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AVD

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AVD = Anti-Valentine’s Day.

(here comes a rant…)

I really was not going to post anything about a holiday today that generally is about false hopes and weight gain.  Why should most folk express their love more so on one day a year with cheesy cards and expensive chocolates?  Recession my ass, people look for reasons to spend, I’m sorry, WASTE, money and Valentine’s Day is one of them.

I am not against love.  I am in love.  I am married and love my wife to death.  I love my friends and my family and even my spoiled rotten dogs.  I am so lucky to be in love.

I hate days where people try to be one step better then they already are and V-Day is one of them.  I don’t know about you but I try every day to be a better person to my wife.  I don’t use balloons and stuffed teddy bear bribes on Feb. 14th to show my wife how much I love her.  In fact, I am working all day today and will not be seeing her until tomorrow. 

I should put my foot in my mouth right at this moment though because I did buy my wife a massage yesterday but it was not for V-Day at all.  I took her to the massage place on Friday The 13th…  It was for her because I felt it was time to buy her another one.  She was stressed with school and needed a healthy dose of relax.  I do things like this because I love her.  It just so happened to be the day before V-Day….honest.

I did not buy her candy or flowers.  No cards or cute little knick knacks were left on the counter for her when she woke up this morning.  I did not dress up like cupid and shoot arrows at her either.  (That would be a scary sight!!!)

I just do what I do all the time, love her.

I hate the idea of a holiday that makes love seem that much important one day out of the year.  Then again if it can make someone who generally is not that nice one bit nicer to the person they claim to love…  Damn, I feel sorry for them.

So why am I ranting anyways? 

Well Matt over at AddictedToVinyl.com posted his first ever Valentine’s Day blog.  He thanks me along with a few others for “connecting” with him and keeping him sane while he enjoys solo (relationship-free) time off.

While reading his blog I started thinking about another reason why I hate V-Day.  It was a reason I have forgotten about long ago.  It just clicked in my head and the second I thought of it I laughed.

Well of course I am going to share it with you…did you even have to think of asking???

When I was in second grade I got in trouble on Valentine’s Day.  In the tradition of putting Valentine’s Day cards in specially designed shoe boxes full of hearts and the colors red & pink I dropped a rather inappropriate card into one classmate’s box. 

It read: “You Are Ugly”

I meant it too.  I thought the girl was ugly as hell and I guess Valentine’s Day was my confession day to her.

Of course my bold statement made her cry out loud and run to my teacher.  Immediately I was repromanded for my actions seeing how I signed my name on the card and I was promptly taken to the corner of the classroom where I was forced to think alone about what I just did as well as write an apology letter to said ugly girl.  I did what I was told and pretty much filled the paper with lies and other false hope. 

I admit…that was a crappy thing to do.  I do not remember if I did it as a dare to impress friends or if I was just being an a-hole at a very young age.  I am not even sure my teacher shared my actions with my parents.  I just knew I got yelled at for telling someone how I really felt and I hated the holiday for getting in trouble for it.  I never favored the day since…

AVD = Anti-Valentine’s Day.  That is where I stand.  Maybe because I know what love really is an cherish it, or maybe because I have just been an a-hole all my life since that once forgotten day in second grade.

Love on the other hand is a wonderful thing.  It may not be for everyone, but for those who crave it and those who experience it…you know what I mean.

Here’s two videos that help define the love between my wife and I…  Nothing too mushy I promise:

Art, Artist, Derek Hess, DVDs, Empty Wallet, Movie, Music, Music Video, New Release, Punk, Rap, Toys

Empty Wallet: New stuff to keep me entertained.

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So the holidays are over, the presents were unwrapped, and even though I was happily satisfied with all the J-Day gifts I received I felt as if I lacked items for entertainment purposes.

I was a good boy, I done no wrong, in fact this was the first New Years since I was 12 I was completely sober so I think that means presents for me from me.  I am just looking for some excuses to buy crap…

Now it is show and tell time.  Lookie what I got/have/own…

First up is something I hesitated to buy because it was not something that I needed at all.  Hell, none of the items I recently purchased were things I needed…  Anyways, I am currently the proud owner of a MC Chris action figure.  The thing is poorly made, can’t stand up on it’s own, does not move, and was not designed to do anything.  It just lays there motionless, with no desire to entertain; but here is the kicker… it is awesome.  It is so awesome that it now is one of my favorite non-animate objects that I own.

The only thing this thing could do it hurt someone if you threw it at their head.
The only thing this thing could do is hurt someone if you chucked it at their head.
It came packaged with styrofoam in a brown box. Classic.
It came packaged with styrofoam in a brown box.

Why would I dare say something so poorly made is awesome?  Well it reminds me of a toy you would find from the early 1900’s at your grandparent’s house, something you would look at and scratch your head at.  I really think I have a piece of treasure here and to prove it I bought it for $25 from the MC Chris website and now it is on the very same site for $75 (they are claiming to have 3 left).  Why the price increase?  Well it seems as if there are only 50 in existence as the 450 others were lost in the order according to a bulletin that MC Chris had posted on MySpace.

Derek Hess "Noose Proof"
Noose Halo

Next up is a Derek Hess print I have had my eyes on for a while.  Last year I interviewed the Cleveland rock artist and remember questioning his affordable prices.  He wanted to make sure he sold his work at prices that people without a lot of money could afford.  Well I am without a lot of money and I love his work.  I was actually buying a print for my good friend for a belated J-Day gift and could not help myself in getting one for my own house.

This is my third Derek Hess print I now own and I know I have many more to acquire in the future.  I have already framed it and will place it accordingly in my dwelling so that all can see.  One day I hope to have an original piece in my collection…baby steps for now.

