Gospel's mighty return

This release is more progressive than 'the moon is a dead world' which was the first album but a lot of the themes are carried over to this record. Vinny's insane drumming is enough to keep me interested regardless of what is over top of it. Luckily for me the rest of the package is nice and doesn't make it a hard listen in any regard.

Hey look, a tele thinline!

Jawbreaker - Ache

This has been one of my favorite songs of all time. It's been a favorite since 24 hour revenge therapy came out back in 1994. There's so much history of a band like this for me and I'm sure many other people around my age. Things like friends leaving a message on my answering machine that said "We're having a party, please come, it won't be the same without you, please come" (Those are Jawbreaker lyrics for you who aren't schooled in the history of Jawbreaker), Or driving to Gainesville to see Jawbreaker on the tour for this record at the covered dish, or making mix tapes with Jawbreaker songs to get across your feelings through Blake's lyrics without being blatantly over the top and exposing yourself.

In a lot of ways mix tapes were like the text message of the mid 90's in that when your message arrives you're not around to deal with the consequences of it. You could put a couple dozen songs on a tape and include all of the things you'd like to say to someone but with the protection of the person not knowing exactly which lyrics were directed at them specifically. It allowed the person to separate themselves from what they wanted to say with an escape hatch of "No, that's just a cool riff!" if they were called out on it. The added bonus was getting to flex your music knowledge muscles and impress with the "cool bands" you know about (when you're 18 these things are important).

But back on topic:
It's the lyrics that really separates Jawbreaker from many of their contemporaries. This one is a particularly well written example. Read the opening lines and tell me it doesn't play into the feelings you have as an 18 year old punk rock, skater, surfer kid who's trying to figure things out:

I believe in desperate acts.
The kind that make me look stupid.
(Look like a fool)

Oh yes, I really liked the sound of that because... well, doesn't that sound like any 18 year old? But more than that this was a great record for so many reasons that I couldn't even begin to cover. It's just a great album worth listening to repeatedly, over and over and over and...

While getting the release date of 24 hour revenge therapy I happened to find a review of bivouac. The review stated that bivouac was a failure, falling short of expectations etc. I couldn't disagree more. Bivouac is still my favorite Jawbreaker record.

Been surfing long?

That was the question from the guy on the semi-battered long board who had caught a couple waves and worked speedily albeit awkwardly down the line. Keep in mind that I rarely initiate a conversation out surfing or anywhere for that matter. It's not that I'm not friendly, I am. I'm just not the type to initiate conversation usually.

"Today?" was my reply.

"In general" he said. Now I'm starting to wonder where this is going.

"About 20 years" I respond. As in, I've been surfing a damn long time, I'm not sure what you're getting at.

"You like fishing?" he asks. Ok, so you are being the friendly sort of chap in the water. That's cool.

"No, I don't fish" I say after paddling back out from taking a wave.

"You are with that watch" he says. Now I see where this is going. Thanks for bestowing your knowledge of the ocean on me, I had no idea that shiny objects can attract predators. Oh wait, I grew up on the gulf, been surfing for 20 years, interned at a marine science center... so thanks for the tip in your condescending manner.

"Yeah, I thought about getting a wrist band to put over it" I said as casually as I could. And I have actually thought about getting a wrist band to cover it up but just never got around to it because yes, predators are attracted to shiny objects in the waters.

"Barracudas man" he said and caught a wave.

BARRA-FUCKIN-CUDAS!!! Seriously? How about BULL SHARKS MAN? Or any kind of shark for that matter, especially juvenile blacktips? Of all the predators to worry about. Barracudas... We aren't reef diving here with speared fish strapped to my leg.

It's just funny that he would come up with barracuda. It's not the most feared predator by far and it surely isn't much of a problem in beach breaks around the world. It's like there was one 70's crappy horror movie based around the barracuda after the success of Jaws to hype up the aura around the fish. Unfortunately for the barracudas publicist, the fervor just never caught on.

And to think I talked to some guy about programming in C+ for GIS applications in the water yesterday. The line up is filled with all kinds I guess.

Memories light the corner of my mind

So I've started playing songs from my old band as a workout routine. Works me out physically and hopefully gets my drum playing back to the shape it used to be in. Being so busy these days makes it hard to believe that there was one time that I literally had over 3 band practices a week at several hours a piece. Now it's more like playing for a few minutes on "lunch" and for a few more minutes before the family comes home. Not to mention that I'm splitting time now between playing drums and guitar.

How good of a workout? http://bleedthemdry.bandcamp.com/album/freedom-is-our-most-profitable-export Yeah I made that face a lot because we played all the songs back to back without stopped between them. It was a brutal 20 something minutes.

I've also ditched the office chair for a drum stool so there's no back support. Now if only I could shake off the 3-4 Mountain Dews a day... Bring back the svelt and some fast chops!

I agree

the women throw bananas in the street
moments later they are gray and flat and lifeless
beyond all recognition
some say the most powerful force on earth is water
but from my second story window
it seems to be the cars

-Dan Bern

Pretty insightful look at how humanity has changed the planet for the worse.

