You know what was a good album?....

Ride the Blade

So good and so underrated..........






(Also, best record cover EVAR!....)

Bangers all night long......

If you know me, and you've ever seen me on the weekend, then you will have a complete understanding of how sober people can have hangovers. This is how I found myself this after noon at brunch. Somewhere between the two trucks that kept crashing over and over again into my pulverized body, and constantly requesting more coffee and water. HOW I got here can be summed up in the mother of all DC dj nights:

Gavin Holland
Will Eastman
Matt Nordstrom
Dave Nada
Tittsworth
and mutha fukkin DJ Assault

It was a full evening of total insanity, and I could not help be swept along for the entire ride.

Knowing alot of the people involved, I had a backstage pass, but only used this momentarily after I first arrived. Soon I bounced downstairs and hit the floor. There I would remain for almost the entire night. Though I did take a few minutes to say hi to my friend, superphotographer Josh Sisk. I hadn't seen him in forever. He had agreed to swing by from Bmore to take photos since it was Tittsworth's record release show. Josh is another guy I initially knew from the punk rock scene. It's funny how many of those people are now in the party scene, and how in an odd way I straddle both.

After we did some respect knuckles, I wandered out to the expansive dancefloor at 9:30 and waited for my last remaining dance partner, Kim, to arrive. It took her quite a while to get there, but that didn't stop me from willin' out by myself for a while. All the dj's were people I loved to see spin, so there really wasn't a bad part of the night. Though I will say, after hitting it hard for several hours, I was glad when the "live" portion of the evening arrived, so I could meander a bit.

Kim and I went to one of the bars for some water, and were spotted by Cale who urged us to get a pick taken in the prom style Tittsworth record-promo set up they had. The catch was, beyond the back drop, there were party lights, a smoke machine, and....oh yeah, a whole fleet of girls (one of whom was not; I give them great credit for that) in bikinis. They plopped me down front, straddling a chair, with Kim, leg up on mine, on my left, and both of us coated in bikini girls. I REALLY hope this pic gets posted.

I, of course, could not forget to mention hopping briefly downstairs to say a quick hello to the hottest bartender in the history of 9:30, Corrine. She was sadly swamped and sick all at once. Even though it was just a hi and bye considering the circumstances, it was, as always, totally worth the whole four seconds.....

Finally, after the MC's were done, and there was a warm up reprise from Dave and Jessie, DJ Assault took the decks, and in true style, hit the ground running with "Ass and Titties." From there it was a crushing, janky, blitz, of ghettoteck versions of every oversexed, down-and-dirty, and straight up vulgar banger that you have ever heard. What can I say, but fuck, it ruled. I screamed aloud to every dirty deed exploding from the speakers. Christ did I need that. It was the best night I'd been to in a while (okay, or since the Bliss eight year anniversary party last weekend....).

So, here I sit, a total pile of wreck, and I totally earned it........

Mississippi moment...

So,

I just felt like I was back home for a minute. One of the few perks of my current living situation is that there are some amazingly bamafied stores on the corner (which we are fortunately right next to). It has been a dreary rainy day here (the kind I would love if I still worked indoors...), so at this point I was only outfitted with my Colin of Arabia, not-quite-package-fitting, gym shorts, my new Weedeater shirt that proudly proclaims "Burn 1" on the back, and slippers. With a crumbled ten in one hand, and my keys in the other, I proudly trotted out and into the corner store.

American by luck, southern by the grace of god indeed............

Yes, I know, much more has surely happened than this since I last posted, and in fact, more has. To some it all up in a few cute "tiwtter moments," I went to my other grandmother's funeral; the one I thought would be so bad I'd actually had nightmares about it, but then it wasn't. I frantically, and flimsily moved into a punk rock house where I am nearly a decade older than the other inhabitants, and surely much much older than the mice. The good news is that I can use the show space in the basement to record a one off True Kvlt black metal record with John and others. My phone broke in a hail storm, and now I have a new one. I got a dj night, it went very well, I got another dj night, and screwed up the dates with my filming conflicts. Now that night is going to use someone who is not me. But hey, the good news is that I am in no way shape or form in a position to move to SF in Oct. like I wanted to, so I can always hop on the next night. It's great because I'd much rather be here to see the Halloween cover night than in SF seeing Corrupted play.........So, yes, I started filming again, and I really do love it like nothing else right now. I also caught a glimpse of some of my footage, and wanted to vomit to death. Which all also brings me to the fact that there is a chance that I will not only be in an episode of a a horror webshow, but one that is being produced by the one and only Herschel Gordon Lewis. I get so excited every time I think about it that I might have to start wearing depends. I got so depressed I feared for my wellbeing. The good news is that I am on medication, and it's helping. The bad news is I might need to be on more......I shot guns, and will shoot guns again. And finally, Weedeater amazing, Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Heaven and Hell live, amazing, Teenage Film Stars, pretty good, Bloody Panda, great band, Orphan, good as well, spending too much on Moss and Portal records but doing extra work to cover the cost, fuck yeah...............

