Suburban Commandos That Monitor Reality
Pink Scarface and the Hamburglar are not the heroes we need right now
I don’t know what stage of the pandemic this is, but it feels like we’re living in a whirlwind. Time is slowing down, speeding up, reversing course. It’s getting awfully glitchy is what I’m saying. I mean, do you realize it’s July?
The news seems to be hitting harder. Cops are still killing people of color, Trump continues to sink to new lows, and white people are freaking the fuck out.
At least some of these fools have led to the creation of good memes:
Rebecca Solnit has written an outstanding essay that provides some much-needed context about these suburban commandos, but here’s the crux: the mayor of St. Louis released the names and addresses of several BLM protestors in St. Louis, which is an outright act of violence when you consider that six activists connected to the Ferguson uprising in 2014 have died under unusual circumstances, including this hero:
The protestors that prompted Pink Scarface and the Hamburglar to wave their weapons around on the front porch of their palazzo were on their way to mayor’s house.
In other words, this wasn’t about them.
Do You Want Do What You Want Updates?
There’s a lot happening and some new news to report. Last week I joined a Zoom meeting with all of the members of Bad Religion. It was a dress rehearsal for when we do it again for the public the week of the book release (I’ll share more details with you as they become available). The meeting was recorded with the idea that we’ll use clips to promote the book in the weeks leading up to the release, so you may see those floating around before then, but I guess we’ll see how it all turns out.
I won’t get into what we talked about it so I don’t spoil the surprise, but we started out by talking about everyday 2020 stuff: the challenges of parenting during a pandemic, being creative during a time of social unrest, etc.
Brett Gurewitz has been outspoken about his support for Black Lives Matter, which I think is outstanding considering he’s not just a member of Bad Religion but the founder of Epitaph. Here’s one exchange that stood out to me:
When talking to artists who are on the Epitaph label, what has been your advice to encourage people to get involved and use their platform to speak on these issues?
I’m not giving advice because I’m not a Black person. But I am taking advice, and the advice I’ve been following is basically what Black Lives Matter is recommending for allyship, which is don’t express your own opinion if you’re a white business, or if you’re a white person, amplify Black voices and use the language of the Black Lives Matter movement and direct people to resources for direct action and so forth. The thing is that it’s not really enough to be a nonracist today. You have to be an anti-racist, and racism won’t die until white people see it as a white issue they need to solve rather than a Black issue that we need to empathize with. I think that the way to fix it is to switch the perspective.
I highly recommend the entire interview. Speaking of Epitaph, the label will be releasing some new Bad Religion songs in the next few weeks. How new? You’re just going to have to wait and see…
Yesterday I talked to a reporter for New Noise about Do What You Want and I got really nostalgic about seeing the band play in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy in 2018 during the unofficial 40th anniversary of Suffer tour. I might have to put together a travel diary/photo essay of that trip. Is that something you’d like to see?
Lastly, I don’t know how Chris Pine was able to get a huge bag filled with copies of Do What You Want six weeks before the pub date, but you love to see it.
(Yes, this is Chris Pine; no, he doesn’t have copies of Do What You Want. At least I don’t think so…)
The Stains
Razorcake has just released the latest in their series of short documentaries about East L.A. punk bands and this one is a ripper.
Zombies & Owls
As promised my piece on Paul Tremblay and his new book Survivor Song ran in the Los Angeles Times last week. It’s a really compelling take on a zombie story that involves a mysterious human virus.
I have another profile that just came out today. This one is with Ben Ehrenreich and his new work of nonfiction Desert Notebooks, which I can’t stop thinking about.
It’s about our perception of time and how changes in our relationship to it have essentially wrecked the planet. It opens with a story about owls and how in Mayan culture they served as messengers from the underworld, which, as you know, is totally my jam. Now I need to work on an owl-themed logo for this here newsletter. In fact, I want you to hold me to it.
Sick Puppies
It’s the first of the month and rent is due. If you’ve got the cash, I’ve got a zine for you. I’ve still got some copies of my limited edition zine “Our Love Cuts Deep” for sale at my Etsy store. Shipping is free and the cover isn’t too shabby if I say so myself:
I sent one to my father on Father’s Day, and he actually read it. He said, “You’re one sick puppy,” which I suppose is a compliment.
I hope your Fourth of July is a peaceful one. Stay home and if you do go out be like Jason and wear a mask.
Wow, Jim, Tremblay's book is scary just to read about but your review is terrific and much more detailed than your dad's review of Our Love Cuts Deep which I really enjoyed BTW.