Brock Posts Begin Transmission Blog

Brock, one of the winners of the Begin Transmission contest, has posted his blog entry about his weekend experience at the studio where AFI is recording “Crash Love.” The majority of it chronicles (through amusing photos) Davey’s rediscovery of a letter he wrote to Brock 15 years ago. Brock’s weekend diary joins Christy, Natacia, Raine, and Courtney’s, leaving Mark behind. However, I am sure Mark’s roundup will be well worth the wait.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Hunter Is Up To Something

Hunter has made an odd request on his blog recently. He has asked visitors to leave a comment asking a question, any question. But here’s the strange part: the questions won’t be answered by Hunter, so don’t direct them at him. His reason? “I’m working on something right now and I need everyone’s help.” This sounds like a normal enough project, however the lack of details or solid reason make it a bit suspicious.

Hunter is also playing games with us on Twitter. At about 10 p.m. EST on Thursday, Hunter said “Crash Love.” One hour later he said “I’ve been playing bass all day, and now Mr. Havok is about to do some singing.”

And then he gave us the ultimate tease with: “Breaking news! Brand new AFI lyric! Davey has given me the okay to tell you the first word of the song he’s about to sing: My.” Whether this leads to anything or not, keep a close eye on Hunter’s Twitter page and Hunter’s Blog.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

AFI Sends Out New Newsletter

AFI has posted another newsletter similar to the one last Tuesday. The new one contains a bulletin about the presale for tickets to AFI’s show at EdgeFest in Toronto and a group photo of the Begin Transmission winners.
The newsletter also has an item about a half hour block of AFI videos playing on Saturday, March 7 at 12:30 a.m. EST on FUSE.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Courtney Updates Blog; Huge New Gallery Available

Courtney, one of the winners of the contest, has added the second half of her hilarious blog entry to her official Begin Transmission blog. View it here!
In other news, a large group of Begin Transmission photos is now available in an online me.com gallery. There are nine albums of about 10-60 photos each for your viewing pleasure. Move your mouse over the album icons to scroll through all of the pictures quickly and easily.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

AFI Changes Official Website

AFI has changed their official Website from just a Begin Transmission video to a simple news space. The new site features the broken glass background seen on the Begin Transmission page and the MySpace page. So far there are two news updates, but nothing we don’t already know. The Crash Love logo is in the middle of it all.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

New Fan Photos From In the Studio

A couple of photos taken of the winners in the studio are quite interesting. The first one shows a piece of paper with the words “Flash Flash Car Crash Quick Now Quick.” These are apparently lyrics that were to be sung by the Begin Transmission winners.

The second image is of Davey (and the back of Raine and Christy’s heads!) looking at the entire group of singers and smiling a bit. These photos are much clearer than normal, because they were taken with a digital camera insteadof a cellphone.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Courtney Posts (Half) Begin Transmission Blog

Courtney, another one of the six Begin Transmission winners, has posted up her hilarious blog entry on the first half of the trip. She stays true to the deadpan humor seen in her excellent video.
The entry features an exciting fire alarm that alarmed everybody at midnight, Adam’s epic bowling story, and more. She has promised to post her second installment at some point in the future. When it is posted, it will most definitely be noted here.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Look Out For AFI Site Change Soon

Theory told us in the early afternoon via Twitter that he is working on the AFI Web site with somebody named Lee Hammond. This Lee Hammond may be the Kansas City-based illustrator, or it could be Theory’s goldfish. If you know the identity of Lee Hammond, please comment.

In any case, this is a sure sign that a major change will be brought to AFireInside.net in the near future.

UPDATE: Theory posted again at about 7:00 EST, this time exclusively about the AFI site.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Natacia Posts Begin Transmission Blog

Natacia, one of the winners of the Begin Transmission contest, has posted her weekend diary to join Christy and Raine. Her account is very interesting and enthusiastic, containing her dining experience at Astro Burger to her tattoo adventure, and everything in between. One of the best parts of the blog, however, is her description of the two new songs they heard.
“It was now that we were first allowed to hear the song. And no surprise here: it is one of the most intense and beautiful songs in existence. I felt multiple rounds of shivers jolt through my body as I listened intently.”
“We were greeted with an extra special surprise. The opportunity to hear an additional song from the new album. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this song was also one of the most amazing songs ever to be heard by anyone. I got the urge to jump about, flail my limbs, bawl my eyes out, and throw myself to the floor in beautiful convulsions. I would have if everyone hadn’t been standing about me. You will all love this album. We have so much in store. Be prepared to cry, and discover once again why AFI really is the reason for living.”
I don’t know about you, but I would say this is a great thing to hear. Comment, please!

