Freaker's Ball, Memories and more

The Freaker's Ball was just an annoyance. I went, stayed until the Ripouts finished, then decided not to waste any more time there and went home. There was way too much time between the bands, I suppose more than one band didn't bother to show. Maybe they had a premonition? What crowd there was seemed to be the wrong crowd for a show that featured all punk bands. I mean, I was about ready to run amok through them as they watched the Ripouts and bash them to see if they were even awake. I didn't get the name of the first band, or the third band. If someone can supply them to me I'd like to look them up. A quick review of the two bands I liked and knew the names of :

The Misspoken
They are a teenage group from Virginia. They did very well, it's hard to play to your fullest potential when there aren't that many people listening. The music was good, all the band members seemed to be good enough playing their instruments. The bass player seemed the most energetic of the crew, I talked to him later but forgot to ask Brian if he had ever missed one of those jumps he liked to make. One of the criteria I use to rate new bands is how well they can cover a song. The band did a very good cover of the Ramone's Blitzkrieg Bop so they certainly passed that test. Everything seemed in place so that if they continue they will be much better in the months or years to come. I don't know if I'll get to see them at Jaxx next month but I'm pretty sure I'll see them again somewhere. If anyone is interested in going to Jaxx to see them, find the band's Myspace and buy the tickets from the band. If given a chance to buy from the band or the venue, always choose to buy from the band. It shows the venues that the bands have fans so they can rebook and also saves you that horrendous service charge that Ticketbastard adds on.

The Ripouts
They put on a great show, as usual. Every time I see them, they get better. It's a shame they don't get to play more often, I understand that Virginia has very few venues to play punk music but if a band ever deserved to get more stage time, it's them. Conley was his usual out of control self, now that he's ditched the skirts for more of a glam look I think it's improved the look of the band, not to mention he's prettier than ever. I was trying to decide who he reminded me of and all I kept getting was the cover of Bowie's album Aladdin Sane. While they don't look anything alike, he still reminds me some of Bowie but supercharged as it were. Kevin was great on the guitar, Roxie quietly held up her end on the bass, while having to occasionally kick Conley out of the way as he writhed about on the floor and Toasty on drums tore it up. He broke a foot pedal and the way he kept hammering at things, I expected the drums to disintegrate into dust at any moment. I am looking forward to seeing them at the Sidebar in August, assuming I'm still in town.

One other note from the show. The first and third band had something in common. One of the members. He played drums in the first band and played guitar, sang and drums in the third one. He did a fine job on the drums, I just wish I had the name of the bands.

Okay, one more other note. When teenage bands are doing Ramones songs, I have a request. They should amp up the Ramones song "I Don't Want To Grow Up" which I think is a great song for a young band to do. Not in the style the Ramones did it, they did it way too slow but more in the style that a teenage punk band from the UK called Outl4w did it. It's just such a great song but doesn't seem to get much in the way of covers. Any band that reads this, try the song. Listen to the Outl4w version, if you speed it up some, loud it up some, people will love it. So what if people don't recognize it right away like they do with Blitzkrieg Bop or other songs, they don't usually know your original music and they get into it when you're doing a show, right?

Now, off to the land of memories.

I had the best time in 1967. I was 5 years old, I had a nanny that was incredibly hip and into everything going on with the culture at the time. In addition I had parents who were open and who played all the new music as it came out. My next door neighbor who was still relatively new to me but who was already becoming important in my life (he taught me to read before my 5th birthday), all these people together made my childhood something that very few people experienced. I can remember going to North Carolina, where my mother's side of the family lived and going to dances with older cousins, I learned all the dances and I could pretend to be on LSD with the best of them. In later years I was sorry that I was too young to fully experience the Summer of Love. I can still see the image of my nanny, she was a true flower child, even to the point of wearing flowers in her hair. When you start to read at age 5, you tend to absorb at an incredible rate and you always seem to want more. Once I got a little better educated, I was reading at college level before I finished 1st grade, I had Freud down pat before 3rd grade, then the nanny and I used to have long philosophical discussions. It was funny how her mind tended to go after she had smoked a joint. Not that I had any idea what a joint was then, I just thought it was a funny looking cigarette. While I conceptually knew of drugs, I hadn't actually seen any at that point. My parents weren't that far into the new culture. Somewhere, in a storage unit, I think I still have the tiedyed shirt she made for me.

