The Many Hats of Revolutionaries

The Many Hats of Revolutionaries or: Hats off to the Revolution

To be a successful revolutionary, it is essential to constantly wear a cool hat. Sure, you'll need intellect, courage, a large following and all that stuff, but first off, you'll need a hat. Just look throughout history to see what I mean. The infamous Mexican revolutionaries Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata totally sported those big sombreros all the time. Many believe their success largely was due to the sombreros themselves.
Another fine example would be Che Guevera. Che's hair was going all over the place during his fight for freedom in Cuba. Luckily, one day he stumbled upon that cool beret with the star on it. From then on he was able to simply tuck some of his hair up into it, thus enabling the revolutionary to see even more clearly in his fight for freedom. Further along the line, revolutionist Fidel Castro won over the masses of a poverty stricken Cuba in a triumph over the tyrannic Batista government. I think we all know that Castro would be nothing without his cool little green hat and cigars. Which brings me back to another point; tobacco.
Tobacco also helps in being a revolutionary. Castro is a good example of this, but so is Subcommandante Marcos, currently the vanguard of the EZLN movement for worker freedom in Chiapas, Mexico. Marcos is rarely seen without a pipe in his mouth. He even has a special hole in his ski-mask to fit the pipe through. Oh yeah, did I mention that he wears a ski-mask? He wears a ski-mask alright. And as if that wasn't enough, he wears a hat on top of it too! That's my kind of revolutionary. Marcos takes the best from all worlds: his own signature ski-mask look, tobacco in a pipe, a Castro style hat and not one, not two, but three stars on his hat, reminiscent of Guevera (times three!). Talk about a man with ideas! He has definately raised the bar for future revolutionaries and future hats. I sure wouldn't want to follow that act.

Wind Below

I just wrote this essay on the song "Wind Below" by Rage Against The Machine. I had to analyize some lyrics for school for extra credit and I figured I'd post my analysis here as well.
Wind Below Lyrics by RATM
then
Analysis by Grayson Kilmer

Mr. 400

This is my 400th blog entry. I will use it to promote Oliver North's new book "War Stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom". For those of you who don't know, Olly North was one of the greatest large scale crack dealers of the 20th century. In fact, if you purchased any crack during the 80s, it was probably some or Norths' doing. Also this book is published by the leader in non-biased news coverage, FOX. I mean, who cares if it's owned by a staunch republican. And who cares if it's a huge conglomerate corporation? It's not like those things effect the coverage or anything...

Dead People

Horse-rider-kid asked me today "are you going to TSOL tonight?" and I said "yes". After a pause, I said...
"Jack Grisham isn't dead!"
"yeah, so?"
"you told me he was!"
then horse-rider-kid nonchalantly says "Well, I guess I was wrong"

Now let me tell you, it is not proper to tell somebody someone is dead when you don't really know. I haven't had this happen to me that bad since Stacy told me that (former childhood awkaintance) Charlie Logan was dead, and then when I mentioned it a year or so later, she was like "I never said that! I totally don't even know if he's dead! I didn't say that.... did I??" or something along those lines. We devised a plan on finding out if he's really dead, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.
But speaking of dead singers again, this girl told me the other day that Rodney Anonymous (I assume she was talking about, since she said "the singer of the dead milkmen") was dead from suicide. I didn't know that at all, and I still don't know it, because I'm not believing anyone when they tell me somebody is dead until I do some thorough research first.

The Things People Look Up

Do you ever wonder what people look up online to find this weblog of mine? Well here are the last 20 things people looked up that ended up having my blog towards the top of the list:

Last 20 Searchengine Queries
Unique Visitors

Yahoo: grayson movie trailer

Yahoo: "vegetarian to save animals"

Google: "fuck you fuck you fuck you you're cool i'm out"

MSN Search: shaven genitals

Yahoo: the intricates mp3

MSN Search: ambiguiously gay duo

MSN Search: Auschwitz tattoos pics

Altavista: merchendise flogging

MSN Search: http;//www.grayson.edu/grayson/di

Altavista: grayson movie

Yahoo: Seabiscuit burial plot

MSN Search: "fuck you fuck you you're cool, i'm out" - movie

Google: Klause Barbie

Google: movie "fuck you you're cool, I'm out"

MSN Search: pregnancy diarys

Google: grayson jepordy

Google: "grayson kilmer

Google: "fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool i'm out."

