Suck my….

You know… usually a day doesn’t go by where I don’t hear of something else that pisses me off. I don’t know what kind of diseased funk this country has gotten itself into but everything is taking the fast track to the shitter and it’s really starting to get on my nerves. Everything from corporate America to the music industry, price of gas and commercials before the movies at the cinemas. THIS SHIT DIDN’T USE TO HAPPEN!!!!!!!! Why doesn’t anybody see this?!?!?! Why is everyone O.K. with being charged $2.50 at an ATM? Today, like most days, is no exception. In fact, today I’ve come across at least a dozen things that really really piss me off. And now I’ll share them with you in hopes that someone else MIGHT be slightly annoyed as well. Maybe if enough people don’t like what the worlds coming to we can turn it around and change it. The odds of that happening are pretty fucking slim, but it’s worth a shot.

Before I get to all the things that are pissing me off today, I’d like to hypothesize as to some of the reasons why all this is happening. My first thought is that the gene-pool got real shallow real quick. Think about it. How many times have you see someone cross 3 lanes of traffic and nearly kill 20 people only to think “man that guy is dumb”? Now think about how often you did that 10 years ago. How often did we hear about guns in schools, people suing McDonalds for being fat, SUVs, cell phones etc? STUPID PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO KILL US! I can say, without fear of being mistaken, that the person that designed the first consumer SUV (note: not for commercial or industry use, where they might need a larger vehicle) was a raving ass-hat. “Gee, this thing only gets 2.5 miles to the gallon, but it can transport the entire ass-hat soccer team so I guess it’s a good idea.” We should find that guy and hit him with a really big stick until he apologizes.

My second theory is actually an age old one. That this is the end times, Armageddon is approaching and we’re all fucked. Who else could invent MTV but the devil? Come on now, think about. Put your “I’m not religious so you must be wrong” dogma away and think about it. The whole “entertainment” industry is crap, there’s nothing good on TV, Frank Sinatra is dead, baseball has disenchanted sports fans, mothers don’t stay home with their kids and teach them whats right and wrong, there are shootings in ELEMENTARY schools, the government is fucking everything up and somehow Justin Temberlake is allowed to live. What other explanation can there be but the existence of pure evil?

Speaking of pure evil, my last and final possibility involves just that. Not satanic evil mind you, but the evil of man. Corporate man to be exact. Yup, the phrase “damn the man” has never been so aptly used than in today’s society. Who’s trying to make you pay for downloading songs? The man. Who’s trying to cover up the fact that their new line of cars will kill you instantly on impact? The man. Who’s scared of kids having a good time and outlaws events with more than 20 people? Yup, you guessed it, the man. Pop music, fatty foods, health and “beauty” products, gas prices, CD prices, The Gap, Microsoft, the downfall of western culture… all easily blamable on “the man.” I mentioned yesterday an article that pointed out that CDs should only cost a dollar or two. This is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Companies, marketing teams, board of directors, and people like them, deciding to sell a consumer product at a 1500% percent mark-up only because they can and people are stupid enough to buy it.

All this crap makes me sick. There’s not much I can do about it either. Believe me I try though. I’ve written a total of 7 letters of my congressman. I’ve even considered writing one to our president but I figured he’d never be able to figure out words with more than 4 letters. I’m by no means a perfect person, forsaking all consumer goods and living in a cave with nothing but a computer and a home-spun linen cloth. No, I sit at home, in my leather office chair, drinking a Mt.Dew, with my New Balance sneakers on, downloading music and pondering which major film brand to put in my expensive camera next. Like I said, I’m not perfect. I’m far from it. But I do my part. I refuse to buy an SUV, I don’t wear anything made my Nike, I bought an AMD processor and didn’t pay full retail price for Windows XP. I don’t shop at Walmart if I can avoid it, I read Jack Kerouac on the weekends instead of watching Sunday Night Football on NBC and I download as much music as humanly possible. That’s right, fuck the RIAA, fuck Britney Spears, fuck congress, their laws and the horses they rode in on. This is the one thing I’ve picked to be completely and totally adamant on. I will NOT ever stop downloading music. I will only buy import CDs or from small independent artists. I will make a stand. My bumper stickers (anti-RIAA and Pro MP3) are already on my car. Damn the man, damn him as soon, as often and as hard as possible.

“Damn the man, save the Empire”

*breathe*

Ok, so now you know the reasons behind my anger. Now, how about a few specifics to liven up your day. I hope you enjoy the evilness that is our world:

Fuck you, RIAA and your attempts to shame people into not downloading music.

M.U.S.I.C stands for something other than Must Unite and Sack Idiotic Congressmen, although I wish it didn’t.

The RAVE Act, whose acronym stands for “Reducing Americans’ Vunerability to Ecstacy” is vague and useless. Great to see that “the system” is really at work. Good job boys. Read more.

War. Are you people insane? Wait… you are. Nevermind.

