More Citizens For Our Betterment Stuff…

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This is what happens when you have an obsessive mind, are still officially unemployed, and are waiting on something that is extremely important — you follow this stuff endlessly.

Here are the latest links:
Citizens For Our Betterment: click “data.” I’m pretty sure the first 100 might be filled, but they’re still taking addresses. I hope I get something. It’s nice to get cool mail/good news once in a while. “Media” also has a new picture on it - not sure what the deal with that is. “Exposes” and “Scandals” also brings you an old photo [that is still nice to see, mind you.]

And now it appears William Beckett [The Academy Is…] is in on it as well — check this out The Wiilliam Beckett Blog. It seems to have lyrics or something — plus a link to a new site, Run Right Back to the Art. At the moment, there isn’t much going on there, but I am sure at some point, there will be.

Clearly, there’s more to come… this is seriously the most interesting viral thing since NIN’s Year Zero, which was also really well done. Feel free to post any discoveries you make….

Oh, and — people seem to think Midtown might have something to do with this: so here’s their deal: they re-did their myspace, and there’s this video:
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Wow, Copeland are Kind of Dicks

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In the latest “Citizens For Our Benefit”/Fall Out Boy news, it seems Copeland decided to get a slice of the action — by launching a mirror of the Fall Out Boy site [Citizens For Our Betterment] under the amazingly clever URL Citizens FOUR Our Benefit. The only difference? At the end of Copeland’s site, you get a link to YouAreMySunshineAlbum — which is a photo with the date October 14, 2008.

This really makes no sense — but here’s what I gather. Someone posted a link on a Fall Out Boy LiveJournal, and Copeland sort of just latched on to the Fall Out Boy campaign, as they were already doing some viral stuff of their own. [Which is news to me, but hey, let’s face it — it’s Copeland. I don’t think they’ve ever made it to the “elite” area of my overfilled iPod for even an afternoon.]

Speaking to MTV, here’s what Aaron Marsh of Copeland had to say:

“We had been discussing a viral campaign for three or four months now, placing some stuff on the Net, so some of this was just wacky timing. The whole concept behind our campaign was that we wanted people to be looking at our Web site while they were thinking they were looking at someone else’s. So we were poking around, and then FOB started their site, so we decided to use theirs. There was nothing malicious about it; we just saw an opportunity to reel in way more people.

And when I think about how it might affect Fall Out Boy, all I can say is that Pete’s a clever bloke, and he probably would’ve done the same thing had he thought of it,” he continued. “I mean, think about it: The two campaigns are very similar — theirs is supposed to look like an ominous organization that’s mucking around. The way [the two campaigns] crossed didn’t hurt anyone.”

Well, obviously, nobody was hurt! It’s a freaking viral campaign. Then again, is Copeland going to suffer a bit for it? In my eyes, they’re unoriginal hacks. The quote above should really read, “Yeah… well, we were doing a viral campaign of our own, but nobody was paying attention. And then Fall Out Boy did theirs, and it was successful and got people interested and talking, so we decided we’d just copy them since they’re smarter than we are. It’s not like they’d mind, they’re smart, after all!”

It reeks of pathetic, if you ask me. And I find it hard to believe that Pete, being a “clever bloke” would have done what they did. Say what you like about him, he tends to have pretty original ideas and seems above latching on to someone else’s coattails to such an extent. It must suck to be a band and realize that someone has outdone you in the whole viral thing, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Fall Out Boy’s campaign is actually the first viral campaign I have paid attention to in ages — most of them have been boring, stupid, or ill-planned.

For the record, Copeland also launched a fake AbsolutePunk site — Abso1utePunk.net. Which is hilarious because nobody would type that by accident, though I guess if they were putting fake links to AP, it would work. Christ, they’re so desperate, I’m wondering when the EPB mirror will show up… [note to Copeland: do it! I’m writing an article trashing you right now — nobody will catch the fake! That’s what I call using your heads!]

Copeland’s final comment was just a bunch of crying that their “brilliant” idea was destroyed over night [welcome to a world where people can look things up and aren’t entirely retarded] and repeated insisting “Pete would have done the same thing.” I’ve never seen anyone so positive that someone else would do the same stupid thing they did, but check it out:

“The whole idea was mocking other sites, and if life went according to plan, you would’ve seen that continue, instead it got ripped to shreds overnight. But, like I said, this wasn’t done maliciously. And everything I’ve heard about Pete is that he’s a marketing kind of guy; he’s the king of making people talk and ruffling feathers, so he would’ve done the same thing if he could have. So if Fall Out Boy fans are mad about this whole thing, well, all I can say is that Pete would’ve done the same thing.”