MSN Search: shaven genitals

Some of these things are alarming. Such as why so many people like that stupid half-baked quote, and also, why so many people look up "shaven genitals". And more importantly, why MY site came up when they did... On the plus side, I am looking forward to that "grayson movie". I wonder when we'll get to see the "grayson trailer". It's about time somebody made a movie about me.

Miiind Reeaader... OOoooh

Try the Mind Probe.

Try This....

While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction and there's nothing you can do about it.

Free Books Online!!

I just stumbled upon an awesome website. It is a huge archive of books that are fully posted on the net. You can search for books or authors you like and sometimes they will have them. I find it works best with classic literature such as Thoraeu or even Orwell. But at the same time, they have new stuff, because when I looked up "Chomsky" it had a pretty big list of full texts of his, some of which I've read (non internet style). Check it out for yourself!

Viva La Revolution!

I've made my second conversion today... that I know of. Colin told me today that he decided that the thing to do that makes sense is to vote Nader this year. It was only a week ago when he told me that he felt that voting Nader was probably "throwing your vote away". I whipped out some progressive thinking from my mental bag of tricks and apparently it sunk in. Colin is the second eligible voter soul I have touched with my Nader ways, the first being Brian... although, by now, I havnen't talked to Brian in so long that he might have weened off of the Nader path that I righeously set for him. But, ye must haveth faithe.
Amen.

Lyrics I Just Wrote...

It's called "Straight Edge", it goes a little somethin like this....

straight edge

you can lace your lungs with vapors
waste your life away
or you can trace your veins with razors
waste it all today

mundanity, insanity we want to escape
theres always a limit to what we can take
hang from a rope and go underground
or lift yourself high and never come down

Party Of 2

8/16/4

The two-party system is flawed. On paper, it looks like it could work, but not in practice. The idea is that two parties will debate their opposing ideologies and the masses of America will ultimately choose the most appropriate one for the country; a natural “majority rules” situation. The elections are not completely limited to the two parties alone; a third party is allowed to vie in the competition if enough members of society disapprove of the original two parties. Like I said, it looks good on paper.
Over history, the two parties have shown their differences, but often without straying to far from the mainstream. The problem arises when the parties cede from debating and instead compete for orthodoxy. This is seen in parts of history and, most strikingly, today. The battle is no longer which party has the most qualifications or the best ideas for improving our nation, but who is more “moral” and who is more “American”. Democracy doesn’t function when the major parties agree in their political ideologies and the debate is over which party can fulfill the ideology best.
The answer, it seems, would lie within a third party ticker. Indeed, in most elections, there is usually some sort of third party that opposes the ideology upheld by both leading parties. Many Americans watch as the major parties agree on more issues than they disagree and recognize the opposition posed by a third party. Yet, they still insist that voting in favor of a third party is “throwing your vote away”. For this I largely blame the mainstream media.
I do not believe in a “media conspiracy”. Rather, I believe the media is following it’s natural course in a capitalist society. It is not as simple as saying the mainstream media has a “left-wing bias” or a “right-wing bias”. Any bias should ultimately be viewed as a “corporate bias”. This is due to the fact that our American media corporations are just that: corporations.
When you watch a commercial for a Mickey Mouse (Disney) movie or a Loony Toons (Warner) show, you understand that the companies advertising themselves are selling American commercialism as well. What you might not realize is that the media harbor these aspects as well. And why shouldn’t they? If a mindless TV ad can successfully instill the “wonders of American technology, shopping and expansion” in the public mind, imagine the power of this ideology, not only in the form of advertisements, but also through the respected media. For these reasons I consider the corporate controlled media a menace to democracy.
With this in mind, there is no reason to expect political issues to be raised other than the “issues” already brought up by the two parties (i.e.: who is more orthodox, American, moral, etc.). After all, this pseudo-debate fits perfectly in line with the status quo, largely preserved by the media’s corporate stratagem.
A third party, also, need not be given much airtime and when it is, it should be in the context of how “voters feel the party is stealing votes from the socially apt Democratic party.” The issues raised by the third party should not be mentioned. After all, why should the media feel obliged to cover a third party if it only accounts for a small percentage of votes? The problem with this thinking is that, more than anything else, the opinion the public has of a candidate is determined by how they are portrayed by the media and how much coverage they receive. Unfortunately, it is not the other way around. We live in a society in which reading is at an all-time low. The only “information” Americans are receiving comes either from the candidate’s mouths or from the corporate run media. Is this a true democracy?

