758 posts shown.
Nicholas King62 said:I don't think the point of this thread is just whining about MTV bands.
Forgive me, but is the term "MTV band" even still in circulation? If it is, what
exactly does that even mean anymore? From what I can tell, there aren't even real bands on MTV; their programming has dwindled down to a mountain of ringtone commercials and some moronic quasi-reality shows and "American Idol"-style garbage... 🙂 🤮
ruggedcrane22 said:MTV is a joke—they don't even play music anymore.
My words exactly. This subject has been hashed out on this forum more times than I can count. The sheer volume of commercialized trash being squeezed out of that and similar TV networks is beyond my comprehension—I admit that much. But then again, sometimes I find it strangely entertaining to watch the drum spin inside a washing machine through that little circular window. It’s always colorful, it’s got twelve different cycles, and there's always something happening.
ruggedcrane22 said:I admit that all that talk about music and postage stamps sounds pretty cynical.
...but it's also true. I've run into countless digital collectors who literally keep everything from Sinan to System of a Down to Sonic Youth to Simple Minds to Severina in their libraries—just because "it starts with an S" and they want to hoard it all. 😲I remember this one guy back in the day when I first saw his entire JSBX collection around 2000—what a complete disaster of a collection he had, honestly... and he didn't seem to care one bit. Yet, amidst that massive pile of junk, I actually managed to find a few gems for myself. Later on, I jokingly nicknamed his setup "Washington, D.C." online. A mix of absolute garbage and pure brilliance at the same time. Oh, and yeah, the guy regularly listened to Styx, Toto, and similar acts, but he collected the rest of this stuff like they were baseball cards or cocktail napkins. Like, what was he expecting? A Medal of Honor? A front-page spread in the New York Times? Or what? 🤔
Noah Myers67 said:Since the five o'clock meeting got pushed back—again—I suppose we might as well try tackling this from the opposite direction...😎
Yeah, you clearly have a thing for what’s happening behind the scenes... 😁
Noah Myers67 said:Spunk? Was there actually some kind of agreement in place? 🙂
Not exactly—I misspoke there—but when you consider that we’re practically using their patented trademarks as our own... 😁
Noah Myers67 said:I'll get that over to you in a few days... 😉
Hold on a second—what about me and Ari Špek? 🤔 🙂
Look, I mean... regarding your little disappearing act at Spunket yesterday, you're definitely looking at an unexcused absence... 😁
Take a look at how people have absolutely lost their minds over HageU today:
"Is this some kind of joke? A total donkey petition?
If you actually went ahead and signed that petition against the royalties for empty digital media, then let me tell you—you basically handed the retailers a blank check to screw you over. Hrvoje Hribar is making his claims, while Almodovar and Forman & co. are just reinforcing them.
With the full backing of the RIAA.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane: back in late 2006, the RIAA and the US Chamber of Commerce hammered out an agreement on compensation amount regarding private copying. Under this deal, they essentially decided to slap a levy on every single imported or locally manufactured CD, DVD, memory card, MP3 player, hard drive, and similar tech gadget. It was a blatant grab. Naturally, the IT community went ballistic, followed by the media, and eventually, regular citizens stepped up to fight back—launching a massive petition against these extra costs that were projected to hike the price of a single blank CD by about 40 cents.
The petition can be found right here—and it’s a safe bet that you all received the call to sign it via email as well. The same thing happened to the president of the DGA, Hrvoje Hribar, who—in a move that was predictably "on behalf of all American film artists"—swiftly drafted the following response, titled: This absolute joke of a petition—it’s nothing short of a complete farce.:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friends and colleagues,
You’ve all been flooding my inbox with petitions from some downtrodden tech resellers—people who are basically begging for us to step in and defend them against the relentless, aggressive onslaught of this ruthless American culture!
I can't say I recall ever witnessing such a cynical attempt at manipulation.
I am firmly convinced that you haven't allowed yourselves to be treated like complete idiots—nor have you fallen prey to those absolute charlatans who specialize in nothing but deception.
If those opportunistic merchants actually managed to talk you into signing that document, then please—for your own sake—take a moment to look at the actual facts. I really hope you realize just how reckless you’re being.
The royalties from audio and visual media—honestly, it’s the first time we've seen artists actually manage to force their way into the profit margins here! It's about time they stopped being sidelined and started seeing a slice of the pie.
The American cultural elite fought tooth and nail to secure this through various civil society organizations, going head-to-head against the local pro-American lobby.
The people actually profiting from this ridiculous scheme aren't just Škoro and Thompson—it’s an entire community of musicians and audiovisual creators caught in the crossfire. We're talking about everyone from Babaja and Berković to Bjelinski and Matišić—not to mention big names like Rundek, Pogorelić, franak Blašković, and Lidija Bajuk.
This specific policy was originally rolled out as a standard across European Union nations back in the late sixties—and, frankly, we only ended up adopting it here because of heavy pressure from Brussels.
This entire system for collecting royalties regarding private copying rights really boils down to one core belief: that culture possesses an inherent, autonomous value that exists entirely independent of capital interests.