Mad? No. Laughing at you? Yes. Pete said there are still “many twists to come” and it may have nothing to do with an album… he said it was really just art. Not surprisingly, concerning Copeland, he didn’t say he would have done the same thing. Go figure.

It Looks Like New Fall Out Boy is On The Way

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Do I care? I’m not sure yet. I didn’t love Infinity on High when it came out, though I do find myself enjoying the songs more these days, when they come up on random on my iPod. And I really kind of gave up on Pete Wentz ever writing something gorgeous again after [accidentially or intentionally] becoming another member of the breeding masses. And yet, I find myself intrigued by the whole Citizens For Our Betterment site — especially with the new and updated changes.

All of this started a couple of days ago when Decaydance was “hacked.” It has since been restored to its normal self, but the “hack” was credited to Citizens For Our Betterment. That site wasn’t much — until today. When you click on the sidebar, you’re taken to Run Right Back to the Start, which says “this is a maze.” And it is — each page has a sort of “choose your own adventure” thing going on, and you can get lost in circles or keep finding new things, depending on where you go. I played with it for about 20 minutes and kept finding new things.

But here’s the most shocking part - the words are very clearly Pete Wentz — and they’re gorgeous. They strike me as almost on par with his usual writing… and much more in touch with emotions, ala “The Boy With A Thorn in His Side” or believe it or not, From Under the Cork Tree. If this site is full of lyric blurbs from an upcoming album [title: Run Right Back to the Start ??] — I am really looking forward to some new Fall Out Boy. Who knows? My eternal pessimism may lead to a surprise — I figured we’d get great lyrics again when his wife spat out her spawn and they had a MTV show and got divorced.

Anyway, play with the links, see what you can find. I’ve yet to find any music — but Absolute Punk had a simple post that said, “Fall Out Boy fans should make sure to watch FNMTV on Friday.” [By the way, I had no idea when this was on, but just set my DVR — it’s Friday 8-9pm EST on MTV.] I suspect if there is an announcement, or even better, a song or video, clip, this is it. A lot of people are speculating the new album will come out on Election Day [because the CFOB site looked really political on the first day], but you never know with these viral things — or with Fall Out Boy. I can’t imagine they did all of this for a tour announcement or some weird goal like playing Antarctica.

I guess we’ll see. I’m not in love with viral campaigns, but this one actually seems pretty well-done, and without too much of a wait time if something is happening on FNMTV in two days. It could all be a huge letdown, but in an odd moment of optimism, I’m hoping for the best.

*Footnote: Ah… I love that I just posted something that would have been censored quite a bit on the old site that shall not be named. It always drove me insane that they kept me on a leash for fear I would “offend” people with my real opinions. I have to remember not to hold back anymore… it feels good. And I’ll need this site more than ever when I start a soul-sucking job come Monday.

New Song From I Am Ghost

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Considering everything I have been dealing with lately, I take my happiness where I can get it. In this case, it’s in the form of a new song from I Am Ghost on myspace. It’s called “Bone Garden,” and makes me not want to wait until October for the whole album, because this is awesome. I think this will probably take the award for 2008 “Album of the Year” [Jamies Elsewhere is still holding strong at #1 at this point] if this is indicative of what we can expect from the whole album, which will be titled Those We Leave Behind.

The band’s MySpace has also been revamped with a ton of European tour dates, for some reason or another. It looks like after the current West Coast run, there’s nothing happening in the US until next year. Strange… but maybe they do better over there. A lot of bands do, unfortunately. [Well, unfortunately for me, since I like seeing live bands.]

And as for this new photo of them? I just want to touch them all. A lot. Damn. Those are some nice-looking boys. Obviously, music is the most important thing to me, but if the visuals are nice as well, I’m certainly not going to complain.

New Valencia Video — With Bonus Max Bemis!

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I have been a fan of Valencia for quite some time, and while it seems their jump to major label Columbia didn’t work out so well for them, in terms of video budgets, they did a great job on their own. The video, which has tons of Warped Tour stars in it, is really cute and the song “Holiday” stands a decent chance at being a “hit,” at least in our world.

And of course, there are many reward appearances towards the end of the video, but I assure you, none made me squeal to the extent that EPB’s chosen superstar Max Bemis did.

