Making Sense of Nothing

Making Sense of Nothing
by Clifton Kump

Hello, everyone!!! My friend Walid has asked me to do a regular column in his magazine. Well, this is the inaugural installment and I hope you like it!!! In my column I will, of course, be talking about Straightedge. I will also be talking about how it affects my life and hopefully you, the reader, can take something out of it and apply it to your daily life and maybe make some choices that will benefit your life.

I am 35 years old, have not had a drink since 1993 and have called myself Straightedge since 1994. I hail from Reno, Nevada, USA.

Straightedge for me, is more about who I am and not about what I am about. I live the lifestyle. I try to hold myself to a higher standard and live each day like I took the oath yesterday. Although I do not wear my commitment on my sleeve, I don't need to; it is buried deep inside of my and is part of me. It is truly in my blood. Straightedge is not infallible; it will not continue without the few committed followers who choose to take it on as their life. I have always believed that if you have taken the oath, it should be for personal reasons and not for outside acceptance. It should be strictly because it fits with who you are and where you see yourself going in this life. Straightedge is an ideal that will outcast you from most of the factions of everyday society as the commoner knows it; it is the true rebellion. Rebellion AGAINST rebellion. We live the sober lifestyle. We live it not because some story tells us to, we live it because we know that it is the right thing to do. It is engrained inside.

Living the is a choice that will make you different. Being a strong, disciplined and steadfast person are the traits that are needed in a Straightedge adherent. You will need the strength to fight for your beliefs, whether it be verbally or physically. You will be challenged. You will be challenged by people who are threatened by the very choice that you have made. They will seek to confront you. They will find you. You will have to stand up for yourself. What you choose to do in this situation will shape and mold you for the rest of your life. This is not an easy path to continue on for the rest of your life; you will struggle with the fact that you will be outcast from everyday society. You will see your friends sell out and lose interest in you yourself as a friend. You will see yourself become a member of something, that on a local scale, could be as small as JUST YOURSELF as a member.

This path that you choose, the path of Straightedge, could be the very choice that makes you a success. There is one caveat; seeing the world for exactly what it is, will require some deep soul-searching and an analytical thought process. People think that Straightedge people are closed minded; we are, in fact, some of the most open. You will need it. I PROMISE.

Good luck on your journey, if you choose this path………...

XXX

Major Malfunction

"What is your major malfunction, numbnuts? Didn't Mommy and Daddy show you enough attention when you were a child?" - Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)

Yup, those are Hartman's last few words before he got shot by Private Gomer Pyle in the 1987 Stanley Kubrick film, Full Metal Jacket. A Vietnam War movie that focuses on how recruits are being trained at the USMC boot-camp before being sent to Nam to deal with booby traps, cover-ups, late night patrols, and snipers. Epic. 

Around the first quarter of 2004, during a lazy Saturday morning...I decided to work on a hardcore-punk fanzine. Spent the whole day typing and cutting art papers, comic books and clippings for the layout. I already have artworks, band interviews, columns, and reviews, the last thing I need is a name for this zine. That's when I remember one of the most striking scene in Full Metal Jacket, and of course Hartman's harsh phrase. So I flipped through old newspapers and magazines to cut out different letters to form the following words:

Major 
Malfunction 
Fanzine

From 2004-2008, I was able to work work on 7 issues. Here are the details:

# 1 - Outbreak, Second Chance (NL), Fuktifino, Intruder, & Threat of Riot

# 2 – SBV, AFM, & Holier Than Thou?

# 3 – Icepick, Names for Graves, Gut Reaction, & Mental

# 4 - Countdown, xLooking Forwardx, & Play

# 5 - Struggle Against, Revelation Records, xLa Familiax, & Isvarah

# 6 - Slumlords & Woof

# 7 – Die Young (TX), Divided We Fall, Fumbles In Life, & Show No Mercy

Plus: columns, poems, reviews, artworks, and more...

I also started a CD/Vinyl/Zine distro under the same name, and soon it became a hardcore-punk label. I was able to release 6 titles namely: 

MMR 01 - New Names For Old Desires 4 - Way Split (CD)
Nuclear Punishment / Isvarah / Prayer of Endurance / Forgiveness Denied  

MMR 02 - Bystorm / Pulling Teeth Split (CD)

MMR 03 - FxPxOx - 2003 - 2007 Recordings (CD)

MMR 04 - Conquest For Death - Beyond Armageddon (CD)

MMR 05 - Second Combat / Motivation Split (CD)

MMR 06 - Half The Battle - What We Have (CD)

I will continue Major Malfunction Distro/Records/Fanzine through this blog. If you want your ads, artworks, columns, and reviews to be published in this blog, or if you want your music/fanzine to be reviewed, just send me an e-mail: xmajormalfunctionx@yahoo.com

"A world community can exist only with world communication, which means something more than extensive short-wave facilities scattered; about the globe. It means common understanding, a common tradition, common ideas, and common ideals." - Robert M. Hutchins

Thanks a lot for your interest and support.