when people talk about “punk rock” often theyre talking about one typical construct

leather, mohawk, ripped shirt, safety pin(s), british flag, 2 minute songs, etc

but to me punk rock is about freedom, its about creative expression, its about trying to do something new.

to me kayne west in a marching band outfit at the grammys warning them that he better win something or theres gonna be problems is punk rock. to me the dixie chicks singing that theyre not ready to play nice is punk rock. even though its ruining the advertising model of the very industry that pays my rent, craigslist is punk rock.

i love punk rock so much because in my heart i am punk rock but no matter what i do i always end up mainstream and dull and hanoverpark,illinios.

i get mad when my heroes grow old and stop being punk rock. i get disappointed when the very kids who are so ready and willing and able to be punk rock arent even rock like people who think riding a bicycle on streets for social “change” is punk. unless youre doing flips, if youre on a bike when you do it, its probably not punk. its a lot like people who call themselves “mavericks”.

kroq is no longer punk. mtv is not even close to being punk. and video games which has all the ingredients to be quite creative and subversive and envelope pushing is so not punk rock.

any time you call your shot and drain it and point before during or after is punk rock.

sometimes people dont even realize when theyre being punk because sometimes when youre in the eye of the hurricane you dont even know theres a storm around you: you are in the middle of the slam pit thus you dont get touched. david letterman is often punk and yet no one notices. that can be sad.

in a way, for a short time when i was there, LAist was punk rock and often times now they are, and definately the Daily Nexus was punk rock when we accepted our best in california awards at the formal annual dinner in dresses.

sammy davis jr marrying a white woman when it was illegal in half of the usa was punk. n.w.a’s entire discography was punk. ee cummings and w.c.williams was punk. howard stern getting millions of people to pay for what they once received free is punk. the simpsons were punk. ev giving back all his investors money plus interest so he could move forward with twitter was punk. van goghs entire life was punk. tuesday was true punk rock.

so could a guy playing techno music on a laptop be punk rock?

in theory hell yes. which is why punk is so important for change and hope and art.

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