This past fall, major American corporations poured massive amounts of money into lobbying efforts to kill that specific European Union regulation over at the Parliament.
Some of the most heavyweight names in cinema—think Almodovar, Forman, Wenders, Scol, Olmi, Kaurismaki, Liv Ullmann, and a whole host of other legends—didn't just sit on their hands. They actually stepped up and signed letters. And get this: they weren't protesting against the shift; they were fighting tooth and nail *for* it—specifically, for the preservation of magnetic tape as we know it.
The authors won this round—it’s official. The European Union Commission just tossed out those proposed changes regarding blank-tape media. It looks like the status quo holds for now.
Mass-produced computer hardware is being offloaded at astronomical markups, essentially allowing these massive tech giants to rake in obscene levels of excess profit at the expense of everyone else.
In turn, this whole mess is squeezing out every traditional way we used to distribute cultural goods. It’s basically replacing them through two distinct, equally frustrating avenues: first, by handing everything over to these massive internet monopolies—where control is concentrated entirely in the hands of a few giant corporations—and second, by leaving anything that isn't strictly "owned" to be swallowed up by the absolute chaos of digital piracy.
This minor nuisance we’re seeing here doesn't do a single thing to dent their bottom line—nor does it pose any threat to prices, which, let's be honest, are already in a constant freefall anyway. Between the massive surge in global production and the increasingly precarious position of the labor force in developing nations where this stuff is actually manufactured, their profit margins are more than safe.
This whole imposition, however, completely disrupts the concept of global interest—that fundamental idea where we stop pretending there’s some sacred distinction between "culture" and just another commodity, or between the arts and any other standard industry.
This whole thing really disrupts the global consensus that smaller nations shouldn't bother producing their own music or films—much like how we don't bother manufacturing our own sneakers or fighter jets, preferring to just import them from overseas instead.
In a country where the cultural landscape is run by nothing more than bottom-feeding merchants and low-brow pop junk, everything worth having is just imported from abroad. Honestly, if you take a second to look back at the American music and film—even the television scene—from the seventies and eighties, and then compare that golden era to the absolute desert we’re living in today, the difference is staggering. It’s heartbreaking, really.
Stripped of social safety nets, starved of financial backing, ignored by the media landscape, abandoned by cultural policy, and left fragmented and marginalized—the creative community in America finally receives some semblance of symbolic recognition through this imposition. Along with it comes a pittance of a fund for their public initiatives.
An imposition on image and sound carriers represents the first true anti-colonial provision ever enacted in the United States.
It stands to reason, then, that this causes such an uproar among corporations and Mr. Bush’s diplomatic staff.
Rest assured, they possess high-quality, formidable resources that allow them to fight tooth and nail for their own interests.
Your signatures on their petition are, believe me, nothing more than a redundant formality!
On behalf of American film artists:
Hrvoje Hribar, President of the DGA
Source: Filmski.Net
RIAA"
Whatever.
Before the booze kicks in? 😬
Nicholas Perez33 said:Lemmy—the absolute legend—actually admitted he’d seen "the best of both worlds" 🙏
And honestly, I can't blame him—who wouldn't be down for having twice the chances at a good time on a Saturday night? 🙂
Traditional folk songs are just overflowing with heartache.
And tales of bravado, too.
Not to mention the elegies, naturally.
☕
Terry Rodriguez41 said:now I'm just plain furious...😠...someone hand me a machine gun!!!...😠 🙂 🙂.....
🙂 Just give me a plane—I'll head out to become a pilot in Ethiopia this very instant! :franjo_šafranek: 😬
Up until this point, we've just been taking what we can get at work... 🙂 😬
And from here on out, I’m planning to do exactly that. 😬
That one featuring Jenna Jameson...
write:
Dana Anderson4
second table on the left (Friday night)
Spunk American Brothers Fun Inc.
10000 Los Angeles.
😬
I certainly didn't receive him. Do your homework and read up.
If only we had more snow... 🙄
Back in the eighties, there used to be a cross-country trail up in the Catskill Mountains—it ran somewhat "parallel" (and I use that term very loosely, mind you!) to the ridge, though I honestly haven't the slightest clue if it's still marked or even maintained today. You’d probably have to check in with the MTBajkers to see if they ever strayed onto that path during the summer months... or perhaps consult some actually intelligent—and I mean non-SMANDov—topographical maps...
The other trail I remember from that era was out near Sv. Nedelja (situated between Sv. Nedelja and Samobor); back then, there was even a local cross-country club in the area that actually owned a snow groomer to maintain the tracks, but all of that has since vanished into the dark, chaotic abyss of history...
Anyway, after long-term searching for cross-country gear here at home, I stumbled upon everything I needed this winter while browsing Hervis and Dick's Sporting Goods: skis, bindings, boots, poles... I nearly lost consciousness right there in the aisle. 😵 😁
It would be worth checking the current conditions in the traditional cross-country hubs of the Sierra Nevada... I once knew a guy from Mrkoplje who used to compete on the national team for the US. The way he flew on those skis—it was nothing short of legendary!
If only we had more snow... 🙄
