I Can Hear Your Heartbeat

A big hit around here these days, I Can Hear Your Heartbeat by Chris Rea:

Rape-mania

Blindness was pretty good. There were about 8 people in the theater when I saw it and 4 walked out. Sure the premise is a little silly: The whole world goes blind except one woman. The film follows her and some blind people into their quarantine wards and we watch what happens. Their world goes to shit, literally. I found it to be a refreshingly bleak look at society, morality and human nature. Like the superior films Time of the Wolf and Children of Men, there are some good post apocalypse scenarios- with people fighting for food and dogs eating humans. Fernando Meirelles, the guy that made City of God, directed it. He definitely has his own style utilizing semi-experimental lighting and camera work. Gael Garcia Bernal plays a good evil guy: The King of Ward 3. Everyone is talking about the rape scene. It is one of the more disturbing I’ve seen. The screen falls mostly black as we hear the sounds of a long gang rape orgy. That’s when most people left. I found it disgusting and unbelievable. Would the men in Ward 1 let this happen, even if they were starving? Never in real life. And why didn’t the one girl who could see just kill The King or get the gun BEFORE the rape. Ridiculous- but it made for good cinema.

More Madness in China

Have you heard about this? The Chinese company Sanlu Group has been putting Melamine, a white crystalline chemical used to make plastics, in its milk powder. It has shipped products with this in it all over the worldt. Over 53,000 children under the age of three have fallen sick in China, 4 are dead, and 14,000 hospitalized from Kidney failure. Many candies, baby food, and chocolates are contaminated including Cadbury chocolates and the popular White Rabbit candies that are readily available all over Chinatown. It is so bad the European Union has banned importing all Chinese food products for children. But here's the fucked up thing: Sanlu Group did it on purpose and once the government knew about the poisonings- they covered it up.

It started because the communist government, in order to control them, would not let Sanlu sell their products at a competitive market price. Under pressure from their superiors, the Sanlu food scientists started adding Melamine to watered-down milk because its high nitrogen content masks the resulting protein deficiency. In March they knew their products were making people sick and instead of recalling the food, they made a much publicized donation of 1.5 million dollars of poisoned baby formula to victims of the massive Sichuan Province earthquake!! Evil! Then the government got involved. Up until September, when the recall was announced, the food continued to be made and anyone speaking up against it, often times hospital workers or human rights workers, lost there jobs or were arrested. When lawyers tried to help victims of the poisoning, they were threatened by the State and were told not to help or their licences would be revoked. The Chinese Central Propaganda Department issued a statement saying that no one was allowed to print anything about food safety without their permission. That is how they deal with problems of this magnitude- through oppression and denial.

There is a great blog that has been championing this issue called the Haphazard Gourmet Girls. They monitor what they call the Chowpocalypse. There are a lot of good articles on the site, the one about the evils of Whole Foods is particularly eye-opening. Apparently Whole Foods works with some really fucked up meat companies, are anti-union, and their CEO is a megalomaniac.

I can't help but marvel at the disregard for human life these animal exploiting corporations have.

WICKED SOUND SYSTEM

Wicked. How can one describe the magic? Wicked was based around four English DJs that threw parties in San Francisco from 1991 to 2004. They continued the debauchery and hedonic musical tradition of 1960’s Haight Ashbury. SF is a strange place, there are a lot of psychedelic and far out people there. Wicked brought some of us together. The music was the guide, a uniting force as we explored ritual magic and ancient rites together. And we danced. A lot. To house music. The celebration of the heartbeat. Everyone from homeless Grateful Dead lot freaks to gangsters in Kangol gear to old school disco lifers would be getting down together. I remember coming out of the club one morning and a black dude in a perfectly pressed suit was casually strolling out the door, and out of nowhere he busted a full on flip and just kept walking. He had some magic spring in his step. Did I just see that?! That’s what it was like. Stuff like that happened all the time. A friend was recently recalling his favorite moments- at the end of the party when the music stops and the lights come on. Then the crowd yells and yells until one last joyous track is played, often times disco or an 80s obscurity. At first the parties were outdoors on the beach or in the woods during full moons. When the crackdown commenced on those they moved into clubs: King Street Garage, Jessie Street, DNA Lounge, and a long residency at 177 Townsend. They would always bring in their own sound system and had SATSI doing amazing light and video work. They brought out guest DJs on occasion: K-Alexi, François K, Rob Paine, Joe Clausell, Doc Martin, Harvey, Mike Clark, Stacy Pullen, and many others. The following are some thoughts on each DJ, memorable sets, and links to some of the best music you’ve ever heard.


