August 26, 2003
August 25, 2003
You know things have gone too far...
...when the christians are doing it, too. Please stop plundering my underground, you bastards.
JODY LAWRENCE-TURNER
Statesman Journal
August 17, 2003
Teenagers in chains, mohawks and piercings crowded the stage Saturday at Marion Square Park waiting to join the mosh pit.
It had the trappings of a punk rock show, but there was an underlying message.
Just a couple of blocks away, a slightly older group performed theater, wore costumes and played music at Riverfront Park under a temporary tent.
It looked like a traveling side show, but its goal, too, was “the message.”
The Extreme Tour, at Marion Square, and the Doctor Jesus Holy Ghost in Your Face End Times Medicine Show, at Riverfront, offered different approaches to similar topics: spirituality, religion, Christ. Both events continue today.
The delivery wasn’t what people might expect at either venue, but organizers said that’s the point: Anyone, no matter how they look or what they do, can be a Christian, said Ted Bruun, director of the Extreme Tour.
The live music at Marion Square Park featured more than 12 bands from all over the United States.
Not all the songs by the bands on the tour are about Christianity, but all the people in the bands are believers, Bruun said.
“I’m here because I like the music,” said Derik Morganstern, 14, who doesn’t claim to be a Christian.
The young man with dyed, cherry-red hair said he thought framing Christianity in the style of punk rock is a good way to get the message out to kids.
“Most youths reject religion because it is out of date,” Bruun said. “The bands represent a new ideal. It’s a new form of expressing faith.”
The Medicine Show at Riverfront Park delivered the same basic concept in a different way.
It’s an abstract way of teaching about a man named Jesus, said Fred Allen, the Peculiar Preacher man and leader of the show.
“Suicide, bombings, mafia, manipulation, rape … something is broken,” boomed the voice of Johnny Baptismo, aka Ken Perkins, with his burnt orange hair and marching band-style jacket. “Abandonment, greed, isolation …”
Baptismo was joined by the Holy Rolex Theater and the Cross-Eyed Fish during the show.
“This is a God thing without all the baggage,” Allen said. “This is an experiment at sharing the knowledge of the Gospel.”
Allen’s target demographic was people in their 20s.
“They are the hardest to reach,” he said.
Nick Teague, 39, just happened upon the Medicine Show and stopped to listen.
“For me, I was glad to see something like this done in an open environment,” Teague said.
Friend, Heather McCoy, said, “Here, you can listen at your own will.”
It’s not confining, she said.
Jody Lawrence-Turner can be reached at (503) 399-6721
August 22, 2003
Wesley Willis
Yesterday was a very black day. The Daddy of Rock 'n Roll, Wesley Willis, passed away. I really don't know what to say. He was a genius. He was proof that rock 'n roll was for everyone. And nobody could come up with an insult like Wesley could. You really could rock Saddam Hussein's ass, Wesley. Sleep tight.
"We lost Wesley Willis some time before 9PM Chicago time August 21,
2003. Word is he died peacefully. The likely cause may be heart
failure. Wesley had been battling leukemia for close to a year.
Wesley will go down as one of the most unique songwriters and
entertainment personalities in history. His music, lyrics, drawings,
insight and the way he put them together are like no one else. Ever.
There will never be another.
As I got to know Wesley, what really struck me was his sheer will
power, his unrelenting drive to succeed and over come a horrifically
poor background, child abuse, racism, chronic schizophrenia and
obesity among other things. He was the most courageous person I have
ever known.
Yet through it all he had such a deep, all-encompassing love of life.
Little things, big things. He loved bus rides. He loved watching
trains. He loved writing songs about how much he loved his friends. He
loved travelling to new towns so he could headbutt new friends. Is
there any band he saw that escaped being in their own song about how
much he loved their show? He was so warm, so sweet, so giving. He
could be a handful when he came to visit; but as soon as he left, we'd
miss him immediately.
As his long time friend Dennis Cooper said, "No More Demons." The
voices in Wesley's head can't yell at him and put him down any more.
Wes was deeply religious. He was afraid that if he died he would no
longer get to go see bands play. If there is a hereafter I hope he's
right up front as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, his beloved Otis
Redding and his dear friend Bradley from Sublime "storm the stage" as
the crowd "roars like a sea monster." All opening for Wesley, of
course.
It will be hard now that he's gone, but I'm not going to let myself
stop enjoying the funny stuff, or the look on people's faces when they
first hear "Rock n Roll McDonald's," or the memories of the good times
and Wesley's big adventures. He wouldn't want it any other way.