Another great idea: Record Labels Request Online Sabotage Rights. Umm, no thank you. I don’t want the future of the internet to be determined by the same people who gave the green light to a Justin Timberlake solo album.

What a good idea… charging for something that should be free. What’s next, ATMs that charge you for using them… wait a second. Uh oh.

Stealing commissions… now that’s just wrong.

Alright, and to finish all this ranting and raving up, here’s an actual quote from an artist on the M.U.S.I.C website. Enjoy the stupidity of people who should know better.

Musiq, Singer, Platinum Award Winning Urban Music Artist, “AIJUSWANASEING: “I think that people do need to be educated on the seriousness of music piracy because it cuts into hard working people’s money, especially the artists—people like me.”

Ok…

A: Your name is Musiq and your cd is called “AIJUSWANASEING”. You sir, are a moron.
B: You’re an “urban” cover artist. You don’t “work hard.” You cover Stevie Wonder tunes you ass-hat.
C: Aren’t you being a tad self-centered, especially considering your house probably costs more money than anyone who’s ever downloaded anything you “yelled in the microphone and recorded” might ever see.

Stupid people piss me off. A lot.

Quote of the year

In an article at PC Magazine, John C. Dvorak talks about the reasons that cds should be $1.40 instead of $16+. This is the final quote from the article.

“The U.S. government should not be corrupted by the Recording Industry Association of America and should instead do more about price fixing. And let’s stop lecturing people about legality and morality. Students in particular are not moral reprobates, nor are they fools. They are pragmatists, and they stretch the rules along with their budgets. This is a crowd that worships the fake ID and is taught to question authority. So you’re going to lecture them about copyrights? Give up. Rethink your business model. The problem will be solved.”

Photo shoot and Photoshop

Well, my photo shoot when very well yesterday. I dropped off the film this afternoon and got the film back just a few minutes ago. I’m good. I’m damn good. Actually, they probably need to be cropped a bit in photoshop, but that’s no big deal. So, missions accomplished.

Speaking of photoshop, I’ve been playing with Chip’s logo, per request, and trying to come up with a smaller version for his photo gallery. I’m sure if you shoot over to Chocobo.cx, he’ll have it up somewhere.

In even more photoshop news, after helping Lauren out with a logo design for her hotel project, I got the logo bug myself and picked up a book on logo/letterhead and buisness card design. I’ve already had a few ideas but the book help cement a few of the in the realm of possibilities.

As for the rest of my day, I’m going to do nothing. A great, awesome, well needed nothing. Lauren is downtown working in the AutoCAD labs on a blueprint/floorplan and is then having a “girls night out”. Jason is going to see that new Jackie Chan movie with Mellissa and Nagle is busy with Katie. That leave me all alone at home to sit and enjoy my video game utopia. Oh how I wish it was October 1st so I could be installed UT2k3 at the moment… but that will have to wait until next weekend.

That is all.

Must not stress

must not stress… must not stress… must not stress… must not stress… must not stress… DAMNIT! It’s not working.

*photo shoot stress continues*

Easy Stress

I suppse that’s sort of like “Sweet and Lowdown.” Whatever. Well, today I get to take it easy but stress my brains out over my shoot tomorrow. I don’t have to go to class until 4:30 this afternoon and when I do it’s only for about 15 minutes. After that however, I have to run around the city and gather items for my photo shoot tomorrow. I have to find 2 pieces of frosted plexiglass, a red backdrop and chocolate covered strawberries. Odds are I won’t find the strawberries so I’ll have to make some, which of course involves a trip to the supermarket. I also need to pick up some chocolate pudding incase the dipping chocolate doesn’t work out. You see, I’m taking a picture of chocolate covered strawberries, very close up, with delicate lighting and a red background. According to my teacher it’s harder than it seems. That has me worried. I’ve had some tricky shoots before, but when the teacher says “wow, you like a challege huh?” it begins to worry me. I also need to buy some Poloroid (for test shots) from the school store since my B&H order won’t be here until Oct 1st. The problem with the school store is that it’s insainly overpriced (just like ALL school stores). We’re charged $15 a roll of Fuji Provia 120, a $5 roll of film. It’s rather aggrivating.

So, anyways, here it is 11:15am and I’m sitting around the apartment in my PJs debating which Hot Pocket to have for lunch, stressing about a photoshoot tomorrow. What a life. Everybody should be an artist. If you can deal with an insane amount of stress for 1 or 2 days a week, you get the rest of the week to relax and preplan your next stressful activity.

Oh, and I’ve got a few random links for you guys:

Nagle (or for anyone else if they feel like converting Mac icons to PC) I found a random little place for some OSX icons. Check out XIcons.com. And speaking of Mac stuff, there’s an OSX Dockbar in development for WinXP over at AquaSoft. They also have PC versions of iTalk, Aqua Finder, Aqua Browser, OSX Mail, iAppControls, and even a replacement version of “About this Mac” instead of your normal PC “General Info” tab.

Just thought I’d share. Later.