So, that, as it were, is that...............................

PS, I had a very strange and awesome dream last night. To be honest, just a part of a dream; I don't really remember the rest. This may make no sense, but I was, maybe laying on something, I'm not sure, and I was flying at a high speed all through this gray/brown lint/felt colored/textured other world. I know it sounds simple, and uninteresting, but for me it was amazing. I say that because, not only was it much more vivid than my normal dreams, but I could honest to god feel it. I felt the high speed, and the air, and the texture of the world around me. Looking back, it was eerily euphoric. I don't think that has ever happened to me before. I certainly wish my life at the present was a quarter as good as that dream........

Well....

Scratch all that........

The List of Good

Alright,

Things being what they still are, I've decided to be as proactive as I can be in the opposite direction. So, in attempt to make that a bit of reality, I give you the list of good. All items random, and off the top of my head, which also means that the list is by no means complete.


1.The Cars
2.Joy Division
3.The Con
4.New Order
5.Peek-a-boo
6.Just Like Heaven
7.How Soon is Now?
8.Time Zone
9.Laid
10.Transilvanian Hunger
11.Nattens Madrigal
12.Der Halbtoten Dichters Schein-Existenz
13.Deathspell Omega
14.Bone Awl
15.War Goat Radio
16.Iron Maiden
17.Judas Priest
18.Motorhead
19.Parker and Lily
20.The Low Lows
21.Lemuria
22.De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
23.Coven
24.Merciful Fate
25.Baltimore House
26.Dave Nada
27.Kid Sister
28.Yelle
29.Fixies
30."The Punx"
31.Circle pits
32.Wall of death
33.Municipal Waste
34.At the Gates
35.Zapatista Coffee
36.French Presses
37. Moka pots
38.Phantom of the Paradise
39.Kill City Jeans
40.David Lynch
41. Arrested Development
42.Entourage
43.Metalocalypse
44.Home Movies
45.Cowboy Bebop
46.Halloween
47.Thunder storms
48.Spazz
49.Man is the Bastard
50.Rhino Charge
51.Magrudergrind
52.Toxic Narcotic
53.His Hero is Gone
54.Cock E.S.P.
55.Ovo
56.Christ Send Light
57.Martin Denny
58.Exotic Moog
59.Les Baxter
60.Yma Sumac
61.Violet Blue
62.Gawker
63.Jezebel
64.Coat to Coast AM
65.Vegan Freak Radio
66.Marketplace
67.Fair Game
68.BBC
69.Writing Excuses
70.Cats
71.Rats
72.Clipse
73.M.O.P.
74.Trillville
75.Kryptonite
76.The Black Cat
77.Kicks!
78.Straight Edge Kegger
79.Kylesa
80.Weakling
81.I Ran
82.Dance nights
83.Brunch!
84.Vegan Rubens
85.Avocados
86.Angel hair pasta
87.Saturdays at 4 AM
88.Sleeping in
89.Savage Love
90.Roland Barthes
91.Suicide s/t
92.Vinyl
93.Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer
94.Dropdead
95.House shows
96.Hellboy
97.Rum and Whiskey
98.Wikipedia
99.Autumn
100.Macbeth Shoes

I suppose I should stop at that. If you have more to add, please do. In the meantime.........

Drop out of life with bong in hand.....

So, I finally paid off my medical bills when they got turned over to a collection agency. I have to move in DC by the end of this month. My roommate left, and took my dear Zachary with her. I'm supposed to move to SF in Oct. I have no money. I still have to take care of my taxes somehow...and on .....and on.....and on......There is however one thing that can help me keep my sanity. *Caution: only play with the volume at eleven. Only play with the bass all the way up. Only play with the intent of listening to the entire song in one sitting.* Now.....drop out of life with bong in hand; follow pot smoke toward the rift filled land.............



