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where's STRAIGHT OUTTA OSAKA?

What happened in Ferguson last night was a disgrace on all sides involved. It was pathetic. It was horrendous. It was grotesque. It was fucking stupid. There was an instance where a teen (black teen as this is no doubt, the focus of the entire issue) was shot by a cop, and protests began. WHAT happened -- We do not know as there are several conflicting reports (one side says Brown was shot with his hands up, the other said the kid made a grab for an officer's gun with a friend before trying to run away). HOW did it happen -- We do not know as there are several conflicting reports (see above) With that in mind, this group (there's no beating around the bush, all Black) were angered and sought justice for what they believed happened -- so they began a peaceful protest at the sight of the shooting. Soon after, officers (some with K-9 units) entered the scene as is customary of police to do in the states. Oddly enough, though there is the freedom of speech, there are pathways you have to go through in the legal system to get approval for a rally / demonstration (were there? Not to the best of my knowledge). It just so happens that due to a larger group gathering at the scene, more officers had to be called in. With the increased violence against police, you can understand why lots of cops show up even when apprehending just one subject, let alone an entire gathering of people. Soon after police were present, SOMETHING happened. WHAT happened -- We don't know as there are conflicting reports (see above) What happened after, what we do know, gets worse. An officer beaten outside of a Taco Bell, several stores (numbered ~14) were broken into, vandalized (one set on fire), and robbed for all of their merchandise. Multiple gun shots, helicopters shot at, rocks thrown at police, etc. Afterwards, these groups kept moving through Ferguson with just a few reports of break ins happening shortly after the mob moved out at around 3 AM. This demonstration, originally built as a peaceful protest demanding justice for the kid shot, turned into a free-for-all "take everything you can" (as quoted from one member of the mob, female) that had nothing to do with Police, and had nothing to do with the kid that was shot. This becomes even more clear when a large group of the "protesters" (i.e. mob) were people coming out of town well after the riot broke out. So what does this all mean? Is this a "revolution"? Is this Blacks fighting for equality? Is this "The Man" stepping on minorities and preventing them from living free? The short answer, to all of those, is no. "Is this a revolution?" - The ignorant (yes, ignorant) seem to think so. One look on Twitter (#ferguson) reveals a whole shit load of justification for the incredibly stupid acts that transpired last night. "We are standing up for ourselves", "Only violence can end oppression", (various quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), etc. The problem though, IS WHAT PART OF A FUCKING REVOLUTION INVOLVES BREAKING INTO A LOCALLY-OWNED RIM SHOP, AND LOOTING 1 SINGLE 22" RIM FOR YOURSELF? AND IN THE PROCESS, DESTROYING ALL PROPERTY IN SAID STORE JUST TO GET THE MERCHANDISE? With the family of Mike Brown speaking out AGAINST the riots, this paints a different picture. This wasn't a "revolution", this was a mob that got out of control and decided to take matters into their own hands. "Blacks fighting for equality" - This tends to happen when a black teen is shot, or when any member of the Black community is at the mercy of a police force. Though institutionalized racism is still very much a thing, this matter is completely unrelated. This has nothing to do with workplace discrimination, or discrimination in education, or in the government offices. This has to do with a teen that was shot in an altercation with police (whatever the instance was). It pisses me off that people are so quick to make a racial divide in a matter when it isn't called for. People wanted answers to what happened. But instead of sticking around and asking the serious questions, they robbed convenience stores and walked out with handfuls of liquor and food. "The Man" - This is the most intriguing part, and one that I feel has SOME merit, even when as a whole it doesn't. This very well could be an instance where a cop was quick to gun a kid down, and IF THIS WAS THE CASE, then the peaceful protestors in Ferguson are absolutely right to want answers. An investigation (regardless) should be done, and those accountable should be held accountable. BUT, what if the police reports are true? What if (after FBI investigation and third-party investigation has finished) Mike Brown DID make a move for an officer's gun? Then what does that make of the actions of those involved (remember: many rioters were coming from out of town, NOT rioting because they were upset at police, though some were). And don't even get me started on this MLK bullshit. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man that taught to avoid doing EXACTLY THIS. It makes me sick that people are now hiding behind his quotes to reason something he would never have stood for in the first place. What transpired the other evening was not a revolution. it wasn't right, it wasn't justified, and it sure as hell was not going to help the cause taken up by the peaceful protesters. What this did. What the rioters HOPED it would do, will have the opposite effect. People will not turn to the cause of what happened in Ferguson, of anarchy, of robbing CHICKEN PLACES, of robbing SPORTING GOODS STORES, and say "THAT IS AN IDEAL I STRIVE FOR" No. Whenever a group of people resort to barbarism, they instantly lose any credibility to their cause when there are outlets to access to bring those accountable to justice. What the Rioters (they are NOT protestors) did last night was fucking pathetic. EDIT: and perhaps the most fascinating point of all. Police did not shoot and kill one Rioter. If this was truly a "revolution" rising up against oppression, those cops would not have hesitated to shoot. Yet they didn't. Not once. Suspects were taken into custody.

