So my friend Matt and I always shoot the shit about music. And all the time we rank albums, songs, artists, labels whatever. It's fun. Well anyway I've been trying to figure out like, a top-ten list of my favorite music from this year and it's been so insanely hard for some reason to narrow that list down. I'm going to throw down off the top of my head the five records from this year that I enjoyed the most...
This is the kind of music that you remember where you were the first time you heard it. John Mayer's Continuum is my favorite new album of this year. The best way I think I can describe this record without saying something that's been said a million times is that it has great sway, it's almost perfect. Every single track stands out to me in it's own respect, and I'm not a big fan of "Waiting On ...", it has a socio-political overtone if that counts for anything. I guess if I had to pick a favorite track it would be the last "I'm Gonna Find Another You". It's the song every studied-up blues kid dreams about writing. It's the simplest-sounding song on the record in my opinion but maybe that's what gives it that sway. The tracks from the Try! record crossed over great, especially "Vultures". When I hear these songs, I hear the soul in them and almost feel the nuances that craft them. It's hard to write about something that's been written about as much as this. I guess it was the record I was hoping for and I got something more powerful and broad musically than I expected.
"Thanks to the music in our lives for helping us to survive, lost in one lonely dream; born to run and live free". The first time I spun "So Jersey" I got chills. It was just beautiful. The Bouncing Souls will never craft the kind of slickly-produced million-selling record like Mayer, but these are the two albums I loved the most. The Bouncing Souls have been my favorite band for seven years, and this is hands down my favorite record and their best recorded material to date. From the get-go this record kicks ass. My personal favorite is "So Jersey", suprised? You hear the ghosts of Bruce here. The Souls wrote this album in Asbury Park and it comes through in the record. The first time I listened to it straight through, I thought to myself; "thirty years ago our parents had 'Born To Run', today we have 'The Gold Record'".
The World/Inferno Friendship Society is the craziest fucking band ever. Where to even start with this? I'll start out by saying that this is my favorite album to listen to from this year. Jack Terricloth is the Axl Rose of the NYC/NJ punk scene. Anytime I put this on (especially in my car) I turn into Jack. How can you not? It is the soundtrack to a circus of living life to it's fullest. Pure fun at it's oddest, every song is a story. Check out "Your Younger Man" or "Me V. Angry Mob" as they are prime examples. Great seeing them open for the Bouncing Souls three times this year. There's just no way to describe it, just listen to it. "The butterflies in my stomach have flown up through my throat and learned to love the open air..."
Pop-punk's biggest rock star writes the best record of his life. Mark Hoppus's +44 blows that other band out of the water. This is an awesome blend of old school So-Cal punk mixed with new-school pop punk and rock. The sound on the record is great, every instrument (especially the drums!!!) are right on. Mark's vocals sound great and his lyrics on this record are his best to date. Stand out tracks are "Baby, Come On", "When Your Heart Stops Beating", "Lillian", "Cliff Diving" and "Make You Smile". This record makes me want to play bass again and resume writing music. My favorite track is "Cliff Diving", which makes me dream about Southern California like I did when I was younger. It's what it sounds like, that vision in my mind. A new start, "This isn't just goodbye, this is I can't stand you" sounds likes an auto-biographical requiem of blink-182. This is an solid album that impressed me a lot, I didn't really know what to expect, but from this I'm pretty stoked.
" If you came with a warning label, how would it read"?
Warning: Usually exerts sometimes excessive pridefulness, foolishness, impulsiveness, impracticality, and superstition. Can be very loud. Prone to being selfish and very stuck on established likes and dis-likes. (For example: If New Jersey sunk two miles under the Atlantic Ocean, I'd still rather live there than say, Florida.) Can be extremely restless, impressionable and verbose in speaking. Likes to think he can out-talk anyone about any topic at any time in any situation. Did I mention verbose in speaking..?
I feel amazing!!!