!@#$%! dammit! It's only a preview! CLICK THE ARTIST AND SONG TITLE LINK TO GO TO THE SITE WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THE WHOLE THING!! SAME RULES APPLY!!!!!!!!!!

(yes, I'm still sXe....)

Some days.....not as bad....

So,

Tonight, I did a very cathartic thing. I went to a crust/metal house show. Sadly, due to the "holiday" and the weather, it was not nearly as well attended as it should have been. It was the send off show for John's band Aghast, before they go on a west coast tour, and as usual, they had it set up right. I, sadly, don't remember the name of the first band, but they were heavy, retro hxc. They were young, and did a good job, but there was almost no one there at that time. Next Aghast played, and their new lineup (they lost their singer, and just decided to go with it) is really, really tight. Shravan does a great job taking on the responsibilities of vocals and guitar, and with one less band member to deal with, they just killed it. I always think they put on a great show, but this was the best one yet. They are going to destroy this tour. Anywho, when I came down for the next band, I thought maybe I was going to get a portal tribute show, as three guys donned with hoods prepared to let fly. As it turns out, this was Midnight, a band I literally knew nothing about (though Nuclear War Now put out their album, so it must be good). As it turned out this was some killer souther rock infused thrash hate metal, and damn was it good. Before I knew it, my hat was off and my hair was bangin'. Lucifer, did I need to let loose some.....Midnight played for a while, but it was consistently an amazing set. Finally, Atakke, who I must admit, I have heard a lot about, but never actually listened to or seen, took the stage (or basement floor I suppose). I knew it was going to be good when one of the guys had a Possessed shirt on. And fuck christ it was. It was a relentless onslaught of D-beat-ish, blazing, pissed as hell metal. They were very tight, and had great chops all around (and apparently their real drummer had to deal with a family emergency so one of their guitar players took up that duty for this show). At this point I was loosing so much hate and frustration that when they hit the cover of Police Bastard I accidentally found myself punching holes in their low setting ceiling (I stopped doing that as soon as I realized, by the way....). I don't know about the guys from Deathammer (who just showed up), but I will be sporting a bang over tomorrow). I must have looked like someone being electrocuted while having a seizure. And, of course, afterward I hung out with drunk punx so wasted you couldn't pay for that kind of funny....It was a great effing night all-in-all, and I absolutely needed it (as I write this in fact, I am listening to the Portal Outra album, and the Drowned LP re-release........hail fucking metal)


Midnight:

(Literally the only photo I could find online....)

Fucking Assholes Just don't get it.

Okay,

So, I haven't blogged in a long time, and I don't really know why I am right now. I will give a brief overview, but first, let me just blow off some steam:

I am vegan. That means that I do not eat, wear, or use anything that comes from an animal. And while all people are fallible, I try my utmost to adhere to this 100%. No, I don't want to be invited to your BBQ. No, I don't want to try your fucking meat and cheese dish. Yes, the fucking meat you are eating is what is depleting the rain forest. No, I don't want to answer your asinine questions. No, I don't think your jokes are fucking funny. No, I don't want to have a debate with you about it. And no, I don't really give a flying fuck what you think about it, or any dumb ass logic as to why you aren't vegan. Oh, and one more thing, fuck off and die jack ass welfareists.

Okay, now I feel a little better. And yes, I have needed to get that out for quite some time now. If you are vegan, and feel like responding, great. If you are not vegan and feel like responding, DON'T FUCKIN' THINK ABOUT IT! There are plenty of proper venues for that type of very necessary dialog, my personal blog not being one of them.




So,

If you could not tell, I am not doing so hot. Yes, I have serious depression problems. And while no, I don't at all mind be open about that, I am not trying to wear it on my sleeve for attention or as an excuse. I'm trying to go on medication, but right now I have not been able to work that out. It's hard since five years ago I didn't really believe in that type of thing, not to mention the above sentence pitted against the above rant. But I'm at the end of my rope, and fear for my ability to function.