There are many down times when all I have to do is think of one of his
songs, something he said or simply marvel at his Wesley-isms, and the
clouds part and a smile comes to my face. I think he does that for a
lot of people. He always will.
Rock over London Rock on Chicago Sail on, Wes. I love you."
Jello Biafra 8-22-03
August 14, 2003
Holiday Hell
Every week the Georgia Straight comes out in VanCity. Pretty standard fare....Concert listings, news, arts and entertainment and a steal at the low low price of FREE! After I look at the weeks concert listings, I read the syndicated advice column Savage Love. Hot damn is it funny. And hey, Dan Savage gives some good advice. Around Christmas time last year he he had a contest for the most disturbing holiday sex stories. Well, ladies, gentlemen and potato chip bags, here are the stories. The first one is my favorite Savage Love letter of all time.
HOLIDAY HELL
by Dan Savage
A few weeks back I invited readers to share their most horrifying true stories of desperate and/or depressing holiday sex. As promised, the author of the best horrifying true story of holiday sex--as determined by me and me alone--wins a $75 Toys in Babeland gift certificate. See if you can spot the winner before you get to the end of the column:.
When I was in eighth grade, I saw my cousin Donna from Wisconsin for the first time in two years over Christmas. She and I were the same age, and she had sprouted some major hooters. After dinner, with our extended family sacked out on couches, I found myself alone in a bedroom with Donna. Without saying anything, I started pawing at her tits. My hands were shaking like crazy, fearing rejection, but she didn't mind. I pulled her tits out of the top of her dress and she got on her knees, undid my zipper, and took my dick in her hands. I shot my very first load all over Donna's tits. Then someone said, "My Lord!" It was my very uptight aunt, standing in the door. Horrified, I mopped up Donna's breasts with my shirt while her mother stood there.
Jacked by Cousin
I moved away from my friends and family last year to Seattle. As I left work on Christmas Eve, the homeless people were having a trash-can-fire, plastic-bottle-liquor hoedown on University Avenue. All alone, I figured what the hell, and decided to join in. I wound up sharing a bottle of cheap vodka with one particularly attractive homeless girl. My judgment eroded, I invited her back to my apartment. Before I could protest, she invited two of her friends to join us. My Christmas Eves up until this point in my life had consisted of Norman Rockwellian clichés at my parent's house. This particular year, I had an all-night drunken orgy with three homeless girls. We fucked each other's brains out, baked cookies naked, and fucked some more. When I woke up in the early afternoon, the girls were gone. So were my wallet, most of my food, most of my toiletries, and most of my CDs.
Finally I Love the Holidays
Last Hanukkah I decided to tell my mother I was a lesbian. Around the table were my mother, her husband Phil, and some couples my mother and stepdad are friendly with, including Don and Mary. "I have something I want to share with all of you," I said. "I'm gay." My mother gave me a supportive look before turning the attention to herself. "Well," she said, "I'm really happy you told me that, because now I feel comfortable exposing a part of my life to you. When Phil and I first started dating, we found that we both enjoyed nudist resorts. We met a lot of people with whom we're still friends. Don and Mary are two of the people we met there. We've been together with them for three years now."
Later that evening I was out on the porch having a cigarette with Don, who looked nervous. "So you're gay," he finally said. "Would you be interested in joining us sometime?" I left before my mother brought out the carrot cake.
Freaked Out Then, Freaked Out Still
Last year, my husband's folks were visiting us in New York for Christmas. My husband decided to treat me to something I'd always wanted: a session with a professional female dominatrix. I'm not a lesbian, but it had always been a fantasy of mine to be dominated by a woman, tied up, and, you know, other stuff. So my husband made an appointment for me early in the day on Christmas Eve, thinking it would relieve holiday tension--and the tension of having his parents around for a week. So I go, and halfway through a rather lame, not-living-up-to-my- fantasy domination session, the woman I'm "serving" starts to cry. She's all alone for the holidays, and she's depressed. Wanting to reach out to a person in need, I stupidly invited her to come to our house for dinner. Big mistake. When I introduced her to my in-laws as "a friend from work," she got bent out of shape. She announced that she wasn't ashamed of who she was or what she did--and then she told my husband's parents just exactly when we met (that very day) and how (kinky sex for money). She lectured me about being ashamed of my masochistic desires (in front of my in-laws!), then stormed out of our apartment. My in-laws think I'm the whore of Babylon now.
