"This Modern World Needs Your Help" - Note from Ed

vedderfan10

Some people on here claim to be fans of Pearl Jam and Ed, yet Ed (and pearl jam) can do no right. They want more and more and more from the band, not enough touring, not enough records, not enough posters, gimme, gimme, gimme...and when one of the band wants something from us, those same people just want to complain.

It's terrible that some of these fans can't see the real issue here. It's about your right to be able to read what you want to read - and others deciding you can't....this is a form of censorship, is it not? And when someone censored Pearl Jam, everybody went nuts - now a friend of pearl jam is being censored and some want to criticize Ed for asking for our help...I just don't get it...

And good for ed for using his "celebrity" for getting people to write in to stop this form of censorship! There isn't a soul in the world who, if in the same position, wouldn't do the same....

I'm gonna ask Tom if he publishes in canada and if not, could he. We embrace political satire! We are a culture brought up to satirize our politicians and their policies...this makes us a lot less uptight about our governments...

over bends

Remember people, you can't save the world, but maybe, just maybe, you could help out a life.

That's the individual power of the human being.

captainwisejam

sagapo1 wrote:

I worked at the Cleveland Plain Dealer as a graphic artist for almost a decade.
I know how Ed feels -- his friend is in trouble.
I know journalists that are in their 50's wondering if the Plain Dealer is even going to be a daily in the next few years!! Where in the hell are they going to work?
Unfortunately, newspapers are becoming obsolete. ARE obsolete. Young people do not get or read the paper every morning. Do you?? (political cartoonists, it's all the same)
An e.mail will not help at this point.
It makes me sick.
There's something about getting the paper, holding it in your hand, something tangible, and reading your local news before you "see" it on the news. Or "watch" it on a screen.
It's bullshit. That's the problem I have with technology. It's too much.
I know it's his livelihood -- but it's bigger than anyone can imagine.

P.S. I just read everyone else's comments. I don't think someone should be criticized for trying to help a friend.

Much in the way music has evolved over the years because of technology.
records to cd's to mp3's.
newspapers to computer news.
I think it sucks too, I do like new technology but there is something tangible about items like records and newspapers( I get the Cleveland Plain Dealer every sunday), there is something very comfortable and wonderful about holding these things in your hands and enjoying them.
Sorry to hear you don't work at the paper anymore, what happened if you don't mind me asking? I have heard the paper has been struggling to stay afloat lately.

I'll spin the black circle for you tonight.

solution pollution

A few ideas for Tom:
> Tom should create a facebook app that's tied to ad revenue
> PJ should license artwork for special t-shirt (proceeds go to Tom)
> License content to aggregators (Y!, AOL, MSN, etc.)

I worked for one of the biggest newspapers in the world for a long time. Newspapers are simultaneously burning trees and cash. They are going to keep cutting paper and ink until digital is all that remains. Costs of production are unsustainable. I love newspapers and I love Tom's work, but Tom needs to re-tool for new media and create the demand via multiple distribution channels.

Nothingman54

Save Bugs Bunny and Daffy the duck. Thank you

cowboypjfan

I have three friends who have lost their jobs. Can you all call them today and make sure everything is ok?

pjhawks

So Ed wants us to write newspapers about a friend who lost his job as his band gets set to re-release an album we all already have for an elevated price for some re-packaging and extra songs and videos - interesting. Seems maybe this band is starting to lose some perspective. Maybe Ed could give him one of his royalty points from the Ten Re-release? Sorry for the negativity but just can't fathom how we should be focusing on this guy or this industry specifically when so many in this country are hurting and in worse off shape than this guy. I'm sure there are plenty of 10 Clubbers who have lost jobs - can we write for them all too? At least Ed and the band are giving me this forum to be open about my feelings on this.

Stacksrows

This really shows how the newspaper in this country is on its way to extinction. Hopefully, something can be done to help these writers find a source to get their thoughts out there to the people.

DeLukin

heidihi wrote:

Who wouldn't support a friend in this way if you could???

Exactly.

sagapo1

vedderfan10

pjhawks wrote:

So Ed wants us to write newspapers about a friend who lost his job as his band gets set to re-release an album we all already have for an elevated price for some re-packaging and extra songs and videos - interesting. Seems maybe this band is starting to lose some perspective. Maybe Ed could give him one of his royalty points from the Ten Re-release? Sorry for the negativity but just can't fathom how we should be focusing on this guy or this industry specifically when so many in this country are hurting and in worse off shape than this guy. I'm sure there are plenty of 10 Clubbers who have lost jobs - can we write for them all too? At least Ed and the band are giving me this forum to be open about my feelings on this.

So why don't you (and everyone else here who has a friend who is now unemployed) write to your friends' former employers and ask them to rethink their decisions? The time you've spend here missing the point could have been spent helping your friends who lost their jobs...by asking all your friends etc, to help out your other friends...(I don't know, maybe you have...)

Tom Tomorrow is being used to exemplify the possible loss (and/or censorship) of published political cartoons, by everyone who draws them, which are an important part of everyone's culture, and the loss of alt-newspapers (also an important part of our culture).

This is not about Pearl Jam.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Vedderfan10 wrote:

pjhawks wrote:

So Ed wants us to write newspapers about a friend who lost his job as his band gets set to re-release an album we all already have for an elevated price for some re-packaging and extra songs and videos - interesting. Seems maybe this band is starting to lose some perspective. Maybe Ed could give him one of his royalty points from the Ten Re-release? Sorry for the negativity but just can't fathom how we should be focusing on this guy or this industry specifically when so many in this country are hurting and in worse off shape than this guy. I'm sure there are plenty of 10 Clubbers who have lost jobs - can we write for them all too? At least Ed and the band are giving me this forum to be open about my feelings on this.

So why don't you (and everyone else here who has a friend who is now unemployed) write to your friends' former employers and ask them to rethink their decisions? The time you've spend here missing the point could have been spent helping your friends who lost their jobs...by asking all your friends etc, to help out your other friends...(I don't know, maybe you have...)

Tom Tomorrow is being used to exemplify the possible loss (and/or censorship) of published political cartoons, by everyone who draws them, which are an important part of everyone's culture, and the loss of alt-newspapers (also an important part of our culture).

This is not about Pearl Jam.

thats the second time you mentioned the word censored....

is this guy really being censored????

or was he just laid off???? for whatever reason..

vedderfan10

Well - he didn't really lose his job - he was just cut from 14 papers...so he's lost a big chunk of his income...which most of us who still have jobs will probably have to face relatively soon...

I think the real issue is the need to retain political satire in the artistic form because it educates, is thought-provoking, and creates discussion...(oh, and is humourous)...deleting this, and the alt-newspapers,from popular culture to me seems a type of censorship...but yeah, it could just be about money...I'm not all about conspiracy theories I just don't like hanging out at the coffeeshop on a Sunday reading the news on my laptop, while my husband reads something different on his laptop...not really conducive to conversation...

What I got from Ed's note is that he'd like the fanbase to be aware of the importatnce of political satire, the need for alternative news sources, and the impact the loss of these will have on society. However, I must swim before I scuba (or sort out if there even is a need to scuba)...

Writing a letter or making a phone call to the editors of these newspapers (Village Voice, Seattle Weekly, the Georgia Straight, etc.) and letting them know that there is still a demand for their product could help save these alt-newspapers and today's Tom Tomorrows and tomorrow's Tom Tomorrows....

SPEEDY MCCREADY

so the newspaper is cutting costs....and for some reason they decided to cut the syndicated cartoonists....

right???

so this isnt about censorship..
or freedom of speech.
or the importance of political satire...
or discrimination...


its really about some guy getting laid off .............just like 10 million other people in this country....

right???

vedderfan10

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

so the newspaper is cutting costs....and for some reason they decided to cut the syndicated cartoonists....

right???

so this isnt about censorship..
or freedom of speech.
or the importance of political satire...
or discrimination...

its really about some guy getting laid off .............just like 10 million other people in this country....

right???

c'mon, man...there's more to it than some guy getting laid off and newspapers cutting costs...it's about the fact that political cartoons and alt-newspapers are endangered...and its up to us to try to protect them and understand the importance of them, still in these tough economic times...

"Perhaps even worse is the lost connection to readers who faithfully turn to Tom and his sardonic penguin Sparky to help them survive the absurdities of the world around us.

Political cartoons have a powerful history in the United States. Many cartoonists were the Jon Stewarts of their day, quickly cutting complex issues to their cores. Decades before the Revolutionary War, Ben Franklin sketched a disjointed snake to rally the colonies to unity, creating a lasting symbol of the time. Herb Block’s incisive visual commentaries played a significant role in the public perception of Watergate. Alt-weeklies have provided a home to some of our finest subversive comic art..." Ed Vedder

OK...so, as I said before (and as Ed has said) political satire/cartoons are how some people become aware of an issue or have access to another (sometimes amusing) perspective of an issue, even understand the issue. In Canada, we tend to rely on political satire to get a more "ballanced" argument across or even point out inconsistencies in our government that we may have forgotten about. It all seems very 1984 to me to lose that different perspective.

and humour helps us all deal with the ridiculousness of some government issues, political leaders, and other cultural issues...(as Ed says)...even in very tough times, people need to remember to laugh. And if you can't find anything to laugh at, these cartoons sometimes give people something to laugh about..

I used to love Life In Hell and another, Marlys and Maybonne...learned a lot from them as an uninformed teenager who only cared about the Who and going to concerts....Our politics in BC are so messed up in a legendary and historical way - the political cartoons forever immortalized images of past premieres pulling the wings of flies, logging issues, ferry issues, et. We NEED this in order to learn and laugh at the sometimes unfathomable decisions or comments our politicians make....

No, there is much more to this than some guy getting laid off or newspapers cutting costs...(as others in this thread have pointed out)...

JR8805

So Ed wants to help someone. And it's not the first person you would help, if only you'd just get up off your butt and do it. The man is a criminal, I tell you. What's the world coming to when people want to help each other???? It's a sign of the end of times. Mark my words and mark them well! :roll:

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Vedderfan10 wrote:

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

so the newspaper is cutting costs....and for some reason they decided to cut the syndicated cartoonists....

right???

so this isnt about censorship..
or freedom of speech.
or the importance of political satire...
or discrimination...

its really about some guy getting laid off .............just like 10 million other people in this country....

right???

c'mon, man...there's more to it than some guy getting laid off and newspapers cutting costs...it's about the fact that political cartoons and alt-newspapers are endangered...and its up to us to try to protect them and understand the importance of them, still in these tough economic times...

"Perhaps even worse is the lost connection to readers who faithfully turn to Tom and his sardonic penguin Sparky to help them survive the absurdities of the world around us.

Political cartoons have a powerful history in the United States. Many cartoonists were the Jon Stewarts of their day, quickly cutting complex issues to their cores. Decades before the Revolutionary War, Ben Franklin sketched a disjointed snake to rally the colonies to unity, creating a lasting symbol of the time. Herb Block’s incisive visual commentaries played a significant role in the public perception of Watergate. Alt-weeklies have provided a home to some of our finest subversive comic art..." Ed Vedder

OK...so, as I said before (and as Ed has said) political satire/cartoons are how some people become aware of an issue or have access to another (sometimes amusing) perspective of an issue, even understand the issue. In Canada, we tend to rely on political satire to get a more "ballanced" argument across or even point out inconsistencies in our government that we may have forgotten about. It all seems very 1984 to me to lose that different perspective.

and humour helps us all deal with the ridiculousness of some government issues, political leaders, and other cultural issues...(as Ed says)...even in very tough times, people need to remember to laugh. And if you can't find anything to laugh at, these cartoons sometimes give people something to laugh about..

I used to love Life In Hell and another, Marlys and Maybonne...learned a lot from them as an uninformed teenager who only cared about the Who and going to concerts....Our politics in BC are so messed up in a legendary and historical way - the political cartoons forever immortalized images of past premieres pulling the wings of flies, logging issues, ferry issues, et. We NEED this in order to learn and laugh at the sometimes unfathomable decisions or comments our politicians make....

No, there is much more to this than some guy getting laid off or newspapers cutting costs...(as others in this thread have pointed out)...

i just see it as some guy getting laid off.....

oh well....i guess we disagree..

vedderfan10

[/quote]i just see it as some guy getting laid off.....

oh well....i guess we disagree..[/quote]

But we had a good discussion...and I learned something today...I always thought that...dogs...laid eggs...

(but obviously I still need to learn how to do this [/quote] caper...

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Vedderfan10 wrote:

i just see it as some guy getting laid off.....

oh well....i guess we disagree..[/quote]

But we had a good discussion...and I learned something today...I always thought that...dogs...laid eggs...

(but obviously I still need to learn how to do this [/quote] caper... [/quote]
ive always been interested...actually amused at who im supposed to be fighting for....

Bono tells me to go help a million starving people in Africa.....and i have no problem with that...

Ed tells me to support the West memphis 3 .......that i have a problem with...

the auto industry is collapsing
the banks need bailouts
10% of the good ole U.S.A. is unemployed.........

and now im supposed to fight for some cartoonist who got laid off???????

SlightOfHand

Done!