by Andrew E. Konietzky

This week I had a great round-table discussion with friends concerning the state of new media and the changing world around us. Being a writer and podcaster, I have long been a supporter of CC. Whoops! I may have to give a bit of a refresher course first: Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that works to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational and scientific content) in “the commons” – the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, uses, re-purposing and remixing. So I sat down to do a bit of research for my benefit and to show I am not created just out of cheesy films, zombies and strange culture. Well, actually I am, but I do have a stake in this changing world of media.

The world is now a hyper-expanding WikiNation, with information flowing back and forth faster than ever before. Plug in your cranial jack and download the info-burst on this documentary from the global networks. Rip: A Remix Manifesto, in which web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. He is also the web producer of HomelessNation.org, a web project dedicated to bridging the digital divide and allowing everyone to participate in online culture. Brett is one of Canada’s first video bloggers and has been working with youth and media for over 10 years, and is a founding instructor of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School.

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by Ryan Stewart

Your last glimpse of Michelle Rodriguez was probably in the third act of Avatar, when, as heroic marine pilot Trudy Chacon, she turned on her colonial military bosses and went down with her ship, fighting for the rights of the native Na’vi cat people. It was a typically badass finish for an actress who has garnered a reputation for both kicking much on-screen ass and almost always biting it in the end.

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by Nicole Powers

This Sunday (9/12) on SuicideGirls Radio our very special in-studio guest will be original Guns N’ Roses drummer and Celebrity Rehab alum, Steven Adler, who recently rocked the Sunset Strip Music Festival with his new band Adler’s Appetite. We’ll be talking about his storied life, as told in his recently published memoir, My Appetite for Destruction. Tune in for two hours of totally awesome tunes and extreme conversation – and don’t let your moma listen in!

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by Pandie Suicide

Welcome to a new series of “Brief Histories”, where I attempt to tell you a little about the history of certain aspects of heavy music, condensed into 600 words or less. If you have any suggestions of further topics to discuss please leave a comment here on the blog, here, or here.

But for today’s topic: Headbanging.

That heavy metal tradition of sore necks and long locks swirling around in the air to the tune of a frenzied double kick and wailing, crushing guitars, known as “headbanging,” is described by Wikipedia as “a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly rock music and heavy metal music.” As this instructional article, on “How to Headbang” will tell you, there are several different styles of headbanging, such as the “windmill” and the “headslam.”

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by Brett Warner

My younger brother used to play softball and during the games, I would wander about the nearby train tracks or bum around in the small playground. (My main concern that summer was whether Agent Mulder could really be dead — he wasn’t, though in retrospect it might have been wiser for my then favorite show to go out while it was still ahead.) One day, there was another young kid on the swing set and he had this small, red, egg-shaped video game on a key chain. It had a funny name and my fifth grade eyes glazed over as he explained how the thing worked. “These are gonna be the next Beanie Babies,” he promised. I think I probably told him that was stupid. Shows what I know.

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by Angelita

I won’t lie, I love vampires. I’ve read all of Anne Rice’s vampire novels, watched just about every vampire movie there is, even all the lame 80’s ones, and I’m still slightly convinced vampires could possibly exist. However, the world seems hell bent on ruining this little internal pleasure of mine. 

First, they made Vampires teen-friendly, which is just the epitome of lame. What the hell kind of vampire wants to spend eternity going to high school?

If that wasn’t bad enough, now vampires are pro-abstinence. A pro-abstinence vampire is an oxymoron; vampires survive via penetration and sucking. If that’s not sexual, I don’t know what is. Then, vampires came out of the coffin and became mainstream on True Blood. So now I have to share a common interest with screeching preteens AND their parents.

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By Edward Kelly

As a kid, I always had a thing for sidekicks. I favored Robin over Batman, Impulse over The Flash, The Genie over Aladdin, Thud Butt over Rufio (from “Hook” and, if you got that reference, any chance you want to be BFFs, like, right away?).

It made playing backyard games with the neighborhood kids really simple. While everyone argued over who got to be Leonardo or Raphael, I was happily off to the side as Michelangelo, swinging my very-much-DIY, cardboard-toilet-paper-rolls-held-together-with-string nunchucks.

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