuff.
Hell to the yeah. I’ve never indulged the status quo and don’t plan to any time soon. One of the many reasons I was a Women’s Studies major. You’ve got a great discourse going on here Alicia, I truly hope people are taking what you say and implementing it in their lives.
There’s a lot of fleeting words out there with bloggers but your voice is genuine and I appreciate that.
.-= Natalie / Fashion Intel´s last blog ..OPEN FOR BUSINESS =-.
ahh, how i missed this.
dood, i’m bout to take the biggest plunge evvvverrrrr.
*sigh*. so your discourse is helping me stay off my ass. it’s nice to have this little (big) e-pact going. i’m down. who needs a ‘get off your ass’ cheerleader??? GO SING!
.-= pennerad´s last blog ..get yer feet right =-.
First time visitor. It was nice to stumble upon this post. Jimmy’s quote is awesome, especially the last part. I’m going to frame that somewhere on one of my walls.
I’ve got an idea of what I want to do in 2010 but this post definitely helped to keep up my motivation.