TEAM SPIDER

Hmmm ... five years since last blog post— TEAM SPIDER NEWS!

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 2 Feb 2019 11:13:00 -0800

Team Spider continues its indefinite hiatus, starting Circa 2008- but stuff has been a brew... An invitation to Play Tompkins Square Park 30th Anniversary of the Police Riots, seems to have kicked off a potential chain reaction of events, that may snow ball... but either way has brought some joy and appreciation of people who we have impacted the lives of and their desire to show some love to TEAM SPIDER and light a lotta bit of fire under our butts. One event was some homeless street kids pulling me KRiS aside on the sidewalk to sit., slog a dirty 40oz. And bust out some Team spider songs on a strangely tuned acoustic after they saw me hanging in C-SQUAT / Morus space. Turns out they were “live streaming”- and it was impromptu dubbed “team spider tv 2.0”. —- which may happen again... I’ve got some ideas ( more ideas than time as per usual - but I’m feeling the love so what is a better motivator ?) This resulted in an offer to do a split record w/ one of the street squatting kids band’s, the Comrades - guess they’ll change their sponge sign from “money for booze” to “money for vinyl printing” - but I’ve learned not to underestimate the power of people who are more apt than most to survive the apocalypse ( real apocalypse, not “L-pocalyse” as the papers have dubbed the upcoming L train shutdown to Brooklyn—. I don’t think anything that can be solved with a bike really qualifies as an apocalypse...) *gotta stop watering down these terms folks, nazi has already been hollowed out to the point of harmless thanks virtue signal typewriter monkeys... Anyhow, this has led to an offer for a acoustic show in the summer2019 on Tompkins... to which I replied “pencil me in” as its hard for me to commit to anything right now- but chances are I’ll pull something out of my keister - hopefully not a prison shank. And in minor hilarity / odd communications news, Jon from the band the Comrades began randomly sending me 3 minute messenger voice mails that appear to be him just playing guitar riffs—. After a while I just finally replied with a guitar rock out ( that resulted in a call from the neighbors )... apparently the FBI I mean agent suckerBerg only allows 3 minutes max.. so there are no painful greatful dead jams, but we have been continuing this riff’ersation for a while now— and maybe it will result in some avant- garde album or at least get me to write some new Team Soider songs. My 6 yr old is teaching me piano, so expect some bohemian rhapsody sequel ska core metal. ( funny recent total recall;, my 7th grade music teacher, used Queen’s “News 0f the World” album to teach us some theory/ clap / rest exercises, AND he also used to cane me with a dowel rod when I got out of line. Resulting in either welts on my ass, or black and blue knuckles if I threw a desperate and blind behind the back block manu er to ( literally ) save my a$$— Mr Evans, Wyoming Valley West middle school, mining town Plymouth Pennsylvania, in a school whose pool drained in to a subsiding mineshaft thanksfully not taking any welted ass prepubescents with it, he was oddly ahead of his time and yet still regressively barbaric, but looking back I appreciate his impact in my life)... That all said, I’ve been inspired to maybe make an appearance on our YouTube channel ( YouTube.com/teamspider ) which barely hosts any of our hard work as we were a hair ahead of our time outlet-wise and winding down our public access tv bike punk minor celebrity/ reality show / web channel ways JUST AS YouTube was starting to appear... ( circa 2005 ) so perhaps I will find some time to web cam or live stream myself & whoever is available ( alive) to introduce some old pieces, and in a bizarre time warp make the young versions of ourselves ( except Zak, he’s always old like Jim Morison and James Dean are forever young ) YouTube stars... Maybe not, sounds like a lot of work - about 10000 times harder than starting a bandcamp page- which we still haven’t done but people are asking us to - at LEAST to hear some music if not Fund Raise for a new record ( yikes )— we’ll see. Either way .. 2019 sounds exciting, and I look forward to you ( I’m assuming only ONE person @best reads this blog) .. joining us
Peace KRi5 5pYdr
‘Na’na’na’19

TEAM STUDIO: JC Studios celebrates 2 years!!! A TeamSpider reunion special???

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 8 Mar 2014 10:38:00 -0800

Team Studio: A super RARE Spotting of the majority of team spider members together
for the first time in years at the JC STUDIOS "2 Year Anniversary" party.

$AM / XRIS / JUGGY D

The wickedly awesome, as they'd say in Bawstun, recording/rehearsal/art owned and operated by Team Spider-members $AM & JUGGY D.

To properly ring in the 2nd Birthday of the spider'rific locale,
JC Studio's reception / lounge / kitchenette was decked out with turntables and a full bar
serving the finest beats and spirits absolutely free,
save for the pouty lipped guilt stare of bartender Justine if you skipped the tip jar, which we hope you wouldn't.

Justine mid beyatch-slap to a non-tipper

The gallery space was displaying art by Nancy Palubniak and Preska Wenger among others while Baldy Longhair recording artists BRAIN AND THE CRAZIES rocked out the sweaty bouncing performance space. Fans of non Ear-bud ACTUAL LIVE BAND jamming were crammed in every square inch of the nearby rooms and hallways rocking out to the catchy punkTastic jams, resulting in JC Studios being perhaps the only building in Jersey to be running five rooms of air conditioning this fine cold winter night.

Xris' appearance was unexpected, due to the fact that he and his Madame Spider are expecting a baby and the DUE DATE was of course the same night as the studios' second B-day, but it just goes to show you can't keep a good spider down, especially if an open bar is involved.

Frequent cell phone checking occurred and no labor took place, which is good as parties are for creating' , not working. Xris' appearance did result in an overheard comment by a Team Spider superfan in attendance who said "Does this mean (drummer) Oscar is going to walk in the door next and my (team spider reunion) dream is going to come true?"

Well, spoiler alert, there was no sign of Oscar, & no TS rocking occurred, but upon returning home, the super busy super PaPa Xris checked his personal email for the first time in a while and lo & behold there was a note from Oscar dated just the day before, pondering when "the last time we all got together was at this point? It's been a couple years!" We'll, had Xris seen the note earlier he probably would have mentioned the party, or had Oscar been more of a Facebook / NSA-surveillance type perhaps hyper-drummer-lad would have seen he was most likely invited to the bash, but alas, it seems it was not meant be.

Ah... who can predict the future? Xris WAS heard mentioning to $AM that in between diaper changes, feedings and trips to the library story-time he has been jotting down notes and emailing voice memo's of riffs to an ancient teamspider Email account that he "hopes he still can remember the password to." $AM laughed and said if XRIS figures it out let him have the password too and he'll check 'em out and see if he comes up with anything...

So TeamSpider superfan(s?), you may someday get more than an impromptu-mini-set at a party In the near diss'tant future, but for now, just keep your ears open for the wails and cries of the latest MINI-SPIDER TEAM MATE preparing to enter the world any day now! After that? Only the fates know...

CRAZY AND THE BRAINS, live, dark, romantic

GOOG-ILL AD (non)SENSE -- be sure to party / rehearse / record at JC Studios', accommodating accomadations for ALL your fine audio needs -
Just 1 quick stop on the Path Train ( GROVE STREET stop* ) from 'ole Manhattan.
Call (201) 435-1024 for information on rates and special offers. http://www.jc-studios.net/ (*or ask future New World order president and Putin arm-wrestling hopeful Christ Christy for directions from the GW bridge
--but ride yö bike Beeyatcjh !!! )

Hyperbole and a Half: Depression Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Mon, 27 May 2013 21:00:00 -0700

Hyperbole and a Half: Depression Part Two

Amazing description of depression.(above )
We lost one of our founding Team Spider members, Eric Kammer, to suicide.

