Mark Hosler(Negativland) lecture Part Two, reveals that U2 lied about suing them

[blastingcaps]

Its annoying because say a good touring act is coming through the city. Well the bar owner or promoter will book one of the same three bands that are full of Pittsburgh elites. These bands wont be any better, and in many cases arent even as good as other bands, yet the nepotism wins. This results in many people just not going to shows after a while because nobody wants to see the same local band three times a month. And from what i can see, its the same in all the forms of art here.

[blastingcaps]

Something about this that always bothered me that i i never heard anybody bring up is that its exceptionally annoying that a band couldnt make that record the way that they did JUST because U2 is so popular and some dumb ass might not know its not a U2 record. What i mean is say i wanted to create a concept album about the U2 spy plane and wasent even THINKING about that stupid band. Its almost as if THEY own the name, idea, and everything surrounding this thing. Its ridiculous.

[blastingcaps]

Do you have any more of this lecture? This is amazing. Dude's sitting right effin there! haha!

[ehrichweiss]

@blastingcaps yep, I have the whole thing but am having trouble finding the software I used to split it into pieces small enough for youtube.. I upgraded and the software became unusable..:( Let me see if they ever updated the software.. Remind me if you don't hear from me in a week or two.

[blastingcaps]

@ehrichweiss Awesome man, thank you. How did you first hear of them and what year? I have found that people often have cool stories about how they found their work. I first hear of them back in late 93 in a newsletter from the band phish, so i plunked down 25 bucks at a music store who had to order the CD. Took like four weeks to get to me. Escape from noise. Its wild how different things are now ya know? Now you just click a few times and shit shows up at yer front door in a day haha.

[ehrichweiss]

@blastingcaps (just found the software btw and am hoping I have the settings correct for export so it may be uploaded tonight or tomorrow)

I first heard Negatvland back in 1987 or 88, when the song Christianity is Stupid, which is of course on the album you bought, was playing on a local college radio station. I was actually a christian back then but I wasn't offended by their message because I understood what they were really saying. Later I heard U2 and then started collecting all their stuff

[blastingcaps]

@ehrichweiss Thanks man, thats totally cool. I am really interested in seeing the rest of this so i thank you very much. They seem to be pretty cool guys to. I say that because back in i guess about 2000 or so i was locked up (selling drugs, i was just a dumb kid) and i had about three years in i sent them a letter and they sent me back the letter U and the numeral 2 and a bunch of other stuff for free and a little encouraging note. I know they arent made of money, so it was cool to get all that

[ehrichweiss]

@blastingcaps Part I of the lecture(this one is technically part II) is listed as a video response so you can find it here or in my list of videos. I'll have part III up sometime soon but it's taking a bit to get it rendered properly. I'll respond to your comment once I've finished.

[ehrichweiss]

@blastingcaps That's pretty cool. It doesn't surprise me that they did that. My wife sent them some mail back in the mid-90's and we got an envelope full of all sorts of crazy stuff. We still have it around here somewhere.

Mark gave a lecture here in town and I got him to sign my copy of U2. He wrote:

"I am ruining this cover by writing on it! Do not sell on Ebay! That's the letter U and the... Love Mark Hosler"

It couldn't get much better than that in my book..:)

[ehrichweiss]

oh, speaking of books, he autographed his book for me too, it said "Fuck Snuggles"...

[blastingcaps]

@ehrichweiss haha! thats funny, i love how clean cut he is but cusses a lot and causes so much trouble. Its great.

[blastingcaps]

@ehrichweiss Yeah that is a cool autograph. What city are you in? I am getting ready to move from Pittsburgh to the west coast somewhere in about a little more than a week. My flight is taking me to Portland cause i have heard a lot of good things about that city but i am not married to the idea of living there, just gunna check it out and see what's up there. Do you play music at all? That is the main reason i am leaving here, just cant find the right people. tried for ten years, thats enough.

[ehrichweiss]

@blastingcaps Currently I live in Lexington, KY but we're moving out of this godforsaken state and our next destination will likely be Ohio, followed by Hawai'i in a couple years.. Too many people are just plain stupid here and have no willingness to grow and it's driving me nuts to have to deal with them on any level..

[blastingcaps]

@ehrichweiss oh man, i was just down in louisville over the holiday. Thats where my girl grew up and all her family is. well, georgetown. Shit, yeah i was just down there bored out of my skull. I can see why you would want to get out of there. I'll tell you what i dont know where you are going in Ohio, but i might suggest the west coast somewhere cause i am leaving the rust belt for just about the same reason you are leaving KY.

[ehrichweiss]

@blastingcaps We're looking at the Oxford, OH area.. It's quiet but close to Cincinnati so I don't have to worry about the boredom. I thought about California back in the day but in the list of worst run states that was put out earlier this year, KY was #50(the worst) and CA was #49. I didn't like Oregon enough to move there and if I move to Washington State, I'd be too close to someone that I absolutely hate...(and I find most of the people in Seattle are just crazy)..

[blastingcaps]

@ehrichweiss Right on. Pittsburgh and most rust belt cities are just full of really pissed off assholes. That has been my experience, and being one who has spent years in prison, i can get along just fine in this kind of environment, but artistically i found it devoid of creativity. For example, in Pittsburgh, there are a lot of people who play in bands who have no desire to break out of this city or to create a situation where the nation turns its attention to this city. very annoying.