I can't control my fingers, I can't control my brain.

Good afternoon, Internet. How is everyone doing on this fine afternoon? Looking up German midget porn on your blackberry while pretending to do work? Right on, I feel you. As for me, it seems to be just another Wednesday in this office. Banged out a bunch of work this morning, went to the gym, got lunch, and now I sit here speaking with all of you while I enjoy my sandwich and listening to music. Today's play list is the new record from upstate hardcore group, Another Breath. I must say, I highly recommend this record if you are into the punk/hardcore genre of music. This is the bands third album, and it just keeps getting better. This record, titled "The God Complex" is another look into the mind of, well, a mad man. The lead singer of Another Breath is one of the craziest dudes I've ever met. Granted, I've only met him twice in my entire life, both at shows, but he also wrote a blog while they were recording the record and searching for distribution. After they finished the record he picked up with a personal blog which he updates almost every day. This guy is completely insane, but not in that, "I'm going to kill you in your sleep" insane. More like the, "Holy shit, what the fuck am I suppose to do in this world" insane. His blog, as well as his lyrics for Another Breath records, deal with the day to day struggle of being alive on this planet. Feelings of remorse, grief, strife, agony, confusion and anger all get thrown in the mix. In one blog he talked about how he read one of Henry Rollins' books, and found a new respect for a man he never liked that much in the first place, mostly being he saw that Henry was just as crazy, if not crazier, than him. Which lead me to a very interesting question.

Are musicians really out of their fucking minds?

This is a question I've thought about over the years, and I can't really pin down a true answer. When I tell people I'm in a band, and we don't really make any money personally, their answer is usually something along the lines of, "That's crazy! How do you get by?". We spend our own personal money to make things in the band happen, and as much as it rules when we get paid and can fund the band with itself, I don't think I'd ever stop playing music just because of money issues. But thinking into that question; am I crazy? Should I stop wasting money on something that isn't really paying me back? (aside from free drinks and food sometimes). Non-musicians will usually say it's a crazy way to live your life while musicians don't know any other way. Is the passion behind creating music that strong, or are there just a SHIT tone more insane people walking the earth then we thought? I'd like to believe it's the passion, but then again, some musicians really are just bat-shit crazy and there isn't anything you can do about it but let them make their music, and hope they don't loose it one day and blow up their recording studio. Any way you slice it, I think it takes a person who is a little off axis to create something truly amazing. I mean, if normal people could do it, it wouldn't be different would it? It would just be more of the same shit. For this reason alone, I always liked to think of myself as a little off-center as they say, and that is the part of myself that I love the most. The part that comes out when you step on stage and you forget all about your life, your job, your bank accounts, your 401K, your health insurance, your rent, your bills. You let it all fly in the wind and live in that moment.

Live in this moment, because it's fleeting, and it's never coming back.

I remember Halloween

Another Halloween came and went this past weekend, and I must say it was a damn good one. The band played a Halloween show on Friday night, which was one of the better shows in recent memory as far as how well we performed as a band. Some of the costumes were also just amazing. Ernie (from Bert and Ernie), Bobby Light, and Green Man were just some of the high lights. The show went of very well aside from a very stupid, and very drunken fight between my roommate and my friend. No one remembered anything in the morning about it, and no real punches were thrown, so all in all it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The band decided to go with the group costume of the Reservoir Dogs, which ended up being awesome. Everyone caught on pretty quickly (thanks in part to name tags we wore to make it a little more obvious what we were going for), and everyone had a great time. Although Saturday wasn't much to talk about. I decided that staying up until 7am drinking on Saturday morning was a GREAT idea, so when I woke up on Saturday afternoon, I have a hangover that wouldn't quit. I would have spent the day in bed, but I had to get up and go meet my landlord to sign the lease to my apartment. I sat in his house for about 35 minutes, all while focusing EVERY ounce of effort on not throwing up on this nice old mans kitchen table and my lease agreement. After that I had to go home because I promised my dad that I would come over and help him around the house, which I ended up not doing because I took a nap before I went over, and by the time I showed up, it was raining and getting dark. He bought me dinner but I only got about 5 bites down before I felt the urge to vomit again. Needless to say Saturday was kind of a bust, as far as being a normal human goes. I drove down to my girlfriends house and just hung out with her, and we were both passed out by 11:30.

I'd say the weekend was a success because the show Friday night made up for being a hungover piece of shit the rest of the weekend. All in the name of rock 'n' roll, right? Anyway, this week looks like it will be the same deal. Thursday night I'm going out to Brooklyn to catch a fantastic band that goes by the name Fucked Up. They are playing their new album front to back, with the help of the Vivian Girls and Andrew W.K., so I plan on partying hard all night. Friday we pack up and make the trip up to Syracuse for a show, then over to Rochester the next night. All in all this Thursday-Sunday should be interesting to say the least.

Oh yeah, and my truck decided to get REALLY loud on Saturday afternoon, which means I get to leave work today, and crawl around under it to figure out what the hell is wrong. Fantastic. Happy Monday Fuckers.

Yup.

Good Morning Internet, how's it going? Good? That's great. I'm pretty awesome as well. Well shit, where do I begin. It has been a few weeks and so much has happened that I can bore you with!

One reason for my lull in writing this thing is that I was in Ireland. Yup, it was pretty awesome. I went on a guided tour of most of the southern part of the country. I got to see a lot of the land, a bunch of the pretty cool land marks, and a lot of pubs. Irish people drinking a lot is not a stereotype, because it is completely true. I've never seen so many pubs in my life as I did in every town in Ireland. Anywhere we went there were pubs on every corner. The up side to this is that you are never too far from a drink, and most of these bars are bands playing. Not shitty New Jersey Shore cover bands, but old school traditional Irish bands with a couple dudes in their 60s drinking beer and rocking away on tin whistles and mandolins. Also, Ireland was just another proof to my theory that people who live in the North East are just fucking mean. I've been to Canada, Ireland, and all over the US, and I have to say that people are way more pleasant then they are in the Tri-State area. People randomly say hi to you on the start, are way more positive about life in general, and are just more fun to be around. People in this area of the world are just cold, bitter, and pissed off for the most part. It is kind of a let down when you come home from vacation and the customs counter is rambling off about "fuck this, fuck that". Oh well, New York is still awesome in my book, even if we are pricks.

The band is cranking right along and thinking about our next record. We have about half the songs written with a few more in the works. Hopefully we can spend some time this Winter molding what we have into another great record because it looks like were going to spend a little time off from shows comes the snow season. We always try to be productive as possible, but driving around the North East in the dead of winter can get a little nasty. Also, it has already snowed here. You heard me right, in October it has snowed in New York already. Nothing real, but there were flakes falling a few weeks back, which leads me to believe we are going to get ass raped with snow this weekend. The farmers almanac feels the same way, so we shall see what happens comes November and December.

Fun stuff, huh? Yeah, I've been having a blast. Besides that stuff, I'm back to normal life after vacation. Sitting at work right now having a coffee and figuring out how I'm going to act like I'm doing work for the next 7 hours. I'll figure something out. We're all going out after work to shoot pool at this thing which should be a good time. Nothing like drinking beers with your co-workers and waiting for someone to get drunk and tell you about how they really feel about your boss. It is always a blast.

Anyway, I'm out of here, time to think about doing some work. But I doubt it will actually happen. Later brah.

8am...awesome

Morning all. It is 9:15 in the morning, and this day is already awesome. As I was walking out to my car this morning (I park on the street because my place doesn't have a lot of driveway parking) and I see something on the windshield. Originally I thought it was going to be a ticket, but that wouldn't make sense being that I knew I was parked on the correct side of the road. I walk up to the car, and what is it? A note! That's right, my new neighbors had decided to leave me a little "Welcome to the neighborhood" note. At first I thought this was kind of nice, and a little random, but who cares, maybe they are all nice people. As I read it though, I realized it was more of a note outlining the "rules". Really? People fucking do this? Don't you have anything better to be doing with your day then typing up "rules" of your neighborhood for the new neighbor? FUCK. Anyway, I will outline the two main parts of this note.