the embarrassment is strong can already imagine "u dont fakku wizzu me baka mazafakka HURRDURRRDDURRRRDURRRRRRRRCHUGCHUG" shaping into album of the year indeed

For a sec there I thought the 3rd track's title was gonna be WELCOME TO THE HOOD.

new PV for the new album, and it's great

So I was thinking, I know we all like our jams and such, but with the recent activity of people sharing music genre's not everyone is familiar with and with everyone discovering new artists they like... I was wondering what people would think about like an online radio broadcast? Maybe it could include live reports for overseas countries that come directly from the users here. Or maybe you saw a show in Japan you'd like us to talk about on the radio show. We can also make reminder announcements for things going on with the site as well as up coming events related to the Japanese music scene. I personally have a collection of cds i don't mind using for give aways and things like that. And of course we can't forget the music part! Thoughts? Or is there anyone interested in helping with a radio broadcast? What do the mods think?

There's only one gif worthy of my reaction to that tracklist:

This is going to be the come from behind album of the year you watch

limited edition (3,980yen) will include CD+DVD (including "DEAD END" PV), and regular edition (3,240yen) will include CD only [CD track list] 01.MODE OF GANGSTA(op.SE) 02.DEAD END 03.WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND 04.SHOOT THE TARGETS HIDDEN YOUR MIND 05.GESSHOKU 06.TOKYO GYPSY 07.RIZE A FLAG 08.HOWLING 09.HATE ME OR LOVE ME? 10.BLEACH 11.THE NEVER 12.MESSAGE FROM HERE 13.PHRASE OF LIFE(ed.SE)

Been spinning EL-P's Cancer 4 Cure a lot lately. It's the straightest EL-P-produced album I've heard, but there's still a shitload of chaacter and uniqueness to it. Pimitive, furutistic and filled with badassnes. It's also geat that the man is almost as good at rapping as he is producing. Ridiculously good album, and the opening track is one of the best within the genre ever. But the first 4-5 tracks are all beyond perfect. What a man! Also, I've tried to stay away from everything that has to do with Run the Jewels II until the album is released, but today I (finally) failed. Christ almight, the preview of the album is good. It is beyond good! God damn! For those not heard it yet: http://www.stereogum.com/1695029/run-the-jewels-blockbuster-night-part-1-snippet/mp3s/

So when was the teenager's death avenged? Before the brick through the window of the Chinese food spot or after enough people walked out of Wal-Mart with brand new televisions? I'm all for holding the actions of police officers accountable as I have to deal with the NYPD, stop and frisk policies, and watching people get arrested, beaten, and occasionally shot for being black on a daily basis. But never get it twisted: no justice was served. The riot will not affect the sentencing of that police officer in a positive manner. The people at that Chinese food spot did nothing to that teenager, yet now they have to deal with the aftermath. Wal-Mart didn't assist the police officer by supplying him bullets, yet now they have to clean up after the riot. Neither did the bank, or the gas station, or whatever else was caught in the crosshairs. How many thousands of dollars did the riot cause in damaged property? How many businesses now have to shut down? All that was accomplished was the successful destruction of a neighborhood.