Jeno. The shaman. Silent and powerful, he spoke through his music. A Magician of the highest order. Every set he played was better than most other DJs sets I’ve seen. Out of the four, he was probably the most consistent mix tape releaser. Inside the Mind, Bang the Drum, and Rise are excellent examples of the dark psychedelic house vibe that Wicked represented. He also always played great daytime music at the free Sunset parties. I saw him a do rare non-house set once- barely anyone was there. It was unbelievably dope. Check out his Noise from the Void radio show to hear what he is currently up to. EZESkankin mixtapes hosts most of his classic mixes. Inside the Mind is my favorite. Side A. Side B.


Markie Mark. A master. Expertly crafted mixes. I saw him probably once a month for 6 years- every time just perfection. He really knew how to take it deep... The djs dj. The backbone of Wicked. Best set? Turn this up really loud. He didn’t release many recordings of his DJ sets in the later years, this is a rare promo CD he sold me. He has since retired from DJing and is a Science teacher. The recording is from September 28, 2001. 177 Townsend, 5 to 7am slot.


What can you say about Garth? Extremely dynamic. Everything goes. Dub sets…Deep sets.. Disco sets…the world of Garth is wonderful place to be. He wrote some classic jams for his Grayhound label. Most memorable set? I missed the early Full Moon parties that I hear were transcendental. For me, it was probably a Townsend session when I was super super high on acid. He took us on a very deep unified psychic journey, as it usually was at those parties when a lot of people were high (often). Unexplainably mind-blowing. Another time, in a little brick loft in the Tenderloin, he did a guitar based disco rock set and tied all the records together by jamming solos. That one accidentally wasn’t recorded but here is a link to an old tape from 1998, live at Come-Unity. Side One. Side Two.


I have never seen anyone rock a party like Thomas. He usually played first or last. I was once told the other guys thought he was too unpredictable and wild to play in the middle. Not sure if that's true but he was certainly different. “The crazy one”. “The Mad Scientist". His energy is so incredible and his selections so forward thinking. He’s been inventing styles for years. Lately he has heavily cut back on his DJing to concentrate on producing. His newest project is Food of the Gods. Best set: Probably the first Rubntug party in LA. Heads came out of the woodwork for that one. The vibe was intense. I asked Thomas about it a few weeks later and he said it was one of the best parties he had ever done. Also, the set at the Wicked party Eye of the Tiger when he stood on the turntables and yelled for 15 minutes at 6:30am was the greatest DJ performance I’ve ever been a part of. Links to that set are below. When listening, keep in mind this was when 2-step was new, the disco revival hadn't happened, and when electro clash was just starting. No one had heard Playgroup or Peaches yet. Part One. Part Two. He began by stopping the relentless thumping and started tweeking the lights. The video screens got way trippy. He panned sounds around the room. The combination of these elements made the vibe electric. You knew something special was happening. He stared at the crowd and made eye contact with everyone in the room for the first track or two. He told a story with this set of tracks, Larry Levan style, but here every was seemingly about what a badass Thomas was. Later things got crazier. At a few points he stopped the record and jumped up on top of the turntables and screamed. "Whats the name of this jam?"  "Wicked" In the first minutes of part two on the mix, through the needles, you can hear him and the crowd yelling at each other. It got pretty intense, I remember looking over and seeing a punk looking kid yelling "Express yourself mate!!" The lights were on and the club was on the brink of a riot when he jumped down and dropped Zongamin's Serious Trouble, a devastatingly sick track on a proper system. A mental morning. Wicked.


All pics courtesy of the amazing collection at Wicked Myspace.