So, the first request was that I not turn around in peoples driveways, as there is "plenty of room to turn around curb-to-curb". The reason for this request was because "it is very expensive to repair driveways". I was fucking speechless. Expensive to repair driveways? Holy shit folks. I know that laying a driveway costs a pretty penny, but I have to say I HIGHLY doubt that someone pulling in and out of your driveway in the morning is really taking years off the life of your driveway. I tried to figure out if this was a logic request, and honestly, I have to say, no. These people are just dicks, plain and simple. Anyway, moving right along...

"If you live above Grove Ave., you may park above it, and if you live below Grove, please park below it." Basically, I live on a pretty steep hill, and Grove Ave. is a side street which is towards the top of the hill. As most people, I wouldn't really want to leave my car parked on a steep hill everyday for hours on end, because my car is getting older, and I don't want to put the stress on the e-brake and transmission, so I park on top of the hill where it is nice and flat. Apparently this a big no-no in their eyes. Sorry to inform these people, but it is a STREET, not their personal road. Anyone can park where ever the hell they feel like it, as long as it follows the parking regulations on the street. If these new neighbors of mine think I'm going to start parking on a hill that rivals those in San Francisco, they are poorly mistaken.

Sorry for the personal rant today, I just had to express how insane this note sounded to me. Asking me to follow some set of neighborhood parking regulations? No thanks lady, I'll park up here with the good people of the block. Anyway, I'm off to a boring ass meeting at work. Stay Gold, bitches.

Is that piss?!

Hellooooooooooo internets, what's shaking? I'm good, thanks for asking.

Haven't written in a while, so I figured that a nice quite Friday at work would be a great time to get back on the blog train. New York has slowly fallen into the fall season, and I have to say I'm loving it. I love the summer as much as anyone. Beaches, BBQs, summer vacations to places, drinking in pools, you know how it goes. But I have to say my favorite season is fall. I'm a huge fan off hoodie and jeans weather and this is the perfect time of year for me. It is so nice to watch the trees change and I just feel way more comfortable this time of year, they sweating my ass off in mid-July when it's cracking 100 and my beer never stays cold. Anyway, I don't really have much going on as usual. Just hanging out, drinking beers, playing music. The band is off to Philly this weekend, which is awesome because I haven't been down there in a year or 2, and I really love that city. I usually try and get down there once a year around this time because of this awesome haunted house. Now usually haunted houses are kind of lame, but I love them anyway, because hey, it is just fun. But this one takes the cake on scaring you. It is a haunted house put together inside Eastern State Penitentiary, which is the old prison in Philly that is now shut down. You go inside the prison and spend half an hour getting walked through this place, all while having the ever loving shit out of you. It is very worth the 20 bucks, so I highly recommend it to anyone in the Philly area the month of October.

As to not make this entry super short, I'll tell a really funny criminal story that I heard a while back. My friend Billy used to work at a place called Oak Beverage. They are a really big beer distributor in my area and have all kinds of trucks coming in and out all day. One morning, a guy is pulling out of the place with an 18-wheeler full of beer. He gets about 5 blocks from the yard, and a guy on the sidewalk stops him at a stop sign. The guy jumps up on the truck and asks for directions to some where, while his partner snuck into the cab from the other side and put a gun to the guys head. They forced him out of the cab and stole it. Being he was only 5 blocks from work, he walked back and told his boss, who then called the police. The cops picked up the guys about 2 miles from where they stole the truck, but neither of the guys could really get the truck moving to fast, as they couldn't operate the transmission that well. Lesson learned, if you are going to steal a truck, make sure you can drive it.

Well, that is about it, there is a little story you can tell you friends. It was pretty funny the first time I heard it, hopefully you think it is pretty sweet also. Later friends.

WHERE IS THE TOOTHPASTE

Ahhh, how goes it boys and girls? This blog comes live from my new couch. Not that this couch is new, but it is new to me, because it is in my new apartment. That's right folks, at damn near 25 years of age, I have finally moved out of my parents out and into a big old house with 5 other guys. It is a pretty awesome house, and I must say, we have a bunch of cool shit. I'm currently watching the Yankee game on our 52" HD TV. Yeah, we are ballin', I said it. Besides that, the whole house is cool. I'm actually living with one of my college roommates which is sweet because I already know I get along with him, and he is the one who handles all the bills and the rent. So if I don't have the rent money because I went out and spent it on 8balls and fast woman, he'll understand and give me some leeway. I'm pretty stoked on the move also because the town I moved to has all types of shit downtown. Stores, bars, restaurants, pubs, shops. It is very convenient to take your bike or walk down there on a nice day and just hang out for the afternoon. I was also doing some thinking while sitting around this afternoon about how strange it is the move out on your own. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm loving the fact I live with 5 other guys that enjoy sports, video games, and drinking as much as I do, but I guess the first few days are just interesting. The first day I woke up in the new apartment, I looked around and it took a second for me to remember, "oh yeah, this is my NEW room", and instead of my parents, I wake up in the morning and see my roommates getting ready for work. Also, I have to cut my buddy checks every month for rent and other expenses which I have never done before. All in all, I'm happy I finally got out of the house and into my own life. It really starts getting old having to check in with the folks when making plans and all that shit that comes with living in your parents home. So fuck it, I bailed, and it is awesome. My girlfriend is pretty stoked as well, as she completely backed the idea of me getting a place for a while now, and come on fellas, got to please the ladies. Another great thing about moving in with 5 guys, food.

Besides all that stuff, the same old shit is going on. Haven't written in a while because I was on vacation for a while, and then I really just got lazy and didn't have anything to write about. The house is cool, the band is cool, life is pretty awesome. I'm going to see Motorhead tomorrow night in the city which should be a loudly good time. For those of you who don't know, Motorhead is famous for having concerts that can exceed 130db. That is decibels, a measurement of sound. I believe 130db is equal to a jet plane taking off 50 feet in front of you or some shit. Either way, it is going to be fucking loud. This is the first concert I'm bringing ear plugs to, which makes me feel kind of old, but fuck it, I don't want to be deaf at work on Thursday.

Anyway, that's about it. I'll try and be a little better with this thing in the future. Hopefully something awesome happens once every few days and I have shit to write about. If not, I'll just fucking run my mouth for a while, like usual. Later Bitches.

That's Youth

Remember being a kid? Wasn't it fucking rad? No responsibility for the most part (unless you were like me, and decided to get a job as soon as you could, which worked out a great, because I had money), just hanging out with your friends, and when you got lucky, getting a ride to the mall! Man, that ride to the mall was the BEST. Parent, neighbor, older brother, friend. You would go to the mall with anyone who would bring you there, and just hang out for hours on end, walking around, maybe buying a drink and a CD at Tower, or The Wall (remember when record stores were also awesome?). Also, as you got a little older, the mall was the easiest place to find someone selling drugs. Good old mall drug dealers never failed, and you could find these guys pretty easy. They would just be standing around, acting like they were waiting for someone. Actually, they were, they were waiting for you, and to go make a shady deal for a dime bag in the men's room behind the Burger King in the food court. The reason I bring this is up, is because I had to go to the mall today on my lunch break to do a little shopping, and while I was sitting and eating lunch, I was looking at all the young girls and boys walking around the mall, no bags in hand, just hanging out. Kind of reminded me how easy life was back then. Listen, I'm only 25, and by no means do I feel old, but life was GOOD when you were in high school. After that, it's college and partying, but you still have to go to class or they kick you out of school, and then you are REALLY fucked. After college, it's either time to get a job or go back to school for something. Then it is just life. Work your days away and have fun when you can, but high school days man, they were awesome.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to get back to those simple days, but other times I'm happy that we move on in life. I feel like if I wasn't trying to do something all hours of the day, I'd get bored these. Working a full time job, playing in a band, writing my own music, making time to see people, it all takes up more time they you realize at first, and before you know it, you are basically busy the entire time you are awake. Oh well, that's life I guess, and it is pretty awesome.