His death inspired the song and recording of Wait For The Dawn, on what became the "no cash split",
It is a serious situation when someone wants to hurt them self. Be sure to watch for your friends, I wish Eric had waited to see the sun, whether he could have felt it at that point or not, I am sure he would have felt it today

free speech, free stza, free donuts

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:48:00 -0700

--free speech, free stza, free donuts FREE! FUCKING! SPEECH! RALLY SAT. Sept 27th, 2008 2-6 PM –FREE— TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK ( live music by Star Fucking Hipsters, 2-Man Advantage, Joe Coffee, Wombat in Combat, Xris Spider,.. more ) -A Reaction to a Reaction to a Reaction- ----------------------------------A BRIEF HISTORY--------------- Against all odds and seemingly insurmountable douche-bag’ism, the East Village and Lower East Side artists, residents, patriots, anti-patriots, old, young, people of color, and all those who “haven’t gone anywhere” hold down the fort of Lower Manhattan until the great even’ing. Sometimes these stubborn world citizens have cautiously raised their voices… successfully holding political rallies and concerts. That was UNTIL, a NEW Weapon was unleashed upon the masses of non-masses: -------------------------------THE DECIBEL METER….. The latest cowardly Attack on Free Speech comes in a device that seems as innocent as a Tazer, but far more dangerous. The Tompkins Square rallies and concerts, often containing un-popular speech dating back to the 1800’s, are now being selectively shut down when they reach levels of 70db at 100 feet ( or approximately 5 words of dissent per minute). By comparison, a vacuum cleaner generates 70db of noise as far as 25 feet away, and a passing city bus easily sends the decibel meters over 70 db at almost any time. Ironically, the crowd applause level after a song or speech at these events is usually loud enough on its own to allow the dream police to shut the entire event down. While the similarly amplified Charlie Parker Festivals, bag-searched screenings of Batman Begins, and H.O.W.L. festivals seemingly only generate 100+Dbs of more pleasing speech. Can the NYPD, in the midst of a bicycling crisis and fake election year, afford the resources to send enough officers to physically hold the decibel meters, shut down concerts, and taze teenagers…? Sadly, read on ------------------------------------- CURRENT EVENTS---------------- On SUNDAY AUG 3rd 2008, At last months' 20th Anniversary of the Shameful Police Riot in Tompkins Square, the scheduled Concert/Rally was forced to turn the “volume” down and down and down again by decibel meter holding officers, to the point where no one could make out much of anything. The electric bands eventually being completely shut down, the Hungry March Band swooped in like avenging angels and continued to perform in no-electricity-required glory. As a result, the desperate police, with no plugs left to pull, cowardly imposed a $1500 fine and promises to the organizers that more fines would be arriving by mail. --------------------------------------NOT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE---------------- On FRIDAY SEPT. 5th 2008 As a reaction to the this -Selective Enforcement- of ridiculous, unconstitutional, police determined laws, levels and regulations, a concert was held DIRECTLY OUTSIDE the East Village’s 9th Precinct. Although the organizers made every effort possible to reduce the officers’ commute time, making their efforts to destroy free speech as exercise-free and exertion-free as possible, all the participants interested in FREE SPEECH, instead of FREE DONUTS were still met with a heavy hand. Each subsequent musician and political speaker was forced to turn down to lower and lower volumes, until the rally devolved into a simple unplugged Sing-A-Long. The climax of which found an acoustic guitar wielding Stza Crack ( possibly not his real name ) leading the crowd through songs that would have made Pete Seger and Woody Guthrie proud. Assuming they would find pride in the fact that their legacy is now continued on in the form of troubadour singing about burning churches, killing cops and smoking crack. ----------------------------------DOLLARS FOR DONUTS--------------- At the end of Mr. Crack’s set, someone in the crowd handed the modern son of Dylan a box of donuts, which in a disgustingly wasteful manner, may or may not have ended up being individually hurled in the direction of law enforcement professionals, who were reported to be watering at the mouth. What their mouths were watering for is still unconfirmed, but this act was the final tasty straw for said city employees, who spent the rest of the evening leading a city-wide canvas in order to capture Mr. Crack. The elusive yet public figure had slipped away after the concert by brilliantly changing from one completely black outfit, to a different completely black outfit, assuring his escape from the detail oriented detectives. -------------------------------TAZERS INTRODUCED, NOT RECEIVED WELL------------ Fortunately Mr. Crack, ( again, name unconfirmed) was later found in Tompkins Square Park, unapologetically strumming his acoustic guitar and was quickly whisked into a Police Cruiser heading to the Tombs. Soon a bevy of young fans were tazed and arrested after laying in front of, jumping on, or dumping trash on the cruiser. Realizing the futility of “telling the officers to not taze them”, the youths accepted the punishment, though not completely in silence, if ones counts the screeches of pain. The music / constitutional law / surrealism fans were soon hauled off to jail along with the cop killing, donut throwing, church burning Mr. Crack, who somehow, despite all these felonious activities, had managed to escape arrest for all these years. This SAT: the SAGA CONTINUES…. Tompkins Square, It’s Everywhere -Xris Spider. More on INFO on this weekend’s FREE!FUCKING!SPEECH! CONCERT / RALLY, VISIT: http://www.myspace.com/slidingscaleproductions For Photos/Videos/ & more detailed accounts of recent Jelly Glazed Donut related events, VISIT: http://www.teamspider.blogspot.com Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

"9-11 BY BIKE" 10 year old Team SPider TV tape unearthed

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 06:41:00 -0700

I shot this footage as the chaos was unfolding. I never labeled the tape, and until today, the 10th anniversary of 911, I never watched the footage. It features me, ( xris Spider) Dave, ( juggy D spider ), my lil Bro, and our neighbors at the Ave A. apt where TeamSPider was born...

In honor of the innocent lives cut short 10 years ago, and nearly every day since, i have cut together this video which captures the day.

Let us remember that those who were able to express themselves before perishing thought about love, not vengeance. Vengeance is what likely killed them. In the days since, we have bombed countless people. Perhaps it is time to lead by example, not misguided retaliation and greed.

JUSTICE ( does not equal ) VENGEANCE

----PS. new tunes to rise from the ash very soon..

AMERICAN IDIOT - a review

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:52:00 -0800

So, the fates bestowed me with 2 front row seats to Green Day's American Idiot play, which seemed like a solid enough mind-less night out. But when Billy Joe Armstrong, who is currently performing in the "musical" ( more on the quotation marks later ), spotted bandmate Mike Dirnt in the crowd several rows behind us and called him onstage… i thought maybe i should bust out my eyeFone and roll off some megapixels for the kids who missed it.

So here it is…
Billy Joe, Mike, and the unfree cast of glee, performing GOOD RIDDANCE/ Time of Your Life

I am not a reviewer, and perhaps I should leave that to the professionals, but since everyone is going to be asking me what i thought, i figure i should work it out on the idiot-net before i actually condemn or praise it to people who actually exist.

On the whole, I'd say that everything, from the cast, to the lights, to songs, to the costumes, to the set, made me sad. It relaxed me and tantalized my senses enough to give the feeling i am floating in the womb, not a care in the world, enjoying the stobe'ing tv sets, handfuls of glitter tossed by Billy Joe from his pockets (when he finally did appear), and feeling like everything is alright in the world, but then i realize I am not in this world, everything is colorful, characatured, and enunciated, except me. Which is basically how i felt in high school, and the reason i never joined the Glee club, or young Republicans, or any of the other clubs which i suspect were all held in the same room at the same time anyway. So, to be fair, i am not sure I could ever really truly enjoy a mindless punk rock musical spectacle, or a mindless spectacle of any sort, whether it be Nascar or Fireworks, I'd have to be pretty high on something to enjoy the moments between people catching on fire. So, just as I could probably not get too psyched up for a job putting together Nikes or stock portfolios, even though I'd like to think I could try, the reality is that if i ever went back in time to do High School 'right' this time, I'd still mess it up and have to face the reality that, as the prophet Dee Snider said, "I am, I'm me."

