It has been nearly two years since I've posted in this blog. A lot has changed in that time. I am now dating the beautiful and ravishing Danica Zirkle. She's the kind of gal that sets loose angry, mal-nourished badgers inside of your heart. My heart is racing. Every day when I see her, I am constantly excited and motivated for what lies ahead. Here's a little bit you should know about her. She's an aspiring herbalist and creates concoctions that soothe even the most savage of beasts. You will be cured of ailments (except for the Danicailment, which she has no control over). It is also common to find her hoarding mason jars, gloating over Prince videos on YouTube, finding fiesta plate-ware at free-piles/garage sales and occasionally chugging the nearest Moxie. Danica is the kind of woman who will try on three or four different variations of the same outfit when she gets up in the morning and ask you how each one looks. I just look at her professionally constructed exterior and admire how evenly it flows from one corner to the next. Indeed, her back is like a ski jump or a human water-slide that I envision taking a plunge off of. So when she asks me how she looks, I just say she looks beautiful. If you didn't get that from my description, then you are a clueless motherfucker drooling all over yourself. Danica is the kind of gal who will bring you to your knees with such incredible statements as "sometimes you just have to have sexy mornings" and the ever popular "well if you feel hungry, you should eat something." Danica is the kind of gal that will go out of her way to prepare breakfast for you while you're drooling on her pillow, hungover, half-naked and full of bruises from drunken debauchery. She is a goddess among men and you better have the courage to give in and accept that no matter how incredible you think your penis is, it's NOTHING. This brings me to my next point; Danica is a mother and from what I've seen, the best out there. She pushed another human being out of her womb and endured a pain that I will never know. That is why your penis is nothing. Her daughter is really smart, sassy and calls me out for swearing in public. She should invest in a swear jar, because she'd probably be able to fund her entire four years of college with my dirty sailor mouth.
And now for the number one reason why Danica is cooler than five chimpanzees planning your wedding.... SHE IS A TREKKIE. Can you believe it? A woman this beautiful finds something poignant in the glare that is Capt. Jean Luc Picard's bald head? That's right you heard it. She owns every TNG movie on DVD, has a vintage communicator badge and a tattoo of the United Federation of Planets logo (which I also got with her in San Fransisco). We were also on the cusp of traveling to Alberta, Canada just to see the cast of The Next Generation reunite for the first time in 20 years. Unfortunately, we had to call that off because my sister just had to get married the same day! What nerve! Hopefully the guilt will stick with her for the duration of her marriage. Haha. Just kidding. The wedding was actually a blast and Danica and I tore up the dance floor as we usually do. Seriously, we are an unstoppable dance assault squad. Some people say it's because we are usually intoxicated, but I think it's because we know how to get down. I mean the shear site of us grinding on the dance floor is enough to give anybody an on-sight orgasm. That's right, we ruin your pants.
So what else is going on? Last September, the moxie-chugging, beavis & butt head inspired burrito mosh squad known as Crucial Times officially ended. Conor left the band last April and we decided to persevere and push on with Danielle Allen on vocals. Some of you may know her from that band Offisdes. Anyways, she moved to Burlington last winter from Phoenix and it all just kinda fell into place. Justin Gonyea, my beloved graphic designer teddy bear also took over on second guitar duties. We did a short summer tour, hitting up Massachussetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont. It was fun, but at the end of August, Danielle said she was moving to New Zealand. Clearly, we wouldn't deny her that opportunity. They filmed fucking Lord of the Rings there! So we ended the band. We were fortunate enough to put out a 7" though and tour the midwest, the entire east coast and several parts of Canada, so fuck yeah.
I now play guitar in Hunger, a band consisting of Ryan Krushenick on vocals, Justin on guitar, Roy Larsen on bass and Zeke on drums. We sound like a fine mix between Misfits "Earth A.D." and the seminal riffing of Minor Threat, but with a whole lot of straight forward punk rock thrown in. It's like if Kill Your Idols, The Sex Pistols and Burn had an orgy. It's very interesting to say the least. It's also the first band that I've ever played guitar in, albeit none of my equipment is mine. Big props to Boston Ganja for lending me everything (someday he will be handsomely rewarded for his contribution). This summer we're touring Europe for two weeks and have a 7" EP coming out on a German-based label. I am beyond stoked. I also occasionally play in a more modern hardcore band called No Submission with Mikey X. We don't play often, but we have a record out on Get Outta Town Records and it sounds pretty gnarly.
So thats about it for now. I'm 26 years old in less than three weeks, I'm still vegan, still chug moxie like it's water, cuddle up and watch Star Trek at least three times a week and enjoy a nice pair of slacks. Yesterday I even helped raise money for Big Heavy World by being dunked over and over again into a cold vat of my own body stew for 5 and a half hours. Now I look like a ripe cherry from the sun. Thankfully Danica was willing to rub cool aloe all over my pink and bloated exterior. What a champion. They should've probably called the event "dunk a hunk" instead of "dunk a punk" though. I know a certain individual will agree. I don't know when I will update this again, so until next time.....GET STOKED OR GET FUCKED.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Doritos
Hey there. Here's the three month update. I recently turned 24 years old. I'm still vegan and still playing hardcore. Still playing in Crucial Times and still single. I have, however, relocated to Mikey X's house in the new north end of Burlington. If it were inhabited by any other individuals, I would consider it quaint suburban paradise, but it is in fact housing two hopeless romantic retards who would do anything to go on tour and shout at people that don't really give a shit all over the country. I suppose its the dream duo I've been aspiring for all these years. Although Kimball still needs his papa bear moments (alone time) and he still gets them. Aside from the occasional outburst and humor at the equivalent of a preschooler (Mikey X), I'm finally getting that peace of mind that would've normally been interrupted in the past by PBR drinking crust punks and there penchant for hording anything and everything from the nearest dumpster.
Girls seem to be a waste of time. This weekend, my friend Lilly tried to hook me up with one of her co-workers. I returned the favor by getting drunk and trying to kiss her co-worker. Yeah I had just barely met her, but all night my friends kept telling me to be assertive and to not fuck it up. Anyway, Lilly's friend was not into kissing (kissing me anyways...haha). Normally I wouldn't do this. Normally I wouldn't do anything if a girl was sitting right next to me if nobody else was in the house, but this time I thought the mood was right....or maybe I was just too drunk. I think this girl may have actually been more interested in petting Mikey X's cat named Zombie actually.
Anyways, that didn't go over too well. I guess I learned my lesson. So Crucial Times is doing a Midwest tour in August. We're planning to play out as far as Kansas City, Kansas. It'll be a loop. Fucking playing the south in August, it's too hot and muggy. I'm still having trouble filling in some gaps, mainly Chicago, Kentucky and West Virginia. It was pretty easy getting a show in Iowa surprisingly though. I also went to Mexico with Change of Ideas in March. We drove from Florida to Texas, where we did shows in Austin, Dallas and McAllen. We then took a bus from McAllen, TX to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, MX. It was a pretty drive and only cost $40. Lots of tall, dusty and rocky hills and mountains and a cactus here and there. It was pretty sweet. Monterrey was beautiful and we spent two days with Mike and his family there while they showed us around the city. They did so much for us and I'm so thankful for their hospitality. Next we took a 15 hour bus drive to Mexico City. It was so fucking long, but I slep through a good portion of it. We played for over a 100 kids in the center of the city and people went nuts. I still can't believe I played there. Great hospitality again, courteous of Pablo (also check out his amazing hardcore band Picking Up The Pieces). Mexico City was also the first time I tried flower tea. By the way, there are in fact Taco Bells in Mexico! After that, we took a couple buses back to Texas and played a couple more shows on our way back to Florida. I'd say the whole trip was worth the experience.
I'm really starting to feel like I'm going to be single for eternity. I hear one of two things constantly; 1) Be a dick and 2) play hard to get. I'm also told to be assertive all at the same time. This all seems rather annoying. I thought relationships just came together. Mind games are fucking stupid. And usually after I try the first two things mentioned, someone usually tells me to not move so fast and keep my distance. I'm also told not to have friends that are girls at all. Shouldn't I just be listening to myself? I guess I'm fucked. I haven't held a girl's hand in more than three years. I'm becoming use to myself and myself only. That's not a good thing.
Girls seem to be a waste of time. This weekend, my friend Lilly tried to hook me up with one of her co-workers. I returned the favor by getting drunk and trying to kiss her co-worker. Yeah I had just barely met her, but all night my friends kept telling me to be assertive and to not fuck it up. Anyway, Lilly's friend was not into kissing (kissing me anyways...haha). Normally I wouldn't do this. Normally I wouldn't do anything if a girl was sitting right next to me if nobody else was in the house, but this time I thought the mood was right....or maybe I was just too drunk. I think this girl may have actually been more interested in petting Mikey X's cat named Zombie actually.
Anyways, that didn't go over too well. I guess I learned my lesson. So Crucial Times is doing a Midwest tour in August. We're planning to play out as far as Kansas City, Kansas. It'll be a loop. Fucking playing the south in August, it's too hot and muggy. I'm still having trouble filling in some gaps, mainly Chicago, Kentucky and West Virginia. It was pretty easy getting a show in Iowa surprisingly though. I also went to Mexico with Change of Ideas in March. We drove from Florida to Texas, where we did shows in Austin, Dallas and McAllen. We then took a bus from McAllen, TX to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, MX. It was a pretty drive and only cost $40. Lots of tall, dusty and rocky hills and mountains and a cactus here and there. It was pretty sweet. Monterrey was beautiful and we spent two days with Mike and his family there while they showed us around the city. They did so much for us and I'm so thankful for their hospitality. Next we took a 15 hour bus drive to Mexico City. It was so fucking long, but I slep through a good portion of it. We played for over a 100 kids in the center of the city and people went nuts. I still can't believe I played there. Great hospitality again, courteous of Pablo (also check out his amazing hardcore band Picking Up The Pieces). Mexico City was also the first time I tried flower tea. By the way, there are in fact Taco Bells in Mexico! After that, we took a couple buses back to Texas and played a couple more shows on our way back to Florida. I'd say the whole trip was worth the experience.
I'm really starting to feel like I'm going to be single for eternity. I hear one of two things constantly; 1) Be a dick and 2) play hard to get. I'm also told to be assertive all at the same time. This all seems rather annoying. I thought relationships just came together. Mind games are fucking stupid. And usually after I try the first two things mentioned, someone usually tells me to not move so fast and keep my distance. I'm also told not to have friends that are girls at all. Shouldn't I just be listening to myself? I guess I'm fucked. I haven't held a girl's hand in more than three years. I'm becoming use to myself and myself only. That's not a good thing.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Fuck
Life has become complicated and stressful lately. It has also become spontaneous and full of surprises, good and bad. Music tends to be the once constant; the only real thing that keeps me together. I honestly don't think I'd have even half the motivation to wake up in the morning, if it weren't for my friends and community in the hardcore and punk scene. I've become so bitter and depressed by what I face on a daily basis, that I'd probably just die if I couldn't pick up my bass and freak out on stage. In a way, it's pathetic. I can't face my demons without music.
I should be happy with all the experiences I've had musically. All the places I've seen and all the supportive people I've met, are memories that won't fade with age. I'm in this for life. At the same time, I find myself lonely. I hate the "woe is me" shit usually, but I need to get this off my chance.
Recently I met a girl who attends UVM. My friend Colin, who I met through shows in Burlington (who also unfortunately moved back to New Jersey), introduced me to her. We'd hang out here and there and see each other shows. We began to hang out more frequently with each other and I began to develop feelings for her. Colin agreed that she seemed to be interested in me. I wanted to do something genuine and from the heart to show here how I felt. So while she was on winter break from UVM, I coaxed her into giving me her home address in Connecticut. I told her I wanted to send her a letter and she seemed really excited.
Yes, you're right. I hand-wrote a letter, telling her how I felt and that I'd love to have something more than a friendship. I even made her a mixtape. An actual cassette tape. I drew flaming unicorns on the cover and even made liner notes! Admittedly, I was stoked. With the entire entourage, I included a self-addressed, stamped envelope, so that she could write back. I had my neighbor Annalise proof-read the note and got the seal of approval.
This girl did write back, but she said that she was already involved with someone. I couldn't believe it. I was so sure of the whole situation. I thought my single streak was finally over. She went on to say how much of nice guy I was and how I would definitely find a girl soon. Yeah, right. I've been hearing that for the past three and a half years. Apparently being nice hasn't gotten me anywhere! Girls want to play hard-to-get. They want a douche-bag. It's like they need a project to work on. Why bother dating anybody who actually has a job already, volunteers in the community and would do anything for his friends? Girls don't like that apparently. Time to give up.
To make matters worse, this past weekend on the Crucial Times/No Love Lost weekend tour, I sold a demo tape to her boyfriend at our show in Hartford, Connecticut. What are the odds!? He was a really nice guy. I'm happy for him, but I still didn't want to run into him. Hell I didn't even want him to like my band or buy a demo. Fuck my life.
The hard part, is that this girl still wants to be my friend. Trust me, I want that too, but let's face it; I already have enough friends girls! No more friends. Time to go on dates and make out. That is 100% what I want. Maybe I'm too introverted. Maybe I hate bars. Maybe I like shitty music. I don't know what to do anymore. Apparently I can't date. There will be no grandchildren for my parents. They're gonna have to count on my sister for that! She's already engaged and I'm three years older than her!
Whatever. I'll shut the fuck up now. I'm lucky. I get to be on the road for 14 days with three of the coolest and funniest dudes in hardcore. I get to play shows in a different country and see places I've never seen before.
I could have it a lot worse.
