Marilyn Manson’s recent bout of bad publicity has made him one angry dude, as attested by the singer’s latest blog entry on MySpace: “I can, but do not need to defend myself and the absurd accusations that the average press has clinged onto. If we need a nude photo of me to prove that I am far different than the soon-to-be-murdered-in-their-home press has decided to fabricate, that is easy … If one more ‘journalist’ makes a cavalier statement about me and my band, I will personally or with my fans help, greet them at their home and discover just how much they believe in their freedom of speech. I dare you all to write one more thing that you won’t say to my face. Because I will make you say it. In that manner. That is a threat”. Manson’s rampage is a direct response to an article published by LA Weekly in which journalist Erin Broadley reports on Travis Keller’s (Buddyhead.com founder) experience of meeting Manson in 2007. The article portrays the singer as a moronic coke addict – the final straw in a long list of recent accusations made by the press. (more…)

How does one put into words the magic of standing in a crowd of 80 000 people who have all congregated to lay claim to their fandom? The answer is that there are no words…but one. Download. Download is that word. Download is pure magic – insane chaos mixed with sweat, blood, hair and most importantly awesome AWESOME metal. Download is a pilgrimage that must be made by every metal fan. A pilgrimage that culminates at the main stage on Saturday night (of a three day festival) for the performance of the weekend’s headline act. This is the epitome of the metal experience. (more…)

In between mouthfuls of the most amazing shrimp burritos and swigs of wine, last night’s dinner party conversation developed into a discussion about the Camden pin-cushion, who sits at Camden Lock making himself a prime target for happy-snappy tourists who, without fail, succumb to the oddity of this human anomaly. Mr Anomaly demands … sorry suggests a donation for his image to be immortalised on camera. I guess it’s a version of entrepreneurship. From piercings and tattoos the conversation naturally progressed to body modification, scarification, limb amputation and that crazy German cannibal called Armin Meiwes. Meiwes published a classified ad on the internet that read as follows: “looking for a well-built 18 to 30-year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed”. Yes, someone did respond. His name was Bernd Jürgen Brandes. (more…)

Andrew Gumbel’s article The truth about Columbine discusses Columbine, a book written by Colorado-based journalist Dave Cullen, which reveals the truth of the Columbine massacre as attested by “tens of thousands of official documents and other evidence that has at last seen the light of day after years of suppression by the local authorities”. Gumbel reports that much of what the public (including the students at Columbine High) understand to be the truth of what happened that day, and the reasons for why it happened, is based on reports by the media. And the media was “simply wrong”. Gumbel tells how Cullen’s book reveals that “Harris and Klebold had plenty of friends, did pretty well in school, were not members of the Trenchcoat Mafia, did not listen to Manson, were not bullied, harboured no specific grudges against any one group, and did not “snap” because of some last-straw traumatic event. All those stories were the product of hysteria, ignorance and flailing guesswork in the first few hours and days”. (more…)

Chuck Palahniuk is detested by his critics and adored by his fans. The author’s writing dictates no half measures – it’s love OR hate. And of course, there is always the third party which just doesn’t get it. Okay and a fourth party that appreciate from a distance but don’t get involved. Palahniuk is the Marilyn Manson of literature. He has been labelled a “shock writer” – similar to Manson‘s “shock rocker” title. I despise the use of the term shock in this context. Both novelist and singer certainly pack a punch but the reductive properties of the term overwhelm its impact: a) The group of people that these artists appeal to are shocked by very little b) How about about looking past the ‘shock’ value to consider what the point of the so-called ‘shock’ tactic is – what are these artists trying to say? Attaching prefix/adjective shock to the name of an artist applies the principle of ‘shock for shock’s sake’ to the artist’s creation, and this is in turn suggestive of the laziness and ignorance of the word’s user. It is a word usually coined by the we don’t get it group – the group that, as a general rule, avoids the Why? question. (more…)