And that "me" finds himself sitting front row in a "play," that doesn't seem to have a lick of dialogue, posing as a musical that doesn't have a single sing-songy narrative, and in truth is probably more accurately described as a musical revue, sung by random interchangeable glee club members posing as 2-dimensional characters, occasionally joined by the guy they are all barely imitating. That in itself is so surreal, that I almost have to give it 11 stars. Perhaps your life will NOT BE COMPLETE unless you experience it. It will break you down to your core essence, like the bastard child of Freud and a Drill Sergeant, make you face the sad pathetic loser mess faggot conservative dreg that you are, and rebuild you into the perfect man or woman that Dee Snider's great great great grandfather Jesus wanted YOU to be. And it only co$ts 60-127 bucks.

You'll see characters appear for one song, and disappear never to be seen again ( except outside after the show looking to give out autographs ), you'll see characters who are set up to be main characters whom can easily have both their personality, and entire life experiences replaced by two or three cardboard cutouts. Example, cardboard cut out 1. Punk kid with sharpie drawn Black Flag tattoo, 2. the same kid in desert camo uniform, 3. same kid with a prosthetic leg, THE END. And that's 1/3 of the entire cast / "plot" / and show. Feel like more? Well i should charge you ( $127 divided by 3… ) oh what the heck, i'm feeling generous, picture three more cardboard cut outs: Not so punk kid on a couch, same not so punk kid with a pregnant girlfriend, same kid there without pregnant girlfriend, THE END, oh shit, did i just give away 2 thirds of the play? Do i have any more cardboard cut outs left? hmmmmm, Boba Fett, no, Princess Leia, no, oh wait here's three more: Least punk rock kid of all laying in bed, Least punk rock kid of all shooting dope with a girl in bed, Least punk rock kid of all working a suit and tie job… oh shoot, he may actually need four cardboard cut outs, no wait, we can just use the first one again, stand it next to the other 2 guys' third card board cutouts for the big reunion, and… THE END

Thats it. No lines, no growth, no insight, no character, no wit, no chemistry, no mustard, no mayo, no horsey sauce, a plain Lenders bagel, barely defrosted. Surfing upon some randomly strung together mix tape of Green Day songs desperately pretending to represent the characters'… i don't know what, essence? Even the songs, the true heroes upon this battlefield pitting fake plastic brother against fake plastic brother, sisters old enough to be their mothers, and inexplicably large choral groups ( guess that ticket price has too appear to pay for something ), these seemingly indestructible super soldiers of pop infiltration, domination and decimation, limp back missing limbs, sexual organs, and in the case of one song, which shall remain unnamed until his album can be notified, has been reduced to a blind mute quadrapalegic who can only communicate in morse code, incessantly nodding out the message "kill them, kill them, kill them." A selfless act that will be remembered long after we have all died, natural causes or not, by those who remember the few this nation can truly refer to as heroes.

As a kid, I remember hearing the critics of the first Star Wars movie say that you could fit the entire story line on the head of a pin. Well, in this case you could fit the entire plot of american idiot on the three periods after "in a galaxy far far away…" right on that same old pin. And there's no Wookies. Not one. Punk kid on a couch looks like a young Brandon Frasier, but that is no fucking substitute for a Wookie. And unless Han Solo's witty lines happen to have already appeared as lyrics in some early George Lucas pop single, they aint in this version of the pin head. In fact, if you just laid a bunch of space ship explosions and shots of Luke and Leia kissing over the disco version of the Star Wars theme song for 1.5 hours with no intermission, you'd basically have American Idiot. But you'd NEVER know they were actually brother and sister, and yes that might help you might grow up to be somewhat normal, but you'd be living a lie.

On a positive note, Billy Joe Armstrong is still a strong strong vocalist with a time honed, distinct and original signature style, and can pretty much do no wrong in this setting. He walks through the entire debacle like a god walking on the earth he created and appears to be having the time of his life, not to mention making a mint in the process. Who can fault him for letting this wild hog run loose, everyone in the audience seemed to feel they got more then their bottom dollar's worth and lined up to spend additional duckettes on keychains and posters on the way out. In a perfect world live drums and Marshall half stacks would be the centerpieces of every play I ever end up attending, but for now, i guess it's just this one. And theres no denying this is a real crowd pleaser, i'm just still not comfortable in the real crowd.

Guess I'd better write or direct my own musical. Till then, enjoy this one if you can.

PS. BJ, if you are reading this, I am available to rework this entire shindig if you get tired of unbridled success, OR, better yet, lets start from scratch and do a new one… If it's true that ya gotta get in to get out, your are now so in, we could surely rub one out.
see ya.
( chickenman has my # )
Xris

REVOLUTION (and CLIENT) #9

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Mon, 9 Aug 2010 20:51:00 -0700

So, Tomorrow, TUESDAY August 1oth 2010, is the big public hearing regarding NYC's infamous home-made Community Gardens. The delicious little snippets of nature scattered throughout the city, tended to by the communities which they both inspire and calm, and saved by Elliot Spitzer "''needle -- sCKRAtch noise:'"" what wha wha?

Yes the "Sheriff of Wall Street" and infamous "CLIENT #9" was one of the many to rush to the aid of the gardens, but Spitzer was so helpful in this case, they deemed him Client #1, and named the bill / act / legislation after him! Good times, before falling 8 places in the charts...

Also, very helpful were Bette Midler, and 1 or 2 community activists who never bothered to make a record, movie, or high class hooker scandal, so we won't mention them ever....
oh what the heck: TIMES-UP!
Yes, those pesky garden loving, bike riding and very sexy sexy dancing Times-up! activists were part of the SOLUTION 10 years ago, and they are at it again...

Here are some videos, of preparing for tomorrow's big day...

including some original Seth Tobacman art / living demonstration poster power...

so, we will get up early.. ( 11am.. why so early !?!!?)

and go check it out, and report back... we expect to see Reverend Billy, those Times-up hotties ( especially BILL !), NYPD, and many more

Hand out the Save Our Gardens events, download at

Garden calender download

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0ByzH_2QPmcBVNGY2MDZkOTMtZjY0ZS00NTVkLWI0ZDgtZTkwZjczNWY3MzBh&authkey=CJyI32U&hl=en

more on seth tobacman art at

SETH's WORK

http://www.mediasanctuary.org/node/192````

SUNDAY - BIKE NOISE 3 is on!!!! ( tompkins sq)

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 29 May 2010 22:22:00 -0700

cool new shirts by FLY

available at the Show... buy one, whereever you are, and support the FREE tompkins Square Park shows...
we will mail it to you..

see ya SUNDAY

========================
Sunday May 30th 2010, it's BIKE NOISE 3!
========================
the third annual musical celebration of bikes on Tompkins Square Park, NYC
FREE! 2-6PM ....just follow the noise

featuring Speakers, Literature, Community, Live Bands, and best of
all.... BIKES!

This year's bands have come from as far away as ENGLAND, ( the
Restarts 2:45pm), and "UPSTATE"
( SEW@GE 2pm)... as well as local Bike Punx ( Team Spider 4:15pm &
Wombat in Combat 3:30pm) and the recently reunited (Morning Glory
5:00pm ) featuring members of Leftover Crack and World Inferno
Friendship Society

Last year there were bikes in the former band shell area mosh pit, so
be prepared to stage dive off a tall bike, and RoK OuT With Yer LoK
out!!!