These past three weeks have just been the best. Just knowing I'll be in college in less than seven weeks has me so stoked. My fucking friends are amazing and I love you guys. Today I got to see one of my good friends from back in the day and it seriously made my month. Danielle, I missed you soooooo much!!! I was so stoked to see you and I'm blown away by what you're doing, it's so sweet. Speaking of people I miss, the RK crew is on the road for tour number two of the year. Matt told me that it's amazing and they're having the best time and I couldn't be more stoked to hear. I can't wait to see you all when you get back to Jersey. Things have just been better, this year has been so long but the past month have left things in perspective. I learned that when all else fails, it's better to cut all ties with someone and if it's meant to be that fate will bring you back together. I've just let my demons go and I feel like myself again. I feel like I've woken up from something and not remembering half of the things I've done in the last year. Which, I don't think I mind. I love the holdays...
Hollering at Danielle, Nora, Sal, Mags, Jackie, Melissa, my B.A. family, my Racing Kites family and last but not least my boy Hector because we live through each other.
"Teddy Bear"...it's so on...
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's almost three a.m. so I'm gonna try and buzz through what's on my mind. First off, Thanksgiving is a great holiday. I have no complaints whatsoever. It's great to see friends and family that you don't see often and this is an awesome excuse for that occuring. I'm grateful so much to the friends I've had great times with since this time last year. I mean, some of us have had our problems but I'm just going to forget the bad times. So, as close as I can to that album thank you musicians always give, here are mine without some last names because I'd probably miss a few...
Christine Sokolowski, Karolina, Sal, Dan Boyce, Matt Howard, Alex Bussey, Rob Schumann, Zach Lynch, Theresa Cooper, Amanda Martin, Michelle Lanzarone, Ashley Malok, Kate from VA, Dave Cortese, Matt Szymczak, John Rosario, Nora Siaba, Anthony and Timmy Yurachek, Bill Quinn, Bobby Baran, Hector Castillo, Jackie Ziobro, Rob Perry, Jamie Quinn, Jenah and Lauren from RU, Jessica Delbert, Joe Delesky, Joe DeCeglia, Joey Chrzo, Liz Fleming, Maggie Kowalski, Vanessa Velez, Melody, "Hard" Nard, Paula Lucero, Sarah Royal, Sean Tyler, Spanish Rob Velasquez, Alex Ziabko, Alissa Stampolous, Gary Parlaitti, Bobby Bedara, Josh Krubner, Hal Grossman, Krista, Lindsey from CA, Allison Arbiblit, Marissa, Karl Odenwalder, Mike Reeves, Jeff Brown, Mags, Ray Pona and his girlfriend Maria, Kristin Servideo, Charlie Meluso, Kristy Bonner and her basement crew, Frank Ajosa, RK Rick and there's a few more of you guys that I've momentarily forgotten at 3:46 a.m.. Thanks for everything and the times we have together I can't tell you how much I appreciate, especially these past nine months being they weren't easy but you guys got me through them and I love you for it.
Thanksgiving is also a time to remember special things in life that you had to let go. Here' I'm obviously talking about "The Whip" which I tabbed "The Night Train", however it shall forever be remembered as "The Whip". So many good times in that car, I'm sad to see her go. She was a true soldier and I loved her so much. I guess everyone remembers their first car, I know I will. Rest In Peace, whereever you may be, I hope you're happy.
I hope everyone's holiday is awesome, I'm done...
"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come" - Abraham Lincoln
You really are a beautiful, beautiful girl, you have no idea how much it means for you to be back in my life.
Dear Brand New, I'm on track six and I'm still remaining optimistic about this record...
But after I'm done with this I'm rocking out the new Jay-z, which I've also been very stoked about.
Tonight was the first time I'd been down near CB's since it was closed and words can't describe how sad looking it is with those two buildings just emptied... I guess that's New York City...always changing...
I also saw a street fight on Saint Mark's between 2nd and 3rd with two gangs of Asian kids, probably coming out of that karoake bar that John Rosario always wants to go to...
It was a good night...
This is an open letter to the past eight days.
First off, why did I wake up on Thursday morning and it was freezing? I'm glad that it had stopped raining and all but yea, it's been cold since. I'm actually not hating the fall and winter this year, I like having four seasons. You can see and experience places in four different ways throughout the year. Point being, winter came in one night.
I've realized that it may be insanely hard playing back-to-backs in the NBA. What I don't understand is why both times I've seen the Nets play in a back-to-back they always play one on the road and then home, or vice-versa. Never two at home...why?