It’s things like this video that make me wish I could experience something like Warped Tour, but being anything but a summer girl, it will never happen, unless they move it to a more reasonable month like April or October.

Anyway, enjoy the video… because it’s awesome.  And check out the band’s new album, which is out next Tuesday.

You Me and Everyone We Know Lose Van in a Fire

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*Sigh* It’s always depressing when bands lose so much on tour. This time, it’s You Me and Everyone We Know. The band posted on their LiveJournal, complete with photos, the story of losing their van and a ton of stuff after a tire blowout in South Carolina. It seems like some grass caught fire when they pulled over to change their tire, and quickly spread to the entire van.

The band said:

This is a list of the stuff we lost

1 Van
PLUS
All of our bookbags and sidebags containing:
2 video cameras, 2 digital cameras, GPS, 3 Nintendo Ds’s plus games, 6 Ipods, 2 Laptops, M-Box, External Harddrive full of our recordings, $500 in cash and a full tank of gas, 100 cds and dvds, PSP plus games, 2 sidekicks, 1 Cell Phone, Two Drivers Licenses, All of our shoes, XM Radio, All of our toiletries, Most of Ryan, Ben, and Rico’s Clothing, All of our pillows, blankets, and other items relative to sleep.

Basically, it was as if our house burned down but fortunately our equipment was saved due to the quick arrival of the firefighters. In the end, all of this is just stuff and we’re stoked to be alive. Thankfully, with the help of Dear Hunter, Lydia, and Eye Alaska, along with the support of our friends and family we are happy to have worked out a way to continue on the rest of the this tour. This train don’t stop come hell or high water.

You have to respect that, but God. It seems the fire spread very quickly [summer is a demon beast of a season] and even though help came quickly, the van was gutted. The band will be setting up some sort of donation account, since they lost everything [so if you catch a show on this tour, be sure to give them money. I’ve seen bands in similar situations, and they/their merch guy will be more than happy to accept a few dollars. These dudes are not rich….] There’s no news on that yet, but when it comes along, I’ll post it.

This band is really awesome, by the way, so if you don’t know them, check them out.

You can read the whole story and see more photos at the band’s LiveJournal.

1997: Oh, I Wish I Was a Fly On Their Wall

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Although the news broke last week that Alida and Alan were out of 1997 — people learned of this after the band missed some shows on their tour — the band finally made the obligatory MySpace post explaining what happened. Unfortunately, the post just makes me ask a million more questions — especially because the tone is odd and they don’t seem to care that Alan left the band.

As some of you have already figured out, our band has experienced some changes - on July 28th, 2008, 1997 decided to part ways with our current singer/keyboardist Alida Marroni. Bassist Alan Goffinski also decided to leave. Alan was an original member and Alida joined the band in april 2007 shortly after Kerri Mack left the band for personal reasons. It is unfortunate, but we wish Alida all the best for the future.

On a positive note, 1997 will be back on the road in no time at all. For the time being, Cody is going to play bass, and we are auditioning girls to come on tour as a replacement for the next few months. After that we will find a permanent girl to write and record the new album with. We’re also happy to announce that Kerri will be joining us for our Chicago Metro show on August 8th for one night only, it will be a very special performance where we will be playing the whole of A Better View Of The Rising Moon so please come and hang out with us!

Although the band is sad to lose a member, we are also very excited to show every one what we can accomplish as a cohesive group of friends. We are optimistic about our future and confident that our shows will be better than ever and the next record will be the best 1997 record to date! We will never stop playing our songs for the people that enjoy them. This is what gives us joy and strength to carry on. Thank you to all of our fans who have stuck with us through all of our craziness and turmoil, we love you from the bottom of our filthy hearts.

It’s odd for so many reasons. First off, they only wish Alida well, and then they say they are sad to lose “a member.” Many people say Alida and Alan are dating, which would be a good explanation for any light animosity there, as it seems safe to say Alan didn’t want to part ways with her. I’m guessing the conversations about putting her out of the band were a bit tense.

Then, we have to wonder why they parted ways with her. They don’t really say, but it seems like they weren’t getting along, especially with the reference to being happy to be a “cohesive group of friends” in the future.

And finally, I love the way they say they will look for “a permanent girl.” I wonder why they are dead-set on having a girl singer… especially since their track record isn’t so great with them. [And especially since female-fronted bands don’t do all that well in this genre, anyway….] But hey, to each their own.

