February 2nd Is Also The Feast Day Of St. Sid!

Yessirree, this is the day Sid Vicious took matters into his own hands and finally got back together with Nancy. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S BEEN GONE FOR 30 YEARS!

You have to wonder whether Sid is, you know, really fulfilled as a Discordian Saint. Let's analyze this for a minute. He spent his brutally short musical career performing "Anarchy In The U.K." onstage, which has to count for SOMETHING. But he also put 99% of his energy into drinking the nothingness that comes with heroin addiction, and of course that was what he used to ice himself in order to get back together with Nancy. Stripped of its romantic elements, it looks like the typical rock-cliche death.

But consider this:

Item: Sid was a drooling, staggering god to thousands and thousands of kids who, in reaction against the hippy-dippy Love Generation, were completely straightedge. In effect, he rebelled against his own rebellion in an amazingly self-destructive doublecross that only proved the point of being straightedge. We still loved and mourned him when he died of heroin. WE WERE MORE STRAIGHTEDGE THAN EVER BECAUSE OF HIM.

Item: Nobody has ever cleared up the confusion surrounding Nancy's death. Was she murdered? Did they make a death pact that night, as Sid suspected? WDid Sid kill her? Was it one of their innumerable unsavory guests at the Chelsea Hotel? Did she do it to herself? Was it an accident? SID HIMSELF COULDN'T HAVE TOLD YOU IF YOU PAID HIM A HUNDRED BUCKS.

Item: There's more than a little confusion around Sid's death, too. One theory goes that he died by accident. The first 2 weeks out of jail are always the most dangerous time for heroin addicts; they fail to realize that their opiate tolerance is gone, they take as much as they used to take when they did have a high tolerance, and they die of it. Another theory goes that he didn't realize that the heroin he took that night was 99% pure, when he was used to 5% pure. This is what killed Janis Joplin, as I recall. But Janis didn't leave a note saying "we had a death pact, I have to keep my half of the bargain."

Item: Sid is supposed to have stolen the heroin he took to kill himself from his mother. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on him to keep him from using, but she had her own heroin in her back pocket. HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?

Yeah, I think Sid is the real thing. He throws off hardcore confusion the way used core-rods throw off radiation.

I was a weepy mess all day at work, until I found Sid's "My Way" video on YouTube. After I saw it a couple of times, I was good to go again. Thanks, Sid. We all still love you.