End Metallophobia (previously named 'Fear of a metal planet')

I have copied and pasted this blog entry onto the End Metallophobia blog (from my regular Night Owl blog).  Even though it is not specifically relevant to heavy metal, I think it is important to understand we all have times in our lives where we are bullied in some form or another, and we all have our 'breaking points'.  In particular, metalheads who have been bullied and can relate to it will enjoy it.  A few weeks' ago, this youngster (a 15 year-old boy from St Mary's, NSW, Australia) was on the news. He didn't do anything particularly 'extraordinary' but his actions had extraordinary outcomes for many people who could relate to his story, who are surprised what they are capable of when they decide to fight back. It shows that we all have our breaking point, and even though none of us wants to reach it, sometimes it is a necesary evil Casey Heynes was one such person who, for most of his life, was bullied for being overweight, but when he hit high school...

When I was in my teens, there was no such thing as cyberbullying, though at the time, the worst was verbal and/or physcial and/or relational bullying.  This was because I never knew what it was like to have internet access and even back then, I never even had a computer to call my own (until I was well into my late twenties).  Computers were only becoming common place when I was in my late teens, and even then, I never knew how to use one until I left school. The closest thing I had been to 'cyberbullied' back then was being prank-called. And the closest I have been to being 'bullied' via the internet was through the numerous 'incivilities' I was subjected to - being publically criticised, 'sworn at' and even called names by others on discussion forums.  Though I was very quickly 'removed' from the group when I did it back certain group members.  This happened to me in my mid-thirties.  Now, if I have something to say, I would rather do...

All, My friend (who calls herself Vera Metallum on Facebook and used to call herself Pagan Baby on Yahoo) has just entered the Miss Alternative 2010 'Beauty' Pagent.  Her decision to enter this competition prompted her to ask herself what is the definition of 'alternative'. This is a long 'essay' that she published on Facebook regarding the 'ins and outs' of being 'alternative' and what it means to be 'alternative'.  The essay begins with a definition of 'alternative'. Citing from http://www.dictionary.com/ , she states that an alternative (as a noun) is a choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of two things, propositions, or courses of action, the selection of which precludes the other possibility. one of the things, propositions, or courses of action that can be chosen. A possible or remaining course or choice. While as an adjective, it means Affording a choice of two or more things, propositions or courses...

They are one band who have been up there (and pretty much no 1) in my list of favourite bands and are one band, for many years, have been highly controversial. They are highly respected for many reasons: They have been around for a long time, since the early 1970s; They have many classic albums (see (1) below), though some 'cheesy' ones too (like Turbo for instance); They have survived in the face of many 'trends' including Punk, Disco, Rap and Dance, and many 'trends' within Heavy Metal itself (like Glam, Thrash, Death, Black and Nu Metal).  In other words, they have stood the 'test of time'; They have also survived in the face of many 'knockers' and naysayers, and have successfully defended themselves (in most instances) and their genre from all the outside (ie non-metal) forces, as well as those 'knockers' from withing who have accused them of being 'gay' or lame (cos they like something more 'brutal' or 'true...

I don't want to delete myself from the Internet, though there are times when I have said some things about other people that I regretted later on. For instance, I have been 'dragged' into some 'flaming' wars on some Yahoo groups I used to belong to, and as a consequence, I am no longer in these groups. Some of them have been over guys I used to like, some of them over making comments that were allegedly 'racist' (even though there weren't generally racist, they were more about certain 'subgroups' among 2nd and 3rd generation migrants whose own behaviour offended me also), while others were when some of my friends were being bullied online and subject to *sexist* jokes and comments (like how 'fat' they were, or how 'slutty' they looked). In many of these cases, I was also treated like I was 'dumb'. The sad reality was that all of them, where I was subjected to online bullying myself (because I was either sticking up fo...

How to Stop Being Mean to People - wikiHow Anyone can stop being mean (as in cruel, vindictive or nasty), as in 'outright mean' but we all have 'mean' thoughts about people, which drive us to be mean to them. It is also easy to be mean to others if you, yourself, feel put down also. It is hard to be positive when you feel there is not much to be positive about, and expecially if you are being negated by someone. A few ways to be nicer to others (or not being mean) are to improve your own self esteem, to find a reason to feel good about yourself, and be kind (or kinder) to yourself. Another way is to feel 'sorry' for the other person, to ask yourself why they *feel* the need to put yourself down, or if you feel the need to put them down, ask yourself why? It doesn't mean you have to be deferential to that person, but you can be civil. For instance, if you find them annoying for some reason, ask them (very kindly) to do something differently (eg, if they ar...

Basically talks about that *really* hideous fashion, the 'saggy pants' look. This fashion (if you could call it that), has been around since the early 1990's, when jeans were 'supersized', and they fell down to show one's buttocks and underwear.  They were originally worn by hip hop/rap artists and fans, but were also adopted by skaters, some grunge artists, and (sad to say) some headbangers (particularly those who like death metal/grindcore and nu-metal).  Here is the run-down on the history of 'saggy pants' by Janice Breen: Early 1990s Hip-hop artists adopt pants like ''one-size-fits-all'' prison garb worn by ''brothers'' home from jail. The ''homeboy'' look fits with post-prison six-packs and hot underwear brand Calvin Klein. Mid-1990s Saggy pants slip into mainstream fashion. Waistbands drop each year. By early 2000s, almost the whole boxers are on show, crotches drop to knees. Rumours the look is ...

Article Review: Took, K, J and Weiss, D, S (1994), ‘The Relationship between Heavy Metal and Rap and Adolescent Turmoil: Real or Artefact? In Adolescence, Volume 29, Number 115, Fall 1994 ; pages 613-621 This journal article illustrates the relationship between preferences for Heavy Metal and/or Rap music, and difficulties during adolescence. Both the teenaged subjects and their parents were interviewed, and the teenagers were asked about their current 'psychosocial functioning' and their music preferences. The group of subjects who liked Heavy Metal and Rap were compared to a group of adolescents who liked other types of music. The focus of concern was the increasingly explicit references to drugs, sex and violence, and Heavy Metal and Rap have come under the most scrutiny from religious, political, parents' and medical groups, which were likely to affect the minds of children and young people. Heavy Metal music (a particular type of hard rock) often attracted concern ...

Even though I am neither emo, nor a MCR fan, I still support other peoples' rights to listen to whatever they want. I was a Heavy Metal fan (and a Judas Priest fan in particular), and this same controversy was happening well over two decades ago. The only big difference is that we didn't have Internet access back then, and therefore could not reach a variety or magnitude of people like we can now. My signature no is 8692 http://www.petitiononline.com/sign4mcr/

Gold Coast becoming Schoolies hot spot National - Regional Telstra BigPond News and Weather Schoolies and 'toolies' may or may not be heavy metal fans, but this the relevance to metal is that it is relevant to youth issues and peer group themes.