As usual, my life has been more like a crowbar to the face than a hug. After my trip, I have no money, still. More so, sometimes I have less than no money. This was not due to me negligently taking a trip I could not afford, but more the typical events of random phone breakage, bike breakage, medical emergencies, and other bad streaks that typically pop up in my life when I least need them to. So, now, even with the insurance I can't afford, I am STILL getting medical bills I can't pay, for what the insurance didn't cover. While also paying for the insurance itself, which I have no money for (which incidentally, for the time being, neither covers dental work I desperately need to get done, nor specialists for my "pre-existing" Crohn's, which I very much need to get checked out, and which is why I have the damned insurance in the first place). I have an ever increasing phone bill I don't know how to pay. And in the meantime I just keep writing rent and utilities checks for money that has long since floated away into the ether.

This is bad enough, however, I still plan to move to San Francisco in October. I just have no idea how on earth I am going to do that financially. And even worse, I fear that if I can't get my depression in check, (which, yes, I also don't know how I am going to afford. (AMERICA! WHAT A COUNTRY!)), I will simply not have my faculties together to take such a drastic step. However, I feel like if I don't move now, I will crumble under the thought of such a daunting task, and stay in DC where my life will continue to devolve.

I will say, that I am working on a movie right now, and this is the only thing I have keeping my sanity holding by it's thin strand. Regardless of my feelings about film acting, it has been a thousand fold more rewarding that impalement of the theatre projects I've lost permanent time from my life to. Even when it gets stressful, we all are working together towards the common good of the project. There are definitely people I should never have a personal conversation with working on this with me, but it doesn't matter. Just getting along under the spirit of the film is enough. And the craziest part is that's it's film, and so I have no idea how on earth it's going to turn out. Part of me doesn't even care, but most of me just trusts the level of quality exemplified by everyone.

On the flipside, when I am not working on the film, I am most certainly not doing well. Everything in my life feels overwhelming, and, very much including myself, unsatisfying. Under this stress I simply lock up. I am virtually becoming a shut in, spending at least sixty to seventy percent of my time alone, in my apartment, mostly doing nothing. I of course hate this, but am not really in the right mind to overcome it. The lack of social interaction becomes painfully apparent when I do interact with other people. I find myself overly obnoxious, annoying, and often downright surly. And yet I cannot step in to slow down this horrible momentum.

I have no idea what I am going to do about any of the above, but, to quote The Stranglers, "Something Better Change.".........................

Push Down and Turn

XVX,
Denman

Some things never change.....

So, I'm sitting here,in DF, in a fancy Euro-Gringo Holiday Inn restaurant using their wi-fi (and eating I suppose......).

It is, sadly, my last day in Mexico. Tomorrow I get on a plane, and head back to the bad america. I've met many people here since the last post, and done many things. Too much to talk about right now in fact. But I will, I assure you, get everyone caught up to date soon enough.

Today was Mayday, which is a VERY big deal here, and though I won't elaborate yet, I will leave you with this:



Stay tuned; more to come........

[!Viva La Anarchia!]

The Struggle Continues....

So, today, ironically, while Kadd and I went seeking out important places in the Oaxcan uprising, to explore and document, we ended up in the reality of just how recent all those events were.

We went to eat, and then strolled down to the zocalo, where we came across this:





Apparently a new rector was put in place at this school, and based on the reasons why, and the history of this area, instead of complaining about it in the break room, the teachers and students took the building by force. This had just happened as soon as we showed up. Soon after,(not unlike anywhere else, especially the US right now), cops in riot gear showed up. They had done multiple banner drops, and had many people, at least one of which was brandishing a car mounted sized megaphone, loudly declaring their demands.

It deals with the uprising, and the amount of educators involved in its support. The government is now attempting to systematically put their own supporters in key positions in places like the educational system. It is the slow, and deliberate undoing of a revolt that is not being taken lightly by the people here (one woman was in tears, screaming through the bars of a window from the taken school, down to the media about the seriousness of the situation.):


At one point the police, at this point only armed with teargas, rushed the crowd, but suddenly the protesters ran around to the rear of the building, where the initial crowd followed:


Official representatives of the action, met a crowd of, supporters, onlookers, media, and police, through the rear door of the school to give more statements and explanations. Eventually, several people (maybe organizers, maybe government supporters), left the building to a chorus of cheers:


There was a briefly tense moment when reinforcements, toting machine guns, showed up, and looked as though they were ready to take care of the crowd:


However, soon the entire group, riot police and all, filed back to the front of the building, where students came out to give further speeches. You could see through the door that the protesters had wrecked the interior, and nearly torn all the doors off of the hinges:


Despite all of this, the action appeared to end in a somewhat relaxed standoff. And as we left the scene, no police had taken any action, and it appeared as though the people inside were able to move freely through the crowd. I am not sure any real arrests were made.