Yeah....no, rioting doesn't do much justice for one death. Definitely not, if it means losing thousands of dollars for business which now jeopardizes the livelihoods of business owners. Also, the city will probably have to spend more money on repairs which will take money away from potentially more useful use of the money. While you can feel a sense of empowerment, the consequences won't justify it.

posting just because.

my name’s Lyn and I currently live in England. I’ve listened to J-Rock ever since I was 12 years old and, yes, I was an embarrassing teen who tried way too hard, BUT we had an amazing time back then - 10/10, would recommend. At the moment I’m working on my BAs in English linguistics and philosophy to train for my amazing future as coffee shop barista (“Do you want fries with that?” Oh wait...). My overall favourite J-Rock bands are X-Japan, Hide and D’espairs Ray... Maximum the Hormone is pretty rad, too... Dir en Grey, of course, Kagerou, fucking loved Kagerou... and Balzac... Mucc, Girugamesh. For god knows what reason (it’s not like my RL is exciting or anything), I kind of stopped keeping up with a lot of bands I had enjoyed during my teenage years (for example Suicide Ali, -Oz-, vistlip, Baal...) but I still do enjoy them very much, so I’ve signed up here to keep up with all those different bands a little bit better. I also like Horrorpunk, Progressive Rock/Metal, Classic Rock, and lot of other stuff that I don't know how to categorise. I love books, video games, running, cars and going to rock/ metal concerts no matter if I know the band that’s playing or not. P.S. I feel like I’ve been here before, but I couldn’t find any traces of past-me... so I figured it’s safe to grace you with present-me.

Inb4 420 Braze Et Uppu Massafakka.

Since the, riot things have been a hot mess there, it would seem.

MODE OF... what ?!

Shoot the targets in your mind ft. Snoop dogg & Ice cube

Damn Bear, that’s tempting. I put C4C on my list for 2012 and two years later it’s just as dope as it was the first time I’ve heard it. Although I find myself gravitating towards his second album more lately, C4C is still great. But ISWYD has great tracks like Tasmanian Pain Coaster, Dear Sirs, Poisenville Kids No Wins, EMG, Up All Night…actually the whole album is just fantastic. Run the Jewels benefits in the same way, except now he has Killer Mike to share verses with. The two of them are charismatic enough to carry the entire debut on their own, and only feature Big Boi and that guy on Twin Hype Back who I consider to be a joke and not a featured MC. I’ve also been staying away from any news related to RTJ II and I don’t even know when it’s coming out. You’re tempting me with that video but since I’m at work I can’t watch it. Other than El-P I’m really fond of Earl Sweatshirt and early Tyler, the Creator. Wolf was a letdown for me but Rusty was an awesome track. Doris was just stellar and although it didn’t follow in the same vein as Earl it was one of the best hip-hop albums of last year. Dark, mysterious, brooding beats with complex, multisyllabic verses and plenty of features that added to the track. Burgundy, Sunday, and Hoarse in particular are two excellent tracks. Everything was great except for SK La’ Flare. I have no idea why Earl let him on the track because he has no flow and can’t rap. As for Tyler, Bastard was his best album. Goblin was okay. Wolf was less okay then Goblin. I honestly haven’t gone back to Wolf except for Rusty, IFHY, Tamale, and Colossus. And sometimes Pigs. I checked out Czarface upon your recommendation last year Bear and I have to say it’s pretty dope! I’m into that 90’s scene a little bit (Company Flow, Cannibal Ox type shit) so hearing throwback boom-bap these days is nice. I have to listen to it a few more times before more songs other than Dead Zone, Czar Rafaeli and Air ‘Em Out stick in my head. Newest rapper to enter my rotation is Capital STEEZ. He’s only got one album (and will only ever have one album) but it’s great! The man not only can rap but he picks topics to rap about and doesn’t resort to money, talking about bitches or wealth or killing people to get through songs. He’s also really great at wordplay while telling a story. Amazing stuff to check out! As far as Japanese hip-hop goes I don’t listen to much but lately Meliyas has caught my ear. Meliyas is the side-project of DJ Itsuka from Charisma.com, whose name you’ve probably seen around here once or twice. I remember liking MAJO LP but it’s really hard for me to remember some songs. I know CAT5 has said something similar to me as well. Guess that means I have to start bumping it again at work to see if it will make any lists of mine at the end of the year.

