Netpunk February 2003

Everyone loves to rant...  well, at least most punk rockers.  And, for better or worse, the net has given those who like to rant a forum to spout their views endlessly on countless websites and weblogs on thousands of servers around the world.  Some of it is funny, some very personal, and some entertaining.  Sometimes you wonder whether they realize that people actually are reading what they are posting.  Anyway, this month I thought I'd turn you onto a few sites that mostly consist of various people ranting about various things.

We'll start off, appropriately, with Rant-O-Rama (http://www.rant-o-rama.com/).  You'll find both real and not-so-real stories and rants here, as well as letters to the editor, a guestbook, and a handful of other stuff.  Plenty to read though, which is what makes a rant site worthwhile anyway.

Rantcore is about as punk as it gets.  The guy who rants on this site says what he means, even when what he means has very little significance to the world as a whole.  Some funny stuff here, like his comparison of record labels, and the section where he gets into it with a person who e-mailed him.  Take a look at http://www.rantcore.com/ .

Off Camera says that their purpose is to "remind people of the rest of the world and to get them to look at life differently", and it does a pretty good job of it.  It is basically one guy's personal zine, with occasional guest columns.  The stuff you'll find here is less random rants and more well thought out pieces about feelings and life in general.  This is a worthwhile use of your time - http://www.offcamera.org/ .

Sweet Tea Zine is another punk rock per-zine.  Lots of rants here, including such diverse topics as dogs, drugs, metalheads, boredom, and everything in between.  It doesn't appear that they update it that often, but there is already a lot of stuff available for your reading pleasure.  Sweet Tea is at http://www.sweetteazine.com/ .

I stumbled across The Home Despot by accident, and boy am I glad I did.  There are some hilarious rants on here.  The author takes on Punk Planet, liberal arts, health food, groupies, and more.  And all of it is done with pretty savage (and occasionally juvenile) wit.  There's also a section of weird classifieds culled from Craigslist, a pranks section, and more.  You'll find The Home Despot at http://www.harmful.org/homedespot/ .

This is not all of the punk rock rant sites on the net by any stretch of the imagination, but these should keep you busy for at least the next few days.  I'm going to move on to less rant-related material now, but you'll probably still find some interesting opinions.

James Squeaky, the guy who once did Mister Ridiculous zine, has a new mag called Sincere Brutality.  I picked up a copy of the first issue, and it is pretty good.  His website is worthwhile as well, as he posts a ton of record reviews, as well as show reviews, mp3s, and other stuff and junk.  Take a look at http://www.sincerebrutality.com/ .

For those of you who remember back when punk rock and skateboarding when hand-in-hand, you should head on over to skaterock.com.  It's all about skateboarding music.  You'll find articles about bands like the Briefs, McRad, Duane Peters, The Descendents and more.  Yep, it is definitely old school around there - http://www.skaterock.com/

If you haven't seen it yet, Get Your War On is a fantastic online graphic novel (comic strip) dealing with the bullshit that this country is perpetrating in the name of "Enduring Freedom".  Started soon after the New York terrorist attacks, Get Your War On takes a critical view of current events.  Plus, any royalties the author makes goes to a team that helps diffuse landmines.  Visit Get Your War On at http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html .

Nothing Nice to Say is another online comic strip, but isn't as political as Get Your War On.  Still, funny stuff here, running from geek to punk.  He manages about a dozen strips a month, and has been doing these for about a year, so there are plenty of strips to read.  Nothing Nice to Say is at http://www.nothingnice.com/ .

Movie Punks is another strip that comes out three times a week.  It mostly deals with current movies with sarcastic (punk?) wit.  It is hit and miss, but usually the strip at least gets a smile out of me.  Take a look for yourself at http://www.moviepunks.com/ .

If you've got a decent computer and a good connection, then you have to check out The Emo Video Game at http://www.emogame.com/ .  The cast of characters include some of your favorite emo "stars".  The net needs more silly stuff like this.

Finally, at http://www.sykospark.net/ you'll find an Insta Punk kit that is sure to piss some of you off.  There is also the Insta Goth, Insta Emo, and Insta Raver kit.  Really, everybody is a target.

Okay, so that about does it for this month.  My piece of net news is that I posted a classified to Craig's list saying that I was looking for a band, and I may have actually found one!  If it works out, I'll have the web address for you next month.  Until then, you can e-mail me your good finds at netpunk@diehippiedie.com and you can visit all of my past, present, and future columns online in the netpunk section of http:://www.diehippiedie.com/ .  Until next month...  see ya.