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ARCHIVE - 4/7/07:
Green Day University - Spring Session
The theme for this month is ACTIVISM. For Green Day, and for Green Day fans. Did you ever think, way back in the days of Dookie, that Green Day would ever expect you to get in there and start kicking ass for hardcore social, political, and environmental reform? Probably not. However, a day must come in the life of every punk fan when you get out there and throw a bucket of red paint on a fur coat, or cook for Food not Bombs, or get beat up by cops at a protest, or… something.
Green Day, with millions of dollars and well nigh on unlimited resources, have taken punk activism a step further. This month, as in the last few months, they've been dedicating their time and energy to getting people informed, encouraging them to act, and raising money for the causes they believe in.
Music History
Probably the most exciting GD news in March is that the guys are recording a cover of the John Lennon song, "Working Class Hero," for a fundraising tribute CD coming out in June. Rumor has it that the guys will also be making a VIDEO for the song! For now, however, you can get the awesomeness here, where someone made a sweet video of the original John Lennon goodness.
The whole tribute album project, entitled "Instant Karma," is being put together by Amnesty International to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis happening in Darfur.
Darfur 101
In case you hadn't heard, Darfur is a region of Sudan where armed fighting between Arabs and non-Arabs (simplistically speaking!), has been raging for the last four years. Like all stupid useless wars, this one has many causes, but the major cause for concern is that thousands of people have been killed and millions have lost their homes and are now in danger of starvation, dehydration, and death.
Sudan has refused to let UN peacekeeping forces into the country. Of course, if the U.S. wanted to, it could use all its money and resources to force its way in, but this particular instance of oppression of a group of people doesn't have a big fat reward at the end in the form of crude oil. It just has a bunch of poor starving people with nowhere to go and no rewards to offer anyone. As is true throughout most of life, history, and the universe, that's why the suffering continues.
Organizations like Amnesty International and bands like Green Day are trying to raise enough cash and awareness to pressure the Sudanese government into letting help into the country. They don't even want to send an army, just aid workers. Of course, it's pretty fucking hard to listen to John Lennon's songs and not get all feeling like you want to heal the world and shit, so who knows, maybe this time, everyone will understand the penguin's message.
Conclusion, With a Moral
Isn't it interesting how, after the Beatles became the most famous band there ever was, John Lennon got all into activism, and now that Green Day is the most famous band ever, they're doing the same thing? It's awesome because that's what famous people should do. Once they actually have enough money to make a difference, they should get out there and MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Not like John Travolta with his five jets and giant mansion and ridiculously high fossil fuel emissions.
[Awkward throat clearing moment.]
World Issues with Professor Addie
In other news, all this Green Day activism goodness has even got Addie Armstrong coming out of her notoriously low-profile shell to send us all a message about the environment. That's right, the newest NRDC video is hosted by the lovely Adrienne herself. In the 2 ˝ minute segment, there's probably more Addie-on-camera time then you've seen in your entire history as a Green Day fan. Check it out here.
In the video, Addie talks about easy things that people can do to help in the struggle to stop environmental devastation. Also cool are 100 shots of various Green Day + NRDC fans that were sent in and chosen to show the connection between the people like Green Day, who make major contributions, and people like us, who can make big differences in small ways.
Early Childhood Development
Although only 100 were chosen, thousands of people sent their pics in for the Addie video. Heart-warming, really, that we are still young and idealistic enough to believe that we can make a difference. This stage of existence doesn't last very long, as you quickly fall into the whole white-picket-fence trap, and then you just spend the rest of your life waiting around to die.
Thank the Great Spaghetti Monster, you're never too young to start developing your punk ideology. A company called Baby Rock Records is putting out an album on April 3rd of Green Day Lullabies. Ever cute!
Don't worry! This is not as terrible as it sounds! Baby Rock actually does pretty cool stuff that's all instrumental and eerie. They've done albums of Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, and Radiohead, among others, and their shit is pretty non-offensive. You can check out some various samples on their MySpace to see if you like it before you go buying it for all your babies.
And Now, Schoolyard Gossip…
While his buddies fight to save the universe, Mike Dirnt was seen kicking back at yet another fashion event with his live-in lover Britney Cade. She, like Mike, is super into fashion design, so they were whooping it up at some sort of toast to Joey Tierney's Fall Collection, whatever that means. You can see pictures here.
Some Brazilian magazine was interviewing Zakk Wylde (that Viking-looking dude that plays guitar for Ozzy Osbourne) this month, and they asked him who he thought was a kick-ass guitar player, and he said: "That bastard Billie Armstrong is a son of a bitch whose really good at composing some cool riffs." Sweet props to Billie!
Review
Alright, children, that concludes the class for this month. What did you learn today?
- Activism is the glue of punk culture. If we don't all get out there and do some crazy shit to make our voices heard, the world is going to go to hell and there won't be anyone what can complain.
- John Travolta is crazy.
- Adrienne Armstrong is cute as pie.
- It's still okay to care about fashion.
- Never leave your rat along with your computer (oh wait, maybe it's just me that learned that). Um, don't tell your parents there are rats in here, or they'll never let you come back next month…
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