Most of the Spanish was too loud and frantic for me to comprehend any more than the basics of the situation. The internet access I have right now is very weak, and fragile. I have a short video that I will upload as soon as I can grab a better connection. I will also put up a few more pictures, and see if I can get any official information in English.

La lucha sigue.......



*To anyone who would like to use any of this media for their own reports, please feel free*

Okay.........

Here's a real post:


Here I sit, in the Peace House in Oaxca City. Yup, that's right, Kadd and I shuffled on down the bunny trail. And we are both very exhausted at this point. (Hey, how many nights can one spend sleeping on bus, and still have a refreshed demeanor?)

Last night we indeed hopped onto a bus and pulled in here at the wee crack of dawn. However, our last few moments in Ole Puerto Escondido were not without adventure. In the near distance from the beach by our hostel, one could see an enormous raise of rocks, with a large stone lighthouse on top. Needless to say, we were determined to conquer this natural monument before the big goodbye. Kadd asked how we could get there, and we were assured that it was a mere half hour trot down the paved road......Which is surely true, in some reality, but not this one. We ended up leaving the paved road, which actually turned into this very odd, rustic, surfer-tourist enclave replete with little straw hut hotel, restaurant, and surf shop. However, past this was the beach, which lead straight to a vertical climb of massive, wet, rocks....Not so much was this the path we intended to tread. So, after many many many wrong turns and two encounters with the same very unleashed, very angry guard dog (fun city), we found ourselves confronted by another dirt dead end, this one surrounded by barbedwire. However, there was also a small native woman in her bra, who was more than happy to tell us about a path that led AROUND all of the private property and down to the beach. Even this we did not initially trust since it took for EVAR. However in the end we were in fact, led down to the beach once more. An area of the beach roughly the same distance from where we wanted to be on the OTHER side from where we started. So, after some fun sand high jinx, we walked down the beach BACK to the large vertical, wet, climb of rocks again. We eventually found a place safe enough to begin the climb, and up we went like little mountain squirrels. We were met at the top with two things: one, being huge thorn bushes and two, some very wealthy person's backyard. Between a maybe less than lucky climb back down, reenacting some of christ's wounds, and going bandit style, we chose stealthy trespassing. Now Kadd SWEARS that he saw guards at several points (I don't need to tell you how alot of the economies work around here), and we decided that, if caught, we would play the idiot gringo card. Fortunately, this never came up. Which was AMAZING considering that the ENTIRE trip took place between a steep, thorny, rocky cliff, and the very near doorsteps, of the very private property, of the very questionably wealthy people of the area. At last we reached the precipice, and stared down at the conquered lands atop the actually, not very large stone lighthouse. We eventually found a way down very close by, and trotted along the beach back "home" just in time to take off for our bus. Stupidity paid off in the end however, and here's the proof:

<3

Paulo Manu Nicole

Bad scene, everyone's fault..

*IF YOU ARE MY MOTHER AND FATHER, YOU WILL NOT WANT TO READ THIS, SO PLEASE SKIP DOWN TO THE STARS*

No pretty pictures, no witty banter. Just the funniest damn story of the trip so far. So, last night we went with Paulo, Nicole, and Manu, who drive El Barko del Amor, to a birthday party for a friend of theirs. It should be noted that this is a TOTALLY different world than the one Kadd and I inhabit. This is the world of wealthy, pretty, party people, and it is a far far cry from home. We eventually roll up to this small bar, for the festivities, that is well stocked with an international congregation of Calvin Klein models, replete with all expected douchebaggery. Though it was funny that right out of the box I made friends with this guy who came up and said,"Your shirt-It is something about metal yes?" He was an Italian, (there are maaany), now living mostly in LA, but you know, globe trotting, who also was very into metal. He was thrilled to find a new "brother" (I just assume he meant "Brother of true metal" as a Manowar reference, but who knows). So for a while, we excitedly geek out about metal in a way that looked less like we both spoke English, and more like two people frantically trying to communicate through impromptu sign language.