Show is over at 6pm sharp... so dont be late

ride yer bike!

SUNDAY- May 30th Bike Noise 3 is on!

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 29 May 2010 22:08:00 -0700

TUNNEL OF LOVE - Critical Mass NYC 4-30-10 (after the Verdict)

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:01:00 -0700

woah, dude... CHILLLLLLLLLLLLLllllllll .. nice..

so, maybe there's Peace in the Upper East...

those plasti-cuffs comin out on times square just a little too late? just a little too scary...

good thing the TS cam dept. always a block late and an `off-button' short,
or we wouldn't accidentally get secret shots of TARU cops, and Teens Smokin'

Well, in other news, we biked to the Xup 5yr anniversary Screening of the movie STILL WE RIDE (dang, has it been that long?)

Well it gave some perspective on how far the city has come in the last 5 years towards accomodating the anarchists.. i mean non-conformists, i mean sexual contortionists, i mean CYclists !!!

----FLAT TOP SPIDR----

and, one treat, besides people wanting to see the movie a second time prompting the bartender to claim "You're -driving- the customers away"*

*actually they lost more people by turning off the movie ;-)

was seeing some lovely ladies rocking out and dancing to the TEAM SPIDER Music in the end credits: The original/demo recording of "Critical Mass" recorded at -Casa De Spider-, which still sounds cool, even if not as "Hi-Fi" as the Studio Version (as heard in the TUNNEL OF LOVE video above).

WHICH reminds us.. we have to put out that 5year anniversary =SPECIAL EDITION= `Still We Ride' DVD that we have been talking about...!!!!

-- maybe we'll put copies in the TIMES UP Vending machine on South 6th street in Williamsburg Brooklyn...
keep your eye open for that... AS WELL AS-- the RETURN of TEAM SPIDER... Liiiiiive! AIIIIIIIYYEEEEEE

Comin' Live, to Tompkins Square Park, May 30th
BIKE NOISE 3 -- 2-6PM Tompkins Square PARK, NYC
FREE! for all our friends!
featuring: MORNING GLORY, TEAM SPIDER, RESTARTS (UK), WOMBAT IN COMBAT... and the return of SEWAGE.. first park show in 13 years...

Tunnel of Love - ( Critical Mass - Post "tackle video" verdict )

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:59:00 -0700

An olive branch of peace, from NYPD for the cyclists...

4/30/10 - A "chill"ing effect indeed...

POGAN VERDICT is in: COMPLETELY INNOCENT OF ASSAULT

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:47:00 -0700

So... the verdict is in:
Critical Mass Tackle Cop: INNOCENT ( !!!! )

Translation: That horrible Times Square -assault / tackle- video that the world has watched & gasped over,( & over & over )
was all a FIGMENT of your collective IMAGINATION.

Former NYPD Officer Patrick Pogen, was found =innocent (!)= today of all assault charges.

A disgrace. The only thing he was found guilty of, was lying to cover up an assault that apparently NEVER HAPPENED.

In other news:
TACKLED CYCLIST MR. LONG: GUILTY of being a non-repentant marijuana user
CRITICAL MASS RIDERS: GUILTY of being "professional anarchists who are taking over our streets" ( Actual Quote* See video below )
CHRIS X. BRODEUR: GUILTY of being hilariously loud and disruptive as Mr. Lynch describes the horror that "mistakes are now crimes"...*

a chilling effect on Officers (considering violent Assaults on bicyclists...)

Bill of Times-Up is hit by the press in his mobile office...
what does the verdict mean?

Behind the scene's of the nightly news...
"why's it funny?"
"all the drama!"
god'dam civilians

Bill's idea for a short trial, and a perfect witness

REMEMBER-- FRIDAY IS CRITICAL MASS !! COME ON OUT...
BRING YOUR BUSINESS CARDS FOR A PROFESSIONAL ANARCHIST NETWORKING SESSION...
Union Square, NYC 7:00 PM...

*we are proud to be featuring the Christopher X. Brodeur uncommonly LOUD audio/rant that you can't hear on the news ( man they have good directional mics... ) as police rep Mr. Lynch gave his Chief Wiggum meets Mayor Quimby spin
for more on the mysterious Mr. Brodeur:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_X._Brodeur

Officer Pogen Trial - "critical tackle" victim's Day in court

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:29:00 -0700

the question is, who is the victim here?
tackled cyclist Christopher Long, or Officer Pogen...

The obvious answer, to the faithful Team Spider followers would of course be the man VIOLENTLY LAUNCHED from his bicycle for riding in a Critical Mass ride.
But, being notoriously rebellious and out of step with the norm, we here in Team Spider'dom have to ask, is Officer Pogen the real victim here?

He was a Rookie cop and basically fired for his FIRST ARREST. Maybe he would have become a good public servant, not a cautionary tale that rookies around the 5 boro's will inevitably reference for years to come... "slow down Rookie, Don't pull a Pogen and get fired on collar #1" "watch out for YouTube."

Now Officer Pogen, already fired, is on trial. He has to answer for what his training lacked, or was ill informed, out of date, coached maybe by mentors out of touch with technology, and the repercussions it can bring. It HAS apparently been Standard Operating Procedure for years for Officers to charge anyone they beat up, with "assault on an Officer". Its a quick and easy way to get the person you beat up to suddenly pray HE isn't going to see the inside of a courtroom at all, for fear HE may be going to jail. Suddenly getting "time served" for getting -beaten senseless- seems like a sweet deal.

I suspect that when some mentor officer coached strapping young officer Pogen on how to fill out his report, the soft in the middle elder was not yet familiar with the power of VIRAL VIDEO. Unknowing that as Pogen was Standard Operating imProperly filling out his paper work, the first wave of momentum was starting to propel the video of Pogen's arrest around the globe.

Anyone can post a video on youtube, as we ALL know... but not everyone can become a viral video superstar, forwarded from desktop to desktop, digital water cooler to digital water cooler, getting multiple views from each person, before they forward it to the next person. All the while in disbelief of the brief but telling video. Not knowing their wasted office time would soon launch the video to be on the FRONT PAGE of the YouTube site, as the "most viewed" video, which equates to EVEN MORE VIEWS... Pogen's libel ridden report would be his undoing before the ink even dried.

All for doing what is completely S.O.P. for officer's assigned to what the powers that need to be, view as DISSENT. Targeting, over-reacting and suppressing basic constitutional rights. Rights which are barely even symbolic at this point, and seldom used by most citizens, and quietly fading away. The right to assemble without commercial goals, or any sponsorship or corporate / homogenous goals what so ever.... the right to hoot and hollar and act crazy with your idealistic friends without being physically assaulted to the point that you are lucky to not have your neck broken, the basic right to "think outside of the box", a concept heavily rewarded if / when profitable, but for the pioneers who take the lumps and none of the profits for the proliferation, (if not revolution) of bicycling in this city, nor less the country at large, it is rarely rewarded or even appreciated. Try to watch TV or read a magazine without find a Bank ad, print campaign, or even perscription drug ad without some bicycle imagery in it. A person who just avoided an ATM fee? Clearly shown by the helmeted hottie riding a clean city street that could only exist on a Hollywood back lot or Canada. Finally found a perscription pill that alleviated your chronic allergies? Of course she did, as the animated rainbow of streaming flowers following the yellow sun dress wearing earth goddess who probably doesnt get enough SAG commercial contract work to actually have health insurance illustrates. The bike silohette is the peace sign of our new times, as loaded with meaning and symbolism as a crucifix, but more fun to ride.