Well shit, it is almost 3pm, which means I can go home soon. So...I'm going to pretend to do some work now, and get out of here. Have fun boys and girls.

Back to the world

Welp, vacation is over, and I'm back at work. Currently enjoying my last cup of coffee for the day and waiting to get out of here in about 15 minutes. This week isn't so bad being that I only have to work 3 days, but still, I'd rather still be at the beach with my girlfriend laying around and drinking margarita's. It was a good time. We had one day of rain which was kind of cool because down on Long Beach Island, when it rains, everything floods. Now I know that doesn't sound that cool, but it is. You are at the beach, and all the roads are flooded, and the waves of the ocean are crashing down, the chaos of it all is kind of beautiful. Also you can boogyboard in the street which is kind of fun. Anyway, back on track. I got my Mexican food, and it was amazing. We all went out to diner Monday night and brought our bucket of margarita. We had to ask the waitress for a ladle because the bucket was half froze and she kind of gave us a strange look and said she would ask about the kitchen for us. Thankfully she returned and had a ladle. We all enjoying our bucket-o-booze and giant burritos. The rest of the time I spent either hanging out on the beach, sitting at happy hour, or just relaxing at our house having drinks. It is always a great feeling to get away, even if it is only the Jersey shore, it is better than work.

So I'm back today at work today and talking to my good friend Brian. Brian lives in a town about 15 minutes from my job and his roommate is moving out, which means he needs someone to move it. He had asked me about moving in with him a while ago, and I kind of brushed it off and said I'd think about it. I have thought about it now, and I do believe I'm going to take him up on it and move into his house. This will be interesting because I'm an only child, so I know my folks are going to be bummed, especially mom, but sitting around my nice quite house while they are on vacation, I have come to realize I'm really over living at home. I'm going to be 25 next month, and not saying that is old, but it is time to move on in life and break from the nest. So, on I got, moving in with my friend Brian for the 3rd time in my life. I lived with this guy for 2 years in college, and while with any roommate, you want to brain them sometimes, I usually get along great with him. It is going to be an interesting month in my life, so lets see where it ends up.

Well, it is 5:30 and while I would love to keep rapping at you, I'm going home to enjoy the peace and quite of my empty house. I'm going to make some food and walk around in my underwear drinking beers. Sexy picture, I'm well aware.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck

Yeah, that sums up today. It's humid as shit out today, I had to spend my lunch break at the dentist, and I'm going to fall asleep at work. This is terrible, I'm making coffee right now because if I don't I know I'm going to put my head down and just give up. It sucks when you are this tired at work, because you can't even think straight. I'm in this weird daze I'm so tired, and jacked up on coffee, but whatever, got to do what you got to do, and right now that is stay awake.

On the up swing, I just have to make it three more hours until the weekend, which is always a plus. I took Monday and Tuesday off of next week and I am driving down to the Jersey shore tomorrow afternoon for some fun in the sun. The shore is my family's yearly get away. The folks go down for two weeks, and I usually try and get a few days down there with them and other people that always end up going. Drinking beers in the sun on a nice day is one of those things that is always welcomed after a week like this one has been. I also look forward to eating at one of my favorite places. It is a Mexican place called Lex Mex. It is this Mexican food/surfer place that has awesome food and cool employees. It is also BYOB, so you can roll into the place with whatever you want to drink from the booze shop. Bringing in one of those margarita buckets is always a good move, just order food and hang out for the afternoon. It is going to be amazing.

I really don't have much else. How is everyone doing? I'm way to sleepy to think of anything else to write. All I can think about is sand, margarita in a bucket, sun, and not working for almost a week. Well, I'm off, try and cap this day up. Enjoy your weekend bitches!

COFFEE MUG!

Man, I have got to say, everyday I wake up for work and I fumble around my room trying to get my shit together for the day. I drive down to work, swipe in and get organized, and then it's relax time. What spells relax time? Coffee. I'm stuck between the ideas that it is just so delishious that I love to have a cup or two every morning...or I'm just finally addicted to caffine in the AM. Now before you go making assumptions, I don't drink nearly as much as I have seen some people drink in a day. I'd say my daily intake ranges between two and four cups, depending on how slow/busy my day is here at work. My boss also goes out every so ofter and buys those delishious Coffee Mate things, that come in a very tasty variety of flavors. So that is always a plus.

Enough about coffee though, it's Thursday! Almost time for all those crazy young kids to once again venture out to bars, hoping to go home and fuck a total stranger, only to post about it on txtsfromlasttime.com, which by the way has become one of my favorite websites to check while at work. It is basically user submitted text messages about the dumbass things they did/saw/heard/witnessed last night. All kinds of fun things about fucking, sucking, feltching, cheating, and whoring. I love it! Anyway, being that it is Thursday it means, only one more day until the weekend, which usually means I would have to pack up and haul off to some other random ass town with the boys. This weekend (and next weekend) I don't have to do anything. No shows for the next two whichs, which is always awesome because everyone needs a break to actually enjoy their real life. I will be spending this weekend with my girlfriend, probably catch a move, play a little beer pong in the pool (I don't remember if I meantioned this early in a post, I bought an inflatable beer pong tabel...I know, it's awesome) and just relax. Next weekend we are going down to the Long Beach Island, New Jersey to hang with my family and some friends and enjoy the beach. My family goes down every year, and I've missed a few summers in the recent years, so I'm pretty happy to head back down there for a long weekend. Word on the street is they have a bus that runs the length of the island for all the drunks to take back and forther, which is AWESOME because a lot of the good bars aren't within walking distance from the hosue we have, and no way am I going to drive down there. Driving drunk in LBI is like sneaking jews through Germany in the 1940's, you are going to get caught. Was that too much? Whatever, fuck it, not my fault people can't take a joke, or a Nazi reference.

So yeah, things are looking up these days. After this little two week break we are back in full swing with a bunch of great shows coming up in August and September, so come on out, and buy some shit, gas isn't free you know. A bunch of the shows coming up are at bars that we either drink for free of drink really cheap at, so I have a bad feeling my little stint on the wagon is going to be challenged, but hey, it's always good to take a break right? Bring on the free hootch, fuck it, only live once. Oh well, I think I need another mug of coffee, and I need to catch up on what the morons of the world did last night, and now regret, or can't remember. Oh yeah, and I'm going to see Atmosphere on Monday night in the city. This is the first time I've ever seen a rapper live, I'm very curious to see how this pans out. Should be awesome though.

I'm off to another day of work, coffee, and the internet. Maybe I'll even get something done today, who knows. Keep it real folks.

Pay, Muthafuckin', Day

Man, pay day is one of the most bitter sweet days ever. On one hand, it is always great to get paid, and feel like all the work you put in the for past two weeks was totally worth it. On the other hand, it is a reminder of all the bills that await payment sitting in your inbox/mailbox. Once you hit a curtain age, getting paid is just something that happens, rather then an exciting event. In any event, today is my pay day, and I'm pretty amped, the funds were slacking a little last weekend, so getting a boost is nice.

Aside from loving money and pay day, I love great weather, and I must say, it has been beautiful out the past week or two. We had so much rain come down last month, I thought I was going to have to go to Lowe's to buy some wood and start making my own Ark. But the sun god(s) smiled upon us, and out came the sun, and it has stuck around for a quite a while now. This is extra awesome being that I have a pretty bitchin' BBQ to attend this weekend. My fellow band mate, and good friend, Mike is having a huge party at his house. Weeks ago I dubbed this event, "Joe Tangney Fucking Rules Fest", name for his father, who does indeed fucking rule. We're going to fumble through a set with some friends sitting in on guitar because our guitarist Mac has to work. Should be interesting to see how this turns out. He also asked me to play a solo set. This will be the first time I'm playing solo songs in front of people since my Sophomore year of college, should be quite interesting. I'm probably going to bang through a bunch of covers and maybe a few of my own songs, who knows, depends on how drunk I get before I have to play. Chances are I will be pretty intoxicated, being that this is a party, and they have all the ingredients for a great night of fun. Booze, ladder golf, pool/hot tub, and music. Come on, how could a party NOT be awesome. Personally I could have a great time with some beer and the ladder golf, but all the other stuff will indeed make it that much sweeter. At any rate, good times are ahead, I hope you guys remember them, because I probably won't. That's it, I'm done.

