forgetters, Wild America, and Come and Take It at the House of Commons

Pam Cantu and I drove to Austin on Friday.  Well, she did the driving and I paid for gas (I don’t know how to drive).  We made it in 2 and a half hours, a personal record.  She somehow got her Honda Fit up to 100 mph, I saw the speedometer with my own eyes.  We almost crashed into a median and died.

On Saturday I was waiting for the Jesus Lizard to begin their set.  The band started and my phone started to ring.  I decided to wait until the Jesus Lizard were done and then call whoever it was back.  During “Mouth Breather,” I get a text from the same number. It was Aaron.  I was about to text him back but at that moment a stagediver kicked my hat, gun range earmuffs, and glasses off.  I picked up my hat and ear protection but I couldn’t find my glasses.  I pulled out a little flashlight on my keychain and got down on one knee and looked for it.  The second I did that, the whole crowd of people made space for me, 2 guys pulled out flashlights, 3 guys pulled out cellphones and started using them as flashlights, and everyone was looking for my glasses.  And one of those guys found them. Awesome.

After the Jesus Lizard set, I called Aaron back and he informed me that forgetters from Brooklyn, New York were playing a house show that night.  I couldn’t get the show confirmed as real and not a hoax, but I couldn’t risk it.  I thanked him and started walking to the address he sent me; it was 2 or 3 miles away and took about an hour to walk.

For those of you who don’t know, forgetters (all lower-case with no article) is a band from Brooklyn, New York with Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil, Thorns of Life) on guitar and vocals, Caroline Paquita (Bitchin’) on bass, and Kevin Mahon (Against Me!) on drums.  This would be my only chance to ever see Blake play a house show.

When I finally made it to the house, I saw a bunch of people sitting on the front porch and a kid pumping what looked like a potato cannon with a bicycle pump.  That kid was Kyle, I hadn’t seen him since I was about 15 or 16.  I yell from the sidewalk, “Kyle, is that you?”

“Yeah!” he replied.

I walk up the steps and ask him in almost a whisper, “Hey, uh…is forgetters really playing here tonight?”  He said yes.  I walked inside and sat down in the room with the PA.

A guy with a beard was sitting next to me.  “Are you excited, man?” I asked him.  “Yeah, how ’bout you?”  “Totally. I never thought I’d ever see him in the flesh, y’know?”  (Aaron had been using the phrase “in the flesh” for the past week so I made it a mission to use it at least once)  I told him about how Jets to Brazil didn’t come to Houston on their last tour and I told him about all the other legendary shows I had to miss because I was so young.  He was quite a bit older than me so he told me all the bands he had to miss.  I think one of the bands he missed was Jawbreaker because his dad said no and it was a school night and it was snowing.  Blake then walked into the room and put down his guitar.  Then he started talking to some guy.  Me and the bearded guys sat there in silence and watched.  The 2nd bearded guy pulled out a Polaroid camera and, without looking in the viewfinder, pointed the camera from his lap at Blake and pressed the button.  A big bright flash momentarily blinded everyone in the room and the loud mechanics of the photo being exposed made a shrill noise.  “Uhh…hi there…” said Blake.  The 2nd bearded guy waved his hand. “Hi,” he said.

Their set was great.  I recognized one of the songs was a Thorns of Life song, I think it’s called “Oh Deathly Death.”  My friend Leah was at the show with one of her friends.  I told them how legendary this forgetters show was going to be, but they didn’t get it.  They actually left before the forgetters set.  If I believed in god, this moment would have thrown my theism down the drain.

Bread & Roses and the Christmas Truce of World War I

One of my favorite folk bands is Bread & Roses from Boston, Massachusetts.  They broke up a year or two ago and had only played together for a few years.  It was one of those folk bands that comprised of musicians who had grown up listening and playing punk rock music.  The music was doused with bluegrass and Celtic styled banjo playing, mandolin, acoustic guitar, gruff vocals, fiddles, and upright bass.  Their songs were a mix of old and modern stories, from stories of soldiers in World War I to the ironic sales of selling GG Allin t-shirts at the mall.  Their last album will probably never be released but I have a copy and have been listening to it every day for the past few weeks.  Before I had only the live bootleg versions so hearing a “proper” recording of my favorite song, “Boxing Day 1914,” is like listening to it for the first time all over again.  It wasn’t until I heard the recorded version that I realized what the song was about.

