All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

Auditing Massachusetts Law: Crimes Against Gov’ts

This is a new feature where I’m going to audit many of the General Laws of Massachusetts so as to show basic violations of freedom. Some of these crimes and punishments are utterly absurd. I didn’t include it in this segment, but my very utterance of that could somehow be considered treason under the vague language of Massachusetts Law.

Flag Burning/Flag Misuse

– Chapter 264: Section 5. Whoever publicly burns or otherwise mutilates, tramples upon, defaces or treats contemptuously the flag of the United States or of Massachusetts…shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
– Chapter 264. Section 7. Whoever publicly mutilates, tramples upon, defaces or treats contemptuously the flag or emblem of a foreign country at peace with the United States…shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than fifty dollars.
– Chapter 264. Section 8. Whoever displays the flag or emblem of a foreign country upon the outside of a state, county, city or town building or public schoolhouse shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty dollars.

Screwing With The National Anthem
– Chapter 264. Section 9. Whoever plays, sings or renders the “Star Spangled Banner”, or any part thereof, as dance music, as an exit march or as a part of a medley of any kind, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

Anarchy
– Chapter 264. Section 11. Whoever by speech or by exhibition, distribution or promulgation of any written or printed document, paper or pictorial representation advocates, advises, counsels or incites assault upon any public official, or the killing of any person, or the unlawful destruction of real or personal property, or the overthrow by force or violence or other unlawful means of the government of the commonwealth or of the United States, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years, or in jail for not more than two and one half years, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars; provided, that this section shall not be construed as reducing the penalty now imposed for the violation of any law.

Subversive Organizations/Membership
– Chapter 264. Section 16. The term “subversive organization” as used in sections seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-one, twenty-two and twenty-three of this chapter shall mean any form of association of three or more persons, however named or characterized, and by whatever legal or non-legal entity or non-entity it be established, and whether incorporated or otherwise for the common purpose of advocating, advising, counseling or inciting the overthrow by force or violence, or by other unlawful means, of the government of the commonwealth or of the United States.
– Chapter 264. Section 22. Whoever being in charge of an auditorium, hall or other building shall knowingly permit it to be used by the Communist Party or by an organization which has been adjudicated a subversive organization under the provisions of section eighteen shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
– Chapter 264. Section 19. Any person who becomes or remains a member of any organization knowing it to be a subversive organization shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two and one half years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars.

Communist Party
– Chapter 264. Section 16A. The Communist Party is hereby declared to be a subversive organization.

Favorite Songs of 2010 (So Far)

Limit One Song Per Band

– “Brian Eno” by MGMT
– “Walk in the Park” by Beach House
– “Tiny Sioux” by Box Elders
– “Fresh” by Devo
– “Jail La La” by Dum Dum Girls
– “Gay Human Bones” by Harlem
– “Go Berserk” by Mark Sultan
– “1000 Years” by Portugal. The Man
– “Be Brave” by The Strange Boys
– “Take On the World” by Wavves
– “Cloud Shadow on the Mountain” by Wolf Parade

I’m leaving out a lot; these are just ones that I found on a quick run through of my media player.

THE LAST FEW POSTS

Yeah, it’s SATURDAY NIGHT what do you think I’ve been doing? Twiddling my thumbs and reading twitters? NO, far from it. I’ve been ranting. I’ve been in the mood. I should probably stay away from message boards because I’m going to make some posts that are going to make people wonder if I am truly a reatard. And yes, matter of fact, they would be right, but you know, matter of fact, I don’t care. I love when my fingers type without any regard to what I am actually thinking. IN FACT, I am thinking this. Screw those posers who say they lose control. THAT doesn’t happen! You have to be simply dumb. DUMB.

ITS QUARTER PAST SHUT THE FUCK UP!

All these songs about needing people while drunk is just dumb as fuck. You don’t need anyone when you are fucked up, you little puss. Oh yeah you need the guy of your fucking dreams. Chances are the fuck just wants to fuck and you’ve gotten past the point where you actually give a shit. You give and shit happens. You regret the next day. The fuck absolutely doesn’t and tells all his friends.

Socialism

It’s just as bad as capitalism. The isms tend to suck. Capitalism sucks for the people who don’t have a great opportunity or don’t want to further advance themselves into the “owning class.” Yeah, that’s not an easy feat, but some people are content at doing the bare minimum to make things work. Socialism sucks for people who actually want to be able to do whatever they want. Should everyone be equal? Probably not. There has to be some level of commitment in people to do something. Setting people equal is just a form of manipulation, especially since I imagine not a lot of people want that. I know inequalities create conflict, but what can you do? The whole worker management system is a generally good idea, but wouldn’t work in every scenario. In some industries there has to be some level of hierarchy — provided that this hierarchy is agreed upon by basically every stakeholder. And finally, I have understood socialism and communism! Yes, I have! Well kind of. A whole lot of socialists and communists are atheists so they are like yo, yo, I want THIS life to be awesome because we are just going to rot afterward. The capitalists are like yo, yo, suffer and believe and you shall be granted a great afterlife. Both are pretty crooked outlooks, in my opinion. I’m a pretty religious guy, but I want the poor and the near-poor to get their share. They can just lounge around. I’m not making excuses in support of the owning class, but let’s get real here. If you come from no money, it’s going to suck, but at least make some kind of attempt to rebel or just work your ass off. K bye.