You stay classy Internet.

From the deep

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey all. Been a while hasn't it? Yeah, to be completely honest, it was a perfect mix of being busy and busy lazy. I have been completely swamped for the past 2 weeks at work, which is when I usually write this little thing I call a blog, and when I get home, I'm just not in the mood to do anything except maybe have a beer, playing some XBOX, and noodle on my guitar. But, work as calmed down, and the rain finally went away, so I'm feeling extremely motivated. Sweet right? I thought so also. Well, in 2 weeks, nothing really amazing has happened. This past weekend was the 4th of July, which is always a good time, because everyone I know usually does nothing but BBQ amazing meat products and drink, 2 things that I love. I bounced around the tri-state area going to multiple BBQs and parties and for the most part, had a fantastic time. I had some really fucked up dreams the past few nights, which could be due in part to only ingesting alcohol and BBQ for a few days straight, but fuck it, right? We're here to have fun, so lets do it big.

So, as I right this on Monday afternoon, I look forward to another weekend. I took Friday off of work because we are once again making the trek up to Plattsburgh, NY to rock the Green Room all weekend. If this weather holds up until then, it looks like it is going to be a great weekend. We have some friends up there now (including the owner of the bar we play at, tight) so we can usually dig up some stuff to do. Last time we were in town, I spent the weekend with my girlfriend, hanging out with one of her college friends, eating good food, and riding around on their speed boat. The guys went cliff jumping and hit up a BBQ at the bar owners house. Hopefully the weather is nice this weekend, and people will want to do some more cliff jumping. Nothing better than throwing yourself off a really high cliff into unknown waters over and over again, all while enjoying beers, which only leads to dumber and dumber ideas.

Well folks, I think that about covers it, my life isn't all that interesting, but I try as hard as I can. We are finally seeing some nice weather here in the tri-state area, which is awesome because the month of rain we had before this was just a bummer man.

Oh yeah, and I found out Motorhead is playing in the city right around my birthday...sweet? No, no, it is going to be FUCKING sweet.

God loves grilled cheese

Welp, it is raining...AGAIN. Fuck man, I don't think I've seen it rain anywhere this much in my life. The kicker is that it hasn't rained in Seattle in something like 27 days, what is the deal man, what's the play! Anyway, yeah, it's Thursday, I'm at work, and honestly, really just want to go home. I have tomorrow off, and I really just want to get the fuck out of here today so I can have a cold one and play some XBOX like the loser I am, and wait for my girlfriend to come over. We are leaving for Plattsburgh pretty early tomorrow, so it'll be a nice quite night at home for us tonight. We must prepare for weekend that will be Plattsburgh. Every time the band goes up there, we end up completely wrecked by the end of night. It isn't like we are really trying either, the owner of the joint just loads us up with beers during the night, I think he has this idea we'll rock harder if we are all boozed up, which is 100% true, so kudos Chris, you know the way to our hearts. Besides looking forward to 2 great shows, blueberry coffee from the shop down the block, and playing on speed boats if it ever stops raining, nothing is going on today. I was suppose to go to a meeting in Manhattan today for work, but ended up being told to stay behind to work on a project, which I am fine with. I'd much rather be here at my desk doing a little work and sipping coffee, then riding down to Manhattan for a stupid ass meeting that will only take about 15 minutes. Yeah, it is pretty week, have these people never heard of e-mail? Oh well. Anyway, I figured I'd get back to talking about people that I can't stand. Today's topic:

Religion

Yup, I'm going there. There are 2 types of people who really piss me off when it comes to religion; the super religious guy, and the super atheist. The overly religious asshole who thinks he is better than you because he wakes up on Sunday without a hangover, gets in a suit, and goes to kneel for a few hours. Listen buddy, chances are I was kneeling in front of a toilet for just as long the night before. So what if it was in the bathroom of a dive bar in Brooklyn somewhere, and not at a nice clean church. So yeah, these people blow my mind. This goes for any religion as well, I'm not singling anybody out on this one. If you love it that much, just love it, but please, keep it to your fucking self. I don't need to have you interject a conversation I'm having on a train ride with some kind religious comment, trust me, all you are going to do is piss me off. Especially after a night long bender.

Now, as for the OTHER guy, the atheist. I, by my own definition, am an agnostic. I believe in science for the most part, but don't really count out the fact there COULD be a God(s) out there. The world is a crazy place, so who really knows how and why we are all here. Anyway, this guy, is almost as bad as the previous guy. If you even entertain the idea of their being a higher power in the world, he will go off on a rant about how religion is the stupidest thing on the planet, yadda yadda, you know the drill. While I usually fall more on this guys side, there is a point you really just want to tell him to shut the fuck up, because no one really gives a fuck about his opinion on the subject. This guy will usually try and bring up his beliefs sometime in the night, and again, all ti will do is piss me off buddy.

Basically, the answer for both these guys is that religion is suppose to be a private matter, so please keep it that way. Don't try and throw you faith, or lack there of, into an everyday conversation about the world, the middle east, the economy, etc. Do your own thing, and go about life trying to be a good person, not a dick, which you most likely usually come off as.

Colt 45 and OJ...I don't get it...

Yup, that is what the guy at the gas station said to Steve and I while buying beer and orange juice this past Saturday afternoon. If you don't know, mixing a bit of orange juice into a 40oz (must be Olde E, or MAYBE Colt 45) makes a wonderful drink for a nice summer day. As we have come to call them, "thug mimosas" are something I broke out one afternoon, and the band has loved them ever since. What can I say, I guess I'm the most thuggish member of Cloud 9...SWEET. Anyway, yeah, it has been about a week since I rapped at you, lets see what has been going on.

I finally went to the new Yankee Stadium, and I must say, it fucking rules. Aside from the fact that everything IS over priced, it is an awesome stadium. You can get cheap ass tickets, then walk down to the awesome seats, and kind of just stand around, because the whole stadium is opened up, so no one really gives you shit for just pacing around. I also went to see this band last weekend called The Hold Steady. It is basically good ole Rock N Roll that the hipsters in NYC have come to love, but fuck it, they are awesome. It was one of the most entertaining concerts I have seen in a while. The band is very involved with the crowd, and it was at one of the smaller venues in NYC, so that is always a plus. I always like seeing bands in small venues, where you have a good view from anywhere in the crowd, and you are always close to the bar. I went down there with my buddy Silva, who pulled a great power move, and brought in those airplane sized bottles of booze, so we didn't have to spend money on drinks. Well played my man, well played indeed. We also had our first practice in a while on Friday night, which was nice, even though I feel like we could have gotten some more work done, it was still good. We finished up a new song, worked out some kinks in others, and got pretty drunk while doing it. I'm excited whenever we write a new song, because I have musical A.D.D. and always like playing new stuff. I spent the rest of the weekend with my girlfriend which is always nice. We went out for a few beers on Saturday night and went to see The Hangover. People...go see this movie. It is fucking HYSTERICAL. I recommend having some beers before hand as I did, because you can relate to the movie so much better, being that you will have a hangover the next day after seeing the film.

This week seems pretty decent. I'm going to the Yankee game tomorrow night, so that will be a blast. They are playing the Nationals, who only have 16 wins this season. If the Yanks don't score at least 20 runs, I will be disappointed. I have to go to a business meeting in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon, which is going to be really fucking boring, but it gets me out of work early, and then I have Friday off, so it will be a nice short work week. The band is going up to Plattsburgh again this week to play Friday AND Saturday night, so that should lead to nothing short of another insane weekend. I'm going to be spending most of my free time with my girlfriend at her best friends house in the area. It is kind of a bummer not hanging with the band the whole weekend, but this girl has a speed boat with tubes and shit, so that sounds like it is going to be fucking SWEET.