Sadly, Officer Pogen is going to have plenty of time to ride, though i suspect his now broken lineage of a cop family may have taught him how to target and assault, but not how to relax and think out of the box. Just how to fill the boxes out wrong. And that is a tragedy in itself.

X.

Christopher Long, now a Paparatzi darling, has improved his DODGE EM skills

into the sunset...

D.I.Y. Bikes lanes! ( arrested ) / "Parking" Day

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:51:00 -0800

Ha, some guys in Williamsburg got upset over recently removed Bikelanes, and painted them back, we have a report they were arrested... oh well, maybe the next time they will bring cement and make PROTECTED / DEDICATED LANES like we need...

*NOTE* these bikes lanes are often just parking spaces for cabs / places to get "doored" We can't help but think that if Bloomberg was a small town mayor, he'd be painting worthless white lines in grassy fields or along dirts paths, and be bragging about all the "ROADS" he built. Ha.

oh.. flashback, from something we never posted, in Sept.09 we helped Times-up and BIKE BLOG take over a parking space our ABC no RiO on the Lower East Side.. during NYC's Parking dAy... and made it an impromptu concert space, interview show, and grassy knoll to assassinate your inner censor.

PS.
here's some cool TS Pix from Shanesse... ( spelling?) ;-) sorry
thanks..

Again... Thanks! maybe we'll use them in our next 7inch!
( keep sending those pix in teamspiderweb@gmail.com

X / TS

NExt Show: THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: trash bar brooklyn NOV 28th 2009 (plus recent events)

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:55:00 -0800

hey all,
got a TS show comin up SAT (11/28/09),

CLICK the turkey to the right for info>>>

TILL THE SHOW:
here's some PiX/vidz of recent stuff to tide u over.
FIRST OFF: former bandmate SPIKE has been released from Prison after 10 long years,

he rocked out with us at ye ole Team Spider rehearsal cave,
WHERE we learned his new tune...
Like a bird away she flew,

we played it at the Tompkins "SCARE" Park halloween show 2009, on Halloween,

narrowly avoiding the onslaught of RAIN...

BLACK KAT and Count SPIKE'ula !
SPike also joined us onstage for a cover of the Misfits' HALLOWEEN

under the watchful eye of NYPD of course...

Tompkins Shows being D.I.Y., we all chip in, on stage or behind the scenes...
here's JUGGY D working the Board, ( why the band aid on forehead? JUG'll never tell, werd)

and $am hookin' a brother UP !

BUT BEFORE THAT... the PREVIOUS night was the best ride of the year..
HALLOWEEN CRITICAL MASS - NYC 09 !
with UNDEAD ABE LINCOLN... to free the riderz !!! ( B.S. Ticket )

hundreds of bikes, ( critical mass is on the rise in NYC baby)

follwed by a GREAT party, at a GREAT space, ( Surreal Estate, BROOKLYN )

where we played a rockin gig, one of our favorite gigs of all time, ( sadly, no one taped it ;-(/// but our buddy Stephen rolled off one little video* on his phone/camera..)

till we get that BUSH BUSH BUSH Video from Stephan, here's some sexy partiers to tide u over ;-p
every spider loves a black cat!

a mixed health care reform message if we ever saw one..

*Video will feature the NEW version of BUSH BUSH BUSH,,, w/ now updated Lyrics--
--"Bush bush bush"
---"HE's GONE GONE GONE"
----"it's time to REBUILD"
------"the CON-STI-TU-TION !!!!"

and before that... i cant remember,, but we've been BUSY

oh yeah.. rocked a PUNK SHOW at A BIKE SHOP!

above photos by Otto Yamamoto

Bushwick Bike Shop ( specifically )
nice...

here's the owner: KT, kickin it with $AM

oh.. and here's KT calming down the (inevitable) COPS...
who shut the show down..
after they received a report "there are people with guns drawn",
which i translate to:
"its too loud, but if i mention guns, maybe the bushwick cops will show up..."
oh well, at least the final act: Blackout Shoppers, got most of their set in before the clampdown!

ahhh.. bike punk love..

bike punk lonely "love"... find the special item that does not belong...

MORE EXCITING PIX...

BUSHWICK BIKE SHOP PHOTOS, by Otto Yamamoto

UPCOMING:::
come to the BROOKLYN, TRASH BAR show, we are planning a SPECIAL APPEARANCE of SPIKE SEWAGE... rocking a full band version of his new tune:
Like a bird away she flew...

see ya SAT... happy turkey day... pardon them all!!!
XRIS/TS/NYBC/inc.

ps. PRINT and DISTRIBUTE ;-)

& stay away from the cops!

(at least he's not selling time shares like his buddy PONCH...)

Free Sunday Show has MOVED!!!! Tompkins to Europa

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:46:00 -0700

hey all,
we are back! a special free show with our old buddies
THE X-POSSIBLES, plus a bunch of other BIKE PUNK, SKA PUNK, STR8 UP PUNK, Bands!

Show has been moved ( due to Police Permit BullsH*t, and weather forecasts )
to CLUB EUROPA-- in Brooklyn,
still free, tho nice and toasty warm and dry...

come out, see ya soon...

ps. here are some pix from my awesome Birthday Party,
featuring a STZA acoustic request set,
lovely Courtney Dowe,
and Team Spider, featuring the STZA, rockin' out...
more to come.. including video
( of course )

XRIS

courtney rockin the woodstock way

look, its Xris'ical mass - a surprise ride to my surprise party

C-mass arrives at Party

team spider feat the STZA - doin' Fu*K Brakes, Corp Trash

--an amazing unforgettable nite! special thanks to Allie, Mike, Dave, and ALL who planned it, came out, a COMPLETE SURPRISE.. love y'all XRIS !

MAY 09 CRITICAL MASS / TS GIG

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 14:58:00 -0700

well,
what should have been an amazing ride, to an amazing TEAM SPIDER gig,
was a heavily harrassed ride, to pretty cool gig

thank goodness for the Glassbead Collective getting this out quickly,
We are all waiting ( pesimistically )for the VERDICT in the NYPD vs 5Boro Bike Club case... maybe videos like this will show the judge that this is unecessary, vindictive, selective harrassment and "enforcement" of laws that either dont exist or are considered instantly dismissable by judges.. yet STILL THEY* RIDE
*cops and cyclists...

*NYPD officer ordering scooter cops to follow small groups of cyclists out of Union Square and then following the ride down the Westside Greenway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5IPR3h8iBg

BIKE SNOBS / NOISE / F BRakes Lyrics

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:26:00 -0700

Hey all, XRIS here, announcing that the TS is back in action, after a nice break from reality, the web, and modern life in general. (I myself haven’t checked my email in six months or turned on the TV in the last four, so I am feeling cleansed.;-)

But all that is potentially changing, because we are currently crawling out of the bright pit of new romance, over employment and other fine distractions. Carefully observing what damage, or good, has been done by this technological withdrawal. Some people still call me personally on the old 20th century device the cell phone (R.I.P. my beloved Star-tek, now I be rockin’ a pricey iPhone), well, those old school friends have expressed their hurt / offense that I don’t welcome them into a facebook / twitter presence I either never embraced or had in the first place. To all those folks, sorry about that. Though it may happen again. But for now, I am logging on to the half-life. I personally will be reflecting back on the interesting experiment of complete withdraw, while we in TS slowly reintroduce ourselves to the modern tech world we withdrew from, seeing what we really do “need”. Which seems to parallel what much of the nation seems to be doing with their wasteful economic lives.