Cries and Whispers

This is a screen shot I took of the film Cries and Whispers, an incredibly deep and haunting masterpiece by Ingmar Bergman. This picture is from the most intense and realistic death scene I have ever seen performed. It is Harriet Andersson. If you rent it, make sure and watch the OG Swedish version, not the weird English overdub. I watched them both and the performances don't get across as well dubbed. Also check the extraordinarily heavy interview with Bergman on the extras.

Upcoming Shows

I made these flyers for some upcoming gigs. Come on out if you live in the Los Angeles area.

Masculin, Feminin

Cinema pioneer Jean-Luc Godard made something like 16 or 17 feature films in the 1960's. 1966's Masculin Feminin is one of his best. It follows young people in France as they go about there daily lives. Paul is an Marxist and an anti-war activist that spray paints graffiti all over town. He is trying to bed Madeleine, a beautiful Ye-Ye girl with the prettiest smile I've ever seen. Ye-Ye is cute innocent pop music that was popular in France, Italy, and Spain back then- it provides the films soundtrack. The girl that plays Madeleine, Chantal Goya, was a real life pop singer that had never acted before. In fact, she barely acts, she just reacts. Godard shot the film with no script, just setting up situations and filming them. When he first set up a meeting for Chantal to meet her co-star Paul (Jean-Pierre Léaud from 400 Blows) he was there, already set up and shooting it, and the film had already begun. In some of the best scenes Godard has Jean-Pierre wear an earpiece and he feeds him questions to ask the actresses. No one knows what Godard will ask so the reactions he gets are real (see clips below). It works in a fascinating way. Some of Godard's other films are hard to get into initially, this one is not. The film is divided into 15 acts, each one starting with Godard's famous titles flashing on the screen, as well as the sound of a gunshot. Upon release it was deemed inappropriate for kids under 18, due to the frank sexual questioning and a scene of 3 people in bed together. One of the French New Waves most engaging and creative works.

This is an interview with a real life beauty queen, Miss 19, that gets a little uncomfortable:


This is Paul and Madeleine's first discussion:

Recommended Online Reading.

Came across these people: Street Carnage. Great website, check it out. Bypass the street fashion critiques and funny TV clips and go strait to the blog section. Check out the "Greatest Hits" on the right. There you will find hours of insightful and funny reading. These people definitely speak their mind. The comments are usually pretty good too. Check out this little rant about Firemen. They also pointed out this heavy piece by Steve Martin called The Death of My Father. Also check out the best Dark Knight review I have read yet. This guy Gavin McInnes is one hell of a writer. He started Vice with two other guys but split from the company when they started working with Viacom. Read this amazing article he did about To Catch A Predator.
Also, on a whole other level, this article by Dominick Dunne about the murder and trial of his murdered daughter is really really good.

Hardcore Treehugging

I found this creepy little clip on myspace tv. It is called "Hippies Wail For Dead Trees". Destroying old growth is terrible but- is it me or is there something culty and weird about these people? This can't be good for Earth First.

Bob's Steely Dan Setlist

Do you dig Steely Dan? We do. First time guest blogger and Master P-Lord Bob has contributed his ultimate Steely Dan set list. Here is Set One. Two to follow later. Click to hear the tunes.

1. Kings

2. Haitian Divorce

3. Bodhisattva

4. Caves of Altamira

5. Old School

6. Peg

7. Sign in Stranger

Al Roker!

File this in the What The Fuck? category. Check out Matt Lauers reaction.

Michael Phelps Mania!!