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Christy Posts Begin Transmission Blog

Christy, one of the winners of the Begin Transmission contest, has posted her blog detailing the events of her weekend recording and hanging out with AFI. In the lengthy blog she talks about every major event of the weekend, and the two new songs they heard as well.
“…we went into the studio and listened to the song we’d be singing. It is FANTASTIC! I promise, You’re all going to Love it! … “FLASH FLASH” is how our part starts off, Pretty neat, I know. ;) Once we got down all the parts they were mixed into the rest of the song. We listened to the final product again, but with our parts mixed in, and holy shit it was amazing! You’re all going to Love it!!! We also got to listen to another song, which You’re all going to Love! The new music has such a great feel to it, it’s really intense…”

Having tortured us with that review of the music, she goes on to describe everybody leaving and then getting Begin Transmission tattoos.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Raine: Begin Transmission "Far From Over"

    As a part of his blog update about his experience recording with AFI this past weekend, Raine has given us a teaser of what’s to come.

“Lastly, yes, Begin Transmission is indeed very far from over. And I think you’ll all be excited about where it’s headed.” This is the second time a winner has told us this. It must be true… Click here to read the rest of Raine’s blog. It contains many thanks in it and will make you wish desperately that you were there.


Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

AFI Announces Appearance at Edgefest 2009

AFI has announced through Twitter and MySpace that they will be playing a show at Edgefest 2009 on June 20 in Toronto, Canada. Pre-sale will begin this Friday, February 27th, from 10 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. EST. Click here to pre-order tickets through Ticketmaster once tickets become available. The password is “TheEdge” as this Twitter update says…

And here is the link to the MySpace blog.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Christy: Begin Transmission "Far From Over"

Begin Transmission winner Christy has told us via Twitter that Begin Transmission is far from over. The post came at about 6:50 p.m. EST:

The first part of the message is just the coding used to send the message to the Transmitter located on the official Begin Transmission site. Who knows what the next phase will be?

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Davey Contradicts Hunter About Summer Tour

Early this morning, Davey went on a spree of answering Ask AFI questions. One of the questions he answered was concerning the summer tour. This was one of the questions, asked by Ascend With Ivy:

“I cannot WAIT for this tour. This is true? You’ll be having a summer tour? Come to Long Island, we love ya. Seeya on the barricade!”

To this Davey replied: “Can’t say for sure when we’ll be out. We have to finish this record first. It all depends on that. DXH.”

This is a direct contradiction to the statements made by Hunter in a Blender.com interview on Thursday. Hunter had said that AFI would be touring whether the album was finished or not.


Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

AFI Posts Photos of Winners at Studio

AFI has posted several photos to add to their last batch. These photos are of the Begin Transmission winners at the studio.

Photo #1 is taken outside the studio and features Brock (hoodie) smiling in the middle with Jade looking at something on the ground. Photo #2 is also outside the studio and stars Christy in the middle, with Hunter looking rather creeped out by everything.

Photo #3 features the winners in the control room. Hunter and Raine are paying attention while Adam and the rest of them stare blankly at the wall. Photo #4 features looks of anguish and concern on the faces of the winners. Brock in particular looks very contemplative. Photo #5 is very interesting. It could possibly be Davey judging by the hands writing “Flash Fla…” on a legal pad.

Photo #6 features Adam looking very fly as he talks to the winners, who are gathered around one microphone in a semicircle. Photo #7 features Raine and Christy singing while looking at a lyric sheet. Photo #8 features all 6 winners and Davey and Jade for the first time. I can now confirm that Photo #5 is in fact Davey. They are all around the microphone.

Photo #9 features the entire gang with their mouths open, singing their hearts out. Jade looks somewhat monkeyish due to the blur. Photo #10 features Jade doing some sort of dance as everybody looks on in… amazement. Adam looks particularly entertained. Photo #11 looks like some sort of prayer or somber moment of reflection. Notice how they have all switched places.