That's all I got. Hope all you guys have a great week. I hope it isn't raining as much as it is here, whereever you are. I'm starting to grow gills.

Big Baby Jesus!

Man, ODB was the shit. This isn't even a topic for discussion, it is just a fact.

Anyway, what is going on my Internet friends? I haven't rapped at you in a while, and I'm sitting around on my lunch break at work, so I figured now is as good a time as ever to kick it with you. How did everyone's weekend go? Pretty good? Tight. I spent as little time sleeping as I think a human can this weekend. It seemed that every day, I had to get up really early to do something, after spending the night before drinking and staying up really late. Needless to say I'm a bit sore and very tired on this wonderful Monday afternoon. I'm going to the Yankee game tonight which is a nice relief from your usual shitty Monday. But hey, Monday is made for bitching about the week, and telling people how you can't wait for Friday to come again, so fuck it. So, to continue something I started a week or so ago, here is my on going listen of people who I find to be completely retarded:

People who still shit on New Jersey

Being from New York, I have spent much time in New Jersey in my life. I was born in New Jersey, as both my parents are from there. We soon moved to New York, so I'm legally a Jersey boy, even though I spent all of a week there. But this is one thing I could never figure out. It isn't like other rivalries in the world. Boston vs. NY, you know the sports thing, but NY and NJ have never really had that much sports hate towards each other. So what is it? Is it simply because Jersey rhymes with Dirty? Man, that is stupid. Yes, New Jersey has dirty parts, and some parts you only go to score drugs, but what state doesn't? I'm sure if you look hard enough, you can find a coke dealer in Kansas. Also, they have beaches, and beaches rule. Who doesn't like going to the beach in the summer? I mean, sure, I could drive all the way to long island to go to the beach so I can still be in New York, but fuck that. The Jersey shore has a boardwalk, deep fried snack foods, trampy women, and Kevin Smith, beat that fuckers. Also, New Jersey has some of the nicest neighborhoods I have ever seen in my life. I spent time working in northern Jersey during my summers off from college, and I have never seen such amazing homes as I did in Jersey. These fucking things were HUGE. Also, it is the land of diners. I have spent many a night heading over the state line after leaving the bar to get some late night pancakes with friends. Any state that loves late night eating as New Jersey does has my back, straight up.

There it is, all the awesome things about New Jersey. Sure it isn't all beautiful, but that is part of my love of the state. It has it's ups and downs, like any good thing. I don't think I will ever fully understand why people shit on this poor little state so much. Maybe one day I will get an answer that makes some kind of sense, but until then I say, fuck the haters, Viva La Jersey!

I'm off to pretend to do some work and wait out the rest of my day. Peace bitches.

Monday, Bloody Monday

Yup, it's Monday again, and what a Monday indeed. Actually, it was just another Monday, what the fuck am I talking about. So what happens on Mondays? Ugh, I guess I can talk about the weekend? That's fun right? Well, I got drunk, for the most part. That's always fun to do with friends and family. Friday night I played a show which was pretty awesome, hung out with some people at the bar, then went off to a party that ended up going all damn night. I finally called it a night when the sun was coming up while I was enjoying a beer on the back porch of my friends. I attempted to sleep in the driver seat of my car for a few hours. After the sun came up, I really wasn't in the mood to lay there, so I said fuck it and drove home. I got home and proceeded to pass out until about 4pm. I must say, the one down side of going on a good ole bender is that you piss away half the next day laying in bed crying about the night before. Better yet, when I finally got out of bed, I had to hurry up and get myself together to head down to my girlfriends house, because we were going out to dinner with her co-workers for one of her bosses, who was leaving. It was a good time, but I was the only male at the table, and everyone was drinking, so I got a beer, and choked it down. The first taste of booze you have after a nice long bender is usually horrible, but the rest went down nicely. Back to dinner though. Yeah, I was the only male at the table, which I was fine with, but I always find it a little strange. I didn't know anyone we were with except my girlfriend, so I made small talk with the new girl most the night being that see seemed to be the only other person not perfectly comfortable with the situation we were in. She was nice, and we talked about movies and such as we drank. I have no problem with hanging with all woman, but I always have this notion in the back of my head that they will start talking about periods, or their favorite brand of bra's, I will be completely alienated from the conversation/situation. Lucky for me, that didn't happen, and we all had a blast. We left there and of course, went to a party to drink more. I'll never complain about drinking, but when there is nothing but booze going into your body for 48-72 hours straight, you start to feel a little weird.

Anyway, we finished up the weekend hanging out at this place called Burrito Bar on Sunday afternoon. Played a few games of darts with the lady, had some margarita's and food, and I headed home. Surprisingly, today was awesome, the work day went fast, and it is finally beautiful out in good ole New York. This week is looking decent as well, and I took a half day on Friday to head upstate of our show. It should be a fun one for everyone. I'm also going to an open bar in NYC Saturday night, so once again, it's time to load up on drinks.

Anyway, there it is, my account of the weekend, or all of it I an remember. I hope everyone had just a great/fuzzy weekend as I did. I look forward to doing it again this weekend. Until then, as Mooj says, Fuck A Goat!

Thuggin'

Man, the titles of these things are getting pretty stupid, no? Whatever, it all about content right? I like to think of this blog as the written equivalent of a Dillinger Four record. A bunch of stupid ass names, but once you give it a listen, it is amazing, and you learn to love the stupid names, and even find yourself using them yourself (As I have in this blog, as well as songs I have written). Anyway, how is everyone doing? Having a good Wednesday? That's nice, we should have a beer and talk about it.

Aside from finally feeling like a human being again after this weekends drink-a-thon, today is your average day. I have a bunch of billing paperwork to do, so that is keeping me busy, which will make the day just float right on by, and before I know it, it'll be Thursday. I'm actually writing this out of complete boredom right now, because I'm waiting on a bunch of people in the office to get back to me. I don't really have a ton to talk about today, so lets think of a topic I can rant about for a while.

People who shit on Canada

Really? People like you are still around? I've been to Montreal, so I haven't seen much of Canada, but I must say, Montreal fucking rocked. They have awesome food, good beer, fun people, and the strip clubs are WAY fucking cooler than the ones in the states. I cant believe people still have a love of shitting all over Canada just because they say EH. Also, Canada has some great bands. If you have never listened to The Fullblast (r.i.p), you are missing out on some outstatnding punk rock from our neighbors to the north. Other great Canadian include, Propagandhi, Haymaker, The Planetsmashers, and The Real McKenzies. So, get over yourself, put down the Hateraid, and learn to love our friends to the North. Oh yeah, and they have awesome hockey teams. Sure you can't get drugs past customs that easy, but hey, Canada has better weed than America too, so, there you go.

Well, that's about it, I should really get back to work and finish up the day. I'm going to fire up a fresh pot of coffee and get to work. Later bitches. Viva la Canada

No More Beer.

You know, they should really start naming holidays correctly. Memorial Day? Really guys? They should change it to, "Get as fucked up as humanly possible and grill meats" Day, because that's what everyone does all weekend. Well, that's what I did all weekend, and you know what, it was great. Anytime you get more than 2 days off of work in a row is a great weekend for me though. I don't hate my job, but I would much rather be drinking by and sitting in the sun, then sitting at this damn desk, doing work. Anyway, back to the point at hand. I think I did something weird to my gut, because I have felt like SHIT all day. My stomach has been a mess, I'm not hungry, and I just feel like crap. It could probably have something to do with the 14 gallons of alcohol I consumed over this 3 day weekend, but hey, I had a fucking blast, so who cares right?

Some how we made it the entire weekend without any real rain, and all parties I was invited to went on as planned. These parties covered a good amount of lower New York, from upstate to Queens and back. Good times were had by all, I got tanked every night, and ended up playing beer pong for way to long. That game is fun, but man, around game 10 on any given night, I'm either to drunk to hit a shot, or just too fucking lazy to want to stand in front of that table any longer. I'm a people person, and I like to hangout at parties and shot the shit, but once you get locked into playing beer pong, you are just stuck talking to you partner, and talking shit to the other 2 people at the opposite end of the game.

