Podcast 11: Woodlake Tales

In our first of two podcasts. my buddy Joey and I take a trip down memory lane as we spin yarns of our youth, to you, the little people.


Joey wearing one of his many stupid hats.



ipod Download Link:
http://www.divshare.com/download/7470959-42f

Genius Animals.

New Jersey Fairy Tale

Mr. T: Cubs Fan

I Am Silverchair

Another one from the myspace archive:

Thursday, June 07, 2007
Their beginnings were earnest, decent Nirvana clones whose lead singer wore a Tool shirt and rocked one of my summer of '95 anthems, "Tomorrow." (In the video, a pigman performs fellatio on a stack of coins and not a pocket full o' shells.) Even then, I kinda felt they would fall into obscurity as the DJ at the new station in Fresno, New Rock 104 said that they won a contest in Australia, beat out like 200 bands to have their song played on the radio—then the teen sensation that was Australian import Silverchair became an American rape job. They looked confused on subsequent videos afterwards.

Then in 1997, in the height of the young master's progress and my sexual inner-rage, the band dropped their sophomore outing, my favorite by them, "Freak Show." This album owned me that spring and summer when I was driving back and forth with sumdumbass to Porterville and spinning pizza in the air to the awe of High School girls who pretended to not like me. My favorite song was "Slave." I would listen to that song at the peak of my indifference to the Wood. Metal was my drug of choice before beer's icy hands gripped my heart and has ceased to loosen since. I'd put on my ball chain and some of my mom's eye make-up, mock-singing to "Learn to Hate" to the mirror's reflection.

"Take the time to learn to hate. And come and join the mass debate."

I would yell that when mom and dad were at work—in my room, wearing out Fisher speakers. Not getting laid. Not getting drunk. Just sneaking cigarettes and Taco Bell, banging my head to a maverick album in the Grunge era.

Silverchair came back to me in one of the most interesting times in my life, when I first hit Sac soil in the early daze of the final year of our lord, 1999. I was let down by the album "Neon Ballroom" and kinda dropped off the bandwagon after that. The only decent song is probably my favorite Chair song, a little number called "Ana's Song (Open Fire)." It was a personal song for singer Daniel Johns, who suffered from Anorexia and looked it.

"And Ana wrecks your like, like an Anorexia life…" Great pun, young modern Johns.

After that, grunge was dead to me. I started falling down the rabbit hole and listening anything that had nothing to do with my young republican counterpart, who ironically died in 2003 when supporting the war was cool. I remember downloading the lead single off their last album, "Diorama" and liking it, but hating that I liked it. The single got lost in a sea of Interpol and Bowie. Lost in a collage of Floyd and the Doors.

Now I'm thirty, and obsessing once more about a band I thought kicked ass when was young, dumb and full of something that rhymes with dumb.

It was serendipity, my brothers and sisters. Drunkenly trolling through Livejournal and finding a random video on the internet in the Buddhist lounge.



And you know how youtube shows other video previews after you have watched one—one of them was of Silverchair's song off their new album. Daniel looks like Timberlake now and rocks like Elton when he was angry. Then it occurred to me, I grew up with Silverchair.

The evolution of Silverchair was the evolution of D.A. They entered my life at five very different periods and they continued to be a band I respected, even if I didn't consider myself a fan.

I found this on some random site, "Naivety on Frogstomp, anger on Freak Show, depression on Neon Ballroom, escapism on Diorama and acceptance on Young Modern."

I am Silverchair. Silverchair is me. In my thirtieth year, I accept what the world is, just a little bit more. Call me Young Modern, Drewsus A. "The Magnum" Von Stutmania esquire, the first. On quest for the girl with far away eyes.

"I'm watching you watch over me and I've got the greatest veiw from here."

Episode 10: Crazy Crap

My buddy Chris and I do a little podcast. Next time we do this, I'll let him talk more. Sorry, the audio quality wasn't the best.



ipod Download Link:
http://www.divshare.com/download/7461722-4af

The Hilter magnet Chris made me for graduation last year:

Social Crime

Yet another blog from the days of yore...this time from October 12, 2006

Hanging at the Town and Country plaza the other day, found a quite bench near some ill-frequented businesses, a good place to get some quality reading done before my work shift started. There was this kid hanging out outside, looking bored up to his gills, no doubt waiting for his mother in the beauty shop. I was watching him for awhile, he kept going in and out of the car, listening to the radio and what not. Eventually he took his lazy beagle for a walk--at least he tried....the dog was fighting him tooth and nail. I felt bad for the kid, it reminded me of similar situations I found myself in when I was his age--waiting for Mom, I wanted to put my arm around him and tell him, "This is only the beginning kid, you're gonna be waiting on girls a lot in your lifetime."

All the sudden a FedEx truck comes roaring around the bend in the park lot in front of the beauty shop--skidding on the pavement to a full stop--followed by a tapestry of obscenity.

"You mutherfucker--look where you're going cocksucker--I have no room here you fucking road hog. You're lucky you didn't hit me cocksucker, I would own you. You hear me mutherfucker, OWN YOU! Watch where the fuck you are going next time you cunt!" Then a middle-aged bastard-of-a-man comes speeding through the parking lot on a motorcycle. I looked over at junior, he heard the entire tirade.

It reminded me of that part in "Catcher in the Rye," where Holden finds the "Fuck You" written in the banister and reflects on how the person who did such a thing is human scum--robbing children of just a little bit of their innocence by defacing their world with such a harsh adult word.

I'd like to think that the dude on the bike wasn't aware there was a child around when he went on his verbal assault of the FedEx driver--I can sympathize with the fact that he was almost hit by the truck--but still conduct yourself in public you ass. The sad thing is, like Holden, I saw the innocence robbed from a child--while the real perpetrator was none-the-wiser to his social crime.

I'm always the middle man.....