#and have been through a hell of a lot since their military hiatus in 2016

[a9saga]

tbt - bigbang - bae bae // we love a low effort banger

[aion-rsa]

None of This Would Be Happening If Frank Zappa Had Been President

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The election is days away. No one knows if there will be an orderly turnover or the disorderly donut hole of malevolent maneuverings. The nation is divided and civil unrest is in the air. This follows a summer which was prophetically and perennially summed up in “Trouble Every Day,” a song from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s 1966 debut album Freak Out!

“Wednesday I watched the riot,” Zappa sings on the song he wrote after seeing the Watts Uprising of 1965. “I seen the cops out on the street. Watched ’em throwin’ rocks and stuff, and chokin’ in the heat. … Watched while everybody on his street would take a turn to stomp n’ smash n’ bash n’ crash n’ slash n’ bust n’ burn.” 

These and similar scenes were repeated during the global George Floyd protests in 2020, along with charges of accompanying police brutality. 

Long before the #BlackLivesMatter movement highlighted white privileged compliance, Zappa sang “I’m not black but there’s a whole lots a times I wish I could say I’m not white.” Even in an era of major victories in the Civil Rights battle, Frank’s voice was progressive, independent, and ahead of the curve.

Zappa consistently ridiculed both sides of the two-party political landscape. He had been approached by the Libertarian Party for a presidential run in 1987, according to a February 1988 interview with Buzz magazine. But after finding much of their platform “either wrong or stupid,” he told them “Well, I’m not your bot. Thanks a lot. Goodbye.” The trailer for director Alex Winter’s upcoming documentary ZAPPA teases a sadly lost opportunity. Frank Zappa tossed his name into a hat for the presidential race in 1991, and told The San Diego Tribune he was considering H. Ross Perot as his vice-presidential pick.

To use the language of the trailer, Zappa’s campaign might have been as “loud, coarse, and strange” as his career, but it would never be “sleazy.” Zappa encouraged voter registration on every album cover since 1971, when the law allowing 18-year-olds to vote was passed. He set up voter registration tables at his 1988 live shows, ultimately registering about 11,000 people. He also shot voter registration ad spots which ran on MTV. 

In 1989, Zappa was named Czechoslovakia’s “Special Ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture and Tourism.” Personally chosen by Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel, Zappa took the appointment seriously, and was making inroads in the media as a businessman, rather than a rock star. 

“My main qualifications are that I don’t play golf, I don’t take vacations and I do think the U.S. constitution is one hell of a document and that this country would work better if people adhered to it more closely,” we hear Zappa say in archival footage of the film ZAPPA, which comes out Nov. 27.

Zappa told Melody Maker in 1974 “Most of my songs are not political, they are sociological.” But in the years leading up to his proposed run, Zappa strongly voiced his belief that fundamentalist Christians had too much political power, televangelism bought too much influence, and church and state came together to maintain control over a mindless population. Zappa was 50 when it came out that he was exploring the feasibility of an independent, non-partisan bid for the presidency. The incumbent George H.W. Bush had more balloons but unsolicited campaign contributions began trickling into Zappa’s Barking Pumpkin offices after word got out.

“The idea is that this is a zero-balloon campaign,” Zappa told Bob Guccione Jr. in a July 1991 interview with Spin magazine “You want balloons then blow your own balloons. And the goal is to run the cheapest campaign in political history. I can sit at home and do talk shows all over the country on radio and answer questions directly to people who might want to vote. And it would cost what? Nothing. I don’t believe that you really have to spend $50 million or apply for matching funds from the federal government and then be forced to abide by all those rules in order to do it. Because if you’re a nonpartisan candidate then what the fuck?”

Zappa would go on to mention former Harvard University professor and constitutional law expert Alan Dershowitz as his pick for attorney general. The platform centered on “getting the government out of people’s faces.” He proposed eliminating federal income tax because it was established as “an emergency tax and was supposed to have an end to it.” He said the job was better done by raising sales taxes on non-essentials. “If you gotta pay a tax, pay a tax when you buy something, not because you worked,” he reasoned.