Could've Died
My ex-girlfriend was in town from college and called to ask if we could meet up for a beer. Eventually the Coronas became tequilas, which became more and more tequilas. After we staggered out to my freezing car, she pulled my face down to her crotch. After I had gone down on her for five minutes, she lifted my head up and, sobbing, told me she couldn't do this, she had a boyfriend who she loved. She begged me to take her to a pay phone so she could call him and apologize. I drove around for a while, hoping that she would calm down and not make the call. But when we drove past a gas station, she demanded that I stop. After she was on the phone for a few minutes, she motioned for me to get out of the car. "He wants to talk to you," she sobbed. Here's how our conversation went:
"Hello?" I said.
"Uh: how's it going?" her boyfriend said.
"Good, all things considering. It's pretty cold out here."
"So, what happened there tonight?"
"What'd she tell you happened?"
"I want to hear it from you."
"Went to a bar. Ate your girlfriend out. She started crying. That's about it."
"That's what she told me. Put her back on."
I handed the phone back to my ex, got back in the car, turned the music up, and waited for her to return so I could drive her back home.
Prefers to Give Rather than Receive
You want a depressing/horrifying holiday sex story? This girl has never had sex or anything remotely like it on or near any holidays. For everyone out there who thinks they have it bad because the sex they had during the holidays was horrifying, I say this: At least someone was looking forward to having sex with you.
Sexless Holidays
No holiday sex? Good or bad? Ever? That's horrifying! If anyone needs a $75 gift certificate to Toys in Babeland, it's Sexless Holidays, so: you win, SH! Your gift certificate is in the mail, and I recommend you blow your dough on a Hitachi Magic Wand. A Hitachi Magic Wand isn't a lover, of course, but look at it this way: A vibrator won't tell your in-laws what you've been doing with it, it won't break down sobbing, and it won't come all over your cousin's tits. Enjoy.
August 13, 2003
August 12, 2003
August 11, 2003
Blogging
This was found by Cthulu who in turn stole it from somebody's random webcam blog page
My mum says I need stitches, fuck that stitches are for PUSSIES.
and plus with a little imagination look what you can do..
Garbage Pail Kids
Yes folks! They're back.
I'm sure that most of us remember the Topps card set that mocked the unrivaled popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids back in the 80's.
Now somebody help me to understand Cabbage Patch Kids. What the fuck was the hype with these things? I mean, these were the ugliest fucking dolls ever. Not only were they fawned over by girls, but they were wanted by boys as well! I distinctly remember people bringing these to school and carrying them, yet nobody was picked on for this. If a guy was to bring one of these to school with them now they are liable to get a good shitkicking. I guess I was too busy in the sandbox with my firecrackers, GI Joes, Transformers, and Star Wars toys to ever give a shit about these things.
August 08, 2003
August 07, 2003
California Governor Election
By now, most of us know that California is going to be having a recall election some time before the end of this year. In the American tradition of having media superstars run for office, we now have the most ridiculous lineup of individuals bidding to run for Governor in the State of California. This lineup goes above and beyond Oil Tycoon Ross Perot (US presidential Candidate) and Wresting Superstar Jesse Ventura (Former Governor of Minnesota). The most notable candidates for this election are as follows:
• Larry Flynt - The Porn King
• Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Terminator
• Gary Coleman - The Midget - "what choo talkin'bout Willis!"
• Angelyne - The Billboard Queen
• Gallagher - The Watermelon Smasher
I know that some of you must be very upset that you don't have the ability to vote on this. So here is your chance!! Someone has setup a sale on ebay to buy their vote in the upcoming election. I personally think that Arnold will sweep it, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The bottom line is that this is a tough call!
Click the image to vote
August 06, 2003
The Plumbing
We all have our first dating experiences. Some good .. Some bad.
I think we can all agree after you read the little treat I have posted below is that pedophiles are definitely cut from a certain kind of cloth.
I'm not going to give anything away, but I am sure that you will probably want to laugh, puke, and die all at the same time after reading this story.
Enjoy!
When I was 15, I met Sean. He was roughly 20 years older than me, and had just been discharged from the Army. He was handsome, polite and worldly. Well, at least to a 15-year-old kid he was. We began dating and he introduced me to certain 'rules' that I was required to follow if I wanted to stay with him. One, I was never allowed to discuss our relationship with anyone else, and two, we were under no circumstances to have sexual contact beyond kissing.
