Kurt Cobain died on this day in 1994. Pretty much everything that can be written about the man, has been. I was (and still am) a Nirvana fan and it was the first time that the term suicide really meant something to me. I was 14 years old when the word came down about Cobain and it was shocking. What I couldn’t figure out was why someone at the top of the world would kill themselves. It didn’t make sense to me.

It still doesn’t.

Personally, I don’t think Nirvana is as great as everyone has made them out to be. Sure, they had some great music and played some incredible shows, but every time this anniversary comes around I ask myself “would Nirvana/Kurt Cobain be as massive today if Kurt hadn’t killed himself?”.

And the answer to that, every time, is “of course not”.

Through suicide, Kurt Cobain obtained some kind of mythical martyr status. For a while, it made suicide seem “cool”. And that really pisses me off in hindsight. There’s nothing cool, courageous or artistic about taking a 12 gauge shotgun and blowing your brains out for someone to find and someone to clean up. There’s nothing martyr-like selfishly taking your own life and leaving your daughter to be raised by Courtney Love (and let’s not even discuss the Courtney did it thing. Save if for Alex Jones).

It wasn’t until I lost a few friends and a family member to suicide that I really realized how selfish and gutless it is to pull the trigger on yourself. And whether you want to believe it or not, there is help out there. All you have to do is ask. Shoot, talk to a stranger. There’s always another way out that’s far cooler, braver, tougher and more bad ass.

Maybe it’s not cool or acceptable to talk about suicide as a total dick move, but that’s how I see it. I’m sorry.

This past fall I took in the Nirvana exhibit at Seattle’s EMP museum. It was very clear throughout that trip through Nirvana’s history what a talented, kind, shy, warm and uniquely funny guy Cobain was. Too bad he took the sh*ttiest way out.

So today, instead of celebrating death, celebrate life. Here’s one of my favorite Nirvana tracks that always makes me feel alive. Go out and live your life and have a good weekend.

James

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Friday Flashback so I’m trying to bring them back, with style. This week, I want to pump the tires on one of my favorite comic book artists of the moment, Ed Piskor. Piskor does a really cool comic on BoingBoing.net called The Hip Hop family tree. He obsessively and meticulously has written single pages week after week slowly detailing hip hop’s emergence from the South Bronx to global domination. I’ve been on the tip for well over a year now and Mr. Piskor just finished talking about the elemental hip hop film, Wild Style:

Grandmaster Flash

Piskor has done a fantastic job adding a fun element to the story of hip hop, laying it out in a style that’s very reminiscent of the comics I grew up with (he cites GI Joe as an influence and I see it all over his work) working up some really obscure stuff and tying it not only to hip hop, but what was happening at the time in New York, world wide and in other forms of music (I’m very stoked to see the early connections between punk/new wave and rap).

Hip Hop & Punk have much, much more in common than you think.

Long story short, if you’re a fan of comics, music and history, check out Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop family tree every Tuesday. Mainly because I need others to geek out with. If you’d like to get caught up, you can also pre-order the first collection right here.
And to the people behind the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo….who do I have to bribe to bring Ed Piskor to town?

JC/NB

The Calgary Roughnecks are kicking off their season tomorrow night against the Toronto Rock and it’s got me thinking about what a cool sport lacrosse is.

The National Lacrosse League is seen by many as some kind of alternative to watching hockey. A cheaper, louder and more action packed night out for a family than an NHL game. And while all of that is very true, despite the game’s current marketing, it’s roots run deeper in Canada than any sports. Yes, including hockey. Lacrosse has never been a sport for the weak and in pre-European Canada, it was not just a game, but a way of life, a way of settling disputes and part of the First Nation’s rituals.

Evidence of lacrosse being played in North America dates back to around 1100 AD throughout what is now southern Ontario and Quebec by the Iroquois people as well as into the people of the Great Plains and into what is now the southern US by the Choctaw and Cherokee. The Mohawk called it the “little brother of war”, because at that time Lacrosse was played on a field anywhere from 500 meters to 3 kilometers long with hundreds of contestants per side and the match would go on for days until a winner was declared.

There were intense spiritual rituals before the game as the medicine men acted as coaches and women were relegated to serving refreshments.

I can only imagine the chaos on the field of play during these “games”, with hundreds of men rushing to not only get the ball and put it in the goal, but also to settle scores and battle the opposition. It really would have been something to see.

Anyways, eventually the Europeans showed up and they instantly condemmned the game (especially the Jesuit preachers) for being too violent. In 1763 the Ottawas staged a game outside of Ft. Macinac for the Kings birthday and invited the British troops inside to watch. As the game crept closer and the British were enthralled, they stormed the gates and killed all the redcoats inside.