TO THE BLOGS!

I don’t know how much we need blogs, but clearly they can be fun, if not powerful tools. Or in my case, luring temptresses, because I was finally drawn back on to the interwebs, as our beloved bassist Juggy D. told me: “Reconnect your series of tubes, Team Spider is on BIKE SNOB”. The mysteriously anonymous yet ever blogging Sir Snob Esq. Writes that we have given the brake-less fixed gear community their theme song, referring to our crappy little ditty FUCK BRAKES. Ha. Why not? Most people probably don’t know the lyrics, or what inspired the song, but we’re glad the general spirit is embraced. ( though BikeSnob picked up on the political themes stating “(brakeless fixed gear) has officially been elevated to a rolling metaphor and a political statement.”

Nice, though he isn’t optimistic people are going to take to the streets and make the world a better place, a stern letter is the first step away from a blank stare.

Since people are discussing the lyrics /origins Fuck Brakes, might up well clear up the confusing.

SIT BACK KIDS AND HEAR A TALE, A TALE OF A FATEFUL TRIP…

The FUCK BRAKES song and general shenanigans are the result of a combination of events, starting with an old fixie sticker that was floating around a few years back. An ancient time, when dragons roamed free, and the fixed gear community was much more of a cult riding without brakes, then a fashionable phenomenon. It attracted, if not required, a certain state of mind, as much as a crucial level of skill. Hence the FUCK BRAKES stickers affixed to many bikes and items, such as our guitarist $am’s helmet (featured on our Fuck Brakes EP cover looking somewhat military like). Ironically, in the distant past I had a bit of a paternal stance against non-messengers riding fixed on the streets of NYC. And I wasn’t even a messenger. I remember long conversations w/ Mike Green of bikeblog where I doubted that random commuters had a suitable skill level to deal with NYC realities. The exception being our 8-10 hours a day bike riding, midtown-traffic battling, road warrior Messenger friends, who initiated the use of fixed gear riding on the streets of NYC in the first place. My opinion was sadly reinforced after personally witnessing an old lady launched in the air on 8th and Broadway after a young guy skidded into a full crowd of people crossing the street. The impatient pedestrians were crossing against a light, so the kid certainly was in the right as far as traffic rules went. But much like the Pope’s stance on condoms, he was not really factoring in reality. In the streets of NYC, it’s the rules of the wild Wild West, aka: if you’re going to take your guns to town, you better be fast on the draw. Or in his case, able to stop. Though, much to the rider’s credit, he took responsibility and stuck around till the end -knowing the inevitable red flashing lights on the horizon would probably represent more than just ambulances. Even in the face of an escalating mob scene, including one person in the crowd who exclaimed in disbelief, “He doesn’t even have brakes!” At which point the young guy was saved from a possible crowd lynching by firefighters, who inexplicably were there before the police, (who never came) complete with their truck and Dalmatian.

Anyhow, bicycle deaths were definitely on the rise. Though I doubt any statistics exist to see if the rise of fatalities were at all fixie related, I personally linked it to lack of experience mixed with a lack of infrastructure. The city was not exactly catering to the onslaught of new cyclists of any type. In fact, cops seemed to be harassing and arresting cyclists at every turn. Hundreds of dollars in fines for “riding on the sidewalk” as people mounted up in front of their building rather than on the street. Messing with Critical Mass’ers by claiming they were “protestors”, or “parading without a permit”, charges, which aren’t grounds for arrest in the first place. (If we tend to believe in the Constitution).

And so it was on a Critical Mass bike ride, the weekend before the 2004 republican national convention, that I found myself in the infamous NYC tombs for over 30 hours (well over the 24hour due process requirements), shackled at the ankles to other cyclists while mysterious G-men carrying palm pilots asked us questions about our roommates and other uncalled for invasions of privacy, all the while giving the impression that cooperating with their Intel gathering would make it all go faster. Funny enough, bassist Juggy-D was my roommate at the time, and I refused to needlessly sell him out. Though it turns out he was in handcuffs somewhere else anyway.

At that point, between the endless electronic fingerprinting, and questions that revealed more than they obtained, I came to realize… I am now in the system.

I had always avoided partaking in the system / grid / economic debt traps etc. for their obvious (to me) chains and seemingly nightmare-like realities. So the idealistic, naive and chronically optimistic me, had always avoided at great lengths being documented. Where many of my friends had no licenses or ID’s, they were constantly being arrested. I lived the same off the grid lifestyle, but had a knack for not getting tangled up with the law. This was back when paper trails were actually on paper, passports were stamped not scanned, and living a low budget lifestyle meant wonderful anonymity as much as it did poverty. Nowadays it seems that with just a couple keystrokes you can find out your local dumpster diver’s home address, not to mention life story (and nude pictures!). But back then, the few times I had been captured by authorities it had at worst maybe resulted in finger prints on some old index card system, forgotten names and phantom addresses. But now, in the modern reality, suddenly, they had me. Fingerprints, digital photos, profiles, associate, and with this (perhaps inevitable) attaching of my heavy chains, I felt –surprisingly-- FREE. Like blazing down the avenue, taking lights, no brakes, maneuver or die time, saying, (or better yet- living) the words: FUCK BRAKES.

When I came out of jail, the Police of course “accidentally” switched everyone’s keys so no one could get in their homes upon release. And for the first time in a while, I found myself stuck on the streets, dehydrated, spent, assumed to have been whipped into shape, while in reality, I was no longer hiding in the shadows. Reflecting on my reality I started penning lyrics.

--Again the hell of my jail cell
--Rats and roaches make prisons swell
--Your harps and clouds of yesterday
--They drift away

Feeling free about the future, confirming my long running form of atheism from popular religions such as capitalism, Catholicism, self imposed isolationism,
I found myself looking backwards… and recognizing what the systematic arrests were all about…

--Mistakes were made
--In the land of the free built by their slaves
--Taught how to behave
--By corporate crooks
--Digging our mass graves

And that really nothing is new, except maybe for my own self-awareness, of how they motivated me, more than scared me…

--I never colored within the line,
--My flags and bridges burn far behind
--East side, west side, you lie we die
--Doored and doomed, still we fucking ride.

Suddenly, the powers that be somehow made riding a bike, political.

Well, all those initial lyrics sort of got lost in the piles of stuff floating around team spider’land. (See recent moving of Zak’s 30,000 lyrics ;-)

And sort of forgotten about. We would sometimes joke about living the ‘fuck brakes’ lifestyle. And how it equally applied to our cats, Snotty and Ratt, who spent every waking moment conspiring on escaping the house. Always running into the busy alphabet city streets that we were so set on protecting their naive little butts from. And of course 80 yr olde ZAK, who lived in such an immediate and present fashion, that his life appeared as reckless as the life of a teenager. Living the fuck brakes lifestyle is likely why he fit so seamlessly in the underground squatter punk scene.

Then, when ZAK passed away, we weren’t sure what to do. Should the team Spider call it ‘quits.’? Was the TS moniker more a chain and burden at this point than a benefit. What would Zak want? When we knew Zak would only ask: what do you want? And after some chilling, we decided we wanted to keep rocking out, hanging, having fun. We had lots of songs sitting around, and had spent much of our time over the last few years caring for Zak, that we never got to tour or record, a.k.a. do things that normal bands do. Soon, inspired by Zak, and more obviously our cat’s, out poured verse 2:

My kitty cats
Snotty and Ratt
Wait by the door for sneak attack,
Breaking free from my laws and lies
Their sweet meows say
“Fuck it, still we ride”

And soon we were recording our shitty little EP, deciding in a typical commercially suicidal decision to call it: FUCK BRAKES

Never the less, we got to tour Europe,
Where we made lots of new friends, and new adventures, rocked the Cycle Messenger World Championships in Ireland, lost passports in Belgium, rode protected bike lanes in Amsterdam, and even installed a much needed “American” shower in Paris. Along the way we self-taped and produced a feature Doc, FUCK BRAKES: THE MOVIE (of course) --the title of which already has distributors backing away slowly, --
But STILL… we plan to put out this summer.

