A Krampus Karol

Ahh, another year's holiday season is upon us, last minute sales, holiday movies and Saturday will swarm shopping centers for rampant returns and spending Christmas cash given by relatives and friends. Of course there's more to it than that, there's spending time with friends and family, hoping for togetherness, trying to put aside differences and for just a few days out of the year, coming together in a time of fellowship, love, hope and belief in miracles.

Nahh, fuck that. I've got catching up to do on the Naughty list.

Well, all in due time. A lot's happened this year, ups and downs for ol' Krampus. I've made some new friends, have the opportunity to perform weekly on a show, sometimes serious, sometimes batshit insane, but fun. Prospects look up for 2010. In this, Krampus is blessed. 'Twould not be right if I didn't take the time to thank those that enjoy what I do, and give a nod to those not on the receiving end of my wrath. For those, I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa, Merry Solstice and Yule, and just for the hell of it, a distinguished Ramadan. And as The Potentate of ROACH said, a Merry Krampus Nights to all creatures, great, small and fictitious.

Good. Now that I've gotten the sugar out of my system, time to...fuck! Not out yet!
Out of me, damned mercy!



There we go. What? I couldn't find a video of one being thrown into a wood chipper. Now where was I? Ahh yes. Now, some of you have been awaiting this blog after following it for some time. I always prefer to site targets in my crosshairs around this time of year, it helps to purge the frustrations and anger one feels around the holidays in order to grant a sense of balance to it. Many feel this time of year has become too commercialized, putting on airs to people that deserve no gifts, people being rewarded for being assholes simply because it's become socially accepted. Well, this is wrong. Krampus predates such pathetic blanketing of those that deserve to be reminded why virtue is good, and getting away with acting like spoiled, desensitized shits with no consequences to their actions being apparent. If Paris Hilton had her ass birched along with many spoiled children from Laguna Beach of the Jersey shore long ago, they more than likely wouldn't be doing the stupid acts they are today. Bad behavior has a reason for being frowned upon in the balance of things.

It's when things go topsy turvy with people claiming to be heroes acting like villains, and people calling themselves villains supposedly acting as watchdogs while being little more than gossip mongering assholes and hecklers that someone needs to filter out the insanity. Good guys acting like bad guys, bad guys supposedly being the good ones? I mean, I get the intention. Without even realizing it, they're borrowing from Krampus. Calling out the wicked, refusing to spare the vocal rod, it's an adorable testament. Misguided at times, but I appreciate the compliment. Of course, ultimately I don't believe they're all doing it right. In attempting to rally their strength and numbers, some gather under banners and groups. Nothing wrong with this at all. Some gather as a group to do as a united voice what one cannot accomplish singly. Others gather in groups because it's easier to muster scraps of courage by going along with the crowd. Yet others gather in groups because of something they share, something that singles them out and makes them different from the rest of the crowd. This force unites them, forging friendships and camaraderie. Brotherhoods can be good or bad depending on how they are used and how their ultimate goals are achieved.

One of the most....hmm, how can I describe this one...spirited? No. Spiteful? MMmmm, at times, but it's not the most accurate description. Ummm...stupid? Well, kinda. But it's still not the right word. Unique? No dammit, there's plenty like them out there. Fucked? No, too simplistic. Misguided? Getting there. Craptacular? No, that's too positive. Interesting? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA fuck no! Scroogish? Getting there, but not appropriate. Confrontational? I think we're almost there. Shiggerish? Yeah, but I don't want to waste good material. Controversial? Hmm, they have been. Fuck, this is harder than I thought! I should have laid off the egg nog spiked with Kramsinthe. I knew I should have written this out before today, then posted it. I need to give this topic the respect it deserves.

Oh wait, *snort* I am. It's all good.

