Oh, bandom. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

[sparkfrost]

Panic's new demo makes my heart stupidly happy. If you haven't heard it, check it out at their website. Pete Wentz said that the new album would be a natural progression from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, and the new song certainly sounds like it.

Depending on who you are, this could be a good or bad thing. Palmer, for example, really likes Pretty.Odd., and had hoped that they would continue in their Beatles-inspired 60's rock. I think a lot of people may feel that way. People who kind of grew up with Panic's music, and they may feel that they've grown out of the emo dance-pop. Me, I'm excited. I loved Pretty.Odd>., don't get me wrong, but Fever is what got me into Panic, was my summer soundtrack, and really helped me get through a lot of shit that was going on in my life. Listening to Brendon sing about how 'only his head knows his heart is lying' is like a breath of fresh air, and really fills me with hope. I am really excited to see what else he and Spencer come up with, and cannot wait to hear the new album.

For those who loved Pretty.Odd., fear not! It seems as if Ryan and Jon's new album will be a natural progression off of that. Obviously no one can say for sure, but they were definitely the driving forces behind a lot of the last album, and it makes sense that they would continue to experiment with that sound. So, have hope!

Now, onto the scandal.

I know a lot of people are really hurt and disillusioned by what Ryan has done, and I am not at all trying to trivialize those feelings or say that you should not have them. What I am about to say is solely my own opinion, and my own reaction to the past few days.

-First of all, everyone in that photo is an idiot. It reminds me of those fail!photos, where someone is taking a pic of themselves, unaware that their giant purple dildo is visible in the background. (Or anal lube, or ball gag, or whatever else that they do not want the public at large to see)

-Second of all, Ryan's Tweet after the incident was really fucking stupid. It turned anyone who was on the fence about what to feel against him. Evil twin? Really? Way to make it seem like you don't even care about getting caught on film with your big old tray o' coke, Ryan Ross. Good job!

-Finally, Keltie's blog is really heart-breaking, and clearly illustrates how a lot of people involved in the situation are reacting. My sympathies go out to her, as well as to all my LJ friends who have posted about their bad experiences with loved ones on drugs. That fucking sucks, and I can't even imagine going through it.

But here is where unpopular opinion time kicks in. I don't really have a problem with cocaine. I don't have a problem with most drugs. I'm not saying all- I have a very specific list of drugs that scare me and that I will never touch. Acid, crystal meth, ketamine, crack cocaine, and heroin are all drugs that I will stay the hell away from, and I refuse to associate with people who use them. Cocaine itself isn't on that list. Yes, it can be dangerous, yes it can be addictive, and yes, its stupid for someone from a family of addicts to do. But I don't consider it as bad a drug as many of my flist does. So while I think Ryan's dumb for getting caught, I'm not going to chastise him for it. Oh, I'll mock the hell out of him on Twitter, "to his face" if you will, but I'm not going to tell him what to do with his life. It is his to screw up.

There ends my unpopular opinion. Again, I am not trying to tell other people what to think or how to feel. I'm also not trying to say that cocaine is good for you, it isn't. I am saying that because of things I have done and probably will continue to do, I have no right to judge Ryan on his lifestyle choices.

If you don't want to be friends with me after reading that, I get it. (I seem to be saying that a lot lately.) But, as before, I'd prefer it if you'd talk to me in the comments or PM me.

Much love to all!

Comments

[ernestinewalker.livejournal.com]

Naw, I get it. Acid, crack, and heroin are mine. Unfortunately, I've had too many friends decide to be meth-heads (and thus had to be there through their rehab) to actually refuse to talk to people who do/have done it. I've tried it, myself, because it was a stupid time in my life. I hate it, personally. I understand why people do it, but those people I've known who HAVE done it... would advise anyone to stay the hell away from it as well. I'm on that list.

Ketamine... that was super-popular during the raver days.

Coke, though? It's somewhere on the list with weed and x. There's no rational reason for that. I don't think they're good for you, or should be condoned, but I can't be a total hypocrite.

I would never encourage anyone to do drugs at all, really.

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug, and its really easy to let it get out of hand. But yeah, I just don't group it in with the "hardcore" drugs, and I can't pass judgment on someone else for doing it.