Is trombe trolling us or is this the actual tracklist lol

I've been listening to them more lately. At the beginning I couldn't stand Karma's voice either, but it started to grow on me. His voice sure has some similarity with Yuuki's, but Karma's singing style is still very different. I wouldn't call the band old school though, as they remind me more of the typical 2002 upwards Nagoya kei stuff. Except we tag everything from before 2007 as old school now. 2004-2006 was the time I was getting into VK, so AvelCain's sound is pretty familiar for me and I really like it. (I blame the Nostalgia factor) They find a good balance between heavyness, aggressiveness, melody and gloom. I tend to like their fucked up crazy and chaotic songs, i really enjoy when Karma's blabbering perverse things, laughs and screams. You know already, I am the kind of person who likes the batshit insane side of VK. So their band concept is pretty appealing too. It made me laugh however, when some people on tumblr shit their pants because Karma sings about slitting his wrists. Sure, he does some questionable stuff (such as cutting his wrists and showing pics online), but well… I guess some other artists perfomances must be the apocalypse (Throbbing gristle, anyone?). So yeah, a pretty fine and interesting band.

Honestly, you'd be an ideal person to work with, so if you're up for it... if it pans out.... I'd like to ask you *___* You're really open minded, enthusiastic, and you have a very good knowledge of many bands that I don't. I will send you a message!

No problem. I'm available for grunt work. It wouldn't take much for me to get my hands on equipment or software if it came down to it, either. Depending on how big a project this might be. And I'm on the opposite coast from you so might could help with some timezone constraints.

I wouldn't be against it, it all depends on how we implement it. preparation will probably be key, not to mention finding people willing to run it and be dedicated.

I have an actual recording mic that i can use, I'm pretty much just checking out again to see what options there are for a hosting site. Thank you for being willing to help :'D This is literally an idea I came up with a few hours ago and I was talking to CAT5 about it and decided to just make a post to see what other people thought.

I think this is a wonderful idea myself - although I'm unsure atm how a radio broadcast would work (I'm sure it can be figured out), I'd totally be down to contribute.

Sounds like a good idea, but how will the radio part work out?

I should have known you were into that, senedjem.

And how is what I'm asking. How does looting stores avenge this teenager? It doesn't. There's no connection at all. Just anger and violence. You want to take a stand? Go down to the police station and protest until he is fired. Start a class action lawsuit against the police department while stressing racial issues. Do anything other than start a riot. The only statement that was made is that you all are dangerous and need to be monitored further. And if you absolutely must start a riot, how about you fuck up the police station instead of innocent businesses for a start? Direct your rage towards the actual perpetrators.

http://inhabitat.com/nasa-confirms-the-impossible-propellant-free-microwave-thruster-for-spacecraft-works/ This is pretty cool! We might land a man on Mars sometime in the near future!

Thanks guys! Luckily someone recorded it

http://youtu.be/j4GAs9TJVjM So fucking intense, looks like it's gonna be a really good season

ahaha this so much! BOKU WA NIHONJIN WA DAISUKI DESU~ ^___^

Hey Sadie

Just to answer your question: I grew up in New York. My mother was a Seikima II and DEAD END fan, and I got a cassette of X's Blue Blood when I was like, 11. That's how I found visual kei.

I'm sorry you don't like the way I presented my points. Let me be more concise. 1. Illegal downloading is still illegal. 2. Making music, playing concerts, and promotion cost money that the band and their management pays. 3. This money and promotion comes from cds. 4. Bands won't go to the US/EU/South America if they can't see sales. ??? Result: No sales? No band for you. You don't have to like the bands, but this goes for any visual kei band. And we're talking about visual kei bands right now, which is why I didn't bring up other musical genres. So, you're not really making any valid points.