Our relationship progressed, and I came to realize that he was an absolutely miserable person. Our 'dates' consisted of the Shoney's buffet and watching Heavy Metal over and over again. As I got older, I decided that this was not a relationship that I wanted to continue. About 3 weeks before I finally broke up with him, he asked me over to his apartment. We were watching some sort of soft porn and I excused myself to use the restroom. I don't remember what I ate that day, but I know it caused a very unpleasant rumble in my stomach, and I hurried off to the bathroom.
While I was in the bathroom, Sean knocked on the door, 'Angel, the pipes are messed up again, don't flush the toilet.' Well, shit, I didn't know what else to do, so I rather shyly answered, 'Uh, Sean? Well, I already, went.' I heard him chuckle outside the door and he answered 'don't worry, I'll take care of it'. I finished my business, didn't flush, and when I came out of the bathroom. Sean went into the bathroom with a toolbox, and shut the door behind him, explaining that he didn't want any water to get on the carpet, in case the toilet overflowed. I went back to the living room, flipped the channel and watched Jerry Springer for about 20 minutes before I decided to check up on him and see if he needed any help.
I headed down the hallway, and opened the bathroom door. The first thing that hit me was the smell; it stunk like, well, shit. I looked over at Sean and saw that he had brown smeared all over the lower part of his face, and was holding in his fist the deposit that I had just made to the porcelain bank. I gagged and turned to run, but before I could get out of the door, Sean managed to open his shit covered mouth and spew out, 'Angel, I know this looks bad, I was just so curious, don't be grossed out, its natural'. I shut the door, ran out and rode the bus home.
I eventually had to go back to his house to pick up my wallet. I stood in the kitchen, frantically searching so I could get out of his apartment as soon as possible, when he approached me and leaned forward, I tried to turn my head, but apparently my reaction time isn't all that great and his lips brushed mine. That night I washed my face for a little longer than I normally do, and spent more time brushing my teeth, paying special attention to my tainted lips
Is This Where Babies Come From?
Before any of you morons out there start looking at this at work, I give you this warning. This post is not safe for work. In fact, it's not safe for human consumption. Look at your own risk!
OMG!!!
WTF!!!
MY EYES!!!!
I'M HAVING A NIGHTMARE, AND I CAN'T WAKE UP!!!!
Mom, is that you?
August 05, 2003
A Quick Run-In With A Vegetarian
Vegetarian: Thats so gross, look at that chicken you're eating- you can see its bones. How can you stand to eat an animal like that!?!?
Carnivore: You like beans and apples and stuff?
Vegetarian: Of course
Carnivore: Whenever you eat fruit its like eating your way into a womans womb and then eating her unborn children.
Vegetarian: Fuck you asshole!!
I thought it was funny!
St. Wanker
Being an early Metallica fan, I have to say that I was hugely disappointed by their new album. I, like many, were absolutely disgusted with the snare sound they used on the album. I'm glad there are people out there who decided to a parody recording of this.
So here's to a shitty album, Metallica!!
August 04, 2003
A Strange Spam Email
Pr0nboy forwarded me an email this afternoon. I have no fucking idea what to make of it. Maybe someone out there can??
Update: Looks like we've found something. It must be Elvis in a drunken rage because Star Trek was cancelled today.
Hello,
I'm a time traveler stuck here in 2003. Upon arriving here my dimensional
warp generator stopped working. I trusted a company here by the name of
LLC Lasers to repair my Generation 3 52 4350A watch unit, and they fled on
me. I am going to need a new DWG unit, prefereably the rechargeable AMD
wrist watch model with the GRC79 induction motor, four I80200 warp
stabilizers, 512GB of SRAM and the menu driven GUI with front panel XID
display.
I will take whatever model you have in stock, as long as its received
certification for being safe on carbon based life forms.
In terms of payment:
I dont have any Galactic Credits left. Payment can be made in platinum
gold or 2003 currency upon safe delivery of unit.
Please transport unit in either a brown paper bag or box to below
coordinates on Monday August 4th at (exactly 3:00pm) Eastern Standard Time
on the dot. A few minutes prior will be ok, but it cannot be after. If you
miss this timeframe please email me.
Latitude N 42.47935 & Longitude W 071.17355 and the Elevation is 119.
WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRANSPORT ITEM BY REGULAR MEANS OF
TELEPORTATION. THEY ARE MONITORING AND WILL REDIRECT THE SIGNAL!!