So, now fixed gear riders are popping up everywhere. Skilled riders are all over, alleycat races are popping up that feature more non-messengers than messengers. Tall bikes, cruisers, 10 speeds and every other flavor are appearing so quickly that the cars have been forced to wake up. A large bike community sharing the road with the beasts, usually with admirable, (& often still required) skills, while more and more bike lanes, including European style protected lanes, are starting to appear. And, most surprisingly… the city is slowly (not so surprising) adapting to the unstoppable cyclists, potentially making it safer for all involved.

So, maybe FUCK BRAKES the song is, or will be embraced by the community who were inspired by the community who inspired it, but we probably have to make a good recording of it first! (—I still don’t like that shitty studio version floating around…got suckered into a ‘fancy’ studio where we mistakenly played around with it till we were broke and couldn’t afford to re-do it the way it should have been done in the first place: One take, raw, and on fire.--) *someone in the bikesnob comments called it ‘punk-lite’ ha. Pretty accurate. For now I’ll just enjoy it playing it Live.

Well, whoever embraces the song, thanks. Meanwhile, we’re just planning to continue to try to do things our way, making our own mistakes, having fun, riding bikes, rocking the Ska-core, and spreading the bike core reality.

Living free, not ready to die
Fuck brakes!

XRIS
\n/
b\/c
/y\

--On May 3rd, TEAM SPIDER is returning to the LIVE realm, with a FREE Bike-Punk show in Tompkins Sq. Park, ---BIKE NOISE 2!---
Featuring lots of our friends and favorite bands including: MISCHIEF BREW, WOMBAT IN COMBAT and more… Tompkins Square Park, Sunday MAY 3rd, 2009, East Village NYC, 2-6 PM.. co$t: Free. Ride yr bike.,

-------------------
FUCK BRAKES, complete lyrics:

St Peter at the pearly gates
Asks me why did I say fuck brakes
You mean we’re free to decide?
Might fall, but not today
Fuck gravity
And the USA
Cause we’re going down
Either way
Whoa oh- Fuck Brakes

Mistakes were made
In the land of the free built by their slaves
Taught how to behave by corporate crooks
Digging our mass graves
I never color within the lines
My flags and bridges burn far behind
East side, West side, you lie we die,
Doored and doomed,
Still we fucking ride

Whoa oh, Fuck Brakes
Again the hell of my jail cell, rats and roaches make prisons swell
Your harps and clouds of yesterday,
They drift away
My kitty cats Snotty and Ratt
Wait by the door for sneak attack
Breaking free from my laws and lies
Their sweet meows say
“Fuck it, still we ride”

Whoa – oh Fuck brakes

Saint Peter at the pearly gates,
Again asks why? did I say fuck brakes?
Like we’re free to decide
Might kneel but not today
Fuck religion,
And the USA
Cause we’re on our knees
Either way

Live free or fucking die
(We’re free to die)
Live free or fucking die
We’re free to Fuck Brakes!

==============

BLACK FRIDAY MEMORIAL for JIMBO

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 13:12:00 -0800

A memorial takes place at the WAL-MART in valley stream...

no thanks to the wal-mart security, who are better at blowing out memorial candles "for our safety" than actually saving their employees lives ( or general health )

higher quality video of events, as hosted by VIMEO:

WALMART MEMORIAL - Reverend Billy on Long Island from Xris Spider on Vimeo.

and BLIP TV
http://blip.tv/file/1525150/

WALL 'O DEATH - Walmart Worker Killed / Reverend Billy

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:56:00 -0800

from the gothamist.com:
"Nobody was trying to help him. They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing." A cop said that cops performing CPR on Damour were also stepped on by shoppers. Another shopper said that Wal-Mart employees' pleas to shoppers were ignored, "When they were saying [shoppers] had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!' They kept shopping."

So, another crazy BLACK FRIDAY.,,
can remember momma spidr trying to drag me outta bed years ago to get a TV at one of these madhouses.. luckily my lack of ability to rise early may have saved my life...

Ye Olde Team Spider had a good time on Black Friday, sleeping late, hanging with Rev. Billy and the Choir, shooting some Video w/ Leanne and VLAD from GLASS BEAD COLLECTIVE,

getting dinner with THE STOP SHOPPING CHOIR,

***had to wonder if ==eating out== counted against "not shopping"...
but thought to the movie: BREWSTER'S MILLIONS, when BREWSTER (RICHARD PRYOR) bought the Million Dollar stamp, breaking the "you can't have anything to show for what you spend," and the rich white guys thought he was dumb, but Brewster then used the vintage stamp to mail them a post card... well, I'm using that as a precedent..

meanwhile...back @ dinner>>>>> MIKE DEE

and XRIS chilled with their respective special Lady friends... as the Ladies probably wondered what they were getting themselves into...

SO, missed most / all of critical mass, BUT did get to see the NEW TiMes-UP! Soundbike....
((((WE HOPE TO MAKE A TEAM SPIDER / TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK MOBILE SOUND SYSTEM SOUND BIKE IN 2009 !!!! ))))
thanks to the MADE IN QUEENS crew for making this thang rock...

and.. looking to the future:::
got to see the new kidz on the block, hold down the forts / courts as they got worthless tickets // "ensuring their own safety" ***

***same message the "Public Servants" were sending to the REV,
<<<<>>>,.

while Ye Olde Spiders... retired to home, to have lots of excellent sex.

see ya in 2009...
sucka's

WALL 'O DEATH - Walmart Worker Killed / Reverend Billy

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 07:56:00 -0800

Click to Play

another day

another deth

another sorrow

another breath

Election Night - IN HARLEM !!!

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 23:59:00 -0800

Obama wins!!!!
and Team Spider and friendz are there to !!!celebrate!!! with their uptown neighbors in Harlem. "Aint no stoppin' us now/././"
;-)

HERE's The WORKING VIDEO !!!!!! ( sorry original was choppy, fixed it! x.)

and here's the vimeo / higher quality version! enjoy:

Election Night 2008 - HARLEM / 125th street !!! Obama Elected ;-) from Xris Spider on Vimeo.

BIKE SHORTS! - Manhattan (Oct 08)

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 14:41:00 -0700

Our good friends Ken and Luke who run the BIKE SHORTS Film Festival are bringing the fest over the Bridge, outa Brooklyn, and into our Hood: ALPHaBET CiTy, NYC, ;)

SUN OCT 12th 2008, 7pm, FREE, at Solar One, !Outdoor Cinema!
Expect beautiful sunsets, drunk cycling, drunk cinema, and sobering mornings in a 9th precinct jail cell.