Culture doesn't work as an explanation when piracy is a worldwide issue. I've never once given thought to how the Japanese feel about piracy when I download music and I never will. I'm too focused on my own country and their stance on piracy, which I also feel is just as outdated. If an industry is too stuck in their old model of conducting business to take advantage of the new model, then they are outdated. That's literally the definition. This is the double-edged sword of capitalism. It stands for any industry in any country that relies on a business model that hasn't kept up with the times. Adapt or die. It seems that the labels are adamant about sticking with their sixty year old business model because it's "worked for so long". But decentralization of music distribution via the Internet has removed their stranglehold on what music we are exposed to. We can search for what we want, listen to what we want, form our own tastes, and never need to turn on the radio to hear an artist's new single. That's why we're all here. Labels have the resources and the connections to push artists, but they are not the de facto chairmen in charge anymore. They don't like that. All of their waffling back and forth on this issue is smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real issue. At the end of the day, the Internet is a revolution they didn't anticipate and it has the potential to disrupt business. Nobody in power has the balls to tell these companies to change their approach like pretty much every other industry has past 1995. They'd rather try to pass draconian legislation to protect their interests than to defend and exploit new ideas such as turntable.fm, SoundCloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, or YouTube. They want us to meet them in their court instead of meeting us in the middle and we don't have to do that anymore. Labels don't have to do anything right now because they're still turning a profit, so the discussion won't change until they're no longer making a profit. If/Whenever that happens will be a very interesting day. What I would really like to now is how much pressure Nokubura gets from their label to sell records, and also what percentage of music sales they get. I'm pretty confident that they make more money selling merchandise and tickets than they do from their CD sales, so I don't understand why Masa is so thirsty for money he won't get unless it directly impacts the future of the band with the label. They didn't seem to care much about piracy when they weren't a visual kei band. Then again I still think they're a bunch of sellouts who turned visual kei because they thought Photochop and a couple of fancy wigs and terrible outfits would be enough to attract squealing fangirls en masse to throw money at them for their music. It looks like they're finding out the hard way that their rotating wardrobes takes a nice chunk out of whatever slim profits they're making. I'd laugh my ass off if they ever drop the visual kei aesthetics in the future when they discover that maintaining the image is too expensive in the long run.

I've honestly only heard one NB release, but I wouldn't spend money on it because I wasn't that into it. However, personally, I'm on the whole I have no money, my girlfriend and I live with her parents and feeding myself is more of a priority than feeding a musician. And, as such, pirating doesn't seem that bad when there are people who are the band's target audience in their actual country who probably can and will buy their stuff when they can--this goes for any band, not just NB. There are certain times where I have extra cash and I buy a CD, but let's be real, it'd be virtually impossible for me to afford every single release I enjoy at this time. But, threatening to sue your fans? Kinda shitting where you eat, imo.

I get where NB are coming from, and I kind of agree with the comments in the first post. Let me first say that I used to download loads of music illegally, but since the advent of Spotify, that's become my main thing to listen to music. As for Jap music, I still mostly download. But... if I think a certain band or release is good/epic, I will buy the original. I have about 300 CDs, and loads of vinyl, DVDs, and casettes. I think that if you claim to be a fan of a band, you should support them in any way you can. Buy an album, buy a T-shirt, I don't care. If physical stuff isn't readily available, email them and you'll probably be able to work something out (I did this with Tokyo Heroes), or bring it to their attention that there's fans willing to buy their stuff in other countries as well. If not, platforms such as Itunes exist. You can't claim to be a diehard fan of a band but be unwilling to support them. A non-Jap band I'm fan of released 3 singles, all for $1. I bought each of em for $3-5(Bandcamp), just because I love their music and sincerity and want to support them. Each time I got a personal email back saying "Thank you Bryan, this means more to us than you think!" They make music for their fans, and if their fans support them, they give their personal gratitude in return. I agree with what Tokage said about music as a form of art. I have to add though, that many artists, and even mostly the smaller ones, also put time and creativity in the CD's artwork and packaging. If you just get the music, you only get 75% of the complete piece of art. Then again, I also agree with his remark about originality, haha. Oh and also, I'm pro-buying directly from the band, no intermediates. Tons of bands use bigcartel or bandcamp or their own webstore and sell CDs, downloads and merch through those channels. If you buy it from there, you'll know the money ends up where it belongs - in the hands of the artists. TL;DR I think you should support bands financially when you claim to be a fan, in any small way you can. I have no problem with downloading music to try it out, but if you like it enough to call yourself a fan, fuck'n buy it and don't be a pretentious freeloader.

To be honest, I don't blame anyonone, "artist" or not, for wanting to make money. Hey, I want to make money too, don't we all? Money is good. And I don't think the expectation that the effort put into a record should result in some cash return is unreasonable. However. It seems that piracy is giving some artists a false sense of scale. Artists and labels tend to equate each illegal download with a lost sale. 5000 people have pirated a record? So they calculate 5000 x ???$ in lost revenue and mourn all the money they didn't make. The cold hard truth however is that probably only a minority of those 5000 cares enough for the music that they would pay for it. Especially in vk, where people tend to just grab stuff because it's vk (probably applies to other genres too though.) If there was no piracy artists still have to make their fans interested enough that they are actually want to spend money on them. Oh, and acting against people on Youtube is even more pointless. I have yet to meet a single person that says "I don't buy CDs because I can listen to songs on YT."

