Gene Simmons and the horns

[Brother Goose]

He lost his ticket for the Mothership a long time ago...

 

[KevInDaBassment]

lol that's just stupid. So the football team, toilet seats, coffins, and radio station weren't enough?

Exactly! He should just drop this pursuit and move on to the untapped potential of KISS-branded home enema products.

 

[roller]

Can a farewell tour announcement be far off?

If we're lucky!

 

[fretter]

It's corporatism. I seem to remember that years ago a software company tried to trademark the word "English". More examples: You can't trademark everything

Sorry for acting like a know-it-all, but corporatism is a historical term and most of the time refers to how Mussolini ran Italy's economy, based on an already existing economic ideology. Wikipedia defines it as a, "sociopolitical organization of a society by major interest groups". It basically dampens the activities of industry and labor and subordinates them to national interests.

 

[pcake]

in order to fight a copyright, all you need is to show what's called "prior art", and there are hundreds of years of it in this case.

 

[fretter]

That's actually a slightly different gesture - it's ASL for "love", a neat tie-in with the title.

I know this because a (long-ago) girlfriend was given a couple of books by her born-again mother, which laid out in agonising, mostly spurious and often incorrect, detail about how everything in the rock music industry was somehow devil-worship. Mostly it was a long-winded way of avoiding responsibility for his love of booze, drugs and abusing women (his description, not my accusation).
This was one of the better ones - he described both the devil-horns and the ASL sign in detail, and asserted that this picture involved the former. Refuted in the time it took to pull my copy off the shelf and look at the cover; maybe his primary audience just weren't much into fact-checking.

As for the origin of the gesture, the version I heard was that a guitarist wanted to wave to the crowd without dropping his pick, the fans got excited and returned the wave, and it spread from there. It'd help if I could remember which guitarist, yes...

Just because it wasn't the one gesture, doesn't necessarily mean it was the other. There is no proof or evidence either way.

 

[prue]

View attachment 1155451
Good god, that's been an Italian hand gesture since the invention of superstition.

I think since the beginning of time. At least thats what my relatives would tell me.

 

[2manynotes]

What he lacks in musicianship, he compensates with attorneys. He calls them "The Kiss Legal Legion™."

 

[Snibborwocky]

el oh el Gene Simmons. That is all.

 

[beatnut]

Sorry for acting like a know-it-all, but corporatism is a historical term and most of the time refers to how Mussolini ran Italy's economy, based on an already existing economic ideology. Wikipedia defines it as a, "sociopolitical organization of a society by major interest groups". It basically dampens the activities of industry and labor and subordinates them to national interests.

You are correct, of course, and thank you for the reference. What I was trying to express was the tendency for commercial interests to define normality at the expense of social and community interests.

 

[jcerio]

Being raised in an Italian-American family, I can attest to the "horns" being used for millennia as the "Malocchio" or "Evil Eye" curse. The only protection is said to be the horn pendant that many wear, known as the "cornetto", "corno", or "cornicello". Here is a good description of the superstition: Invalid Link Removed. I can remeber my Grandmother and my aunts putting drops of olive oil in cups of water to see if someone had the evil eye whenever anyone got sick or had bad luck. I think Gene needs a little reality check.

 

[40Hz]

in order to fight a copyright, all you need is to show what's called "prior art", and there are hundreds of years of it in this case.

But fighting copyrights, trademarks, and patents takes serious time and money. Something well-heeled businesses and individuals know and take full advantage of. Which is why so many small businesses wind up yielding and settling with a big money claimant whenever a infringement suit (even an obviously bogus one) gets filed against them. They simply don't have the money or legal resources to defend themselves or assert their own rights under existing laws.

IP protections were originally instituted to protect innovators and encourage further innovation. Now it's become a legal weapon to be user against rivals, and a modern form of carpetbagging. Or "business as usual" if history is anything to go on.

 

[Sixgunn]

He should try to copyright sucking instead, thats what he's best known for.

You forgot rich. I wish I sucked that bad.

 

[Hounddog409]

I never liked much of anything that Gene has done

Doesn't a bass solo usually contain more than one note?

 

[Forrest Thump]

Did Dio really do it before Gene though? Was he doing it Rainbow? I always hear people say he invented it but there's lot of footage/pictures of Gene doing it in the 70s, well before Dio was a big name. I don't really care either way, just curious.

The hand symbol is much, much older than rock and roll. Dio picked it up from his grandmother. It is called il cornuto and is associated with the occult

 

[Tanner5382]

I honestly wonder a lot of the time if the Gene bashers have actually listened to any Kiss albums. He is not just a root basher, he plays melodic lines that support the songs.

 

[prowla]

Some years back, BT tried to patent the hyperlink.

 

[Tanner5382]

The hand symbol is much, much older than rock and roll. Dio picked it up from his grandmother. It is called il cornuto and is associated with the occult

Yeah I know, I'm just talking about using it in a rock setting.

 

[gln1955]

Well...there's "hook 'em horns" (Univ. of Texas):

But fighting copyrights, trademarks, and patents takes serious time and money. Something well-heeled businesses and individuals know and take full advantage of. Which is why so many small businesses wind up yielding and settling with a big money claimant whenever a infringement suit (even an obviously bogus one) gets filed against them. They simply don't have the money or legal resources to defend themselves or assert their own rights under existing laws.

IP protections were originally instituted to protect innovators and encourage further innovation. Now it's become a legal weapon to be user against rivals, and a modern form of carpetbagging. Or "business as usual" if history is anything to go on.

UT and its alumni have much deeper pockets than Mr. Simmons and they take this stuff very seriously.

 

[jwilson67]

I honestly don't really even care what Gene Simmons does. I was never a KISS fan growing up in the 70's. My older brothers and sisters always viewed them as a joke and when I finally listened to them I understood why.