I'm stoked for this Wednesday and everybody hanging out. I might be going to the parade on Thursday with Sal but I'm not sure yet. Depends I guess on what we do on Wednesday night.
Rutgers lost at Cincinatti on Saturday. So much for running the table. I don't think anyone here is dissapointed with the season RU has had. The Knights gave this area one great thing that it hasn't had in 150 years: meaningful college football. The night that RU played Louisville they had the entire area routing hard for them. It's not a secret about people from New Jersey having a lot of pride and it shown through that night. When I got out of work at 10 I absolutely flew down to the campus and got to be part of the biggest party in the history of New Jersey after Jeremy Ito kicked that game-winning field goal. I took a ton of pictures and I only wound up saving one, it was that crazy. That night was even better because I got to see Jenah, Lauren and Mike from RU and party with a bunch of new friends. Sweet. I got back at 12:30 the next afternoon...
It's 4:43 p.m. and it is dark out, bummer.
I got a lot of weight taken off my shoulders on Friday when I got my acceptance package to NJCU. I knew I'd get in but I forgot how much doing a college application is a huge pain in the ass. I'm waiting to hear from City College and Brooklyn College and then I'll make my mind up. I've spent a lot of time over the past eight days thinking about what to do about school. I know I'm staying in this area for the next year but after that is up in the air. I still would really like to go to school in Boston and that is definitely my number one ideal situation. I've also thought about going crazy far away to places I've wanted to see like coastal California or Seattle, Washington. And if Katrina hadn't happened, New Orleans would also be on this list. I also think about staying local for school, which I know is crazy because I'm really ready to do some new things but that entire pride concept comes into consideration. I like Rutgers and it's on a list of schools I'm thinking about finishing college at. I guess I'll see in a year. As for now I'd be lying if I said I was stoked about going to NJCU because I'm not but in the back of my mind I know it's just going to be two semesters. Last Wednesday I was on the campus for twenty minutes and I couldn't wait to leave. I think I'd feel better in Bed-Stuy, during the day at least. I just can't explain how much I'm looking forward to going back to school. Moving out again, maybe living in Beantown...mmm.
And for the record; my birthday Sunday December 10th at the Continental on Third Avenue off of Saint Mark's, be there, son.
Here's a couple of things I've learned about New Jersey as of late...
New Jersey is taken from the island Jersey in the English Channel.
The Swedes and the Dutch were the first Europeans to settle here, in the 1600s.
Morristown, New Jersey was the military capital of The American Revolution.
Our state's population grew rapidly after 1950 due to an industrial boom. It's location is at the center of the "Boswash" megapolis (Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C.) and has been essential for the growth of the state.
And right now, more Fortune 500 companies call New Jersey home than anywhere else in the world. Holla.
I never knew about the abundance of race riots that happened here. If you want a quick education check out the Bruce Springsteen track "My Hometown" off of "Born In The USA".
In what I believe was the original Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway was built by funds authorized by Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression.
I had no idea the entire Lindburgh baby incident happened near Hopewell.
The Hindenburg exploded over Lakeland, New Jersey in 1937 but I had no idea it had flown for over a year before it exploded.
And did you know that the way songs in movies fit the vision is the way the Bruce Springsteen's 1975 "Born To Run" fits driving down Routes 18, 71, 35, 36, 1, 9, 440. Trust me...
Ready? Here it goes. If you know me at all you know that this year has been rough for me. I went through a lot of shit and had a lot thrown in my face (not literally but it's still only November). Last night my uncle and I went shopping for clothes and stuff and between dinner and then the drive home we had an awesome conversation. It's been so hard to let someone in. And I admit I'm emotionally detatched and guarded, there's no doubt. It was just good hearing things like "you're gonna be alright" because I don't care who you are, when you need someone you need someone. He told me something that when I heard it I knew it would stick with me. He said "look, in your life over years you'll be able to count your absolute true one hundred percent-behind-you friends on one hand". So it got me thinking and he's right. Time will tell. I learned these last sixteen months that sometimes people just change or grow apart or all of a sudden they can't co-exist. People may think I'm crazy for absolutely dying to get away from this area with every ounce of strength I posses but I wonder if it rips anyone else apart when everywhere they look they are reminded of someone. Of something, that "thing" for me was pretty much better days. When things were simpler and before histories became seeded with negative connotations. When I could talk about the brother I never had who dug the same clothes, music, scene and locales that I did. Someone who I learned a lot of things about living from. About the eternal best friend who was stood shoulder to shoulder with me since we were literally five feet tall. About the girl I met inexplicably when I was ritually hanging about with the bandmates I loved to death. It's a mindfuck when it's all gone, isn't it? The thing that bugs me is watching how things changed, especially with the girl. I'm just going to leave that alone for however long. I hope she knows that if she's ever down and out I'll always be there for her. As I will for any of my friends. I guess I just wish things would be different, and I have no outlet other than writing it down here.
