The Black Night Sighs...

There was a time when the guys wore their hair like girls, and black eyeliner was shared by both sexes. Bathrooms were scented with hair spray and everyone’s jeans were so tight you would think anyone who survived this era wouldn’t be able to procreate. I was in high school. It was the time of heavy metal and it was happening in the city and suburbs of New York in the late 80s through early 90s. I hated high school, but I loved metal. I listened to the girly stuff like Poison, while the boys liked Iron Maiden. I dabbled in Dokken, when I knew Slayer was what real metal fans listened too. Still, it was all a part of being a fan of hard-hitting, heavy music. I’ve seen them all—from Ratt to Pantera to Guns N’ Roses when they opened for Mötley Crüe, or was it Metallica? I’ve watched the hair of Ian Astbury and Sebastian Bach headbang, and I will never forget Dimebag Darrell playing guitar while totally naked onstage. I remember trying to learn every word from Anthrax’s “I’m The Man” and debating on whether or not Dave Mustaine or James Hetfield was a better singer. From the guttural screams of Phil Anselmo to Max Cavalera, metal was the only kind of music I listened to back then. I went to “Metal Nights” at clubs once I was old enough and took the train into Manhattan if someone from my favorite umlaut-loving musical genre was playing.

Yes, VH1’s Metal Month has me feeling all nostalgic and it feels good to finally watch something about music on the channel. I cried while watching Pantera’s Behind The Music.

In honor of my favorites, here is my list of the metal bands I love the most, in no particular order:
Sepultura
Pantera
Metallica
Black Sabbath
Ozzy
Megadeth
Motörhead
AC/DC
Guns N’ Roses
Mötley Crüe
Skid Row

Flip Flops

I believe in the power of words.

Obviously.

And because of this power, there is also the risk of misuse of words or the abuse of words. But I believe a person should stand behind their words. Sure, sometimes things are said that are not really meant and apologies mend what could be a bad situation. People learn, eyes are opened, people move on.

Like Brandon Davis, the oil heir who has had his way around Hollywood, who used the word “firecrotch” to describe the unmentionables of Lindsay Lohan. Davis purportedly called Lohan to apologize.

Flip flopping can also be a term used to a person’s changed stance on a subject or matter. Not that anything is wrong with changed opinions. Oftentimes, as more facts are learned or available, a different conclusion can be derived from that new information. I think it is testament to a person’s intelligence if they are able to allow themselves to indulge in all the facts, even if the facts are opposing their original stance, to conclude with a new opinion.

But then there are the flip floppers that are as annoying as the click-clacking of those flat, toe-intrusive pieces of plastic that adorn the feet of the unfashionable. Case in point: Natalie Maines. After surviving death threats (and declining record sales), the Dixie Chick is going back on what she went back on. In 2003, she said she was ashamed Bush was from her home state of Texas. Backlash ensued. And Maines apologized for her disrespect. After a minute of hoopla (and a bunch of broken CDs), things quieted and we didn’t hear a peep from the Chicks…until now…conveniently in tune with their new record release (and auspiciously during Bush’s lowest ratings). Now, Maines says she is not sorry anymore.

Is Bush bashing in fashion? Whether being called firecrotch or incompetent, it appears the answer is yes.

Directly Effectual

I’m a protester of many things, but I’ve never been a fan of the act of protesting.

There are many causes that I feel strongly about, so strongly in fact that I am compelled to do something to help the cause. But I feel that so many protests hurt the goal that protesters are trying to achieve. I believe it is just as important to have integrity in the ways and means you accomplish things, than just attaining it in itself. This goes for all aspects of life—from work to love, political to personal.

In this past Tuesday’s New York Times "Metro" section, there was a pull quote from an article by Clyde Habeman’s piece “Their Rights, Exercised Civilly” that was utterly perfect and accurately sums up my feelings. “It is still possible to disagree without being disagreeable,” he wrote.

Habeman was talking about the anti-war protest in NYC last Saturday where 70-year-old Roslyn Fassett from Warwick, New York, dressed, with her friends, like trees. Her street theater group, Drama Dragons, is devoted to depictions of political satire and believed that wearing trees as costumes was a good way to encourage something new, some change. She said that not everything is about immediate results.

I agree. Especially with war.

If only the youth of today would realize this. In these times of instant gratification, it is understandable how Fassett’s words of wisdom are unfathomable to some.

I didn’t see a photo of Fassett or of the Drama Dragons, but I saw them in my mind, and in her words, I sensed her spirit. Habeman noted that the protest signs he read were of grievances not vulgarisms. A placard held by churchgoer Rita Pearl read, “The meek are ready”.

Is Pearl saying that she is armed with a loving hand?

I would venture to say yes. The economy is bad, jobs are disappearing, and even though we, as a society “eat the meek” maybe we should “savor the taste” and learn something.

NOFX also says in song:
“It's a scheme, a dream, a bartering, we want everyone to think the same. Because you know what you know is right and you feel what you can't ignore. And you try so hard to point the blame. A shame — what are we doing this for? The cause — we're just doing it for the cause.”

It is sad that “the cause” is often lost. Ask some protesters at out of control protests what the reason they are revolting is and they will say “the cause” without know what it’s really all about. We cannot all think the same. It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. And vulgarisms will only place more distance between the opposing sides instead of fostering compromise and understanding.

That’s integral.

That’s integrity.