I should be happy with all the experiences I've had musically. All the places I've seen and all the supportive people I've met, are memories that won't fade with age. I'm in this for life. At the same time, I find myself lonely. I hate the "woe is me" shit usually, but I need to get this off my chance.
Recently I met a girl who attends UVM. My friend Colin, who I met through shows in Burlington (who also unfortunately moved back to New Jersey), introduced me to her. We'd hang out here and there and see each other shows. We began to hang out more frequently with each other and I began to develop feelings for her. Colin agreed that she seemed to be interested in me. I wanted to do something genuine and from the heart to show here how I felt. So while she was on winter break from UVM, I coaxed her into giving me her home address in Connecticut. I told her I wanted to send her a letter and she seemed really excited.
Yes, you're right. I hand-wrote a letter, telling her how I felt and that I'd love to have something more than a friendship. I even made her a mixtape. An actual cassette tape. I drew flaming unicorns on the cover and even made liner notes! Admittedly, I was stoked. With the entire entourage, I included a self-addressed, stamped envelope, so that she could write back. I had my neighbor Annalise proof-read the note and got the seal of approval.
This girl did write back, but she said that she was already involved with someone. I couldn't believe it. I was so sure of the whole situation. I thought my single streak was finally over. She went on to say how much of nice guy I was and how I would definitely find a girl soon. Yeah, right. I've been hearing that for the past three and a half years. Apparently being nice hasn't gotten me anywhere! Girls want to play hard-to-get. They want a douche-bag. It's like they need a project to work on. Why bother dating anybody who actually has a job already, volunteers in the community and would do anything for his friends? Girls don't like that apparently. Time to give up.
To make matters worse, this past weekend on the Crucial Times/No Love Lost weekend tour, I sold a demo tape to her boyfriend at our show in Hartford, Connecticut. What are the odds!? He was a really nice guy. I'm happy for him, but I still didn't want to run into him. Hell I didn't even want him to like my band or buy a demo. Fuck my life.
The hard part, is that this girl still wants to be my friend. Trust me, I want that too, but let's face it; I already have enough friends girls! No more friends. Time to go on dates and make out. That is 100% what I want. Maybe I'm too introverted. Maybe I hate bars. Maybe I like shitty music. I don't know what to do anymore. Apparently I can't date. There will be no grandchildren for my parents. They're gonna have to count on my sister for that! She's already engaged and I'm three years older than her!
Whatever. I'll shut the fuck up now. I'm lucky. I get to be on the road for 14 days with three of the coolest and funniest dudes in hardcore. I get to play shows in a different country and see places I've never seen before.
I could have it a lot worse.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Graveyard
Clearly I've decided that it's much more eventful to post a new entry every four months or so, rather than twice week, as to avoid complete and utter disregard to my life's musings from other people utilizing this 21st century social networking tool known as blogger. Basically what I'm saying, is that I don't want to bore the fuck out of you. So what has the Kimball been up to? Prepare to be cum-blasted....
Weight of the World is over. We broke up on tour in Tallahassee, Florida, when Nick and Conor got into a shouting match outside a 24-hour gas station right down the road from the venue. The shouting match ended in a bloody nose and trash being strewn across the street. The cops showed up, the ambulance showed up and I had to do all the talking, as usual. The rest of the night consisted of me trying to awkwardly take care of Nick's broken nose, while somehow figuring out if we were going to to finish the tour or not. We didn't finish the tour and we missed the next show in Orlando with Change Of Ideas. Conor flew home and Bruce and I had the daunting task of driving our asshole guitarist Nick all the way back to Vermont. He only gave us $30 for gas too. What a piece of shit. I hope he rots in West Rutland for the rest of his life. And don't be fooled by what he says. He may have gotten punched in the nose by Conor, but he was asking for it. Now I feel slightly awkward saying that, but this is a person who called one of my best friends a chlamydia-ridden whore slut and tried to beat up a friend just because he had a bit too much to drink and decided to watch our set. Nick was also a control freak and felt like he was being personally assaulted every time the rest of the band disagreed with him on any issue, which in actuality was 90% of the time, because he clearly has some sever mental issues that he hasn't learned to cope with.
So if you see Nick and you talk to him, he'll probably talk a ton of shit about us and proclaim that we "punch poor kids in the face." And yes, he will always use his unfortunate economic situation to validate his despotic and vindictive behavior. Also, Nick is the most uneventful and dull person to go on a tour with. To him, everything is a bad idea and he'd rather just sit in the van complaining to his girlfriend about how uncomfortable sleeping is at night on someone's floor in Maryland. Every time we went to do something fun with Change of Ideas, he would always opt out and alienate himself somewhere obscure and sulk. It was really annoying. He wouldn't even go bowling with us in Virginia or explore a sketchy porn shop in Tennessee. This is hardcore. It's not supposed to be glamorous. It's supposed to be about having fun and making the most out of every moment, because they're too short and real life is miserable and never ending (unless you stumble piss drunk onto oncoming traffic). So mix Nick's desire to be as plain as mashed potato sandwich with mayo on white, with his militant, skewed perspective on straight edge, than you can see why things ended the way the did. We all knew it was coming, but didn't expect it to come at such a horrible time (5 months of tour preparation down the drain). So yeah, fuck Nick.
The fun didn't even end there! We had decided that we may have a last show in Vermont, with Soul Control, Defeater and Unrestrained on Sept. 17th. In the two weeks prior to that, Bruce, Conor and I had formed a new band with Nate and Mikey X on guitar. This band consists of much shorter, faster and aggressive songs. I would say more youth crew, but with a modern heavier influence thrown in. Stoked on the new project and putting into perspective what happened to Weight of the World in August, we decided that this band would play the Soul Control show instead. When I informed Nick, he retaliated by breaking into the WOTW myspace page and deleted all 2000 of our friends, all our contacts, emails and anything else that may have been useful for the new project. He also found it humorous to try and break into my personal email account and attempt to delete it. That failed. So the new band, aptly titled CRUCIAL TIMES, played the show with Soul Control and Defeater. Over 150 people showed up and it was a blast. We'll be recording our demo sometime in the first week of October and it'll be released subsequently on a short run of cassette tapes. So look out for that! And now that I mention it, Crucial Times features Mikey X on guitar, who sang for seminal VT hardcore band Fight Back and played guitar in My Revenge! and The Scams. He's been straight edge since 1995 and completely respects my decision to get completely fucked up on a Friday night at Esox. Hell, Mikey has even hung out with me at Esox and picked up some beer for me once, but he still hasn't broken edge! Why couldn't Nick have been like him!
A couple other cool things have happened since the birth of a new band and the prior mess. Change of Ideas kicked out their bass player and in dire of need of someone to pluck the thump-staff, asked me if I'd record the bass tracks for their upcoming full-length album. I graciously accepted and bought a plane ticket to Orlando. I'm leaving this Friday actually. Recording the album, is Charles from Offsides/No Harm Done. I can't begin to tell you how stoked I am to be working closely with him! Closely following the agreement to record with COI, they asked me if I'd like to join the band permanently. So apparently, COI will not be doing many local Florida shows anymore and aims strictly to be a touring band. In this context, I can still live in Vermont and simply fly down to meet up with them when they are going on tour. According to Chris, their singer, the next tour will be a week-long tour of Mexico and Texas next spring and I get to go on it! So psyched!
So I got some stuff to look forward to. Unfortunately though, I am still single and my penis is eternally in hibernation. Now that I think about it, that last line was very tasteless. Oh well, we're all human. I got a new job part-time job at Spectrum, as a peer-outreach worker and it's a great job, but I really wish they'd give me more hours. I'm barely paying my bills at the moment and that's even with my work at The Vermont Gay Guide too, but that's all commission based which totally sucks. I applied for over 30 full-time jobs this summer and didn't get a single one. I got interviews and good vibes, but nothing else. I really hope having a four-year college degree pays off someday, because I'm sick of the bullshit.
Weight of the World is over. We broke up on tour in Tallahassee, Florida, when Nick and Conor got into a shouting match outside a 24-hour gas station right down the road from the venue. The shouting match ended in a bloody nose and trash being strewn across the street. The cops showed up, the ambulance showed up and I had to do all the talking, as usual. The rest of the night consisted of me trying to awkwardly take care of Nick's broken nose, while somehow figuring out if we were going to to finish the tour or not. We didn't finish the tour and we missed the next show in Orlando with Change Of Ideas. Conor flew home and Bruce and I had the daunting task of driving our asshole guitarist Nick all the way back to Vermont. He only gave us $30 for gas too. What a piece of shit. I hope he rots in West Rutland for the rest of his life. And don't be fooled by what he says. He may have gotten punched in the nose by Conor, but he was asking for it. Now I feel slightly awkward saying that, but this is a person who called one of my best friends a chlamydia-ridden whore slut and tried to beat up a friend just because he had a bit too much to drink and decided to watch our set. Nick was also a control freak and felt like he was being personally assaulted every time the rest of the band disagreed with him on any issue, which in actuality was 90% of the time, because he clearly has some sever mental issues that he hasn't learned to cope with.
So if you see Nick and you talk to him, he'll probably talk a ton of shit about us and proclaim that we "punch poor kids in the face." And yes, he will always use his unfortunate economic situation to validate his despotic and vindictive behavior. Also, Nick is the most uneventful and dull person to go on a tour with. To him, everything is a bad idea and he'd rather just sit in the van complaining to his girlfriend about how uncomfortable sleeping is at night on someone's floor in Maryland. Every time we went to do something fun with Change of Ideas, he would always opt out and alienate himself somewhere obscure and sulk. It was really annoying. He wouldn't even go bowling with us in Virginia or explore a sketchy porn shop in Tennessee. This is hardcore. It's not supposed to be glamorous. It's supposed to be about having fun and making the most out of every moment, because they're too short and real life is miserable and never ending (unless you stumble piss drunk onto oncoming traffic). So mix Nick's desire to be as plain as mashed potato sandwich with mayo on white, with his militant, skewed perspective on straight edge, than you can see why things ended the way the did. We all knew it was coming, but didn't expect it to come at such a horrible time (5 months of tour preparation down the drain). So yeah, fuck Nick.
The fun didn't even end there! We had decided that we may have a last show in Vermont, with Soul Control, Defeater and Unrestrained on Sept. 17th. In the two weeks prior to that, Bruce, Conor and I had formed a new band with Nate and Mikey X on guitar. This band consists of much shorter, faster and aggressive songs. I would say more youth crew, but with a modern heavier influence thrown in. Stoked on the new project and putting into perspective what happened to Weight of the World in August, we decided that this band would play the Soul Control show instead. When I informed Nick, he retaliated by breaking into the WOTW myspace page and deleted all 2000 of our friends, all our contacts, emails and anything else that may have been useful for the new project. He also found it humorous to try and break into my personal email account and attempt to delete it. That failed. So the new band, aptly titled CRUCIAL TIMES, played the show with Soul Control and Defeater. Over 150 people showed up and it was a blast. We'll be recording our demo sometime in the first week of October and it'll be released subsequently on a short run of cassette tapes. So look out for that! And now that I mention it, Crucial Times features Mikey X on guitar, who sang for seminal VT hardcore band Fight Back and played guitar in My Revenge! and The Scams. He's been straight edge since 1995 and completely respects my decision to get completely fucked up on a Friday night at Esox. Hell, Mikey has even hung out with me at Esox and picked up some beer for me once, but he still hasn't broken edge! Why couldn't Nick have been like him!
A couple other cool things have happened since the birth of a new band and the prior mess. Change of Ideas kicked out their bass player and in dire of need of someone to pluck the thump-staff, asked me if I'd record the bass tracks for their upcoming full-length album. I graciously accepted and bought a plane ticket to Orlando. I'm leaving this Friday actually. Recording the album, is Charles from Offsides/No Harm Done. I can't begin to tell you how stoked I am to be working closely with him! Closely following the agreement to record with COI, they asked me if I'd like to join the band permanently. So apparently, COI will not be doing many local Florida shows anymore and aims strictly to be a touring band. In this context, I can still live in Vermont and simply fly down to meet up with them when they are going on tour. According to Chris, their singer, the next tour will be a week-long tour of Mexico and Texas next spring and I get to go on it! So psyched!
So I got some stuff to look forward to. Unfortunately though, I am still single and my penis is eternally in hibernation. Now that I think about it, that last line was very tasteless. Oh well, we're all human. I got a new job part-time job at Spectrum, as a peer-outreach worker and it's a great job, but I really wish they'd give me more hours. I'm barely paying my bills at the moment and that's even with my work at The Vermont Gay Guide too, but that's all commission based which totally sucks. I applied for over 30 full-time jobs this summer and didn't get a single one. I got interviews and good vibes, but nothing else. I really hope having a four-year college degree pays off someday, because I'm sick of the bullshit.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Oreo
Fuck...so it's been nearly three months since I've updated this blog. Things have been stellar and not so stellar during that time. The band I play in, Weight of the World has been very active. Active, but strained at times. Our guitarist has recently decided that it makes more sense to shove his straight edge ideologue down our throats, rather than respecting our personal decisions to drink. Actually, Conor is still straight edge, but has become so disillusioned with Nick, that he no longer claims it. Nick's attitude with his straight edge lifestyle has become border line militant, if not violent at times. It's really not fair. I respect his and Conor's decision to not drink, so why can't Nick respect my decision to drink?
