We Are No Longer Victims Of The World

I was importing some old CDs into my the imac the other night when I came across something I hadn't listened to in 5 or 6 years. Ink & Dagger's "Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart". Hardcore punk peoples of the mid school will surely recall this band's quick ascent to notoriety in the mid to late 90s. Using Kiss-esque makeup and theatrics, the band blared their vampire themed anthems out to the often closed-minded scene, and made a connection with those who felt limited by the choice of either mohawk or mosh part. Creating a chaotic sound that relied as much on hooks and melody as breakdowns and screaming, they paved the way for spindely guitared, tight panted bands such as Pretty Girls Make Graves and At The Drive In to cash in a few years later.

Some weird stuff happened after they called it a day in 1999. Singer and former straight edge enthusiast Sean Patrick McCabe was found dead and alone in an Indiana Motel Room in August 2000, a victim of choking on his own vomit. At age 27. Sound familiar rock history fans? You may also recognize one time bass player Eric Wareheim as half of the comedy team Tim and Eric, the people behind Tom Goes To The Mayor Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! What can't that guy do?

Anyway, its still a great listen today, especially on a morning when you need a little extra juice. I'm kind of surprised there isn't more stuff on youtube featuring them, as their lives shows were the thing of legend. Heres a decent clip on them ripping up "Newspaper Tragedy" on their home turf.

That Vampire Weekend Record

Paul Simon? Why is no one noticing the obvious Operation Ivy connection. Here is the essentially the same song, separated by 20 years of subculture degradation.

Is that an iphone?

Soon enough its going to be a foregone conclusion that the purchase of an iphone over most other competing brands is a no brainer. Once the price drops into the $200 range, I believe we can kiss the term "cell phone" goodbye. Lord knows when my current contract fizzles out in a few months I'll be purchasing.

Since its release last June, we've seen the birth pains of another piece of technology's particular etiquette set. Summer 2008 you heard a lot of "Is that an iphone?" conversations spark up as people pulled their soon to be obsolete 8GB $600 beauties out of their bags at restaurants and bars. Now you could check your email and log in to facebook as your friend relays another time consuming story about their sister's recent breast cancer battle. Maybe the trend will level out, similar to how cell phone usage in the early 00s seemed to be blaring from street corners and was eventually muted by the rise of texting. But at what cost? As our communication lines have become more linear, we've become impatient, bored, and uncomfotable with the presence of random human interaction in our midst, incapable of enjoying the challenge of conversation because we are flexing that intellectual muscle less and less. That atrophy is passed off as a matter of control and choice, as if tine tuning our receptors is going to keep the riff raff out of our head space.

Last night I attended a party a friend had at an average lower Manhattan bar. I made note of a few observations from the front line. First theres the Domino Effect. You know the drill for the iphone wielder. Arrive at social gathering. Place device on the surface in front of your physical being. Begin checking Iphone for communiques at 2 minute intervals, depending on if the conversation is about you or not. If it is not directly about you, more frequent intervals are permitted. Within moments the other iphones appear on the table, followed by blackberries, and finally, the more pedestrian verizon and sprint cell phones, looking like stale prunes next to their superiors. Then begins the iphone as conversation piece phenomena. Could anything be more boring? "Is that an iphone?" YES IT IS. And I bet you've got some photos of your rat dog in a stupid outfit on it as well. Then comes the pop culture knowledge dispersal. We are now only as smart as our WIFI connection is fast. What was that Fred Savage/Judge Reinhold movie where they switch bodies? WAIT! I can look it up on my Iphone! Cool! The only problem is I am going to stop the conversation for 8 minutes as I peruse which networks I can tap in to, all the while creating a sense of awkwardness and tension as the people around me watch my face transform into a blue lit zombie staring at the floor! Hey look I got a text message from that guy!