Photo #12 features everybody back in the control room, listening to the playback. Either they don’t like what they’re hearing, or they’re trying not to break into hysterics. I’ll pick the second one. Photo #13 is outside the studio with Davey loving the shirt that the winners made for him. Photo #14 is a group photo… with only one person looking at the camera… :/

Comment and tell us what you think!

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

AFI Studio Pictures Released

Several Twitter updates have contained links to pictures of the studio where the Begin Transmission winners will be recording. Theory has posted 4 pictures of the studio and the vegetation outside of it, and AFI has posted 2 pictures.

In Theory’s pictures we see a wide view of a recording room in which AFI is recording, a close-up of the complicated sound board, and an artistic shot of some plants that appear to be outside the studio. AFI gives us a shot of the six headphones for the winners. I will post more photos here if they arrive.

Studio Headphones

Studio Wide

Control Room Wide

Soundboard

Studio Exterior

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Winners Eat Lunch At AstroBurger

The winners ate lunch Saturday at AstroBurger, a restaurant in Hollywood, CA that supports both a gluttonous fast-food menu and a rapidly growing vegetarian section. Apparently the “Hollywood” sign can be seen from somewhere around here…

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Natacia Summarizes Friday Night, Saturday Morning

Natacia, one of the six winners of the Begin Transmission contest, has updated her Begin Transmission blog with details of Friday night and and Saturday morning, along with a hint of what’s to come:

“…We got back to the hotel and everyone got checked in. I took about a 10 minute nap before we re-conveined downstairs in the lobby to hang out. Smith picked us all up at 7:30 PM for a fun-filled late night bowling event at the Universal Studios. Rounding our 10th frame, Adam [Carson] dropped by to join us and say hello…” For more of Natacia’s first weekend blog, click here.


Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Follow The Winners’ Weekend in LA

Several of the winners of the Begin Transmission contest will be constantly Tweeting from LA this weekend as they meet AFI and sing on the new album. Below are links to some of their Twitter pages. (If you know the Twitter pages of Raine or Brock, please comment about it and I will add it to the list.)

Mark – Panasonic Youth
Christy – ChristyVegas
Natacia – Natacia (duh!)
Courtney – Grape Gatsby
Raine – XRaineofFireX

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Hunter Discusses New Album in Blender Interview

In a new interview with Blender.com’s Mark Yarm, AFI bassist Hunter Burgan has given new details about the overall sound of the upcoming album.

“We’ve done an extensive amount of demo-ing, more so than we’ve ever done in the past. This is definitely more of a rock album—more immediate and definitely more of a focused, direct approach musically. Compared to Decemberunderground, where some of the songs were more subtle, these are more in-your-face.”

Hunter also confirmed plans for a summer AFI tour — whether or not the album is out by then. “We expect to be done in time to tour on the record this summer. But whether or not it’s out, we’ll be on the road.”

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Winners To Enter Studio This Weekend

The six winners of the Begin Transmission video contest will be spending the weekend with AFI, meeting and recording vocals with the band. We have learned this via a Twitter update Tuesday night. Also in the Twitter update is a link to a TwtFM song, Summer Shudder.

The winners are Natacia, Raine, Mark, Courtney, Brock, and Christy. Be jealous, folks. They get a free trip for two to California and will spend two days with the boys in the studio. Let’s hope they find out some secrets for us.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

E-mails Sent Out About Crash Love

Originally posted on February 18, 2009 at 4:56 am

An e-mail has been sent by AFI to members of the AFireInside.net mailing list. There was no mistake in delivery, as I reported earlier. That was a misunderstanding. The problem actually lies in several missing/broken links in the actual e-mail. The contents of the e-mail are:

* A Crash Love masthead image leading the Begin Transmission Page
* A link to buy Crash Love shirts and be “the first to represent Crash Love.”
* Links to the blogs of the winners of the Begin Transmission Contest
* Links to the videos of 36 Honorable Mentions of the contest
* An invitation to use the “Transmitter.”