Walkmen Song Reviews [LISBON!]

Band: The Walkmen
Album: Lisbon
Release: Fat Possum [9/2010]

1. “Juveniles” – Known in some circles as “Tragedy,” I’m just amazed by Hamilton’s delivery on the choruses. I, too, love the laid back, Caribbean-esque feel. What a great album opener! Grade: A+

2. “Angela Surf City” – This one is marked by Matt Barrick’s drumming. At least that’s what stands out to me. I do like this song — Hamilton is as passionate as ever — and how it, like “Blue” that follows soon, has an enormous explosion of instrumentation. Grade: A-

4. “Blue As Your Blood” – Known in some circles as “The Sky Above,” this builds up pretty good. The initial guitar plucks and percussion stay constant — as a good rhythm section usually does — throughout the duration of this tune. I got a feeling pretty early on that this thing was going to explode. Indeed, it does. There are some really nice intricacies toward the end of the song — like a subtle keyboard push and twangy guitar parts. Grade: A

8. “Woe Is You” – This one is comparable to “Tragedy” in how it sounds Caribbean. I really enjoy how it flows. The left panned keyboard sequence is cool at the end. Sorry, I can’t think of anything else to say! Grade: A

10. “While I Shovel the Snow” – A tad tad slow for my liking, but I’ve got to give praise to the lyrics. This one feels old — you know like Sun Records old. Leonard Cohen inspired as well. Tentatitvely I won’t give it the benefit of the doubt, but we’ll see by the time the entire record comes out. Grade: B+

CD Review: Raw Pie [2010]

Band: Personal and the Pizzas
Release: 3/2010
Label: Burger Records [CASSETTE]/ 1234GO! [VINYL]

1. “I Don’t Wanna Be No Personal Pizza” – B
2. “I Don’t Feel So Happy Now No More” – B+
3. “I Can Read” – B+
4. “I Ain’t Takin’ You Out” – A-
5. “Brass Knuckles” – B+
6. “Nobody Makes My Girl Cry But Me” – B
7. “Knuckles #2” – B+
8. “Pizza Army” – B
9. “Tearjerker” – B+
10. “Never Find Me” – B
11. “7.99 For Love” – B-
12. “Pepperoni Eyes” – B
13. “Don’t You Go In That Ground” – A-
14. “Toss That Pie” – C+

Comments: Wait a second while I figure out a brief survey.
DO YOU LIKE THE STOOGES? A LITTLE
DO YOU LIKE THE RAMONES? YEAH
DO YOU LIKE WEIRD AL? YEAH

So I’m supposed to like these guys. These greasy pepperoni pisans sound like textbook novelties. This is a live record of sorts recorded with, presumably, a tape recorder in an empty bar. It’s nice to know they can read. Their songwriting style resembles that of the late Bobby Ubangi and the present day Nobunny circa Raw Romance (see “I Ain’t” for reference). They obviously take cues from The Ramones, but who in the Burger in-crowd doesn’t? Personal and crew don’t really mobilize me all that much. Like, ya know, I’m not blown or anything. You have to possess a sense of humor and a degree of patience in conforming your ears to this piece of vinyl. If you aren’t paying much attention while listening or if you are like me and trying to hear this album while reading about Howard Zinn, you might mistake the first half of “Don’t You” as a mockery of mentally challenged individuals. It clicked, though! They’re talking about Jay Jay. “Reatard, Reatard, such a little Reatard, you’re dead, what did you do?”

Grade: B (85)

CD Review: Crazy For You [2010]

Band: Best Coast
Release:
7/2010
Label:
Mexican Summer

1. “Boyfriend” – A
2. “Crazy for You” – A
3. “The End” – A-
4. “Goodbye” – A-
5. “Summer Mood” – A-
6. “Our Deal” – A-
7. “I Want To” – A
8. “When the Sun Don’t Shine” – A-
9. “Bratty B” – A
10. “Honey” – B+
11. “Happy” – B+
12. “Each and Every Day” – B+
13. “When I’m With You” – B+

Comments: Ahhhhh I wrote a lot about this album here but then I guess it never saved! Ahhhh! I’ll revisit it soon.

Grade: A- (90)