What the fuck is up with all this Michael Phelps mania? The world cannot get enough of this guy. I’ve heard terms like “a Phelpsian lifestyle” being thrown around. What the fuck is a Phelphsian lifestyle?! Eating fast food and swimming? Sounds like every elementary school kid in America. Speaking of fast food, when they asked Phelps what kind of sponsor he’d like now that he is uber famous, he said, “fast food would be cool.” What the fuck? Someone please educate this half-wit! Fast food is toxic! Childhood obesity, now linked to childrens colon cancer, is one of the greatest health threats to our youth, due to processed foods and fast food marketing. The chlorine has gone to his head. They call him the greatest Olympic athlete ever. What about people that do decathlons? In swimming, one has the chance to win so many golds because there are so many strokes- not the case in other sports. After NBCs sappy over-the-top coverage of him and his mom, the backlash began. I’ve heard him called a “flapping farmhand” and his face and demeanor compared to Simple Jack and Dustin Diamond. Ouch. Don’t get me wrong- I appreciate and admire athleticism. Working on ones body and reaching a goal is (almost) as noble as the arts and intellectual pursuits. But the world’s obsession with the concept of winning and losing seems archaic to me. I’m calling for the End of Sport altogether. Half the world is a war zone, babies are dying, the planet is being raped, and we humans are obsessed over who moves their arms and legs through the water 1/100th of a second faster than the other. It doesn’t fucking matter. Insanity.

Random Internet Quote #2

From a comment board making fun of the film Righteous Kill:

I've never heard the words "badge" and "gun" used more times than in the preview for this movie.

Literally, Pacino's voiceover in the trailer goes something like,

"Where I come from, you make a choice between a badge or a gun. You respect the gun? You hate the badge. You love the badge? You fear the gun. Sometimes a gun looks like a badge. And sometimes, well a gun, it looks like a gun. But there's no mistaking, that a badge is more powerful than the gun. When I wake up in the morning, I find my hand on my badge, when it should be on my gun. I ask myself, What came first? The badge or the gun? The difference between a badge and a gun, is that a badge knows that he's a badge, but a gun- a gun don't know he's a gun. If you got a badge, and gun, all you really gots a gun. And a badge. One fish, two fish, badge, gun, badge, gun. Knock, knock? Who's there? Oh, a badge? I though it would be a gun. Good one."

-a poster named JudgeFudge

Baseck/ Daedelus/ Hecate/ Captain Ahab/ Tleilaxu Music Machine

I am pleased to inform you that the electronic noise/breakcore/experimental scene is alive and well in Los Angeles. I went to a warehouse downtown on Friday and heard some of the best music I've heard all year. Darkmatter Soundsystem threw the party and the turnout was great. I missed The Tleilaxu Music Machine but I'd seen him before and he is rad. Daedelus was performing when I got there. This guy is the shit. He used an instrument called the Monome that is a big square pad with buttons that trigger samples in Max/MSP and allows for heightened improvisation. My friend Peter actually helped develop this instrument and, until last night, I had never seen anyone use it besides him. The music was frantic melodic electro rave that had people going nuts. Go see this dude when he comes to town, he is currently touring the planet. His new record is on Ninja Tune. There were a couple other breakcore acts that were pretty cool but kind of rehashing stuff Kid606 and Drop the Lime were doing 5 years ago. One guy named Tony, I didn't catch his artist name, played an extremely hardcore set with what sounded like 400 bpm beats and screaming death vocals. Great performance. He told me John Frusciante was at the last Darkmatter gig and that he is opening for him at his next solo show here in LA. Wow. Next was a girl named Hecate from Berlin that DJed hardcore electronic and shrieked over it. That is her in the picture above. Diamanda Gales meets Atari Teenage Riot. Pretty damn evil. Judging by her myspace, it seems she has taken her music around the world. I'm told she made an album entirely made up of the sounds of her fucking. Then local hero Captain Ahab played. He has a hype guy who is like the white Flava Flav- he really gets the party started. Thats them below. It seems Ahab is getting away from the wacky electro pop and into more hard techno. Check out this video, it is somewhat of an Ahab classic. Baseck, who put the party together, closed the night. He played a game boy and had a weird tribal looking kid with a cane on vocals and tom drum. I don't know what hes doing with the game boy but the music coming out of it is incredible. It only barely sounds like what you're imaging. Cevin Key from Skinny Puppy was there and I talked with him for a bit and that was cool. The next party is September 13th.

Joe Smooth: Promised Land

I haven't found much to post this month but here is one of the greatest house tracks ever, accompanied by the video. This has been a peak or end of the night party anthem all across the world for 20 years. Read all the comments on the youtube page to see the effect this tune has had on people. It doesn't get much better than this.

