I won't actively "support" someone in a professional, non-representative event just because they were born in the same country as me. I actually kinda hope Roger wins another Grand Slam to add to the legend.

I am so happy to read that. I feel the same way. Patriotism, when it really comes down to it, is a divisive mentality that can encompass something as innocuous as sports competition, but can lead all the way down the road to the horrors of war. Why it has taken this long for people to start barracking for the best person or team to win, regardless of where they are from or who they are, is baffling to me. I can only blame those who don't have a real community spirit at heart, in regards to human beings in general, and the fact that those views seem to have prevailed over those that could lead to a much better world to live in.
Whoa! How did we go from Ben Cousins to Utopian politics??

Isn't it funny how if Footy players do drugs, drink to excess and have sex with multiple women they are hounded to the ends of the earth for it. If Rock n Roll stars do it they are absolute heros/legends. Double standards, or just the way the world is?

LOL. Yeah, great observation.I think rock stars may be the only people who actually get away with this sort of thing. Pop stars aren't so lucky; Hollywood stars aren't so lucky. And sports-stars definitely aren't so lucky. I think it comes back to the media creation of these people into role models etc., and the powers that be get shitty when their idols step outside their designated roles and do something a little crazy because it rocks the boat and threatens people's interests (usually financial). Rock stars are expected to indulge in excess. Maybe because the general bar of expectation has been set so low, hehe. You're spot on though - if it came out that Axl Rose had had as many affairs as Tiger Woods, no-one would have batted an eyelid. I realise the money machine behind Tiger dwarfs most people, but the principle is the same. Axl would be expected to behave this way, and he would be celebrated for it most likely because of how "rock 'n roll" it is.
Haha. Hypocrisy is rampant!!!

I honestly couldn't give a rat's arse how likeable or otherwise a sportsman is. I don't have to have dinner with them, I just support their athletic endeavours. I was rooting for Leyton. He actually played quite well, and Federer won in a canter in straight sets. Sums up the situation, really (saying more about Rog than Leyton).

I really don't care what they do off the field, as long as they're not hurting anybody. If I see Fev wandering around with a 12 inch dildo hanging out of his pants (actually dress!), I just think 'what a dildo' and move on. When they do overstep the line, as we've seen a fair bit lately, they get punished. The punishment seems worse in the face of the public/media scrutiny, but that's the choice they make, isn't it? Both to choose a high profile occupation AND to commit the crime....

I'm with you there, nothing bugs me more when its said that footy players are role models. Role models of sporting ability yes, but otherwise, i dont think so.
more on this if i wasnt so fatigued.
FF tomorrow, cant wait to hear Gene H.

I honestly couldn't give a rat's arse how likeable or otherwise a sportsman is. I don't have to have dinner with them, I just support their athletic endeavours. I was rooting for Leyton. He actually played quite well, and Federer won in a canter in straight sets. Sums up the situation, really (saying more about Rog than Leyton).

I really don't care what they do off the field, as long as they're not hurting anybody. If I see Fev wandering around with a 12 inch dildo hanging out of his pants (actually dress!), I just think 'what a dildo' and move on. When they do overstep the line, as we've seen a fair bit lately, they get punished. The punishment seems worse in the face of the public/media scrutiny, but that's the choice they make, isn't it? Both to choose a high profile occupation AND to commit the crime....

I'm with you there, nothing bugs me more when its said that footy players are role models. Role models of sporting ability yes, but otherwise, i dont think so.
more on this if i wasnt so fatigued.
FF tomorrow, cant wait to hear Gene H.

How good was he? The man mountain wasn't as frenetic as he was with SYL, but still an absolute powerhouse. It was great to see them loud and raw in that setting. The only other time I've seen them was at Rod Laver, and they were a bit 'off' that night...

Was that with Korn and Static-X in about 2002?... I was there that night and yeah, Fear Factory weren't great.
Granted, i didn't really know much of their stuff back then. I was there for Static-X, who believe it or not, put on a pretty awesome live show back in the day.

Was that with Korn and Static-X in about 2002?... I was there that night and yeah, Fear Factory weren't great.
Granted, i didn't really know much of their stuff back then. I was there for Static-X, who believe it or not, put on a pretty awesome live show back in the day.

Exactly. They were easily the worst band on the night. Even Sunk Loto (who I did like) absolutely kicked their arses that night. Korn were awesome, and yes Static X put on a killer show.

FF definitely redeemed themselves last night though....

I was there for Static-X, who believe it or not, put on a pretty awesome live show back in the day.

Nude porn actress on stage = win.

I wish I could have seen FF, but I met Gene at Utopia so that was OK.
Mechanize sounds sooooooo good.

FF tomorrow, cant wait to hear Gene H.

How good was he? The man mountain wasn't as frenetic as he was with SYL, but still an absolute powerhouse. It was great to see them loud and raw in that setting. The only other time I've seen them was at Rod Laver, and they were a bit 'off' that night...