Zappa told Spin he would “exempt necessary foodstuffs, because that’s where the poor get hurt. And I don’t think that many Colombian drug dealers are buying that many cartons of milk and eggs and stuff. And so you’re not really going to cripple the nation’s economy by exempting that sort of thing.” Zappa also planned to redefine the military so it was used for “protecting the country, not bad foreign policy.”

Zappa said he would put his music career on hiatus during the campaign. The guitarist-composer said he was “a reluctant candidate” who was “volunteering” to run, and not just to make a statement. “If I did run I would do a real run,” Zappa told Spin. “The problems about doing it are that in order to do a credible run you have to be on the ballot in every state. That’s about a million dollars in legal fees and organization and bullshit just to get on the ballot. That’s before you even buy an ad.”

Based on the interview, local news stations prematurely identified him as a presidential candidate, but TV stations conducted their own polls and found a Zappa run would have been feasible. Zappa cited a C-Span TV symposium moderated by Leslie Stahl as the inspiration for his presidential aspirations. Zappa got a resume from a GOP policy writer looking for a paid position, though Zappa said it would be better to hear that people resigned from the party they belong to because neither of the two major parties “delivered the goods in tangible ways.”

The self-taught rock and orchestral composer even spoke with Raymond Strother about a run until the veteran Democratic consultant started working as a publicist for future vice president and presidential candidate Albert Gore. Zappa had already come up against another Gore, Al’s wife Tipper, when he testified against the Parents Music Resource Center in 1985 in Washington, D.C. The Washington wives’ group was intent on censoring rock music, ultimately leading to the warning labels on albums which we still see today.

Zappa mimicked Treasury Secretary James Baker’s wife Susan’s Southern accent at the hearings. As Secretary of State under President Reagan, ZAPPA tells how the vindictive Baker had a low-level U.S. State Department representative tell the Czech Republic they can get American aid or do business with Frank Zappa.

While Zappa never officially contacted Perot, he might have given the late Texas billionaire the idea to run as an independent candidate in 1992. Perot pulled in 19 percent of the popular vote. Republicans blamed him for putting Bill Clinton in the White House. He ran again in 1996.

But Zappa’s decades old message resonates more frighteningly now. “Let me point out something about democracy,” he told Spin. “Does anybody remember how Hitler took over Germany? He was voted in. People said, yeah, he’s got the right message for us. Now when you have a democracy, there’s always the possibility that the guy who could turn out to be the biggest menace to the planet could just get voted in. And the place where it’s most likely to happen is here, because of the media saturation, the illiteracy rate of the population, the social desperation of the population. Hitler came to power because things weren’t so good.”

Zappa, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1990 and died in late 1993 at the age of 52, ultimately decided none of the mitigating factors were “enough to convince me to go through the bullshit of a campaign,” and never got on the ballot. His family did release Frank Zappa for President in July 2016. While it would have been the first time the country was ruled by a posthumous leader, it was a good idea then, and a good idea now.

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Magnolia Pictures’ ZAPPA release date is Nov. 27.

The post None of This Would Be Happening If Frank Zappa Had Been President appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[oneweekoneband]

Look at these dweebs with these yellow outfits and mullety, spiky hair. How young and innocent. I think this is from March 2006, about five months after debut, so their ages range from 18-22 in this. I’m going to helpfully use it to introduce them to you! It’s a long post, but there’re a lot of members; bear with me.

1) Yesung (Kim Jonghoon). Best singer in the group, at least for the first several years. Has not been taking care of his voice, got vocal cord nodules, got them fixed, didn’t improve his technique afterward so is probably going to get them again. Known for doing his “octopus dance” whenever he is prompted to dance solo. Says that Super Junior is not actually friends, but they succeed as a group because they have good working relationships with one another. This is patently not a statement blanketly applicable to everyone else in the group.