I want to say that Matt Howard is the man, and Racing Kites is still my favorite band and I hope they have the most amazing tour ever. On that note, I'm calling it a night.
So I'm just going to go ahead and warn you that this might be the most random thing you've ever read. That is if you read the whole thing and even if you don't I hold nothing against you. It's gonna be a little factional, probably personal and you know imaginative. Well, I'm going to start off that the last three weeks I've been completely hooked on studying medicine on Wikipedia. I started studying the brain and to make a long story short I began getting into different types of mental disorders and the following are my favorites. Taking the cake was lycanthropy. I'm guessing it's enunciated "lick-anthropee". Anyway, it was documented as for when humans believe to turn themselves into wolves. That's right kids, wolves. And this got me curious so I actually did some research and found out that incindentally it's Greek and it's mythological. And in Greek it means the same as the human case study. Imagine have reoccurring instances where you're transformed into a wolf. What would you do? You can't go anywhere, you're a wolf. Anyway. I'm sorry to sound childish but I guess I can't help it. The next fascinating thing is lycanthropy occuring in South America. In this geographical specimen, people are actually morphing into sharks. It's a mental condition that has links to dream study which indicates that many of the people that have this occuring in their sleep neurons have actually lost a family member, more instances than not a child. Everything aforementioned kind of comes back to a theory you always hear involving a soul moving from being to being after the body has died. This is known as transmigration and it's usually associated with karma, the belief that your actions in one life contribute to your existence in the next. And that all in tail comes back to neuroscience, which has grabbed my attention for the past few weeks. I just wanted to write about it a bit...
Anyway, how's everyone doing. I've been pretty good. The highlight of my day today was I got a four page letter from my cousin who's living in Chicago. I LOVE the way she writes. It was the kind of three minutes where I could hear her voice saying the words while I was reading it. She wrote about how she's finally getting used to the city's wide streets. How it's a lot colder and quieter than Lower Manhattan, where she went to school at NYU. The fall is apparently beautiful there, and she's getting in touch with the world around her. Sarah isn't actually my cousin but she is family to me and I love her and respect her probably more than any other person in my age range. It's safe to say that in a few ways she is what I want to be. She doesn't stress and she's successful while enjoying life and while I think I do that, she redefines it. So anytime that you want to drink coffee in Union Square, lay in Astor Place or get fries and break into Tompkins Square Park I am always in.
I went to the Nets' game and they lost 119 - 113. I didn't have tickets but I was lucky enough to run into Suzanne who peeped me out a $70 ticket at mid-court for free ninety nine. I was stoked...
I just got a ton of pictures developed from this year and a few from my week in Boston last August so I'm looking forward to decorating my room a little more. It's weird because every room I've ever had has just been wallpapered with pictures and this one isn't. It's starting to get there and like 120 new pictures won't hurt...
I'm getting my windows tinted in the next two weeks, I've been putting it off for a while. I've started calling my car Julie after: A) the character Mandy Moore played on Scrubs and B)the Fountains of Wayne song "Hey Julie"...
Ending things with quotes is a new habit...
"I don't ever want to hear anything that's come out of that man's mouth; unless, of course, it's "Oh, my God! I'm dying. Now I'm moving towards the light. But wait a minute, there's been a mistake! This is Hell! Hello, Hitler. Hello, Mussolini. Captain Kangaroo?" - Dr. Perry Cox
"In life, the best way to deal with mistakes is to carry them with you".