It was a fantastic gig. I agree with you that Gene has sounded much faster playing with SYL, but both he and Byron did a great job of being the backbone of FF, allowing us to see the power of a Burton/Dino frontal assault again after all these years. I've seen FF every tour since Demanufacture (including when Dino wasn't in the band), so it was great to see those two sharing the stage once again. And what a tiny stage! Fuck it was hot in there. I nearly died of heat exhaustion a few times because I couldn't bring myself to leave the pit. It was so intense. But everyone was really cool in the pit - no pricks trying to really hurt people. I did, however, lose my glasses in there. Luckily I had a spare pair for the drive home. The truth is, those glasses looked cool, but were giving me headaches, so what better way to lose them than under the feet of a few hundred screaming metal maniacs during 'Self Bias Resistor'?! Amazing night. Can't wait for 'Mechanize'. 'Powershifter' went off!!

[JuZ]

Just on the sports thing (again!)

day old male, take away parochialism and you take away multi-billion dollar industries.

I say Tiger should bring out a book ala Motley Crue's The Dirt. I must admit that I don't admire the Crue for their ways (the book showed them to be emotionally retarded uber-fuck-ups), but damn I enjoyed reading about them. I can imagine the tales of Tiger's escapades while maintaining a super squeaky clean image would make for a fun read!

That holier-than-thou attitude to sport has even seeped into the supporters' culture these days - just head to good ol' Big Footy for a taste of it - if a an opposition player sneezes he's a dirty, low-down crook.


Back to FF - all this talk and the fact that Gene and Byron are on board has me thinking I'll check out Mechanize.

Just on the sports thing (again!)

day old male, take away parochialism and you take away multi-billion dollar industries.

I say Tiger should bring out a book ala Motley Crue's The Dirt. I must admit that I don't admire the Crue for their ways (the book showed them to be emotionally retarded uber-fuck-ups), but damn I enjoyed reading about them. I can imagine the tales of Tiger's escapades while maintaining a super squeaky clean image would make for a fun read!

That holier-than-thou attitude to sport has even seeped into the supporters' culture these days - just head to good ol' Big Footy for a taste of it - if a an opposition player sneezes he's a dirty, low-down crook.


Back to FF - all this talk and the fact that Gene and Byron are on board has me thinking I'll check out Mechanize.

Dude, if you head over to Fear Factory's Myspace (not Christian & Raymond's FF page, but Burt & Dino's, hehe - yeah, it's messy), they are actually streaming 'Mechanize' at the moment. I personally can't wait to buy it, so I won't bother checking out the stream, but if you had any doubts, check it out!

As for Parochialism and money - totally agree, but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Especially when so many games have the national anthem sung before them now. It screams out - "This is an AUSTRALIAN sport! Please like it..."

I haven't read the Motley Crue biography, but I have read 'Slash' and that was a fucking awesome read. So many amazing stories, but not just about the sex, drugs and rock n roll. I really like the stories about the personalities and the insider perspective on how things all went wrong. Invaluable. It's potentially useful as a textbook for upcoming bands too actually, in the sense of a great do's and don't's guide.

yeah it was a choice gig all right, and i scored Acid at it too.

ill be at whetevers happening with this stuff

[JuZ]

Just on the sports thing (again!)

day old male, take away parochialism and you take away multi-billion dollar industries.

I say Tiger should bring out a book ala Motley Crue's The Dirt. I must admit that I don't admire the Crue for their ways (the book showed them to be emotionally retarded uber-fuck-ups), but damn I enjoyed reading about them. I can imagine the tales of Tiger's escapades while maintaining a super squeaky clean image would make for a fun read!

That holier-than-thou attitude to sport has even seeped into the supporters' culture these days - just head to good ol' Big Footy for a taste of it - if a an opposition player sneezes he's a dirty, low-down crook.


Back to FF - all this talk and the fact that Gene and Byron are on board has me thinking I'll check out Mechanize.

Dude, if you head over to Fear Factory's Myspace (not Christian & Raymond's FF page, but Burt & Dino's, hehe - yeah, it's messy), they are actually streaming 'Mechanize' at the moment. I personally can't wait to buy it, so I won't bother checking out the stream, but if you had any doubts, check it out!

As for Parochialism and money - totally agree, but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Especially when so many games have the national anthem sung before them now. It screams out - "This is an AUSTRALIAN sport! Please like it..."

I haven't read the Motley Crue biography, but I have read 'Slash' and that was a fucking awesome read. So many amazing stories, but not just about the sex, drugs and rock n roll. I really like the stories about the personalities and the insider perspective on how things all went wrong. Invaluable. It's potentially useful as a textbook for upcoming bands too actually, in the sense of a great do's and don't's guide.

Cheers, might not have a chance to listen to the stream, but either way I'll be listening.

Thanks for the book tip, always looking for new books to read so I'll give Slash a try one day. From what I've heard he's got his life together after being told he was on the verge of killing himself with alcohol. Anthony Kiedis's book is excellent too, even if you hate the Peppers. The more you read these guys' books the more you see how upbringing can have an influence on your "adult" life. Kiedis was destined to do have a tough and colourful life whether he wanted it or not (and he wanted it!).

The Melbourne Dev meet up is finally up and running.

http://www.metalobsession.net/metal-obs ... ne-meet-up

This is essentially a pre-show gathering in Melbourne for the Devin Towsend Project show. The meet up will commence from 4:30pm onwards at the Exford pub (199 Russell St) which is directly across the road from Billboards the Venue in Melbourne. Admission is free so come on down and share a drink or two with some of Devin Townsend’s fans and followers.

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Metal-Obs ... 630&ref=mf