2) Kim Ryeowook. Currently #2 best singer in the group according to your writer. Maknae, if you can still call him that, now that he’s 30. Is a tiny elfin little man who wears comically high lifts in his shoes. Tends to generally strike me as “your weird little brother,” and in defiance of his general image, has a history of performing the most “adult” solo songs in Super Junior concerts. Is possibly the least successful member of the group at looking or acting “tough” and “hard.” He is currently in the military (all South Korean men are required to complete around two years of military service at some point).

3) Kangin (Kim Youngwoon). Singer with a voice that’s consistent but not too exciting, kind of like the person you see at work every day who greets you in the exact same way each time. Probably the most successful member of the group at looking and acting “tough” and “hard”. Got in an actual bar fight in self-defense and has two DUIs. After the first one, they sent him to the military; after the second one, he’s on what seems to be perpetual hiatus. Not sure if they are ever going to let him participate again. I have mixed motherly feelings about whether he should ever be allowed to.

4) Lee Sungmin. Singer and sometime featured dancer. The cute chipmunky one who does lots of Chinese varieties of martial arts, and also the only one who is married. Despite being the most traditionally “cute” one, he’s struck me for some time as the most serious member. Some part of the fanbase is mad at him for being married, and for blatantly prioritizing himself and his fiancé/wife over ELF. Even his mom thinks he deserves it. Could he have been more sensitive about it, almost definitely, but does it merit ELF insisting that he not be allowed to participate in anything, and SJ/SM bowing their heads and acquiescing? Iiii don’t really think so. Do these things happen because SM thinks the hardcore semi-aggressive Korean fans (#notallKoreanfans) are all that remain or all that matter, and if they leave, there will be nothing left? You have lots of international fans who are much more chill, you maroons.

5) Kim Heechul. Singer and occasional rapper. Does not normally have hair this spiky. Is well known for running his mouth on TV, on all of the TV actually, and for looking like a girl. He doesn’t really do the girl bit much anymore and sanded off some of the rougher edges of his personality after coming back from the military, probably because being in the military gave him enough free time to grow up a bit. Basically went from “asshole” to “jerk with heart of gold”. Has several cats, loves Anna from Frozen, and is friends with lots of women in Kpop. Had a nasty car crash in 2006 that shattered his left leg, and it never healed quite right; dance routines are hell on it and he’s admitted that it’s caused him significant worry and shame as Super Junior prepares for their latest comeback. My second-place bias.

6) Leeteuk (Park Jeongsu). The oldest member and leader of the group; better at dancing than at singing. (tw: violent crime) Publicly struggles with depression, and this terrible thing that happened didn’t really help. Is a strong big brother who really works hard to make sure the group functions as one. Is simultaneously someone who has a tendency to say sexist crap. 

7) Eunhyuk (Lee Hyukjae). Lead dancer and lead rapper. Bestest of the best friends with Donghae. Has the gawkiest face and compensates for this by doing the sexiest dances. Was acting leader of the group while Leeteuk was in the military, which coincided with a huge argument in the fandom about Zhou Mi and Henry, and he ended up having to make a statement about it at a concert, and then later when Leeteuk was back, Eunhyuk did an angry solo song and dance in the next tour about how fake fans would never understand him. I’m sure that wasn’t related at all!

8) Shindong (Shin Donghee). Secondary dancer and rapper, and occasional SJ music video director. Does a lot of hosting on TV in his spare time and was a comedian before joining SJ. Is the “fat one” of the group, and has therefore participated in many, many embarrassing fat jokes. Not embarrassing that he’s fat, just embarrassing for whoever had the idea, that they kept putting him in those situations. His weight has seesawed around for the last several years, but he says fat girls are gross, so that pretty much makes him an ass. Don’t be an ass.

