Punk Rock Academy

Home > News Archives > 01.12.2000

Notes From The Flip Side: 01.12.2000

The first update of the new year. For the record, STM and affiliated publications do not recognize 2000 as the first year of the new millennium, but rather the last year of the old century and old millennium. Not that it much matters. We're no less fucked than we were when the century started. We just have more shit to distract us now.

I spent most of Dec. 31 on I-25, heading into Denver, but I made one important stop - The Ludlow Massacre memorial. On April 20, 1914, National Guardsmen set fire to a tent city erected by striking mineworkers in Colorado. The miners were on strike for a number of reasons: an organizer had been murdered, they were poorly paid, worked in dangerous conditions and were imprisoned by the company store. It's worth noting that the stores were owned by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation, which was in turn owned by the Rockefeller family. On April 21, 1914, the charred bodies of two women and 11 children were found in a pit under the burned ruins of the city. No one was ever brought to trial.

I stood there at the monument, looking at the hole where these people died, a space not much bigger than the bathroom in my apartment. A bitterly cold wind blew down from the snow-covered mountains and I could see back into the canyons where the company towns once were. No one was around and it was as quiet as winter gets. I sat in that hole for a while, trying to imagine what it was like. After a while, I said a prayer for the dead and left Ludlow behind, Avail's "Deepwood" ringing in my wake.

I didn't think about prosperity or good health on New Year's Eve. I thought about how much further we all have to go. I thought about people who died fighting for the good of all. It's a sacrifice few people seem ready to make today.

I've added a links section. I support the bands, labels and clubs listed there with my money, time and enthusiasm. I'll add more links as time goes on, but that seems like enough for now. The reviews are coming along, slowly. I'm no longer going to estimate when Issue 2's reviews will be added. They'll get done when they're done. That's all for now. Catch you next time.

Back To Top

Last modified on Wednesday, March 26, 2008