I am definitely not encouraging anyone to do drugs. That is a personal decision that everyone has to make for themselves, and if I did anything I'd probably say something like, "Eh, if you want to, go ahead, but its not all that, so why bother?"

[ernestinewalker.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I'm not running around telling everyone that they OUGHT to do drugs, but if someone asks me if they should smoke a joint, it's like, "well, do you want to? And furthermore, do you have immediate access to Funyuns?"

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Funyuns might kill it for me. It is all about Ruffles potato chips. And Chinese food. But then you have to deal with the delivery guy, and I always get all paranoid... my life, so hard.

[ernestinewalker.livejournal.com]

I have not seen any Chinese delivery in C'blow. Can you believe it? There's a lot of stuff within walking distance, but there's that pesky paranoia.

I used to have these friends who would invite me over, and they had what I classified as "Ethopia Product." In that afterwards, you felt like you'd never eaten before. And they didn't have any food. I mean, I'm in the kitchen trying to figure out how old the slice of cheese stuck to the bottom of the fridge is. And none of us had any damned money... I was considering taking out a loan to get a damned pizza.

ALWAYS BE REASONABLY SURE OF FOOD SUPPLY! <- number three rule, after "don't do anything idiotic" and "make sure you've got some cool people around so you aren't bored or harshed."

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

Lack of Chinese delivery is a heart-wrenching thing. I mean, the obvious action would be to get the Chinese food before getting high, but you don't really want it then, and if you don't eat it before you want it by the time you do eat it the food will have gone cold, and there is nothing worse than a soggy eggroll.

I feel like you need to be more than reasonably sure- you need to be damn sure! Because sometimes you're like, oh there's lunch meat and cheese, I can make sandwiches. But when the time rolls around you're like, OH MY GOD THAT IS TOO MUCH EFFORT, WHERE ARE THE CHIPS AND SALSA? CAN WE GET A PIZZA UP IN HERE, CAUSE COMBINING CHEESE AND BREAD AND MEAT IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR ME RIGHT NOW!

[ernestinewalker.livejournal.com]

I'm laughing 'cos it's true. WHAT THE FUCK, HASHBROWNS? YOU TAKING FUCKING TEN MINUTES TO MAKE!! AAARRRRRGH! I WILL EAT CRACKERS AND MUSTARD AND BITCH ABOUT LACK OF HASHBROWNS!

Then again, if you have Super Motivator Weed- the kind that encourages you to clean your whole house and organise your cds and scrub out the refrigerator, you'll have a fucking ten-course meal made out of things that really don't go together. And it will be GOOD.

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'm always too paranoid to do more than put something in the microwave. I have friends who will bravely bake frozen delicious treats, but I'm always worried that I'll set the building on fire or something.

I haven't had Super Motivator stuff in awhile. Maybe its just because I don't do it as much anymore, but nowadays when I smoke I get mad paranoid. Its not very fun. :( I miss the old days when I just wanted to giggle and watch Disney movies.

[ernestinewalker.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean- I've only done it maybe twice in the past year, 'cos both times I was like HOLY SHIT WE GONNA DIE CAN WE PLEASE GO HOME NOW WHY DO YOU HAVE ME OUT IN PUBLIC.

I miss the days when I'd go all potted plant and want to draw while watching television or listening to P*Funk or whatever. And everything was so awesome.

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

OH GOD, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN AND IT IS TERRIFYING! People should just really not take me outside when I'm not in my right mind. The only drug under whose influence I can interact with the public is alcohol, and even then I tend to make an ass of myself!

Man, now I want to smoke and listen to some music. Maybe in a couple of days.

[ernestinewalker.livejournal.com]

Yes. Yes, and Yes. All of this.

One of my friends wanted me to explore why I didn't feel comfortable being in public while intoxicated... I was like "I dunno. Let's just go home and talk about it there." Instead, we ended up having this great fancy breakfast, with me fumbling around and dropping things and making a complete ass out of myself 'cos I was so jumpy.

Man, I used to turn on the turntable and hold COURT in my first apartment. It was over a law office, so when Lawyer wasn't there, I could just crank that shit UP and let my apartment BE the music.