I think Nick's shitty attitude, is a culmination of a few things; his family life, his lack of mental health resources and possibly someone who has influenced him. When I say his family life has had an impact, I'm saying there has been a history of alcoholism. I don't want to get into any details, but from the stories he's shared with me, it seems that when he sees anybody drinking he believes there actions will produce similar outcomes, like the ones in his family. I think that's pretty arrogant and presumptuous, but it makes a lot of sense. When I say lack of mental health resources, I mean that Nick has some serious mental disabilities. He has a very reactionary personality and one that can be vengeful when prompted. Mostly when there is a situation that upsets Nick, he reacts strongly while citing pasts mistakes of the accused. If you respond to him with a factual and sane response, he may escalate his temperament by using highly offensive words towards your friends. The words "slut," "bitch" or "cunt" are all possibilities. Obviously Nick has some issues and his lack of health insurance or free services in his area don't give him the security and help he needs (or our government's complete disregard for social programs that benefit society). When I say someone else has influenced Nick, I say that someone with similar beliefs and disdain for substance consumption is playing role. I'm not going to name any names, but there definitely is someone. All of this, has created a new asshole out of Nick and the only thing that's keeping this band together is that he lives an hour and a half away and we don't see him on a daily basis.
So a midst all this chaos and inner turmoil, we are embarking on a two-week east coast tour in August with Change of Ideas from Kissimmee, Florida. This tour started to come together when Change of Ideas mentioned we should play together after adding us on myspace. It's as simple as that. No outlandish stories or random coincidences. From there it went even further when they asked us to do a split 7" with them. Needless to say, I was stoked. So we just finished recording two songs for that B-Side and they're our best sounding tracks so far. This is probably because we actually spent a decent amount of time mixing the songs and actually did a real master job this time. The tour in August, will take us all the way down to Florida and then up to Michigan. I'm so stoked to be playing in nearly 15 different states. So to deal with the "Nick Issue," we're bring one of our newest and coolest friends in Burlington, Yesha. He has come to several shows with us already and has helped us load and unload the van, meaning we have a roadie (and a merch dude). So hopefully having him on tour, will help alleviate the pain of interacting Nick. Plus, we'll be on the road with Change of Ideas and they seem to be the most legit and down to earth dudes ever. Or maybe this is all going to be a horrible mistake...
Change of Ideas is going to be putting the split 7" out on their own label called In My Heart Records. I'm not sure how many copies are going to be made, but there will definitely be color vinyl. I've also begun to seriously increase the amount of vinyl I own. After long hours of serious contemplation and sleepless nights, I realized that buying CDs is pointless when I can just own an iPod and then spend more money on buying cool vinyl. So I'm convinced that's the way of the future for the music industry. Everything will be available on vinyl and digital download. Many records I've been buying lately from bands and labels have been including a download coupon with the physical release. Basically the coupon has a code that can be used to access the songs somewhere online. I think this is the perfect business move for any band or label. You can still get your music out there easily, while simultaneously holding onto the aesthetic value that comes along with owning a physical album; i.e artwork, lyrics, credits and sometimes photos of the band. These are all very important components to music and can be included with a vinyl record, which is way cooler than a CD and a lot of them come in crazy cool colors. Also CDs are dumb. They're basically just a physical copy of a digital download. They're a waste of money. And yes, I know what you're going to say..."I don't have a record player..." blah blah blah. Go buy one! You have to go back in time these days to be up to date. Basically, I'm only going to buy a CD from a band if it's the only available format and mostly so I can support them while they're on tour.
I've started to realize that I basically have no game period in my "love life." Quotable, because it doesn't really exist. In the past three months, I have had three more failed opportunities, two of them ending up going for a close friend of mine instead, after I was the one to invite them over. I'm getting fed up. I can't remember the last time a girl pursued me or even seemed slightly interested. It's pathetic. It's probably because I'm not a macho, tough guy asshole with a cool beard and tattoos. I hate to make assumptions, but the more and more I look, I realize girls like assholes or maybe just someone with muscles and tattoos. Or maybe just someone older looking. Someone witty and eclectic. Slightly off color, but not too far off. Someone who has good connections and lots of confidence. I used to have confidence, but now it's wearing thin. I don't have any of that other stuff. I don't want tattoos, I don't want a bear (can't grow one anyway), don't look my age (fuck I'm 23 now!), and am the most down to earth person you'll ever meet. I will do anything for you. I will put you up at my place for the night and feed you if you need it. I will even give you free guitar lessons if you're interested. But no, none of that stuff matters to the girls I keep meeting. I guess it's time to stop being myself! I mean I even tried buying some pants and shirts that fit me better.....and they look good on me! Someone please say something! I haven't been with a girl since 2007. I need some action soon!
In case anybody was wondering, I no longer work for Vermont Freedom to Marry. Marriage equality has finally come to Vermont! And most recently Maine and New Hampshire as well! We've basically almost got the whole New England block (with the exception of Rhode Island...but does that place even count anyways?). I now work with the Samara Foundation of Vermont, which raises money and assists the LGBT community through the form of scholarships, grants and other technical assistance. I help recruit gay-friendly businesses for the Vermont Gay Guide, which is an online directory of gay-friendly and gay-owned businesses and other resources. Check it out for yourself: The Vermont Gay Guide. It doesn't pay well at all, but it's extremely flexible with my personal life and I have so much more time now to relax and work on music (and party too!). Maybe working with all these gay organizations is not helping my heterosexual love life. That might be true, but I'm an ally of the gay community and I think it's extremely important for me to stick up for a minority that has been historically oppressed. So fuck off! Haha.
That's it for now. This blog has been rather long...
I think Nick's shitty attitude, is a culmination of a few things; his family life, his lack of mental health resources and possibly someone who has influenced him. When I say his family life has had an impact, I'm saying there has been a history of alcoholism. I don't want to get into any details, but from the stories he's shared with me, it seems that when he sees anybody drinking he believes there actions will produce similar outcomes, like the ones in his family. I think that's pretty arrogant and presumptuous, but it makes a lot of sense. When I say lack of mental health resources, I mean that Nick has some serious mental disabilities. He has a very reactionary personality and one that can be vengeful when prompted. Mostly when there is a situation that upsets Nick, he reacts strongly while citing pasts mistakes of the accused. If you respond to him with a factual and sane response, he may escalate his temperament by using highly offensive words towards your friends. The words "slut," "bitch" or "cunt" are all possibilities. Obviously Nick has some issues and his lack of health insurance or free services in his area don't give him the security and help he needs (or our government's complete disregard for social programs that benefit society). When I say someone else has influenced Nick, I say that someone with similar beliefs and disdain for substance consumption is playing role. I'm not going to name any names, but there definitely is someone. All of this, has created a new asshole out of Nick and the only thing that's keeping this band together is that he lives an hour and a half away and we don't see him on a daily basis.
So a midst all this chaos and inner turmoil, we are embarking on a two-week east coast tour in August with Change of Ideas from Kissimmee, Florida. This tour started to come together when Change of Ideas mentioned we should play together after adding us on myspace. It's as simple as that. No outlandish stories or random coincidences. From there it went even further when they asked us to do a split 7" with them. Needless to say, I was stoked. So we just finished recording two songs for that B-Side and they're our best sounding tracks so far. This is probably because we actually spent a decent amount of time mixing the songs and actually did a real master job this time. The tour in August, will take us all the way down to Florida and then up to Michigan. I'm so stoked to be playing in nearly 15 different states. So to deal with the "Nick Issue," we're bring one of our newest and coolest friends in Burlington, Yesha. He has come to several shows with us already and has helped us load and unload the van, meaning we have a roadie (and a merch dude). So hopefully having him on tour, will help alleviate the pain of interacting Nick. Plus, we'll be on the road with Change of Ideas and they seem to be the most legit and down to earth dudes ever. Or maybe this is all going to be a horrible mistake...
Change of Ideas is going to be putting the split 7" out on their own label called In My Heart Records. I'm not sure how many copies are going to be made, but there will definitely be color vinyl. I've also begun to seriously increase the amount of vinyl I own. After long hours of serious contemplation and sleepless nights, I realized that buying CDs is pointless when I can just own an iPod and then spend more money on buying cool vinyl. So I'm convinced that's the way of the future for the music industry. Everything will be available on vinyl and digital download. Many records I've been buying lately from bands and labels have been including a download coupon with the physical release. Basically the coupon has a code that can be used to access the songs somewhere online. I think this is the perfect business move for any band or label. You can still get your music out there easily, while simultaneously holding onto the aesthetic value that comes along with owning a physical album; i.e artwork, lyrics, credits and sometimes photos of the band. These are all very important components to music and can be included with a vinyl record, which is way cooler than a CD and a lot of them come in crazy cool colors. Also CDs are dumb. They're basically just a physical copy of a digital download. They're a waste of money. And yes, I know what you're going to say..."I don't have a record player..." blah blah blah. Go buy one! You have to go back in time these days to be up to date. Basically, I'm only going to buy a CD from a band if it's the only available format and mostly so I can support them while they're on tour.
I've started to realize that I basically have no game period in my "love life." Quotable, because it doesn't really exist. In the past three months, I have had three more failed opportunities, two of them ending up going for a close friend of mine instead, after I was the one to invite them over. I'm getting fed up. I can't remember the last time a girl pursued me or even seemed slightly interested. It's pathetic. It's probably because I'm not a macho, tough guy asshole with a cool beard and tattoos. I hate to make assumptions, but the more and more I look, I realize girls like assholes or maybe just someone with muscles and tattoos. Or maybe just someone older looking. Someone witty and eclectic. Slightly off color, but not too far off. Someone who has good connections and lots of confidence. I used to have confidence, but now it's wearing thin. I don't have any of that other stuff. I don't want tattoos, I don't want a bear (can't grow one anyway), don't look my age (fuck I'm 23 now!), and am the most down to earth person you'll ever meet. I will do anything for you. I will put you up at my place for the night and feed you if you need it. I will even give you free guitar lessons if you're interested. But no, none of that stuff matters to the girls I keep meeting. I guess it's time to stop being myself! I mean I even tried buying some pants and shirts that fit me better.....and they look good on me! Someone please say something! I haven't been with a girl since 2007. I need some action soon!
In case anybody was wondering, I no longer work for Vermont Freedom to Marry. Marriage equality has finally come to Vermont! And most recently Maine and New Hampshire as well! We've basically almost got the whole New England block (with the exception of Rhode Island...but does that place even count anyways?). I now work with the Samara Foundation of Vermont, which raises money and assists the LGBT community through the form of scholarships, grants and other technical assistance. I help recruit gay-friendly businesses for the Vermont Gay Guide, which is an online directory of gay-friendly and gay-owned businesses and other resources. Check it out for yourself: The Vermont Gay Guide. It doesn't pay well at all, but it's extremely flexible with my personal life and I have so much more time now to relax and work on music (and party too!). Maybe working with all these gay organizations is not helping my heterosexual love life. That might be true, but I'm an ally of the gay community and I think it's extremely important for me to stick up for a minority that has been historically oppressed. So fuck off! Haha.
That's it for now. This blog has been rather long...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Silly Hardcore Music
So here's something that's been running through my head lately....
So why the fuck would I be into something as abhorrent and outrageous as hardcore punk, do you ask? It really begins with all the endless possibilities that the music presents, not only for yourself, but your community at large. Hardcore and punk is a social movement. It is the expression of people brought up in a world where they don't feel they belong. It is angry protest music. It is a call to action. No matter where you go, no matter what language the lyrics are in, the principles are always the same; we have control over our own lives and will deal with our issues on our own terms. We don't need corporations, politicians, police, religion or other bullshit bureaucracy to manage our lives. All we need is our friends, music, and good times. We live minimalist lifestyles and don't need any modern materialism to feel fulfilled. This music is threat to status quo and all the hatred, violence and wastefulness that permeates our culture.
Hardcore and punk is about rejecting the way we've been brought up: get married, have kids, buy a big house and buy stocks. It is about never growing up, whilst having an impenetrable bullshit detector. There is not aspiration, for money, fame or even acceptance. It is about being true to yourself and those around you, meaning everyone is on the same level. The community is void of hierarchies or any notions of control. People can leave and come as they please. All we ask for, is an open mind and respect for your fellow human being. Somehow, these ideas are accomplished through abrasive power chords, shouted vocals and sweaty basement shows. It's definitely not pretty, but it's honest and it's all we have.
We are diverse individuals. We have different ideas, but common goals. We're not always the most organized, but we have good intentions. Sometimes we can't even be defined and we wouldn't have it any other way. This is the hardcore punk community. It's about looking at things in entirely different ways and the ability to question everything that is shoved down our throats.
None of these goals are accomplished easy. It is all done out of heart and compassion. Many hours will be spent putting together record sleeves and show posters and nobody will be making any profit at all. If anything, we're lucky enough to get the essential nutrients in our bodies. It won't pay the bills and it never will. It won't get notoriety or recognition, but it will stay underground and it will continue to be a movement.
You can't oppress ugly kids with shitty equipment. The music is too powerful.
So why the fuck would I be into something as abhorrent and outrageous as hardcore punk, do you ask? It really begins with all the endless possibilities that the music presents, not only for yourself, but your community at large. Hardcore and punk is a social movement. It is the expression of people brought up in a world where they don't feel they belong. It is angry protest music. It is a call to action. No matter where you go, no matter what language the lyrics are in, the principles are always the same; we have control over our own lives and will deal with our issues on our own terms. We don't need corporations, politicians, police, religion or other bullshit bureaucracy to manage our lives. All we need is our friends, music, and good times. We live minimalist lifestyles and don't need any modern materialism to feel fulfilled. This music is threat to status quo and all the hatred, violence and wastefulness that permeates our culture.
Hardcore and punk is about rejecting the way we've been brought up: get married, have kids, buy a big house and buy stocks. It is about never growing up, whilst having an impenetrable bullshit detector. There is not aspiration, for money, fame or even acceptance. It is about being true to yourself and those around you, meaning everyone is on the same level. The community is void of hierarchies or any notions of control. People can leave and come as they please. All we ask for, is an open mind and respect for your fellow human being. Somehow, these ideas are accomplished through abrasive power chords, shouted vocals and sweaty basement shows. It's definitely not pretty, but it's honest and it's all we have.