As much fun as the weekend was, I woke up today kind of pissed I had to go back to work. I mean, come on, maybe I should just jump on the unemployment bandwagon my friends are on, and just fucking be awesome all day in the sun. Sounds like a plan to me, eh? But yeah, another week, shouldn't be too bad. We are playing a show on Friday night, a nice local gig, which is nice, because I haven't seen a lot of friends in a while, so it'll be a good show to get some practice in, see my friends, and probably have a few cocktails in between. There is also a party afterwards, in which I will probably have a few more cocktails, and end up passing out on someones living room/bedroom/bathroom floor. It isn't the best place, but sometimes you just have to take what you're given. Besides that, this week looks pretty normal, apparently I have to start working on my house again, starting with painting the porch, fuck. I don't mind helping out around the house, but some things are just a pain in the ass, and painting while still mildy hungover is one of them. Hopefully I can con my way out of doing anything today, go home, and just lay down for a little bit and get my head together. Today was pretty busy in the office while hungover, so I need to just turn my brain off for a while.

That's about it, have a great weekend everyone, I know I will, and come see Cloud 9 on Friday. I promise I will get drunk and tell some funny jokes. Later.

Brett Weir I Said!

Yup, it is Tuesday. Everyone having fun? I sure am. If you read yesterday's post, you know that I was suffering from a massive case of wet brain. Today I am happy to announce I have kicked it, and can once again think like a human being (or as much as I could think before the weekend). With that in mind, this coming weekend is Memorial Day, which means a 3 and a half day weekend from work, which will no doubt lead to more wet brain. Who knows, maybe I'll have another case tomorrow, being that tonight is $2 pint night at my favorite drinking establishment. Dollar tacos and $2 beers? Can't beat that with a 4 foot dick. Go ahead and try.

Although the taste of cheap tacos and beers would be amazing tonight, I might also just hang loose and play some guitar. I have been very lazy with that in the past few weeks, and it kind of bums me out when I realize I haven't done anything creative in a while. I mean, my band goes out and plays all the time, but we play songs we already know, so to write new songs is always fun for me. I'm still trying to figure out how to write a good song for my band. Before this, I spent 6 years playing in punk bands, and writing music, which I thought was damn good. Playing in a hip-hop/rock band has had a large effect on my ability to write music. To be honest, I don't know how the hell to write a song for this band. I mean, anyone can fart around on a few chords and let Doug and Tags go off on a crazy lyrical flow, but to actually write a good song, music wise, takes a little something different for this band, which I feel I really haven't gotten a hold of yet. Although like I said before, I've been so lazy with playing my guitar and giving it a shot, I'm not surprised I haven't come up with anything in a long time. Oh well, back to the drawing board this week to sir something up I hope.

Aside from being a lazy ass musician, things are looking good. I purchased and inflatable beer pong table that you can use in the pool, and it is also starting to get really nice out in New York, so hopefully I will have use for this amazing purchase very soon. There is something about drinking and swimming that has always had a special place in my heart. I'm a sweaty guy, so if I can enjoy beers somewhere that I will never sweat, I'm all about it. So to anyone out there with a pool, call me up, I'll come over and hang out, and bring the table! I'm laying out a challenge to anyone with a pool and the skills. Lets get drunk and almost drown, it'll be a blast. Also now that it is summer, I've had the itch to get a new tattoo for a while, or at least finish the one on my arm that I have also been lazy about figuring out. The band is playing this all day show/car show/tattoo shop thing this summer, and I have said I'm going to show up and get a tattoo that day. Hopefully they have something awesome I like, so I don't look like I just talked a whole bunch of shit about getting one, then backing up, which there is a large possibility of happening.

Oh well, we shall see. If all goes well, I will be a well-tattooed, creative, drunk-in-a-pool musician by summers end, if not, I'll just be the same guy I am right now, which hey, ain't so bad. I'm going to go finish this cup of coffee, listeng to some Gaslight Anthem, and go the fuck home.

Oh yeah, and my friend told me to look up something called "shake that bear" on the net. All I can say is, what the FUCK man.

Pissing on your front door

Another one in the books. I'm writing this pretty late tonight because honestly, my entire day was spent sitting at work, trying to clear up some issues, and trying to defeat my wet-brain. For those of you who don't know, wet-brain is when you spend multiple days doing nothing but drinking, then are forced to face reality come Sunday, and stop drinking. This creates wet-brain, a kind of prolonged hangover in which you aren't really in pain, but everything going on upstairs is a little slower, and things are just generally too much to think about. Not the best thing to have on a busy Monday morning at work, but hey, that's life.

Plattsburgh was awesome as usual. I got yelled at by a group of girls on Friday night for taking a leak in the entrance hall to their apartment building. While I understand it could be considered kind of gross, I feel they kind of over reacted. I mean, you go to college, catching a guy taking a piss is the WORST thing you have seen? Damn guys, get out there and live a little. But yeah, they were kind of pissed, but I smoothed things over with some quick talking, and a hot dog I bought for one of them. Saturday night we played our show at The Green Room, and had a little shin-dig at the apartment we were staying at. To be completely honest I don't really remember much of the party, but I'm sure it was a good time. I woke up with a beer can in my ass, so I'm sure that is a good indication everyone had a great time the night before. Sunday we packed up our gear and headed home, and like usual, I felt a sense of sadness. The weekends away with the band are some of the most fun I have e ver had, and every weekend when everything is wrapped up, I can't help but feel that I am really going to be bored for the next week or so until the next show. But I guess that's life, huh?

Be that as it may, Plattsburgh was a great time, and I feel good knowing that we are headed back there in about a month to lay two shows in a row, so I'm sure it will only double the amazingness. This week looks to be a good one to get back on track with life though. Get back to the gym, enjoy the nice weather that is coming, get some work done around the house, and hopefully stop being lazy after work and start writing songs again. I really haven't felt like playing guitar much in the last few weeks, but after this weekend that has changed.

This weekend is Memorial Day, which means I get an extra long weekend, which will probably lead to another case of wet-brain comes Monday, but atleast I won't have to work, and I will be able to handle it properly, which involves sleeping in, drinking coffee, and laying around the house. Sound like a plan? Good. See you bitches on the flip side.

Humpty Hump Day

Seriously, The Humpty Dance is probably one of the best songs of the 20th century. Just saying...

Aside from my love of Digital Underground songs, I must say that Wednesday is one of the best days of the week for me. While you have really only made it through half of your week, it is the first day in which you can catch a glimmer of the weekend that is to come. Monday always sucks, you catch up on crap that happened over the weekend, you are usually hungover, cranky, pissy, tired, you know the drill. Tuesday sucks ALMOST as much as Monday, because you usually still have all the same symptoms of Monday, minus the hangover (unless you had a REALLY bad Monday, and went out boozing). Wednesday though, is usually the time in the week when I start feeling good, getting motivated for another weekend, and feeling better about the week in general. You've made it half way, and it is all down hill from here! Also, in many of the bars around my neck of the woods, Wednesday is wing night, which is always a plus, no matter where you are.

My reason for feeling so up beat about this week is the weekend to come. After some time off, my band is playing this weekend, which always makes the week go by a little quick. We are heading up to Plattsburgh, NY. Now, for those of you who don't know, Plattsburgh is your run-of-the-mill upstate New York college town. Lots of people, lots of bars, tons of drunken hormones, which of course makes for an awesome time. On top of all that, it is graduation weekend for a lot of colleges, including Plattsburgh. Which means piled on top of all the normal raging that goes on, no a soul in town has anything responsible to do. Last time we played up in Plattsburgh, it was the middle of the semester, and it was a pretty crazy time, so I can only imagine when a weekend in town during graduation will be like. Also, Plattsburgh has the best coffee ever. I don't know if you guys are fans of coffee, but I am, and when I talked into this coffee shop in town, and the guy behind the counter recommended the blueberry infused coffee, I feel in love. I think I'm going back down there to make a sizable purchase of the beans to bring home. I know that you can probably get this shit anywhere, but if I'm in town, what the hell, he's a cool guy, I'll help out his little shop.