Pirates don't care if we're taking food out of someone else's mouth. We don't care if we make it difficult to continue band activities. Historically speaking, pirates weren't nice people. We want music and we want it now and it's hard for a band to compete with free, easy access and still turn a profit. It's the reality of the music scene in 2014. We suck as human beings, we care about a band enough to follow them but not enough to give them money to continue. Don't worry about us pirates because if the only two choices were to pay up or not hear the music we probably wouldn't buy it because then that band would have to compete with every other musician out there for the few cents in my pocket and honestly they probably aren't first in line. NB should just assume that pirates weren't going to buy their music in the first place so there's no money being "lost" because there was no money to be "gained". Piracy is a double-edged sword, because at least people care enough about your band to continuously download your releases for free. It gets your name out there but it also does take food off your table. Piracy is great when you're trying to get known; not so much when you're trying to make money after you build up a fanbase. Try to profit off the free PR you get from piracy as best as you can. I have no other magic bullets or solutions or kind words.

Did you say something to him as well? Also, found this on livejournal People said it reminded them of our thread here: One day Kiwamu decided to write a song. Kiwamu asked his coworkers, "Who will help me write the song?" "Not I," said the lazy GPK . "Not I," said the lazy shit foreigner. "Not I," said the lazy former members of BLOOD. Then Kiwamu decided to write lyrics for the song. Kiwamu asked his coworkers, "Who will help me write the lyrics?" "Not I," said the lazy GPK as he goofed off . "Not I," said the lazy shit foreigner as he took illegal photos. "Not I," said the lazy former members of BLOOD as they made funny sock puppets with Kiwamu's angry face. When the lyrics were finished Kiwamu needed to record the song. Kiwamu asked his coworkers, "Who will help me record the song?" "Not I," said the lazy GPK who was too busy partying. "Not I," said the lazy shit foreigner who complained of a broken computer. "Not I," said the lazy former members of BLOOD who weren't involved with Kiwi's current project anyway and didn't give a shit. After Kiwamu finished recording the song, he began to sell CDs and made some money from shit fans. Kiwamu asked his coworkers, "Who will help me spend the profits?" "I will," said the lazy GPK. "I will," said the lazy shit foreigner. "I will," said the lazy former members of BLOOD. "No!" said Kiwamu. "I will! Because my greedy!" And Kiwamu spent the money on a new chair to replace the one he broke while beating up fans.

"What was the weirdest thing that happened to you on tour? Kiwamu: When I worked for foreign music scene, there are many many weird things! So I can't choose one lol Knitting Factory in NYC was shittest thing in my music life. Please go to evacuate your bowels in front of their entrance. You can know "What happen" at BLOOD 4th album's DVD."

We have ourselves a poet. Sounds like some Deg lyrics. 2day all absurd minds without imagination use the word troll to tag someone stupidly and you were once a nooblet too FAG RETARDED....SOUP!!!!! mmm....soup.

Kiwamu? Is that you? *Gets popcorn*

My favourite Kiwamu story is, when GPKism (?) was touring in probably South-America, and they were getting a lots of presents from their fans - and Kiwamu blogged, that they are really appreciate all the gifts and other stuffs, and they are thankful for all the love, but they get so much gifts at the concerts, that they can't carry them during the whole tour, so they have to throw them out after a time. BUT, if fans have the money to make them presents, they also have the money to buy their CDs, so he asked all the fans, that instead of making them presents, they should buy their CDs. I just couldn't stop laughing, when I've first heard this. xD

I need to see if I still have it lying around somewhere, but I made an audio recording of blood's last live in Chicago. It really sucked, but there was one delicious nugget that was caught. About halfway through the concert, Kiwamu just stopped the music and everything and just raged hard shouting at this dude in the audience who was recording a video. He was leaning over the stage shouting like a god damned Yakuza... we totally thought he was going to jump down and rip the guy's face off/smash him with a chair.