Of course, he eventually politely excused himself to go say hi to some other friends. And that's when it happened. About fifteen minutes after I get to this fantasy island Vanity Fair soiree, a well coiffed beach Aussi(?)(Kadd and I argued about this, since it was very hard to make out what she was saying. And I swore English was not her first language....But hey, I'm sure to an Aussi, the same could be said about my deep southern american family....) strolls over, leans down, and says (and I'm paraphrasing abit here),"It's a shame to waste this time of day; we should use the condoms I have in my purse before they expire." The look you have on your face could not be half as precious as the one mine formed into as I tried to wrap my head around the reality of what had just happened.

Again, I do not live in this world.

Do I sleep with people? Yes. Do I like to sleep with people? Of course. Am I conservative in how that happens? No. HOW-EV-ER. This is nooooot my typical modus operandi by any stretch of the imagination. The only time something like this REMOTELY happened, the woman in question had to be pretty darn persistent before I caved. But I digress, back to the moment, as it happened.

Well, of course my brain froze. "Would you care for a coffee,""Do you know what time it is,""I like your pants,""You are a really good dancer," Yes, But,"Hello. We fuck now." Holy. Shit. There is always that little voice in the back of your head that says,"Go ahead, do it." But instead, keeping more with my tradition, I apparently blurted something out like,"I don't think so....." (I had to have Kadd repeat it to me, since I had no real recollection) This apparently is not an appropriate response in said style of transaction. To which she snapped,"You don't know what you are talking about!" and stormed off. It was all we could do; all we could do to keep from crying, and pissing ourselves with laughter right then and there. Kadd, and I, wide eyed like we had just been threatened with a gun, began to go through the "holy shit!" conversation that was sure to follow. The final verdict: unbelievable! We had just landed on planet Senor Frogs, where BJ's are on the appetizer menu right between nachos and jager bombs. And of course, everything is paid for with daddy's credit card..................

Oh, what a night.

**************************************************************************************
Okay Mom and Dad it's safe to pick up here:

So, tonight we depart. We hit land, and leave our Fantasy Island adventure for more urban treasures. I will miss the the ocean, the sand, Paulo, Manu, Nicole, El Barko del Amor, El Jardin, wealthy gringo douchebags, an every thing else about this place. But as the sun sinks below the tide, we will be off to Oaxca City. Only for a day, maybe two, and then we hop over to DF for the remainder of our time in Mexico. It's certainly been an interesting journey so far, and I'm curious to see what happens next........

Holy hot ham and cheese on rye Batman....

Is it sweltering here.......

31 frikin degrees, but I swear it feels like it's fifty.........

It's just one of those periods where the body has been broken, and the mind is cooked. Not much to be done in that type of situation, but, as the kids say, "chill."

My insomnia has gone through the roof trying to sleep in this atmosphere, but still and all it's great to be in beautiful Puerto Escondido



Apparently this place is internationally known for surfing. I guess that's why all the d00ds here look like they are playing for keeps.....

I still love the quirky El Barko del Amor where we are staying. They offer dinner, and so last night we thought we'd take them up on that. It's great (for us) that there aren't many people staying there. And the three people who run it, try to make it feel more like you are staying with some chill friends, instead of some random hostel. We all ate together, and and just kicked it for a while. The food was plentiful and awesome. And they totally understood that we were vegan, and cooked accordingly. Favorite quote of the the night (all in Espanol): Me,"Sorry, but I don't speak very much Spanish..," Woman (one of the owners),"That's okay, I don't speak much English." Okay not so funny now, but if you had been there......... Tonight there is supposed to be some big party there, and Kadd and I are both horribly intrigued.

I have of course been drawing more. It's funny because with enough free time to feel the urge to do SOMETHING, drawing has been my constant source of happiness. What this means I have no idea, but it could be another important piece of the puzzle...

In the meantime, like I said, it's too hot to think, not to mention write. (As I'm sure the simplistic meandering of this entry proves). I leave you then, with more pix:

The Beach:





Our Neighbors:


Everybody Loves:




Our Neighbors:


And of Course:





Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! (hey-ah!)

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's
LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
It's the Love Boat-ah! It's the Love Boat-ah!

And then I suddenly found myself on the Love Boat....

