Seoul City Straight Edge

I got The Geeks "Everytime We Fall" in the mail today. Luckily I've had it in mp3 format for a few weeks now. In My opinion this record surpasses their previous stuff by miles. The music hasn't changed much but the vocals are much improved, a much more fluid delivery and they seem to fit with the songwriting a little better. I'm really digging this right now, i need to see this band next time they come to North America.

I did the pre-order with Get Outta Town Records and the vinyl looks rad, i think this pressing was limited to 100.


"Open Your Eyes" is probably my favorite song on the record, along with the title track.

Open Your Eyes

All i see is mindless determinations

The absence of thinking, we are not learning to grow

we are forced to believe in false ideals

Pursuing lives to get ahead is what we have learned

Are we making progress or just wasting our time?

What we were taught is blinding our sights

We are meant to live for so much more

Too blind to see what's real

Live for what's in store

Open Your Eyes

Get Me Out!

This is what i do when I'm supposed to be listening to my violent accented Eastern European computers and society professor. And given the absurdity of my last post i figured i needed to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

Were we all born without a chance?

Into a world that won't give an inch

No matter how hard we push

The harder it pushes back

How are supposed to live?

When all we do is give

Give in and give up

Give our time, punch the clock

All for a world that doesn't give a fuck

Physical Fatness

If you've ever been out in public anytime in the last 20 years you've probably noticed an absurd amount of obese people. I'm not quite sure why this is, of course consumer culture encourages people to eat slabs of fat and people are overly lazy. Because of technology and our fascination with instant gratification we don't need to be as physically active, and why would we be? I mean we won't see any result for at least a few weeks.

Conclusion. Obesity is a physical disease that only exists to the extremities that it does because the society that festers its existence is also diseased. And it permeates every facet of every part of life. Just like an alcoholic, heroin junkie, or an anorexic, obesity is a disease. When i say obese i don't mean just mildy overweight people, i mean people that can't walk 10 steps without their heart exploding.

Like This:


I took this article from the Toronto Star, it's what inspired me to rant like i just did.

The childhood obesity "epidemic" is so disturbing that today’s children will become the first generation in some time to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, a new report says.
Entitled Healthy Weight for Healthy Kids, the report was issued by the Commons health committee today.
The committee said it "shares the fears of many experts who predict that today’s children will be the first generation for some time to have poorer health outcomes and a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
The committee noted that Canada has one of the worst rates of childhood obesity in the developed world.
Weight problems can bring on Type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, joint problems and mental health issues.
Recent data indicate that 26 per cent of Canadians aged 2-17 are overweight or obese, up from 15 per cent in 1978.
The committee heard that children continue to consume too many calories in fatty and processed foods and in sugary drinks.
The report proposed 13 recommendations, stating that to address the problem, programs that promote healthy weights for children have to be rewarding.
In addition, the committee said that interventions must take place at all levels - individual, family, community, school as well as all levels of government.
The committee also said it’s important to set specific, measurable health targets.
"The committee recognizes that childhood obesity is a complex and multi-dimensional problem that must be tackled immediately," the report said.

I was also thinking about how ugly truth can be. Truth about the world, about what we've morphed into. If truth were a person it would be a 90 year old, senile, meth addict with no arms or legs and 3rd degree burns from its head to its stumps.

Peace!

Today was the fourth anniversary of the U.S led Invasion of Iraq, as well as the fourth anniversary of the annual anti-war rallies that happen all over the world at this time.

I participated at the one in Toronto for the third straight year. there were some moving speeches given by citizens of the middle east, They brought a few war resisters from the U.S up on the stage during the rally, it was cool to see them sticking to their guns and basically giving up any normalcy they had in their lives because they believed something they were participating in was wrong. I have tons of respect for those people.

The protest also dealt with Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, and an array of other social issues that the Canadian government continues to neglect. Although its sometimes depressing to go to these rallies, i walk away with at least a sense of hope that people still care enough to do something about it.

In a city of over 5 million people only about 1000 people were at this rally, which makes me wonder if we're just so far gone that we've given up. Either that or we're to ignorant to know enough to care. Millions and millions of people have died in the name of Western imperialism yet we ignore it like it doesn't really matter how many people die, as long as we can still drive our BMW's and live in posh neighborhood's with guarded entrances. Just enough so we remain to numb to the realities of what has created the great wealth we enjoy.

Reading Howard Zinn today i was reminded that every great empire will fall, mostly due to their unsatisfiable lust for power and wealth. It's just amazing the lengths that governments go to in order to keep their head above water for just a while longer. If you think about it the U.S (and for economic purposes Canada as well) has been at war consistently since WWII, so what happens if there is no war? Is war what sustains our fragile economy?

This got out of hand a long time ago. I'll stop now, but here's a song that re-enforces some of what i was saying. I could use this entire album, but this will have to suffice.

VERSE

Start A Fire

I can't accept what's been done

I'll question the motives

Of all things under the sun

There's something wrong

When a man is kept down

By another man's hand with a gun

We need to start a fire

To act consciously

To save us from our own defeat

Because there is still a war

That we must eliminate

And save ourselves

From this unconscious state

When you just can't take anymore

And you're being kept down

START A FIRE

We've gotta cut our ties

To a life lived in denial

I wish I could strike a match

And set fire to this fucked up empire

I'll never let myself become

Just another apathetic motherfucker

Who knows what we could do

If we would only try

If we turn our heads and walk away

This fire won't survive

START A FIRE

Amibtions

Ambitions are one of my favorite new bands. From the No Limits demo to the Question EP everything this band has done has been incredibly solid. I can't wait for their new full length coming out on Bridge 9.