We are diverse individuals. We have different ideas, but common goals. We're not always the most organized, but we have good intentions. Sometimes we can't even be defined and we wouldn't have it any other way. This is the hardcore punk community. It's about looking at things in entirely different ways and the ability to question everything that is shoved down our throats.
None of these goals are accomplished easy. It is all done out of heart and compassion. Many hours will be spent putting together record sleeves and show posters and nobody will be making any profit at all. If anything, we're lucky enough to get the essential nutrients in our bodies. It won't pay the bills and it never will. It won't get notoriety or recognition, but it will stay underground and it will continue to be a movement.
You can't oppress ugly kids with shitty equipment. The music is too powerful.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
It's Been A While Torches And Tragedies.
I realized today that I have not updated this blog in over a month. So it's 2009, George W. Bush is no longer the king of the U.S. and the band is finally taking off. On the weekend of January 16th, we did a weekend with After The Fall and Endover in Canada. Besides being the most excruciating and painful cold that I've dealt with in a long time, it was an awesome weekend. We started in Ottawa, then headed over to Montreal and ended in Burlington on Sunday. Canadians for the most part, beat the perpetuated stereotype of lumberjacks and hockey enthusiasts and actually stand taller as welcoming hosts with a penchant for good pilsners.
The small bit of Canadian culture that I was able to witness is a million times more interesting than anything in New England. The strangest thing to me, is language. In Quebec, the province where Montreal is located, the primary language is French, yet the minute you cross over into the province of Ontario, where Ottawa is located, everything is primarily in English and French 2nd. I imagine this because Ottawa is relatively close to the border of Quebec. This kid who put us up at his house in Ottawa, said that French basically disappears 20 miles west of Ottawa. I guess I find it extremely interesting that the province of Quebec is the only French speaking part of Canada. I would like to know how it came to be so distinct and secular from the rest of Canada. So, far all you U.S. citizens who think that all Canadians speak French, you are wrong. It is just in Quebec. People in British Columbia don't speak French, they speak English (well I'm sure a few people can, but it's not like the street signs are in French, like they are in Quebec). Quebec also happens to be right above VT, NY, NH and ME. Yet somehow something as artificial and unnatural as a border, completely changes the language of choice. It really does baffle me. It also depresses me how much of the world is bilingual and Americans are not. I guess it is part hegemony, part laziness.
So how did the shows go? They were pretty cool. Unfortunately Cafe Deckuf in Ottawa had a very strict age policy and anyone who was under the drinking age of 19 had to leave after their band played, meaning our singer Conor was asked to leave immediately after our set. Really, it's fucking bullshit, considering he's straight edge anyways. We honestly had no idea that the show wasn't all ages until we got there. I felt bad for Conor, so I left the show with him after our set. Luckily a really nice guy who was friends with the promoter, named Tome let us stay at his apartment for a while. He was a huge music geek and had thousands of records, tapes and CDs. Needless to say, Conor and I were having just as much fun checking out his collection. They also made Antoine, the singer of Endover leave the show, even though he was 18 (which is legal in Quebec). Antoine was fucking awesome. We had a lot in common as far as movies, music and other nerdy pop culture shit. The thing that bummed me out the most, was the Conor and Antoine missed After The Fall's set back at the venue.
Seriously, it must have been -30 degrees that entire weekend in Canada, yet we were out walking around in Ottawa in Montreal, exploring everything. Actually we did more walking around in Ottawa, because we got there early and were staying at Jeff's house, meaning we had time to explore. One awesome record shop had ALL's "Problematic" on 12" color vinyl. I should have picked that up. After The Fall are such huge stoners. Bruce and I decided to go bar-hopping with them at midnight and they seriously smoked at least 5 joints in a few hours. We went to this one bar, where the bartender had a huge green mohawk and weighed like 300 pounds. Seriously, there were so many hot girls in Ottawa. It was very painful. It only got worse when we were in Montreal the next day.
Jeff was nice enough to make us awesome pancakes for breakfast when we woke up. Unfortunately, they weren't vegan! Whatever, I just ate thai peanut noodles. We got a little lost trying to get out of Ottawa and Ontarion, but we eventually made it back over to Montreal. The worst part about driving in my car is that the windows don't stop fogging up and eventually just keep freezing, when it's cold as it was in Canada. It's a miracle I didn't get side-swiped by anybody, because I could barely see out of any window except the one in front of me, which was hard enough to keep clear.
So the show in Montreal was much better than the show in Ottawa, although I had more fun walking around Ottawa. In Montreal, the venue L'Absynthe didn't seem to card any of the 16 and 17 year olds that I'm pretty sure were in there getting wasted, especially this girl named Karly whom I had been talking with online for the past month before the show. It was cool to finally meet her in person, although she was pretty fucking trashed. She said had a $100 for herself to get drunk that night and she used it all. Whoa!
So we got really fucking lost on the way back to the U.S. and somehow accidentally entered through New York. The border patrol agent there was a total fucking asshole. He claimed I was ingesting illegal drugs because my eyes were red. Like I would tell him. Besides, it was 3 AM in the morning; I was fucking tired. He started questioning all of us about where we live and where we work and started harassing Nick for being unemployed. He also made me pop open the trunk, where we so disrespectfully threw everything out onto the pavement. He was a fucking dick and I was so close to flipping out on him. Things got worse, when we finally got into the states, when we had to drive through a snowstorm on the Lake Champlain Islands on the way back to Burlington.
In all honesty though, it was a fun trip and I met alot of awesome people. I really hope we play Ottawa again, but when it's warmer! And seriously, the Canadian border patrol is so much nicer than the U.S. Someone needs to pull the stick out of their ass!
The small bit of Canadian culture that I was able to witness is a million times more interesting than anything in New England. The strangest thing to me, is language. In Quebec, the province where Montreal is located, the primary language is French, yet the minute you cross over into the province of Ontario, where Ottawa is located, everything is primarily in English and French 2nd. I imagine this because Ottawa is relatively close to the border of Quebec. This kid who put us up at his house in Ottawa, said that French basically disappears 20 miles west of Ottawa. I guess I find it extremely interesting that the province of Quebec is the only French speaking part of Canada. I would like to know how it came to be so distinct and secular from the rest of Canada. So, far all you U.S. citizens who think that all Canadians speak French, you are wrong. It is just in Quebec. People in British Columbia don't speak French, they speak English (well I'm sure a few people can, but it's not like the street signs are in French, like they are in Quebec). Quebec also happens to be right above VT, NY, NH and ME. Yet somehow something as artificial and unnatural as a border, completely changes the language of choice. It really does baffle me. It also depresses me how much of the world is bilingual and Americans are not. I guess it is part hegemony, part laziness.
So how did the shows go? They were pretty cool. Unfortunately Cafe Deckuf in Ottawa had a very strict age policy and anyone who was under the drinking age of 19 had to leave after their band played, meaning our singer Conor was asked to leave immediately after our set. Really, it's fucking bullshit, considering he's straight edge anyways. We honestly had no idea that the show wasn't all ages until we got there. I felt bad for Conor, so I left the show with him after our set. Luckily a really nice guy who was friends with the promoter, named Tome let us stay at his apartment for a while. He was a huge music geek and had thousands of records, tapes and CDs. Needless to say, Conor and I were having just as much fun checking out his collection. They also made Antoine, the singer of Endover leave the show, even though he was 18 (which is legal in Quebec). Antoine was fucking awesome. We had a lot in common as far as movies, music and other nerdy pop culture shit. The thing that bummed me out the most, was the Conor and Antoine missed After The Fall's set back at the venue.
Seriously, it must have been -30 degrees that entire weekend in Canada, yet we were out walking around in Ottawa in Montreal, exploring everything. Actually we did more walking around in Ottawa, because we got there early and were staying at Jeff's house, meaning we had time to explore. One awesome record shop had ALL's "Problematic" on 12" color vinyl. I should have picked that up. After The Fall are such huge stoners. Bruce and I decided to go bar-hopping with them at midnight and they seriously smoked at least 5 joints in a few hours. We went to this one bar, where the bartender had a huge green mohawk and weighed like 300 pounds. Seriously, there were so many hot girls in Ottawa. It was very painful. It only got worse when we were in Montreal the next day.
Jeff was nice enough to make us awesome pancakes for breakfast when we woke up. Unfortunately, they weren't vegan! Whatever, I just ate thai peanut noodles. We got a little lost trying to get out of Ottawa and Ontarion, but we eventually made it back over to Montreal. The worst part about driving in my car is that the windows don't stop fogging up and eventually just keep freezing, when it's cold as it was in Canada. It's a miracle I didn't get side-swiped by anybody, because I could barely see out of any window except the one in front of me, which was hard enough to keep clear.
So the show in Montreal was much better than the show in Ottawa, although I had more fun walking around Ottawa. In Montreal, the venue L'Absynthe didn't seem to card any of the 16 and 17 year olds that I'm pretty sure were in there getting wasted, especially this girl named Karly whom I had been talking with online for the past month before the show. It was cool to finally meet her in person, although she was pretty fucking trashed. She said had a $100 for herself to get drunk that night and she used it all. Whoa!
So we got really fucking lost on the way back to the U.S. and somehow accidentally entered through New York. The border patrol agent there was a total fucking asshole. He claimed I was ingesting illegal drugs because my eyes were red. Like I would tell him. Besides, it was 3 AM in the morning; I was fucking tired. He started questioning all of us about where we live and where we work and started harassing Nick for being unemployed. He also made me pop open the trunk, where we so disrespectfully threw everything out onto the pavement. He was a fucking dick and I was so close to flipping out on him. Things got worse, when we finally got into the states, when we had to drive through a snowstorm on the Lake Champlain Islands on the way back to Burlington.
In all honesty though, it was a fun trip and I met alot of awesome people. I really hope we play Ottawa again, but when it's warmer! And seriously, the Canadian border patrol is so much nicer than the U.S. Someone needs to pull the stick out of their ass!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Fuck You Mother Nature!!!!
While I find winter astonishing in it's appearance, I'm reluctant to applaud it's unfortunate side effects; mainly it's effects on travel and commerce. Weight of the World had two shows this weekend, one on Friday night and one on Sunday night. These shows happened to coincide with the most snowfall we've received thus far. While I definitely want to avoid a car accident and meeting my premature death, it is frustrating to have to sit at home snowed in when you could be rocking the fuck out. Those two shows (in Bristol, VT and Kingston, NY) was the only thing I thought about all week at work. So here's a big middle finger to snow in general. I also want to mention that digging your car out of snow three times in just four days fucking sucks.
Unfortunately, Bruce our drummer didn't get the message about the show on Friday being cancelled. By the time I actually got a hold of him, he was already on the road from Rutland and only twenty minutes from Bristol. To be quite honest, I can't believe he even considered venturing out to begin with. The roads were fucking horrible. Even the drive through downtown Burlington for me was sketchy enough. Bruce is a trooper alright. So he ended up just coming to Burlington and hanging out with me for the weekend. We didn't do a whole lot exciting, unless you want to count hanging out at Muddy Waters and drinking coffee and buying pants at the mall exciting. At least we got to check out that new organic pizza place called Bite Me. The girl who took our order was stunningly beautiful. Oh yeah and Bruce also volunteered for Vermont Freedom to Marry at the Palace 9 movie theater where they were showing Milk again. Mikey X showed up too. We had a great time being three heterosexual males working for a gay rights organization.
So its the Holiday season and I have not bought a single thing for anybody. I think that's pretty cool. The whole thing is way to vetted in materialism and shallow promises of community and family. It's all bullshit. We should all just get together and be happy that we made it through another year. Oh wait, that's New Year's eve.....ummm......Santa is a nazi.
I put the order in for the Weight of the World 7"s last Thursday. I really hope they got the package I sent them. I'm going to call United Records Pressing tomorrow to make sure they got the whole bundle. So the plan is to have 300 copies of our 7" vinyl EP. They will be available on three separate colors; red, green and clear. There will also be three black test pressings sent to me before the rest of the batch is made. The total cost of this was a whopping $777. And that is JUST the actual records. Jess and I have been working on a cover for the nifty piece of wax and we're going to make the sleeves ourselves with card-stock and get them printed up at Kinko's or something. That's probably going to cost me a pretty penny as well. The records will all be hand-assembled and numbered by ourselves. Besides, this is fucking hardcore. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? I'm hoping we'll have the 7" ready for a release party in late February. I just booked a show for February 21st at 242 Main in Burlington. The show will also feature The Stereo State and Maker (two amazing Western Massachusetts Pop-Punk bands). I hope all goes according to plan.
I'm so tired right now. My nights go by way too fast. I lose my health insurance in nine days. The girl I like isn't over her ex. Things could be worse, but I'm fucking grateful to be alive and grateful for my family who cares so much about me. But seriously I need a girlfriend...
Unfortunately, Bruce our drummer didn't get the message about the show on Friday being cancelled. By the time I actually got a hold of him, he was already on the road from Rutland and only twenty minutes from Bristol. To be quite honest, I can't believe he even considered venturing out to begin with. The roads were fucking horrible. Even the drive through downtown Burlington for me was sketchy enough. Bruce is a trooper alright. So he ended up just coming to Burlington and hanging out with me for the weekend. We didn't do a whole lot exciting, unless you want to count hanging out at Muddy Waters and drinking coffee and buying pants at the mall exciting. At least we got to check out that new organic pizza place called Bite Me. The girl who took our order was stunningly beautiful. Oh yeah and Bruce also volunteered for Vermont Freedom to Marry at the Palace 9 movie theater where they were showing Milk again. Mikey X showed up too. We had a great time being three heterosexual males working for a gay rights organization.