*Amusing explanatory photo not found*

But I do have this:


So, after what was falsely purported to be the most vomitously horrible trip turned out to be the best bus ride I have ever taken, Kadd and I suddenly found ourselves surrounded by beautiful Gringo Beach (or whatever it's "official" name is). We were quickly met at the buss station by a woman handing out fliers for a hostel, and that, we decided, was that.

When we got out of the cab we saw a strange brick, quirky, junior high, red, pink, and heart....painted building. A loud and welcoming voice beaconed us to come in....And suddenly we were surrounded by a group of attractive women giving us keys to our room...in a hostel called...."The Love Boat." I'll give you more pix later, but in the meantime, here is my view from the balcony:


And after about a three minute walk, I hit the most hella trill ocean that I have ever seen. From the gingo strip it looks something like this:


I have not gone swimming in years....I never swim....so I am enjoying the hell out

of playing the role of beach bum as opposed to black metal scumfuck for a while. No tight pants, no hoodie, no metal shirt.....Just navy blue swim trunks (well...and more often than not, big black shades....What can ya do?). I've been working on my sunburn, and I think it's coming along quite well...However I will STILL not fit in with the average crowd here (which is my life's goal..) comprised mostly of painfully well chiseled, uber attractive, men and women, who are serious surfers with serious money. Don't get me wrong, I hang out with my fair share of douchebags, but a very specific type of douchebag who I feel comfortable around. At any rate, it is rather amazing to be here, AND I certainly can't wait to get back to the water.......


In the meantime, you can hear me rant like an idiot on Kadd's great blog:
Here

Chiapas (Week Two) from Joshua Stephens on Vimeo.
I would say more, but um....I'm at the beach?...So deal with that

Well, well, well

I'm finally off to Oaxca; frightening isn't it?:




But not as frightening as either that picture of the 16 hour bus ride I am about to go on.......

I will miss you San Cristobal. I will miss you Casa del Pan. I will miss you other place owned by the people who own Casa del Pan. I will miss you Kinoki. I will miss you hostel that should probably be called "The Contact High." I hope you all die of a terrible plague idiotic, cracker, hippies...........

From here I am off to the beach. To what exactly I have no idea, nor do I know when I will be able to get on the interwebz again. But when I do, you will know......


Ta-ta for now.....

I said....

My eyes are DOWN HERE!

Anywho, weeks in the middle of San Cristobal feel like months...I can't really remember a time when I was not here. When my days weren't filled with tofu, tortillas, americanos (not many places here serve "coffee"..), hours of internet cafes and everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, the hideous pariah that a friend of a friend geniusly termed:"trustafarians." (For the uninitiated, many of us purport all downwardly mobile romantics to have a twin sibling named "Trust-Fund," and usually we are right......The ACTUALLY poor find this to be incredibly endearing, and long for the days when they are so privileged that they can CHOOSE to never shower, wallow around in shit-stained clothes, and eat from garbage cans..............)

Nothing much new here, except going to a real, honest to god, terrifying(!), shopping mall to get swim trunks...Oh and maybe eating at a restaurant that had a real live (and quite haggard) chicken wandering around talking to itself:



Today we did manage to break the monotony up by going to the market to get many a very fresh vegetable (and then trap me in a terrifying warehouse of all manner of dead, rotting, and completely NOT SAFE FOR CONSUMPTION fish. Bags of fish, tables of fish, stacks and stacks of fish.....I nearly ralphed...Until we got to the exposed innards of other animals sitting around on tables in an un-ventilated warehouse part of the trip.....Peta should maybe invest in sending people here to quell their meat habits instead of constantly competing with American Apparel for the title of,"Worlds Biggest Child Molester".....), and then scurried over to our friend Kristin's house to make a big ole pot of soup while we listened to podcasts of Fair Game and UFOnaut Radio (yessssss!!)

I suppose I have been drawing again, which makes me happy:





Kadd and I were trying to push our flight back so we could leave Mexico a little earlier, and stay in San Francisco a little longer, but this was simply not economically feasible..........So, here I sit, in an internet cafe, surrounded by hippies and a language I can still barely speak......welllllll....maybe I'll draw for a bit.....

Lost in Tr.....*oh fuck that*....

