PJ bores me to tears, but "the Crue" is a sad, sad group of guys who put all their success up their noses and into their arms. Like 'em or not, PJ is still performing, still releasing stuff, and their anti-Ticketmaster gives them more integrity than Nikki Sixx could ever hope for.
Rogan going away isn't going to put the genie back in the bottle of misinformation, which was floating around long before Rogan moved to Texas, and will keep going even if he gets canned yesterday. The number of people who listen to him and decide NOT to get the vaccine based on his podcast is not the problem. People who are hesitant and get the green light from Rogan to stay unvaxxed were going to stay unvaxxed anyway; they would just look for another method of confirming bias: Facebook, their stupid family, their conservative church, their idiot coworkers. Anybody thinking that Rogan has that much power is giving him too much credit, except now their tantrum really HAS given him much more of a spotlight (just like the media gave Trump billions of free advertising in 2016).
If anyone wants to rag on Rogan about something, go after him being a mouthpiece for Abbot and Patrick's war on women and intellectuals...that's far more dangerous on a cultural and political level. After all, that's what this is all about, right? The culture war? The public health angle is kabuki.
At the end of the day, there is actual value in having diverse opinions (no matter how wrong) because it brings the fascists into the spotlight. Thanks to Rogan, we get a near-constant parade of western chauvinists and proto-fascists to be aware of (even though he'll sprinkle a Bernie in there to make him look open minded).
And boycotting Spotify because of artist payouts is worthy, but realize they're pretty much squarely in the middle of payouts. Amazon Music, Pandora, and Youtube pay less. There needs to be a holistic, widespread approach to overhauling the streaming payout system, because doing this as a one-off won't do a damned thing.
I love Neil, and while I will miss him on Spotify I still have all his stuff in multiple formats already. I wish he was clearer about what the real issue is. Is it vax misinformation? Is it the audio quality? If it's the vax misinformation, do the measures implemented Spotify & Rogan make a difference to him?
If it's sound quality...well...there will never be any pleasing Neil. Personally, I've had tinnitus since I was 18, so audio quality is pretty low on my list of requirements. As long as I can hear it above the constant hiss I'm good.
And yes, Spotify doesn't pay as much as they could/should. Yes, their CEO can "do the right thing" and he'll still be ridiculously rich, even with Sweden's taxes. Yes, he's a greedy turd.
But they still pay more than Amazon, Youtube Music, and Pandora, have as good (if not better) selection than most, and their recommendation algorithm is far better than the competition.
Of course they're a scam for anyone looking for a legitimate product.
The main use case for NFTs, though, isn't for legitimate commerce. NFTs are for money laundering. Got some BTC from ransomware? You've gotta put that somewhere that obfuscates the trail, so it's time to buy a crappy JPG of a butthole that you can turn around and sell for Monero.
Anybody who tells you otherwise about NFTs are either "business development" slugs for crypto companies selling NFTs, or suckers who have already drunk the Flavor Aid and believe that they're somehow legitimate.
Imagine being the replacement singer for Smashmouth. Getting paid a tiny wage to slum it at state & county fairs in the flyover state hellholes that still have such things in the middle of a pandemic.
And people notice. They actually *notice* you. And they ask about you.
And your "employers" would rather ignore the fact that you exist entirely...even though you're fronting the band.
Talk about killing your ego...ugh.
It's not that wild. It's one person who is going through a very public episode of mental illness, and two people whose calendars are remarkably free because they're toxic jerks. It's really not that crazy. It's sad for Kanye, for his family, and for the fans that keep throwing good money at this lunatic.
I mean...of course. Gene thinks he's always in his prime. He wouldn't be Gene Simmons if he wasn't laser-focused on being the biggest asshole in a room of assholes.
One band is the most innovative, influential rock band of all time with timeless songs that the whole world knows by heart, regardless of language or borders.
The other wrote "Harlem Shuffle".
Peak SFA right here. Phantom Power is up there as well, but RATW is tops. Fun shows during that time, too (as long as you're ok with volume loud enough to sterilize you and static set lists).
If he thinks that promoters here, Asia & Europe won't be requiring the vax for all the touring acts & associated crew, he's fooling himself. Touring acts are basically a roving disease vector, so promotors and municipalities will want to minimize the risk.
If the vax is not going to be a regulation at the municipal level for "mass gatherings", then it'll likely be an insurance thing the promoter will have to deal with, and in the end it'll be cheaper to just say "by signing this contract to play at XYZ Megastadium you agree to adhere to all health & safety requirements (including public health mandates)" or some such language.
But then nobody ever accused Jaymz as being the brains of the operation...
The real cosmic win here would've been him playing "Piss Bottle Man" in the aisle with incontinence products...because March 1st is one day after the 26th anniversary of the release of Mike Watt's unbelievable "Ball Hog or Tug Boat", where Evan's contribution on the aforementioned song is probably one of the best moments on that album.
Yes, I'm a very old person.
Comments