I know what you're thinking, with all this, I probably missed out on being a "real" child. I assure you that's not the case. I was just as into the normal age group things, playing with friends, acting like the brat I always had inside myself. As far as 95% of my friends knew, there was no real difference between us, I mean they knew I went to a private school and nobody else from my area went there so it eliminated some of the closeness that would have developed had we all been in the same school and groups of people but I never noticed any real growing apart, at least not in the 5-15 age range. Once we started to drive, then we became further apart, I would tend to drive to where my school friends were but that's normal. My earliest sexual partners were from my neighborhood, the school partners came as soon as I had experimented enough to be adept at what I wanted to be doing. It's a little odd but I can remember consciously thinking that I wanted to do any fumbling about with my local friends before I tried it on school ones. I guess I might have been a little snobbish about it, I always wanted to be the best in my school at whatever I did.

Now, what brought this on. Music of course. I was checking my music email and I found a remastered double CD from the Summer of Love. I started to listen to it and the songs brought back all the memories from when I was actually a naive little boy, before education led me to knowledge and loss of innocence. I may have to send this one out to people, even if they aren't from that era, the songs just reflect a mood that you can't help but catch on to. I often wonder what my boys will have to look back on when they get older, will they have anything they can remember in fondness or will it all merge into a childhood patchwork of ennui.

Unfortunately Cheney made it through the battery replacement and will be around to "dick" us for awhile longer. It sucks that the good die young and evil fucking bastards like Cheney and Bush live forever. I just hope that they haven't gotten the USA into something that the next president can't fix. It's going to require a lot of repair to our national image abroad to make up for all the damage done by baby Bush and his cronies. I'm pretty sure that Hillary would be up to the task, she's got Bill to fall back on after all. Obama is a joke, everyone seems to know it but him. I just hope that he doesn't end up as the VP candidate with Hillary. Let him wait another 8 years and get some experience. This isn't a Kmart he's trying to run, we have had enough fuckups as president.

Best anti Bush songs
Pink - Dear Mr President
The Queers - Monkey In A Suit

What else is going on? The summer is winding down too soon. Only another month and it's time to start teaching again. Someone the other day asked me if I had a syllabus. I do my classes as a form of free association. While I have an overall idea of how things should go, what happens once the class starts is not something I'm willing to script. I feel that you restrict the ability of someone to learn when you have a regimented class structure. The object of a teacher is to create an atmosphere where students want to learn, where they have fun and look forward to the class. I am so glad that I am in a private school. If I ever had to follow any rules like they do in the public school environment, I would just quit. I didn't follow rules as a student, why would I as a teacher?

I think the boys are getting both a little excited and a lot nervous. They will be attending my school this year, going in to 7th grade. I've tried telling them it's a good year to enter. It's the first year of the upper school so there are a lot of people who weren't in the lower school also. It gives the new guys a chance to meet and make friends on almost equal terms. I've been getting them ready in my own particular way, by teaching them lacrosse. The best way to be one of the a-listers in the school is to not just play lacrosse but to be good enough to make the jv or varsity teams. While I don't think they are good enough for that yet, they will be by the time I finish with them. Academically the boys are ready. I am having someone come in the two weeks before school starts to give them a math refresher, the rest of it I know they are totally prepared for but it doesn't hurt to get a leg up on the math parts. Math was my worst subject, not that I got a bad grade, I still got over the 90% marks but I hated every single year of it. So I'm not thinking I'll be any help to the twins if they get into trouble. Luckily the other guys here are better at math so they won't have trouble finding help.

I've really gotten into the new HBO series John From Cincinnati. While it still irritates me that the creator of this series didn't finish the Deadwood series I have to admit that this series is extremely interesting and very much on the weird side. It's got some of the same actors as Deadwood, it's funny to see them in the parts they play on this show. I am not sure how to describe the show, maybe that's how everyone acts in California? Even when they aren't on drugs. All I can suggest to you is that you take a look at it. It's going day by day, each week is a new day on the show. I'll have to wait until it goes on longer to really figure out who and what the title character is but until then I'll just enjoy watching it.

I guess that's about it for this week. Everyone have a good beginning of August and remember to take the time out to have fun. Otherwise, what's the use of being?

Love you all!