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Summary of Events – 2/17/09

Originally posted on February 18, 2009 at 12:30 am

Current to 4:30 p.m. on 2/17/09…

* “Valentine’s Day is Fake. Crash Love is Real” cards sent to Begin Transmission Honorable Mentions
* “Valentine’s Day is Fake. Crash Love is Real” posted on Theory and AFI Twitter
* AFI MySpace theme changed to Crash Love theme
* Crash Love t-shirts go on sale through StarTee and Hot Topic
* “CrashLove” profile on Despair Faction is NOT real
* “CrashLove” profiles on LiveJournal, Twitter, Freewebs are NOT real
* Mysterious “black page” on AFireInside.net is NOT significant
* Nothing unusual happened at Hot Topic on Tuesday

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Audio of Davey Singing In Studio

A new video on Jade’s blog, ShyBoysWin, is meant to display the tattoos and basketball adventures of his brother Smith. However, in the first few seconds of the clip, if you turn the volume all the way up, you can hear Davey singing some sort of song in the background.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

AFI Updates Myspace, Twitter

AFI updated their official Myspace blog with this entry at 3:06 p.m. Monday afternoon. The link at the bottom is to the Official Store page where the white Crash Love shirts are available. Black shirts are still a Hot Topic exclusive.

Fifteen minutes later, the AFI Twitter page was updated with this entry. The tinyurl leads to the same official store page.


Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Despair Faction Investigating Image on AFireInside.net

The current buzz on the board is about an image found on AFireInside.net that appears to be all black, but has certain dots and lines when digitally enhanced.
The picture is possibly the first picture from the series of car pictures that began appearing on the site on December 18, 2008. The picture names spelled out “Through Our Bleeding We Are One” in morse code.
At this point we do not know whether this could be a clue. I am reporting it because there is such a frenzy over it on the Despair Faction boards.

EDIT: Theory may have been referring to the aforementioned page when he told us “the page is not significant.”

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Photos of Black Crash Love Shirts

“Ascend With Ivy” from the Despair Faction has been kind enough to send me pictures of the black Crash Love shirt available at Hot Topic. Apparently the supposed pre-shrunk slim fits are huge.

Back
Front
(Allegedly) Slim-Fit
Tags

By the way, I just got one of these shirts. They look great!

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Crash Love T-Shirts Go On Sale

Not long after the original “legitimizing” of Crash Love did t-shirts begin to go on sale through Startee. Online there are currently white shirts available with the”Crash Love” icon on them. There are reports of black versions of the shirts available at Hot Topic. However, this has not been confirmed at all locations. Most Hot Topic stores should have them by Monday.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Crash Love Becomes Official

At 11:08 a.m. on February 13th, AFI’s Twitter page was updated.

“Valetine’s Day is Fake. Crash Love is Real.” That was the phrase written on the Valentines Day cards. This wasn’t the only change to AFI’s twitter. They also changed their icon to represent their favorite new phrase.

AFI’s Myspace page also changed. They went black with a cool collage of pictures as a header with the “Crash Love” icon in the middle. The pictures are actually the ones “John” took when he came into the studio. Davey posted these photos for the Despair Faction to see. Strangely, the “Dates” link on the MySpace leads to the Begin Transmission page. This suggests that the BeginTransmission page will change soon.

AFI’s Myspace

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Theory’s Twitter Frenzies DF

At 11:21 p.m. on the night of February 12th, the webmaster of AFireInside.net, nicknamed “Theory” reported something on his Twitter Page.

“Designing for AFI announcement tomorrow.” This meant something would happen on February 13th. And then, at 9:28 a.m. on the morning of the 13th, he gave us another AFI-related update.

“Lookout for AFI news today.” Naturally, this sent the Despair Faction into a frenzy. Many sat refreshing every AFI page continuously, waiting for updates. And in time, they came…

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.

Valentine’s Cards Sent to Honorable Mentions

On February 12th, 2009, several people who had received honorable mentions in the Begin Transmission Contest got a Valentines Day card from either Davey or Jade. These cards were usually in the shape of a heart, with a cut-out saying “Crash” on the front. When opened, the cards said something along the lines of “I wanted you to be one of the first to know. I loved your video.” All of the cards also contained the message “Valentines Day is fake. Crash Love is real.” On February 13th, more people began receiving cards.

Remember, the people who received these were SOME of the honorable mentions in the Begin Transmission Contest. If Davey and Jade sent a Valentines Day card to every fan, the album would not be out until NEXT Valentines Day.

Note: On June 30, 2010 AFI News HQ was hacked and all posts were deleted. This is one of the posts that was affected. The text here was imported from a backup, but all of the original comments are gone and the author credited below is only responsible for reposting in most cases.