Sometimes, when like me, you are a super pinche gringo, sometimes you try to do things and it just doesn't work out the way you wanted to. I was in a cafe and I was just like staring at the wall thinking about everything
But then again I was thinking about nothing
And then the server came over and I didn't even know she was there she called my name
And I didn't even hear it, and then she started going: hello!
And I go:
What, what's the matter
And she goes:
Can I get something for you?
I go:
Nothing please
And she goes:
Don't tell me nothing, you're on drugs!
And I go:
No I'm not on drugs I'm okay, I was just thinking you know, why don't you get me a bottle of water.
And she goes:
NO you're on drugs!
I go:
No I'm okay, I'm just thinking about getting a bottle of water.
She goes:
No you're not thinking, you're on drugs! Normal people don't act that way!
I go:
Mam just give me a bottle of water please
All I want is a bottle of water, and she wouldn't give it to me
All I wanted was a bottle of water, just one water, and she wouldn't give it to me.
Just a water.




And apparently, somehow I'd ordered a mate.....Now I'm really not sure how in our conversation the confusion over what I had said had turned into,"yes, okay mate," but I damn sure wasn't going to argue with that. Sure beats the fields of coffee I've been drinking......

Though I've been fighting with insane insomnia here for the past week, today was pretty good. After spending a dreary half day in said same interwebz cafe, I up and went for a walk....I went all around the main part of San Cristobal. I went by the store that houses the collective of indigenous people who make their own very hip paper, pads, posters, books, etc, out of fairly renewable resources and picked up a few neat things. Then I strolled around until I found a place to grab a new pen (a nice double ended sharpie to be exact)...

Let me deviate for a moment here. Purchasing things in Mexican stores can be very confusing, especially if you are not well versed in the language. First you find someone to help you, and you tell them what you want. Then they take said item, and write you a ticket. Then you take that ticket to a tinted (god knows, bulletproof) enclosed booth where a phantom hand takes the ticket, and tells you how much you owe. THEN you take that ticket, and give it to a person in a similar, non-tinted booth, where they finally give you your item......You know, in the US, we just carry guns to deal with shrinkage.......

Anywho, once you get used to that, throwing your soiled toilet paper in the trash instead of the bowl is a cake walk......So then I went to Tierrardentro to grab another AMAZING soy burger (probably soy from a cow in reality.........) some fries, and maybe a little drawing.......in my fancy new handmade and drawing book.......And then, after a great Americano (I know, but here they are quite potent...It's more like
ordering you espresso "biggie size"), I hit the stones to join Kadd at Kinoki. After trotting this out, and finishing my mate, all the while listening to my favorite episode of the "Monday Night 80's" podcast (the Halloween episode, like *DUH*) I think I'll head into the little theatre to catch David Lynch's last film........."And finally I'll sleep-I'll sleep through the niiiiight!!"

The next time I come to Mexico I need a job and fluency

So.........now that I have this free time in Mexico, what have I been doing?.......Well, apparently spending alot of time on the interwebs.........

Today for example, I spent HOURS downloading killer music from download blogs that specialize in obscure, underground, and out of print music. Alot of these people meticulously research, rip (mostly from vinyl!), and upload alot of cherished music from their personal collections.

The reason that I am posting about this here instead of Auralsuppository is that John and I have an agreement to only talk about records we have actually purchased, which I totally agree with. However, most of these records are out of print (and Manowar does not need my money).

So, after sorting out two records that I already had on my computron, but not had labeled (an out of print live Iron Lung record, and the unofficial Fear of God discography (holyshitamazing!!1111)) here is what I spend my hard earned time in another country down loading:

Cruel Atake-Demo
D.O.N.D.O.N.-Skulls EP
Final Count-Flexi EP
Impaled Nazarene - Soumi Finnland Perkele
Korihor/Abigainl- Alkoholik Metal Blasphemers
Manowar-Gods of War ('07-The most Ridiculous yet. Like an Asatru children's record)
Nifelheim - Envoy of Lucifer (soooooogoooooooood)
Surrender of Divinity-Oriental Hell Rhythmics (Thai Black Metal1111)
VA Consolidation 7"-Rhetoric/Revulsion/Deviated Instinct
Gouka-Answer in One's Self
Gibbed-Demo (?) (Maybe members of Unholy Grave......)

And then I devolved into watching 3 Inches of Blood videos (Hey whatever, did you see the Manowar record?......)

Who knows, maybe if I stay in Mexico long enough I'll be the world's most well versed music nerd..................I'll get mad dates then................................

Not much new...

Just some photos:





Becoming a bit restless, but that's more of an existential conundrum................