One group I discovered this year and have had numerous heated verbal exchanges with for several months is ROACH, you can look up the link to the site yourselves. Many an exchange has gone on between myself, associates with the site, not even full members, but those that hover there like so many flies around the eyes of an Ethiopian in the USA for Africa promos. I suppose the insect analogy is correct enough given the group's name. But one of the most vocal sparring partners I've had from ROACH has to have been The White Skull. Oh, we've had some heated exchanges! Terrorism, racism, graphics mastery, vocal mimicry, perceived patterns, fears of actions going too far, the blogs were slices of venom and perceptions. The man was the most vocal advocate to the organization and initial cause ROACH claims it stands for next to The Potentate, creator of the organization. Aww hell, I'll say it. There were times he was more vocal and active than its originator. He had to remind people that he didn't control ROACH due to the fact that he was so active in its promotion. Given the venom spewed not only in my own direction but against friends that I am fiercely territorial in defending, I am hesitant to give the man praise. But if it weren't for his appearance on Creature Feature, I would never have been introduced to Executrix, a true friend that I consider myself fortunate to have in my life. It also springboarded me into a media that I am pleased to participate in week after week. For this, I thank you.

Last month, our last meeting of the wills came head to head, and due to reasons that are profoundly personal and involve another, he decided that he was finished with the venom, then being wound up like a gatling cannon ready to fire off against others. He no longer wished to follow the rhetoric of ROACH, wanting nothing to do with its promotion or path it was on. He decided to find another path to stay true to the heart of his convictions, while simultaneously attempting to find peace within himself. In this, I wish the man success on his journey. Merry Christmas, you bleach-domed skullfucker.

Oh wait...do you hear that? I hear someone talking shit! It sounds like an air of superiority falsely justified. Is someone yelling things like 'I KNEW it' or 'he let it slip', or even 'this was the big news? How predictable.' or some shit that sounds more like Shig-Latin to me. Hey dipshits! *snap snap* Over here! Are you still reading? Can you see this? Oi! My point isn't over! I haven't made it yet! This is only a part of my tapestry, I found it fitting to wait until Christmas to unveil it.

This isn't about The White Skull. This is about The Potentate and ROACH. Therefore, it concerns everyone associated with them. Keep reading.

While I owe the man nothing, The White Skull had a parting request. He wished that I would not be the one to break the news to the community about his final parting, but that The Potentate be the one that he has removed himself and resigned his membership from ROACH. I told him I could grant a modicum of leniency in this. He made many contacts with ROACH, he had promoted it well. Surely The Potentate could grant the last request from his most vocal lieutenant.

So, I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. I did not swear an oath I would not be the first to reveal this, but I have only so much magnanimosity to give considering the past I've had with WS and ROACH. Krampus Nights was approaching, I'll be damned if I was going to omit a group that caught my eye and a place on the Naughty list. This request was asked the second week of November. It was nearly a month when I tried to nudge The Potentate with a hint. I even wrote to WS, telling him that if he truly wishes his request to be carried out, perhaps he should ask The Potentate again. Today marks a month and a half. A month and a half has gone by, and the only response I received? A Merry Krampus post. Thank you for promoting me, I've certainly done my share of endorsement, or stirring up controversy on your page. But when asked to remove The White Skull from the membership profile on your site and to announce the news to his fellow RLSV, what was the response?

Nothing.

For all the months of helping promote the site, what was the parting gift? Silence. No alteration to his site's roster. I understand he has a newborn to look after as well as other responsibilities, but I also happen to know for a fact that another member in the last month and a half requested to resign their place in the roster and member profiles. And to this member? Nothing. Two people requesting to sever their ties from his organization, and no action taken. No apparent respect, no thanks for all the member did for the site's promotion, no honoring final requests. Nothing. No camaraderie, no timely editing of a few lines of code. No announcement from an ally, instead ignoring the prodding and subtle suggestion of an opponent. The Potentate would rather let me release the cat from the bag than give even the slightest hint of fulfilling a final statement. Two members that want NOTHING more to do with the site by association, still lingering on like faded posters of missing persons. Posted, left standing, ignored. Oh, if you want the identity of the other individual of whom I speak, I suggest you ask your fellow members of ROACH currently listed on the profile roster for yourselves. Think of it as a gift hunt. But I assure you, I speak the truth.

You see, this eludes to the ultimate point of my post. To those of you that pledge yourselves to The Potentate's group, one listed on his resume' online I might add, look at the nature of it. Certainly it pleases him to have others buy his t-shirts, to be active on his forums, to stand under his banner. Well, perhaps more like a canopy. With his participation becoming less and less, relying more on the energies spent by other members to maintain a modicum of momentum, one would simply chalk his inactivity up to prior engagements in the real world. I know I would. But with the silence spent in regards to the request of The White Skull to speak on his behalf, instead giving a nod to a holiday with my name upon it, this paints a more subtly disturbing mental picture. The Potentate will speak in his defense if mistakes are made, his participation retreating as of late. But in the name of those who frequent his own site, help make it all that it is in your participation? 'Twould appear that much like Kanye West's assessment about George W. Bush's thoughts on black people, it seems in my opinion that The Potentate of ROACH doesn't care about its own members.