So its the Holiday season and I have not bought a single thing for anybody. I think that's pretty cool. The whole thing is way to vetted in materialism and shallow promises of community and family. It's all bullshit. We should all just get together and be happy that we made it through another year. Oh wait, that's New Year's eve.....ummm......Santa is a nazi.
I put the order in for the Weight of the World 7"s last Thursday. I really hope they got the package I sent them. I'm going to call United Records Pressing tomorrow to make sure they got the whole bundle. So the plan is to have 300 copies of our 7" vinyl EP. They will be available on three separate colors; red, green and clear. There will also be three black test pressings sent to me before the rest of the batch is made. The total cost of this was a whopping $777. And that is JUST the actual records. Jess and I have been working on a cover for the nifty piece of wax and we're going to make the sleeves ourselves with card-stock and get them printed up at Kinko's or something. That's probably going to cost me a pretty penny as well. The records will all be hand-assembled and numbered by ourselves. Besides, this is fucking hardcore. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? I'm hoping we'll have the 7" ready for a release party in late February. I just booked a show for February 21st at 242 Main in Burlington. The show will also feature The Stereo State and Maker (two amazing Western Massachusetts Pop-Punk bands). I hope all goes according to plan.
I'm so tired right now. My nights go by way too fast. I lose my health insurance in nine days. The girl I like isn't over her ex. Things could be worse, but I'm fucking grateful to be alive and grateful for my family who cares so much about me. But seriously I need a girlfriend...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
New Weight of the World Songs!
We just finished up recording 4 brand new songs for a 7" release due out next year. Check out the songs and let me know what you think! We worked our fucking asses of on these tracks! Click on the link at the bottom right ===>
-Matt
-Matt
Monday, December 8, 2008
I Resist
So this past Friday, I had the honorable pleasure of getting head-butted in the face. While watching Rough Francis at 242 Main, a rather annoying kid next to me was moshing in a very violent and disrespectful manner, when suddenly he thrust forward and knocked this kid over in front of me. The kid who got knocked over, turned around stared me straight in the eye and then proceeded to knock his head right into my face. I wouldn't say it was a very rewarding experience, considering I didn't even touch the fucker. So my friends Mikey X and Connor who saw what happened, immediately approached the kid and told him to get the fuck out. He tried to say he was sorry to me, but I just flipped him off. I was actually more depressed that a fellow human being would go to such lengths, simply because they were knocked over. I mean, it was a punk show. Stuff is bound to happen. Hell, I've been hurled into a stack of drum equipment before, but it was a complete accident. So if this kid was accidentally knocked over, would he still turn around and commit intentional violence towards someone? I just think thats so fucked up. I hope I never see that kid again. There's no place for violence or intimidation in hardcore. The whole incident was depressing to me, that I went home and probably cried for an hour straight. It sucked. I eventually moshed to the new Gaining Ground 7" though in my room, so I felt better.
So things get worse. I wake up on Saturday morning and hope on to the good and wholesome social networking site called Myspace and learn that the hardcore community has lost a monumental and wonderful individual. There was a bulletin post from Ryan in Outbreak, where he explained that him and his buddies over at Think Fast! Records wanted to sign Last Lights. He ended the post by saying that unfortunately their singer Dominic Mallory had tragically passed away only 48 hours after talking to the band about setting a deal with the label. Apparently Dominic suffered a hemorrhage during a performance that eventually spread to his brain and killed him. My fucking jaw dropped when I saw this. Last Lights had just performed at 242 Main back in September with Defeater and I Rise. I remember Dominic, even though we weren't friends. Bruce and I were standing off to the side of the stage, when the singer leaped off the stage grabbed my shirt and yelled a few lines in my face. I was ecstatic, needless to say. He poured every ounce of energy he had into his performance and lived the hardcore life everyday. I was so impressed with their performance, that after buying their 7" I did a review of it on this blog. It's still on here. You should read it.
So if you haven't heard Last Lights and the cathartic vocals of Dominic Mallory, please visit them at: http://www.myspace.com/lastlights.
There's also a 7" compilation called "Mass. vs. Cali," that features awesome bands like The Effort and Rotting Out. All of the proceeds from the record will go to Dominic's family. Go pick one up at:
http://heartinhandrex.bigcartel.com.
So did anything good happen this weekend? Thankfully, yes. On Sunday, Weight of the World went to Madcow Productions in Essex Junction, VT, to begin work on four brand new songs. I'm happy to say that we completed all the music for all four songs. Bruce and Nick did all the drum and guitar tracks in 5 hours. Most of that time, however, was Nick doing his overdubs. You know how guitarists are, they got to be all fancy and show off! Haha. I pretty much sat around all day, until it was time for me to do the bass and then I tracked all the parts in under 40 minutes. It was a piece of cake. We'll be going back in this coming Saturday to do the vocals, with Connor who has just recently come on board. He's got a lot of energy and he's pretty pissed off, so it should be sweet. Anyways, even just the basic unmixed music is pretty fucking awesome. It sounds so crisp, clear and heavy. We'll be slapping these four songs on some delicious vinyl goodness hopefully by sometime in January. We also got a show on Saturday night at 7 PM. Apparently we're playing at a purple pokka-dotted house at the top of Colchester Ave across from Fletcher Allen Hospital. Nobody seems to know the exact address. Oh well.
And seriously, nobody left comments on the No Love Lost review? You're missing out if you didn't check them out!
So things get worse. I wake up on Saturday morning and hope on to the good and wholesome social networking site called Myspace and learn that the hardcore community has lost a monumental and wonderful individual. There was a bulletin post from Ryan in Outbreak, where he explained that him and his buddies over at Think Fast! Records wanted to sign Last Lights. He ended the post by saying that unfortunately their singer Dominic Mallory had tragically passed away only 48 hours after talking to the band about setting a deal with the label. Apparently Dominic suffered a hemorrhage during a performance that eventually spread to his brain and killed him. My fucking jaw dropped when I saw this. Last Lights had just performed at 242 Main back in September with Defeater and I Rise. I remember Dominic, even though we weren't friends. Bruce and I were standing off to the side of the stage, when the singer leaped off the stage grabbed my shirt and yelled a few lines in my face. I was ecstatic, needless to say. He poured every ounce of energy he had into his performance and lived the hardcore life everyday. I was so impressed with their performance, that after buying their 7" I did a review of it on this blog. It's still on here. You should read it.
So if you haven't heard Last Lights and the cathartic vocals of Dominic Mallory, please visit them at: http://www.myspace.com/lastlights.
There's also a 7" compilation called "Mass. vs. Cali," that features awesome bands like The Effort and Rotting Out. All of the proceeds from the record will go to Dominic's family. Go pick one up at:
http://heartinhandrex.bigcartel.com.
So did anything good happen this weekend? Thankfully, yes. On Sunday, Weight of the World went to Madcow Productions in Essex Junction, VT, to begin work on four brand new songs. I'm happy to say that we completed all the music for all four songs. Bruce and Nick did all the drum and guitar tracks in 5 hours. Most of that time, however, was Nick doing his overdubs. You know how guitarists are, they got to be all fancy and show off! Haha. I pretty much sat around all day, until it was time for me to do the bass and then I tracked all the parts in under 40 minutes. It was a piece of cake. We'll be going back in this coming Saturday to do the vocals, with Connor who has just recently come on board. He's got a lot of energy and he's pretty pissed off, so it should be sweet. Anyways, even just the basic unmixed music is pretty fucking awesome. It sounds so crisp, clear and heavy. We'll be slapping these four songs on some delicious vinyl goodness hopefully by sometime in January. We also got a show on Saturday night at 7 PM. Apparently we're playing at a purple pokka-dotted house at the top of Colchester Ave across from Fletcher Allen Hospital. Nobody seems to know the exact address. Oh well.
And seriously, nobody left comments on the No Love Lost review? You're missing out if you didn't check them out!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Music review #4: No Love Lost, Closure CDEP
No Love Lost: Closure CDEP
1. An Ode To Jack Gaffney
2. Never Look Back
3. 87 Mile Guilt Trip
4. Here It Comes
5. The Pros and Cons of Indoor Plumbing
6. One Life, One Fight
Self Released CDr
This review is especially easy for me, because I had the privilege to see No Love Lost perform at a basement show in Burlington, VT on November 22nd. Like many modern contemporary hardcore acts, their performance was heavy and uncompromising. There's no gimmicks and no bullshit when it comes to No Love Lost. Seeing them play is pure adrenaline, anger and desperation straight from the heart. There's also no tough-guy thuggery or petty drama that plagues so many scenes. Everything this band stands for is finding something positive for yourself and your friends amidst this fucked up world. The singer even spoke out against those in the hardcore scene who poke fun at others for not wearing the "right short" or doing the "right dance moves," stating that this behavior goes against everything hardcore stands for. Hearing that, reminded me why I got into hardcore in the first place. The band was also able to play at their full capacity of energy, despite the limited space in the basement. Because of this show, I think I actually like basement shows better now.
So how is their CD? Nothing short of amazing of course. These six tracks are a chalk full of floor-punching hardcore goodness. The influences are obvious, ranging from Have Heart, Verse, Comeback Kid and Bane, whilst retaining a unique quality that can only exist when it comes straight from the heart. They play what they want unapologetically and have a fun time doing it. Some people might call it generic, but they're not in this to be the cool kids who found something new. The lyrics are uplifting and inspiring, calling out for a positive, communal vibe and yearning to look ahead and let the past be the past. Other topics range from staying true to yourself in a world full of immense social pressures and the struggle of holding onto this throughout life.
From start to end, this CD never gives up. As soon as you think they're slowing down, they either jump into breakneck speed or hit you square in the face with some thick breakdowns. There is also quite a bit of underlying melody that makes the songs memorable, without becoming too cookie cutter. The production is top-notch for a band that is most likely functioning exclusively on their own funds.
The packaging of the disc gets the point across that this is a 6-song CD, but I really wish the CD itself had a label on it or was spray-painted or something. As a matter of fact, it didn't have anything written on it, so I wrote the band name on it when I got back from the show. A lyric sheet would've been cool too. Aside from that, the disc was a great purchase and I really hope my money got some food in their bellies and fuel back in their van for the long ride back to Buffalo, New York.
Check No Love Lost out at:
http://www.myspace.com/nolovelostny
Buy the "Closure" EP here:
http://nolovelost.bigcartel.com
Monday, November 17, 2008
That's What She Said
I'm not really establishing myself as a member of the Burlington community. It's much harder to make friends then you would think. I also think it's harder to make friends when you're not engaged in a social setting like school, where you're constantly meeting people of the same age. Let's face it, most of the people at work are older than me and not interested in going to shows or watching cartoons. I actually feel like I've touched upon this in a previous entry. So where am I left to make friends? The answer seems to be simple; go to local hardcore shows. I've met a few cool people in this community, but its very evident that we live different lives. I'm not in school anymore, I have to work every day of the week. A lot of these kids don't, because well they either never went to school or are just taking forever to finish. But there is another side of the scene that is just as pretentious and vain as everybody else. There is definitely a fashion sense that I don't have.I don't wear super tight pants and plaid button up shirts everyday. I also happen to enjoy my pea coat. At times the hardcore scene is as much of a trend as anything else. If you want to be cool, you have to do the windmill dance at shows and hit people in the face. Well fuck that.
And there's just the simple fact trying to enter a social circle, where everyone has known each other for years is going to be hard no matter where you go. But I feel like I have gone above and beyond to reach out to these kids. Especially the kids in Unrestrained. I feel like I always have to initiate a "hang out time." Nobody ever calls me up and says "hey we thought you'd like to come bowling with us," or something lame like that. Maybe this is an indication that I'm the friend that nobody likes. You know those people. Nobody hates them. They just suck and they're not as fun as all your other friends.
So life is at a standstill. I feel like I've had enough time to make a few meaningful relationships, but I haven't. My best friends still live in Rutland or other towns down south. The atmosphere in Burlington is just so much different. Everybody is so materialistic. I just don't care about cool winter outfits or hippie hats. I just want to put on some pants, a t-shirt and jump into the pit (or jump on the stage). The only thing that is keeping me here is my job and the fact that there are other jobs available in the area and the fact that hardcore/punk shows do happen on a weekly basis. There are no asshole neighbors or arrogant self-righteous cops trying to fuck with kids and their creative urges. Shows happen. People stage dive. I've already seen bands play here from as far away as Germany and British Colombia. There are no venues in Rutland and if you do happen to rent a space out, it doesn't last too long. Usually some rich motherfucker with a loud mouth will put an end to it.
So Burlington is a double-edged sword. I can't stand the artsy fartsy hippies or the colleges douche bags who drink keystone light like water, but I love the shows and I love what happens with them, even if there are a few lame kids who just show up to look cool. I guess there are worse places to show up. For example, a military recruiting office.
So yeah, meeting girls. That doesn't happen at all. If I just happen to bump into somebody and have a good conversation, they usually end up disappearing forever or they just simply ignore me if I suggest we hang out. Either that or they think I'm too weird to begin with. Besides fighting for civil rights isn't very attractive I guess. Maybe everybody is right. You have to be an a badass to get girls to like you. Well I refuse to compromise my identity for anybody, so I'm probably going to be lonely for some time.
Yeah this was a depressing post. Sorry! Hopefully I'll be doing another music review soon.
And there's just the simple fact trying to enter a social circle, where everyone has known each other for years is going to be hard no matter where you go. But I feel like I have gone above and beyond to reach out to these kids. Especially the kids in Unrestrained. I feel like I always have to initiate a "hang out time." Nobody ever calls me up and says "hey we thought you'd like to come bowling with us," or something lame like that. Maybe this is an indication that I'm the friend that nobody likes. You know those people. Nobody hates them. They just suck and they're not as fun as all your other friends.