Included within the many fine cinematic.biketastic.braincandyicious BIKE SHORTS in the rooster,,,, IS... the fine new Team SPider TV / Sliding Scale video:
"BIKE PIT" feat. Wombat In Combat, performing -Live by the Bike- (or die by the car)
( 3min)
AND
PARIS VELIB! ( as seen by Drunken Americans*)
*aka Team SPider
(11min)

after "BIKE PIT"'s and "PARIS VELIB!"' s BIG Screen Festival Premier, we will be hosting the lo-fi version of the VIDEO on something called YouTube, (you'betcha!)... startin' monday,,,
More info:

BIKE SHORTS WEBSITE

MAP TO SOLAR 1,
LOCATED on the water @ beautiful Stuyvesant Cove, ( ave C / 23rd st Manhattan)
Solar One Map

Tompkins Sq. Punk - Free Speech and BEYOND

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:27:00 -0700

So, a great, (wet) weekend on Tompkins - despite the weather we soldiered on. keeping with our motto:
STICK TO THE PLAN.

Here's a Video smörgåsbord / look back at the weekend, especially featuring: STAR FUCKING HIPSTERs
( who's album TILL WE'RE DEAD comes out TODAY! on FAT Records )...
SFH: 9/11 was an inside joke: ( tompkins 08 )

SFH: Life Causes Cancer (classic / 05)

SFH: Mothers Behind Bars ( classic / 05 )

plus more videos to come:
including Wombat in Combat- & the bike pit
Till then, here's a look forward towards the many upcoming Fall 08 TOmpkins SHowS,
((((decibel meters be damned:)))))

===========================================================================
THE TOMPKINS SQUARE HARVEST REBELLION IS ON!!

Join us for free shows in New York City's Tompkins Square Park, featuring
great music, political speakers, information and lots of surprises!!

[East 7th Street + Avenue A, from 1:00pm - 7:00pm]

These shows celebrate the vitality of the counter cultural scene that has
survived on the Lower East Side, despite the rampant gentrification,
soaring rents and lost venues that have contributed to the cultural
genocide sweeping New York City.

> October 12: THE SHADOW Presents: David Peel, Rubber Room Rats, The Pigs,
El Muchacho, Endangered Feces, Fisherman Vibraphonic Orchestra (More
performers to be announced)

> October 25: DIGITONE RECORDS Presents: SOAP, The Influence, Since 1913,
Cinema Cinema, Terry Garland (More performers to be announced)

> October 26: WAR (Women of Art + Rock) Presents:
GLOB (Gorgeous Ladies of Bloodwrestling), Deth Race, Skum City, Blackout
Shoppers, Trauma Team, Gutter + Spine, Penny Pollack, Renata Terase

For more info, go to: http://tsplive.org and http://shadowpress.org

REBUILD THE TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK BANDSHELL - Sign the petitions at the
shows!!

Sponsors needed – please call 212-631-1181 (24hrs) or
email us at: theSHADOW@MediaFilter.org

Free Speech, Free Stza, Free Donuts

noreply@blogger.com (teamspider) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:42:00 -0700

FREE! FUCKING! SPEECH! RALLY SAT. Sept 27th, 2008 2-6 PM –FREE— TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK ( live music by Star Fucking Hipsters, 2-Man Advantage, Joe Coffee, Wombat in Combat, Xris Spider,.. more ) -A Reaction to a Reaction to a Reaction- ----------------------------------A BRIEF HISTORY--------------- Against all odds and seemingly insurmountable douche-bag’ism, the East Village and Lower East Side artists, residents, patriots, anti-patriots, old, young, people of color, and all those who “haven’t gone anywhere” hold down the fort of Lower Manhattan until the great even’ing. Sometimes these stubborn world citizens have cautiously raised their voices… successfully holding political rallies and concerts. That was UNTIL, a NEW Weapon was unleashed upon the masses of non-masses: -------------------------------THE DECIBEL METER….. The latest cowardly Attack on Free Speech comes in a device that seems as innocent as a Tazer, but far more dangerous. The Tompkins Square rallies and concerts, often containing un-popular speech dating back to the 1800’s, are now being selectively shut down when they reach levels of 70db at 100 feet ( or approximately 5 words of dissent per minute). By comparison, a vacuum cleaner generates 70db of noise as far as 25 feet away, and a passing city bus easily sends the decibel meters over 70 db at almost any time. Ironically, the crowd applause level after a song or speech at these events is usually loud enough on its own to allow the dream police to shut the entire event down. While the similarly amplified Charlie Parker Festivals, bag-searched screenings of Batman Begins, and H.O.W.L. festivals seemingly only generate 100+Dbs of more pleasing speech. Can the NYPD, in the midst of a bicycling crisis and fake election year, afford the resources to send enough officers to physically hold the decibel meters, shut down concerts, and taze teenagers…? Sadly, read on ------------------------------------- CURRENT EVENTS---------------- On SUNDAY AUG 3rd 2008, At last months' 20th Anniversary of the Shameful Police Riot in Tompkins Square, the scheduled Concert/Rally was forced to turn the “volume” down and down and down again by decibel meter holding officers, to the point where no one could make out much of anything. The electric bands eventually being completely shut down, the Hungry March Band swooped in like avenging angels and continued to perform in no-electricity-required glory. As a result, the desperate police, with no plugs left to pull, cowardly imposed a $1500 fine and promises to the organizers that more fines would be arriving by mail. --------------------------------------NOT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE---------------- On FRIDAY SEPT. 5th 2008 As a reaction to the this -Selective Enforcement- of ridiculous, unconstitutional, police determined laws, levels and regulations, a concert was held DIRECTLY OUTSIDE the East Village’s 9th Precinct. Although the organizers made every effort possible to reduce the officers’ commute time, making their efforts to destroy free speech as exercise-free and exertion-free as possible, all the participants interested in FREE SPEECH, instead of FREE DONUTS were still met with a heavy hand. Each subsequent musician and political speaker was forced to turn down to lower and lower volumes, until the rally devolved into a simple unplugged Sing-A-Long. The climax of which found an acoustic guitar wielding Stza Crack ( possibly not his real name ) leading the crowd through songs that would have made Pete Seger and Woody Guthrie proud. Assuming they would find pride in the fact that their legacy is now continued on in the form of troubadour singing about burning churches, killing cops and smoking crack. ----------------------------------DOLLARS FOR DONUTS--------------- At the end of Mr. Crack’s set, someone in the crowd handed the modern son of Dylan a box of donuts, which in a disgustingly wasteful manner, may or may not have ended up being individually hurled in the direction of law enforcement professionals, who were reported to be watering at the mouth. What their mouths were watering for is still unconfirmed, but this act was the final tasty straw for said city employees, who spent the rest of the evening leading a city-wide canvas in order to capture Mr. Crack. The elusive yet public figure had slipped away after the concert by brilliantly changing from one completely black outfit, to a different completely black outfit, assuring his escape from the detail oriented detectives. -------------------------------TAZERS INTRODUCED, NOT RECEIVED WELL------------ Fortunately Mr. Crack, ( again, name unconfirmed) was later found in Tompkins Square Park, unapologetically strumming his acoustic guitar and was quickly whisked into a Police Cruiser heading to the Tombs. Soon a bevy of young fans were tazed and arrested after laying in front of, jumping on, or dumping trash on the cruiser. Realizing the futility of “telling the officers to not taze them”, the youths accepted the punishment, though not completely in silence, if ones counts the screeches of pain. The music / constitutional law / surrealism fans were soon hauled off to jail along with the cop killing, donut throwing, church burning Mr. Crack, who somehow, despite all these felonious activities, had managed to escape arrest for all these years. This SAT: the SAGA CONTINUES…. Tompkins Square, It’s Everywhere -Xris Spider. More on INFO on this weekend’s FREE!FUCKING!SPEECH! CONCERT / RALLY, VISIT: http://www.myspace.com/slidingscaleproductions For Photos/Videos/ & more detailed accounts of recent Jelly Glazed Donut related events, VISIT: http://www.teamspider.blogspot.com Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh