Strange how you can have something really good happen, then you get flatlined. Unbeknownst to me, Grindhouse Releasing sent an email to their customers with ordering information for all my stuff. Within an hour, I had sold 50 magazines. This is what happens when people work together. I have always given Grindhouse Releasing the back cover on all my mags for free. Why? Simple, Bob is a friend, Sage was a friend and they put out a great product.
Could I have made money selling them the back cover? Probably, but in spite of my former greedy publisher, who felt I was screwing them by not selling ads, this is about keeping the Grindhouse alive. Plus paid ads would make me beholden to certain companies that I really don’t want to deal with. So on Thursday I wake up to find that I have been suspended from YouTube.
I had been doing some Show&Tell posts with some movie memorabilia. There has never been a problem, but the last one was removed due to “sexually explicit material”. I am not foolish enough to risk getting shut down for posting pics out of fuck books. Last week my account from Facebook was removed, now this. Coincidence? I think not. There seem to be some people that really hate my ass and have been doing sneaky shit to take me down since 2019. Still here, kids, and I’ll always be here.
I don’t care what my detractors think, I earned my place though blood, sweat and hard work. Yeah, blood, because I had my face busted years ago for speaking out about fans getting ripped off by conventions. I have been doing this for over 30 years. I never pushed myself as the end all be all of anything. My fans have made me what I am and I’m grateful for that.
What pisses me off are the so called “experts” that were born in the 70’s, have never set foot in an actual grind house, but claim to know all there is to know about that era. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, “ If you haven’t left a puddle of bodily fluid, be it piss, blood, or cum, we have nothing to talk about”. The 70’s had fighters for the rights that are being taken away from us.
Guys like Hunter S Thompson, Frank Zappa, George Carlin, Al Goldstein, Larry Flynt and others went to jail to get us freedom of speech. Today the cancel culture would have crucified them.
They already took away Roe vs. Wade, and they are not done bringing us back to the repressive 50’s. We are supposed to have separation of church & state, so now we have a speaker of the house who knows what Jesus’s dick tastes like.
Seems if I do one more ‘offense” on you tube, the channel gets removed. Yeah, just like Disney did with The French Connection, lets tailor everything to today’s overly sensitive audience. Oh, Disney’s new cut of Blazing Saddles runs 11 minutes. Film is art and you don’t censor art. Why this nation turned into a pack of whining pussies I can only guess. The internet enabled bullying and bullying continues because the “bullies” are basically a bunch of cowards who , when confronted in real life, will stare at their shoes rather than make eye contact. Then they run home, get on line, and tell everyone about that horrible confrontation to get support and sympathy. Fuck them.
Yeah, last night was the state of disillusion speech. As usual, the GOP acted like the trailer trash scum that they are. Great fuckin choice, two old men, a senile old a man and a psychotic wannabe dictator. Trump wants to be what his buddies Putin & Un are, dictators. Trump want those parades with tanks and soldiers and people cheering him. The Cult of Trump makes The Cult of Manson seem like Mr Roger’s Neighborhood in comparison.
Trump’s followers want a theocracy, like back in the 50’s, mandatory church on Sunday, pledging part of your salary to the church, but with one big difference. In the 50’s , business were closed on Sundays. That won’t be the case because the biggest religious symbol in America isn’t the cross, isn’t the Star of David, it’s Simply this: $$$$. Corporations are people remember?
I’ll weather the fuckin storm. I just had to cash in my life insurance policy to pay my bills. I get two thirds of my food from pantries. I have to go get my heart checked next week to see how much longer I’ll be around. Then you might ask if things are so bad, why put out a magazine or anything. Simple answer, I’m there because of my fans. If no one was reading this stuff, I’d quit, but for over 30 years fans have been supporting me and I won’t fuckin quit.
People who tell me to back off and tone it down may think they have my best interests at heart, but realize something, this effects all of us. Our right to have opinions and speak out is being stifled. Our interests might not be similar, but if you’re a film maker, writer or YouTube creator, we all face being shut down. I’ll die on my feet before I’ll drop to my knees.
Have a great weekend and stay safe.
Hate reading about the slimeballs trying to take you down, and these social media outlets are faceless, soulless entities. Keep posting, writing, publishing, whatever it takes to keep an era of movies and artists alive…
Pete, keep up the good work, I loved Grindhouse # 3 and I plan to get #1 & 2!! I was born in 1962 and back when I was a teen in the 70s, we saw these films at drive-ins & sleazy theaters ( we didn’t use the term “grind-house” in Maryland until the 80s!!) Anyway, stay healthy, and thanks for fighting the good fight!
Pete,
There are no longer people involved in censoring media online. It is all done by AI and BOTS based on algorithms created by Google, the owner of YouTube. Google is owned by some of the most progressive thinkers in the country, and their standards are what you would consider ‘woke.’ Google sets the standards, and AI and BOTS take care of the rest. Google does not care if the algorithms make ‘mistakes’ as they often do. They set the standard, and AI does the rest. There is no vast conspiracy against you. As for the magazine issue you had/have, Paper magazines make a profit through subscriptions, classifieds, and advertising. Now, most ‘mom and pop’ magazines run on a shoestring budget, if that. I assume those who helped you then were working/editing, distributing, and handling your product free or for at cost.’ Now, most artists like to get paid to produce. Whether it is a painting or printed word. For a magazine, that is advertising. And just like Mad Magazine, name your Marvel/DC Comic…they all had advertising. Advertising in a magazine does not make you or the magazine, writer, or publisher ‘beholden’ to anyone. You are allowed to choose who advertises, and you set the standards. In the worst-case scenario, they won’t advertise in your zine if they don’t support what the zine represents. I will take a wild guess and assume your past partners didn’t want a ‘profit’; they just wanted to be paid since they were working using their blood, sweat, and tears to make your zine be seen. Editing, design, printing, and artwork take a lot of time and effort. What probably happened, as it often happens to little zines like yours, was an argument erupted over who gets what. Now, if your current handlers of your zine are working at cost or free, good on them. But be aware that you will not survive on sales alone, especially now with the cost of living. Don’t be surprised if the same scenario happens again. My advice to you, you have a good product, get it out there, and make some damn money for yourself. You need it. But that means subscriptions and advertising will be needed. Nothing is free anymore; no one wants to create or give it away for free, and no one wants or can afford to work for free. Stop focusing on ghosts, find ways to work around the AI and algorithms, and you should be ok. Good luck on you little zine.
There was never any argument over who gets what. Notice that Grindhouse Purgatory is still being sold and I’m not getting a dime for it. I was ripped off ,period. My former publishers all of a sudden decided that what I do, and I quote ” offends our sense of deceny for the year 2023. As for Resurrection, we knew going in that we wouldn’t make any money, but we wanted to keep going and not have our stuff “toned down” . Problem was getting it printed as it was really banned on Amazon. Plus the printer we are using is having trouble keeping afloat. I have said this before, it’s not about making money, it’s about keeping that period in time alive.