I remember around 7th grade I was reading about holidays celebrated by many countries, excluding America, such as May Day and Boxing Day.  I had European friends with parents that celebrated May Day but I never knew anyone that celebrated Boxing Day, usually on the day after Christmas.  My history teacher in 7th grade knew quite a bit about it and he also was the first person to tell me about the World War I Christmas Truce.  He told us of how German troops and English troops sat in cold, wet trenches fighting nonstop.  There was always sounds of gunshots and bombs blasting day and night.  You could never have a silent moment to yourself.  But on Christmas Eve, the Germans ceased fire.  They lit candles and decorated the ground level of their side of the battlefield with Christmas trees.  They sang Christmas carols that echoed out of the trenches.  The English troops also ceased fire, although apprehensively.  They, too, started to sing Christmas carols.  Written in broken English, the German troops began holding up signs asking for a momentary truce.  The English troops also held up signs asking for a temporary cease of fire.  Then slowly, the soldiers on both sides of the war crawled out of their trenches, walked across no-man’s-land, and shook hands.  For two days, they exchanged gifts instead of bullets and ate dinner together instead of individually.  They played soccer against one another instead of war.  But more importantly, they allowed each other to bury the dead, something neither side could do because of the dangerous gunfire above ground.  During the truce, some soldiers of opposing sides actually exchanged addresses to write each other after the war.  The celebration lasted until Christmas.  By Boxing Day, the war continued.

Bread & Roses’ song “Boxing Day 1914” (which I hosted here to download) is about an English soldier during these two days who exchanged addresses with a German soldier.  I can’t believe I never caught this years ago; it makes perfect sense.  Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, of 1914, the year of World War I.  I should’ve known instantly.

Old friend, can you remember the tiny lights that sprung up over no man’s land?  And how without a signal, we threw down our weary arms and how without a second thought we stood and ran.

Old friend, can you remember the frozen muddy wasteland suddenly pristine?  For the first and last time ever, I could hear myself think over the grinding voice of the machine.

Corporals translated our delight as Christmas Day turned into night.  With laughter on our tongues where there’d been only orders and screams. We danced along the bodies like children in a dream.

Old friend, can you forgive me?  The Pidgin English promises I’ll never keep.  Christmas Eves that I spent drinking at my writing desk and Christmas mornings my children watched their father weep.

And nothing I’ve done since has felt as real as the first step I took across that frozen field.  When we said our last goodbyes, I can’t remember who blinked first, but I can see your face as clearly as I read this scribbled curse, this scribbled address that I hid away in shame.

Long after we had found out
All the slaughtered soldiers’ names,
Can you forgive me my old friend?
I picked my rifle up again on Boxing Day.

The Chris Ryan Private Pool Party, 20 years of Felipe, AK-47’s reunion, & washing the dishes

“My parents are out of town and nobody’s home, come over and we can hang out and go swimming!”

“Should we bring beer?”

“Sure!”

That may sound like a transcript of a conversation between two high school students in the middle of summer, but it’s actually from a conversation between two adults.  One is 22 and the other is heading towards 30.

Chris Ryan invited Aaron, Laurene, & I over to his parents’ place in Sugar Land.  They were out of town so he and Melissa took a break from their place in the Heights for a while to watch it.  We took the 30 minute drive and once we got there, everyone went swimming.  Well, everyone but me.  I’m not really into swimming.  I took some pictures and Chris Ryan told me not to tag him in them on Facebook because he’s friends with his parents on Facebook and he doesn’t really want them to know he had people over.  After he grilled some hotdogs for us all, we watched the Tour de France.

I talk trash about the suburbs all the time, but spending time in one of those giant houses makes me realize that living like a king could be pretty cool.  Chris and Melissa told me the only bad thing about it was the insane drives to go to Houston.

When Felipe turned 20 a few weeks ago, he had a party at a house that was kinda like a king’s place.  It was at the house of an investment banker.  The place blew my mind.  Especially when it was filled with people in formalwear.  I took advantage of this party because it would be one of the last ones I go to for a while.  After I got my Associate’s Degree and hung it up on my wall, I decided that once college started up again I’d stay inside and try to learn as much as I can and study and make the best grades.  This will also give me more time to write and paint, two things I haven’t done in a while.

I’m going to miss things like this.

The best thing about the party was the afterparty at Calder’s place.  I think it was in the poolhouse, but I’m not very sure because I’ve never been to his place before then.

You can tell it’s an afterparty because everyone’s top button is undone and ties are loose.

It was a good party to end partying with.

Aaron and I have been hanging out more this summer, especially because his dad opened up a burger/hotdog restaurant that we started working at downtown.  Aaron is a host/cashier/server I’m a dishwasher over there.  I like washing the dishes.  There’s no responsibility, no pressure, nobody to deal with, and gives me the opportunity to spend a few hours to actually think.