I DO NOT CARE HOW YOU HAVE TO GET IT HERE, JUST DO IT IN A WAY THAT NO
SPYING EYES WILL POSSIBLY BE ABLE TO REDIRECT THE TRANSFERENCE. IT IS VERY
IMPORTANT THAT YOU BE ABLE TO MONITOR THE TRANSFER.
Although those coordinates are a secure guarded area, these channels
through email are never secure. Unfortunately it is the only form of
communication I have right now.
After unit has been sent please email me at: info@federalfundingprogram.com
with payment instructions. Do not reply directly back to this email.
Thank You
Why God, Why?
I know that you're retarded, but please come up with your own ideas. This is by far the WORST Flash cartoon I have ever seen. i hope that whomever made this gets hit by a bus.
August 03, 2003
Having An Average Weekend
We're having a grand old time in our new forums. So why don't you join us and sit a spell.
White People Can Rap Too
This is old, but since the GI JOE KILLAZ have a new site and fresh mp3's you can't not be impressed with their theatrical comic book STR8 BALLIN.
I am starting an E-mail campaign to get them to play Vancouver, so I can try and hump THE BARONESS
*NOTE the above pictured Iowa ThuGZzz have nothing to do with the GI JOE KILLAZ
August 02, 2003
Rekkaturvat (Truck Dismount)
Everyone who played the infamous stair dismount game called "Porrasturvat" will know what I'm talking about.
Click here to go to their main page.
Click here to download the windows installer
Click here to download the zip file
August 01, 2003
Bob Lefsetz Vs. David Munns
Bob Lefsetz has been writing music industry related articles for several years now. As of late, they have become a lot more provocative and rightly so given the current state of the music business. They have become so provocative that he garnered a response from Vice Chairman David Munns of EMI Recorded Music.
I'm not going to try and swing the pendulum in either direction here. So I am going to leave it up to you to decide who is right, who is wrong, or if they are both sitting on the fence. I, for one, feel they both have some valid points.
Click here to read the original article
The response to the article from EMI Recorded Music Vice Chairman, David Munns:
Bob:
We've never met but occasionally I get forwarded copies of your missives. And although I respect anyone who is as passionate about music as you are, I rarely agree with your logic and industry-bashing. I know you're intentionally provocative. And it works. You frequently piss me off. But having read your dispatch of yesterday, NOW I'M the one who is READY TO STAND UP.
You make money in the music business, Bob, don't you? So do tens of thousands of others. Do you honestly believe that illegal file sharing hasn't cut into sales? Do you really think it's a coincidence that just as P2P systems were taking off, sales numbers plummeted? Here are the numbers:
* 2000: ten top-selling albums in the United States sold 60 million units.
* 2001, that number dropped to 40 million.
* Last year, it totalled just 34 million.
And don't try telling me that the declines are because music isn't any good. If it was so bad, why then at any given moment are four to five million users are swapping 800 million files at one time? Are they swapping crappy music? No, they're stealing music they want to hear: new stuff, old stuff, indie stuff, and really commercial stuff.
You argue that file swapping builds careers and causes people to go out and buy records. Now that's what I call UTTER BULLSHIT! Get real, man!
You're a lawyer, aren't you? At least you used to practice law. So you should know the economics. You don't make money, you have less and less to invest in new artists and take a chance on them. I'm a big believer that it takes 3-4 albums for an artist to really come into their own. But the way the business is going, we can't spread our bets as much as we'd like.
You're big on satellite radio, which I agree is a great thing for music fans. Do you think people should be able to steal that?
Should people be able to steal your iPod, Bob, just because they think it's cool and they don't have $500 bucks to spend on one?
Do artists have the right to promote their music via file-sharing services? Sure, if they want to and have the necessary rights to. What isn't cool is when an individual uses illegal P2P services to give music away without an artist's permission.
There's no reason to steal when there are legit services. We're not claiming there are "zillions" of options (please stop exaggerating, it's annoying). But, there are dozens of good ones. EMI granted rights for burnable, portable and permanently downloadable music last year to nine distributors in the U.S. And we did it a few months ago for Europe, where we have 20 online retailers offering a la carte tracks. And yes, in the interest of getting a legitimate business going, we and other music companies provided seed money to get some fledgling services going. And yes, we're right there with you on Apple's iTunes store (which, by the way, all the majors are participating in). We're glad that Apple's service has taken off so well and even happier that it's spurred so many other services to improve or jump in for the first time.