All this talk of coffee, booze and hormones got me all flustered, I think I'm going to go. Got another hour before I can sneak out of here for lunch and go to the gym. It is a nice day out, so hopefully I can get outside and go for a run. Working off beer calories is harder than I thought it would be. Later.

Balls deep in a thin jar

Friday, bitches, friday. It is 9am in the great state of New York and I'm sitting at work, enjoying my morning coffee, and thinking about the weekend that is to come. I'm a little excited because this weekend is one of those special weekends where my band has nothing to do, so I get to have the whole weekend to myself, I almost don't know what to do! Actually that's a lie, I'm going to drink with my buddies and tell dirty jokes, God Bless America. I believe I'm catching drinks tonight with my buddy who I haven't seen in a years. He moved to North Carolina for college and stayed down there for a while, but now he's back in down, which is pretty sweet. Hanging out with old friends is always weird, because lets face it, people are a whole lot different after college. I always have this fear for running into my old friends, and seeing they have turned into dicks.

Being that I have the weekend off from the band, I think I'll take this time to go hang out in the city also. My friend invited me to some big ass block party. The flyer says Free Beer, so I have to go and at least check it out. I mean, if there isn't free beer, I will be kind of bummed, but I'm sure it will stilll be fun. A skatepark, BBQ, beers, music and more beer, sounds like a good way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon in my book.

Well, that's about it, not much going on. Happy Friday bitches, have one on me tonight.

Cinco De Hold The Mayo

Hey guess what? It is still raining...fuck.

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Ugh, wait a second, I'm not Mexican. Does this work the same as St. Patricks Day? Can I be Mexican for the day? That'd be pretty awesome. Well yes, today is the 5th fo May, and yes, it is another drinking holiday in America. I love these drinking holidays, they give people great reasons to go out and get super intoxicated on a Tuesday, without feeling like a drunk, and hey, I'm all for it. I just hate how some people try and pull pride into the day. I mean, listen, I'm party irish, and yes, I like drinking on St. Patricks Day, but when you get way to into your background on these "holidays" you are just another douche bag. If you are from fucking New Jersey, St. Patricks Day does not make you any more Irish one day a year, you are still just another Jersey mook. ANYWAY, today is Cinco De Mayo, which people usually think is some great holiday. In reality May 5th is not Mexico's independence day, that is September 16th (yeah, I read about holidays to dig out what people should actually be celebrating). May 5th was the day that the Mexican army won a huge battle against the French forces, and hey, I think that is cause for celebration anyway! Fucking Frenchy's.

Either way, I'm going out after work for a drink with my good friend Mike. I mean, I'm probably the furthest thing from Mexican, but they have $2 beers all night, and I'm not one to miss a deal. Also the Yanks are playing Boston and tonight, maybe they can pull a win out of their ass. That would only make my night of Tequila drinking better. I also find it pretty funny that I will soon be in a bar, full of people with Mexican garb on, drinking Corona, and shooting Tequila, while it is dark, shitty, and rainy outside. God Bless New York and it's year round amazing weather.

Besides all the Mexican jazz tonight, nothing else is going on. It is going to be a slow week at work, so I will probably do more typing on this thing as usual while I wait out my days for the weekend which I will hopefully get to go out and see some friends I haven't seen in a long time, and also take my mother out, being that Sunday is Mothers day. If you aren't taking your Mom out, or at least getting her something some-what nice, you are a dick. Come on folks, she walked around with you in her gut for 9 month, you ruined her figure, and pissed away tons of her money over the years. The least your selfish ass could do is get some flowers and maybe take her out to eat. Luckily, my mom is as large of a Mexican food fan as I am, so I'm taking her out for lunch and drinks at our favorite Mexican spot, the going to see Wolverine. I want to see it because I am a comic book dork at heart, and she wants to see it because she thinks Hugh Jackman is just dreamy, and watches to see the scene when he jumps out of the tank, all naked and wet (yeah, should be a great movie experience).

Alas, it is only Tuesday. Three more days to go before I can even think about drinking with my buddies, eating tacos, or seeing naked wet men (unless I play my cards right before Sunday afternoon). I'm going to go wander the office for the rest of the day then go out my day of being Mexican. Live La Drink-A!

I'm Fatally Yours

Another Monday! I wish I could say it was a beautiful one, with birds chirping and the sun shining, but it is actually shitty, rainy, and kind of dark out. I think this shitty weather followed me home from Connecticut because it rained the whole drive home, and hasn't really stopped since. While in the great state of Connecticut I took in a show by the band Alkaline Trio. For those of you who don't know this wonderful band, they hail from the windy city of Chicago and sing songs about alcohol, death, lost love, and all other kinds of sunny subjects! I must say after all these years, they still put on a good show, and I was happy to finally see them live.

So, aside from the Alkaline Trio show Saturday night, I found out that there isn't a ton to do in New Haven, CT. My girlfriend and I walked around most of Saturday afternoon going into all the shops and stores just burning time. We also went to a brewery/pizza place that was pretty awesome. I am a fan of home made food and beers, so this place was perfect. What was extra funny was that during the concert and afterwards, my girlfriend was going 1-for-1 with me on beers. Anytime I'd go up to get a drink from the bar, she requested one also. Why this is funny is that I am a 215 pound guy who drinks on a some what regular basis, and she, is a 100 pound-soaking-wet girl who does not drink very often. So by the 4th or 5th drink, she had almost had her fill. We sat down at the place to eat and order some drinks while she drunken belittled people around the bar, as well as people who came up in conversation. That part was just special because for those of you who know my girlfriend, she is normally a very quiet person. So to watch her drunken slander people is something special.

All in all it was a really fun weekend away with the lady, but as I said before, I seem to have brought this shitty weather back from CT with me. Oh well, can't win'em all I guess. I guess I should go and attempt to get some work done while I'm at work, instead of writing about shit I did when I wasn't at work. DO WORK. Later.

It's Always Sunny in New York

It finally stopped fucking raining today. For the past few days it has been nothing but shit, cold weather, rain, and more shit. Today I woke up feeling pretty damn good when I walked outside without a coat and it was nice and sunny, bitchin'. That feeling of awesomeness slowly slipped away as I got to work though. It's not like I HATE my job, I just get a little bored with it now and again. I work at a desk, and do a lot of paper work, but I guess in these times, having a job at all is good. Especially being that our company just had another round of lay offs this week, and I once again made it. Although while it was happening, I was thinking about what I would do if I did get laid off. Maybe I would go out and get a SWEET ass job that would let me wear shorts and a t-shirt to the office. But, I didn't get laid off, so I'm sitting at my desk writing this instead, wasting away the last hour of work before I go out and drink some beers.

Tonight is my friends birthday, so in good form, we are going out drinking. I always thought birthdays were a funny thing to celebrate. "Hey! You aren't dead yet! Right on man!". Not saying I don't like going out with my friends, but the idea behind it is kind of funny to me. I feel like it'll be fun, and I also have a half day of work tomorrow due to that fact it is Friday, and like almost every Friday, I'm off again with the band. This trip is up to Rochester and Buffalo, New York. What does that mean for me? About 12 hours in the car this weekend. Fuck. Rochester is always a good time, so I'm pretty excited for everything (but the drive of course), and Buffalo is a crap shoot because we are playing at a frat party. Weird right? I never enjoyed the frat kids when I was in college, but hey, they want us to play, fuck it, we'll play. We are driving home Saturday night because our guitarist wanted to come back that night, and I felt bad making him take the trip alone, so I said I'd come with him. I'm an awesome friend, I know, hold the applause.

I guess I should go do some more work. Got about an hour left of work before I can leave, so I guess I should try and be productive. I really just want to go sit in the sun and have a drink, but oh well, thems the breaks. Peace out bitches.