We arrive at the restaurant around 9 or 10 every morning and we leave at about the same time.  The thing is, even though we work 10-12 hour shifts, we still feel the need to go out and do something.  Most of the time we go to the Mink and we find ourselves there 2 or 3 times a week, at the minimum.  The other night we went there and saw AK-47, something I thought I’d never be able to see in my entire life.  I saw AK-47 play “The Badge Means You Suck.”  I still can’t believe I’m able to say that.

While hanging out downstairs, I ran into Zoe Kanan!  I had 7th grade math with her and was absolutely obsessed with her family because her dad was in Poison 13 and played with the Big Boys for some time and her aunt or something had something to do with the movie Paris, TX.  I asked her what she was doing there and she told me her grandma was in the Mydolls. Unbelievable! Punkest family ever.

Thorns of Life – My First Time

A friend of mine asked me if I could figure out some chords for him for the song “My First Time” by Thorns of Life.  I’m not really into doing that kinda stuff anymore, but I actually really like this song so I went ahead and did it for him.  Most people know I love Jawbreaker and in my opinion, any Jawbreaker-related favor MUST be done.  I didn’t want to keep it to just me and him so I’ll post it here for all to enjoy.

C F C G
C F C G

C          F       C      G
I met her in the eleventh grade.
C        F      C       G      Am
She was already on some secret probation
 F
A mother's nightmare
 C
Father's dream
 G        C
She was Egyptian to me.

C           F            C          G
Took me an hour just to get myself brave
C            F             C     G                    Am
I called her up at her mother's house, my voice was shaking.
 F
We were suspended
 C
on the line
 G        C
Til she said "OK fine."

 F      C
It was my first time.
 G               Am
Being the one to choose.
 F       C
It was the hardest thing
F       G     C
I ever had to do.

C         F           C     G
We drove around Santa Monica
C              F       C            G              Am
Too young and broke to go into the places we could go to.
 F
Not much was open
 C
At 9 PM
 G               C
I took her home and we hung out.

C           F        C            G
She knew a lot more about it than me
C        F        C        G
Took my hand and showed me things
 Am
It wasn't guilty
 F
Or dirty
 C
It was tender
 G
A little awkward
 C
And I came.

 F    C
It was my first time
G           Am
It was her third.
 F       C
I think we both did fine
F           G            C
But it got better after that

G                          C
The Velvet Underground was playing
F   C
Heroin
G                 C
That might sound inappropriate
 F        C       G
But it's such a beautiful song
 F          G
And we weren't doing
F        G
Anything wrong
F          G
Or maybe we were
F             G
That turned us on

 F      C
It was my first time
G               Am
Think she could tell
 F        C
But she kept me on
F         G       C
And she taught me well

Something Fierce’s Tour Kick-Off Party at the Marshall Law House

College orientation on Friday really sucked the life out of me.  I took the bus there at 7 in the morning.  I skipped lunch that day because I paid my good pal, Dale, a visit at the copy center where I gave him my original Jawbreaker promo poster to duplicate.  On the bus ride home I decided to call it a day and stay home to rest.  That didn’t work out too well.

Aaron Danger called me up and somehow convinced me to go to the Marshall Law house for Something Fierce’s tour kick-off.  We stopped at the Valero by my house to fill up on gas.  I walked into the station to pay and on the way out, I a quite fetching girl come out of her car.  She had tattoos peeking out the bottome of her t-shirt sleeve.  This blew my mind.  You see, at the Eastwood Valero station the only people that go there are cops and creepsters.  I was so enthralled by this girl that I didn’t see a car coming my way as I crossed the street.   Luckily, the car quickly braked and spared me my life.  Looking back at that moment, I almost wish the car did hit me, that way the mysteriously keen looking girl would come running my way to make sure I wasn’t dead.

We pulled up to the house and the porchlight shining on a group of cupholders on the front lawn was pretty inconspicuous.  Seeing Something Fierce cram their gear (and themselves) into an upstairs bedroom with a bunch of goodhearted troublemakers to play a set really brings me back to my youth.  The night was going pretty great.  A keg of Shiner stuffed in the closet and a strict NO RANDOS policy never seemed to fail in the past, now that I think about it.

Stewart and his friend from Mexico City, Moises, DJ’ed later that night.  Too bad dancing scares the hell out of me…

The party spilled out onto the sidewalk.

Darcy and Alex stopped by, but not for long.  Before I knew it, I was out of there.  Everyone crammed in the car and headed to Late Nite Pie.