Monthly Archives: August 2009

Tuneage

How to Earn an Express Ticket to Hell, the Victory Records Way

Do you remember Victory Records? You might not have ever heard of them if you didn’t run in punk/hardcore circles at some point in your life. During my college years, they were most known (to me, at least) for being the home of the completely humorless militant straight-edge/eco-centric band Earth Crisis. They were not a one-note label, however. Their roster extended to cover all variety of suck.

I have not given Victory Records a second thought in many years, but apparently they still exist. And are still run by a fucktard of the highest order.

As you may have heard, Matador Records founder/Can’t Stop the Bleeding blogger Gerard Cosloy’s home in Austin burned down last week. As someone who’s enjoyed the fruits of both that label and that blog, I was saddened by the news. Plus, based on the posts at CSTB, I believe he’s a Mets fan, so the man’s suffered enough the last few years.

It’s an awful event, the kind that inspires pity even among people who might hate you. Even Deadspin, which Cosloy took shots at over the years (and vice versa), wrote a brief post sending their condolences when the news broke. Because despite the fact that Cosloy was not a fan of Deadspin’s editor emeritus, you have to be a special kind of asshole to not offer sympathy to someone who just lost everything he owned.

Tony Brummell, Victory Records head honcho, is just that kind of asshole. In a situation where most people would offer their thoughts and prayers–or at the very least say nothing at all–Tony found the strength within him to send Cosloy a one-word email that said KARMA.

Why such hostility? Because Cosloy called out Victory Records for weird/shitty business practices. I suppose this offended the Great Hardcore Gods in the sky, who then did smite him for his insolence.

I’m pointing this out so if anyone is out there is considering a bulk purchase of the Snapcase back catalog, or you wanna pick up some old L.E.S. Stitches 7 inches, you may want to spend your hard earned deaux elsewhere. And if you’re so inclined, you can check out this blog post at Chunklet, where the Victory Records haterade is being poured in full force.

1999 Project

1999 Project: Subway Series, Part 2

Click here for an intro/manifesto on The 1999 Project.

subwayseries2.pngJuly 9, 1999: Mets 5, Yankees 2

Though the Mets played well between the end of the first Subway Series and the start of the second one, they had also just completed a disappointing four-game split with the lowly Expos. “There was a listless atmosphere,” Jack Curry wrote of that series in The New York Times, “and the Mets always seemed to be in danger of being lulled to sleep and into feeling that they were fine. But they were not.”

There was no danger of a subdued atmosphere at Shea for the Friday night opener of this series. The pitching matchup was a rematch of the last game of the Bronx leg of the Subway Series: Al Leiter for the Mets, Roger Clemens for the Yankees. That game ended the Mets’ eight-game losing streak and turned the season around for both the team and Leiter. After a shaky start to his year, the lefty had been money in bank ever since his outing at Yankee Stadium.

Continue reading 1999 Project: Subway Series, Part 2 →

Cinematics

Harrison Ford, Man of Two or Three Faces

Harrison Ford is a movie star in the classic mold. He is not a method actor in the vein of Brando or Deniro. He’s more like the old-timey matinee idols of yesteryear, like John Wayne, or Cary Grant, or Clark Gable. None of those guys ever acted. Their job was to appear in a movie, recite their lines, and just be whoever they were. They’d play extremely slight variations on the same character over and over again, because that was all the studio–and the public–demanded of them.

The same goes for Harrison Ford. The movie-going public does not want to see Harrison Ford in a gritty indie drama, or a quirky comedy, or a costume piece. They want to see Harrison Ford, successful man whose family is threatened somehow. Again. And again and again and again.

Thanks to philvsthemayor, whose tweeting alerted me to this gem.