The Laughing Light of Plenty

New band alert! The Laughing Light of Plenty is Thomas Bullock and Eddie Ruscha. A lot of readers of this webpage probably know about Thomas from Wicked, Rub n Tug, Map of Africa, etc... He is the best DJ in the world and a phenomenal producer. Eddie Ruscha is the son of the famous artist. He does amazing art and music as Secret Circuit and Dada Munchamonkey. The art above and below is by him. The first Laughing Light song, The Rose, is coming out on Whatever We Want Records, another 12" limited to 700 copies. Compared to Thomas' other music projects of late (Bobbie Marie, MOA, Welcome Stranger) this stuff is more dancefloor friendly and- dare i say- commercial? I think it is among his best work. It also has the best bass line I have heard in long time.

Listen to The Rose here.

Save the Wild Apes

There only about 700 wild mountain gorillas left in the world. They live in themountains of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are an extremely endangered species for many reasons. Currently, the most pressing is the illegal charcoal trade in the area. The charcoal people have burned down most of the forest around the National park that the gorillas live in and now they want to exploit the park. They see the gorillas as a "hindrance". In 2007, a vindictive statement by the charcoal traders against the park rangers was made- 4 gorillas were found dead. They were shot but not harvested for there meat, skulls, or hands, as they usually are when murdered by poachers. Poachers also steal baby gorillas to sell to zoos or on the black market to sickos who like to keep gorillas as pets confined in basements or cages. Another problem is the heavy fighting amongst rebel groups in those areas. There are reports of rebels using gorillas as target practice with their AK-47s. It seems like that part of Africa is so war-torn and poor, the life of a gorilla is meaningless to some just struggling to survive.



There is also some amazing video over at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Fossey was the pioneering researcher that lived with and studied the gorillas from 1967 until 1985 and helped get rid of the "king kong" stereotype that gorillas were savage beasts. She was hacked to death with a machete. The culprit was never caught. Most assume it was poachers that didn't like her work. But one of her own trackers was arrested for the crime, though he hung himself in jail before anything was proven. People think he was working for Rwandas booming gorilla tourism industry that Fossey had accidentally ushered in- but hated and tried to stop.


Saving our closest relatives may be impossible. My co-worker thinks the only way it can happen is if a natural disaster or disease "levels the playing field". On a more positive note, you can donate money directly to the park rangers that are actively protecting them.


Another major problem is the extinction of Orangutans in Indonesia. They now only live in two parts of the world- on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. They are in trouble for similar reasons as above, like kidnapping for pets, but mostly because of the massive palm oil industry. The Indonesian government is systematically cutting down the forests of Borneo to make way for palm trees. Palm oil is used in something like 30% of kitchen products in the typical American household (soap, bread, chips) so the demand is high. Locals regard the last five or ten thousand remaining orangutans as "pests" because they eat the baby palm trees that have been planted. In earlier centuries, locals would not kill them because they felt they were just people hiding out in the trees so they didn't have to work or become a slave. The word Orangutan translates to "people of the forest." They could be extinct within 10 years. More info here.



UPDATE Aug 5th: The July issue of National Geographic had an article about the gorilla killings. Apparently the man that orchestrated the killings is Honore Mashagiro. He works for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature and he is in charge of protecting the National Park. He is totally corrupt and profits from the charcoal trade. He was trying to frame a man named Paulin Ngobobo who had found him out. Mashagiro is currently awaiting trial.

Warren's Song of the Month

Here is another one from Warren. A band at the height of their powers. Also check out this increible version of Rhiannon from the same show.

Loft Art

I found this painting on David Mancuso's Loft website. He started the dancing all night to music phenomenon with his Loft parties in New York in 1970. About the painting: "This work of art, painted by Penelope Grill, is a pastel. The characters were inspired by real Loft people at a Prince Street party. In the foreground are dj's, promoters and a writer. In the right background David is at the turntables while his devoted fans cluster around him. The paintings that hang on the walls around the dance floor were painted by Penelope Grill."