I got this in the mail today from Surprise Attack Records. These guys are great with sending stuff through mail. Fast/cheap shipping, well packed, and they stock a lot of rad records.

Also, i got to go to a Toronto Maple Leafs game with my dad and brother in town on Tuesday. They won and pretty much dominated the entire game. The reason it's worth cheering for this team despite how frustrating they can be to watch at times:

Enough said.

Another Breath/About To Snap/Fever Out/ In Time

This show was a matinee on a Sunday so it was a little weird, especially given the venue, but it was a really good show given the circumstances. The venue was this really small indoor skate park located in Kensington Market, which in my opinion is one of coolest neighbourhood's in the city.

In Time played first. They're a local band that got back together after a couple years with a new lineup. They played a bunch of old songs a Civ cover and one new song called Breakaway, all in all i thought they played a good set. Check out their music here. www.myspace.com/intime

Next Fever Out played, another local band, I'm not all that familiar with them and i didn't really like what i had heard prior to seeing them. I enjoyed their set though, they had a lot of energy and their lead guitarist is really talented. www.myspace.com/feverout

About To Snap played next, they play fast, thrashy hardcore punk. I don't really listen to them but i love seeing them live. Their singer is extremely comical. A few things he did that made me laugh: Jumped on a group of bored "scene kids" who were sitting on the table-top, he crawled all over them, messed their hair up and probably made them feel pretty uncomfortable. Next he grabbed a kids skateboard and road it across the floor before crashing into a group of assembled kids, in the midst of a song. And finally he made a lot of comical remarks that i can't remember but made me laugh at the time. www.myspace.com/abouttosnap

Another Breath was a lot of fun. the singer is really well spoken and sincere, he had a lot of meaningful things to say in between and during the intro of songs. It's nice to see a vocalist straying from the usual stage banter of a hardcore show. They had to cut their set a bit short because they were playing a show that night, but hopefully I'll be able to see them again on Wednesday before they leave the Province. They played Racing a Fading Image, Jailbreak, Orange, and a few others. There weren't a whole lot of kids familiar with them so there was maybe 3 or 4 of us consistently singing along, regardless the whole band had a ton of energy. In my opinion this is one of the best bands in hardcore today, Definitely check them out if they play your town.

Fired Up/At All Costs

This show was a lot of fun, it had a really positive vibe and the bands were great. It wasn't actually in a venue, it was in someones really small, really old, unfinished basement with 7ft. ceilings. The room was maybe 12 x 25 and when you factor in the presence of the furnace, water heater, and random basement garbage there was even less room. In all there was probably about 25 people there, which is about as many as there could have been.

The first band that played was Easy Days, i missed most of their set, but what i heard was really good. www.myspace.com/thoseeasydays Next At All Costs played, i was really impressed with these guys, they play youth crewish hardcore with a twist. They use a trumpet and a trombone, which i wasn't too sure about at first but once they started playing it was great. The whole band had a ton of energy, jumping around despite such a small area. They also played a GB cover, I'm sure you can guess which one. Before the song the singer encouraged everyone to mosh, just avoid breaking the water heater. Everyone moshed, sang alone and the water heater made it through. I picked up their Directions EP after the show, i haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but I've read some of the lyrics and I'm really impressed with them.

Fired Up played next, they played From The Heart, and Time Heals off of the demo and maybe one other i cant remember. They played most of the songs off of their 7". The highlight was either Dead Dreams or When The Lights Go Out. Kids sang along to every song and I'm sure some others who weren't all that familiar with this band will be singing along next time they come through. All in all this was the most fun I've had at a show since the summer, I also picked up this rad Fired Up shirt.

Inside Out

There was a huge snowstorm here today, which made my 20 minute commute into a 3 hour debacle that included waiting in a huge line up for the bus to show up, not get into that bus, waiting for the next one which doesn't take me as far as i need to go. I got on it, sat in a crowded bus moving 20km/h if it was moving at all for 90 minutes. Then had a 30 minute walk through 2 ft. deep snowdrifts and 70km winds. In skate shoes. I love this country.

During this i must have listened to Another Breath's Mill City at least three times. I've taken the time to sit down with the lyric book and actually read the lyrics lately and they're really well written. Every song has a pretty powerful message, many of them i can relate to. There's a song called Coming Home on the record that made this situation a little more bearable.

I've pretty much always had an issue with where i live, i always find a way to complain about the weather or the city, even if there isn't anything substantial to be complaining about. I know that this rampant complaining has nothing to do with my environment, it has to do with myself. It wouldn't matter where i am, I'd still feel like I'm stagnating and stuck in a rut. Anyway, this song speaks to this really well and it's helped me see this problem in a new light.

Coming Home

Everything is so empty. There's nothing here for me. This town is just a collection of dead ends and bad memories. It permeates everything I do. I was so convinced I could run away and just start again. I ran so far away but I found that nothing changed. Everywhere - the emptiness that I tried to escape. I found the same longing and desperation. I found the pain I thought that I could leave behind. See the town is not the problem. The problem lies in me and the failures and regrets that distort everything I see. I see it now so clearly in the sun that never left the home I left behind. The world is just a reflection of how I see. A projection of the ugliness and hate I live and breathe. Some things I can't outrun. Memories like asphalt never fucking change. Eyes turned blind to beauty. I cannot escape.

I'll probably post a few more songs off this record later, if you haven't taken the time to read the lyrics do so while listening along. The dude who writes this stuff is seriously talented.