So life is at a standstill. I feel like I've had enough time to make a few meaningful relationships, but I haven't. My best friends still live in Rutland or other towns down south. The atmosphere in Burlington is just so much different. Everybody is so materialistic. I just don't care about cool winter outfits or hippie hats. I just want to put on some pants, a t-shirt and jump into the pit (or jump on the stage). The only thing that is keeping me here is my job and the fact that there are other jobs available in the area and the fact that hardcore/punk shows do happen on a weekly basis. There are no asshole neighbors or arrogant self-righteous cops trying to fuck with kids and their creative urges. Shows happen. People stage dive. I've already seen bands play here from as far away as Germany and British Colombia. There are no venues in Rutland and if you do happen to rent a space out, it doesn't last too long. Usually some rich motherfucker with a loud mouth will put an end to it.
So Burlington is a double-edged sword. I can't stand the artsy fartsy hippies or the colleges douche bags who drink keystone light like water, but I love the shows and I love what happens with them, even if there are a few lame kids who just show up to look cool. I guess there are worse places to show up. For example, a military recruiting office.
So yeah, meeting girls. That doesn't happen at all. If I just happen to bump into somebody and have a good conversation, they usually end up disappearing forever or they just simply ignore me if I suggest we hang out. Either that or they think I'm too weird to begin with. Besides fighting for civil rights isn't very attractive I guess. Maybe everybody is right. You have to be an a badass to get girls to like you. Well I refuse to compromise my identity for anybody, so I'm probably going to be lonely for some time.
Yeah this was a depressing post. Sorry! Hopefully I'll be doing another music review soon.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Why I'm Voting for Cynthia McKinney
Before anybody gets into any debates about me "throwing away" my vote, I'd like to remind people that there are actually six major candidates running for the president of the United States and all of them are on at leas more than 30 ballots across the country. If you don't believe me, then check out this link:
http://www.votesmart.org/election_president.php
Cynthia McKinney represents to me, someone who is through with two-party politics and the incestuous relationship it upholds with corporate America. First, off the Green Party (McKinney's party affiliation), does not accept any corporate donations, as they do not believe that wealthy corporations and their strong interested of profit have the right to influence a political process. I agree with this. Both John McCain and Barak Obama have recieved many donations from coroporations, including but not limited to private health insurance corporations, big oil, credit card companies and cell phone companies.
The biggest problem I have with Barak Obama is his advocation of ending the war in Iraq by only escalalting the war in Afghanistan. His first priorities in foreign policy are militarisitc, not diplomatic. It sends shivers down my spine, when he openly applauds Israel, which has maintained the longest illegal military occupation in history, of the palestinian land and treats the natives as less than human. The U.S. supplies Israel free of charge with a plethora of nuclear weapons and other military infrastructure and weapons. That scares me. Cynthis McKinney advocates a diplomatic, two state solution and withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian land. Barak Obama also openly advocates military aggression in Iran. This baffles me. First off, of course Iran is enriching Uraniam. We are too! It's called nuclear energy. Many countries do it. We just like to use that as an excuse to invade countries that may serve our economic interest. As a matter of fact, the United States has enough nuclear armament to destroy the world several times over. Israel comes in close to 2nd.
Neither Barak Obama nor John McCain support single-payer national healthcare, which helps people in much of the first world to live longer and healthier lives, free of the worry of going in debt just because you fall ill. In the United States, our bodies are treated as commodities, and our health is at the bottom of the private sector's priorities. There are also many "pre-existing" medical conditions that health care companies refuse to fund treatment for, because they are simply to expensive and they wouldn't be reaping enormous profits anymore. In our country, our health is reduced to a corporation. Obama and McCain both recieved massive campaign contributions from these evil, profit mongereing entities that dare to call themselves "healthcare." Cynthia McKinnye supports dissolving the private exploitation of our bodies and creating a government funded program that would cover everybody's medical needs, regardless of income.
Barak Obama and John McCain both supported and voted for the disatrous tax-payer heist known as the Wall Street bailout. $700 million dollars of our tax payer money was simply washed down the drain to bailout those who are responsible for putting us in this dire economic situation that we're in right now. How is that not big government? Which makes me realize that John McCain is not really a conservative and that Obama is simply more interested in maintaing the status quo of the ruling elite. Cynthia McKinney voted against this measure and spoke out eloquently.
Obama and McCain also both voted to not hold the telecom industries who participated in George Bush's illegal wiretapping accountable for their criminal behavior. Both senators gave them a clean slate and everybody got away with it. Cynthia Mckinney voted against this measure.
Obam and McCain both voted for the patriot act, which has dissolved many of our fundamental rights as a citizens for the supposed interest of "national security." Next time you get questioned at the Canadian border about your laptop and the patrol is about to take it without probably cause, think about who voted for the law. Cynthia Mckinney voted against the patriot act.
Neither McCain nor Obama are willing to talk about our country's deep roots in worldwide oppression of democracy and corporate pillaging. There's a reason why we can certain fruits during the winter and it's mainly because our multinational companies cross borders and force indigenous poplulations to work at slave-wage labor for the sake of capital gain. How is this done? It's simple. The U.S. has supperted hundreds of dictatorial and murderous military governments throughout it's history. Whether it's through a proxy war, where we simply provide weapons and train people or through direct intervention, we've constantly oppressed independent nation's will to govern themselves. Just look at how many countries we've invaded since 1890:
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html
Cynthia Mckinney has acknowledged our shameful past and what we can do to fix it. Obama and McCain refuse to even admit the history.
And finally, what's all the talk about the fucking middle class? What about the working class and the poor? Doesn't everybody deserve a decent amount of financial security? When young families have to choose between medical care and food and proper clothing for the winter monts, I could care a less if there was one more colonial house down the street with white picket fences and an SUV. Fuck that.
Cynthia McKinney ackowledges the classist society that we live in and how a majority of our country's wealth is controlled by the smallest percentage of the rich. This is not a democracy. At best, it's a capitalistic monarchy.
I cannot believe the recent accusations of Obama being a socialist. He is SO FAR AWAY from advocating any socialist ideology. I literally fell on the floor laughing the first time I heard this. I can't imagine how the Socialist Party of the United States presidential candidate Brian Moore felt when he heard this. He probably wanted to shoot himself in the face.
Anyways, there are so many other reasons why I disagree with the two-party system, but I'm getting tired and I need to get up and vote tommorrow.
All I want to say, is that our vote should be hard to get. Never let any million dollar coporate news network (especially FOX), tell you your choices of candidates. Do some research. It's called google. You're not throwing away your vote if you feel the person is the most qualified for the job. It really is that simple.
Happy voting.
-Veg
http://www.votesmart.org/election_president.php
Cynthia McKinney represents to me, someone who is through with two-party politics and the incestuous relationship it upholds with corporate America. First, off the Green Party (McKinney's party affiliation), does not accept any corporate donations, as they do not believe that wealthy corporations and their strong interested of profit have the right to influence a political process. I agree with this. Both John McCain and Barak Obama have recieved many donations from coroporations, including but not limited to private health insurance corporations, big oil, credit card companies and cell phone companies.
The biggest problem I have with Barak Obama is his advocation of ending the war in Iraq by only escalalting the war in Afghanistan. His first priorities in foreign policy are militarisitc, not diplomatic. It sends shivers down my spine, when he openly applauds Israel, which has maintained the longest illegal military occupation in history, of the palestinian land and treats the natives as less than human. The U.S. supplies Israel free of charge with a plethora of nuclear weapons and other military infrastructure and weapons. That scares me. Cynthis McKinney advocates a diplomatic, two state solution and withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian land. Barak Obama also openly advocates military aggression in Iran. This baffles me. First off, of course Iran is enriching Uraniam. We are too! It's called nuclear energy. Many countries do it. We just like to use that as an excuse to invade countries that may serve our economic interest. As a matter of fact, the United States has enough nuclear armament to destroy the world several times over. Israel comes in close to 2nd.
Neither Barak Obama nor John McCain support single-payer national healthcare, which helps people in much of the first world to live longer and healthier lives, free of the worry of going in debt just because you fall ill. In the United States, our bodies are treated as commodities, and our health is at the bottom of the private sector's priorities. There are also many "pre-existing" medical conditions that health care companies refuse to fund treatment for, because they are simply to expensive and they wouldn't be reaping enormous profits anymore. In our country, our health is reduced to a corporation. Obama and McCain both recieved massive campaign contributions from these evil, profit mongereing entities that dare to call themselves "healthcare." Cynthia McKinnye supports dissolving the private exploitation of our bodies and creating a government funded program that would cover everybody's medical needs, regardless of income.
Barak Obama and John McCain both supported and voted for the disatrous tax-payer heist known as the Wall Street bailout. $700 million dollars of our tax payer money was simply washed down the drain to bailout those who are responsible for putting us in this dire economic situation that we're in right now. How is that not big government? Which makes me realize that John McCain is not really a conservative and that Obama is simply more interested in maintaing the status quo of the ruling elite. Cynthia McKinney voted against this measure and spoke out eloquently.
Obama and McCain also both voted to not hold the telecom industries who participated in George Bush's illegal wiretapping accountable for their criminal behavior. Both senators gave them a clean slate and everybody got away with it. Cynthia Mckinney voted against this measure.
Obam and McCain both voted for the patriot act, which has dissolved many of our fundamental rights as a citizens for the supposed interest of "national security." Next time you get questioned at the Canadian border about your laptop and the patrol is about to take it without probably cause, think about who voted for the law. Cynthia Mckinney voted against the patriot act.
Neither McCain nor Obama are willing to talk about our country's deep roots in worldwide oppression of democracy and corporate pillaging. There's a reason why we can certain fruits during the winter and it's mainly because our multinational companies cross borders and force indigenous poplulations to work at slave-wage labor for the sake of capital gain. How is this done? It's simple. The U.S. has supperted hundreds of dictatorial and murderous military governments throughout it's history. Whether it's through a proxy war, where we simply provide weapons and train people or through direct intervention, we've constantly oppressed independent nation's will to govern themselves. Just look at how many countries we've invaded since 1890:
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html
Cynthia Mckinney has acknowledged our shameful past and what we can do to fix it. Obama and McCain refuse to even admit the history.
And finally, what's all the talk about the fucking middle class? What about the working class and the poor? Doesn't everybody deserve a decent amount of financial security? When young families have to choose between medical care and food and proper clothing for the winter monts, I could care a less if there was one more colonial house down the street with white picket fences and an SUV. Fuck that.
Cynthia McKinney ackowledges the classist society that we live in and how a majority of our country's wealth is controlled by the smallest percentage of the rich. This is not a democracy. At best, it's a capitalistic monarchy.
I cannot believe the recent accusations of Obama being a socialist. He is SO FAR AWAY from advocating any socialist ideology. I literally fell on the floor laughing the first time I heard this. I can't imagine how the Socialist Party of the United States presidential candidate Brian Moore felt when he heard this. He probably wanted to shoot himself in the face.
Anyways, there are so many other reasons why I disagree with the two-party system, but I'm getting tired and I need to get up and vote tommorrow.
All I want to say, is that our vote should be hard to get. Never let any million dollar coporate news network (especially FOX), tell you your choices of candidates. Do some research. It's called google. You're not throwing away your vote if you feel the person is the most qualified for the job. It really is that simple.
Happy voting.
-Veg
Monday, October 27, 2008
You know what grinds my gears?
Seriously? UGGS? They're just asking to be called ugly, which is exactly what they are. Now I have absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever (nor could I give a flying fuck), but these shoes make people look like douche bags. I mean why would any girl want to have ewolk feet or chocolate brown poop logs on their legs? They look retarded. I don't care how comfortable or or warm they might be on a chilly evening on the church street marketplace: you look like a tool.
So first off girls, uggs are a huge turn-off. I don't care how intelligent, genuinely nice or charismatic you might be, because the footwear ruins what's left of you. And by the way, I'm not sure if these shoes were designed with the intention of being female footwear (I have not seen a single male wear uggs yet), but I'm willing to at least see what a guy looks like wearing them. Maybe you'll look like a viking, who knows?
I hate to generalize, but I have yet to see one girl who is NOT a stuck-up, materialistic, over-privileged, jock-dating poopstain who is wearing these vulgar statements of "cool." I don't know where these shoes came from all of a sudden, but they're sprouting up everywhere like weeds and we've got to eradicate the virus. So do your part and drop mustard on every pair of uggs you see.
Ok, so people may think I'm crazy because I'm freaking out over some lame trend, but Uggs have gone too far. They're turning a generation of stagnated, robotic clones into a generation that's even duller. Don't let the fashion fool you! Stop dating girls that wear Uggs!
(the contents of this blog are intended to be comical and if you're offended, than you probably own Uggs).
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Awesome Show at 242 Main on Thursday!
So there are two bands staying at my place right now. One is from Holland, Netherlands and one is from New Jersey. They're playing 242 Main in Burlington on Thursday, but the promoter has been a total dipshit and has not posted any posters around town, which is probably why I had not heard of the show until my friend Mike from After The Fall told me they needed a place to stay. Anyways, here is the information for the show. Post on you blogs, listserves, myspace, facebook, message boards...anything!
