-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- subversion (sub-ver shon)(n) Act of subverting overthrow destruction ruin subvert (sub-vert )(vt) To ruin utterly to overturn to pervert -------------------------------------------------------------- subversion 3 0 -- There s a double standard for the way we live If there s nothing to have well then there s nothing to give -Pantera 3 1 -- We Don t Care What You Say! Yes Subversion 3 0 is here like a bad rash that won t go away It s been a busy July for me but then again it keeps me out of jail Yes I defected from the Teklordz senior staff to Acid this month but this column has become a bit of a fixture in the ol Artiphakz and I see no reason to change that But enough about me time for some real dirt! 2 2 -- On the Scene It wouldn t be a normal month if there wasn t some turmoil going on With the early June packs utterly failing to impress me I was holding my breath for what I estimated to be THE big news of the summer the Decades debut release As far as the groups involved (Rival Humid and supposedly a resurrected Saga) the sheer amount of artists promised to make this new group a serious contender I had mixed feelings about their first pack which seemed to have a lot of logos and short pics but Kid Krylon tells me a lot of people didn t have their shit together He says next month will be a lot better Still it was a good first pack Acid released their June pack a little late but it was worth the wait There was a renewed focus on ANSi and the pack was one of the month s best The additions of Borian Grateful Dead Shaolin Tosh10 and a myriad of others to the roster helps as well Maybe Somms will draw something one of these days! (Could happen -- the next Acid pack could be out by the time you read this ) Ice on the other hand didn t do much for me Nothing much caught my eye although Snake Grunger had an impressive pic as well as a few people teaming up for some good joints The hi-res stuff was good as usual but losing Borian and Visigoth hurt Word from Syntax Error is that hordes of people applied to the group over the past month or two so maybe some new blood will help The current trend of bringing back old school artists from retirement isn t doing a whole lot of good The only other packs I ve looked at and cared about were Dark and Septic The Septic viewer continues to strike me as a good idea even if the pack was not much to look at Haven t seen the new CiA or Fire releases yet but I have to leave for band practice soon so look at them on your own time ) 2 3 -- Awards 96 About this time last year back when I could afford to call Canadian boards I saw a file on the now-defunct Crimson Waters that claimed to be an Awards 95 voting form I never looked at it but kinda wondered what it was about The whole project never came to be but I see that Awards 96 is now in the works I think this sort of public recognition is something that is long overdue In looking through the candidates on the ballot I saw damn near every prominent artist I could think of A lot of these people rarely appear on IRC but still quietly produce some fantastic artwork Of course there were a few names I didn t recognize mostly in the ASCii and RIP sections but I then took it upon myself to track down art by those people I didn t know Be a responsible voter ) 2 4 -- The Decline of Elite Civilization Faced with a Friday off from my grueling work schedule I called my brother to see if he wanted to go to that sprawling cultural disaster masquerading as a retail shrine the Mall of America Like some sort of festering wound on the edge of the Minneapolis cityscape the mall is like it s own city Mall police patrol for the under-18 mallrats breaking the new curfew Yes the mall has a curfew But that s not important This sacred site is also host to the monthly 2600 meetings This used to be a good thing Educated hackers sat alongside unidentified phone company employees and university lab assistants gone bad It was acceptable to show up toting a manual or two of the latest datacomm gizmos and maybe a red box It was even possible to LEARN something all the while slamming tacos or greasy burgers But with a slew of movies like Hackers and the like everybody suddenly wanted to be an 3l33t h4cqu3r Gone were those who posessed knowledge the new crowd is made up of kids as young as 12 sitting around with notebook computers pagers and cell phones that their parents bought them A few months back one of the few remaining H P A V boards in the 612 got ratted out by some loser who got busted hacking his school computer He gave out the sysop s name and number as well as those of some of the more active members Next thing you know the board s number is posted in the goddamn paper along with the time and location of the monthly 2600 meetings The lamer influx began I m not a hacker and I don t pretend to be one But I enjoyed the meetings and had a good time talking to people who knew something I didn t But just yesterday I found myself surrounded by a bunch of kids who were more interested in playing Doom on their notebooks than talking shop How sad 2 5 -- Until Next Time Thanks for reading and watch for next month s column I m still thinking about putting Subversion out on its own but this summer is too hectic for any more projects right now Go look at some art packs and run with scissors o-tron fos acid productions xrist@primenet com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have questions comments or wish to receive future issues of Subversion directly in e-mail please respond to the address listed above (c) 96 O-Tron --------------------------------------------------------------------------------