Which begs the question: where are your allegiances? Where are your loyalties? Do you all come together for a common target, nothing more? Are there no friendships, no camaraderie between like minded people brought together out of mutual interest and location online? Are there any members you've corresponded with time and again that would stand by you in your actions? Not to join in as a mob mentality, but someone to have your back as it were, and you theirs? Put the facades aside, where do any of you stand in regards to your fellow associates that frequent the site, full fledged member or no? Are you all coming together for more than a shouting contest? Are you fulfilled, or cleansed once you vent your perceptions? Is there anything more than hatred and calling out someone just because you pick them as targets? Do you honestly expect anything of depth to come from The Potentate when you participate on his site, or on your own blogs and activities?

I for one think these are valid questions. Just as Dickens' works called to Scrooge for retrospection, allow this to let you search within yourselves, and between yourselves. What is the point to the site if there's no cohesion, no sign that if you do well to promote it, that any attention will be paid to you, not even a thank you for your work? Is there any reason to keep coming back? If you truly get something out of it, if you find a truth and purpose, if you truly are attempting to call out the villains in heroes' costumes, then keep to your focus. But if all you're doing is to come together at a central location that doesn't give a damn about you except for self promotion, then do you mind coming to the cyber equivalent of a storefront? A pizza parlor with a cd jukebox, a shopping center, a mini-mall? It seems more like a place to loiter, a locale that uses the traffic as advertisement space without running you off if you've overstayed your welcome. Apathy has its place when you are faced with an opponent. You wish to inflict your will upon another, trying not to feel the pain you inflict. As long as you feel nothing, you can do what you wish to your target. But when someone supposedly on your own side shows you that same apathy, where do you stand? Are you organized? Are you united in cause? Or are you part of a mob, moving with momentum even possibly against your own desires? What do you do when it becomes evident that someone with whom your frequently speak doesn't care about you as long as it's not hurting his or her bottom line? When the realization hits, do you feel like you've been used? Do you feel indifferent to that same location and person running the store?

The Potentate would rather wish me a Merry Krampus, eluding to the possibility that I might even be joining ROACH because I speak about his site on occasion, instead of doing a final favor for someone that has done so much for the site's cause, yet now wants nothing more to do with it. No spin, no addressing the absence. No calling to celebrate or commemorate that person's contributions. Nothing. For the promotion to all that is Krampus, I extend my thanks. But as for why this final request was not answered, you'll have to ask The Potentate as to why. I was patient long enough to someone I owe no allegiance to. And I seemed to have more complimentary words to say in parting to my debate opponent than the person he was speaking for on his behalf?

For those of you now becoming aware of this news, perhaps you now see a power vacuum on the forum and wish to fill it. Perhaps you'll use the forum to further your own agenda rather than the banner of the group. If you can answer the question to yourselves if it's even worth the bother anymore, here is the most unlikely thing I would ever conceive to utter this year. The White Skull was opinionated, bull-headed, yet artistic and whether by pain or purpose, driven. If you want to try filling his boots, you may bring your own skills to the table, you may be a master of the English language, you may be able to edit videos and photos, you may be able to write code like a master programmer. But you're NOT The White Skull. And you NEVER WILL BE.

Is it all worth it? The memberships, I mean. Time will tell. Until then, I will retire for now, surely to be summoned back by the bellowing of responses to this post. As much as it is worth, I have kept to my statement, giving The Potentate time to respond until Christmas Eve. It is now past that here, and I will away to pursue others on the Naughty list, watching Santa's back as he flies over military installations, survivalist militia compounds and gang territory. Until then, may your holidays be as happy as you deserve them to be, If you want a holiday miracle so badly, try getting off your asses and meeting it halfway this Christmas. Keep yourselves safe. And know whether or not your cause, and the banner under which you rally, are worth fighting for.

Krampus