9) Kim Kibum. Rapper and maknae. Went on hiatus in 2009 to focus on his acting career, and never came back. To be honest, probably the member of SJ that I feel the least about, because even prior to 2009 he was not a super-active member of the group musically; he didn’t feature much on songs, and he wasn’t in any of the subunits. His contract expired with SM in 2015, and therefore I don’t technically count him as a Super Junior member anymore. He has a surprisingly beefy neck in some videos, and had better English skills than probably anyone else in the group while he was still active as a member.

10) Han Geng. Former lead dancer. The only non-Korean member of the original 12, he is actually trained in 56 traditional Chinese dances. His Korean speaking skills were notoriously bad, which made it awkward every time they went on variety shows. Was visibly a lot more comfortable on Chinese TV. Eventually SM worked him so hard that he developed kidney problems, so in 2009 he sued SM, broke his contract, and went back to China, where he went on to have a successful acting and performing career. If this sounds familiar, then I’ll mention that I think EXO was originally intended to be a reboot of Super Junior, which makes it ironic that they had the same issues.

11) Choi Siwon. The “face” of the group. Probably the most famous member of the group to Western audiences, as he has appeared in a Jackie Chan movie! and got killed in it! Has a lovely chiseled masculine face and is rather tall and has many abs. Does more acting than any of the other members, to the extent that he sometimes does not appear in the dance portions of music videos because he didn’t have time to learn the routine. Always tours with Super Junior though and is as committed as everyone else. Also is super-mega-evangelical Christian and says he wants to be a missionary when Super Junior retires. Recently went through this scandal regarding his dog, in which I mostly want to shake Siwon by the shoulders and yell at him a lot. Is not on hiatus per se, but is skipping promotions for the new album.

12) Lee Donghae. Singer, dancer, occasional rapper, and bestest of the best friends with Eunhyuk. Known for acting like kind of a dope, and also for looking a lot like Amber from f(x), or vice versa. Lots of people ship Eunhyuk and Donghae because they are so close, and they ended up having to adamantly refute it on Chinese TV when the presenters started teasing them. Third-place bias because look at that faaaaace.

But that is not of course everyone, because that’s only 12.

13) Cho Kyuhyun. #1 best singer and #1 best bias thank you. Joined the group in 2006, because he had already been set to “rotate in” before SM decided to scrap the rotation concept altogether. “Evil maknae” because he likes to give the older members shit. I’ve seen subtitles of Korean shows call him “pessimistic;” I think “grouchy” might be a better word for it. Was involved in a terrible car crash in 2007, along with Shindong, Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, and Heechul; Kyuhyun nearly died and his voice was only spared because his father spoke up for him. He spent most of 2015-2016 promoting his technically-great-but-also-really-corny-and-boring ballad EPs (I hate that anyone even had the idea for this concert series) and I suspect he was getting burned out much like Heechul was; Kyuhyun is in the military now and I’m optimistic that he’ll come back refreshed. I wrote a much longer thing about him, which you can read here if you’d like. Suffice it to say, I identify with him a lot.

14 & 15) Zhou Mi & Henry Lau. Listed together even though obviously they are separate people, because they are the two controversial members of the group. This is because they were added in specifically for the Super Junior-M subunit, and ever since that day there has been much dispute about whether they are “real Super Junior members” or not. I think they are; SM-via-Eunhyuk says officially they are not, and for the sake of not ranting for paragraphs, that’s all I will say. Henry is Chinese-Canadian, can play pretty much every single instrument, and complained loudly enough about SM giving him nothing to do that SM gave him four singles in five months of 2017. He’s also best friends with Amber from f(x) and they’ve appeared together on songs. Zhou Mi is Chinese, is taller than Siwon, and is a sparkly sugarbun of cuteness with a gorgeous smile. Seriously, his legs are like six feet long on their own.

Now that we’ve gotten who’s who out of the way, we can move on to what Super Junior has to offer!