That said, the gossip hound in me would just love to know what really happened….

New Reggie and the Full Effect Video

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This one is too good to not post. It’s probably my favorite video since Every Time I Die’s “We’rewolf.” Anything that is the story of “Dracula’s bachelor party,” and features Frank Iero as Frankenstein is awesome by me. And the song, “J-Train”? It’s really good. I’m actually surprised because I don’t usually enjoy Reggie and the Full Effect, but this song is pretty rocking — especially the chorus. I can see this being a Fuse hit, and am pretty sure I am in need of the album now.

Okay, enough babbling from me — time to watch a cool video!

Notice.

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One miss pixie is moving this week/weekend, and due to everything surrounding this, EPB has been/is on a brief hiatus. Posting should commence in early August. Please check back and thanks for reading.

P.S. There is a new Aiden video here. It’s a cover of “Cry Little Sister” from the original Lost Boys soundtrack and it kind of makes me squirmy in a good way, though I expect to come back to contrary opinions.  Oh well. I have always had a thing for wiL Francis, and I don’t think anything is going to make that go away.  Plus, it’s a really good cover.

Haste The Day: Hilarious Hypocrites

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I have to thank this band for making me laugh, because I am in the most depressive mood imaginable, and this post they made about asking guitarist Jason Barnes to leave the band — because he woke up and decided there was no Jesus or God.

Christian “punk” bands, is there anything they can’t do? They brought a smile to my face with their really fake “we’re so sorry we had to kick our friend out of the band” post that also includes how much they miss him, and how they don’t cast judgment on those who don’t believe. Sure, that sounds nice, but I have to think that kicking your guitarist out of the band for having different views that are more atheist in nature is rather judgmental. It’s more than that: it’s asinine. The part about asking for prayers for themselves and the poor atheist, Jason, is also pretty hilarious.

How the hell do young people get this insane, anyway?

Here’s their post:

This is going to come as a shock to many of you. After much prayer and thought given to the matter, we asked Jason Barnes to step down from his involvement with Haste the Day. For a while Jason has been searching and searching for real meaning in his existence. After several months of reading literature and talking with friends, Jason had determined that he felt there was no God and certainly no Jesus. We as a band do not have problem with those that do not believe in Jesus, nor do we cast judgement on those that do not believe in Jesus. We just want to love on people like Jesus would and hopefully share a little bit about what he’s done and doing in our lives.

We would call ourselves a Christian band and for that reason, we felt we couldn’t have someone in the band who didn’t agree with the band’s foundational drive. Jason’s new found disbelief in what the rest of us have committed our lives to began to cause disunity within the band and as a result, we prayed and talked about it and felt like God was saying it wasn’t time for Haste the Day to come to an end. Thusly, We asked Jason to leave.

We love Jason and it pains us all to not be on the road with one of our closest friends. It has also been a miserable experience for Jason to not be a part of something that he has been a part of for so long. We are all working on mending the tear in our relationship with Jason and are hoping to be able to continue to call him friend. We will not be replacing Jason with a new guitar player. Our friend, Dave Krysl, will be our full time touring guitar player. The four of us (Stephen, Devin, Brennan, Michael) all wrote our new album which will be called “Dreamer.”
We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers you can send toward us and Jason. Thanks for listening and as always, we will see you on the road!

No judgment there, right? They’re “hoping to continue to call him a friend.” I wonder if I Am Ghost needs another guitarist in the mix — they’re a band that managed to shake loose their Christian nutters and come back better than ever — maybe Jason would fit in with those guys.

It’s always bugged me that these guys were hardcore Christian asshats… I really like their sound and thought their last album cover was really gorgeous. Anyway, good luck to Jason… he’s a talented guitarist… I’m sure he can find a band to make music with, without having to cater to an invisible man in the sky’s whims, as interpreted by his bandmates.

Because let’s be honest — most atheists really don’t care what other people believe. There isn’t an “atheist agenda” or an “atheist coalition” that attempts to dictate morals for other people. They don’t try to convert people. They’re not bad people — they still have ethical codes and try to be good people. They just do it on their own terms, for the sake of being good, rather than for some shot at a heaven or impressing a God.

It all just seems so silly. It’s 2008 — why are people still bickering about this stuff? And how could a band kick out their “best friend” and pretend to be bummed about it, when they did it simply because prayer told them that was the right decision?

Crazy.