We think 99% of the population has a conscience. And they're willing to do the right thing. The RIAA's effort is aiming to deter the people out there that deep down know that file-sharing is stealing.
There is one thing that you and I do agree about. The music industry does need to understand the consumer better. It's a big priority for us. And we're taking steps to fix it here. If you ever want to talk about it, give me a call.
Go ahead. Share this with your list.
David Munns
EMI
The response to David Munns from Bob Lefsetz:
God, you make it sound like I'm some kind of ANARCHIST! That I believe music should be FREE!
Anything but.
I just believe the systems you're employing...are not adequate.
I too had your position until two things happened. 1. I used Napster. 2. I became aware that tech is always a moving target. What's right at one moment is a mistake further down the line. If Napster hadn't been on the cover of "Newsweek", if the injunction hadn't been stayed, if everybody hadn't USED it, THEN we might be in a different situation.
But what is the situation we're in??
TENS OF MILLIONS of people have experienced file-trading. And what have they found? Certainly free files. But a BETTER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM than the majors afford. Essentially instant access to unfettered files. THIS the majors have never proffered, and looking at the landscape, NEVER WILL!! So on one hand, you've got people inured to one system, and the other, people who won't deliver it. A STALEMATE! Which must be broken. The majors' tack is to adjust human behavior. Based on prohibition in America and the war on drugs, I don't think this is a good approach. One must take notice of reality and try to fit the distribution system to it.
I believe file-traders should be CHARGED!!
I believe EVERYBODY trading music online should be charged. Ten dollars a month.
And, if you don't pay, THEN YOU GET SUED!
Do you think there'd be an outcry then?
Very little.
Satellite TV providers zapped illegal boxes on the eve of the Super Bowl, did you hear a huge cry? No, because people felt if THEY were paying, everybody else should.
So we see the same problem, but proffer different solutions.
The solution you proffer, in my opinion, will not get you the results you desire. It will piss off the people you depend upon for your bread and butter and inspire hackers to write new trading programs that evade the law/detection.
People don't WANT to be crooks. They want reasonable alternatives.
As for your claim re the quality of music... Common wisdom is that music is not good and is overpriced and there's only one good track per CD. Even if this were UNTRUE, what are the labels doing to combat this perception?? Other businesses adjust for public perception, why not the record business? Why not lower prices? Shorter, higher quality albums?
It seems that all solutions are catered to the needs of the purveyor rather than the consumer.
The consumer wants UNPROTECTED files. You're not delivering this.
If you're really that interested in saving money, why don't all the labels stop paying inflated fees for independent radio promotion?
If you think that by suing and stopping file-trading sales will rebound, you're dreaming. And, funny enough, if you embraced lower cost distribution systems, more music would be consumed and careers and the business at large would be HEALTHIER, and you would make more profits. Charging a buck a track at the Apple Store isn't a breakthrough. It's just a way to buy a CD track by track. LOWER the hurdle.
Or be forced to, by the public will, or the government.
Or, possibly win the battle, and lose the war.
You're fighting to preserve an old system when a new system will garner you MANY MORE PROFITS!
Think about it. Would home video have taken off if every rental was ten bucks and only three people could watch a movie and only once??
No, the VIEWING experience was changed. A lower price was charged.
And students of the motion picture business now know that the theatrical release is just an ad for the home video.
And DVD was released at a DRAMATICALLY lower price, and look at the bottom line results! Oh, the other studios cried, but Warner Brothers' Warren Lieberfarb insisted. Just like Middelhoff tried to push the industry by investing in Napster, but couldn't get the others to play along...
Please, please, please...have your execs take a day or two off from the tedium. Have them install KaZaA THEMSELVES on their computers. Make them download four hundred tracks in a week. Both legally released and bootleg/live. Buy them good computer speakers (all of $150) to listen to the tracks. And then buy them all iPods to listen to these tracks away from the computer. THEN, two weeks later, ask them what they think about file-trading.
You'll be stunned.
They'll all say it IS stealing, but it's SO DAMN GOOD!
The key is to CHARGE people for this experience.
The first rule of war is to know thy enemy. I can tell from the above, you know your business quite well... As for the public, I don't think so. You think they're just thieves. They may be, but they're also experiencing aural heroin, which they don't want to give up. Dope dealers always hook the addict for free, then charge them for their addiction, why don't you?
Bob Lefsetz