Here is another one: Around the Punchbowl. In the early days there was always acid in the punch.
About the painting: "All the characters were inspired by real Loft people. The refreshment in the large bowl was a lightly sweetened citrus punch. Slices of orange and lemon floated on top. The man in the Hawaiian shirt on the lower left is wearing an evil eye glass pendant. These were given out a gifts to everyone attending the party one evening. The party mascot, Wolfie, the cat, stretches out under the table. If you attended the parties on Prince Street you may know who some of the people were."

Derrick Carter: Illusions

Derrick Carter recorded these tapes sometime in the mid 90's. When I first got into house they were on continual rotation. Eventually, I think I traded part two and lost part one so I was stoked to recently find both archived on line and I thought I'd share them with you. I haven't heard Derrick DJ in along time but back then we would drive hours just to hear him. The best set I saw him play was at the JuJuBeats Rave in the Los Angeles National Forrest in 97. I couldn't get my head out of the speaker his whole set. If you've ever wondered what exactly house music sounds like, this is it. 2 hours of raw banging Chicago. Play this loud.

Illusions Part One Side A

Illusions Part One Side B

Illusions Part Two Side A

Illusions Part Two Side B

Guantanamo Bay and the Science of Torture.

The official word on Guantanamo is they are interrogating "enemy combatants" for information to stop the "terrorists." Most have been there for 6 or 7 years now, so after years of torture, what more could they possible reveal? Nothing. I don't think they are looking for information any more. Guantanamo is an experiment. An experiment in brainwashing. Through the use of shock, isolation, and torture, this is a major effort to erase the minds of these men to a blank slate, where upon they can begin to rebuild them to the governments liking.

The methods they use there were developed by two doctors the CIA funded in Montreal in the 1950's, Dr. Donald Hebb and Dr. Ewen Cameron. The work of these two psychiatrists was the foundation for the infamous CIA torture handbook the KUBARK manual. They took patients, often students, and under the guise of attempting to heal problems like schizophrenia or anxiety, subjected them to hardcore punishment and torture. The whole "blank slate" idea was Cameron's. To erase ones mind he used a variety of methods: Lots of electroshock. Extreme isolation. Lots of LSD and PCP. Usually all three together. One experiment went like this: He converted the horse stables behind the McGill hospital into isolation chambers. He put blackout goggles and soundproof headphones on his subjects. He wrapped their arms in weird pipes so they couldn't touch themselves, all of this to induce sensory deprivation and to cause the mind to "fold in on itself." He would stagger meal times and serve breakfast food at dinner, dinner a lunch, etc. No contact with anyone. He would leave them like this for MONTHS AT A TIME. At this point, when the personality is gone, there is a state of total vulnerability where the prisoner will comply with anything. Then the sensory overload part begins, usually involving days of blaring white noise and music, lights, yelling, tape loops. Torture historian Alfred W. McCoy calls this "the first real revolution in the cruel science of pain in more than three centuries."

In addition to stress positions (standing for days), water boarding (drowning), phobias (like fear of dogs), humility (nakedness), and beatings, Cameron and Hebb's technique is occurring at Guantanamo Bay. As soon as the Iraq and Afghanistan prisoners were captured, a hood went on and the shock and isolation treatment began. There is a section at Guantanamo called Delta Block that holds more than 50 men who have completely lost it. James Yee, a military chaplain that worked there describes what he saw: "I'd stop to talk to them, and they would respond to me in a child like voice, talking complete nonsense. Many of them would loudly sing childish songs, repeating the song over and over. Some of them would stand on their steel bed frames and act out childishly..." Indeed, those are the same results Cameron got. After experiencing extreme regression most would curl up into a fetal position and suck their thumb. Then Cameron would start playing repeating tape loops of positive messages to them for months at a time. Psychiatricly, a laughably sick joke. Obviously it didn't work, the patients never recovered. Most lost there jobs, some killed themselves, and many cant remember anything about there life before they came across Cameron. Thankfully, a few of them pulled it together and sued the CIA, as well as the government of Canada, and won.

So when we look at all this in relation to what has happened to the prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a different picture comes to light. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, tortured, and released months or years later, never being charged or accused of anything. Abu Ghraib is one of the main facilities for this purpose. As Naomi Klein, from who's book The Shock Doctrine I got most this information, puts it: "We are told it's about getting information but I think it's about more than that- I think it may also have to do with trying to build a model country, about erasing people and then trying to remake them from scratch."