This isn't funny...

Or is it? Losing an apex predator that was already on the decline is detrimental to the overal health of the ocean. The gulf is/was responsible for several record Hammerhead shark catches, over 18 feet if you're feeling like a swim. I hate to think about what is really going on out there.

Ok it's funny... but just the cartoon.

get pumped up

Need to get pumped up this morning?



"we keep our hands warm with the damn patriot act"
If there was more hip hop that had something to say the world would be a better place. P.O.S. good on yah my brother...

SIMS is one of my darkhorse favorites:


Come on, the dude uses "hegemony" in this track. Give credit where it's due, SIMS is the man.

Both of these artists are from the Doomtree collective. Get on it people, this is what hip hop should be.

Matt hates the world cup...

I have to disagree, I enjoy it. Do I set my clock by it or have any "Must see" matches? No, but I do appreciate a game that is played by the entire world which is largely misunderstood by the citizenry of the USA. Maybe it's because all the kids on the soccer team in high school were affluent douchery? There's got to be more to it than that, the football team was always filled with douchery of all sorts (and still is Rothlesberger, no I don't care if i misspelled it).

The main reason I think it's misunderstood is that way that it's shot for tv. Long lens from a distance, all the players look small and the action is hard to really discern. When you are able to watch the replays and the camera is zoomed in tight you can see how much action there really is. How physical the ball handling is and how brutal some of the challenges really are.

I was surprised when I first started playing soccer at around age 20 what a great game it is. I relied on physicality to make up for my lack of ball handling skills since I grew up playing baseball. The problem was the good players were just as physical and rough as well as being able to dribble circles around me. Don't tell me there isn't toughness in soccer, I had an incident after muscling in a goal on a player who was much better than I at the indoor facility in Tampa. Sure enough the next time that guy touched the ball he put it straight for my head as hard as he could. Luckily for both of us he missed but his point was made. "Don't come into my house and show me up, you got lucky"

Soccer remains misunderstood because of the way it's presented to us, with or without Hank Willams Jr doing crappy intro songs pregame.

Animal Kingdom

It's pretty hot in the summer on the train back from the petting zoo.

Just add ice creamEveryones happy!
Parenting ain't easy.

LSD NO NO

I'm starting to feel bad for ripping things off from my friend Matt's blog. He just keeps finding interesting stuff that I think my 4 followers that aren't Matt would like. It's baldwinsworld.com if you're interested in checking it out. (there's videos of waterboarding too)

But anyhow, Doc Ellis threw a no hitter in 1970 while presumably "catching trails". I knew the story but never heard this interview. It's so worth the few minutes to check it out even if you're not a baseball fan. A no hitter is so difficult to achieve as a pitcher and to do it while "trippin balls" is well... amazing. You've probably noticed that I love using high speak, you probably think it's annoying but I enjoy the irony.

From No Mas -In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. In the past few years we’ve heard all too much about performance enhancing drugs from greenies to tetrahydrogestrinone, and not enough about performance inhibiting drugs. If our evaluation of the records of athletes like Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds needs to be revised downwards with an asterisk, we submit that that Dock Ellis record deserves a giant exclamation point. Of the 263 no-hitters ever thrown in the Big Leagues, we can only guess how many were aided by steroids, but we can say without question that only one was ever thrown on acid.
Sadly, the great Dock Ellis died last December at 63. A year before, radio producers Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel, had recorded an interview with Ellis in which the former Pirate right hander gave a moment by moment account of June 12, 1970, the day he no-hit the San Diego Padres. Alexander and Ilels original four minute piece appeared March 29, 2008 on NPRs Weekend America. When we stumbled across that piece this past June, Blagden and Isenberg were inspired to create a short animated film around the original audio.
www.nomas-nyc.com

it's too easy sometimes

I grew up in a small town so I can usually predict a small town mentaility a mile away. This time it came at the local gas station. I probably didn't need to mention that, it would probably be a given.
The guy had no shirt on and there were plenty of faded tatoos that included things like pot leaves and I'm sure a grim reaper somewhere (although I didn't see it there was probably a rebel flag too). He was complaining that there was no Sparks left and something about how the manager always saved a case for him. He was the gregarious kind of redneck which talks with everyone for no real reason which I guess comes with the territory of being gregarious.
The man behind the counter asked him if he was the guy who pushed Gary Coleman down the stairs. So you know what's coming right? Or did you not grow up in a small town... the countdown had already started in my head.
"that was the little guy in diff'rent strokes right?" I was surprised it didn't happen in this line but it didn't.
"yeah it sure was" said the man behind the counter as he was getting a brown bag for the can of Sparks. The guy grabbed his stuff and as he was turning to walk out the door he said "little nigger" with a smile.
You knew it would happen right? You had to... some people are that easy to read. It's times like that where I wish I was about 6" taller and built like a tank, because I would have said something. But I'm not, so I just stared blankly back. I guess it wouldn't have proved anything anyways, you can't change deep seated misunderstanding with fists, only life experience.
Although this guy probably has a black friend somewhere and refers to him as "the good kind" or "not like the others". Or not...