Without getting all political lacrosse got done like a lot of native things got done back in those days, until it was revived in the 1860′s where a Canadian dentist who drew up rules, the size of the field and the number of contestants. It became something rival towns played against each other throughout central Canada and eventually started to grow into college and high school teams.

The sport remained popular enough that a professional league was founded in 1987, leading to the formation of the Calgary Roughnecks in 2001. The ‘necks kind of fall on the low end of the sports-attention scale here in the city and for the most part, I think it’s pretty undeserved. Lacrosse is pretty exciting, action packed and involves some high drama. The fighting is intense as punches thrown when you’re wearing shoes land a little harder than when you’re on skates.

The Roughnecks have enough history now that they can say they’ve employed one of the most legendary players in the game, Mr. Kaleb Toth, who will be honored by the team in March.

The Roughnecks have qualified for the post-season every year since they’ve been in existence and have won 2 championships on home turf. Last year I really started enjoying lacrosse and I’m looking forward to the 2013 season, big time.

The ‘necks kick it all off Saturday night against Toronto, continuing well over 1000 years of history in Canada. Lacrosse. What a game.

JC/NB

One of my favorite bands of all time is Black Sabbath. They were so far ahead of their time and broke so much ground through their music that their impact will be felt on music for decades to come. They invented heavy metal and brought so much of the horror/darkness style to their music.

I love most of the Ozzy-era Sabbath stuff but my favorite album is still Paranoid. I have fond memories of discovering it in my dad’s record collection at age 12 and really digging hard into it. From front to back it is one of the most perfect records ever made.

Recently I came across some great footage of Sabbath playing material off of Paranoid right after the album came out. Basically they’re not TOO screwed up on drugs at this point and are totally bringing it live. It’s cool to see the reaction of the crowd, which I believe is in Paris, at the new, seemingly baffling material.

Without further ado, here’s Black Sabbath playing War Pigs live in Paris (I think)

And check out that hair on Iommi!!

JC/NB

The cover of one of my favorite issues: Silent Interlude

A little while ago I started delving back into my comic book collection and I started falling in love all over again with a classic title. These days I read a lot of Garth Ennis’ work on The Boys, Nick Fury et al as well as The Walking Dead saga. However recently I’ve gone way back into my very earliest days of comic book-ery and have been voraciously reading the original GI Joe: The Real American Hero.

My favorite issues delt with the history between Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow

Quite honestly, nothing got me so stoked to read as Larry Hama’s brainchild with Hasbro. It was the perfect comic book/toy tie in, with Hama giving the toys real characters while still fleshing out cool storylines that delt with facism, the American dream, veterans, ninjas, mind control, chemical weapons, the cold war and international politics, all against a flashy backdrop and a huge cast of characters. There were soldiers, saboteurs, bikers, ninjas, scientists and genetic creations as well as regular people who got caught up in the fray.

GI Joe was also one of the first comics to show women on equal footing with men and the men who interacted with them were either a) treating them as regular soldiers or b) put in their place quickly. This was even before women were serving in regular combat units in the US military and was very influential on future female characters.

Larry Hama managed to meld together elements of military comics, science fiction and martial arts, sometimes all in the same comic books. His fleshed out relationships between characters like Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, Firely, Cobra Commander and Scarlett were incredible pieces of fiction. And to top it all off, Larry Hama even did a few “silent” issues without any dialogue that were as visceral of a read as the regular work.

Unfortunately, one of the key problems with GI Joe was that the writers had to continue to introduce new toys into the comic and towards the end of the run, the characters really started to suck. They did the best they could but after 156 issues, Marvel decided to pull the plug. The series has been resurrected several times and while I have enjoyed them, they don’t stir my imagination the way the originals did.

A lot of comic book artists and writers today make no bones about their love for GI Joe, however the series really doesn’t get the love and affection that other Marvel titles did. Maybe it’s because of the silly, hokey cartoon that had little to no bearing on the comics. GI Joe will always be my favorite comic book, much more so than Spiderman or The X-Men or even my beloved Punisher. I felt like I grew up alongside my favorite Joes and Cobras and it feels great to be able to re-vist some old friends every now and again.

It’s just a shame Hollywood massacred the franchise on the big screen.

JC/NB

I was on Reddit yesterday and came across this video of one of  Rage Against The Machine’s First show. It’s at the Cal State Northridge Quad in 1991. It’s almost a year before the release of their self titled debut. What I’m amazed by is how tight the band sounds and the intensity they brought to a gig that was watched by a handful of people, however that crowd did grow throughout their set.

JC/NB

This is some cool stuff from a guy by the name of Timothy Anderson. He’s a concept artist/graphic designer who has done some awesome stuff for Star Wars and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Check out his 50′s pulp takes on The Matrix, Alien and Blade Runner.

JC/NB

Seemed like 15 years ago everyone had one of these in the trunk.

Here’s a weird one for you.