Random Photo

Taken from JJs myspace. Click to see it bigger.

Schapelle Corby

For those of you with HBO, they are now showing a good documentary called Ganja Queen. It is about a 27 year old Australian woman named Schapelle Corby that was caught in 2004 with ten pounds of weed in her boogie board bag in Bali, Indonesia. Of course she claims innocence. If she is, she is either a really good actor and/or has convinced herself she didn't do it. Well, who did it then? Some say it was baggage handlers at the airport but there is no evidence at all and that doesn't seem likely when you consider the other suspects: her family. There are few options as to who the guilty party is.

Option one: her father. He is an obvious liar. When it comes out after the trial that his neighbor and best friend got arrested for growing weed, he claims he never knew about it. Bullshit. But the filmmakers do go to the neighbors farm and interview the guy and he seems pretty strait up. He grows dirt weed and Schapelle was caught with Hydro. But that doesnt mean he doesn't have hook ups. Another weird thing is the father was dying of cancer at the time- he is dead now- so why didn't he just say he planted the weed without her knowledge in the hope the court has mercy and lets her out?

Option two: the scumbag brother. She has a younger half brother that does not appear much in the film but when he does he can barely talk, they have to subtitle his speech... He seems like a half-wit or some kind of moron. After the trial he was sentenced to four years in jail for attacking and robbing some people of their money and weed. He was also holding the boogie board bag at the Bali airport when customs called him over to search it. When they asked if it was his, Schapelle stepped in and said it was hers.

Option three: the older sister, Mercedes, and her husband. Mercedes lives in Bali with her native Indonesian surfer husband. He seems chill and refers to pot as "god-plant." A close family friend that attended the trial came out recently, and while taking and passing a polygraph test, said that in the past Mercedes had offered to pay her to import weed for her. During the trial Mercedes is freaking out just as much, if not more than Schapelle. It seems like she is consumed with guilt and knows it is her fault.

So what happened? My guess is the brother or the father or both scored the weed and were going to have Mercedes and her husband sell it to their local connections. They probably offered Schapelle a bit of money to put it in her bag or just did it without asking. Either way that is pretty fucked up because she was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years. It could have been worse- the maximum punishment was the death penalty. All the appeals she is allowed have been filed and rejected. All for POT. More evidence the world is run by idiots. Devastating. You probably can't but try and help.


Schapelle as she learns her fate. This is a really sad scene in the film.

Naomi and Tavis

I wrote a bit about Naomi Klein's disaster capitalism idea in a previous article but wanted to go a little deeper into it here. The idea argues that, in Naomi's words, "today's preferred method of reshaping the world in the interest of multinational corporations is to systematically exploit the state of fear and disorientation that accompanies moments of great shock and crisis." Below is an enlightening conversation between Klein and interview master Tavis Smiley.

Star Eyes

I wanted to alert our readers to a really sick mix I found online, one of the best I've heard in a long time. It's by Star Eyes. It is, for the most part, a really focused blend of electro 80's and angry Wax Trax style industrial. There's some new stuff on there too like Pink Lunch. I didn't recognize most the tracks. I did recognize Alien Sex Fiend, Psychic TV and Nitzer Ebb. I'm always in wonder and amazement when I hear someone drop something as obscure and radical as Alien Sex Fiend in a mix... Star Eyes started one of the first Drum & Bass crews in San Francisco in the 90's called (if I remember correctly) B.A.S.S. Crew. I first heard her DJ when she was a resident at the Eklektic parties. Then she started playing two-step with her friend Siren as Syrup Girls. That sound was totally new and awesome at the time and they were the only ones I knew of that were reping it. Now she does the Trouble & Bass parties in NY with Mathhead, The Captain, and the phenomenal Drop The Lime. They play what they call Heavy Bass Music, a combination of 4X4, UKGarage, bassline, grime, and all kinds of other stuff. Check it out if you live out there. Definitely check out DTL too, he has been one of the best producers and performers out there for a while now.

Here is the mix:

Star Eyes- Haxor Mix