Dick Sandwich

I might be beating a dead horse on this one, but why the fuck are people so damn shitty? I'm not talking about celebrities here, but more the average person you encounter on a daily basis. That guy at the corner store, or the lady at the drug store who sold me aspirin today. People just seem to have this constant look of, "fuck you", on their face. Now I know that the economy is in the shitter, and life could be a hell of a lot better for most of the people out there, but I think people need to come to terms with these ideas, and either better themselves, or just deal with the hand they are dealt, and strap on a fucking smile.

As far as my life goes, like anyone, I have bad days and good days. Some days I go to work and do my work and go home. Some days I want to smash someones head through the fax machine, but I don't broadcast these feelings to everyone I run into. I don't want to be the reason someones day goes from good to bad. Some people just wander this world being crabby fucks, and I don't think I'll ever fully understand why. Life sucks, just accept it, have a cold beer, and try and enjoy your time on this shit pile known as Earth.

I think this current stream of thought was triggered not only by the old lady at the drug store, but by a song I heard on the newest NOFX album (which I got before the release date due to leaks, but shh, don't tell Fat Mike). There is a verse in the song that says, "Life's an endless party, not a punch card". To me, on this day, nothing has made more sense. I understand that it is important to work hard, regardless of what you do, but at the same time, if you can't sit back everyone now and again, and just enjoy yourself, what are you working for? A fat ass bank account and a perma-frown? I'll pass on that. I'll take just-making-it and enjoy every second of my check-by-check life for now.

This topic is often one that comes up when I'm talking to people at shows and such. They ask if my band makes any money, and I say we break even, or make a little bit, but I have a normal job, so it is okay. They usually ask why I'd spend my free time and a good amount of my personal money to do something that isn't paying me back. As many musicians have said in the past, it is the most fun job in the world. Maybe one day my band will be my income, which would be amazing, but until, I'll go to work on Monday with a smile on my face knowing that sooner than later, I'll be spending another drunken weekend with 5 of my best friends, making music, or hanging out with my amazing girlfriend, also drinking, and hopefully getting laid (bonus points).

So to all the frowny fuckers out there, get with the program and enjoy this crappy place while you can, you'll be pissed you didn't when you're gone. I'm going to go have a few beers, play my guitar, and enjoy every damn second of it.

Join the club...

Hey y'all, how's it hanging? So apparently we have this great new idea for my band. All (or most) of us have started blogs so people can track our lives right from the Internet! Pretty sweet, huh? We will cover such topics as show reviews, fun places we have gotten drunk and/or ate, who got down and dirty with some down and dirty ladies, and all that good stuff that you want to hear from a band. But please, do not be alarmed, as my blog will continue to be my thoughts spilled out onto this page in no particular order, but also now included all the above mentioned information. It's like two blogs for the price of one! Beat that fuckers!

So yeah, Plattsburgh, New York, that's where we were last. It was a very fun weekend for all company included. We tend to try and play places we have friends/family as to save on spending money on rooms, which usually works out pretty well. We recently stayed at our emcee, Tags, brothers house. It was a pretty sweet place, and it reminded me of all the things I missed about college life. Broken in walls, no locks on doors, nothing in the kitchen (except beer and some insane mix of crap these guys put together on a nightly basis) and the sounds of love coming from all corners of the house. On top of that, going out is twice as fun in towns like Plattsburgh, because everything is so cheap. Growing up and going out to drink in the tri-state area kind of gets you used to paying $6 for a beer, so when you show up somewhere and the bartender tells you they have $2 beers, it pretty much makes your night. That said, those nights usually go forgotten, because of the cheap alcohol vast amounts are usually consumed, leaving you extremely hungover, but NOT BROKE! I'll take a headache over an empty wallet any day of the week, believe you me.

Got a bunch more shows coming up this month, all of which seem to be like winners (and good sources for cheap drinks). I'm off to finish my day of work looking like a smack addict because I had to get blood drawn on my lunch break. Got to love bruises on your inner elbow! Just remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and I start drinking.

It's f*cking cold!

Yeah! It is! I've lived in New York my entire life, and I have to say this is one of the coldest winters in recent memory. Not only is it cold, but we've actually been having a decent winter. A good amount of snow has come through this year so far, compared to the past few years, where I was wearing nothing more than a long sleeve shirt all winter. It would be a lot more fun if I actually had time to go snowboarding, but alas I do not. I spend most my weekends with my girlfriend, or playing with the band and drinking. If neither of those 2 are happening, I'm usually kind of lost. Once you get into a habit of knowing what a weekend holds, it is hard to break from that, and actually have to THINK of something to do on a Friday night, instead of just saying to yourself, "Alright, I need to pack the truck to go to so-and-so for the weekend". Oh well.

Speaking of going away, Cloud 9 just went up and played in Endicott, NY. For those who do not know, this is a short ride west of Binghamton. It is a strange little town, with even stranger people. The morning after our gig, we stopped into this little local diner for some food. The two people running the place were some of the happiest people I have ever met. Chuck, was the cook, and Donna was the waitress and his wife. They ran this wonder little eating establishment called The Bear Dawg Diner. Bear Dawg was apparently Chuck's 145 pound monster of a dog, whom he had pictures of on the walls of the place. They were VERY excited from the second we walked in, and we got along just great. They made me one of the best breakfasts I have had in recent memory, and only cost me about 7 bucks total. Stoked I was.

Another week of work lays ahead, but at least I can look forward to a Man-cation next week. I am going away for a few nights to Montreal with two of my good college buddies. This trip is a year late because last February my friends kidneys basically shut down 5 days before we were going to leave. So this year we are extremely excited that everything is looking good to go. I have ever been to Canada before, so I'm pretty excited to hang out in a foreign city for a few nights. We also randomly found out that there is some big festival going on the weekend we are there, so that should ad some extra fun.

That is all for the most part. This weekend is Valentine's Day, which doesn't really matter too much to me because I am lucky enough to have a girlfriend who hates "Hallmark Holidays". I mentioned Valentine's Day and she made her point clear she was not a fan. So we'll probably end up going out anyway, because I'm a sucker for a good meal and some drinks, we just won't say it is for "Valentine's", it's just going out. Maybe if I play my cards right I can drag her down to the movie theater to see Friday the 13th this weekend. If not, I'll just have to dig up one of my friends to drag along to the movies next week. Some I know has got to want to see this flick.

oh nine, and feeling fine

So another year has past. Peace out 2008, what's up 2009! What a year folks, what a year indeed. 2008 was pretty sweet, I had a good time, did you? I hope so. Anyway, today was the first day back to real life of 2009. Went back to work, got back to the gym, and decided that I'm going to hop on the wagon for a while. Now while I love ice cold beers as much as the next guy, I feel that starting a new year with a nice clear head can be somewhat beneficial. I have a bunch of songs I've half assed and never finished, and I know there is always something I can be doing to help out the band, so not having the urge to just drink beer and play Xbox will be helpful.

I never really make resolutions on New Years, but I think it is just better to have motivation on things you should be doing already. Going to the gym and not boozing for a while are things I have tried in the past, but with the holidays, all that got blown to shit. But now we are in a new year, no distractions, and I can detox for a while. I've got a few shows coming up, so I'm sure I'll have a few drinks at those, but I feel like I'll still take it easy for a while. Nothing really big comin up until my friend and I go to Montreal in February, which if I make it that long, will definitely be the end of my detox. Going to Montreal for a week, I'm sure I'm going to end up slamming massive amounts of drinks in some weird Canadian bar at least one of the nights I am there.

Besides that, 2009 is looking good. Our record is FINALLY going to be done, so that's fun, lots of good shows coming up to pimp that thing around. Going to Montreal with my friend for a week, and going up to Boston around St. Patricks Day to hang out and catch a Dropkick Murphy's show or two. So far 2009 is shaping up nicely. I'm sure the lady and I will take another vacation this summer, no ideas yet but I'm sure it'll be fun, as all activities are with her. All I really hope to do in 2009 is keep my job (or a job) and get the band back across the country. Well, I'm off to finish my tea and get some sleep. Day 2 on the wagon tomorrow, we shall see how it goes.