Happy Halloween. I know I'm a day late but I wound up down in Applebee's with a couple of my favorite people in the world last night. It was good to catch up with some family. And by family, I mean Dan and Rick...and even Matt, my fucking boy...
(Matt's statements are italicized)
"So...I liked your white guitar..."
"Yea man...thanks, I sold it..."
"Oh...was it a Gibson..?"
"Epiphone...with gold hardware...really liked it"
So much fun, and your friend from Hollister who said I looked like that cook on the menu...yea well he looks like Clay Aiken but for the sake of his relationship (his girlfriend was there) I kept my thoughts to myself. His girlfriend would never be able to stand it. You know, she would tell her friends that some kid at Applebee's said her boyfriend looked like Clay Aiken, yes that one, the no talent fagmo gender bending popstar. Her friends would harrass her, and she'd look at him sometimes and see it, their relationship would crumble. Anyway, it was a good time. Dan is seeing this girl named Ashley who is pretty much my ex Ashley from two years ago...minus the chest. It was creepy...thanks Boyce! Matt and I put on a mini dance party in the parking lot for about fifteen minutes while Boyce and Ashley said good night to one another. The soundtrack was nonother than Gunther's "Pleasureman" album. I dropped them off at Dan's at like two or something and headed up the Parkway. My soundtrack for that was my Boston playlist because the Street Dogs get me going...
Halloween is a great holiday...even though it's hollow in it's own way being to my knowledge, it has no actual signifigance. That may be naive, it is...I'll Wiki that shit when I feel like I'm done writing. My thought is that Halloween is a holiday that sticks with you. Where you can always kind of feel young during it. Obviously when you're a kid you dress up as you know...whatever. You go to school and go trick or treating. As a teen and early twenty something Halloween is an excuse to get dressed up in something slutty or vulgar and get drunk. Nora's on Saturday was fun for the forty minutes I was there. It's pimp. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday in the way it's evolved in my mind. Sure there's the obvious with the family and sitting down and being together. Thing is for me, I don't have much family...as in like under ten members. So with the aforementioned, there's also the thought of seeing my friends that go away to school or that have left for their own engagements far away from here. Being out the night before Thanksgiving, with everyone back. It's a great feeling when you know that that single moment is all that matters. I miss that, it's been almost a year I guess. This year has just been so weird, and I don't know what to define it as. The worst...or the best? I found out a lot about feeling lost, alone. Not feeling home, never being relaxed, not feeling good often. About losing friends, and what I feel is the beginning of the last chapter of a great friendship...about a good friend of mine I said I would always stand next to, shoulder to shoulder through anything. It's hard to stand shoulder to shoulder from Dublin to New York City. I watched my best friend move out of the town we grew up together in. And a year where things came between us for really the first time. I look out across the Hudson River eight miles away and search for a silhouette that isn't there anymore. And five years gone by, this has been the hardest for some reason. I found myself loving New York City unconditionally this year. It's presence being like arms wrapped warm around me every second I'm there. And as I'm writing this I stop every few seconds to catch myself and collect my thoughts because what happened in that city five plus years ago has ripped my heart and soul apart more than anything else. And everytime I think about it, I well up and fight back tears and my muscles tense when I think about the decisions so many men and women made when they put others in front of themselves. This was the first year I worked up the heart to go to The World Trade Center on September 11th and there's an enormity that no mind can begin to grasp. Something for which there is no closure. It's when I'm walking and I'm staring blankly into whatever my eyes are pointed towards, it is the facade for the last seven or eight sentences.
And so in short, it's been a hard year. The first step to starting my next chapter is going back to college. I have a lot of work to do to put some things behind me. I've changed a lot in the last eleven months. A really, really great friend told me Sunday night that men change greatly about every seven years. It's true, it's a natural metamorphosis and I'm hopeful. I need to feel like I'm young again. I have spent so much time running one million miles an hour that I feel like I'm forty five. I'm twenty and eleven months but I don't feel like it. I need something or someone to help me feel alive again. Every hour in every day I'm finding out that that someone is going to be me. I can't believe how much I wound up writing about what's been going on in here but that's the way I've been left, this has been my thought and soul process.
"And our troubles, we can't leave them behind.
But the wind blows, and blows them all away.
And the road goes, and takes them all away,
back into our dreams".
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