[stele3.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

My unpopular fannish opinion on the ~Scandal~: My god, a musician is doing cocaine? Stop the presses! Monumentally stupid to let a picture of it wind up online, though, and I wonder at the timing...this photo cropping up just days after the band split. *head tilt* I don't know what to think about that.

That being said, definitely count me among the people who dnw cocaine. Sometimes it's hard for me not to feel judgmental of people who do use (which, I mentally categorize cocaine as a hard drug), but I recognize that there are people who can do that stuff and be just fine. *shrugs* I doubt that I'd be one of them, that's all, and I don't ever want to take that chance. I don't want it around me; too much addiction in my family, and I tend to go to excesses - as evinced by my problems with hard liquor in college.

As far as professional rock star hipsters go -- whatever, Ryan Ross, have fun. Hope you fall into the "be just fine" category. And for the love of Pete (hah) put the cameras away before you indulge.

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

My unpopular fannish opinion on the ~Scandal~: My god, a musician is doing cocaine? Stop the presses!

That was pretty much my first reaction too! In fact, the first thing I did was make a joke on Twitter about learning to *hide* the cocaine before taking a picture! But then a lot of people came out as really against it (I actually am no longer friends with one girl b/c she asked anyone who was ok with Ross doing coke to defriend her) and I felt that I couldn't, in good conscience, stay silent.

I will never tell anyone how they should feel about cocaine, and I fully agree that it is not good for you, and is a hell of a drug. But like I said in the post, my actions in the past, and most likely the future, prevent me from judging Ross for what he's done.

As for RyRo's future- I just think he's cliche right now. I hope he doesn't have a problem with coke, I hope he realizes that it is a "once in a while, if ever" type of drug, and I hope that he learns a lesson and quits being a camwhore while drugs are on display.

[notsolaconic.livejournal.com]

actually, i'm kind of surprised by how many people are up in arms and disillusioned now, just because one skinny rocker dude did some blow and was retarded enough to be caught on film. i mean-- he's a grown ass man, with a lot of money and a lot of free time, and i'd honestly have been quite surprised if he had never tried it. it's his life to live, and if he wants to do a few lines, who are his fans to say he can't? it kinda sucks, but it's his life.

that said, coke is a terrible drug and it's one of the only that i tell people to stay the fuck away from. it makes you stupid, it fucks up your body, it's expensive as hell, and most people who use don't know the meaning of moderation because it is fun as hell, and when you're enjoying yourself that much it's hard to take a step back and think, "maybe not today. maybe not this year, even." hopefully ryan ross is not one of those people, but if he is i'm not about to look down on him for that and will in fact defend his right to use, if he wants to.

i don't know, man. i'm in a serious minority here on lj-- i do a lot of drugs, including a few on your no-no list, and i'm pretty unrepentant about it. but i have also never had a problem with addiction; the day i wake up and think, "hey, i'll just go do that again as soon as i can" is the day it all stops for me. i don't see anything wrong with that, personally, but i empathize with those who have known addicts and dealt with that situation and i understand why drugs are such a polarizing topic. ryan ross, you started somethin', you dick.

and forgetting drugs for a moment-- the new panic demo ahahahaha oh god. i feel like the video should be a long continuous swooping shot of a thousand drag queens dancing, but that's just me. get yer gay on, brendon and spencer, get it on. i liked pretty odd more than fever, but anything both groups put out will most likely be fantastic!

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

I think people are upset because Ryan Ross started out really fuckin straight edge. Like, gave interviews and said that he was uncomfortable being around heavy drinkers. Then he started drinking, and fandom got upset. Then he started smoking up and fandom got more upset. I think the cocaine is the final nail in the coffin for a lot of people, who feel abandoned by someone they looked up to.

Hey, I said I didn't think it was a big deal, not that I didn't understand why people were upset. ;)

Oh man, I'm pretty madly in love with the new Panic demo. Probably because I'm also experiencing epic love for the new Cobra song, and they remind me of each other. At least, the whole dance-pop thing. But yeah, I'm really excited to see what both groups come out with, because I'm sure that both will be amazing!