2 New Shirt Ideas!

Tell me what you think....
Evil Dead
Skaface

Obey Marshie

Look what I made while listening to Slayer...

Books I'm Looking For

I just made a list of books I'm looking for at used book stores. I had to post it so I could print it off the internet on my parent's PC, so I might as well post it here too.

Name That Tune!

You may notice that there is a song playing in the background of my blog. If you want, you can pause it, it is on the left. I had this idea where I can replace a different song I like on the blog every once in awhile and see who can figure out what song it is. Just comment in the most recent post to say what song it is if you know. I'll keep track of who figured out the most songs. Today's song is really easy, I'll give you a hint: It's really freaking long.

John Kerry Speech

I hadn't watched Kerry's speech at the democratic national convention, but I know it felt like everybody was saying how great it was. Well, at least my mom. So I read it just now. It was the same dribble that politicians always use. No issues were raised except for the usual "I will put more cops on the street", "Americans should be able to afford health care" and "These are American values". Most of this speech could have just as easily been written for Bush. There is hardly a difference between the two in my opinion. The only times you knew he wasn't Bush was when he critisized the popular subjects that are related to Bush such as "I promise to not have an Attorney General who won't uphold the constitution". Well, that sounds well and good, but you fucking were for the PATRIOT ACT. Cunt.

Book Review: No Logo

No Logo - Naomi Klein

Over the last couple of decades, western society has been completely inundated with celebrity endorsements, billboards, commercials, and brands. Without even noticing, we have experienced a silent takeover of our public and private space. Festivals are now sponsered by car dealerships, the town square has been replaced by the mall and even our schools have been hijacked by the brands (Pepsico being the official Highland brand). In No Logo, Naomi Klein traces the history of corporate brands and their consistantly agressive tactics.
It's interesting to watch as more and more brand logos are popping up everywhere as fewer and fewer corporations own them (example: corporate mergers such as the recent Time-Warner). Klein points out that it has gotten to the point that most large corporations don't actually produce anything anymore; they simply own the "means of production", to quote Marx.
It used to be that corporations competed by producing the best quality product, or the newest innovation. Today, corporations like Nike simply hand down the task of production to the lowest bidding contracter. The contracter in turn searches for another contracter and again until the production ends up in a impoverished country such as Indonesia where the workers can be paid only a few cents an hour. The shoes that cost a few dollars to make are now marked up hundreds of dollars to sell to wealthy consumers in the west.
No Logo extensively covers all of this and what people are doing about it. Klein travels everywhere to the "free-trade zone" countries to parts of the west interviewing sweatshop workers, whistle-blowers and anti-globalization activists all the while writing in a modern get-out-there-muckraking style reminiscent of Eric Schosser (Fast Food Nation, Reefer Madness). While some corporate themed books I have read tend to have an underlying political theme (such as Corporateering and the Corporation), No Logo is more extensive (500 pages) and largely focused on the cultural aspect of the corporations and how the affect our daily lives.