If you would like a print for yourself you might want to act fast as this offset print is limited to 300 and I scored numbers 204 and 205 for myself and said friend.  Once 300 is reached it will be sold out and very difficult to find.

For my media pleasure I picked up a copy of the hilarious DVD Pineapple Express. If you have not seen the movie yet I promise you some foul mouthed stupid humor plus a little bit of action.  The duo of Seth Rogen and James Franco are perfect for this derranged adventure involving two stoners.

Watching the movie last night had me rolling.  I enjoyed it a lot more than originally when I saw the movie in the theaters seeing how it was ruined by two jackasses in front of me who clearly pregamed before the movie.  The other benefit of DVD over going to the movies are having extra content.  The deleted scenes were not too entertaining but the gag reel was hilarious.

Today I ventured to the Borders book store I used to work at a few years back.  I went there looking for a vegan cupcake book. I know, what the hell was I thinking right?  Well have you ever had a vegan cupcake?  Exactly.  Once you have you will want to know how it was made.

Let’s get back to why I went to Borders.  Well that vegan cupcake book was nowhere to be found so I kept looking around and found something that I have been wanting for a while, a copy of Anthony Bourdain‘s A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines.  The book captures Anthony Bourdain and his travels for food.  I can not wait to find some free time to sink my eyes into it.

My wife also found a book she knew I would have interest in called Punk: The Whole Story that usually retails for about $25.  It was sitting there in the budget section with the attractive price of $4.99 so I grabbed it seeing how I never pass on a good punk rock deal.  Full color hardbound book full of punk rock history, a great find if you ask me.

As I finish up this bragging of a blog I keep telling myself there was one more thing that I purchased…something very recent.

Oh yeah.  I bought an album on iTunes today.  Dirty south punk meets crunk act Whole Wheat Bread recently released their third CD on iTunes before it hits shelves and I could not wait.  The Afro Punk rockers have been favorites of mine since they first released their material in 2005.  The album Hearts of Hoodlums will  be released in stores on January 20th.  Inauguration coincidence?  Perhaps.  That also happens to be the day back in 1977 that I started kicking ass and taking names or however you say that (hint, hint).

Well I guess my show and tell time is over and I should go sit back down on the magic carpet and see what the next little kid out there had…until next time.

Here’s a Whole Wheat Bread video just for the heck of it:

Whole Wheat Bread covering Rancid‘s “Roots Radicals” featuring Chris from Stretch Armstrong at Peabody’s in tropical Cleveland, Ohio

You want another? Ok, I can do that:

“Old Man Samson”

Finally a contest of sorts:

Whole Wheat Bread chicken eating contest (mild cussing)

Live Shows, Music, New Release, Punk, Random

Missed Festival, Wedding, & 3OH3!

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I’ve had a few days off now and it all comes to an end in less than 5 hours.  I took some time away from work to be with friends as one of us was getting married.  I normally do not like weddings as they are very formal and of course I am not a church goer.

I feel like I canceled some plans too in order to attend the wedding.  I thought I told Matt that I was going to hook up with him sometime this weekend as he and his friend were going to be in Kent for We The People Fest.  I told Matt that my wife and I were possibly going to see Hawthorne Heights and Ben Taylor play at the fest on Friday and also check out the rest of the event but in turn we decided to crash the wedding rehearsal party.  Saturday was an all day event for the wedding, and Sunday we were too pooped to go out there and see the final day, plus the Cleveland Browns were playing. (Finally, a win!)

Sorry Matt…  I hope it was a good time. I hope you can forgive me and tell me a little about it…if you went.

I am sorry too, Chuck Norris, as I know you were speaking on Sunday.  I know you wanted me to be there.

So let me tell you a little about the wedding…

My friends Sam and Ryan decided to tie the knot.  Sam is a few years younger than me and I have known him for a while.  He grew up in the same city as I did.  I met him through friends and thanks to beer and punk rock music we became friends.

Sam met Ryan, they fell in love, and got married.  They had a wedding locally and my wife and I were invited along with plenty of friends. The neat thing about the wedding is that it was sort of a punk rock wedding with a lot of guests being in local punk rock acts at one time or currently.  Sam wore Chuck Taylors as did the groomsmen and when the happy couple entered the reception hall “Hey Ho Let’s Go” was played.

I sat at a table with my friends who some were also members of The Facials.  They are a Cleveland punk rock band that has played tons of shows in Cleveland and Akron as well has opened for Rancid and UK Subs.  They are currently working on a new album and I will be sure to share it once it is pressed.

Also as the wedding were friends of mine who were once in the now defunct punk acts such as the Narcoleptics X5, the Beat Kids, and Novallos.  Its been a while since some of the bands played local shows.  It was awesome to see that even that some of the bands separated that they still remained friends.  The groom was actually a member of all three of the bands.

At one time during the day, the former drummer of Novallos, Ryan,  was sitting next to me at a bar in between the wedding and reception, and we were talking about how he moved to Colorado and recently moved back.  Before long we started talking about music.  He asked me if I was at the Warped Tour this summer and when I said I was he asked if I saw a band called 3OH3!.  I said hell yes.

I told Ryan that I loved 3OH3! and caught their entire set at the Warped Tour.  Knowing that they were from Colorado I already knew what he was going to tell me.  He knew them.  I was stoked to hear Ryan tell stories about them. He then told me that they would be playing in Cleveland in November and asked me and my wife if we wanted to hang out with them.  I thought that was pretty awesome.  We shall see what happens.

The band is relatively new but has been making a strong impact on many music lovers.  Their mix of emo, punk, and crunk really made me a fan.  I reviewed their debut Want and will post it in my archives on here.

If I do happen to kick it with 3OH3! I will be sure to let you all know how it was.