Antillectual (Netherlands)
http://www.myspace.com/antillectual
One Win Choice (New Jersey)
http://www.myspace.com/onewinchoice
Young Denver (Burlington, VT)
Fighting Polygon Team (Brattleboro, VT)
7 PM. $8.
-Matt
Antillectual (Netherlands)
http://www.myspace.com/antillectual
One Win Choice (New Jersey)
http://www.myspace.com/onewinchoice
Young Denver (Burlington, VT)
Fighting Polygon Team (Brattleboro, VT)
7 PM. $8.
-Matt
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Music Review #3: Shook Ones/End Of A Year 7"
Shook Ones/End Of A Year Split 7"
1. Raised By Woofs - Shook Ones
2. It's Not What You Think - Shook Ones
3. Asterisk - Shook Ones
4. Marked With A Crow's Foot - Shook Ones
5. Dan Cooper - End Of A Year
Runner Up Records
This is a very odd split. Shook Ones play four fast songs in under five minutes and End Of A Year play one very slow song that's well over five minutes long. These two bands couldn't be any less alike. Shook Ones play the kind of melodic hardcore reminiscent of Kid Dynamite and Lifetime, but with a touch of the Descendents. End Of A Year are a throwback to the mid 1980's revolution summer that spawned such bands as Rites of Spring, Embrace and later Fugazi. I'll admit, that I bought this 7" soley for the Shook Ones side, which as expected knocks me flat on my back. End Of A Year isn't exactly the kind of hardcore, punk or rock that gets my blood pumping, but I respect their decision to create music that is divergent to say the least.
Unlike Shook One's last split CD with melodic hardcore stalwarts Easel, from Japan, these four songs don't slow down for a minute. If you've heard the split CD with Easel, the first song "Order Form," is very mid-tempo, with cookie-cutter choruses, that will make any girl weep at the sight of these monstrous hardcore freaks. It was a welcoming departure, but its nice to see the band return to their signature brand of fast, snotty hardcore that comes very close to ripping off Lifetime. The first track, "Raised by Woofs," has a very catchy chord progression, coupled with the distinct raspy vocals of frontman Scotty. The second song, "It's Not What You Think," is a departure in the opposite direction for Shook Ones; lots of anger. As a matter of fact, I think this is the first song from them that sounds truly pissed. The vocals are screamed at first and slowly return to the more typical snotty brand of singing. However, the fast chorus dives headfirst into an angry, atonal breakdown, something Shook Ones is not known for. This is my favorite song on this 7." The next two songs, "Asterisk" and "Marked With A Crow's Foot," are equally enjoyable and more reminiscent of songs from their last full-length album, Facetious Folly Feat.
Like I said, End Of A Year is totally not my thing at all. As a matter of fact, their long and slow song killed it for me. It just completely destroyed the energy on Side A. If I was truly a fan of End Of A Year, I would have to pick a completely different day and mood to flip the record over and give them a spin. The music is very melancholy and laid-back. It might be good if you're tripping on acid in the summer time, but that's just me. It would actually fit very well in that scene in SLC Punk when they're tripping balls in the park. To their credit though, End Of A Year sticks out like a sore-thumb, which is a good think in the hardcore and punk scene, where things often become repetitive and uninspiring. I guess the only problem with this 7" is that neither bands are typical in their own respects. For examply, as much as I love Champion, their sound has been totally rehashed time and time again.
A note on the packaging. Runner Up Records really put this release together nicely. The sleeve is high quality and not just just silk-screened or some shitty paper. The vinyl itself is a beautiful, with one half clear and the other half cream green. It's really cool holding that sucker up to the light. Also, the hole in the 7" is a small one, which I prefer over the big holes, which usually means it runs at 45 rpms and not 33 (but that is not always the case either). Anyways, Runner Up Records did a great job with this release and you should support the bands and the label for the accomplishment.
Check out Shook Ones at:
http://www.myspace.com/shookones
Check out End Of A Year at:
http://www.myspace.com/endofayear
Buy the 7" at:
http://runneruprecords.bigcartel.com
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????!!!!!!
-Veg
Thursday, October 9, 2008
In Green Mountain Hell
Please check out a new underground music zine called "In Green Mountain Hell." The link is on the right. This is my friend Troy's attempt at creating a "conduit" for Vermont musicians, venues, labels, zines and other miscellaneous groups that feed the fire of the D.I.Y. community (he says you can also contact him if you're hitchiking and you need help). If you're in a band and you want to be listed on the zine, email Troy at cagelearner@hotmail.com.
For those of you who don't know, Troy has been playing guitar in a band with me called Weight Of The World. So please support the underground music scene in VT and read In Green Mountain Hell!
Coming soon...
I plan on doing a review of the Shook Ones/End Of A Year Split 7" when I get a nice solid hour to listen to whole thing several times. And speaking of music reviews and such, my friend David Jacobs and Nick Grandchamp do a punk zine out of Rutland called "Stuck In A Rut." Message him at http://www.myspace.com/slave99 to figure out how to get one. I think they're $2. I only gave him a $1 though, although I thoroughly enjoy my copy!
Weight Of The World is playing this saturday in Brookline, NH with a shitload of bands. Click on our link at the right if you want more details. I'm also working on getting more shows in Burlington and Canada. Word.
For those of you who don't know, Troy has been playing guitar in a band with me called Weight Of The World. So please support the underground music scene in VT and read In Green Mountain Hell!
Coming soon...
I plan on doing a review of the Shook Ones/End Of A Year Split 7" when I get a nice solid hour to listen to whole thing several times. And speaking of music reviews and such, my friend David Jacobs and Nick Grandchamp do a punk zine out of Rutland called "Stuck In A Rut." Message him at http://www.myspace.com/slave99 to figure out how to get one. I think they're $2. I only gave him a $1 though, although I thoroughly enjoy my copy!
Weight Of The World is playing this saturday in Brookline, NH with a shitload of bands. Click on our link at the right if you want more details. I'm also working on getting more shows in Burlington and Canada. Word.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Free and fair elections? Give me a break.
I have become considerably distrubed by the amount of spin that the media and corporate politicians have put on the truth. Last night I saw a car sporting a "give peace a chance sticker," paired with a "Obama '08" sticker. The staunch hypocrisy of this bumper sticker couple is a frightening one indeed.
Senator Barak Obama would do anything but give peace a chance if he were elected to office. While I agree with his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, I don't agree with expanding our bloated military budget to expand war in Afghanistan. That country is in ruins and perpetuators of violence are still at large. The only way to fix our eroding worldwide reputation is to particpate in a cooperative diplomatic case to bring terroists to trial. Senator Obama supports further violence.
The democratic incumbent is also a strong supporter of the death penalty, the patriot act, nuclear energy, the fradulent "war on drugs," immunity for telecom companies participating in illegal surveillance of citizens, the no child left behind act, and the most recent heist of taxpayer money to bail out corrupt wall street corporations. Senator Obam also opposes gay marriage, single-payer healthcare, the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, peaceful negotiations with Iran and is a strong supporter of Israeli apartheid over Palestine.
Why do U.S. citizens feel that Senator Obama will give peace a chance? I think a great deal of this confusion among the citizenry is the two-party system, the corporate-owned media and their lobbyists in congress. Mainstream politicians are governed by the interests of wall street and the political puppets in the white house. Every move is a career one and far from the interests of the American people, who overwhelmingly support withdrawal from the middle east, universal healthcare and a decent education. The media blackout of third-party candidates keeps the citizenry in the dark, making the American public feel like they need to vote for "the lesser of two evils," rather than with their beliefs and values.
There are many political parties that are committed to supporting a living wage, health for all, education for all, peaceful negotiation, ending poverty and bringing an end to genocide, like the current ethnic clensing in Darfur, Sudan. People don't vote for these candidates, because they are repeatedly denied participation in the electoral process. There was plenty of room on stage for the debate between John McCain and Barak Obama, to also include Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney, Independent Ralph Nader, and even Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr.
The American people are being fooled by the corporate-owned media, which prevents the United States from having free and fair elections. Please think about this before casting your vote.
Senator Barak Obama would do anything but give peace a chance if he were elected to office. While I agree with his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, I don't agree with expanding our bloated military budget to expand war in Afghanistan. That country is in ruins and perpetuators of violence are still at large. The only way to fix our eroding worldwide reputation is to particpate in a cooperative diplomatic case to bring terroists to trial. Senator Obama supports further violence.
The democratic incumbent is also a strong supporter of the death penalty, the patriot act, nuclear energy, the fradulent "war on drugs," immunity for telecom companies participating in illegal surveillance of citizens, the no child left behind act, and the most recent heist of taxpayer money to bail out corrupt wall street corporations. Senator Obam also opposes gay marriage, single-payer healthcare, the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, peaceful negotiations with Iran and is a strong supporter of Israeli apartheid over Palestine.
Why do U.S. citizens feel that Senator Obama will give peace a chance? I think a great deal of this confusion among the citizenry is the two-party system, the corporate-owned media and their lobbyists in congress. Mainstream politicians are governed by the interests of wall street and the political puppets in the white house. Every move is a career one and far from the interests of the American people, who overwhelmingly support withdrawal from the middle east, universal healthcare and a decent education. The media blackout of third-party candidates keeps the citizenry in the dark, making the American public feel like they need to vote for "the lesser of two evils," rather than with their beliefs and values.
There are many political parties that are committed to supporting a living wage, health for all, education for all, peaceful negotiation, ending poverty and bringing an end to genocide, like the current ethnic clensing in Darfur, Sudan. People don't vote for these candidates, because they are repeatedly denied participation in the electoral process. There was plenty of room on stage for the debate between John McCain and Barak Obama, to also include Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney, Independent Ralph Nader, and even Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr.
The American people are being fooled by the corporate-owned media, which prevents the United States from having free and fair elections. Please think about this before casting your vote.
Monday, September 22, 2008
I Fucking Love Montreal
I finally had my first good weekend since I've moved up to Burlington. This past Saturday, I went up with a bunch of friends to Montreal to celebrate my friend Ryan's birthday (singer of Unrestrained...which if you haven't checked out yet, then shame on you!). Also in the group was Phil, the bass player from Unrestrained, his girlfriend Annalise, Taylor, Nate, Tori, Mike (is playing drums in my new band) and this guy with huge gauged ear that everybody calls the Reverend. Even before we left Colchester I knew it would be a great trip when Ryan proudly stole a Vermont t-shirt from a gas station and claimed that he was so college.
First off, we didn't get through the border smoothly at all. After we gave the dude our passports, he questioned us intensely about our intentions to go into Canada. He even asked us if we had automatic weapons and cocain. I couldn't stop giggling. It was just so silly. So he took our passports and told us to pull around to the side and come into the border patrol office, where they made us wait for 15 minutes, until they gave us back our passports. They must have been doing background checks or something. Anyways, this was bugging the shit out of Ryan and Phil, because they had made reservations at this place in downtown Montreal to play group laser tag at 9:40 PM and we were still more than an hour aways and it was already past 8. Funny thing was, Nate was driving the other car with Tori, Mike and the Reverend right behind us and they went through just fine, which is weird, because Mike is fucking loud and obnoxious and Nate has huge dreads and looks like he deals marijuana.
So we finally pull into the city an hour and a half later and we have fucking 5 minutes to find a parking space and get to the laser tag place. Ryan kept calling them asking if they would wait five more minutes and they agreed, but even after we finally found a parking space and walked four blocks, we still showed up late, but thankfully another group had cancelled! Fucking luck was on our side that night.
Now onto laser tag. First off, I haven't played the game since I was in middle school and it was some lame ass set-up at Rutland High School and all the 7th graders got to ride up in a bus. Anyway, I got the horribly embarassing score of 88, which was the second to worst score out of the whole group (aside from Annalise, who got a 57, but I don't think she was really into the game). Apparently I only got 8 hits on anybody else throughout the whole game. However, the Vermont group annhiliated the local French Canadian group. I think that had something to with Ryan. He was acting like that fucking drill sgt. from Full Metal Jacket. Anyways, I did hit Nate 4 times, who for some reason was the only Vermonter on the French Canadian team (they had green blinking lights and we had red blinking lights). I think he was pissed, because his name in the game was Battle Axe and second of all I totally fucking suck, and he didn't get one hit on me. The actualy laser tag complex was fucking awesome. It was four floors high and had fucking smoke machines everywhere, so I felt like I was Metal gear solid. There were also flashing lights everywhere and all these sniper holes and shooting glitter. In a way, it reminded me of the Agro Crag from Global guts (does anybody remember that show?). I had such a good time. Mike was fucking crazy too. He kept leaping and making these diving shots at the Canadians (plus Nate).
So after laser tag, we slowly made our way down to Fouf's, which is this awesome Punk Rock bar/club. Ryan wanted everybody to get drunk on his birthday, which is funny because he's edge. The Reverend was edge too. Afterall, who would want to see a drunk priest (actually that would be fucking hilarious)? On the way down, we ran into my new friends from Montreal, Jess and Bex, who always come down to hardcore shows in Burlington. They are so cool. They even sat with the lame-ass vegans of the group, which consisted of me, Taylor and the Reverend. They have surprising plain English for living in the only french-speaking province in Canada. Now that I think of it, I've never seen Jess or Bex speaking french to each other. Maybe because it would alienate us dumbass Americans? Probably.
So Fouf's was really fucking rowdy and loud. The minute I walk in there, they're playing Rise Above by Black Flag. SWEET. I felt right at home until I realized how expensive beer is in Canada. Most of the good beer was near $5 or $6 a glass, so I had to settle for the shitty Molson Dry which was $2.50. And suprisingly, Budweiser was all the rage there, which I totally don't get it. Budweiser is the fucking Wal-Mart to the beer industry. They're a monopoly and they fuck over small breweries. It also tastes like mokey piss, which should stop you from supporting them. Anyways, Canadians seem to love the watered-down crap liquid. I've heard through the vine that Budweiser is the most popular import in London. Really? WTF.