What ever happened to boomin’ systems? I’m 32 years old. I graduated from high school in 1998. For close to 20 years, it seemed like aftermarket car audio systems where where it was at. Every red blooded male (and a lot of females) either wanted, had or were saving up for a car audio system. Whether it was an after market deck, some 6×9′s, amps, subs or a changer, it seemed like it was a big deal.

I mean, it WAS a big deal. I remember several of my high school buddies investing serious money into car audio systems, building speaker boxes and drooling over catalogs from Pioneer, Bose and Alpine.

But what happened? I realize that I’m well past the target demo of those aftermarket systems, but I’m only 32. I’ve got friends in the custom car game, I work in the music industry and I work right on 17th avenue. Even 5 years ago, I’d be sitting at my desk at least once a day and hear a loud sound system. Now? Rarely. And plenty of times it’s some dude with his stock system cranked and slightly distorted.

I’ve got a couple of theories behind the disappearance of car audio. First of all, people don’t carry cd’s around with them anymore. All they want to be able to do is plug in their iPod, so if your car doesn’t come with an input, adding one isn’t too hard. That kind of eliminates the need for an aftermarket deck that was usually the first purchase one made in the car audio pyramid.

Cars also come with much better sound systems than they used to, combined with decks that are wired right into the vehicles computer, making the old driveway swap much, much harder and much more expensive. Not to mention taking a door panel off of a brand new car is a hell of a lot harder than it used to be. Vehicles are curved, lots of plastic, not a lot of screws and more difficult to get apart. That takes time. And time is money.

As well, the cars of choice when I was in high school up until my mid 20′s were 80′s Cutlasses, Olds 98′s, grandpa and grandmas sedan, pick up trucks with a bench seat and smaller hatch backs. All lend themselves well to aftermarket systems and can easily hold a speaker box, an amp and featured wiring harness that were easy to work with. Now, not so much.

It’s also a documented fact that audio quality of recorded music has declined. People are more used to listening to music on headphones or lap top speakers, not top of the line systems. That means there’s a whole young generation of kids that don’t quite get what kicking bass is all supposed to be like. And that’s sad.

Maybe I’m wrong. I kind of hope I am. But are boomin’ systems over and done? Is it just the realm of the high end car customization now? Is there really any need anymore? Maybe I’m just hanging around with the wrong people?

In closing, here’s the song that we used to play all the time in my friend Brad’s Old’s Cutlass. It had a great system and sounded awesome. Ah, the good old days.

JC/NB

This might be pretty hipster, but I think this is pretty cool. And maybe it’s not a flashback, but it’s kind of a cool flash forward/back type deal.

Stereo Vinyl Cruisers are made in Brooklyn from old records. They melt them down, pour them into molds, strap some decent trucks and wheels on them and you’re in business. They’re basically banana boards, but slightly wider and hipper. It’s also a little smaller than your average skateboard and with bigger urethane wheels, meaning you can cruise and carve a little better than on a standard deck. Plus it can fit in your locker, under your desk and work or can easily strap to your backpack.

JC/NB

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Adam Yaunch from The Beastie Boys passed away today, losing his battle with cancer at age 47.

Better known as MCA, Yauch was part of the first big, commercial wave of hip hop, riding on the coat heels of Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and LL Cool J. The Beastie Boys blew up MTV, the were the first white (even though they were Jewish) kids to be rapping and they also took their music into the next dimension on albums like Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication.

The Beastie Boys were my first introduction to hip hop, seeing their videos as a young kid on CBC’s Video Hits. Their “Hey Ladies” also appeared on one of the first Rap Traxx compilations, a tape my friend Jared dubbed for me that I listened to ad nauseum.

The thing I loved about The Beastie Boys was that in addition to being fun, they also were about pushing their craft to the next level and also had a social conscious. Even as they grew older, their music matured and they were never afraid to move to the next level. Albums like Paul’s Boutique opened the doors for a tonne of new ideas an music. It created an industry for The Dust Brothers and pushed hip hop and alternative music in a new direction. Without The Beastie Boys, they may never have been a Beck, Eminem, Sublime or Sugar Ray.

The death of MCA hits differently than other rock star deaths in my generation. Kurt Cobain burnt out and faded away with a shotgun in his hand. Biggie Smalls never shook his past and got shot. Adam Yauch dying after a long, hard battle of cancer reminds everyone who grew up as a fan of the Beastie Boys about our own pending mortality and how life can kill you when you pass 30 in ways you didn’t think of when you were 25.

A very sad day indeed. At least The Beastie Boys have left us with an amazing catalog of music to listen to, that until today, never made me sad.

Here’s some of my favorite Beastie Boy Jams.

Rhymin’ & Stealin’

Shake Your Rump

Gratitude

So Whatcha Want? (Live on Jimmy Kimmel)

Sure Shot

Sabotage

JC/NB