Fouf's is surprisingly massive. Ther are three floors to the place, the 2nd and 3rd floord being smaller bars, with adjacent show spaces, that everybody was just dancing in, because there weren't any live bands that night. Thats a bummer. I would've loved to see some Canadian punk and hardcore. Anyways, the DJ just played a bunch of ska, which was kinda lame, but fun to dance to I guess. Actually Ryan started bumping and grinding every single person he saw, including this poor dude in the corner of the room was puking guts out. It was so funny to see al these meatheads try to do a circle pit to Sum 41. To be honest, it seemed like they were at a football practice. All of us just stood by and watched. Bex and Jess kept mocking them and did surprisingly better!
Eventually Bex and Jess got sick of the bar scene and said goodbye. They are officially my favorite Canadians. There was also this other girl named Lindsay from Montreal that showed up at the bar, but I didn't know her too well. She seemed infatuated with Phil and Ryan. A few times, I actually felt bad for Annalise, as I watched Lindsay jump on Phil's back, but yeah they were just being friends. So finally, me, Mike, Taylor, Phil and Nate were pretty drunk, so we all left and decided to cause a ruckus in the streets. It first started when we lost sight of Phil and all of a sudden he came out of nowhere holding a door. So Ryan grabbed it and took it to the nearest huge set of stairs, which happened to be a marble staircase in front of some government building, wher Ryan decided to surf down the staircase on the door. It was so fucking awesome to see him do that in the middle of big city in front of all these people. Next, we decided it was time block traffic. We found the massive street cones that were like four feet tall and when no cars were coming, we blocked off one end of St. Catherine Street and then ran behind some bushes to see what the line of cars would do. They all fucking took the left hand turn! Not a single person got out and moved a cone! SUCCESS! We did this several more times and were successful everytime. Serioulsy though. Where were all the Montreal cops? I never once heard even one siren come on in the distance. Must be all the wine shops and eclairs... That wasn't even the end of the tom-foolery. At one point, after I went to the bathroom at a subway, I cam back out onto the street find Mike, Ryan and Phil pushing a huge dumpster into the middle of the street. They started running away and told me to follow them. Yeah, those Unrestrained dudes are fucking crazy.
Eventually, it was almost 4 in the morning and we finally decided to leave to go back to the U.S. Nobody wanted Ryan to drive back, because apparently he says really dumb shit to the U.S. border patrol people....and he really did. When we finally got to the border and the guy asked us what we were doing in Canada, Ryan told him he were buying hookers with counterfeit money and fake credit cards. The guys looked at him really weird and confused. Then he asked what we had in the car and Ryan grrabbed my Snapple and told him I had crack tea. I freaked the shit out at first, but then started laughing when I realized the border patrol officer was really annoyed looking, probably because he was so tired. Then Ryan called Taylor an Oger. Finally the guy was sick of Ryan's shit and gave us back our passports. I really surprised he didn't make us pull over to the side and get out like the Canadian border patrol. So much for Homeland Security!
So we finally got back to Burlington at nearly 6 AM and I went right to bed and passed out and woke up at 2 PM. I had such a fucking good time in Montreal. I really hope they invite me on more trips like that.
First off, we didn't get through the border smoothly at all. After we gave the dude our passports, he questioned us intensely about our intentions to go into Canada. He even asked us if we had automatic weapons and cocain. I couldn't stop giggling. It was just so silly. So he took our passports and told us to pull around to the side and come into the border patrol office, where they made us wait for 15 minutes, until they gave us back our passports. They must have been doing background checks or something. Anyways, this was bugging the shit out of Ryan and Phil, because they had made reservations at this place in downtown Montreal to play group laser tag at 9:40 PM and we were still more than an hour aways and it was already past 8. Funny thing was, Nate was driving the other car with Tori, Mike and the Reverend right behind us and they went through just fine, which is weird, because Mike is fucking loud and obnoxious and Nate has huge dreads and looks like he deals marijuana.
So we finally pull into the city an hour and a half later and we have fucking 5 minutes to find a parking space and get to the laser tag place. Ryan kept calling them asking if they would wait five more minutes and they agreed, but even after we finally found a parking space and walked four blocks, we still showed up late, but thankfully another group had cancelled! Fucking luck was on our side that night.
Now onto laser tag. First off, I haven't played the game since I was in middle school and it was some lame ass set-up at Rutland High School and all the 7th graders got to ride up in a bus. Anyway, I got the horribly embarassing score of 88, which was the second to worst score out of the whole group (aside from Annalise, who got a 57, but I don't think she was really into the game). Apparently I only got 8 hits on anybody else throughout the whole game. However, the Vermont group annhiliated the local French Canadian group. I think that had something to with Ryan. He was acting like that fucking drill sgt. from Full Metal Jacket. Anyways, I did hit Nate 4 times, who for some reason was the only Vermonter on the French Canadian team (they had green blinking lights and we had red blinking lights). I think he was pissed, because his name in the game was Battle Axe and second of all I totally fucking suck, and he didn't get one hit on me. The actualy laser tag complex was fucking awesome. It was four floors high and had fucking smoke machines everywhere, so I felt like I was Metal gear solid. There were also flashing lights everywhere and all these sniper holes and shooting glitter. In a way, it reminded me of the Agro Crag from Global guts (does anybody remember that show?). I had such a good time. Mike was fucking crazy too. He kept leaping and making these diving shots at the Canadians (plus Nate).
So after laser tag, we slowly made our way down to Fouf's, which is this awesome Punk Rock bar/club. Ryan wanted everybody to get drunk on his birthday, which is funny because he's edge. The Reverend was edge too. Afterall, who would want to see a drunk priest (actually that would be fucking hilarious)? On the way down, we ran into my new friends from Montreal, Jess and Bex, who always come down to hardcore shows in Burlington. They are so cool. They even sat with the lame-ass vegans of the group, which consisted of me, Taylor and the Reverend. They have surprising plain English for living in the only french-speaking province in Canada. Now that I think of it, I've never seen Jess or Bex speaking french to each other. Maybe because it would alienate us dumbass Americans? Probably.
So Fouf's was really fucking rowdy and loud. The minute I walk in there, they're playing Rise Above by Black Flag. SWEET. I felt right at home until I realized how expensive beer is in Canada. Most of the good beer was near $5 or $6 a glass, so I had to settle for the shitty Molson Dry which was $2.50. And suprisingly, Budweiser was all the rage there, which I totally don't get it. Budweiser is the fucking Wal-Mart to the beer industry. They're a monopoly and they fuck over small breweries. It also tastes like mokey piss, which should stop you from supporting them. Anyways, Canadians seem to love the watered-down crap liquid. I've heard through the vine that Budweiser is the most popular import in London. Really? WTF.
Fouf's is surprisingly massive. Ther are three floors to the place, the 2nd and 3rd floord being smaller bars, with adjacent show spaces, that everybody was just dancing in, because there weren't any live bands that night. Thats a bummer. I would've loved to see some Canadian punk and hardcore. Anyways, the DJ just played a bunch of ska, which was kinda lame, but fun to dance to I guess. Actually Ryan started bumping and grinding every single person he saw, including this poor dude in the corner of the room was puking guts out. It was so funny to see al these meatheads try to do a circle pit to Sum 41. To be honest, it seemed like they were at a football practice. All of us just stood by and watched. Bex and Jess kept mocking them and did surprisingly better!
Eventually Bex and Jess got sick of the bar scene and said goodbye. They are officially my favorite Canadians. There was also this other girl named Lindsay from Montreal that showed up at the bar, but I didn't know her too well. She seemed infatuated with Phil and Ryan. A few times, I actually felt bad for Annalise, as I watched Lindsay jump on Phil's back, but yeah they were just being friends. So finally, me, Mike, Taylor, Phil and Nate were pretty drunk, so we all left and decided to cause a ruckus in the streets. It first started when we lost sight of Phil and all of a sudden he came out of nowhere holding a door. So Ryan grabbed it and took it to the nearest huge set of stairs, which happened to be a marble staircase in front of some government building, wher Ryan decided to surf down the staircase on the door. It was so fucking awesome to see him do that in the middle of big city in front of all these people. Next, we decided it was time block traffic. We found the massive street cones that were like four feet tall and when no cars were coming, we blocked off one end of St. Catherine Street and then ran behind some bushes to see what the line of cars would do. They all fucking took the left hand turn! Not a single person got out and moved a cone! SUCCESS! We did this several more times and were successful everytime. Serioulsy though. Where were all the Montreal cops? I never once heard even one siren come on in the distance. Must be all the wine shops and eclairs... That wasn't even the end of the tom-foolery. At one point, after I went to the bathroom at a subway, I cam back out onto the street find Mike, Ryan and Phil pushing a huge dumpster into the middle of the street. They started running away and told me to follow them. Yeah, those Unrestrained dudes are fucking crazy.
Eventually, it was almost 4 in the morning and we finally decided to leave to go back to the U.S. Nobody wanted Ryan to drive back, because apparently he says really dumb shit to the U.S. border patrol people....and he really did. When we finally got to the border and the guy asked us what we were doing in Canada, Ryan told him he were buying hookers with counterfeit money and fake credit cards. The guys looked at him really weird and confused. Then he asked what we had in the car and Ryan grrabbed my Snapple and told him I had crack tea. I freaked the shit out at first, but then started laughing when I realized the border patrol officer was really annoyed looking, probably because he was so tired. Then Ryan called Taylor an Oger. Finally the guy was sick of Ryan's shit and gave us back our passports. I really surprised he didn't make us pull over to the side and get out like the Canadian border patrol. So much for Homeland Security!
So we finally got back to Burlington at nearly 6 AM and I went right to bed and passed out and woke up at 2 PM. I had such a fucking good time in Montreal. I really hope they invite me on more trips like that.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Music Review #2: After The Fall/Transitions Split 7"
After The Fall/Transitions - Split 7"
1. Together We Can (Transitions)
2. Speechless
3. Within Reach
4. Escape (After The Fall)
5.It's Her Choice
Raise Your Fist Records 016
Two hardcore bands from Albany, NY offer five songs for this diverse split 7" , which in my mind shows there no confines based on style or execution in the D.I.Y. music scence. Transitions belts out three tracks of in your face hardcore with positive lyrics and heavy breakdowns, like Bane and Verse, while After The Fall contributes two songs of fast, cathchy hardcore punk with melodic vocals like Propagandhi and 88 Fingers Louie.
Transitions starts this record off with a sense of ponderous virulence slowly building up to a musical insurrection. The music is technically profficient in the sense that its rhythm is the driving force behind its intensity. These are seasoned musicians, that are dead on with each other, with the kind of musicianship that is second nature, yet not second to the lyrics, which as vague as they are, have a general sense of hope and aspiration to always be a better person. There is a serious lack of positive vibes coming out of the scene today, but these keep the unity call alive. These lyrics may have been inspired by personal moments, but they speak to a large audience. In "Together We Can," the band writes "When you fall, I will be right there. To help you back up. The sense of community that we have been striving for." Its so uplifting to hear band sing words like these.
Track two, "Speechless" deals with exactly what it says: a loss for words. There is also a self-awareness that says "but still I move on taking the less traveled path. I still can't find the words, the air escapes my lungs. Its almost as if actions are intuitive to people and almost impossible to describe at the same time. As a matter of fact, I think that is called a "gut reaction" I can definitely relate to that.
Track three, "Within Your Reach," is more of the motivational speech of their songs. The song tells us to "set your goals and follow them through. Don't give up, never back down." It really does seem generic, but they're also necessary subjects, amidst all the tough-guy thuggery and separatist behavior that can plague a scene.
Overall, Transitions sound angry, fast and heavy, but provide a positive outlook on life and the D.I.Y. music scene at large.
After The Fall have the same hardcore intensity as Transitions, but with a lot more melody and socially/politically conscious lyrics. Not to say that Transitions lyrics are not also political asethetically, but After The Fall touches on specific subjects such as the shameful jurisprudence of the United States and the attack on a woman's right to choose. Musically speaking, the songs are super fast, but with lots of vocal melody and a hefty fare of guitar octaves and intricate picking patterns and rhythms. I think their guitarist Mikey Moak was really inspired by "Potemkin City Limits," by Propagandhi. This influence is definitely visible in their opening track, "Escape," but fades away to a more angry, straight-forward type of hardcore in "It's her Choice, reminiscent of the earlier Transitions Tracks (although I believe ATF plays in E Flat as opposed to the standard tuning that Transitions stick with.
So lets check out the lyrics. In "Escape," the band says "Will you die alone and angry or escape their fucking plan? You'll find a better way of life. Unforgiving court system has left you with no other choice but to run and don't look back, you'll find a better way." I am pleased to see somebody bring up the topic of of our unjust and discriminatory judicial system, which does more to uphold poverty and racism than it does to protect our population. Its definitely not an easy thing to talk about, but ATF doesn't give a fuck, because the world and our human dignity is more important.
After The Fall doesn't rely on poetic verses and lyrical imagery to get a point across. In "It's Her Choice," they say "It's her body and it's her right so fuck off you old white bastards. Let women decide. Let women make the call." It doesn't get much better than that. They don't give a fuck about social constructions of masculinity and are not ashamed of their feminism. And if they were, then why the fuck would they be playing hardcore?
I believe these records are available in green, orange and black vinyl. Mine is orange and its labeled #125 out of 300. Yes, thats right. There are only 300 of these bad boys, so if you want a copy, head over to http://www.myspace.com/afterthefall518 or http://www.myspace.com/transitions518.
After the Fall is also playing at 242 Main in Burlington, VT on September 29th with Energy (Bridge 9 Records). I think Transitions plays the Albany area a lot, as well as Plattsburgh and NYC. Check 'em out!
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